Thanks to Reader guy, I forgot to mention it! Slightly edited the last exchange between Ai and Kyun, just so it doesn't feel like a stretch that Ai would spill out her heart due to a relatively small annoyance.

The girls had the training, the experience, the right attitude. Ichigo-san wouldn't have accepted them in B-Komachi if they didn't. They just… Needed the right push. Needed to be shown the right direction.

"Ari-chan…" Meimei didn't help Ari with her missing contact lens, but instead made her sit and hugged her face. Forcing Ari's face onto her chest while she played with the girl's hair and caressed the top of her head. "There, there… It's alright. The asshole can't annoy you here…"

They stood basically at the center of the lobby, getting weird gazes from the people walking around. While Ai and Nino stood a little farther from them. Ai didn't know why Nino hadn't sat down, but Ai felt like it was less strange if there were more girls standing around doing nothing.

It reminded Ai of her children. Of Aqua, more precisely. With how the boy would pout and try to hide his disappointment and need for comfort. Even though Ai could see straight through him, as any child would want their mother's attention. Except, something in the way Meimei ran her finger through Ari's jawlines and hair felt distinctively… Un-mother-like. So much so, that Ai had to bite back the need to correct her. Lest she shot herself in the foot by letting the girls have questions in that line of thought.

Nino wasn't faring any better, but she at least kept to herself. Muttering about how she was doing her part, and that everything was going to be alright. In a way, it made Ai feel bad. But she couldn't quite place her finger on the reason; because her situation was a direct consequence of her actions. And Ai understood the importance of disciplining meddlesome children.

"Do you want me to do that for you?" Ai still asked, pointing at the other two idols in the middle of releasing their stress.

"Eh?!" Nino flinched away from Ai. More startled than surprised, like Ai was suggesting something insane. "N-No! I'm fine!"

"Is that so? I can pat your head, if you want…"

"I'm not a child!" Nino basically bounced off her seat and walked away, getting almost everyone's attention while she tried to calm down. "I-I'll go get something to drink, okay?!"

"Mmkay~" Kyun waved while Takamine acknowledged Nino's words with a nod.

"Careful…" The two girls couldn't have been farther from each other in their reactions. With the former having a poker face with traces of annoyance while she fiddled with her phone; while Takamine looked rather worried about Ari once she was done following Nino with her sight.

"I feel so bad for her…" Takamine touched her left cheek while talking, looking more motherly than Meimei in spite of doing nothing but to express herself.

"Everyone has their own problems, huh." Ai didn't know what to say, so she simply agreed with Takamine without adding much to the conversation. As she'd have done before, wondering what would've happened if Nino accepted her offer. Would it be too much of a self-report to show off her mothering powers?

"You're just realizing that?" Watanabe didn't speak properly, like she had meant to say it just to herself. But the way that she studied Ai with her gaze made the purple-haired idol have second thoughts about that idea.

She sat on one of the couches of the lobby. Right to Kyun, whereas said girl sat right to Takamine. Who, in turn, was sitting on the couch's armrest for some reason. Even though the furniture had enough space for the three of them.

Ai pursed her lips for a fraction of a second. A moment where her instincts overrode her conscious mind; but managed to catch herself and release a wary sigh to convey her tone better. Giving in a little more terrain from her mind, however small it might actually be. Compared to how huge it felt to her.

"I mean, we all have different problems." Ai shook her head, perhaps with a bit more exaggeration than she meant. "And that is what I can't begin to grasp."

"Too used to dealing with your own life?" Kyun suggested, bringing her eyes up from her phone.

"That's one way to say it." Ai nodded with a neutral expression. "How do I help in a situation where I don't have the proper tools to do so? It bothers me."

"Even though this can all be traced back to your 'accident'?" Watanabe didn't look angry. Instead, she looked kind of disappointed. Like Ai had somehow said something stupid.

Ai tilted her head, pursing her lips.

"I'm not at fault here."

"That's not what I'm saying." Watanabe shook her head. "Doesn't it bother you that your problems are getting blown out of proportion?"

Ai blinked a couple of times.

"That's how I almost got murdered." She pointed out while joining her hands together when even the hugging girls stopped making noise after Ai dropped that bomb on them. "It's just… The way things have always been."

Watanabe shifted her place on the couch, trying to get farther from Ai. But being unable to do so because there was no further room.

