The time of the next meeting arrives…and goes.
Five extra minutes pass before you hear the footfalls of somebody dashing down the hallway.
The door swings open wildly and reveals a dishevelled looking girl with sweat pouring down the sides of her face.
“I AM HERE!” cries the girl, “DID I MAKE IT?”
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You glance at the clock. She’s late.
This probably wouldn’t fly with some of the other managers.
Good thing for her that you’re not those managers.
Judging by her state she clearly made an effort to try and arrive on time, that’s enough.
”Close enough,” you say with a smile.
The girl squeezes her eyes tight and pumps both hands into the air, “YES!”
Then collapses to her knees immediately after, panting in exhaustion.
“Ena-tsu. Maa…ha…ri,” she manages between gasps, “Inter…view.”
You send a quick message to Matsui-san to ask her to bring some water.
Afterwards, you get up and walk towards Enatsu Mari, “Are you okay?” you ask, “What happened?”
Still kneeling on the ground with her legs bent outward, she lets out a self-deprecating chuckle.
”I was like watching funny videos at home and then I was late,” she says, lightly tapping herself on the side of head with a fist, “Eh-he?”
“Only watched a few, but time went sooooooo fast” she says, nodding knowingly.
Clearly, it’s the fault of the videos for being too entertaining.
Now that she seems to have caught her breath, she continues.
”So, I run out of the house, I got on my bike, right?” she says, “Pedal. Pedal. Pedal. To the bus station!”
She seems to be pausing for dramatic effect, “But then I missed the bus!”
”I go by bus, to train, to here,” she says, she seems to talk faster as the story goes on, “But no bus, so instead I pedal, pedal, pedal to the train station.”
It’s honestly exhausting just hearing about it.
“But THEN,” continues Enatsu Mari, “Panic! I left my train card and money at home!”
She clutches her head like she’s reliving the moment, “If I go back I’ll be late for real!”
”Instead,” she says, smirking like mankind’s smartest scientists couldn’t have come up with the idea, “I decide I can just get on my bike again and ride here!”
You lean back a little and glance over your shoulder at her audition form.
Rough guess places Enatsu Mari’s house over twenty miles from here, at the outskirts of the city.
Matsui Tomo enters and hands the girl a glass of water which she empties in three large gulps.
”Pwoah!” she says after finishing the drink, then explains after seeing Matsui’s raised eyebrow, “You gotta make the noise to let people know it tasted good! Thank you, lady!”
“No problem at all,” replies Matsui.
You gesture towards Matsui Tomo, “This is Matsui-san, she’s the person who spoke to you on the phone and will be working closely with you.”
“Waaaah,” says Enatsu Mari, then quickly bows, like three bows in rapid succession, “I was very happy when you called, Matsui-san! Everybody at home was very happy for me. We even celebrated! With cake and everything!”
“My, how nice of them,” says Matsui, reaching for the cup, “I’ll go and get you some more water and then get out of your way, okay?”
“Okay!” says Enatsu Mari, bowing at the departing figure of Matsui, “Thank you, Matsui-san!”
You wave a hand towards the chair in front of you desk, “Please, take a seat, Enatsu-san.”
Enatsu makes a small sound of acknowledgement and drops herself into the seat, “Waaah,” she says, “These are crazy comfortable. The office looks nice, too!”
You sit down in your own chair, “Thank you, Enatsu-san,” you say, “My name is Nagata Miho. I will be your manager here at the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency.”
“Ah, nice to meetcha!” she says, finishing the sentence with a smile that could force sunshine into a rainy day, “I never had a manager before!”
Her cheerful attitude is somewhat contagious and you find yourself smiling, “Well, that’s a relief. Won’t have to worry about somebody from your past making me look bad by comparison.”
“Eeeeh~” says Enatsu Mari, somewhat disappointed, “Don’t say that Nagata-chan! I’m sure you’ll do great!”
“-chan? Huh? Why, I’m feeling younger by the minute,” you say somewhat teasingly.
“I’m not allowed to?” asks Enatsu Mari, she says as she cocks her head slightly.
The sudden disappearance of her energy and the disappointment dripping from her words makes you feel like a criminal.
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” you say defensively.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Enatsu blasts you with a wide-eyed smile, “You can just call me by my first name if you like,” she says, “Mari or Mari-chan. It means truth and reason, but depending on the kanji it can also mean clever, village, and….”
She pauses to place her hands together in the shape of a heart, “Love!”
A sense of relief that washes over you. For once it doesn’t have to be a struggle.
All you have to do is place this girl in front of an audience and she’ll become an idol all by herself.
However, there’s still a list of questions to get through, so you pull yourself together.
You utter a small cough to clear your throat and reach for the printed sheet, “I see,” you say, “Well, Mari-chan. Are you ready for some questions.”
“Yes!” she says, then begins to frown and look serious as if this is something she’ll be graded on.
“Why did you want to become an idol?” you ask.
“It seems fun, no?” she says, like the answer is a given, “They get to do LOADS of different stuff and go all these places and have fans and get to sing and get to dance and star in funny commercials. Like the one with the panda!”
“And if you couldn’t be an idol? What would you do then?” you ask.
Enatsu Mari frowns and folds her arms as she thinks it over, “Probably work with animals. Or on the beach. Or work on the beach with animals. Like a sea zookeeper. My brother says I should keep trying hard at the track and field club, so probably that as well.”
