《Your Paradise: Listen to My Song》


 Ch 01: The Audition

    "As a child, I had a craving. I was starving for something, but I didn''t know what it was. When I was 12 years old, I found it through 5year, the popular idol group with a member just like me. The twinkle in their eyes when they performed, the loud shouting of the crowd giving encouragement, the costumes, the music. I wanted all of it. For three years, I pretended I was one of them. Practicing my skills from singing and dancing to facial expressions and posing. But I couldn''t have ever practiced or prepared for the road I was about to go down."


    "Minami! You know, there''s an audition going on for a new group, I think you should go!" A perky brunette bounced up to Minami, starting the conversation before she even fully approached, a gleaming smile plastered on her face, reaching from ear to ear. She grabbed onto the mint-colored lace of Minami''s knee-length dress and swayed from side to side once she got face to face, "It''s got your name written ALL over it!"


    "Really?! What''s the age range, Saki?" A wide, toothy grin exploded across Minami''s face as she tucked a strand of her blondish brown hair behind her ear. Her heart began to race at the mere thought of what could come from this audition and she began to excitedly bounce in place.


    "Ages 12 to 16! You''re in the running! Want to come to my house to practice? I can give you some pointers if you want!" Saki was now mimicking Minami''s excitement as she began to bounce in sync with her.


    Despite being two years younger than Minami, Saki was praised a lot by their friends Juri and Akina for her skills. She had a youthful charm and energy that was unmatched by anyone they knew, and just like Minami, she also had the dream of becoming a famous idol.


    "If you''re willing to, then let''s go!" Minami grabbed hold of Saki''s hand and began tugging her towards Saki''s home. The two had met online, along with Juri, Akina and Naoto and none of them went to the same school. Akina lived the farthest away and could only meet up during weekends, Juri was the next farthest, but she was still within a decent range to meet up fairly often, Naoto never said where he lived although he still managed to meet up with them all, but Saki was the closest with the two living just a few miles away from one another.


    The way to Saki''s house was one Minami was very familiar with as the two had cliqued upon meeting right away and often spent lots of time together.


    Upon entering Saki''s home, they immediately ran up to Saki''s bedroom. It was small with a twin-sized bed on the wall opposite the door. Her bed was covered with a pink bedspread with strawberries decorating it, big fluffy pink pillows to match and a few stuffed animals here and there. A dresser with various hair accessories on top was next to the door and against the wall in between the two was a desk overlooking a large window which was home to a cheap computer and numerous stacks of 5year CDs. Her walls were littered with overlapping posters of the girl group, 5year and Iwata Miyako ¨C Saki''s favorite 5year member.


    5year was one of the biggest idol groups around at the moment. They were originally a project group that was supposed to be around for only a maximum of 5 years. However, their popularity was so large and unexpected that they became an official group. It was because of them that Minami, Juri, Saki, Naoto and Akina had bonded and become friends in the first place, although that bond was cemented when Minami, Juri, Saki and Akina learned they had the same dream of debuting as idols as well.


    "What song will you do?" Saki flopped on her bed and puffed out air, causing her straight-cut bangs to flap upwards and reveal her forehead. "You should probably decide on that first right?"


    "I want to do The Dawn! It''s my favorite song right now and I know it like the back of my hand! I even learned the choreography to it!" Minami dropped her bag on the floor, in between the door and the dresser, making sure it was out of the way. "I think it also suits me pretty well."


    "Oh, I love that song! Let''s see you do it!" Saki sat up immediately after hearing the song declaration. It was 5year''s newest single and was garnering attention for its difficult choreography ¨C which was something 5year didn''t typically attempt. However, Minami''s aunt was a famous ballerina and her mother had been a dancer in her younger years too, so dancing was in her blood, and she had no issue learning it.


    With Saki''s go ahead, Minami pulled out her phone and placed it on one of the CD piles, which was the only available space for it at the moment. After hitting play, she quickly stepped to the middle of the room. It was actually quite cramped with very little free space in between the bed and the dresser, but that was no problem for Minami. ''I can make any stage work!'' is something she would tell herself often.


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    She held one hand to her mouth, pretending that she was holding a microphone, and sang the song while nailing the choreography.


    As the music played, the room suddenly shifted. The walls became large seating areas filled with fans holding up baby blue blight sticks and shouting her name, a plain white ceiling transformed into large spotlights that shone only on her. As she turned around with one of the dance moves, a large screen appeared on the back wall, displaying Minami''s image digitally in large scale, while the door to the outside was now the road to backstage.


    She added in various winks and waves, interacting with the pretend crowd, and twists on certain moves to make them unique to her performance.


    Beads of sweat rolled down her temples as she froze in place with the ending pose, her chest rapidly moved up and down as she fought to catch her breath, and her lips remained upcurved.


    Saki clapped vigorously. "Oh my god! That was SOOOOO good! Minami, you really did that so good! I would make it a little cuter though. Try to be EXTRA cute, like extra EXTRA cute. Really play up your cuteness and be more upbeat! Then I think they won''t be able to say no to you at all."


    "Like this?" Minami replayed the song and continued the performance, over acting certain cute movements and playing up her facial expressions and adding a little more bounce in her step. She changed her voice to sound even cuter as well, hoping to bring the whole thing together. By the end of the second round, she felt sticky from sweat and sat down crisscross on the floor.


    "That was PERFECT! L-O-V-E! LOVELY MINAMI!" Saki fist pumped in the air and shouted out as if she were a fan in the audience.


    "Do you¡­..really think I''ll get it?" Minami gasped for air, trying hard to keep the smile on her face low-key, but it was fighting its way back up to her ears again pretty hard.


    "I DO! No, actually, I don''t think, I KNOW you''re going to pass! If you do it just like you did it right now, you''re going to pass for sure!" Saki jumped up and sat next to Minami, leaning over and wrapping her arms around her tightly, "Oh my gosh, you''re gonna be so famous!"


    Since Saki had informed Minami late, the last day of walk-in auditions was only three days away from when they had started practicing. Every day, during school lunch hour, before and after class, Minami practiced her audition, exactly the way Saki had told her each and every time. Now the day had finally come. It had only been three days away, but it felt more like a lifetime, and Minami nervously entered the audition room.


    So much was riding on this for her. Today, her dream would either come true or it would be ripped out from under her and she''d have to wait again for another opportunity.


    The panel of judges sat sternly in the sterile room; arms crossed against their chests. They''d seen thousands of auditions throughout the two weeks they were holding walk-ins, and that wasn''t even including the private auditions that had happened prior to that.


    The thought of having to stand out above everyone else was daunting no doubt, but Minami had faith she could do it.


    She wore a white tank-top with frills decorating the front of it and a black skater skirt with white thigh high socks and white mary-janes. She wore her hair in high side pony with a big black ribbon and a star clip on the side. It was her favorite outfit currently and she felt like a star in it, and she definitely needed the confidence boost.


    "Ishihara Minami, age 15?" one of the judge''s voices echoed throughout the room as they read a document on the table.


    Minami nodded, "Yes, that''s me."


    "Why are you auditioning today?" Another one of the judges inquired.


    Minami stared for a moment in surprise. That was a question they''d already asked on her audition form and she was quite sure why they were asking again.


    "Why are you auditioning today?" They repeated, and louder this time to make sure the delay in response wasn''t due to a hearing issue.


    She jumped, startled at the sudden volume, but quickly composed herself. "I love music and I love performing. The music and performances that an idol gives is full of energy, love and encouragement. I''ve received those feelings as an audience member and as a fan, and I want to pass that on and give it to someone else. I belong on the stage. I have to be there."


    The judges raised their eyebrows and each began writing things down on their respective documents, nodded and "mm"-ing as they wrote.


    "And you''ll be auditioning with ''The Dawn'' by 5year, correct?"


    "Yes! That is correct!"


    "Okay, please tell us when you''re ready to start."


    "I''m ready!"


    Minami jumped to the black X on the floor, a marker for where the cameras could properly film her audition and just like what had happened in Saki''s room, the audition area changed into a large stage with thousands of adoring fans. She thought of Saki''s encouraging words and how passionately she''d chanted and cheered for her. It gave her energy, it gave her the confidence and the drive to say, ''There is no other Minami in this world, I am the only one you''ll ever get in your life,'' through her performance.


    So it began, her first taste of her dream, her audition of The Dawn by 5year.

 Ch 02: Entering the Group

    Minami met up with her group of friends at their favorite caf¨¦. It was their normal hangout spot since it was in a convenient location for all of them to meet up at.


    The interior was small and comfortable with peach-colored couches in the corner, and marbled looking tables made out of plastic paired with cute wooden chairs were scattered about the rest of the floor. Various plants in matching peach pots line the large windows so just enough sunlight came in while also providing it''s patrons privacy from the outside.


    Saki, Juri, Akina and Naoto all sat around their usual table. Saki had her signature orange juice, Juri had her flaky and buttery croissant, Akina''s strawberry short cake had about two bites taken out of it, Naoto''s sandwich was halfway to his mouth, and a lone lemonade sat at an empty seat ready for Minami which Akina had ordered for her.


    "How''d it go?!" Akina jumped up from the table as soon as she saw Minami enter through the big glass doors, her mid-length red hair waving around as she quickly pulled out the lone seat for her.


    Minami''s bottom lip quivered and tears filled her eyes, "I¡­. didn''t pass¡­" She bit the inside of her cheek and blinked rapidly while focusing on a spot on the table as she sat down, trying to keep it all in.


    "WHAT?! How could you not pass?! You worked so hard¡­Saki told me how much you practiced¡­" Akina slumped back down in her seat and looked just as dejected as Minami did.


    Naoto silently chewed on his sandwich while glancing over at Minami.


    "They said¡­" Minami went on to mimic the voice of one of the judges, "''You''re very cute but, we''re looking for a cool character for our group, not someone so¡­well¡­.cute.''" her voice cracked on the ''cool character'' part and her chin started to wrinkle up as she almost lost it again. She sucked in her lips hoping to suck the emotion back in as well and picked up her drink, frantically taking sips to push her emotions down.


    Naoto went to speak but Saki beat him to it.


    "Yeah, they rejected me too when I auditioned." Saki spoke up as she leaned back in her chair, grabbing her orange juice and taking a sip in annoyance, keeping her eyes lowered.


    Naoto and Akina''s heads whipped over to face Saki, while Minami''s head shot up to look across at her. "What? You auditioned too?"


    Juri sat in silence, taking small bites of her croissant while glancing around the table.


    "Yeah! They gave me the same critique the other day!" Saki put her drink down and sat up straight in her chair, clenching her fists.


    "When was¡­the other day? When did you audition?" Minami tilted her head, surprised that Saki had not mentioned it all. Juri shrugged her shoulders and continued eating while Naoto rubbed his chin in intrigue. Akina nervously looked back and forth between the two, putting her fork down and waiting for the tension in the air to ease up.


    "Oh, I sent in the form for the private audition months ago," Saki complained, "I guess I should be glad I even got a private audition anyways, they''re much better to do if you can get one. I guess it sends a better message to the agency."


    Minami stared in shock, a calculating look appeared on her face for a few moments, "Then why did you¡­.tell me to play up the cuteness when you knew that that''s not what they wanted? You knew they wanted a cool character but you specifically told me to act cute?" Certainly there was a plausible explanation for this, right? Saki wouldn''t knowingly lead her astray right?