"You're kinda creepy." Watanabe gave Ai a glance over, getting the attention of the other girls sharing the couch with her. "Nene-chi once said that, but I think I get it now."

"That's…" Ai didn't feel surprised or dejected. For having this kind of conversation felt almost nostalgic to her. "Not very nice."

"Nene also stole my lunch a couple of times." Takamine glared at Watanabe, eyebrows twitching like she was trying (and failing) to contain herself. "Rather poor choice of reference, Wata-chan."

"Who?" Kyun had somehow slid from the couch and now had her head resting against the backrest, forcing her own back almost completely on the place where she should be sitting down on. Interrupting Watanabe when she said 'Don't call me that!'.

Ai couldn't help wanting to tell Kyun to sit down properly, that it'd hurt her spine. The doctor had once told her that, usually, this was why parents were so insistent on correct posture. So that meant that Ai's natural mother instincts were very much on point, right?

What a beautiful thought.

"One of the first girls that filled in the three spots." Takamine shook her head.

"Apparently, it was better if we weren't an even number." Ai pointed out, jumping at the opportunity to show off her knowledge. "For posters, and choreography… I don't remember why, though."

"Ah…" Kyun scratched her chin, pondering. "No idea."

"She was one of the first to leave. Thought Ichigo-san was a creep for giving Ai-chan so much preference…" Watanabe sighed. "And here we are."

"Well, those allegations forced him to get a wife. So it's all good." Ai gave Watanabe a thumbs up. "Man is a disaster in the making outside of his office, I'll tell you that much."

"That's not the point!" Watanabe sat a little better after yelling.

"Does Miyako-san really have to deal with Ichigo-san's mess at home?" Kyun looked rather disgusted. Like they were talking about, like… Something disgusting.

"No. She bullied us into having some sense of order and neatness."

"What do you mean 'us'?" Kyun narrowed her eyes a little, giving her voice an accusatory tone.

"Oh, Did I say 'us'? I meant 'him'. My bad."

"Right…" Kyun returned her gaze to her phone, but her suspicion still did not disappear.

"Still not the point." Takamine pointed a finger at Watanabe, sounding a little tiny bit hysterical. "Let Ai-chan deal with her problems in her own way, why are you judging?"

"What do you call strange things other than strange?" Watanabe replied with some annoyance. "I'm not saying it's wrong; just unusual."

"Bottling up isn't that unusual." Ari finally spoke up, but seemingly refused to let go of Meimei when Ai turned to face her. "Sometimes, you just have to toughen up and keeping going. Y'know?"

"Can you…" Takamine closed her eyes, seemingly troubled for some unknown reason. "Can you release Meimei? Please don't talk while you face is… There."

"It's a demure pillow." Ari did not move at all. But she did get hit by Meimei on top of her head. "Ow!"

"Know what? Screw you. Go cry in a corner for all I care." Meimei forced the green-haired idol to stand up properly and dusted her clothes off like Ari was dirty. "'Demure pillow' she says…"

"You'd know all about that, huh. Rich girl-san." Watanabe looked ready to start arguing, but Ari wasn't having any of that.

The girl sighed and stretched her arms into the air. Fixing her posture and tiptoeing to properly give her back time to loosen up. Before standing properly with a satisfied sigh.

"Yeah. A proper lady is, apparently, the epitome of a picture-perfect smiling doll in spite of whatever is happening around her." Ari tilted her head to the right, then to the left. Changing sides while groaning under her breath. "Can't say I'm a fan, but it's as common as it gets."

Watanabe faced the other way. Why did she looked kind of defeated here?

"Oh, so I'm a proper lady? That's nice." Ai smiled, kind of glad that Ari had calmed down enough to talk. But still unsure as to how much they should keep this conversation related to her current problem.

"No." Ari sighed once she was done with her neck. "You're too cheerful."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry too much about it. It doesn't matter." Ari looked away, oozing dissatisfaction with her voice and expression.

"Is that guy going to keep giving us problems? I don't wanna be banned from potential jobs just because a random rich guy decided to swing by on a whim." Kyun didn't seem to think too much about the situation, so she just asked her part while she could.

"He's just worried about his daughter, maybe that's a bit unfair." Ai replied before anyone could say anything. Because she thought that keeping that negative train of thought was bad.

