The meeting ended after several minutes of exchanging ideas and talking about their details. Both Aeryx and Ms. Yoshida walked with us to the entrance and we said goodbye as we stepped out. I called Butcher to tell him we were done and we stood in silence while we waited for him. No one could believe what had just happened. "What are we going to do until the first concert?" Risa wondered. "Nothing is officially established yet," I answered. "There's a lot of paperwork to do, but you will be working with Aeryx soon." Out of nowhere, Astra jumped at Risa and squeezed her while grinning. Risa's face grew red as the hug lasted for a few seconds. Astra eventually stepped back and apologized, "Sorry, I'm just very happy. I can't believe this is happening." "We all are very
Why, Dad? Even when the world was ending, you didn't listen to me. You were selfish, doing everything while leaving me behind. I was alive, but then what? I was alone in space. There was not a single living being in sight, only a supernova consuming all. No one knew what was coming. Only a few were lucky enough to react on time, including us. You. I woke up in the capsule to see you not beside me. My biggest fear became reality. It was only a matter of time before you left me for your happiness. Was I not your Sunbeam? I told you many times that I didn't want you to sacrifice yourself for me. As long as we were together, everything was going to be alright. You just left a letter for me, stuck to the wall with tape. For my Sunbeam The awful, rainy days became my only escape. I worried about homework and how to beat my little brother, while everything else was my parents' obligation. Or so I thought. Sunny days used to mean we'd be going on a fun outing to explore and play, until the day suited men appeared at the door. Mom and Dad showed a side I didn't think possible and one that I didn't want to see again. Even though my parents stopped answering, the suited men kept coming day after day. They would get tired and go away, but the uneasiness would stay for the rest of the day. Mom and Dad argued over whose fault it was, while my little brother and I could only curl up in the corner and cry. I covered his ears, but no one covered mine. The months I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols Umi
Nine years of education had slipped from our lives, but it only hit us when teens our age had started middle school. Talking with them was the only way for Sanae and me to get close to it. Our biological parents had abandoned us. In the only letter they left, they asked whoever found us to never get our DNA checked. That meant we could never be registered as citizens, which made it impossible for us to do a lot of things, which included being able to go to school. Butcher, the man that found us, did everything in his reach to give us a normal life. He struggled with money, so he had to make many sacrifices. Although we were too young to understand at the time, we did as we grew up. He abandoned his dreams for us and his life changed completely; it was only fair for us to return the favor. Thanks to him, we enjoye
It was only the second year of middle school when my body started to develop faster than the rest of the girls'. Magnified with good makeup, the beauty was such that every guy in the school fell at my feet. They wouldn't stop declaring their wild love toward me, which I rejected gracefully. Only one person was worth my attention: Shō, the most popular guy in the entire school. I didn't like him because of that, I liked him because he was handsome, smart, kind, and good at sports; a true gentleman. Just like me, he played hard to get, making me want him more. I knew jumping straight at him wouldn't work, so I took it slow to show him how attractive I was. My brain might've been lacking a bit of agility, but the rest was a ten out of ten. The battle continued for the last year and a half of middle school. I managed
Useless, that's how I would've described myself. It didn't matter how hard I tried, practiced, and worked, I was always average at everything I did. Even when I found what I was passionate about. Seeing other people doing better than me at something without working as hard as I was was demoralizing, including Risa. I never understood why she followed me everywhere, yet it was nice having her around. She was the first person that showed me how unfair life could be despite her not trying to do so, but I didn't complain since she was my first and it didn't really matter. That quickly changed as we grew up. She would beat me in everything we did together, including dancing and singing. I knew from the beginning that I was worse than her at it and that I would take much longer to reach her level, yet I didn't give up.
Sanae stood in the middle of the dancing studio. She had just finished reading what she had written for her song out loud when I stood up from the chair to let her sit next to the girls again. They had asked for the reading to be private, so it was only them and me in the room. Now I stood in front of them, speechless. Each of the girls had read out loud a story about their pasts and the mood had become bittersweet, to say the least. "I don't know what to say," I said. "All of your stories are… sad. It's nice knowing you didn't give up and how far you've come." "You also have a couple of stories of your own," Aki said. I knew exactly what she was talking about, while the girls only got half of the picture. "Yeah. Umi, do you think the stories can be turned into songs
Finally, the first day of recordings arrived. Although I had been waiting for it, the girls were clearly more excited than me. Sadly, Ms. Yoshida—TOTOT's Co-CEO—asked us to send the girls one by one so the public wouldn't know about the collaboration before Aeryx's song was recorded. It was Risa's turn first. I accompanied her, as I planned to accompany all of the girls, in case anything happened. Ms. Yoshida received us at the entrance just as she had the previous time. "Welcome back," she smiled. "Are you ready?" I looked at Risa. "Are you?" "I am," she smirked, although she had told me she was shaking just before we stepped inside. "Perfect," Ms. Yoshida replied. "Let's not waste time and get to work."