Nenah

Who was she kidding? She wasn't idol material! She'd heard it all before: she was brash, rough around the edges, temperamental, moody, the list went on. The chances of her actually making it were slim to none.

So she went in with the full confidence she was just going to waste some talent manager's time, certain she was going to be kicked out the minute she walked in for not having "the right look".

But much to her surprise, she wasn't kicked out? She found herself in an auditorium, which was empty save for two people sitting behind a table near the stage. She clocked an uptight older woman who seemed familiar somehow - probably some has-been if she'd had to guess - and another woman not much older than Mira.

The younger woman seemed a timid sort, probably a PA on her first job, but what set her apart was her vivid purple hair - Mira didn't judge, having just gotten her own hair colour to the bright red-pink she'd been dreaming of for years - but she did wonder how Lady Uptight felt. She didn't seem like the sort that would tolerate such expressions of individuality from her employees.

"Thank you for coming in, Mira-ssi," the older woman greeted, not looking up from her papers. "Did you receive the training package we sent you for today's audition?"

"I did," Mira nodded. She found that looking at the top of the older woman's head made her more nervous, so instead she looked at the PA while Lady Uptight began to prattle about something or other.

She was cute, maybe a little bit too shy, but if they hadn't been in an audition, Mira would have totally asked her out. As things stood, she didn't want Lady Uptight to think Mira was harassing her PA, and write her off as a flirtatious tool. Then again, maybe she should flirt: after all, didn't she decide that she was just doing this for shits and giggles? A funny story to tell her loved ones decades down the line?

So Mira winked at the PA, and got the extremely adorable girl to blush fiercely, and avert her eyes.

Mira couldn't hide her chuckle, and only belatedly thought to put her hand over her mouth to stifle it.

For some reason, that flustered the PA even more, to the point she dropped her pen with a loud CLACK.

Lady Uptight stopped what she was doing and looked up. She glanced between her PA and Mira, and narrowed her eyes. "I suppose we can get started. Let's start easy with the first routine. I'll start the music."

Mira saw as Lady Uptight held up a fob and pressed a button. Music immediately began to play, and Mira started to move. She executed her routine flawlessly, and while also singing the lyrics.

Suddenly, the music stopped.

Frowning, Mira was just about to ask "what gives", when she saw Lady Uptight was looking at her ringing phone.

"My apologies, I have to take this, we can continue afterwards," Lady Uptight explained, before whispering something to her PA.

To be fair, she did look apologetic, so Mira just shrugged and said, "No problem."

Lady Uptight just nodded and hurried out of the room, leaving Mira alone with the PA.

Deciding to at least rest her legs, she plopped down on the ground, legs dangling over the edge of the stage. Mira glanced at the PA, who was looking down and shuffling some papers.

"So, does she pay you in experience, or for how long you can last the day without smiling?" Mira asked, figuring she could at least make some small-talk.

The PA giggled, before she schooled her features as her head shot up to look at Mira, as if she wasn't sure Mira was talking to her. Seeming to realize they were the only two people in the room, the PA flashed a shy smile. "Oh, I'm not being paid for this."

"Damn, that's cold. But I guess the job market's shit, so you gotta start somewhere, huh? Even if it is with a knock-off Miranda Priestly." Mira wasn't even sure if the reference was going to land, so she got ready to pivot the conversation.

But to her immense surprise, the PA let out a bubbling laughter that had Mira's heart skip a few beats. Oh, she wanted to hear more of that wonderful sound.

"She's not that bad," the PA weakly defended her boss in between her laughing fits.

"Sure, like coming across a feral tiger," Mira riposted, flashing a grin. "Seriously, does she always look that constipated, or did she forget to take the stick out of her ass?"

That started the laughter anew, and Mira was on a roll. She didn't care now if she completely screwed her chances, she wanted to keep this beautiful and shy girl laughing for as long as she could. "I know she's your boss, but damn!"

"Oh she's not..." the PA began, but then seemed to think about it a bit more, and she got shy as she added, "I guess she is my boss now in a way."