"Oh, he's not 'worried' about me." Ari scoffed, proving Ai wrong on her assumption. "I touched the topic a couple of times, and he didn't care. But now he remembers and cares about the modeling? No. He's just trying to make things hard for me."

"Isn't that a bit unfair?" Ai lowered her gaze, knowing full well that she was wrong once again. But still trying her hardest to get a bit more context to understand. "Why would he do that?"

Ari opened her mouth but quickly closed it again, looking away from Ai.

"Really?" Watanabe raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"I see." Ai nodded.

"Does it have to do with Ai-chan's attempt too?" Takamine tilted her head warily. "If so, I don't think it's bad for you to tell us. She'll understand."

Ai would, of course. It seemed like Takamine was taking Nino's situation far more seriously than anticipated. She was glad.

"No. He almost made me quit because of that, but given Strawberry Pro's reaction I was allowed to stick around." Ari scratched the back of her head with annoyance. "See, this is what I mean. It looks like he cares, but as soon as there's a chance that things are okay, he just completely ignores the problem. No in-between. No lingering worry or follow-up on what's happening."

"That's rough." Kyun muttered.

"There, there. Let it all out." Meimei placed a hand on Ari's shoulder before hugging her from behind. "Damn, wish Manehama was here. She's better at this than me."

"A less 'demure' pillow would definitely lift my mood." Kyun nodded sagely.

"Why?!" Ari squeaked when Meimei tightened her grip around her ribs. Turning the hug into something more of a chokehold for a moment. "I didn't say anything!"

"You thought about it, didn't you?!"

"So you're not even sure?!"

"I'm ten thousand percent sure!"

"She's, ummm, pretty nice. Isn't she?" Ai turned to face Kyun, feeling like she wasn't supposed to be there while Ari and Meimei argued.

"Oh, yeah. Totally." Kyun gave Ai an 'okay' symbol like she hadn't been implying something improper about the pink haired-girl's body. "Actually pretty cool to hang out with."

"You're growing too dependent on her." Takamine chuckled with a hand on her mouth.

"Like hell I am." Kyun lifted her phone again, tapping at it with an angy face. "Imma tell her not to buy you anything from now on."

"I bring my own lunch." Takamine scoffed with way less smugness than Ai expected. "As I said: You're too dependent on her."

"I can stop whenever I want, mom!"

"Shouldn't she be around?" Watanabe frowned, looking around like she expected the pink head to just show up from being mentioned.

"That's what I'm talking about. Kyun makes it seem like she works with us a lot. But that's just not her area." Takamine crossed her hands. "She's regular staff."

"But she should still be helping out, no?"

"Regular, Watanabe. Regular. She works in the office. Not for or around any of the talents. She's just really nice and can't say no to Kyun's childish demands."

"Well, not so regular." Kyun interrupted. "She has the day off."

"So nice…" Meimei's expression fell. "I want a day off too."

"But we're not practicing or anything?" Ai furrowed her brows.

"Yes. But dealing with assholes is super-turbo-tiring, Ai-chan."

"Meimei, please watch your mouth." Takamine looked around, like she feared that someone else had heard and would reprimand them.

"Sowwy~"

"Man, getting the rest of the day off doesn't sound bad at all." Kyun moved on her spot, resting her head on the seat that Takamine had refused to use thus far. Lying horizontally on the couch now. "I wanna try a cocktail. Something sweet, or spicy, or literally anything else."

"Hmmm…" Ari made a strange movement with her lips, like she was running her tongue through her teeth. "You're my spicy margarita, babe~"

"Ooohhhh, shut up…" Meimei laughed awkwardly, releasing the girl while she covered her face. "Don't sing."

"Aren't you two a bit too happy to drink?" Takamine looked at Ai like she had her back.

"Maybe it's tasty?" The idol suggested when she had no idea what to say.

"No one likes to drink, Ai." Kyun said without looking away from her phone. "People that drink only like to get drunk."

"That's not the case." Ari shook her head.

"Anyone that says that is too much of a snob to understand this simple truth." Kyun pointed at Ari. Still not looking away from her phone. "You're in denial, Arisa-chan!"

"Don't use my full name while we're at work." Ari growled. "We're supposed to be low-key."

"Even when your dad used it?" Ai pondered out loud.

Ari made a fist and hit the palm of her hand several times.

"I know! And if the news brings me up as anything but Ari of B-Komachi he'll throw a tantrum!"