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    Akina raised her eyebrows in surprise at the sudden reveal of information. Naoto sat back in his chin and crossed his arms, watching both Minami and Saki with interest.


    Saki suddenly waved her hands in the air, "No, no! I thought you do cute SO well that it would be impossible for YOU to get rejected. How could they say no to you when you''re so adorable? I didn''t think YOU''D get rejected! Honestly, I thought you''d have a better chance!"


    Juri cleared her throat and sucked in her cheeks awkwardly.


    A puff of air escaped Minami''s lips as her eyes reddened with tears. She went to speak but was interrupted by Juri. "You wouldn''t have gotten it anyways. You couldn''t pull off the cool character at all. You''re too¡­" Juri motioned towards Minami''s body and face, "whatever this is. Saki was giving you some solid friendly advice and it''s kind of annoying me that you''re trying to act like she betrayed you, and DON''T act like that''s not what you''re getting at." She flipped her long golden locks over her shoulder and casually continued to eat her croissant again.


    Naoto rubbed Minami''s arm and smiled, "I think Juri''s right, you wouldn''t have gotten it anyways. Just think of it as a learning experience. Now you know how the audition process goes a little bit better, yeah?"


    Akina shot him a look and gently put a hand on Minami''s other arm, "I think it''s just natural to feel that Saki betrayed you in that situation. Saki gave Minami advice that seemed like it was disingenuine, but if Saki says that it really was good, then¡­.I guess everything is okay right? Besides, there''s loads more auditions for you to attend!" In a comforting attempt, she lightly squeezed on Minami''s arm.


    Minami shrugged, her head hung low, partially feeling attacked by everyone, "I guess¡­."


    "All that matters in the end, is that you both failed, so just move on." Juri stated, rather matter of fact, and shot a smile to both Saki and Minami.


    They all sat in silence for a while as they sipped their drinks or took nibbles of their snacks. That is until¡­


    "Oh! I have an idea! Why don''t we just make our own group! The four of us!" Minami excitedly checked all of their faces, trying to gauge their thoughts.


    Naoto snorted, "I''m assuming that you''re leaving me out."


    Minami gently shoved his arm, "No! You don''t want to be an idol, so I just didn''t ask. Did you want to join?"


    Juri clenched her jaw.


    Naoto laughed and rubbed the top of Minami''s head, "No I don''t. I''m just picking on you."


    "I''m in! I want to do it!" Saki exclaimed, her brunette pigtails bouncing around as she bopped her head back and forth in excitement.


    "If Saki''s doing it, I''ll do it too." Juri said with no particular emotion behind her words.


    "I would love to! But¡­.I can''t. I''m too busy right now. If you have room later on and you''re willing to have me, I''ll join, but otherwise I''ll just be your first fan." Akina smile brightly and motioned her hand for an autograph, "You''ll sign for me though right?"


    Minami giggled and nodded, "I''ll give you as many autographs as you want!"


    Naoto tapped on her shoulder, responding once she turned around. "I want the same deal. I''ll also be your fan, even if you can''t sing, Mina-chan."


    She smiled and nodded, "You have yourself a deal then!"


    "Okay, then let''s decide on a name." Juri sat forward, crossing her arms against the table.


    "Hmmm¡­" Saki tapped her chin and looked up towards the ceiling, "What about Miriki? It sounds like Milky, but Mi for Minami, Ri for Juri and Ki for me! Milk is cute!" Saki smiled awaiting the judgement on her name.


    Akina scrunched her nose and shook her head while Naoto sighed awkwardly.


    "I don''t really like it¡­" Minami said delicately, "What about¡­Kissiks? It''s like Kiss and then another Kiss backwards. So, it would be like a love of the future and a love of the past, we are the present. The S at the ends stands for multiple kisses, multiple loves. Our fans are our loves, but we can do a lot of different kinds of love song. We can have a love-y concept. What do you think?" Minami offered up the idea and bit her lip as she awaited their verdict.


    "I like it too! I don''t mind being Kissiks! Besides it has a lot of Ki, just like Saki and S''s too, just like Saki, so it has me all over it!" Saki giggled and looked to Juri for the final opinion.


    "I LOVE that! That''s so good! I like the behind it too, that''s so clever!" Akina exclaimed as she clapped and laughed with joy, "I''m Kissik''s first fan!"


    "I guess that makes me their second then!" Naoto chuckled.


    Juri''s lip twitched in annoyance, "I like Miriki better, but if everyone else thinks Kissiks is good, we can be Kissiks for now until we find something better." Juri''s eyes refused to meet with anyone else''s at the table.


    Everyone seemed to not notice Juri''s change in mood and continued on with the conversation as usual.


    "Okay! Then, we''ll have to meet up again and plan everything out! I''m so excited!" Minami smiled, her eyes twinkling with enthusiasm.

 Ch 03: Decisions, Decisions Part 1

    Sunlight flittered in through the windows of the caf¨¦ as Minami, Juri and Saki sat at their typical table. Saki had her usual orange juice, Juri her usual croissant and Minami her lemonade ¨C although today she felt like a strawberry lemonade instead of a normal one.


    "I think we should open a Hivideo account and post our covers, and then we can post our performances and practices later on. What do you guys think?" Minami flipped through her notebook to find an empty page, ready to write down their ideas from today''s meetup.


    "Let''s just wait until we find an actual name." Juri leaned back in her eat and began twirling her hair in her fingers. It was curled today, as opposed to its usual straightness, which was pretty, but caused extra distraction for Juri.


    "Minami''s pen hesitated against the page, "Didn''t we¡­.decided on Kissiks?" She stared at Juri, a puzzled look appearing on her face.


    "Yeah but, I don''t want to be called Kissiks. I don''t really like it. It sounds bad. So it''s just a temporary name. Don''t you think it would be a bad idea to create a Hivideo account with the wrong name?" Juri''s eyes remained locked on the curl she was playing with.


    Minami glanced over at Saki, who just sipped on her orange juice and shrugged.


    "Well, if you don''t like it, let''s come up with a new name! What name do you want?" Minami wrote at the top of the page, ''NAME IDEAS'' and scribbled ''Kissiks'' with a ''2'' beside it, underneath. She readied her pen, awaiting Juri''s suggestion.


    Juri simply shrugged, "I''ll have to think of something later."


    "But Juri! We need to come up with a group name. We should post things to our account." Minami protested.


    "I don''t think so. We''ll just post them to our own personal Hivideo accounts. Why would we post to an account with 0 followers and have to build it up from scratch when Saki and I already have a following? We have more followers than you do anyways."


    Minami started tapping her pen against the blank page in annoyance, "I guess that makes sense. Okay¡­ummm," she wrote down ''POST ON OUR OWN ACCOUNTS'' in the book, "What song should we do? I think we should do Midnight Kiss. Since we are Kissiks¡­for now¡­I think it''s fitting as our first song!"


    Saki nodded in agreeance her pigtails bobbing along with her head, "I really like that one! But ONLY if I get the line that goes, ''Swing on the Moonlight, Kiss in the Moonlight~''" she sang the line with a high pitch cutesy tone that exuberated excitement, "That one is my favorite!"


    Minami smiled and wrote it down in her notebook, "You can have that one! I don''t mind, I just want the ''Our sparks are like stars in the sky, infinite and exciting~''" Minami sang the line like Saki had done, but with an airy tone that lacked support but still expressed the feeling of love and happiness. Juri made a disgusted face and put a finger in her ear that was closest to Minami. "Is that okay?" Minami double checked.


    "Yeah yeah! I think you sound great on that line!" Saki smiled as Minami wrote down that she would receive that solo.


    "Which do you want, Juri?" Saki tilted her head, noticing that Juri hadn''t spoken in a while.


    She hesitated before answering, "I don''t want to do that song. Instead," she grabbed hold of Minami''s book and yanked the pen out of her hand, crossing out what Minami had previously written and jotting down new things as she spoke, "we''re going to do ''On our Way'' from their album."


    "Wait! That''s a ballad song! I can''t do ballads very well!" Minami attempted to grab her book and pen back but Juri moved them out of her reach. Minami clutched her black lace skirt anxiously.


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    She lacked the support and lung capacity to hit and hold the notes in that song. It was one of their more difficult songs, with them being praised by the media for their surprising vocal skill. Skill that Minami did not have.


    Juri ignored her, "Saki and I will take the first and second verse and Minami, you can take the background parts and the bridge. Then, obviously, we''ll make the chorus a group part."


    "Okay! I''m good with that!" Saki pulled out her phone and pulled up the song, "I''ll do the lyrics and send them to you guys right now."


    "No! I don''t want to do that. I''m not good at ballads, I can''t do the bridge in that song either, and the background parts aren''t even solos¡­" Minami''s forehead wrinkled and her bottom lip pouted as she spoke out in protest.


    It was a song she liked, and she did sing it often in her room, however, she was painfully aware at how terrible she sounded. Alone in her room with no one else to hear her was fine, but to upload it online would be a disaster! There was no way she would sound good.


    "Fine¡­.you can take the¡­" Juri thought for a moment, "¡­opening line and I''ll take the bridge," she then turned to Saki, "Did you get that change?"


    "I did!" Saki didn''t look up, busy tapping away at her phone.


    "I really don''t want to do that song though, I''m not going to sound good¡­" Tears stung the back of Minami''s eyes, frustrated that she wasn''t being listened to.


    "Well, Saki''s already pretty much done with it, just do this one and we''ll do another one later. It''s not like it''s going on the ''official account'' right? So who cares?"


    Minami''s shoulder''s slumped, her white puffy sleeves seeming to droop along with her mood, "I guess¡­.."


    "What about positions?" Saki asked, "Main vocal and all that?"


    Juri laughed and combed her hair with her fingers, "I''ll be the main vocal, obviously and-"


    Saki cut her off, "I think that Minami should be our leader!"


    Minami looked up in surprised, a smile spreading across her face, "Really? Me?"


    Saki nodded and smiled back, "Yeah! You''re the one that came up with the idea to form a group, it''s your group! So you should be the leader!"


    Minami nodded enthusiastically, "I''ll be the leader then!"


    Juri smiled, "Yeah, I think you''ll be good as the leader. That means from now on you have to organize and do everything."


    Minami took that opportunity to grab her notebook and pen back, which she proceeded to wiggle in the air, "I think I''ve got it covered."


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    After two months, the cover was finally posted on each of their accounts. Juri had the most followers and of course got the most views, Saki had the next most and got quite a lot of views, while Minami only got a handful. Minami scrolled through the comments on Juri and Saki''s videos since hers had yet to receive any.


    None of them said she sounded bad, which was a relief, but none of them mentioned her either.


    "Saki! This is so good!!! You all sound good together!"


    "Wow Saki! You really did so well on this one."


    "OMG I LOVE this song, good choice Juri!"


    "That solo at the end was awesome Juri! You hit that note PERFECTLY!"


    Feeling pretty defeated, she logged into a game she played online called, "Star Idol." It was where she had met Juri, Akina, Saki and Naoto.


    The game allowed users to sign under one of three fictional agencies and complete tasks and quests to debut. Members were able to debut solo or form a group if they were of the same level bracket. There were other activities and mini games such as training your character''s skills, appearing in commercials and movies, and even performing.


    It was the place she could best get her fix at being an idol. Her character was doing pretty well in the game and she had gained a decent following. There were also a lot of other people who played that were fans of 5year and were also interested in becoming idols.


    She joined one of the lobbies.


