One Man Band System

Tania seemed to process what Eric was saying, searching his calm face across from her. But before Tania could speak, Eric cut in.

"Emma would be joining you along with two other girls. If you do this, all of you start on equal footing—no one gets left behind, and no one overshadows anyone else. Everyone has their own role to play," Eric said.

Hearing Eric’s words, Tania’s eyes widened slightly before she regained her composure a few seconds later. She then looked down, appearing to regret something, which Eric naturally picked up on.

"Emma is fine with it... she never saw you as an enemy... at least as far as I know," Eric offered.

Tania lifted her head back up, though Eric’s words did nothing to alter the expression on her face.

"But... I was always so harsh toward her... would she even accept me?" Tania asked.

"Ah... so that’s what you’re worried about. I don’t have an answer for that, but if you want to meet with her, I can set it up," Eric answered casually.

"I see," Tania said, watching Eric.

The two lapsed back into silence for a moment, sipping their drinks. The cafe was starting to fill up as local employees dropped by to spend their break there.

"So besides Emma, who else is in the group?" Tania asked.

"Hmm... first, my younger sister, her name is Ruby. She can sing and dance. Then there’s one more person you know," Eric answered.

"Huh... someone I know?" Tania asked, confused.

"Yeah, your cousin’s girlfriend... who also happens to be my cousin, Jade... you know her, right?" Eric asked Tania.

Tania pondered for a second before instantly realizing who Eric meant, giving a nod to answer his question.

"Well... neither of them has given me a firm answer yet, but I brought it up to them yesterday," Eric added.

"Is that so," Tania murmured, lost in thought.

Eric waited on her again, but this time he glanced at his watch out in the open, a gesture Tania immediately picked up on.

"Do you have another appointment?" she asked directly.

"No... I’m heading out to pick up Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura from school. Want to tag along?" Eric turned the question back on her.

"Huh... tag along?" Tania asked, startled, completely caught off guard that Eric would invite her to pick up the girls.

"Relax, I’m not forcing you, but if we’re really going to work together, it’s better if we start building chemistry from the ground up, right?" Eric said, noticing the confused look on Tania’s face.

Tania needed only a brief moment to think it over. She grabbed her cup, downed the rest of her coffee, and set it down.

"Okay... let’s go," she said, her eyes burning with resolve.

"Awesome. I like your spirit, let me grab the check and we can roll," Eric replied.

Eric finished off his coffee, tossed some cash onto the table, and they headed out, driving straight toward the girls’ school without making any detours.

***

Back in the present, after Emma, Chloe, Priya, Monica, Heidi, and Laura heard Eric’s explanation, they all turned to look at Tania. Tania didn’t flinch in the slightest—she kept her hands resting on her hips and her chin tilted slightly upward. "Sigh," Emma let out a breath and walked over toward Tania. This time, Tania flinched just a bit.

"What do you want?" Tania asked, staring at Emma, her expression shifting.

Unexpectedly, Emma extended her hand toward Tania. The gesture left Tania feeling a mix of confusion, relief, and complete bewilderment all at once. She stared at Emma, whose face remained impassive while her eyes locked onto hers.

"Um... what is this?" Tania asked.

"You want to join, right? Why are you hesitating now? Scared or nervous?" Emma asked, a villainous smirk spreading across her face as she teased Tania.

Seeing Emma’s expression, Tania knitted her brows and shot her a sharp glare, though a cynical smirk formed on her lips as well. She raised her hand and gripped Emma’s firmly.

"Who are you calling scared... from now on, I’m standing on the exact same stage as you... and don’t forget, we have our semifinal match in two weeks," Tania said with a smirk.

"Yeah... rivals forever," Emma replied with a smile.

Then Emma pulled Ruby out from the group of girls and led her right up to Tania.

"Meet Eric’s younger sister—her name is Ruby," Emma introduced.

"H... hi," Ruby said, extending her hand.

"Hello, Ruby. So you’re Eric’s younger sister—he mentioned earlier that his sister would be joining too," Tania said, shaking Ruby’s hand.

Hearing Tania’s words, Ruby’s face turned into a picture of shock. She turned to look at Eric, who was leaning against his car watching her, Emma, and Tania, flanked by five girls from The Empress. When Eric’s eyes met Ruby’s, he nodded at her with a warm smile on his face.