"I… I think I'll go see what Nino-chan's doing…" Ai chose to retreat once she realized that Ari wasn't actually dealing better with the situation. There was a very real chance that she'd just make things worse if she stayed.

"She went to get something to drink, right?" Meimei turned to Ari with a smug smile. "Hey, sponsor me something."

"Ugh…" Ari looked dejected, but she didn't argue back. "Sure, go buy yourself something nice."

"Thank you, Ari-sama!" Meimei strutted toward the exit once she got the money. "Let's go, Ai-chan."

"Can you get me something?" Kyun raised her voice while the other two were departing.

"No!" Meimei pointed at herself as if she was an innocent girl playing a trick.

Ai had bought something for the director earlier. So she pretended not to hear, just so she didn't have to treat Kyun.

She silently apologized, but Ai hadn't planned to buy anything here. Unless there were plans of hanging out and eating, or something.

"Won't Ari get mad that you're asking for stuff right now?" Ai knew that, if she didn't hurry up, the walk around the hotel would be spent in awkward silence. So she tried to ask her part in the least judging way that came to mind.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Meimei gave her a cheeky smirk. "She likes to treat me. It was actually quite overwhelming at first, when she hadn't adapted to dealing with people with several less digits in their bank account."

The girl chuckled at her own joke, but it hadn't been funny to Ai. Still, she tried to make a similar sound. Just so it wouldn't be awkward. Although it came out a little plastic, even to her.

Money was, after all, no joke.

"She was kind of haughty when she first joined, right?" Maybe the last part should've been worded differently. Like Ai was sure and she just wanted Meimei to agree; but that wasn't how she thought. She wanted the confirmation, to make sure that her mind did treasure Ari in some way or form.

"Honestly? She was better behaved than some of the celebrities we've butted heads with." Meimei snapped her fingers like she had remembered something. "Remember that idol group we collab'd with like a year ago? The one that had two little girls?"

"Yeah." No, she did not.

"Well, the center girl was a bitch." Meimei seemed to realize that Ai had no idea about it, because she didn't even bother with the unknown idol's name at all. "Ari was just… Kind of unsure of how to do things by herself."

"Didn't you come after her, though?" Ai narrowed her eyes. "Sorry, it kind of blurs together after…"

"Nah, it's okay. We joined basically back to back, and you've probably seen a lot of girls come and go." Meimei stretched her arms like Ari had done in the lobby.

"Then?"

"Oh, it's just that Ari was very keen to have someone around. The others were… Kind of in that distant mood, you know?"

"Ah." Ai nodded. "Yeah. I… I understand."

"So she'd just… Flex her money!" Meimei actually cackled for a bit. So much so, that she stopped walking and focused on bending and hugging herself. "Imagine this girl, half-showing off her ample knowledge of fancy restaurants and half-failing to actually ask whether I'd like to go anywhere or not!"

"Ugh…!" Ai grabbed the neck of her blouse with an awkward smile. "I mean…! Yeah! That's kinda lame, isn't it?!"

"It was, like, super awkward!" Meimei shook her head before resuming to walk. "Ah, I moved to Tokyo proper when I joined B-Komachi. So not only did I have no idea what this random rich girl was talking about, I was just settling in back then."

"Hmmm, I probably rejected hanging out with Ari back then…"

"You did."

"I probably rejected hanging out with Ari back then…"

"Oh, okay. So we're pretending it's not obvious. My bad."

"Not like I had a lot of time." Ai pursed her lips. "I don't know where Ichigo-san found any of you. I just know that I couldn't do less than give it my all so that I wouldn't be floored."

"Oh, please." Meimei scoffed. "Really? Ai-chan thinks she's less than stellar in this?"

"I am the best, because I have perfected my craft." Ai smiled with the fondness of someone remembering a precious memory. Although she couldn't recall most of her coaches or any specific lessons. "I just had less things on the way to devote myself to work."

"Yeah, that's… Kind of the vibe I've been getting thus far." Meimei furrowed her brows. "Well, at least you're devoting yourself to your calling?"

"Doesn't everyone?" Ai deflected.

"Not a chance." Meimei scoffed. "To begin with, even with an opportunity. It's very rare that people get to try to follow their dreams."

"So you didn't dream of being an idol?"