    [NAMIN HAS JOINED THE LOBBY]


    She recognized a few of her in-game friends that were there.


    "Hey, Namin! What''s up?" one of the players posted in the group chat. Namin was Minami''s character''s name and while she started off strictly using that name as her own in the game, it didn''t take long for her to reveal her actual name. Although everyone in game still referred to her as Namin.


    "Oh, I did a cover of one of 5year''s songs with my friends! Do you guys want to hear? I''m excited about it." It wasn''t a complete lie, she WAS excited about where the group was going to go and WAS excited about where it was going to lead. Although, she wasn''t excited about how she sounded.


    "Yeah, let''s hear it!"


    "Send it to me!"


    "I want to hear!"


    She sent the link in chat, excited at how many people were willing to listen, "Don''t forget to tell me who your favorite member is! Heehee~"

 Ch 03: Decisions Decisions Part 2

    Minami laid on her floral bedspread in her bedroom. Her room was relatively large and fit a twin sized bed, two bookshelves, a wardrobe and a desk. Her bookshelves were filled with plushies, 5year and Ri CDs ¨C Ri was her favorite 5year member. There was a large window that was covered by sheer sparkling blue drapes that had little pink and yellow star plushies sewn onto them. Her desk was right next to the window and was neatly organized with her computer, baby blue desk organizer, notebooks and recording equipment. Large plushies sat in the corner next to her door, hiding her laundry hamper and her walls were covered ceiling to floor with Star Idol, 5year and Ri posters.


    She kicked her feet on her bed as she texted on her phone, her blue and pink bejeweled nails tapping as she typed in the words. She had exciting news from the game to share with the girls and couldn''t wait to hear their responses.


    [Minami] "Guys! Guess what!"


    [Juri] "Just tell us, I don''t feel like playing a guessing game."


    [Minami] "So, I was playing Star Idol and I asked a few people to watch our cover and they said it was good!"


    [Juri] "Lots of people are saying that. I told you it''d be good if we did this song."


    [Saki] "Wow! We''re getting fans!"


    [Akina] "Congrats! I''m still your first fan! Don''t forget that! I even liked all of your uploads so I''m the most dedicated!"


    [Naoto] "I''m busy right now so slow responses, but congratulations on your success. I also like the vids haha."


    [Minami] Thanks Akina! Oh AAAAAAANDDD!! I asked them who their favorite members were¡­."


    [Juri] "Oh?"


    [Saki] "Yeah?"


    [Minami] "They said I''m their favorite! Saki some of them picked you too! They said you sounded really cute!"


    [Akina] "That''s because you did a good job!!!"


    [Saki is typing¡­]


    [Juri is typing¡­]


    Minami smiled wide at Akina''s compliment and continued to excitedly type away.


    [Minami] "Thanks! I was honestly really worried about doing that song because I''m not confident doing ballads, and I still think that I didn''t do that great, so when they said I was their favorite! I almost cried! I feel really proud of myself!"


    [Akina] "You should!!"


    [Naoto] "Yeah you definitely have some work to do, but it wasn''t the worst."


    [Minami] "Yeah I''m going to keep working hard! ^^"


    [Juri] "They probably only said that because you sent it to them and asked them who their favorite is and they felt awkward. You kind of cornered them into it. Lol."


    [Saki is typing¡­]


    [Minami] "Oh no! They didn''t know which was me. I didn''t tell them what parts I was singing at and they didn''t know what I sounded like since I''ve never shared a cover before. They just liked me! I''m so happy!"


    [Juri is typing¡­]


    [Saki] "Okay¡­.I don''t know why you''d ask anyone that. You put them in an awkward position like Juri said¡­.I doubt they didn''t know which one you were considering we put who sang what line in the description¡­.so¡­.just don''t do that again kay? Because it''s awkward and it makes me uncomfortable~"


    [Minami] "I don''t have it on mine! So they couldn''t have looked. Sorry though, I didn''t think it would make you guys uncomfortable. I won''t do that again.


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    [Juri is typing¡­]


    [Saki] "Why would it not make us uncomfortable? If you''re asking people and pressuring them and they''re all saying you''re their favorite?"


    Minami stared at her phone in disbelief. She had no idea that asking people who their favorite was would cause such a reaction. It''s common for people to have a favorite member in any group. She was also confused as to why Saki was saying that when some of them also selected Saki as their favorite member.


    [Minami] "I''m really sorry¡­I didn''t realize it. Well, Saki they said that your voice is really cute and refreshing! So! Maybe I shouldn''t share that? It''s a compliment so I don''t want to keep it from you, but now I''m not sure.."


    [Juri] "I was going to keep quiet about it, but I decided not to. It was extremely inappropriate of you to even ask anyone that. Ever. The thing is, you knew they''d pick you because they were pressured into it, and you just wanted to use it to try and rub our noses in it. Because, like Saki said, the line distribution is in the description so they 100% knew who was singing what and knew which one you were. So stop trying to act innocent now and pretend like you didn''t know when it''s really obvious that you knew the whole time. You''re just trying to act like everyone likes you and honestly, they don''t. No one ever comments about you. For a reason."


    [Akina is typing¡­]


    Minami sat up and clutched her favorite star pillow and bit her lip. Was it really such a big issue?


    [Juri] "AND Saki JUST said how she was uncomfortable and yet you''re still relaying information about it? Leave her alone. Oh wait, no it''s because you want to look like a saint.


    Minami bit her lip and took a deep breath.


    [Minami] "¡­I really didn''t put the line distribution in there. I didn''t realize that you guys had done that either. You can check the one on my account if you want. There''s no line distribution¡­I understand now that it hurt your feelings and made you uncomfortable, I''m sorry. I can only promise not to do that anymore."


    [Juri] "You''re saying that, when you have order of appearances in your description. That''s basically the same thing. You''re just making excuses lol!"


    [Minami] "Yeah but that''s only for the first three solos and I think it''s hard to tell whose voice is whose after that¡­"


    [Juri] "That''s just more excuses. Are you listening to yourself?"


    [Minami] "I am, but it''s not an excuse. I''m just explaining. I said I''m sorry."


    [Akina] "Why are you guys so upset about it though? On your videos, no one has ever commented about Minami at all. Or are you just removing comments that mention her? If you''re not, then no one is mentioning her, what''s wrong with some people saying she''s their favorite?? You can be a favorite and get attention but she can''t? Why? She already said she''s sorry. Besides, even though you put line distribution and order of appearance, it IS hard to tell sometimes. Otherwise people wouldn''t comment with time stamps asking who''s singing. So let''s all move on from this. Let''s start a new conversation!"


    [Juri] "We aren''t removing any comments with her in them lol, just no on is talking about her unless she forces them to."


    Tears welled up in Minami''s eyes and she made a loud sniffle noise as she sucked snot back into her nose.


    [Naoto] "Juri why are you being such a witch? It''s a little cover group online, it''s not that serious. She said sorry, let it go."


    [Juri] And why are you defending her? She''s negatively affected us and that''s not okay in my book. She''s not sorry, she keeps making excuses and I''m going to make her apologize for real."


    [Minami] "Thanks Akina, thanks Naoto, but I think I''m going to just go have some dinner. I''ll talk to you guys later and again I''m really REALLY sorry. I won''t do it again. I promise. I apologize for making you guys feel uncomfortable, I apologize for hurting your feelings, I really, honestly, didn''t mean to and I''m sorry. I''m going to go now."


    She closed out of their group chat and set her phone down, wiping the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. It was hard to breathe and the back of her throat burned. Maybe they were right, maybe subconsciously she did force them to say she was their favorite. Would that have been so bad anyways though? Was it so wrong to want to be liked and to be told she was doing a good job? She hugged her pillow tightly to her chest and buried her face into it, sobbing quietly to not alert her family members.


    She took a deep breath and stared up at one of the posters of Ri on her wall. Her tears ditched the droplets and flowed like a river. When would it be her turn to be the poster on someone''s wall? When would she get to be the favorite? Would it ever be her turn? Was that in the cards for her?


    Bzz! Bzz! Bzz! Bzz! Her phone was going off over and over again, vibrating it''s away to the edge of her bed. She knew they were probably arguing still or talking about her, but she was praying they had moved on from the conversation and were just having a pleasant chat. Either way, she didn''t want to look. There was no room for anymore harsh words in her mind now.


    She opened up her phone and quickly swiped away the message banners for the group chat, wiping her tears with her other hand at the same time. She then sent a text to both Akina and Naoto, "Thanks for defending me. It means a lot. I''m sorry that I put you in an awkward position. I appreciate you!"


    Almost immediately a text came back from Akina. "No problem, hope you''re doing okay!"


    Bzz! A text from Naoto came in shortly after, "Just ignore them. Sorry they''re treating you like that. What a bunch of losers. I''ll tell them off for you next time we see them in person."


    Bzz! Bzz! More texts from Akina, this time it was filled with hearts and cute stickers. It was nice, it was appreciated, it helped, but it unfortunately didn''t take away the sting from the situation.

 Ch 04: Whos the Leader?

    A few months had gone by singer their argument over who was the favorite had occurred. They''d slowly started speaking to each other again and eventually things returned to normal. Since no one was able to come up with a new group name, Kissiks had been officially decided. Thus, Minami had gone ahead with creating their official Hivideo account and they planned a new cover.


    This time, it was one they had all agreed on, The Dawn by 5year. It was Minami''s audition song and while she hadn''t passed that audition, she didn''t receive any negative feedback from the judges panel on how she performed, so she felt very confident in it. The deadline was two months from now and she decided to try her best and perfect it to show her improvement from their ''On Our Way'' cover.


    She sat at her computer and opened the lyrics document that Saki had made, then pulled open her recording program and plopped the mp3 into it, ready to practice. After doing some vocal warmups and some stretching, she played the song.


    "Your first appearance before me, like the first light in the sky, The Dawn! My first love in my life, like the rose-pink light, The Dawn~"


    "Oh! Hey! That actually sounded pretty good!" she exclaimed out loud. She continued to practice it again a few times before hitting record. After finishing it, she edited the audio a bit, removing any background noises and filtering out any hard noises such as S''s or P''s. Then she listened to it back along with the mp3.


    "Good job Minami! Really, this is your song! You sound so good!" She patted herself on the back and smiled, excited and confident at the release of this cover. "I wonder how our other cover is doing so far?" She opened up her internet browser and promptly typed in the address to their account.


    Their cover was not there. However, there was one with Juri, Saki and another girl named Airi.


    "¡­What?" She clicked on the video. It was the three of them singing Moonlight Kiss. She felt her breath catch in her chest. The video had over a thousand views and loads of comments.


    "Wow, you guys blend really well!"


    "I think this group will go far, I''m looking forward to seeing your other covers!"


    "Airi, Juri, Saki, you three are a perfect blend."


    She grabbed her phone and quickly called up Juri.


    "Hello?" Juri asked in a bored and somewhat annoyed tone.


    "Juri? Umm, I saw that you and Saki uploaded a cover on Kissiks'' account with¡­" she double checked the name on the screen, "¡­Airi. Why did you do that?" Her voice was trembling and she was once again fighting back tears. ''There''s an explanation, there''s probably a really good explanation, it was probably uploaded to the account on accident.'' She told herself.


    While she had been the one to make the account, she had shared the log-in information with both Juri and Saki so they could easily upload their own solo covers and practice videos in the future. However, she had never intended for them to upload random cover videos, it was for the group activities only.


    "It was for fun, we wanted to do it."


