16 Contract

Mikan hanged up and flipped the phone shut before she placed it back in the back pocket of her jeans. Youichi was blasting on the other line just now when she told him she would be coming home a bit late today. It wasn't until she mentioned that Hotaru would also be with her that he finally shut his mouth up. Then he opened his mouth again to order her around; telling her to stay put at the place—wherever she was going with Hotaru—till he came to pick her up. She had to snort at that. Youichi came picking her up?

Coming from a person who has a terribly bad sense of direction, his brother had upgraded himself. The GPS in his new phone finally made to good use. He had been freely moving around lately. Didn't bother asking for directions now, that kid. Now that she's thinking about it, You-chan had been going out of the house a lot too lately. God knows where he went to.

Mikan had settled her work in the library and now, sitting ever so casually inside Trig warm café, sipping her regular cup of Americano while waiting for her senpai to come. She had made a last minute appointment with him but he seemed not to mind about it. In fact, when she called him, she sure he was actually ecstatic to finally get a call from her.

The bell chimed and Rei-senpai came rushing in. Already seen where she had sat, he wasted no further time and took a seat in front of her.

"Coffee?" Mikan offered as soon as he landed his arse on the cushion.

Rei shook his head, declining her offer. "So, your response?"

Mikan looked at him and laughed. "Senpai, you just came. Aren't you thirsty at all?"

Rei waved his hands dismissively. "Hardly. I had already drank three cups of black coffee at the office today."

Mikan raised one brow at him. "Busy day?"

A small yet tired smile appeared on his face. "Hectic actually." Damn he's tired. He was rushing back from his meeting and he had drunk two cups of tea before that too.

Mikan smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for taking your time."

Rei leaned in across the table. "I believe you want to give me your response regarding my offer, that's why I don't really mind if I have to rush here." He smiled.

"Regarding that offer," Mikan cleared her throat. "What's in it for me?"

Rei was back to leaning his back against his seat. Sitting one leg across the other, he clasped his hands together. "You will debut straightaway. As simple as that."

Mikan narrowed her eyes at him. It can't possibly be as simple as that. She heard stories and she even read them. The road to debuting, it won't supposedly be as easy as that. If correctly, there should be a training session. And Rei-senpai telling her she would just debut straightaway just like that?

"That can't be right. Even those who's debuting, I heard they have to be trainees for a few years," she said in response. "The least is three years!" She watched the slight change of expression played on her senpai's face and she raised her brows. "You're not telling me something."

Rei sighed. "If I want you to sign the contract, I suppose you need to know the whole conditions for you debuting." He reached out a hand to his brief case and took a file. Opening it, he flipped a few pages before stopping at one. He showed her what looked like a contract.

"There's a whole conditions?" Mikan queried. She took the file in her hand to read the paper.

"Yes," Rei nodded his head and continued, "And one of them is," he leaned forward to point her the condition on the paper where's he's mentioning, "you will debut together with Eye Candy."

Mikan looked at him hard. "Pardon?" Did she hear him right? Did he say Eye Candy? Surely she had misheard him. Because no way in hell would Eye Candy suddenly had to do with this. "Eye Candy?"

"In order for you to debut, Eye Candy has to debut as well."

"I'm sorry, senpai. I still don't get it. Why does Eye Candy has to do with my debut?"

"It's because Eye Candy is already a recognized band in the entertainment industry, even though they do not officially registered their band. They already have their own fans succeeding than any official band we have. So, they don't need to be trainees before they debut. They can debut straightaway to be exact."

"If they're already that good, just let them debut then. What does it have anything to do with me?"

"Because Mikan, you will only debut as Ellys Emerys if you're a part of Eye Candy." He watched an expression passed on her face and he assumed it was a look of distaste. "Not a fan of the guys?"

The icy glower on her face said it all. "Hardly."

Rei chuckled but he continued, "To be honest, Eye Candy, those guys already signed the contract. What's holding them back from already debuting officially in the market, is you."

Mikan raised her brows tauntingly. So they're not yet debuting because of her? Well, tough luck for the guys that it has to be her. A smirk played on her lips. On the second thought, she rather liked the idea that it was 'her' holding them back.