“That’s a lot of things,” you reply.
“It’s no fun to do only one thing!” shouts Enatsu Mari, “I wanna do loads of things. That’s why idol is such a fun thing to do. You get to model, do cool poses, sing, dance, concerts…”
She’s counting off things on her fingers as the list goes on.
“I see, I see,” you say, “It does seem very fun, doesn’t it?”
“It does!” replies Enatsu Mari, fists raised up in front of her chest in excitement.
You glance at your sheet for the next question. There’s one on hobbies.
”So, what else do you do for fun?” you ask.
“I like to ride my bike, practice with the track and field club, play with my little brother and sisters, visit friends, go to the playground with them, walk our big dog, Hancho…”
“Hancho?” you ask, interrupting her, “Like group or squad leader?”
Enatsu Mari nods eagerly, “Uhm!” she says, then moves her hands in a wide arc above her head, “He’s a biiiig dog. When we were younger me and my siblings were only allowed to go somewhere if Hancho came with! We had to follow him. He’s the leader! Hancho!”
Taking a brief moment to entertain the mental image of a big dog leading a line of happy children.
“What kind of dog is he?” you ask.
“A Great Pyrenees with a big fluffy, white coat!” says Enatsu Mari.
“He sounds like a great dog,” you say, “Any other hobbies?”
Enatsu Mari shrugs, “Just fun things?” she says, “I watch funny videos on the internet sometimes. I play games on my phone, but you can’t play those very long because you have to have hearts to play and those run out super quick and if you wanna play more then you have to pay and I dont have much money so I go outside instead and play with sticks with my younger brothers and sisters. I have to do chores sometimes, too, but those aren’t very fun.”
You nod, “Sometimes things aren’t very fun, but need to be done anyway.”
Enatsu Matsui sighs, “Yeah, like homework and stuff. If I don’t do it then my brother gets angry with me, so I do it. And chores aren’t very fun, but I get to play after and it makes that seem more fun, so it’s fine – I guess.”
“You mentioned your brothers and sisters a lot, but what about your parents, what do they do?” you ask.
“My dad’s a fisherman!” she says, pride radiating from her, “But that means he’s away from home a lot. My mom does cleaning at people’s houses. They both work hard so I feel like I have to work hard, too! They usually get home late, so we take turns cooking dinner.”
“But they’re good parents, right?” you ask.
“The best!” she practically shouts.
You make a mental note to ease Kaiba-san into meeting this girl.
Kaiba-san’s social battery would drain within a minute and she’d probably develop an inferiority complex on the spot.
“Two more questions,” you say, “What kind of people do you like?”
“Fun people?” she says, “People that wanna go to places and have fun. I don’t like being inside. Like when it rains I mostly play games on my phone or watch videos.”
“What kind of fun things do you do with your friends?” you ask.
She takes a moment to adjust her seat, actually opting to put her legs in the lotus position on the chair, “Well, we used to go and catch bugs and go into the forest,” she says, then her excitement dims somewhat, “Ah, but these days they want to shop for expensive clothes and eat cake in cafés and those are expensive, so I can’t go…”
Having a big, loving family does come with its own set of challenges.
Expensive ones.
“Ehehe,” you laugh nervously, not sure how to respond, “You’ll get paid a salary soon, Mari-chan. So if you keep up the good work you’ll be able to join them as much as you want.”
“Uwaaa,” shouts Enatsu Mari, “That’s right. I get to make my own money.”
“Yes, yes,” you say, somewhat relieved she cheered up again, “Now the last question.”
“An idol belongs to her fans,” you say, “So, you can’t get in any romantic relationships. It’ll be dangerous for your career if you do.”
Enatsu Mari’s face goes beet-red in the span of seconds.
You’re almost expecting steam to gush from the sides of her head.
She presses her fingers together carefully, “T-that’s okay,” she says, “I don’t have anyone I like right now anyway.”
That’ll have to do for now.
You lean over the desk with an extended hand, “Very well,” you say, “Welcome to the Matsuno Inc. Idol Agency! I look forward to working with you!”
Enatsu Mari takes the hand and shakes it eagerly, “I’ll work hard!”
“Actually,” you say, “There’s a surprise. This weekend we plan to go on a company trip with all the idols and their managers. We go to a hotspring near Mt. Fuji. The bus leaves from Matsuno HQ and the trip will take the entire weekend. A short holiday.”
Enatsu Mari explodes out of her seat, “Waaaaaaah,” she shouts, “I’ve never gone on a holiday before!”
“I’ll take it you’ll come?” you ask in confirmation.
“For sure, for sure!” says Enatsu Mari, “I’m sure my parents will be fine with it!”
Afterwards, you direct Enatsu Mari to Matsui-san so she can get settled in.
Once she leaves you sag in your seat.
”Ah~, I wonder if I ever had that much energy,” you say, exhausted, “I regret tossing out that energy bar…”
It’s been a long day and you’re grateful you get to go home at the end of it.
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Enatsu Mari (Age 16, Rank D)
Looks: 49 (79)
Vocals: 23 (38)
Dance: 47 (82)
Acting: 19 (23)
Personality: 33 (50)
Trait: Addictive Personality
Prone to develop unhealthy obsessions.
Fame: 0
This idol is completely unknown.
Costs $5,000 per month