    "But¡­when did you decided to do it? Because I wanted to do Moonlight Kiss for Kissiks and you said no, but now you did it with Airi and didn''t even ask me to be in it and then you uploaded it to our group''s account. You didn''t even upload our group''s actual cover. It''s confusing to me why you would do that." The trembled had spread from her voice to her body and her phone tapped against her ear as a result of the uncontrollable sensation in her hands.


    "Juri sighed on the other line. "I didn''t think you''d want to be in it. Besides, it was for FUN. FUUUUNNNN," she put an unnecessary amount of emphasis on the ''N'', "We''ve done one cover and you''re already making it not fun. If you''re going to make it not fun, and keep this up, then we can just not do the group and I''ll delete everything. You tell me what to do."


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    Minami''s eyes widend, "Why are you¡­reacting this way? I do want it to be fun. I''m just confused why you''re telling me you didn''t think I wouldn''t want to be in it, when I specifically said that was the song I wanted to do, and you vetoed it. I feel like you just didn''t want to do it with me. I really wanted to do that song and I''m hurt that you didn''t let me and then did it with someone else¡­"


    She paused and took a deep breath, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear in an attempt to distract herself from the emotions that were starting to take over her.


    "This is my group," Minami continued, "I put it together, I named it. I would appreciate it if we didn''t have random covers on the account, that''s not the purpose of it. Airi''s not a member, and now she looks like one because you uploaded it onto the group account. You didn''t even put the cover with me in it up, so she looks like a founding member¡­that''s awkward and makes me uncomfortable. So, take the one with Airi down and upload it to your individual account and then let''s remove the one WE did from our individual accounts and switch it to the official. Then, anyone who wants to relisten to it, when they look it up, they''ll be directed to the official account. Sound good?"


    Minami exhaled sharply, proud of herself for managing to say all that and getting it all in one go without stuttering or bursting into tears.


    "Okay, look. If you''re going to throw a fit like a baby about it, I''ll take down the one with Airi," Juri laughed before continuing, "But Saki and I want her as a member in the group, so it was supposed to be like us introducing her. But I''ll just take it down and I guess we''ll just introduce her in the next one. I also don''t think we should delete them from our accounts, it doesn''t make sense to now. We''ve accumulated a lot of views so it just makes sense to keep them there. You don''t sound good in it anyways."


    Minami''s heart skipped a beat and she clutched her phone tightly, "No."


    "Excuse me?" Juri sounded surpised.


    "I don''t want Airi in the group. I don''t even know her. I want it to be just us three like we originally agreed. I would appreciate it if you would ask me before adding a member in. We need to agree all together, I don''t want her in the group. I''m the leader and that''s final."


    Minami could practically hear Juri rolling her eyes through the phone, "Okay, whatever. We''ll just start over with The Dawn then."


    "Okay, I''m working on m-"


    Juri hung up before Minami could finish.


    Minami, frustrated, dialed up Naoto.


    He answered with a sleepy voice, "Yeah?"


    "Haha¡­.were you napping¡­?" Her voice was sullen, she was trying to keep back her tears. She felt bad for having woken him up if that was the case.


    He yawned, "Nope, just sleepy." That wasn''t true, he had indeed been woken up from his nap, but he didn''t want her to know that. "What''s up? You sound upset."


    It was obvious to him that something was wrong. She didn''t sound chipper like she usually did.


    Minami burst into tears and explained her conversation with Juri.


    "I just! Don''t get it!" she gasped for air in between her sentences, "Why is she! Doing that!"


    "Hmm¡­" he shrugged to himself, "I dunno."


    "We used to be best friends before!" Minami sobbed into the phone, "We would talk more than anyone else about our dream and talk about collabor¡­" she gasp sharply, "¡­ating after we debuted and how!" she gasped again, "We would hold a joint concert!"


    "Mhmm, mhmm" he said in a comforting manner, urging her to continue.


    "And now, she''s replacing me! With Airi! Who even is Airi?!" She covered her mouth, trying to stifle the sobs, feeling guilty for having just unleashed all her feelings on him.


    "She met Airi on that new game we''ve been playing. They''ve been pretty close recently." He scratched the back of his head, not completely sure he should''ve relayed that information.


    "What¡­."


    "Mmm¡­.yeah. They''ve been up talking almost all the time."


    "When was¡­.that?"


    "We play almost every day. Didn''t you know?"


    They both sat there in silence. Naoto could feel the tension through the phone and he felt uncomfortable at the awkwardness.


    "You guys have been¡­playing without me?" Minami bit her lip and clutched her fingers against her knee.


    "Huh? I thought you were busy." His tone was of genuine confusion.


    "No¡­I was never even invited."


    "What the-? Juri keeps saying that she''s asked you to come play but you refuse saying you''re busy working on group stuff."


    "¡­No¡­.she hasn''t asked me at all¡­" She started sniffling, and using her muscles to try and stop the next cry that was about to come on.


    "I''ll have a talk with her next time okay? You should get some rest. Text me if you need me." Naoto hung up before she could respond, which she was in part thankful for because she didn''t have to hold it in any more.


    She pulled open her messaging app and sent a message to Saki.


    [Minami] "Saki? Did you know that Juri was purposefully not inviting me to play with you guys?"


    [Saki is typing¡­]


    [Saki is typing¡­]


    [Saki is typing¡­]


    Minami waited for half an hour when finally Saki responded.


    [Saki] "Whoa really? I didn''t know!"

 Ch 05: Determination!!!

    Finally, the day arrived that their cover of ''The Dawn'' was released. Tensions had subsided after they had a talk about the gaming incident. Juri claimed that she just assumed that Minami would be busy with group preparations since she was the group leader and didn''t want to put pressure on her to stop organizing things. Minami didn''t buy it, but she didn''t feel like she could make a fuss about it since everyone else seemed to accept it as fact.


    She typed in the account address as soon as she got the text message that the cover was live. Her heart raced and her eyes lit up, clicking on the video; her hands clasped tightly in her lap once it started to play.


    "Hmm?" The voice playing was not hers, nor was it Juri or Saki''s. She sat up straighter and leaned into the screen, her fingers clutching onto the edge of her red plaid skirt. There in the description box was the order of appearances and the first name was non other than Airi.


    She quickly opened up the line distributions. The opening line was meant to be hers. In the document, there it was, the opening line was credited to be Airi''s. She scrolled through the document, all of her solo lines had disappeared except for one. She waited eagerly to hear her solo, but when it came she was grossly surprised.


    It sounded so¡­..wrong. The pitch was off, they key was off, she sounded flat and her voice sounded like it had been through a fryer. Tears welled in her eyes. What was going on? She checked the comments.


    "Oof¡­.that Minami girl¡­..you should remove her."


    "Yuck! Who sang that line?"


    "Why does whoever sang that line sound like they were singing a completely different song lol"


    She opened up her recording program and put the recording she submitted into it. She listened to it over and over again. It sounded found, just as it did when she checked it before handing them in. Why did they sound so different in her program in comparison to the final product? Why did they sound so bad?


    She called Saki.


    "Minamina! Did you see the cover?! It''s so good! We did so good!" Saki was so cheerful that Minami instantly felt guilty for the fuss she was about to cause.


    "I did¡­um. Actually, that''s what I wanted to talk to you about. Why was Airi in the song?" She spoke quietly and softly, her tone calm, an attempt to keep the situation civil and not escalated it to a full on argument.


    "Oh, I don''t know! Anyways, listen to how good we sound! It''s so awesome!" Saki was quick to change the subject.


    "Saki¡­.my solo sounds really bad¡­"


    "Why are you being negative! It sounds fine!" Saki''s tone fluctuated in a weird way that Minami couldn''t fully understand.


    "Do I really sound like that?"


    "No!! Juri pitch corrected you when she was audio mixing it! So you sound so much better!"


    Minami wanted to gag. Tears flowed down her face. This was supposed to be a happy time, she was supposed to be excited about her new group and the potential of building an audience and creating a fanbase but it had only been misery instead.


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    "O-okay¡­.I''m going to call Juri. I''ll talk to you later?"


    "Sure, sure! I''ll be here!"


    She dialed Juri''s number and was about to hit ''CALL'' but her finger hesitated. She gulped hard and shut her eyes tight as she forced herself to send the call through.


    "Yeah?" Juri answered, her tone curt.


    "Hey Juri? I wanted to ask you abo-"


    "She wanted to be in it." She immediately cut Minami off, "We already talked about this didn''t we?" If it''s not going to be fun, then let''s just not do it and I''ll delete everything. Airi is my friend and I want her to be in it. We can all have fun and enjoy this or you can keep whining like a little brat and complaining and making it miserable for everyone. You tell me."


    "I¡­." Minami hesitated as she choked down tears, "I don''t want Airi in the group. I already told you that when we discussed it last time, didn''t I? We can have fun, but you''re not making it fun for me. Airi doesn''t need to be included. I don''t know her and she was added without my consent. This is my group, not yours!"


    "Okay, well, Saki and I can leave and make a group with Airi and you can have your group to yourself. Does that sound good for you? I don''t understand what your problem is. Groups add members all the time." Juri''s tone was rather matter of fact now, but there was definitely a hint of threatening manner underneath there somewhere.


    "I don''t know why we can''t just have a group with us three. This isn''t what we agreed on. I feel like I''m being replaced." Hot tears rolled down her cheeks and onto her thighs. She couldn''t keep them back anymore. She took in deep, shaky breaths while trying to calm herself down. The last thing she wanted right now was to break down over the phone, especially when Juri was treating her like such a child already.


    "No, you''re not. We want you in the group, obviously, but you''re making it really hard on us Minami." Juri huffed in frustration.


    "I''m not trying to make it hard," she wiped her tears, "but do you see how this looks to me? You''re going behind my back to do things and you even gave her my solos without telling me. How is that supposed to come across to me?"


    "You have this conspiracy in your head that we''re leaving you out and like we don''t want you in the group and that''s just not true and I don''t know what to tell you about that."


    "You are though! You ARE leaving me out! You didn''t tell me she was going to be in the group and you didn''t tell me that you were giving her all of my solo lines!" Minami''s voice gradually raised as she continued speaking until she was full on screaming into the phone, "SO HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT I''M MAKING IT UP?"


    "Because honestly, I knew you''d react like THIS. So I''m not gonna deal with this situation. Get over it or we can just not do the group, but I''d prefer to continue with it so figure your stuff out and get back to me." With that, Juri hung up the phone and Minami broke down into full on sobs, covering her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound.


    She felt like she was being crazy. It felt like it was so obvious they were leaving her out, but yet, how come she was the one in the wrong here? It didn''t feel right, but if she didn''t debut with them, she had no one else. She needed them, she wasn''t confident enough to go solo, and Juri was the audio mixer extraordinaire. She didn''t have that skill, she wouldn''t be able to upload covers without her. It was time to change her thinking.


    What if she ended up debuting in a girl group where she didn''t get along with the members? Would she quit? Would she cause fights all the time like she''s doing now, or would she just suck it up? So, she''ll have to do just that and continue on. She wiped her tears with the sleeve of her black turtleneck and opened her chat with Juri.


    [Minami] "Juri, I''m sorry. Let''s just continue with the group."


    [Juri] "Okay. I''ll tell Airi she can''t join us anymore."


