Good Job (1)

Back at the Suzuki's mansion, Aria was equally nervous as she watched the competition on TV. When she had seen her sister's performance earlier on, it had reaffirmed her decision to get into show business. Even though it made her feel incredibly petty, the thought of finally beating Emma at something and showing her parents she was just as good would not leave her mind. Shaking her head, she looked back at the TV just to see that instead of the broadcast, it had a live announcement from Golden Stars playing.

The host of the show was speaking without a drop of nervousness on his face. "We're sorry everybody, there is a temporary issue with the broadcast so we're going to be having a short break. Don't worry, they've paused the contestants so you won't be missing anything!" He turned and looked at his co-host who seemed to be just as lively as he was.

"So, John, what did you think of them all so far?" The other host spoke, his most memorable trait being bright pink long hair that drew your attention away from the rest of him. Much like his co-host, he could certainly be considered attractive, but he lacked a memorable quality except that provided by his hair.

"I dunno, Matthew, they've all seemed pretty good... but did you see that first group, Royal Harmony? They were just incredible." The first host, John, recognizable by his curly black hair and pink glasses that matched Matthew's hair. After he spoke, the scene switched to a clip from their earlier entrance performance that looked up to the quality of a professional idol group. They were even wearing matching costumes that oddly resembled high school cheer team outfits.

Having to see her sister's annoying face again, Aria pouted and turned away from the screen until she heard the host speaking again.

"Well everyone, we've just been told that the broadcast is fixed now, so you'll be going back to the Newpark Competition, Enjoy!~"

The screen switched back to the competition right as Aria turned back to facing it and she saw the same boy who had been cut off earlier performing once again. Although she hated to admit it, she could tell he was nearly as good as Aika and was going to be serious competition unlike the other 3 people she'd seen who passed individually so far.

When the judges announced their decision, she nodded in agreement with them and felt a small bit of pride that she predicted accurately. So far, every time she had thought someone would get through they did and every time she thought they would fail, they failed.

Shortly after, Aika walked up onto the stage and onto the broadcast, making Aria's heart skip a beat when she saw her. Compared to Aika, she couldn't help but think that the rest of the people there all fell incredibly sub par.

The second Aika began performing, Aria nodded to herself repeatedly reaffirming her previous belief that Aika was absolutely 10000 times better than everyone else there. Mentally, Aria imagined every single movement or word right before it happened, having watched Aika perform this exact song dozens of times in just the past several days.

After she finished and Aria heard the judges announcement, she finally let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and felt incredibly relieved. Aika and gotten past the entrance competition, so now it should be easy, right?

"Wow, Matthew. Those last two solos were incredible, it looks like things are going to be exciting this year."

Tired of watching TV and especially not interested in watching the two hosts, Aria shut off the TV and called out. "Suzy! Come here!"

Several moments later, the brunette curly haired shorty head of staff, Suzy, came running into the room. "Is something wrong?" In truth, Aria was shorter than Suzy by several centimeters, but she refused to admit that she was actually the shorter one.

Aria shook her head and smiled at the kind older woman. "No! Aika got in! Here... help me plan..."

An hour later, the two had finished planning a small celebration and Suzy had the staff set up everything while she sat and chatted with Aria. The two got along quite well with each other despite their different statuses as a guest and as head of staff. Part of their natural like for each other was having someone who was mostly in the same boat as them in terms of height and they could complain together about how they aren't short and everyone else is just tall.

They had just met that afternoon, but they both already considered each other something of a companion, if not yet friends. Soon, the sound of a car pulling up outside the house broke them out of their conversation and Aria watched the door in anticipation while Suzy left to join the rest of the staff and pretend she hadn't just slacked off for an hour while everyone else worked.