"So you're saying here is, you want me to become a band with Eye Candy?" Her curiosity perked.

"Not a band, but a group. An idol group."

Blergh. She clicked her tongue. She hated being the centre of attention. Hence she never showed her face on youtube and even used a pseudonym to cover everything up. But Eye Candy, they're nothing but attention. They'd give her the life of full annoyance if she were ever to become one of them. She doubted she could have peace either. But really, why would they want to place her, out of all people? Something's off.

Mikan placed the file back on the coffee table and pushed it back to Rei. "In other words, you're just trying to make a profit out of us." She raised her brows at him. "So instead of getting one way profit from Eye Candy, you're trying to double it up with me joining them." She crossed her arms on her chest. "Am I wrong?"

Rei smiled. "Always the smart one, you are."

Mikan scoffed. "I'm right then." Dead on.

"Let me break this down to you then." He straightened up his posture. "How they roll, it's like this. It doesn't matter if you're a junior or a senior, if you managed to win the bid, it's yours. In this case, the bid is you two, Ellys Emerys and Eye Candy. They wanted to create something new that would definitely sell. And you guys are the perfect fit. You guys always rank the charts in Youtube."

"And that actually saves you guys time," she cut him off, making a conclusion of her own. "Because you guys don't have to market us around like regular debuting group because we already have stable amount of fans."

"In other sense, that's close enough." He nodded.

"That doesn't cover the fact that you guys are just trying to double your regular profit. And you just trying to find a short cut to it."

"Like it or not, that's how the entertainment world rolls," Rei added shortly.

"Profit, is that what all they ever think?"

Rei shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

"You're one of them, senpai. How can you not know?"

Rei laughed. "I just recently become one of them. I'm new there. That's why I'm scouting."

Mikan furrowed her brows. "What do you mean scouting? You said there was a bid. So it meant you already won right? Since you said Eye Candy had already signed the contract. So it's yours. Why do you still need to scout?"

"Not exactly. The bid is won only after both sides signed the contract. Eye Candy isn't that hard to win over because they really want to debut. My colleagues, whom also after the bid, all of them, didn't have a problem with Eye Candy. The only thing that holding them back from winning the bid is Ellys Emerys." A small laugh escaped his mouth. "Believe it or not, you gave them quite a pain."

"Why's that?"

"Because none of them can figure out who is Ellys Emerys. Let alone tracking you down. It's very upsetting, you see. So at the end they gave up. Truthfully speaks, this bid had been going for months already but nobody seem to be able to complete it because of Ellys Emerys."

"Till you came along." She propped her face on one hand and tilted her head to the side. "Lucky for you, you recognized me straightaway. That's why you came tracking me down." Noted the sarcasm in her tone.

"So what happen after you win the bid? Will you get a whole load of cash or what?"

"No. If I win the bid, you guys will be under my care and it's my responsibility to take care all of you."

"What, you become our nanny?" She raised one brow.

Rei shook his head and laughed. "Not a nanny but a manager."

Mikan shrugged. "Close enough."

"And there you have it. The whole story of the offer," Rei had said.

Mikan nodded. She picked up her glass of Americano, taking a sip and put it back down. She bit her inner cheeks before spilling out, "I'm not joining." Her voice squeaked. God, she felt awful for telling him this. After all, he came all the way and he must had expected a good news from her.

Rei stared at her. "Pardon?"

Mikan breathed out evenly before repeating again, "I said, I'm not joining them. So I'm rejecting the offer."

Rei blinked. "Why? The conditions aren't that bad. You get to debut straightaway. Some people would kill to debut straightaway."

Mikan sat straight. "Exactly. But I'm not some people." She sighed.

During the Q&A with senpai just now, Mikan had thought. At first, when she watched Eye Candy's latest mv, she thought of getting even with them. But her terms of getting even, that didn't exactly mean become one of them. And with what's been happening between her and Hyuuga, she can't possibly be working alongside them for every single day. That would be the death of her. And besides, debuting? What is she thinking? The main reason she cover her face and used a pseudonym was to be away from the limelight. Debuting with Eye Candy would definitely not be that anymore. They would be the focus of the attention and ugh, certainly no privacy.