    Minami smiled and happily held her phone to her chest, wiping the remaining tears as she sighed in relief. ''See? It''s possible to reach and understanding. That wasn''t so bad. In the end, we were able to work it out. We can do this Minami! We just have to persevere! Our dream is not far away!'' she crossed her arms and patted her shoulders in an attempt to comfort and encourage herself.


    She pulled her waist length hair into a high ponytail and hopped over to her computer. ''Let''s do this, Minami! This is not the end, only the beginning!'' She opened up the document to the next song they would be covering and pulled the mp3 open in her audio program. She grabbed her microphone and pulled it towards her mouth and began to practice the next song, recording over and over again until her throat felt numb.

 Ch 06: Will You Cheer For Me?

    Kissiks had been practicing as a group for a few months now. They''d released three covers to their Hivideo channels since ''The Dawn'', none of which Airi and surprisingly no additional songs by 5year.


    There had been more fights between Juri and Minami since then too. Juri would tell them they would do a song, they would record it, and Juri would replace the document last minute with new lyrics for them to do a different song, then claim she didn''t know what happened to the previous, but since the lyrics were already gone, they might as well scrap it.


    Saki didn''t seem to mind and just recorded whatever she was given. Although, she and Juri did have their first fight as well when Juri switched a solo with Saki, and took the one Saki had really wanted. That had resulted in Minami receiving a boat load of texts from Saki like, "My beloved leader! I''m so sorry!" "My super leader, I know how you felt now." "Leader please save me!!!!" "Leader, my precious Minami, my perfect idol, please do something about this¡­"


    Which also in turn caused a rift between Minami and Saki since Minami couldn''t do anything to persuade or talk to Juri.


    Despite all of the internal fights and arguments, they''d gained a steady following in that time, although it was nothing hugely significant. A whopping total of 400 followers is more than they could''ve imagined reality would bless them with.


    Minami managed to set up a performance for them at a small venue as the opening act for a Net-idol group called Carrot Star. They were relatively big online, gaining a large following very quickly, although they weren''t with an agency and didn''t have the finances to fund a large scale concert. It was thanks to their humble beginnings and Minami''s friendly demeanor that they decided to help out a fellow up and coming group in need and select them as their opening act.


    Kissiks would be performing "Only My Love" by 5year, which Minami was ecstatic about. They''d gone shopping and purchased form fitting black dresses. All of the stress from the fights with Juri and the constant threats of having all their work deleted had caused Minami to gain some weight and she felt self-conscious in her costume. It also didn''t help when Juri laughed at her when she came out of the dressing room.


    The dresses were plain, but Minami returned home and did some DIY work. She hot glued long red ribbons across the upper body of the dress and added rhinestone details to them to give them an extra shine. She tried her costume on and added a belt around the waist and looped some tule around it to give it some more umph and appear more stage worthy.


    Minami sent both Juri and Saki the line distribution, informing both of them that she was in charge of it, no ifs ands or buts in order to ensure that no little switcheroo stunts would occur like had happened in the past. She also learned the choreography to "Only My Love" and edited it to accommodate for three people, added in audience interactions and changed some steps here and there to make it flow better between the three of them as well as to go with the solos each of them had been given.


    She then filmed herself doing each person''s part and sent it to them to learn on their own before coming to practice. She found a dance studio which she rented until the performance date so they could have a quality practice and see themselves in the mirrors.


    However, they ended up only practicing together a total of three times. Juri kept missing practices all together saying things like, "Next time, next time," or "Something came up today, I can''t make it, sorry." While Saki just laid around saying, "Can''t we do this later? Can''t we just do something else instead?" We know all of 5year''s songs by heart, why do we need to practice?"


    The concert was rapidly approaching and Minami begged the two of them to show up for practice.


    "You guys, we''re going to look really stupid if we don''t practice together! We''re going to be performing LIVE, I don''t know how you can be okay with not practicing, we need all of the practice we can get." Minami pleaded.


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    "It''s going to be fine! We don''t need to!" Saki brushed her off, waving her hand in the air.


    "We DO need to! This is edited choreography, it''s not the original like you learned before!" Minami slid her fingers into her hair and grabbed at clumps near her scalp. She felt like she was losing her mind trying to reason with them.


    "You sent us the video! It''s going to be fine, stop worrying so much! I''ll learn it on my own like I learned the other choreography!" Saki smiled and laughed like nothing was wrong.


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Thanks for coming you guys." Minami stood in the middle of the dance studio, Akina and Naoto sitting on the floor in front of the mirrors.


    "Of course!" Akina smiled and waved a cheap yellow lightstick in the air.


    "I''m here for the free entertainment!" Naoto joked, clapping his hands in an encouraging manner.


    "Okay, can one of you hit play when I say go?" Minami got in her starting pose.


    "I''ll do it!" Akina grabbed Minami''s phone that was on the floor next to her. It was synced with the speakers in the room and Minami had created a custom instrumental of the song that only played the instrumental during her solos and the original mp3 with Saki and Juri''s. That way, she could properly sing her solos and keep on track without the two of them there.


    "Okay, go!" Minami shouted and Akina promptly hit play.


    The music started and Minami immediately turned on her charm, singing and dancing her heart out.


    "And you are my only love! Only my love! Perfect immunity~"


    She winked at the two of them acting like they were audience members and looked around the rest of the room to make sure she didn''t practice only looking at two people.


    Akina and Naoto played their parts perfectly, fist pumping and shouting her name as she performed. Akina waved her lightstick high in the air to the beat and Naoto did the same with his invisible one.


    Minami ended the song, stumbling a bit on the final pose. Akina and Naoto applauded so loud that they were sure everyone else in the building would be able to hear them.


    "How was that?" Minami asked as she took deep breaths, trying to steady her breathing.


    "You were A LITTLE off around the second verse pitch wise and your choreography seemed to be a beat behind, but I think it was really great other than that!" Akina said with a big smile on her face.


    Minami nodded and did a dry practice of that portion, humming the tune as she danced it.


    "Lower. Go a little lower on the second part." Akina instructed.


    Minami repeated it, applying Akina''s advice. It took her a few times to find the pitch and get the timing of her steps correctly, but she eventually nailed it.


    "Perfect! Now, try it with the whole song!"


    They hit play and Minami repeated the performance, once again stumbling on her ending pose.


    "Here, do it like this." Naoto stood up and stood behind her, "Do it again?"


    Minami did it again, stumbling like she did every other time. "He grabbed her waist and shifted it to the side, "You''re leaning, keep your waist straight." He proceeded to slide his hand down her leg and steadied her with one hand while lifting her foot and pulling it into a point. "Like this. Try it like that, got it?" he looked up at her but she couldn''t look back, her face was fire red from blushing.


    "Mhmm!" she responded quickly, wanting him to let go so she could calm herself down. He returned to his seat next to Akina and they played the song once again.


    Minami ended the performance as Naoto had instructed her and ended the final pose flawlessly.


    "YEAH! You got it!" Naoto yelled and held two thumbs up.


    Minami smiled and rubbed the back of her head, "Thanks for helping!"


    "No problem!"


    "Do you guys mind if we run through it a few more times just so I can make sure I''ve got it down?"


    "Go for it!" Naoto waved his invisible lightstick in the air, "I''m ready!"


    "Yep, that''s what we''re here for!" Akina hit play again and Minami went through the routine again and again.


    By the time they were done, Minami was hunched over, hands on her knees, sweat dripping from her face, and breathing hard. However, her work had paid off and she had done a perfect run through of it the last six times.


    Naoto patted her on the back, "You did great! I think you''re due for a good rest now. Are you satisfied?"


    Minami shook her head, "I feel like I''m still not prepared enough¡­. I want to run through it again!"


    Akina stared in shock, "Are you kidding? I think you''re going to peel over¡­"


    Naoto laughed, "Noooo, you''re done. Come on, there will plenty of time to practice later. You did great, end on a good note."

 Ch 07: Star Who Fell From the Sky

    The day of their performance finally arrived. Minami had arrived early to get ready backstage. Given the size of the venue and that she was only part of an opening act, she didn''t get her own room and had to change in the bathroom. The hallways were cramped with staff and group members and Minami awkwardly squeezed past them to wait in the larger backstage area.


    She had pulled her blondish brown hair in a high ponytail with a red bow, to match the ones she''d put on her costume, and successful wrapped the tule around her belt to create the look of a long half skirt on her side. It definitely looked like a homemade costume, and while she felt a little self-conscious at how it hugged her body, she was confident that she could put on a Grade A performance.


    That confidence faded quickly when Saki and Juri arrived in their casual clothes with no sight of their costumes with them.


    Minami''s eyes widened with horror and her face fell as she jogged up to them. "Where are your costumes?! We go on in a few minutes!"


    "Actually¡­" Saki''s mouth contorted, and her nose scrunched up, "I''m sorry, actually, I think I don''t want to be an idol! I just want to have fun and do covers, so I don''t want to go on. I just came to show you guys support"!


    "¡­.What¡­.Saki you can''t NOT perform. We practiced with the three of us, I edited the choreography. You can''t drop out last minute! We''re going on¡­.like right now."


    Saki sucked her lips in and looked down at the floor, rubbing her foot against the ground awkwardly.


    "Saki and I actually talked about it earlier," Juri stepped forward in front of Saki in a protective manner, "Since Saki''s not doing it, I don''t want to do it either. Honestly, I won''t look good next to you. You''re going to bring me down too much. At least Saki would''ve balanced it out, but you''re not the pretty and you can''t sing or dance very well. I''m just honestly not interested in carrying you so I''m out too." She flicked her blonde hair in Minami''s face and shrugged her shoulders, grabbing Saki''s hand before heading toward the audience seating and dragging her away.


    "Wait! You guys! We can''t just not perform! You can''t do this! You''re inconveniencing everyone!" Minami shouted after them.


    "We''re handing in our resignations it sounds like!" Juri shouted back without turning around as they exited the backstage area.


    "Wai-" Minami was bout to chase after them when someone tapped on her shoulder, "Excuse me? Kissiks, right?"


    Minami turned around, it was a tall man with a badge that said ''STAFF'' on it. She gulped down hard and nodded.


    "You''re on." He motioned toward the stage and the intro music began.


    She felt a lump form in her throat and a pit in her stomach. She wanted to throw up, she wanted to run away. She gulped hard and stepped out from behind the curtain on the pitch black stage. She could hear the murmuring of the crowd and wondered where Saki and Juri were sitting, or if they would even stay to watch. It was funny, she''d never had stage fright before, but now for the first time while performing, her body wouldn''t stop quivering. She wanted to run back behind the curtains and tell them that she couldn''t do it, but her body wouldn''t allow her to.


    What about the staff that worked hard to put on this event? What about Carrot Star who had been so kind enough to give them this opportunity to perform and whose concert would be affected by this? Or the audience who came to watch a good time?


    If she didn''t perform, the entire schedule for the show would be off. Even though Carrot Star was a small group, even though it was a tiny stage with a small staff, even though she didn''t even get to do a dress rehearsal, it still mattered. It had every ounce of importance as a big venue, and as much as a popular artist''s performance. She couldn''t mess that up, no matter what.


    The music to ''Only My Love'' began and she shut her eyes tight, ''I can make¡­any stage work¡­.'' She opened her eyes just in time for the spotlight to hit her. Supportive cheers echoed in her ears. The room didn''t transform like it usually did, it had no need to, this was finally the real deal. Although the light sticks were not for her, the banners were not for her and even this stage was not hers, she was going to take full advantage of it. She was going to eat this opportunity and satisfy the craving she''d had.


