First Interview of the Year (INVITE ONLY)

[Mayu Kisaki]

Mayu was staring again, gawking vacantly at the sexy legs belonging to the agency's receptionists as they strode passed the glass interview office in their pencil skirts. Before that, she'd spent at least ten minutes watching the firm backside of a soloist who GEM was training, all while having a blank look on her little face. Outwardly her expression was placid, harmless and perhaps even innocent. But inside, the turbulent waves of envy crashed against her walls of insecurities.  In truth, she hadn't ever thought so much about her appearance since that day not too long ago when one of the producers proposed getting botox injections in her thighs. Of course Mayu was offended, but not for the reasons you may be thinking. Her comrade in GEM247, (curvaceous but confident Rinko,) immediately came into her mind during the discussion. How long before they ask her to do the same - if they haven't already? "Please give us time, I will work harder and you will see a change." But as idols, its not as if they really have a choice in the matter. Sooner or later, it was going to be: 'your body needs to look like this or you're out.' The idol's sharp eyes continued to gaze out of the room as she waited for her peers who would be joining the interview session. There was a nauseating feeling in her stomach, although food would have to come later. She patiently reached out onto the table and took a sip of water from a paper cup, eying the clock on the wall. The reporter was not due for at least another 10 minutes by her count. Although there was still time, she silently hoped that Rinko and Yuki were finishing off their lunch and on their way to the assigned room. Mentally, she wanted to prepare for questions the mystery journalist might want to ask them - but without thinking about it, her coin purse was already in her hands and she was looking down and admiring a small sticker photo no bigger than her thumb. (Mayu hadn't really found a place to stick it yet.) It wasn't often that she was able to talk casually and idly to her peers about random stuff that has nothing to do with singing or dancing or performing or meetings... Spending time with Ricchan on New Years Day was... admittedly... kind of a nice break.

❤heart

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

Rinko Shiraishi Yuki Minase Lambourne Halliday

[Yuki Minase]

Ready to Rock It was annoying how little free time she seemed to have. School was already long enough without needing to practice songs and dances and putting on performances. Sure, it could be fun, certainly, but it didn't seem like there was any time for herself, to watch anime, read, play games and draw. So, sometimes she had to be creative. In this case, she'd ended up bringing along an art compilation book of various mecha from across the ages, studying the various designs while she ate. It was fortunate that she'd set an alarm on her phone about the interview she was supposed to do today. First interview of the year, actually. Yuki quickly finished the rest of her lunch and dashed off to where she was supposed to be. It took her a moment to realise she wasn't actually late and she slowed her pace, narrowly avoiding a tall receptionist. "Sorry~!" She quickly said as she skirted around them, and saw that she was at her destination.  Mayu-san's here already. That's our leader! She looked through the glass and noticed she was looking at something small in her hand. Even if she'd posted on Rinko's blog, she didn't manage to put two and two together. Besides, she'd read that quite late at night on a whim. She opened the door in her usual loud way. "Yo!" Yuki called to the leader and waved with her free hand, her other holding the large art book close to her body. "What'cha lookin' at?" She asked as she took a seat next to her, mildly curious. There was still a bit of time before the interview with... what's his name... she was sure she knew this morning... either way, there should be time to chat a bit.

► Poor Mayu! That's not something  any teen  should have to hear.

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF BTN AND GS

[Rinko Shiraishi]

_{we'll be the} stars _{we were} always _{meant to be}

Thing is, Rinko never really stopped thinking about how she looked. That was how she became so skilled at doing her makeup in the first place. The weight was just another layer to the situation, and sometimes she was fine with it, but of course because she was always reminded to eat less, eat better, and exercise more, she always felt that she needed to work harder, especially since she was being scrutinized by millions of people. She'd lose weight, then slip up. Rinko should never be so comfortable given her situation, and yet she still managed to relax for a few moments before being berated for the excess weight she should have lost a long time ago. Again.

After lunch (and it wasn't adjusted for any diet, but maybe she should tell her mom that she wanted to eat less as her new year's resolution? She's tried before, but she obviously never kept it for long enough), Rinko strode towards the interview room holding her heavily-decorated phone, her face never leaving the screen as she rapidly sent out text after text before opening her Ameba app to check her blog notifications and play one of their mobile games. Even as she approached the door Rinko was still focused on her phone, depending on her peripherals to guide her way and not bump into anything or anyone.

"Hey," she greeted, making her way towards an empty seat as she wrapped up her battle, frowning slightly due to losing to an opponent two levels lower than she was. She closed the app and finally looked up at the others, but she was still fidgeting with her phone, flipping the device over and over in her hands, letting the rhinestones sparkle in the light. She couldn't see what Mayu was looking at (money? But why?) but apparently Yuki saw something interesting. Maybe they were talking about something before she arrived, Rinko didn't know.

Though she glanced over for a second, Rinko was more interested in her nails and held her hand out to examine them from a distance. She made the set herself, with real lace and 3D plastic bows, but she wanted them professionally done next time. Sighing, she put her hand down and continued turning her phone around in her hands. "First interview this year," she stated obviously, more to herself than to the others, "maybe there'll be more interesting questions this time...anyway, is there anything new with you?" The question sounded silly, especially since they spend a good amount of time together and she did read Yuki's most recent blog post...but Rinko just wanted to talk. She always just wanted to talk, didn't she?

"Hey, do you wanna go shopping afterwards? I want a new scarf. I can't believe I forgot to look for scarves! I even made a list of the stuff I wanted to buy during sale season..." If she just spent half her energy talking and used it to exercise, Rinko would probably be able to keep her weight down to the idol ideal. But wasn't it good to be a bit different, anyway? She was grasping at straws here when she shouldn't even be thinking that way at all, not even a little.