I don't remember if I wrote MeiMei or Meimei before, so I went with what I thought happened. Sorry if it's inconsistent, I wasn't gonna comb the previous chapters to figure this one out.

When Ichigo-san suggested to keep things slow and simple, let the major waves go while conservating their strength, Ai had thought they'd go back to days on end with little to do. Just hanging around the apartment, lying on the couch watching TV, or napping. Just like the time after the incident with Ryousuke-kun.

She was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong.

"This is, umm… How should I say it…?" Ai had a bit of a surge in odd jobs. Appearing on the set with A-chan had made people wonder if she was training new talents for Strawberry Pro, and the people in charge asked to borrow her for more experienced models to help them tidy up their skills. Then, recording and guest appearances happened for a couple of weeks before she was sent to stranger jobs. "I can't really make my voice higher pitched without sounding off."

"It's okay, Ai-kun. No need to think too much about it." Kaburagi-san had given her a job recording lines for an NPC in a mobile game, something to do with an event that was ongoing. "In fact, it's better if it's clearly your voice. Just say the lines like you're talking to your fans, I'm sure that's what people want."

"Even if my character is a little girl?"

"Yeah, no problem. It's an event character, if it was a normal NPC or a playable character… Well, things would be different. But this is more fanservice than anything else." The man explained while Ai slowly read her lines, not wanting to be caught not having read the script when she was asked if she had questions.

"Oh, okay! I can do that." Ai had her thoughts about it. But Kaburagi-san had told her exactly what she needed to know about it. Broadening her horizons was important, now that she was closer to her effective 'deadline' in her idol career. So taking these jobs seriously, no matter how small, was the obvious right way to take it. But if all she was doing was give fanservice… "Ahem! Oh~ a commandant has entered my shop! Welcome, welcome!"

That was an idol's bread and butter. Her mashed potatoes, if you will. Her… Hmmm… Her daily…

Hmmm…

Oh, well. Point was that having work to do was good, great even. It allowed Ai to exercise her mind in the things she was actually good at, carve a little more of her path in life, and it helped her get a few more moments with her fellow idols. Even if they were small ones. To exercise the things she wasn't good at, to experiment a little bit with the girls she had worked with for years.

"Why does Watanabe stand like that?" Ai had asked on one occasion, noticing the way that the girl with drills held herself on her left foot while resting the right one against her ankle.

"She's doing it again?" Kyun had lifted her face from the paper she was reading, focusing on the brunette. "Wata-mingo! You'll mess up your posture!"

"You'll catch the flu with how often you kiss boys but no one tells you anything!"

"It was only one time!"

In reality, Ai didn't really exploit those moments as much as she'd have liked. There was still some resistance, if visibly less than before the incident, but the way Nino's name loomed over the group made it so that Ai kept some distance just to be safe. She didn't want to come across as taking advantage of the girls, or that she didn't care for Nino, so maybe that was for the best.

She hadn't even invited them to hang out! And that felt like such a big first step that Ai couldn't help feeling like she wasn't making any progress, which just made her all the gladder that they were getting busy again. Even at the cost of keeping the time she had for herself at the usual minimum. It felt… Cozy. Safe. Doing her usual thing, but having a little more clarity of the things she had to do, the steps she wanted to take forward.

The cold days disappeared in a blur, just like that. Ai suspected that time would've passed in the very same way, even if she hadn't lived in the end. The clock would keep ticking, the calendar would keep changing, and another day would come where Strawberry Pro was hard at work. With or without Ai.

…

Would there always be things that were better off not being thought about?

"Ogei! Ichigo-san wants you all to check these." The pink-haired girl, Hikigaya's female friend, arrived one of those days with a stack of papers. The first candidates that had gone through since the open slot for B-Komachi had first opened.

Yeah, speaking of things that Ai didn't want to think about…

"Ah, thank you." Ai chose the office where Hikigaya and his friends had first been led to, given the space for the idols to walk around and sit if needed be. She took a small stack, there were a lot less candidates than she expected, and looked them over while she walked to sit on the desk proper. "Are these all?"

