After practicing for the rest of the afternoon, we all went home. Whilst laying down on my bed, Umi's request for a salary advance finally came through my email. I read the particularly short but straight-to-the-point letter she had written and accepted it. I sent her the money right away.
The next day of work started and I spent an hour with the girls before heading to the building where Umi had her studio. There was a huge screen right next to the entrance advertising which units were available to rent. Coincidentally, the unit next to Umi's was available. It wasn't that expensive—which I had already imagined since my low salary was enough for Umi.
A bit hesitant, I selected the unit and rented it. I had fewer and fewer savings as the days passed and the expenses were far from over, but I knew they were worth it.
Edited by RedPandaChick
I left the new studio in the evening and messaged the girls to tell them I wasn't going to go back to the current studio. I headed straight to the university. Professor Fuku hadn't arrived yet, so I sat alone and bored. It gave me time to reflect on her and Aki. Am I losing interest in Professor Fuku? After liking her all this time, I finally have a chance to take the next step, but my brain is toying around with me; it's doing it on purpose. Still, I'm trying my best to keep the flames alive. I'm trying… Should I be doing that? Am I not forcing myself to like her? I don't think being doubtful is a good sign either. It means I don't like her enough… "Miyahara," Professor Fuku greeted me as she stepped into the room. "Professor Fuku!" I overreacted. "What's t
"Aki, you gotta move! Professor Fuku's knocking!" I whispered. She didn't react at all; I simply felt her calm breathing. Then, Professor Fuku knocked again and asked for Aki, this time more worried. Calm down, Kaito. She surely doesn't have permission to unlock the door. "I don't know if you're there, but I'm going to open the door to make sure you're fine, okay?" she said. Shit! I'm sorry, Aki. I have no choice. Quickly, I pushed Aki aside onto the bed. I jumped out of it and lay on the floor to hide. Not even a second later, Professor Fuku opened the door and stepped inside. She then sighed. "You're still sleeping? It's eleven o'clock already. And what a
I headed to the closest place in Saitama I had marked on the map: the café Professor Fuku and I had eaten at the previous day. I stepped inside. It didn't have a proper spot to function as a stage, but the chairs and tables could be arranged to allow it. I approached the counter, where two barista robots served the people. "Good afternoon, sir. Do you wish to order?" the robot in front of me asked in a masculine voice. "No, thanks. I'm looking for the manager. Are they here?" "Our most sincere apologies if we made a mistake. You can tell us what happened and we'll fix it right away." "Nothing happened. I have a business proposal and want to talk with them directly." "Underst
The week was full of arduous work and practice. We managed to finish the fourth song, called Skyless Time. With it, we had two energetic songs and two slow ones, making the setlist last for around fifteen minutes; enough for a first performance. Sunday arrived in the blink of an eye. The performance was two hours away, so we headed to Kiku's café together. The animated poster hung outside the front window. It was the one that Jun had made, only with the date included. We stepped inside and Kiku received us. "Welcome, Blostars!" she smirked. "I hope everything is ready for today. I've noticed a few people stopping to look at the poster, so I'd say you'll have a small audience at least." The girls seemed excited and nervous—except for Umi. I walked into the bathroom which was next door and grabbed the two towels I found. I returned and handed them to Astra and Aki, who sat the closest to me. Not enough, I walked out of the room and approached Kiku at the counter. She swept the sweat on her forehead off with her arm. "Kiku." "Mr. Manager. The performance was amazing." "I know, I'm still calming down. I see you were quite busy as well." "You bet. People wouldn't stop ordering stuff. If this happens every time you perform, I'll be able to hire assistants in no time." "You definitely need them. I'd say it'll get busier and busier with every performance." "I agree. Anyway, did you need something?" I Became the Manager of the First Galactical Idols First of Many
I woke up quite disoriented and looked around the room. The curtains were pink and there were piles of clothes everywhere. It took me a moment to remember that I was in Aki's apartment. She was still sleeping behind me. Most of her body was covered under the blanket, yet I could see her shoulders and a portion of her bare back beneath her tank top. We really slept together. We even kissed and almost… Struggling to believe what had happened, I realized there was too much sunlight coming through the window. I grabbed my glasses from the nightstand and put them on. Eleven fifty?! I tossed the blanket away and jumped out of bed. I grabbed my pants and my jacket from a chair and hurriedly put them on. "Kaito
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.
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.