>>5629403You glance at the clock. Is it already this late?
Suppose you can ask your new idols about their attendance in person soon enough.
Rolling your shoulder, you become aware of your fatigue.
Walking on eggshells as you try to help Kaiba without tipping her off and getting guilt-tripped by Kitabayashi is tiring.
Hopefully a coffee and something sweet out of a vending machine will help your energy levels.
You set on off toward the break room.
-------
It seems like you weren’t the only person we could use a pick-me-up.
You haven’t met in person, but a young girl with two long twin-drills is currently trying to bully the coffee machine into giving her the beverage she wants.
Though, bullying might be too strong a word for it, she’s practically pleading with the machine.
<span class="mu-g">“Stop adding cream,”</span> the girls shouts, <span class="mu-g">“Please!”</span>
The machine finishes what seems to be the wrong order and the girl grumbles.
She only notices you when she turns to pour the coffee down the drain.
Ichihara Riko is a girl that unceremoniously ended a different idol’s career.
It was chalked up to mistakes and youthful ignorance, but the fact she later skulked around Kaiba’s chatrooms tells a different story.
Naturally, you expected somebody haughty or full of themselves.
The girl in front of you is nothing like that at all, instead she’s struggling to retain eye-contact with you.
<span class="mu-g">”Ah,”</span> she says, <span class="mu-g">“N-nagata-san, right?”</span>
<span class="mu-g">“Yes,”</span> you reply, folding your arms, <span class="mu-g">“If I’m not mistaken, you’re Ichihara Riko, right?”</span>
There are no pleasantries here, you both know what she did.
She nods, then bows a little, <span class="mu-g">“Nice to meet you,”</span> she says, <span class="mu-g">“I apologize for my past behaviour, I’ve been working on myself since and I’m hoping we can leave the past in the past.”</span>
An apology won’t bring back Maki Sumi’s career, but you suppose it’s a start.
You’re not one to hold a grudge, but you can’t get yourself to simply forgive the girl – even if she seems to regret her actions.
Perhaps she’s only sorry because you caught her on her second account and tipped off her manager.
Stil, whatever the reason, she seems far more timid than anticipated.
<span class="mu-g">“Just try and do better from here on out, “you say, then sigh and relax, “I look forward to working with you.”
You glance at the small stack of empty paper cups on the counter next to her, “Coffee machine giving you trouble?”
Ichihara Riko nods, “I’m trying to get an espresso with a bunch of sugar and no milk,” she says, “But the machine is being difficult…”
It’s not a big deal, but you can actually see the girl tremble.</span>