"For now." The pink-haired girl nodded.

It seemed like Ichigo-san was doing a bit of screening, or at least controlling the inscriptions somehow.

Something to ask about later.

"There haven't been any formal auditions yet, right?" Ari approached the small tack on the coffee table in the center of the room. Sitting beside MeiMei and pushing her glasses a bit further into her face. They had a thick frame, except above the lenses. Making it a bit awkward to touch; or at least, Ai didn't want to touch them, given that the edge of the glass looked sharp.

She'd know.

"Nope." Takamine followed suit, taking a small stack and smacking MeiMei on the head with it so she'd drop her phone and do as they were doing. "I guess this is management's way of telling us to do a 'preemptive' screening."

"There's a Nishikino Maki here." Ari separated one of the papers and passed it to MeiMei, who simply scoffed before stretching her hand holding it to take a picture.

"Good cosplay." Was all the girl said before crumbling the paper in her hand.

Ai didn't get it, but she didn't want to cut through their little moment. So she didn't ask what it was about.

Like, it was a joke inscription. Right? But why was it funny?

"There are no newbies here." Watanabe added after quickly going through her ten or so stacks. Everyone at least knows how to sing or dance.

"Of course not." Takamine scoffed. "You think they'd let anyone start their career with us?"

"Why not? Someone with no experience could be a hidden gem waiting to be discovered." Ai commented, checking her own papers to see if Watanabe was right.

It looked that way, yes.

"It'd be pretty awful to have someone's idol career start when we're finishing ours." Ari pointed out.

"Eh… We still have some time." Ai furrowed her brows.

The green-haired idol simply chuckled.

"Some of us."

Ai didn't know if it was a jab about Nino or not.

"Hey, Manehama-san." Kyun spoke up, lifting a paper from her bunch.

"Who's that?" The pink-haired girl had stayed, silent enough that Ai didn't fully register her. Waiting to see if she was needed in some way. "I'm not a manager though…"

"Don't sweat the small details. Look." Kyun gave the profile to the pink-haired girl, pointing at something on the upper part. "I've seen this girl in your socials. Funny, huh."

"Oh, Iroha-chan! She covers songs now? How nice…" The pink-haired girl smiled with motherly sweetness, before suddenly snapping back into reality. "Wait, huh?! Hikki didn't tell me anything about this!"

Hikki, huh. If Ai hadn't gone through such lengths to remember his full name, that nickname would've confused her a lot more. As it stood, she only needed to remind herself that she already knew who the big-chested girl was talking about.

"Eh… That guy has a lot of girls around him…" Kyun got a finger on her cheek with a faux-wondering expression on her face.

"Is that so? Then it might be difficult to keep track of all of them..." Ari nodded sagely, earning herself a glare from MeiMei. And, after a few seconds, a jab on the ribs from the girl's elbow when Ari completely ignored her. "Ow, jeez. It's a joke, girl. Relax."

"Who are we talking about, again?" Watanabe chimed in, only half-heartedly paying attention to the others.

"Guy with weird eyes." Takamine replied.

"Oh, okay. Gotchu."

"They're distinctive, not weird." Ai commented without thinking.

"You get used to them." The pink-haired girl added at the same time.

Kyun switched between the two of them quickly, like she expected something else to come out of the respective girls.

She snapped her fingers with some annoyance when neither added anything.

"Err… You were saying?" MeiMei motioned to the pink-haired girl, but said person wasn't looking at her. Annoying the idol a little while she waved her hand, trying to catch the girl's attention. "You were… Manehama?"

"Eh?" The girl stopped reading the paper and looked at MeiMei, who just sighed and pushed herself a little further back onto the couch.

"You were saying?"

"Ah, yeah. This is my kouhai from high school! Funny to see her here, hehe."

"She can sing good?" Kyun asked, dropping the previous topic without much care.