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    She''d only practiced her parts, but she did know the entirety of the song and thought back to the original choreography video she''d seen.


    Then, she spotted Naoto and Akina in the crowd, vigorously chanting and pumping their light sticks. She felt a confidence boost and the stage fright faded away.


    "And you are my only love! Only my love! Perfect immu- AND IF I had the chance~" She jumped around on stage, trying to fulfill each person''s parts, cutting off her own lyrics in order to start the next line.


    The supportive cheers faded into confused ones which then faded into confused murmurs.


    "This is really bad¡­"


    "Why does she seem so rushed on stage? Haha¡­."


    "I know that she isn''t the main act, but she makes me want my money back just for having to see this¡­."


    She couldn''t hear what they were saying, but she could tell they weren''t enjoying it by how they stood still awkwardly and how the chants had subsided. She looked for Naoto and Akina for additional support. Akina was still pumping her light stick, screaming as loud as she could. Naoto, however, had put his light stick down and was now covering his face awkwardly.


    She felt her heart skip a beat, and not in a good way. This song was meant for a group, not for a solo. The track she had prepared didn''t have backing vocals on it, so she couldn''t just leave spots blank, and because she was busy filling in lyrics, she had no room to breathe. Now, even her friends who should be supporting her no matter what, seemed ashamed of her. Even the crowd was beginning to boo her now.


    Finally, the music came to its end. Minami gasped for air as she held the ending pose, waiting for the lights to return to normal before she could make her exit. Thankfully she had nailed at least the ending, thanks to Naoto''s suggestions. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save her performance, even two of the ribbons she had pinned to her dress had fallen off during the performance and some of the tule around her belt had come undone and was falling down. It was a miracle she didn''t trip on any of it.


    Once the lights returned to normal, she quickly picked the fabric up and stood back tall, smiling at the crowd who was now passionately booing her.


    "Everyone, thank you so much for giving me energy for my performance! I hope you will enjoy Carrot Star''s concert! See you next time!" She winked at the crowd and bowed with tears in her eyes. They continued to boo and she quickly exited the stage. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and she erupted into a full on cry as soon as the curtains closed behind her.


    She quickly grabbed her belongings and ran out of the venue. Juri, Saki, Naoto and Akina tried to catch up to her but she was already gone.


    "What the hell was that about?" Naoto screamed at Juri and Saki. "Why were you not up there with her?!"


    "We didn''t WANT to and we have every right to say no, we don''t want to do this." Juri crossed her arms and kept her cool.


    "You do but¡­.you just completely embarrassed someone who you call your friend up there¡­." Akina stated quietly. She looked she was about ready to cry.


    "Then why didn''t YOU go up there? Huh? You expect me to, but you wouldn''t have done it either so don''t even!" Juri gritted her teeth, snarled and flipped her hair.


    "I would have, if I knew you had backed out. I would''ve practiced with her and filled in¡­." Akina took a breath, trying not to cry at the shock of Juri''s attitude.


    "But you didn''t even give her the chance to back out and think if SHE didn''t want to perform, or to get people to fill in for you two. Don''t try to excuse your behavior and put it on her when you were fully in the wrong, Juri!" Naoto clenched his jaw and his fists.


    "Shut up. I don''t want to hear that from you Mr. Hiding His Face In The Corner. I saw you. You practically booed her too." Juri laughed and flipped her hair again.


    Naoto took a deep breath and closed his eyes, "Flip your hair at me one more time and I''m going to cut it all off. You''re just an evil witch, Juri, and that''s a fact." He whipped out his phone and dialed Minami''s number, running out of the venue to go look for her.


    Over the following days, Minami received numerous messages from the four of them.


    "At least you tried though!" and "They said, ''Even though she''s not the person I came for, I want my money back.'' Grow up losers!" had come in from Saki.


    Naoto had sent a message that was probably meant to be encouraging like, "Who cares that they thought you sucked and said you were bad? Who cares that you almost jeopardized Carrot Star''s concert? You did your best instead of giving up. That''s cool."


    Juri simply sent numerous messages like, "We need to talk." "Hello?" "Seriously?" "Answer me." While Akina had only sent, "I thought you did a good job. I liked your performance! I''m here for you if you need anything, let me know!" and nothing beyond that.


    Minami was not in the head space to answer any of them, and never responded.

 Ch 08: What Happened to Minami?

    Minami had not spoken to Juri or Saki since the concert a month ago. She''d never been so embarrassed in her life. Only My Love was a song she couldn''t even listen to anymore and even the costume that should''ve been a wonderful memory, had been thrown away once she got home.


    There were so many emotions that she was feeling: anger, sadness, embarrassment, betrayal. Her mind couldn''t comprehend how they could''ve done that to her. After everything they''d been through together, through all the fights they had, and all of the make-ups. What was their goal?


    She thought back to the practices they had missed, the whole issue with trying to add Airi, telling her they couldn''t do Moonlight Kiss but then proceeded to do it with Airi instead. Was it just to embarrass her the whole time? They clearly had no intention of performing at the concert to begin with. What kind of cruel people would pretend like that?


    She swiveled around in her computer chair, not sure of what to do.


    ''Maybe I should check up on my fans, maybe they''ll give me strength.'' Sure, her fans included all but five people, IF that, but that''s all she needed.


    She went to Kissiks'' account. To her surprise, there was a new upload that had been posted only two days ago. It was a cover of Only My Love.


    Minami felt blood rush to her cheeks, their temperature rising, embarrassment and anger instantly rushing over her. Had they recorded her at the concert and posted it for everyone to see? A painful jab hit her throat and she felt the urge to throw up, but she swallowed it down as she clicked on it.


    To her relief, it was not her disastrous performance. Although she wasn''t sure that this was much better. It was Saki, Juri and Airi singing it, without her and with the Kissiks name. She looked at the uploader''s username, "Producer Juri".


    "What? This is Kissiks'' account¡­" Minami said aloud as she clicked on the profile. There in the description was all she needed to know.


    ''Hi! We are Juri, Saki and Airi, the three members of Kissiks. We want to debut officially one day so please support us!'' Followed by links to their individual social media accounts.


    She scrolled through the account. The covers containing Minami were no longer available, however, the Moonlight Kiss cover that Juri claimed she deleted was still there with the original upload date.


    Minami looked through the comments of the Only My Love cover.


    "Where is Minami?"


    "Wasn''t Minami a member?"


    "Why are you deleting all of the comments about Minami?"


    "I really liked her¡­where is Minami? What happened to her?"


    ''So they were deleting comments about me¡­'' she thought. Then, her eyes fell on one comment that seemed to stand out the most¡­


    "I''m glad Minami''s gone. She couldn''t sing, she was really bringing the group down. She sucked so bad. This line-up is much better. Thanks for removing Minami!"


    She recognized the username and clicked on it. It was one of Juri''s old accounts.


    Her blood began to boil and she clenched her fists tightly.


    "You want to play games? I''ll play your stupid game." Her eyes narrowed toward the screen, hatred and anger filling them and fueling her. She typed away and left a comment,


    "To everyone that is questioning why I am not in the group. I''m also confused. Juri and Saki informed me last week that they are no longer wanted to be in the group. I''m wondering why they''re continuing with someone else? I''m also wondering why they''re using the name I came up with if they were going to remove me. It seems in poor taste. I apologize to everyone that is negatively affected." All five people anyways¡­but it was more than zero so they were important to her nonetheless.


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    Next, she scrolled back down to Juri''s other account and responded directly to it.


    "It''s fascinating to me, Juri. Why are you commenting such a thing on your other account? Why would you change the account for our group, use the name I came up with, and inform me last minute you were leaving the group. Now, to say things like that? What are you doing? I wonder¡­"


    She grabbed her dust bin and hugged it to her chest. Her body was shaking and tears were rolling down her cheeks yet again, the feeling of throwing up growing stronger and stronger. She didn''t want her parents to hear her though, she didn''t want them to know what was going on. In their eyes, everything was fine and going well.


    Bzz! Bzz! She picked up her phone and saw numerous texts from Juri.


    [Juri] "Don''t you think it''s inappropriate to respond that way? That''s not my account. You''re making me look bad. You''re making us look bad. We don''t want your shitty name, it''s just convenient. We''ll change it as soon as we come up with something better."


    Minami gagged, the shaking in her body increasing and fueling the nausea. She scrolled back through their conversations and took a screenshot of when Juri linked the account saying it was hers. No doubt Juri thought she had forgotten, or even forgot that she herself had sent it to everyone, but Minami remembered it.


    She sent the screenshot.


    [Minami] "Liar. What the hell is wrong with you? No, you will not change it once you come up with something better, you''ll change it now."


    Juri didn''t respond. Minami refreshed the page as she gagged into her dustbin. All of the comments mentioning her were gone, including the one Juri had made and the ones she had left. The account was still called Kissiks and the names on the covers hadn''t changed.


    [Minami] "Change the name. Now."


    Then she received a message, "I''m sorry. You''re not eligible to message this person. This means that you are either blocked by this person or there is a network error. Please try again later."


    She tried to log into the account but was informed that the log-in information had been changed.


    She ran to the bathroom, fully vomiting into the toilet. When she was done, she stood up and stared in the mirror. Juri''s words echoed in her mind, ''You''re not that pretty and you can''t sing or dance very well.'' The tears wouldn''t stop flowing out her now reddened eyes. Those words replayed in her mind over and over again. Suddenly, she felt so ugly and useless.


    She returned to her bedroom, keeping her head low so her parents wouldn''t see she was crying in case she ran into them in the hallway. She sat back at her computer and posted on all of her social media accounts.


    ''Hi, this is Minami from Kissiks. I was informed by both Saki and Juri that they wanted to withdraw from the group last minute. However, I see today that they are still using my group name and uploading covers with a new member. They lied to me in order to replace me. Kissiks'' is my group, and they''ve taken it from me under the guise of leaving the group themselves.''


    Posted.


    She was suddenly flooded by numerous accounts that she had never seen before.


    "Shut up. You''re trying to cause drama."


    "Why are you stirring the pot?"


    "Yeah because no one likes you."


    "Kicking you out of the group was doing you a favor."


    She checked the accounts, all of them had no other content on their accounts, to which Minami posted a new response.


    "Previously, Juri had left a nasty comment on the account, speaking ill of me. I called Juri out in the response, but Juri deleted the comments. Juri is deleting all of the comments about me. Now, she is even creating fake accounts to try and attack me with." She included the screenshot with her post.


    Next, was response that she truly was not expecting.


    "Hi, I want everyone to know the person Minami is. She has been bullying both Saki and Juri since the beginning of Kissiks. They constantly had to do things behind her back to try and keep things civil. I was an original member, but Minami kicked me out unjustly, removing my name from the account and even privating the original video. She told Juri and Saki that she didn''t know why the cover had been removed and that I was definitely not kicked out, however later on Juri and Saki realized that she had sent out lyric distributions without me included¡­."


    Minami started to throw up in her dustbin. She was shaking so much she couldn''t control it. That wasn''t true at all! She''d never even spoken to Airi before, and Airi was never an actual member. She picked up her phone and texted Saki,


    [Minami] "Ddoo you sed wedat airi vsKc onlinh? Cant types sprty¡­"


    Her hands were shaking so much, it made typing pretty much impossible, her fingers were hitting all sorts of keys she didn''t meant to.


    [Saki] "Um? Idk."


    [Minami] "Whar dhe said 8ts liesn¡­."


