Tohma Seguchi walked briskly down a hallway of NG Productions; blonde hair tussled slightly by the breeze created by the air conditioning of the building. An open door led to the auditorium where today's talent call was being held. Exactly three hundred and fifty entries had been accepted, but after the hundred and sixth Tohma had suddenly remembered an important call he needed to make- and an e-mail he needed to reply to- and so on until he realized he had to go back eventually. The assistant he had assigned to oversee the event looked exhausted, head resting on his hands.
"How has it been going?" Tohma inquired, pulling up a chair.
"Absolutely terrible, sir. Every last one has been horribly off tune or untalented." He groaned, rubbing his forehead. Tohma laughed, patting him on the shoulder.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, but what if the final talent is the one every agency in Japan will be searching for once we have him?" Tohma picked up the application on the table, smiling.
"Mizuki Corace, age sixteen. Call her in," He signaled to the technician behind him. The intercom buzzed in the lobby outside.
The girl who walked through the door was rather unremarkable in appearance, a purple shirt with shredded sleeves running down to dark blue baggy pants. Dirty and torn Converse sneakers were tied tightly to her feet, soles held on by duct tape. Shiny black hair hung down to her shoulders.
"What song will you be performing?" Tohma asked. Mizuki-san smiled, pulling a disc out of her pocket.
"A self composed mix. No name." She tossed it to the technician, waiting while he adjusted the acoustics. Tohma leaned back, playing with his pen.
"Night falls/In the darkest of the alleys/In the corners of nightmares/And the people wait/For their city to fall," Touma stared as the girl, wondering if it was possible for such a rough looking girl to have such a soft and lovely voice. The world seemed to freeze and slow down as she sang, until the last notes of the track faded away. Tohma stood, smiling.
"Miss Mizuki, thank you for your performance. We will contact you sometime tonight or tomorrow regarding your results."
"Thanks!" The girl bowed to Tohma, catching the disc as the technician tossed it back to her. When she was gone, Tohma turned to the assistant.
"Cancel all the other auditions. We've found our new talent."
Tohma tried to call the girl several times that night, but nobody answered. A few days later, after repeated attempts to contact her, he set all available resources to the task of tracking down Mizuki Corace.
Shindou Shuichi was eating Pocky sticks and watching the rain fall outside the balcony door, listening casually to the news. Eiri sat on the couch, reading the newspaper.
"Oh, look. Some kid made it to the first page of the obituaries." Eiri commented.
"You read the obituaries? That's morbid!" Shuichi exclaimed.
"Shut up, it's right across from the sports page." Eiri snapped back. Shuichi grabbed at the paper, reading quickly.
"It's not the kid, it's her parents- they were killed in some freak accident, it says. Hey, Mizuki! Isn't that the name of that girl Mr. Seguchi is looking for?"
Eiri raised an eyebrow. "How the hell would I know? I'm not the one who works for him-" Shuichi tore past him out the door, newspaper in hand.
Tohma spun his chair impatiently, pen tapping at his desk.
"This is ridiculous! We should have found this girl by now!" He muttered, exasperated. Ryuichi hugged Mr. Bear, humming a little tune to himself as Noriko chatted on Tohma's phone. A rumbling thunder came from the hall. Seconds later, Shuichi ran through the door.
"I FOUND HER!" He shouted triumphantly. Noriko dropped the phone as the three stared at him openmouthed. Ryuichi grinned.
"Hi, Shuichi!" Tohma sighed.
"Found who?"
Shuichi waved the newspaper in front of him, excited. "The girl, the girl, the girl you were looking for!"
"Calm down, you'll start to hyperventilate- What's this, the obituaries?" Tohma commented, dismayed.
"She's not dead, her parents are. Look!" Tohma scanned the page, grabbing the phone from Noriko.
"Yes, I need to clear my appointments for tomorrow. It seems I have a bit of a trip to make."
The girl's relative she was staying with lived several hours outside of town, the last leg of which was several miles of dirt road. A rather rundown shack was at the end of a lane, matching the address Tohma had found last night. He walked up to the door, knocking politely. A stout, gray haired man yanked the door open suddenly.
"What do you want?" He snarled rudely.
"Hello, there. Is Mizuki Corace around? I believe I have an offer for her-" Tohma was cut off sharply.
"No, go away. " He tried to slam the door in Tohma's face, but Tohma put his foot in front of it.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I must insist."
"Go to hell." The man slammed the door, shaking the entire porch. A piece of wood fell off the wall, clattering to the ground with the smack of rotted wood. Tohma turned to leave with a sigh, walking back to his car. As he looked up, he saw the girl practically petting the car, admiring the paint job.