"Singing good, Kyun happy." Watanabe used a dumb and deep voice before hitting her chest gently a couple of times.

"Watanabe quiet, Kyun happy." Kyun smiled at Watanabe like a horse would, making Watanabe mimic the expression but even worse.

"You're asking for a time out in the corner, huh." Takamine glared at the two of them.

"But mooooom!" Kyun kicked the floor like Ruby sometimes did when Ai had to go out without her.

Ai glanced at the other girls, gauging how serious the fight was by their reactions. And, given that no one did more than either scoff or roll their eyes, Ai chose to let them continue with their shenanigans uninterrupted.

"Well, wouldn't be the first of your friends knocking at our door." That… That wasn't what Ai wanted to say. Yes, the meaning was there, but even she remembered how her own meeting with Hikigaya went. She should've worded it better… Welp. No choice but to continue! "…Is there anything we should know about her?"

"Eh? Not really?" The pink head tilted her head, giving Kyun the paper back. "I don't really know what you're looking for in a girl other than singing, dancing, and being cute."

"That last part might be the most important." Ai nodded to herself. "As long as she's proficient enough in the first two, practice can do the rest. But when it comes to cuteness… There's a very specific type that we're looking for."

Okay, now that was almost unsalvageable. She almost pulled something similar to the gravure idol incident… It might be true that she wanted to participate, but she should know by now how to choose her words better!

"I… I see…" It looked like the pink head didn't get, even though Ai tried to correct her wording midway.

"Yes, look at us. I think none of us is as tall as you are, for example." Ai motioned to the Ari and MeiMei while standing up herself. "There's… Ichigo-san called it group proportions, but that sounds weird."

"It's not 'cuteness' per se, but that makeup and editing can only go so far if a girl stands out too much." Takamine sighed. "Take the height thing, for example. Ai-chan's our central member, so imagine someone that's so tall that she towers over everyone. Where you do place her? To begin with, we need Nino's spot to be filled, which is oftentimes right beside or in close proximity to Ai-chan. It… It can destroy the bigger picture."

Yes! Exactly!

"And let's not even mention concerts and live photoshoots." Ai nodded vigorously, kind of excited when the pink-haired girl's expression changed into something resembling understanding. "Personality-wise… Well, that's what interviews are for."

Ichigo-san would probably need to be present, given that he was the one with the "good eye" for these sorts of things. Although Ai suspected it'd be better if the group had an interview with the candidates themselves, checking for chemistry.

Like she had been doing with Hikigaya through their meetings and texts. Although Ai hoped the results would be more… Conclusive and straightforward.

Hmmmm… Decisions, decisions…

"Well, I mean…" The pink head took out her phone, quickly tapping away while approaching the central coffee table. "Here, I have some pictures with her. I don't think I grew up all that much since then."

"Eh… Manehama was always this mature-looking…" MeiMei gave the pink-haired girl a look at made Ai go back a bit in her life. Seeing people look at Hikaru when they thought he wasn't looking.

"Ummm…"

"Uh…" Ari furrowed her brows while looking at the picture, before Kyun reached out and changed it.

"What is it?" Watanabe asked, approaching last while the owner of the phone took a step back to let them have the moment. "Oh, what a cheeky smile."

"She looks like her type is 'guys already in a relationship'." Ari frowned, sitting back on the couch while being seemingly satisfied seeing the first two pictures.

"Rude." Ai stated while the girl that owned the phone held back a choked sound, making Ai look at her with curiosity.

Kyun tried to hold back a toothy grin, pulling away as well.

"A little bit, yeah."

"How would you know?" Takamine looked a little disappointed in the green-haired idol.

That was a good question, actually.

"Experience?" Kyun added even though she had agreed with Ari's statement moments before.

Ari, in return, simply rolled her eyes.

"Why, feminine intuition. Of course."

"That doesn't count! Not here!" Kyun pointed at her. "Validate your answer!"