    [Saki] "Yeah idk why she said that!"


    [Minami] "Defend mr pksase, shes majing me look lkke a snaje."


    [Saki] "Lol are you DRUNK? Lol!!! Um, I don''t want to get in the middle of it sorry!"


    Minami tossed her phone to the side and shoved her head into the dust bin, throwing up so hard it was beginning to come out of her nose and her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets.


    How could her best friend, do this to her? How could she not defend her? How could she just let someone talk about her like that? The loyalty, the bond she thought they''d built, it was all bullshit. Just lies to keep her around as a toy.

 Ch 09: SUN MEDIA

    "I really wanted to debut as an idol, but people kept telling me I was not good enough, that I wasn''t pretty enough, that I wasn''t talented enough. I went on so many auditions and over and over again I was rejected. Everyone said, ''If you put in enough work, you can achieve anything.'' So why could I not achieve this, the thing I craved the most?"


    "17 years old, Ishihara Minami. That''s you?"


    Her style had changed in the past two years since Carrot Star''s disastrous concert. She was no longer wearing skirts but instead wore a tight white t-shirt and black ripped jeans. She was much thinner than before, having lost a lot of weight from the anxiety of the situation with Kissiks and the amount of hate she''d received from it. She had deleted her accounts since then and made new ones under an alias but she only used them to browse other people''s accounts. Her skin had cleared up and she started wearing light makeup as opposed to going completely bare before. She''d also cut her hair and kept it in low mini pigtails which showed off her newly pierced ears.


    "Yes." Minami nodded. She sat up straight with her hands clasped in her lap, staring at the man in front of her. He was somewhere in his 40''s with shoulder-length hair and a beard. He wore a long-sleeved dress shirt, black vest and black dress pants.


    His name was Takada Makoto, a popular composer who had just opened up his own talent agency, SUN MEDIA. He had worked with a few big names prior but seemed mostly popular for his work with the solo artist "RISE". Despite having a comfortable life with a few perks, he decided to start from scratch and open up his own agency.


    He created a girl group the previous year called SUN GIRLS who had released a few singles and were starting to soar on tv shows. A few months ago, he signed his second girl group, Smile Days, who had only released a few digital singles. While there were currently no plans for their official debut single, the group was doing well in gaining a following through busking performances and online activities.


    The male rubbed his chin and inspected her from head to toe before looking over her resume. "You just graduated high school and have no experience. Why would I hire you as opposed to someone that is more capable?"


    "You could hire someone that is more capable, but will they necessarily work well with you? Will they have habits that bother you? I have the capability of learning, and you can completely mold me. Your habits will become my habits, my quality will be your quality, because I will learn directly from you and you can teach me however you want things to be done." She didn''t smile, she didn''t wink, she sat there straight up, hands still clasped in her lap, a strange air surrounding that was not one of confidence but was also not one of timidness either.


    He was intrigued, "That does sound nice, but what makes you think I have the time to teach you?"


    "I did my research on this company. You''re new and while I know you''re a very big name yourself, your company is still up and coming. Your office is not very big," she motioned to the space that housed his desk, a sitting area and a few cubicles in the middle, "and there''s not very many staff. Despite that, you already have two artists-"


    He held up his hand and scoffed, "Exactly, even you''re making it sound like my hands are full. I need someone that can already do that job."


    "You''re mistaken. You already have two artists that you''re doing everything for. You''re already doing it. I can shadow you and learn from you while you''re already taking care of the things you''re already doing. Or, you can hire someone else with more experience, like you''ve already stated, and have them get in your way and annoy you, do things wrong and then come to the conclusion that it would''ve been better if you had just done it all yourself to begin with."


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    Her expression remained unwavered.


    He smiled. It was refreshing to see such an attitude in such a young person. "17 years old, huh?" He raised his eyebrows as he laughed. She nodded in response.


    "Okay, you''re hired. But! Only on a trial basis. If you bother me or get in my way, you''re out of here, god it?"


    "Sir, yes sir!" She gave him a salute before standing up and bowing, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I won''t let you down."


    "I''ll see you tomorrow. 5:00am, sharp." He started to look through documents and didn''t make eye contact with her.


    She nodded and exited the building.


    He looked up and watched her leave. He bit his lip and rubbed his chain, "This could be interesting¡­.very interesting indeed." He turned to his computer screen and stared at the paused video ¨C a video of Minami performing at Carrot Star''s concert. "Ishihara Minami. I wonder what you''ll be able to do for me¡­"


    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Naoto and Akina pulled on the strings of poppers, causing confetti to fly into the air and onto Minami. "Congratulations!" they yelled in unity.


    Minami smiled and sat down on the beige leather couch in Naoto''s living room. "Thanks you guys! This is really so sweet." She looked around the room. There were paper streamers decorating the tops of the walls in various colors, transparent LED balloons hugged the ceiling and tickled the floor with their strings and a large sign that said ''CONGRATULATIONS'' was spread on the wall across from the couch.


    The coffee table was filled with various cut up fruits and snacks, along with a pink strawberry short cake and a large pitcher of lemonade. Tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away, "I don''t know why I''m crying¡­" she laughed lightly.


    Naoto rubbed the top of her head and laughed, "Still a crybaby huh?"


    "At least they''re happy tears this time! I assume!" Akina smiled and pulled out two wrapped boxes from the closet. "Maybe you should get her some tissues Naoto? I think she''ll lose it in a second." She trotted over to the couch and sat next to Minami, handing her a glittery pink wrapped box.


    "They are happy tears, but what is this?" Minami tilted her head and gently dabbed at the skin under her eyes to try and dry them before gently grabbing the box.


    "A gift to celebrate your new job!" Akina scooted closer to Minami and smiled wide, clasping her hands together in anticipation.


    Minami gently tore away at the wrapping paper and opened up the box underneath. Inside was a baby blue notebook with a cat and biscuits on decorating it. It had the words ''HAPPY DAY!'' written on it. Minami frowned and pushed her bottom lip outward, "This is so cute! You didn''t have to get me anything though!" She pulled Akina into a hug.


    Akina rubbed her back, "But I wanted to! You deserve it after everything you''ve been through. Anyways, I thought you could use it for your lyrics and stuff. I mean, I don''t know if you still do that, but if you do then you could use it for that, or use it for something else, it''s yours, you can do whatever you want with it!"


    Minami smiled and gave her a tight squeeze. She didn''t write lyrics anymore, not since she failed her last audition a few months ago, but she would definitely find a use for it.


    Naoto pulled them apart and grabbed the other box which was wrapped in a silver iridescent wrapping paper. He sat on the other side of Minami and handed her the gift, "Now, it''s my turn."


    "Ooohhh sparkly~" Minami''s eyes light up at the sight of the paper.


    "Mhmm, I know you like your sparkles, now open it up."


    Minami took extra care in opening the gift from Naoto. "Just rip it!" he urged.


    "No! I want to save it! It''s so pretty!"


    "I have a WHOLE roll of it you can have, just tear it!"


    "Fine." Minami ripped it open and opened up the box. A coral colored planner with mint colored boarders that said ''Everything will be alright!''


    She flipped through it, it had a calendar a place for notes and the back even had various stickers to help keep yourself organized.


    Naoto scratched the back of his head, "I know blue is your color but I remembered you used to really like that mint dress you used to have¡­.but I couldn''t find anything in that color besides this¡­"


    Minami stared at it in silence for a while. Naoto cleared his throat, "I can return it if you want, it''s not a problem."


    She jumped in his lap and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "No! I love it! I''m going to use it every day!"


    He smiled and kissed the top of her head without thinking. She stared up at him, her cheeks red from blushing, an inquisitive look across her face.


    Naoto cleared his throat awkwardly and gently pushed her off his lap. "I''ll go get you the wrapping paper roll¡­."

 Ch 10: My Smile Days~

    It had already been a few months since Minami had gotten a job with SUN MEDIA. She''d learned what to look for in recording, how to give direction and how to take direction, more technical terms as well as how to compose basic musical melodies.


    She''d only worked with the SUN GIRLS members, who were very pleasant and sweet, and had yet to meet the Smile Days members. Today, she was going to be in the recording studio with Makoto, working on Smile Days'' official debut single.


    She wore a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans and had her hair clipped back. She didn''t know how long the session with Smile Days would take, SUN GIRLS tended to finish their recording session fairly quick, but they could end up going for a long time according to Makoto.


    Minami walked into the office with her plum colored leather tassel bag clutched to her side and headed towards the recording studio which was in the back corner next to Makoto''s desk. She glanced at the wall on her way. It had multiple images of SUN GIRLS and their single jacket photos, along with their brand new individual profile photos. Smile Days also had their digital single jacket photos on the wall along with their individual photos. Minami found herself fantasizing about her own picture up there.


    She stopped for a moment and stared, her imagination running away. She could picture it now, her image up there in a cute idol costume, a baby dress with a ruffled pink and blue skirt, a cropped jacket with golden tassels and a giant bow on top of her head that had one side pink and one side blue. The background would be of big fluffy white clouds in a purple sky with some sort of pretty title like "Magic Days" or "Purple Skies" and at the bottom would be her name "ISHIHARA MINAMI".


    If only that would have been able to happen for her. She shook her head and headed towards the recording studio, ''Keep it real Minami. It''s never going to happen¡­''


    She sat on the wheeled chair next to Makoto and set her bag on the ground next to her. Makoto was there listening back to the instrumental track. They were waiting on the guide singer to come in and record the demo for Smile Days'' official debut single, "Smile Days" which had been completed a few days prior. Since the Smile Days'' members were unable to read sheet music, the guide singer was required to sing the demo so they could learn it and record it later on.


    They waited half an hour. Minami leaned back in her chair and played with a piece of her hair while Makoto tapped his leg against the floor in irritation. "Damnit! Why isn''t she here yet? Is she just not coming? How unprofessional!" He lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.


    "Maybe we should try calling her again?" Minami offered while subtly scooting away in an attempted to escape the cigarette smoke.


    "No, she won''t answer the damn phone. Ugh this is so annoying. If Smile Days were talented enough, we could just call them in, but they''re so useless." He stood up from his chair began pacing around the dimly lit room.


    "Should we just do it another day? Since she''s not here¡­?"


    "No!" Makoto yelled, "It has to be done NOW! We scheduled it for NOW! These people are professionals so they should ACT professional and show up on time. I''m so sick of these people not being dedicated enough." He took a puff of his cigarette and the two waited in silence for moment.


    Makoto glanced over at Minami and thought for a moment, "Why don''t you do it?"


    "I gue- Wait, what?!" Minami stared at him in shock, "Me?! You want me to do it?!"


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    Makoto looked around, "Who else would I be talking to? They''re not good enough to be able to figure out how to sing it and you''re the last option right now. Just get in there."


    Minami stood up from her chair and faced him directly, a worried look on her face, "I also can''t read sheet music though¡­."


    He hesitated a moment, "I''m going to get the keyboard and play the vocal melody on that, and record it and we''ll go through it that way."


    "Should you do it like that for Smile Days then?" Minami inquired. She was starting to get anxious. She''d taken vocal lessons ever since the Carrot Star debacle but Juri''s words of her being unable to sing kept echoing in her mind.


    "You''re here to do as I tell you. Smile Days are stupid, they still won''t be able to figure it out."


    She bit her lip, fearing she may lose her job if she didn''t agree, "Okay¡­"


    They spent the next few hours recording the vocal melody on the piano and going over it so Minami knew how the song went.


