The week flew by. We finished the fifth song—called Forever Gravity—and spent enough time to learn it properly as well as to practice the other songs.
Then Saturday evening arrived. Aki, Professor Fuku, and I planned to meet outside of the apartment buildings. I was completely fine, but I started to get nervous as I walked there. I couldn't understand why since I had stopped thinking about Professor Fuku as a crush. It felt like I was cheating.
Aki and Professor Fuku were chatting when I arrived. They wore very elegant dresses. They had told me to wear something nice as well, so I wore one of the fanciest outfits Aki chose for me.
"Look at that gentleman over there," Professor Fuku smirked.
"Right? I knew that outfit would fit him," Aki said.
Edited by RedPandaChick
Sunday arrived and it was time to go to Kiku's café. We prepared everything just as we had last time and the girls performed in front of even more people. The tables were all occupied and some people even had to stand. Jun and Tomokazu were there again too. The performance went great. People seemed to like the latest song—Forever Gravity—and we added an intermission so the girls could chat more with their audience. There were no accidents and I didn't notice any details that needed to be addressed. The girls and I chatted in the storage room afterward, delighted with the results. We also talked about how the mysterious guy from the previous week hadn't appeared again. They felt a bit sad about it, thinking he didn't like them anymore, but I told them that there could be many reasons for his lack of presence. Still, they seemed sad.
A picture of Sanae and Risa performing at Kiku's café appeared. The title of the article was the typical bait for people to read it. The president's affair with his maid: his secret daughters are idols…? Oh shit. I didn't know anything, yet my stomach dropped to the floor; I knew it was something serious. I opened the article, but the suited man kept talking. "So, that's why I'm here. I can send you my business card in case you need—" "Yes, just send it!" "Splendid! And… sent. I'll be waiting for your call—" I couldn't wait anymore, so I shut the door on his face. I stood still in my apartment, trying to read the article, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. There
A picture of the president slid into the frame on top of two pictures of Sanae and Risa performing. "That's right," the mask said. "Our president's daughters were born sixteen years ago and we never knew." I glanced at Sanae and Risa, whose faces were pale as if they had seen a ghost. Even Butcher seemed shocked, in addition to Aki and Umi. Everyone's jaws dropped. When I called Sanae in the morning, she told me they had already seen the headline, but seeing it like this only made it worse. "You might be wondering why he hid something like that. It's only natural for a married couple to want kids, right? Right? Nope!" Suddenly, the president's picture moved aside and a picture of an unknown woman appeared. I don't li
"Splendid," Mr. Okazaki said. "Can I see your location?" "Go ahead," I replied. The glasses recognized the permission request and my approval. "You're in the Trading District," he said. "This is where Sanae and Risa live." "I see…. The car will arrive in five minutes." "Understood." "And Kaito, thank you for this opportunity." "I don't think I'm the person you should thank," I giggled. He laughed. "I believe you are. I'll see you in ten minutes." "Sure." While sitting down on the sofa in front of us, Mr. Okazaki bowed. "I can't thank you enough for this opportunity, Kaito. Thanks to you hiring Sanae and Risa, everything unfolded as it did. I would like to know the story." "It isn't that interesting," I giggled. "In short, I needed to create a business for my final project to graduate university. One day, I was walking past Sanae's and Risa's house when I stepped on chewing gum. I sat on the stairs to take it off and they saw me. They thought I was there to apply for the manager job they were hiring for. Stuff happened and we ended up with the idea of making a galactical idol group. Then we ran auditions to find the rest of the girls and the rest is history." "I'd say that's quite interesting," he smiled. "Then how did you end up being threatened?" I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols Judgment
Destroyed, we walked out of the courtroom. The lawyer immediately bowed and apologized for not being able to do better, but we were happy that he stayed despite knowing there wasn't much to do; despite knowing it was going to taint his resume as much as mine. There was a sea of reporters already waiting for us outside the court. The lawyer walked away and Sanae, Risa, and I took a taxi back to the studio. Since the taxi didn't want to go into the Trading District, we had to walk for five minutes with the annoying reporters following us. We spent the next four hours together. I told everyone what happened at the court; we were all sad, but we knew it was the best outcome. Then Sanae and Risa told us what happened at the president's home. We decided what to do about the performance that was scheduled for the next day and we chatted about many things. Miraculous
I settled the fine of two-hundred-thousand terras over the following week, leaving eight-hundred-thousand more for whatever I wanted. As easy as it could've been to spend everything at once, exponential growth would've only added difficulty to an already hard challenge. Instead, I planned a bit more than I used to plan. After the undesired break, I called every employee of GIMA—Galactical Idols Management Agency—to the dance studio, including the members of Blostars. As usual, we met at noon. They stared at me as we stood on the dance floor. Everyone had a slight smile on their face, including me. After glancing back at them, I took a deep breath to begin my speech. "I think it goes without saying that this vacation was unexpected, to say the least. Aya and Tomokazu had just been hired; having this happen didn't help the already steep learning curve. But I'm
I approached the door and opened it. "Aki? Weren't you having dinner out?" "I never said that," she answered. "May I come in?" "Sure," I stuttered. "Sorry for the mess, you didn't tell me you were coming." "Because I wanted to see the real you. This is nothing compared to my apartment." "True." She slapped my shoulder. "Don't get too cocky. I might find your secret stash." "I don't have one." "Sure. I'll believe you." I shook my head with a smile. "Do you have plans for tonight?" "I do, act