And there would be reporters, gossip magazine and paparazzi. Gah, those definitely the kinds she can't handle. Her face turned sour, thinking of the paparazzi. Those kind of people, they would dig and dig, deeper and deeper to find just about anything at all that they would think that would sell. Even her privacy life.

"At first," she began, "debuting does sound nice. I really wish more people would enjoy my music. But," she halted, finding the right words. "Debuting also mean, I have to let go of the fact that my personal life would be kept under radar. Sooner of later, one thing after another would spill out. That's just.." she sighed. "I don't think I can handle that when it comes."

Rei asked, all concerned, "Is it about your family?"

He knew.

Of course he knew. Rei-senpai knew half as much as what Hotaru knew. That's why she trusted him as much as she trusted Hotaru. Though Hotaru's rank stood higher than him in her life. Because they both knew her from way back.

Mikan gave a small sad smile. "Could be one of many reasons why I'm rejecting this."

Rei finally let out a sigh of despair. He knew why so there's a limit to where he should and should not push the boundaries. It's her privacy. "So you're really rejecting this offer?" He asked again for one final confirmation.

A small nod from her said it all. "I'm sorry."

He took the file and slipped it back in her briefcase. "Can't be helped then. No worries. The offer still stands though." He reminded her. "Since I'm guessing nobody had gone this far like me." He laughed. "So, if you happen to change your mind, give me a call." He smiled.

"Yeah, someday, maybe." Mikan smiled. Someday? Will such thing likely happen?

"So erm," she tried asking, "What will happen to Eye Candy? Since I'm rejecting the offer."

Rei gathering his stuff and stood up. "The contract will be void then. Since the company only accepts the participation from both sides. If not, no one is debuting." When he saw the look of guilt passed her face, his warm voice comforted her. "Don't worry about it, Mikan. Eye Candy is rocketing on their own already. Other company will definitely come to scout them as well. Our company isn't the only one who aim you guys." He leaned forward to ruffle her hair. "So don't feel guilty, kiddo."

Mikan scowled. "Mou, I'm not a kid anymore, senpai."

Pushing a hand in the pocket of his slacks, he laughed. "Yeah, I keep forgetting about it." After a final look at her, he raised his hand for a goodbye wave. "Ma, ja ne. Take care, Mikan."

The bell chimed as he slipped out through the door. Mikan watched as he left the café. As soon as he was out of sight, immediately her head fell on the table with a thunk sound. God, her head feels heavy right now. She let out a heavy sigh and groaned. Her phone was vibrating. With lazy hand, she fetched it out from the pocket. Who the hell is making her mood even worse now? She doesn't feel like talking either right now.

She looked at the screen. Gah, the devil had found her already.

She dragged a finger across the screen to answer the call.

"How's the meeting go with Rei-senpai?" Hotaru's monotone voice came from the other line.

"Ne Hotaru, do you have a magic crystal ball? Are you, by chance, looking at it right now?"

"What bullshit are you sprouting now, Mikan?" Mikan hinted the annoyance in her best friend's voice.

"Your timing was too perfect. Rei-senpai just walked out of the café like, ten seconds ago and then you called me. Did you look for me in your crystal ball?"

"If I have one, I won't be wasting my magic power on people like you." Her cold reply came. Mikan sweatdropped. That's to be expected, coming from Hotaru.

"So? How did it go?"

Mikan sighed. "I rejected it." When Hotaru said nothing, Mikan continued. "The condition is that, I have to join Eye Candy for me to debut straightaway." Mikan snorted. "Hell no."

She guessed Hotaru had understood the whole thing—well somehow, oddly enough, Hotaru always does, even without her explaining too much into details— since she no longer mentioned anything about the offer.

"So, what's you're gonna do about their mv?" Mikan heard the constant sound of typing on the other line. Hotaru must be on her laptop again.

Mikan sat up. "What am I gonna do?" She quoted her. "Of course I'm going to do what I always do." She grinned. "I'll make one of my own."

"Good." She could already imagined Hotaru's lips working a small smile right now. "Tell me when you're ready and we'll record it after that."

Because Hotaru's the only person who understands her so much.

TBC.