"Hello there, Miss Mizuki." Tohma greeted her, smiling. She looked at him, eyes wide.
"Nice ride you have here, sir." She nodded at the car.
"I'm Tohma Seguchi, of NG Records. You came to our talent call last week, I believe?"
She nodded, her messy hair hanging in front of one eye. "Yeah, I think so. What about it?"
"Would you be interested in a recording contract with our company?" She stared at him for a second, stunned.
"Dude, like, seriously? Oh, wait-" She sighed, looking disappointed. "He'd never let me." She nodded toward the shack.
"I believe we may be able to arrange something." Tohma assured her, smiling. She grinned back, running her fingers through her hair. Tohma caught a glimpse of dark bruising around her right eye, evidence of a nasty blow. Corace looked away from his stare, mumbling.
"It's nothing, I fell."
Tohma shook his head. "At least come up with a better excuse than that. What good does it do me to have a battered singer signed under me?"
"I could run away, he wouldn't notice!" Corace protested. "Please, don't let it go because of that!"
Tohma smiled. "Who said anything about letting it go? And no, you can't run away- It needs to be legal, and you need to be able to live in town."
"Well then, it seems we have a common problem. Thank you for your kindness, but it will never work out." She turned on heel, ready to walk away.
"Wait!" Tohma called. She looked over her shoulder, disappointment showing in her blue-gray eyes. "I think we can work something out."
"You invited some kid to live with us?" Mika shouted into the phone. Tohma flinched, holding it away from his ear.
"Well, it's either with us or someone else- But I don't think her living with Eiri and Shuichi would be wise, even if she would be safe from any sexual advances on Shuichi's part." He tried to reason with her.
"No, no, and no!" She yelled. Tohma sighed, leaning against the hood of the car as he waited for her rant to end. Several minutes later it ended, partially because she was out of breath.
"Mika, dear, what if I were to promise that any bad behavior on her part would be my responsibility? You wouldn't want to miss the opportunity of a new addition to my company, would you now?" Tohma smiled sweetly, adding the slightest bit of simper to his voice. Mika huffed.
"It's your head if anything happens!" She slammed the phone down with a loud click. Tohma sighed, closing his cell phone.
Corace came out of the shack, neatly sidestepping a plate aimed at her head. Tohma smiled, taking her suitcase from her hands.
"Why is this so heavy?" He asked, heaving it into the trunk.
"It's full of CDs and my laptop." She explained, grinning.
"What about your clothes?"
"What clothes?" She retorted, pulling a sweatshirt over her head. "I only have two sets."
Tohma smiled, opening the car door for her. "Here you go, Miss Mizuki." She slid in, whistling.
"Dude, the interior of this thing rocks!" Tohma laughed, closing the door before going around to the other side. Sitting in the driver's seat, he started the car.
The sun was hovering just above the horizon, preparing to set with final golden rays shining over the Japan countryside. The city was barely visible in the distance as the car cruised down the paved road. Tohma glanced over at Corace, who was staring out the window.
"There are going to be some rules, just so you know. Mrs. Seguchi wasn't entirely open to the idea of you living with us, so be on your best behavior. I trust you'll be very polite and considerate." Corace smiled, nodding.
"I will be. I'll be perfectly wonderful, I promise!" Tohma smiled at the girl's enthusiasm.
He continued to chat for several minutes about nothing in particular, until he saw that Corace had curled up and fallen asleep in the seat. He laughed softly as he saw a stuffed animal in her arms, mostly hidden by the sweatshirt she wore.
"Miss Mizuki, you will most certainly be a favorite of Ryuichi." He said to the sleeping girl. The clock on the dash blinked the time as the sky darkened to navy, then black. The bright lights of the city didn't awaken Corace as they reached the Seguchi residence, pulling into the driveway.
"Miss Mizuki?" He asked, trying to wake up the girl. Shaking his head, he went around to her side of the car. He picked her up with almost no difficulty, due in part to her slight frame. Mika opened the front door as Tohma carried her inside.
"Put her in one of the guest rooms." Mika told him. Tohma smiled, kissing his wife on the cheek.
"Thank you, Mika." He walked upstairs, grinning. Mika rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." She clapped twice, sending the hall into darkness as the lights turned off.
Corace groaned as the sun glared brightly through the window. She propped herself onto her elbows, looking around the room.
"What on earth-" She grumbled drowsily. "Where am I? Was I drinking or something last night?"
A knock sounded at the door before a woman with brown hair poked her head in.
"Good morning, Mizuki-san! Did you sleep well?"
Corace stared at her, totally thrown off. "Who are you?"
