Kronii had been thrilled at the opportunity to collaborate with her senpai.
Even if it was on a song—while she was confident in her speaking voice, she always said that her singing left a lot to be desired.
Still, Calliope Mori was nothing if not persistent—you supposed Death had to be.
Kronii felt more comfortable helping her senpai by mixing the audio for the track—she wasn't an expert, but it made her feel useful and kept her from feeling nervous about the rest of it.
You were only really there as a technicality—as Kronii's manager, you needed to be present for collaborations hosted outside a member's home, after that one incident. Well, it could've been Mori's manager, but she was busy, apparently.
The two of you had gotten to the studio first, and Kronii was busying herself with the… big panel of dials. You didn't know what it was called. A switchboard? God, you were old.
"Hey." You grab her attention, stopping her from fiddling with the audio levels again. "I think it's fine."
"It could be better," she tells you, sighing. You give her a look, and she relents.
"I get it, you're nervous." This was the first offline collaboration she'd had with somebody outside of her generation, after all. "That's normal."
"I'm not nervous!" she insists, lying through her teeth.
"Well then there's no need to mess with the noise gate, right?" you shrug. She exhales angrily, something not unlike a growl, and turns away from you, her chair spinning as she returns to her task.
An awkward silence grows. You pull out your phone, checking for any messages. You'd been here for nearly fifteen minutes.
"Yo yo yo! What's up, my dudes?!" The boisterous reaper steps through the door just as you think to ask where she was. She sports a wide grin. "How's it goin'?"
"Good morning." You nod in greeting—Kronii's a bit slower to react, but manages to compose herself.
The recording session goes… mostly smoothly. Honestly, though it may seem strange for somebody in your position, you're not great at Japanese, so you don't catch most of Mori's lyrics—they're rapped too fast for you to understand.
Still, she's obviously very comfortable in the recording booth—it's admirable to watch.
"Hey." Kronii pokes you, seeming annoyed about something, and you tear your eyes away from the pink-haired shinigami.
"Hm? Is there a problem?"
"Uh, yeah, I'd say so." She sighs. "You're staring at her." You start—you hadn't even noticed. "It's kind of creepy, really."
"Oh! Uh, I'm sorry, I was just caught up in the process." You stumble for an excuse—you hadn't thought you were leering, just fascinated by teh experience.
"Hmph." Kronii turns her nose up at you. "Whatever." She returns to her seat, alternating between glaring at you and checking the recording as the reaper launches into another take.
You can't quite make it out, but you think you hear her mumble something under her breath.
"Supposed to be my manager. Where does he get off, looking at other girls so much?" A click of the tongue. "I'll have to fix that."

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Pub: 05 Sep 2021 08:12 UTC
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