Ari just shrugged.

"I find your lack of experience distressing. And here I thought you were more of a people person than me."

"Wow. Okay, Hikki." The pink head stated, narrowing her eyes for a moment.

"What did you call me?" Ari snapped her face in the girl's direction, actually kind of startled.

"Nothing, nothing…" The pink-haired girl looked away, sighing smugly like Ari was being childish.

"Our cool lady is now being compared to a weird guy." Watanabe's stare was a little empty, looking at nothing in particular while Ai tried to catch up with everything that was being said. "What has my life come to…?"

"He was kind of nice." Kyun thankfully pointed that out, before Ai needed to.

"He's very much someone you get used to, not that you like from the get-go." The pink-haired girl chuckled awkwardly, scratching her back of her head like doing so. "Kind of annoying to crack… Like a coconut? Ah, you all like coconuts. Right?"

"I haven't tried one yet." Ai lifted her hand, managing to cut into the conversation at long last.

"Eh? Really?" Takamine furrowed her brows. "Not even the flavor by itself? We've been given snacks and stuff."

"No idea." Ai shook her head.

Hopefully someone would tell her to try it out later with them…

"Okay, pause." MeiMei made a T with her hands. "Does any of this change our approach? We still have the other candidates to consider."

"True." Takamine scratched her chin. "Doesn't sound too fair if we invest in someone just because Yuigahama-chan know her."

Oh, they were changing topics again? Okay then…

"True." Ai added without much excitement.

"Fine. No more fun, then." Kyun scoffed, getting to the desk and flopping on the chair. Behind Ai. "Manehama-san! Can I ask you for the usual? I'm getting peckish."

"I'm not… Okay, it's a sandwich. Right?" The pink-haired girl seemingly gave up before finishing her idea, smiling a bit to hide her annoyance.

"You know it!"

"Yeah, okay. Anyone else wants anything? I don't wanna make more than one trip."

"Can you get me one of those shakes from the shop two blocks east?" MeiMei perked up, looking at Kyun before continuing to speak. "It's that place, right? The one that has the sandwiches with garlic bread?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kyun nodded, sliding further into the chair and getting her hands on her belly.

"Okay, a shake… What kind?"

Ai turned to look at Kyun, a small frown on her face.

"Is it alright to have her buy your lunch?"

"Eh…? Why not? She's helping out, and walking a bit clears the mind." Kyun blinked once, sounding a bit surprised.

"What if she gets scolded?" Ai insisted.

"Well, I don't think it's a problem. She came through you, so I don't think Miyako-san would bother her." Kyun looked away, letting her words hang in the air for a moment. Before snapping her attention back on Ai and waving her hands as if to pacify her. "Ah! I don't mean anything bad. I just took for granted that she'd be a special case, given that I don't think Strawberry Pro even needed more personnel."

"That's…" Ai looked for the words she wanted to convey, but they refused her call. "At least don't order her around in front of everyone. It might look bad to have one of us do that in front of the other employees."

What if the girl told Hikigaya she was being bullied by one of the idols? What would Ai even be able to say?

"Eh…" Kyun considered it for a moment. "It's fine, isn't it? It's just a Senpai's prerogative to be a little more confident in handling a Kouhai."

"Even if she's older than you?"

Kyun stared at Ai blankly for a moment.

"I'm the oldest person in this room." The short-haired idol stated.

Now it was Ai's turn to stay silent for a moment.

"…Really?"

"Manehama's about 22, right? I was 2 years older than her last year." Kyun explained lazily. "Remember what Ari said: Not all of us have the same deadline."

Ah, is it hadn't been a jab at Ai's expense…

Kyun stretched her arms up with a pleased groan.

"Gotta make the best of it while it lasts." The girl sighed with a big smile when her back popped. "So I'll get that sandwich for today, okay?"

Ai looked back at the pink-haired girl taking notes in her phone.

"Guess so…"

In the end, she still didn't know anything about her fellow idols, huh.