Did Lady Uptight poach this girl from another exec? She seemed the type to do that. Mira figured she wouldn't dwell on that, judging by the woman's change in demeanour. She wanted to hear more of that cute laugh. "So, what can you tell me about this new idol group I'm auditioning for?"

"Oh, it's going to be a trio..." the PA started to explain.

Mira waved her hand dismissively. "Right, right, that was in the package. But it said that they already have someone attached to it, right? Probably some nepobaby?"

The PA begins to laugh anew, and Mira congratulated herself for salvaging things. Surely an unpaid PA would definitely commiserate with her against the nepobaby.

"See? That's what I don't get. We have to audition and interview and prance around and jump through all these hoops, and that girl probably just showed up at some exec's office, flashed her million-dollar smile and got everything she wanted." Mira shook her head dramatically, enjoying the attention she was getting. "And it's ridiculous that she couldn't even bother to show up for the audition either? Like it's just you and your boss. Does she even care about who she's going to be grouped with? Or was she too busy soaking up the sun to bother coming here?"

The PA was in stitches, and Mira figured she would pause for a bit before she caused the poor girl to keel over.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched. See, Celine thought that knowing how to dance and sing were only part of the equation. There had to be real camaraderie, this unbreakable bond, especially if she was also going to bring the new girls into the world of demon hunting.

So, she had Bobby schedule a 'call' for her to take, and then listened from outside to find out how the potential recruits interacted with Rumi. Of course, Rumi was well-aware of the ploy, and had even suggested Celine put on a bit of a grumpier face "so we can be good cop and bad cop!"

Thus far, the past 5 recruits were pitifully uninterested in interacting with Rumi if Celine wasn't in the room. But this girl, who seemed like she wasn't sure if she wanted to be there, was making Rumi laugh harder than Celine had ever heard her.

"So we've got one?" Bobby whispered from beside her, clipboard in hand.

"I think we do," Celine responded, before taking a deep breath and making her way back.

Meanwhile, Rumi was still catching her breath, and Mira looked up at hearing footfalls. Shit, Lady Uptight was back! How much had she heard? She couldn't tell from the woman's face if she was upset, or maybe she'd gotten good news? It was impossible to read her.

"Sorry about that, life of a Sunlight Sister, can never catch a break."

And then Mira connected the dots, eyes widening comically as she recognized the older lady. She had been insulting Celine from the Sunlight Sisters this entire time? Oh she definitely wasn't getting into the group now.

Celine then looked puzzlingly at her PA and said, "Actually, I don't think we introduced ourselves to you, right?" Celine clicked her tongue. "I'm all over the place, I really should think about getting a PA like Bobby's been insisting, help me keep my head on my shoulders. Anyway, I'm Park Celine, and this is Ryu Rumi, she's currently the first member of Huntrix."

And Mira realized: Celine had heard quite a bit. She had to, judging by what she was saying.

Wait, Mira nearly choked on air as she processed the rest of what Celine had said. That was Ryu Rumi? The nepobaby heading the group? She'd spent the better part of the past ten minutes trash-talking her, to HER! She was never going to live this down. She'd sell whatever she had, and then move to another continent, get a new identity and-

"We do have a few more people to get through today, so unfortunately we can't continue with your dance route, but you do seem promising," Celine was saying, and Mira could hardly believe her ears. "We'll be in touch soon with next steps."

She'd heard that wrong, right? She wasn't actually still being considered? She looked at Rumi, for some unbeknownst reason, as if she'd somehow get more accurate information from her.

But she was thrown into yet another loop when Rumi just flashed her a disarming smile. Oh how the tables had turned. She was now the one getting flustered by the other girl's attention!

Deciding she should pack it up before she made an even bigger fool of herself, she bowed and said, "I look forward to hearing from you!"

After she got changed out of her dance clothes and was about to head out from the lobby, she faintly heard a crash worth of a saturday morning cartoon from somewhere else in the building. Just as she was about to turn back and investigate, she heard someone yell, "I'm okay!"

Shrugging her shoulders, she continued on her way. Whoever that poor fool was, if she couldn't even get to the auditorium in one piece, she definitely wasn't going to get into the group, that was for sure.