"I wanted bragging right that I was in a famous group." Meimei smirked and lifted her chin, proud of herself.

"You sound like Komachi-chan now."

"Please, don't compare me to Iroha-chan. That sounds like her." Two girls approached the idols from the upper side of the staircase that they were about to take.

"Hey!" The light brunette protested, but Ai didn't get a chance to hear her out. Because Meimei interrupted with some excitement.

"Hey! The homewrecking cat! What's up, babygirl?"

"Eh… So they already know you by heart." A-chan touched her chin, pensive.

"Shut it! Senpai's finally free pickings. I've done nothing wrong here!"

Finally?

"So you understand very well what we're talking about." A-chan looked unamused at her companion. "Impressive."

What did she mean 'finally'? Ai had heard nothing about him being unavailable before.

"There's a degree of shamelessness needed to become famous, after all~" Meimei purred.

In fact, hadn't he said he didn't have a partner? Ai remembered that quite well... Although, at that point, she hadn't wanted to talk about what happened before they met each other...

"I…" The brunette sighed, defeated. "Yeah."

"Agreed." A-chan nodded and made no further comment on the previous topic, nor did she look bothered or surprised by the slip.

She knew.

Had she looked at Ai for a moment because of it? Was that in her mind?

"Oh, so it's common sense?" Ai clapped her hands together, choosing to keep up with the topic before she could be left behind. "Don't know why Takamine's so…"

"Close-minded?" Meimei suggested.

"Yeah."

"Dunno. Some people just don't get it."

"Did you finish your part already?" A-chan interrupted, walking down the flight of stairs to get out of the way.

"Errr… I think we're supposed to take some pictures during the sunset." Ai scratched her forehead while thinking. "But we're waiting it out until the meddlesome adults leave for now."

"Oh, okay then." A-chan nodded. "I'll go with Miura-san to grab a bite. I guess we'll see you later?"

"Sure." Ai beamed. "Did you go talk to Ichigo-san?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen after we were done." A-chan tilted her head with some embarrassment. "I… Might've messed up."

"Amateurs." The brunette scoffed.

"You could've totally called me. I would've helped you as much as I could!" Ai wanted to take the girl's hands between hers, but decided against it. Just because she wasn't sure whether that'd be acceptable here or not.

"…Thanks." A-chan looked away in a way that reminded Ai of her brother. "Were you looking for him?"

"Yeah. I need some money." Ai's words made Meimei press her lips tightly, while a huge grin stretched her face.

When she couldn't hold it like that, she chose to cover her lower face and look away.

"What?"

"Kyun wanted something to drink, but I don't have change on me." Ai shook her head. "I wanted to see if Ichigo-san had any."

"Is that why Nino was around here too?" A-chan looked weirded out, but Ai had no answer for her. As she, too, didn't understand what she was hearing.

"What?"

"She was looking for the Saitou." The brunette explained. "But the boss is dealing with a mighty migraine right now, and the wife is not here either."

"Something about dealing with a couple of troublemakers?" A-chan stared holes into Ai's face.

The twins. Miyako-san left to do something with the twins? Why?

"I think your girl was looking for Miyako-san, though." The brunette frowned. "Kinda feels like looking for the boss was an excuse."

"Why?" Meimei furrowed her brows.

"Dunno. She feels kinda slimy, y'know."

"Rich coming from you." Meimei deadpanned.

"Hey! I'm not up to anything, okay?!" The brunette put up her hands to make a big cross in front of herself. "I just like attention and easy money!"

Ai wasn't sure what to think of that, so she just made a mental note about it.

"Careful." A-chan murmured, far more serious than before.

"Extra careful." Ai nodded.

"Cool." A-chan motioned with her head to the hallway that Ai had come through. "Let's go, Iroha-chan. I'm starving."

"Ummm…" Meimei looked back when the other two girls disappeared into the lower floor. Giving Ai a questioning look as soon as they arrived at Ichigo-san's room. "What was that about?"

Ai turned to look at Meimei with utmost seriousness.

"She wants me to stay away from her brother."

Meimei opened her mouth to say something, but slowly closed it as Ai's words settled in.

"Fair enough."

"No. No, it isn't!"

"Aww, look at you!" Meimei patted Ai on the back. "I'm so glad you're here with us."

…

What did that have to do with anything?

"Me too." Ai sighed. "Glad I'm getting to know you girls."