Before she even realized it, tears began welling up in Ruby’s eyes. Suddenly, a massive weight lifted from her heart, Eric had acknowledged her as his younger sister again. Seeing Ruby’s eyes grow wet as she wiped them, Emma’s and Tania’s expressions immediately shifted.

"He... hey, what’s wrong?" Tania asked, panicking.

"Oh man... what’s wrong now? Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday or something?" Emma asked nervously.

"What happened yesterday?" Tania asked.

"Long story, I’ll tell you later," Emma replied.

In the end, they all rallied around to comfort Ruby, mistakenly thinking she was still shaken up by the incident that almost happened to her a week ago. Once Ruby calmed down, she looked at Emma and Tania, wearing a bright, unburdened smile.

"I hope the three of us can work well together," Ruby said.

"Yeah... it’s great to be working with you, Ruby," Tania said.

"Same here... but... have you told Eric yet that you’re accepting his offer?" Emma asked.

"Oh... not yet," Ruby said, only just realizing she hadn’t talked to Eric yet.

"Well... go tell him then," Emma replied.

Emma then pushed Ruby over toward Eric, who stood with his arms linked by Chloe and Heidi, while Monica, Priya, and Laura flanked them on either side.

"Um... Eric, about your offer..."

"Alright... welcome aboard. I already heard from them," Eric said, cutting Ruby off as he extended his hand toward her.

Ruby froze, staring at Eric’s outstretched hand in front of her. Then her hands balled into fists and her head drooped. Her body and lips trembled, tears streaming down her face until finally, thump, Ruby lunged forward and threw her arms around Eric. Eric caught her instantly, wrapping his arms right back around her.

"Waaah... waaaah," Ruby sobbed uncontrollably into Eric’s chest. Naturally, Emma, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura all broke into soft smiles, quietly watching Ruby hold Eric tight. Tania was the only one who didn’t know the whole story, but she stayed silent and didn’t say a word. Eric patted Ruby’s head gently.

"You really haven’t changed a bit, have you?" Eric said.

"I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have joined in on blaming you back then... I’m sorry I helped Vivian cheat on you with Jason and betray you... I’m sorry... I should have told you everything and stood up for you when you were falsely accused and thrown out... I’m so sorry... I’m sorry... big brother," Ruby cried out.

"Drop it... everything you just listed is in the past now, it doesn’t mean a thing to me anymore... so let’s not bring it up again, okay?" Eric said calmly, stroking his sister’s hair.

"Okay... big brother... okay," Ruby said, still weeping.

They stayed locked in that hug for a few moments longer, with the six girls putting their arms around one another as they watched the two. Monica, Priya, and Laura even shed a few tears, though they quickly wiped them away. But out of nowhere,

"Um... excuse me,"

Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura turned around. They saw Tania standing behind them, acting shy and twirling one of her pigtails between her fingers, completely ruining the moment. Emma could only shake her head, though she smiled.

"Um... can I introduce myself? I’m a big fan of yours," Tania said, extending her hand.

Seeing Tania’s hand, Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura naturally glanced at one another, then smiled and swarmed Tania, pulling her into a group hug all at once. It made Tania’s face turn bright red, having never expected to be hugged by her idols.

"Whoa," she blurted out.

"We already know who you are. Welcome aboard," Monica said.

"Yeah... now we’re heading to the top together," Priya added.

"Don’t be shy around us. You’re Emma’s friend, so even though we just met, we’re already friends," Heidi said.

"Yep, Heidi’s right. Completely agree," Laura chimed in.

"Your name is Tania, right? I hope we can work well together," Chloe said.

"Yes... thank you, everyone," Tania said cheerfully.

Then, out of nowhere, the air turned ice-cold in an instant. Tania, trapped right in the middle, suddenly felt confused and then utterly terrified, because Chloe, Monica, Priya, Heidi, and Laura were all staring at her with cold expressions, even while keeping their smiles intact.

"Just don’t go trying anything with Eric, okay? He’s ours," all five of them said.

"Oh... okay... hahahaha," Tania said, darting a glance at Emma.

"He’s mine too, so don’t get any wild ideas," Emma added.

"Eek... fine," Tania replied, surrendering completely as she realized six against one was an unwinnable fight, plus, they had her completely surrounded with no room to run.