Oshi No Ko FanFic (A Spiteful Reincarnation)

Chapter 15: Ruby Scouted and Becomes an Idol

This chapter has been rewritten a lot just to keep it appropriate.
If you don't want to read Mariko's eventful night just skip to the bold text —> "Ruby next Afternoon"
There are only insinuations.

Mariko headed to the location of the underground idol group's performance. No, she was not performing tonight obviously. She was just there to observe and then join backstage to talk with the manager after the first song. This is where they would negotiate the contract, and most likely Mariko would have to give a little dance performance of her own before finalization. Mariko didn't even have any intention of signing the contract, but she needs to go through the motions and get some pictures. However, seeing that she most likely had to dance, she dressed in a short sleeve bodysuit, and joggers underneath her massive jacket. This was a risk. If this manager was as unprofessional as he was made out to be in the manga and anime, she might just go home having taken a bunch of photos of his interactions with herself instead. Obviously she didn't know that there were multiple managers. The problem was that these were the only clothes she had that could give her the best mobility for dancing around in.

Mariko didn't care enough about the idol performances to know if what she was seeing was good, average, or bad. This did make her feel a little nostalgic. She never had the time to go back and watch Ai's performances. She spent a lot of the time before her seventh birthday trying to hold things together. Figuring out how to manipulate Ichigo to stay around, and how to keep B-Komachi from disbanding. It was quite the difficult task. She had to work through Miyako, and just give her ideas, but not directly. She acted like she was talking to herself but in reality she was telling her mother what to do. Obviously, she failed by her seventh birthday but she became busy with other stuff. Stuff that she didn't want to think about. As she brought herself out of self reflection, her attention returned to the stage. "I guess the audience appreciates it and that is all that matters." Mariko thought to herself as she made her way towards the back. One of the managers from Iribe led her into a room. The first thing Mariko noticed was the stack of papers that was in front of her. "Black company for sure. They are just going to let me sign my life away without any witnesses." Mariko thought to herself as she thumbed through the pages. Once she finished reading it she knew that none of the kids here got a good deal. "You have to prove your skill before contract negotiations begin."

Mariko dragged a chair near a small mirror near the back of the room. She slipped out of her jacket and placed it on the chair in such a way that her two phones could capture her back and her reflection in the mirror. Then she walked up to the small mirror and began imitating the dance move she had seen all too often as a child. The man watching her made no sound and eventually she just tuned him out entirely. She wanted to recapture her past of goofing off in front of the mirror in her mothers dance studio. That is when she was brought back to reality by a man's voice saying, "You are good, but the movement feels a bit stiff. Try and loosen up a bit." After hearing this critique. Mariko tried to loosen up but she found it extremely difficult. As she continued to struggle with loosening up she heard him say, "Here let me help." Before she could respond she felt his fingers closing around her arm. He continued, "Now relax your arm." As he said this he began to oscillate her hand up and down. "If there is resistance your hand will not follow through, so relax your arm." As he continued to wave her limb she slowly stopped resisting the movement and allowed her movements to become completely fluid. "There you got it." He said as he released his grip. She started her routine over as the manager walked out of view of the mirror.

The manager didn't seem to have any more input for a while. "All I have to do is catch one of these managers being unprofessional to one of the talents and I am done." She thought to herself. Out of the blue she was told to stop. "Hold that pose." The voice of the man demanded. She stilled holding her position as the man walked back into view. He seemed to study her for a moment before saying, "I would be glad to help you perfectly execute this move." Mariko just gave him a slight nod.