"I'm Mika Seguchi, Tohma's wife. He told me you don't have any clothes to wear. Is that right?" Corace nodded. "Well, that's great! I can take you shopping!"
Corace stared at Mika, rather frightened. "I thought you didn't like that I was moving in with you-"
"You give me an excuse to shop! I love you!" Mika pulled the sleepy girl out of bed. Corace stumbled along behind her, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Tohma sat at a table in the dining room, reading a magazine.
"Good morning, Mizuki-san!" He smiled. "It seems Mika has taken a liking to you. Your breakfast is there." He nodded to a plate across the table.
Corace practically dove across the table, devouring the food. Tohma and Mika watched in amazement as she ate.
"This is amazing! Who cooked this?" Corace exclaimed, finishing the last bits of the food. Tohma smiled.
"Why, thank you. I did."
Corace choked. "You cook? But you're so business-y and professional looking."
"Don't hurt yourself. And yes, I do. What, did you think we had a cook or something?" Tohma laughed, putting his magazine on the table.
"Well, yeah- you're like, rich, aren't you?" Corace muttered. Mika tapped her foot, impatient.
"Are you two ready to go or not?" She exclaimed. Tohma looked at his watch.
"Oh, dear, I just remembered that I have a previous engagement- I'm terribly sorry, Mika-kun, I truly wish I could come."
"The hell you do!" Mika exclaimed, dragging her husband after her. "Corace, grab the keys off the table." Corace obeyed, running after them.
"You have a Porsche key on here!"
At the mall, Mika pulled Corace out of the back of the car and led her inside. Tohma followed after, pouting slightly.
"I really don't need to be here, Mika." He simpered.
"Oh, don't worry! Noriko and Ryuichi are meeting us!" Mika grinned.
"Why on earth is Noriko coming?" Tohma inquired.
"It wouldn't be a shopping trip without Noriko! And Ryuichi can keep you entertained."
Corace looked around the mall, eyes huge. "Wow! This place is awesome! I've had dreams about malls like this! Is that a Hot Topic?"
Mika smiled widely as Noriko ran toward them. "Is this the one we're shopping for?" Noriko chirped.
"Well, of course!" Mika responded. Ryuichi smiled at Corace.
"Hi there, I'm Ryuichi! What's your name?"
Corace, rather disoriented by the sudden change in pace, smiled back. "I'm Corace! I like your bunny rabbit, he's cute!"
Mika and Noriko grabbed her arms, almost skipping as they headed towards their first store. "See you boys later!" Noriko called over her shoulder, grinning. Corace let the two drag her along, not entirely enthused.
"Okay, first we need to get you some everyday clothes-" Mika began listing off what they needed.
"Oh, and some shoes!" Noriko put in. "And then Tohma can help us with some stage outfits!"
"Some what?"
"You can't be a star if you don't have the wardrobe!" Noriko and Mika chirped in unison, giggling at their own joke. Corace sighed, rolling her eyes. The three went into the first store, where Noriko and Mika proceeded to tear through the racks.
"Try this one! And this!" In a matter of minutes, the women had coordinated about ten different outfits, each one completely different from the last.
Corace stared at herself in the mirror, amazed. "New clothes-" She exclaimed, astonished. Mika and Noriko smiled.
"But those shoes just won't do!" The salesperson announced, carrying several shoeboxes.
"Oh my god!" Corace gasped, excitement showing in her eyes. The salesperson measured her foot, getting the size just right.
"We'll take one pair of the Converse- and one of each design of that brand-" Mika listed off, directing the salesman.
Corace stared at the array with starry eyes. "Oh-"
Noriko held up a skirt-pants ensemble, grinning. "Now put this on with your new shoes, or I'll have to hurt you."
When Corace walked out to the atrium of the mall, Tohma was trying to pry Ryuichi off of the stuffed animal display in front of the toy store. Noriko and Mika pushed Corace forward, smiling proudly.
"Tohma, Ryuichi, meet the new Corace!"
Corace smiled nervously, biting her lip. Tohma looked her over, a slight smile on his face.
"You look wonderful, Miss Mizuki, except one thing-" He stopped in mid-sentence, walking behind Corace and steering her toward the other end of the mall. "Your hair is hardly in star condition." Noriko squealed as she saw where they were going.
"Mika! Get your hair done, too, this time!" Ryuichi pleaded as they entered the salon.
"This is where I get my hair done, kid." Noriko informed Corace, tugging her away from Tohma. He kept his grip on her, though, smiling at the woman behind the desk.
"Hello, Miss Shimigasi. This is my newest project, Miss Mizuki. We need some work on this one." Corace sniffed a bit at the last part of his sentence, indignant.