“Say what?!” Ranko sat up on her bed, bracing her ribs with her hand.

Mei waved a black business card in the air. “This guy, he was at the Christmas show. He video taped part of it and showed his company or something. He’s with a talent agency!” 

The younger girl blinked. “Yeah?”

Mei nodded rapidly, her electric blue pigtails bobbing on her shoulders. “They want to see more of you. They said they might want to work with you!” 

The redhead’s eyes widened, and she held her head in her hands. “I just… what?!” Could this really be happening? She’d been daydreaming about the idea for weeks now, but singing as a career seemed about as unrealistic a dream as becoming an astronaut. Certainly nothing approaching the “plan” Hana had wanted her to make for herself. “There’s no way. Right?”

“From the way this guy was talking, they were bummed you weren’t out there tonight. He wanted us to let him know when you’d be on stage again so he could come by.” 

“Did he say anything else?” 

Mei shrugged. “He said he thinks you, little sister, might have a future as a pop idol.” 

Ranko flopped back on her bed, exhaling deeply as she stared at the ceiling and tried to somehow take in what was being said. She didn’t know how she felt about idoldom; that might be a little bit over the top girly-wise for her. But singing for a career, and not having to worry about being behind academically? Having a career where being a woman wouldn’t hinder her, like she expected most would? Making enough money to take care of Akane? That was appealing indeed. “What do we do next?”

Mei grinned. “We pick a date, we call the guy, and we put on one hell of a show.”

The songstress grinned, making a little bed angel in the pink duvet cover to burn off some of her excited energy, ignoring her sore ribs for the moment. “Let’s do it!” 

Mei squealed with excitement. “I need to get back downstairs. But, my gods, Ranko, I’m so happy for you!” She stepped out of the room and closed the door, and Ranko rolled over onto her stomach on the bed, kicking her legs behind herself. She could barely sit still. She couldn’t wait to tell Akane. Gods – she’d become so preoccupied with the new development, she had let Akane and the plan slip out of her mind! But, if anyone could beat her father, Akane could.