    "I can''t sing very well though¡­" Minami looked down and pursed her lips, twiddling her thumbs as she waited for him to say ''nevermind''.


    "I don''t care if you sound like a rat being fried on a grill, get in there. Now." Makoto sat back down at the chair in front of the sound board and flicked his fingers toward the door to the recording booth.


    Minami nodded and awkwardly walked in, putting the headphones on and awaiting directions.


    He instructed her which notes to put inflections on, where to bend them and where to add more energy.


    "No, no. You''re doing it like, ''My. Smile. DAYYYYYS!'' I want it to blend, connect your words together instead of separating them like ''MyyyyySmiiileDAAAAAAAAYS!'' Hold the A out in Days too, not the Y. You''re making the note distort by holding onto the Y. Hold onto the A note and then add the Y at the very end. And don''t put vibrato here, I want the note to stay the same."


    Minami nodded, "Okay, start it back at the middle of the chorus please."


    "When you do the adlib at the end, ''OH MY SMILE DAYS!'' You''re not hitting that note right, you''re falling flat. Imagine you''re throwing the note away like you''re going to throw a ball. Put emotion into it too, I don''t feel anything when you sing that line. Why is it your smile day?"


    She nodded and continued, belting out the adlib, ''OH MY SMILE DAYS!''


    It was her first professional recording session and she suddenly found herself reliving that passion she once had. Just like before, the room started to change. The booth suddenly become a stage and the window looking out into the rest of the studio became a wall of fans. She sang with her heart, as if she were singing for a real audience.


    "Yes! Perfect! That''s it!" After four hours of recording, they were finally done. Minami excitedly exited the booth and sat next to Makoto, who had already put his cigarette out by then.


    "You know¡­.have you ever thought about becoming an idol yourself?" He asked casually as he listened back to her recording.


    Tears stung the back of her eyes and she gulped down that painful memory of her performance at Carrot Star''s concert years ago. "Actually, it''s been my dream to debut since I was 12 years old¡­"


    "Then I''m your fairy godmother because this is your song now." He didn''t turn to look at her at all and only remained focused on the music he was listening to.


    She stared in shock. Did she hear him right? "Mine?"


    "Yes, yours. Smile Days is now Ishihara Minami''s debut single."


    "Won''t Smile Days be upset that I''m taking their song?" She nervously tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She wanted to be excited and she knew even potentially asking this question could blow her opportunity entirely, but she couldn''t help it.


    "They''re not worth anything to me, it''s fine."


    She fell back into the chair, causing it to roll back a little. She was in complete disbelief. "So¡­.what now? Do we release it?"


    He chuckled, "No, not yet. There''s¡­.a lot that we have to take care of. You don''t just record a song and release it, not when you''re with an agency anyways."


    She nodded slowly and pursed her lips. She had tried to absorb as much information of the behind the scenes world as she could when she had originally had this dream, but she never was able to find the process of creating a single and releasing it. Makoto pulled out his phone and started typing away.


    "So what''s next? What do we do now?" She wanted to know everything, she wanted to dive in immediately now that excitement was overtaking her.


    "Shh." He didn''t turn her way and only continued typing on his phone, "Just know you did a good job right now and you''re going to debut. That''s all you need at this moment in time."

 Ch 11: "Ill See You On The Stage!"

    A large table with what seemed like every staff member in the company around it, sat in the center of the room with very little room left between it and the walls. Various documents lay atop it and the staff members passed pieces around as they chatted. Minami walked in, expecting the meeting, but not fully expecting this.


    She bowed to everyone and sat down at one of the empty seats at the table.


    "Minami. Do you know why we''re here today?" Makoto asked her, a serious look on his face.


    Minami looked around the table, trying to read everyone else''s expressions before slowly shaking her head. He had messaged her last night that a meeting would be held today, but didn''t give her any more details than that.


    "We''re going to be discussing your debut plans."


    The other staff started smiling and a small smile also began to spread across her own face. She was in disbelief. She didn''t think he was actually serious about giving her the song, she''d assumed he just said it in anger due to the situation with the guide singer not showing up.


    "Oh." She covered her mouth and giggled, not completely confident that this wasn''t a prank of some kind.


    "We''ve changed the song from ''Smile Days'' to ''My Days'' and I''ve also changed the lyrics so we''re going have to re-record it, which we can do in-house. I also completed a B-side track, you know how to do lyrics right? Do some lyrics, we can always get someone else to do them if they''re bad. I''m going to need your schedule." He spoke quickly while looking from one document to the next. He held out his hand.


    She stared for a moment, the information hitting her like a wall of bricks, before her brain registered what he was asking. "Oh right." She pulled out her coral planner with the mint boarders that Naoto had given her.


    He glanced at the planner and then darted his eyes between it and her. "Do you not keep everything on your phone?"


    Minami''s shoulders rose up to her ears as she shrugged and slumped, "I prefer to use a planner¡­It''s easier for me to keep organized and write my ideas into it."


    He sighed and shook his head, flipping open the planner and referencing his document. "Okay, here." He held the planer out to her, which she took back instantly. "Write this down, we''re going to record on the 16th, and I want your lyrics to the B-side by then too. I''ll send you the audio file through email at the end of the meeting so have them prepared."


    Minami''s pen glided across the pages as she filled in information for the schedules. "We''re going to do promotional work for you too, to get your name out there beforehand. We need to build up your presence. Also, your name isn''t a very good one, it''s too long." He thought back to her performance at Carrot Star''s concert. It wouldn''t be a good image for her if anyone saw that clip or recognized her name. "You''ll be MINA from now on. Short and sweet, I like it."


    So much information was being thrown at her that her head was spinning, her hand was cramping and she was still shock and wondering if this was all still actually happening or if it was just a really intense dream.


    Even when she was in school and taking part in clubs and after school activities, participating with Kissiks and attending auditions, she had never seen such action. She had multiple photoshoots set, some for social media photos, company profile photos, jacket photos and promotional shoots, then there were the recording dates for her debut as well as for additional covers for her social media accounts which were paired with filming dates, fittings and salon dates, not to mention the plethora of songs to learn for the said social media account covers.


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    She couldn''t wait to tell Akina and Naoto about this. Although suddenly and unexpectedly, Saki popped into her head. She wanted to share this news with her. It had been years since they''d spoken, but she couldn''t help but think of what she''d say if she knew what was going on. Probably something like, "I knew you could do it! Send me a signed album when it''s out! I''m gonna buy your single, I want to support you!" That was the kind of friend she had been¡­and Minami missed that.


    However, Makoto had strictly informed her not to tell anyone that she was an artist under SUN MEDIA. This was to avoid any talk or questions in the case her debut ended up being scrapped, but also to make it a big surprise announcement once her debut was actually finalized and announced to create hype. In any case, her schedule was full and she was going to have to break the news to them that she wouldn''t be available for a while.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    "Juri, do you think we''ll ever get to debut?" Minami sat on the wooden bench and swung her feet back and forth, "It feels like it''s such an impossible dream."


    "I think we can do it. If we work hard at it," Juri played with the ends of her mid-length blonde hair, "They say if you believe you can achieve, so we just have to do that and work hard right?"


    "But, I''m scared that if I debut¡­.no one will like me¡­." Minami''s head hung low and tears formed in her eyes.


    "Hey, don''t say that! What kind of company would debut someone they didn''t see any potential in. If they sign you, that means they see your potential, and everyone has at least one fan. That''s really all you need isn''t it?"


    Minami smiled, "You''re right! I just need one fan, if I have one fan, I can do anything!"


    "That''s the spirit!" Juri smiled and held her hand up, which Minami then high five-d.


    "I hope we get to meet on stage one day." Minami said as Juri grabbed hold of her hand.


    "We definitely will! We''re going to have a bunch of collaborations! Let''s be famous for that! We''ll do collaborations all the time, singles, concerts, special appearances, and we''ll do photobooks and everything!" Juri waved their hands in the air with a big smile on her face.


    "Oh and we can make it a thing that other artists want to do as well! And our fans will be like, ''I can''t wait for Juri and Minami to do another collab. I love when they collab together!''"


    "I''m in if you are. Deal?" Juri let go of Minami''s hand and held out her pinky.


    "Deal!" The two of them locked their pinkies, sealing their promise.


    "See you on the stage?"


    "See you on the stage!"


    -------------------------------------


    "Juri! Hey Juri! Guess what!" Minami ran to Juri, waving her hands in the air.


    "What, what, what?" Juri hopped up excitedly from her seat at the caf¨¦.


    "I''m debuting!" Minami flung her arms around her and squeezed her tightly, happy tears exploding from her eyes.


    "What?! No way! Are you seriously?! Tell me all about it!" Juri pulled back and stared into Minami''s eyes as if to double check the validity of her statement.


    "It''s true! I recorded the demo song for this group and the producer liked it so much he gave it to me instead and asked me to sign a contract with them! I''m so!! I can''t believe it! Isn''t this so insane?!" Minami couldn''t help but scream and start jumping up and down, unable to contain the excitement. She felt just like a kid again.


    "That''s crazy! I''m so jealous! When does it come out? How are you feeling? Besides excited I mean." Juri motioned for Minami to take a seat across from her, which she did.


    "We haven''t set an official date yet, but things are about to get crazy for me. I''m honestly so insane, I had lost so much confidence after you ditched me at our conc! Er¡­t¡­.and you¡­..said all those horrible things to me¡­..and you said how I was ugly and I couldn''t sing or dance¡­.and how I was weighing you down¡­." Minami stared down at the table as tears welled up in her eyes, "Juri? Why did you say those things? Why did you suddenly not like me anymore? What did I do to make you hate me? We had so many plans¡­.why did you throw me away?"


    Juri laughed and flipped her hair, "Because it was pathetic watching you try to achieve this dream. If it was so easy I would''ve done it myself. You''re ugly, you CAN''T sing, and you CAN''T dance and NO ONE likes you. Did you really think it would work out for you? Pfft¡­.you can''t even get your own song, you have to steal someone else''s¡­."


    Minami jumped up from bed flailing her limbs, gasping for air as sweat and tears ran down her face. She grabbed onto her heart. Why was she dreaming of a memory with Juri and why did she think of telling Juri her news¡­.


    She rapidly wiped her tears away from her face and sniffled her snot back up into her nose. She hadn''t thought about Juri in so long¡­why now all of a sudden?

 Ch 12: Creating a Canvas

    Over the last month, Minami had been busy with test shots and fittings. They were deciding on the concept of her first photoshoot for her social media accounts as well as testing how well she showed up on camera. What were her best angles? What lighting looked best for her? What looks suited her the best and made her shine the brightest? Some that they thought would be perfect for her, ended up making her look slimy, while some they believed wouldn''t work ended up looking like they were made for her.


    That was all to prep for the starting phase of her road to debut: the photoshoot for her profile pictures.


    Minami showed up to the photography studio wearing a plain white t-shirt and sweats, no makeup, and her hair down and ready to be made up. It was her first time getting serious photos taken. While she had done the test shots, she felt a lot more free since she knew they wouldn''t be used for anything, but this was the real deal. Now, the stakes were much higher.


    Thankfully, she''d watched enough videos to know how to prepare and how to show up to this kind of photoshoot. Of course, the test ones prior had given her a little bit more insight as well.


    Upon her arrival, she was immediately escorted over to a chair in front of a brightly lit mirror and staff members quickly jumped to work doing her hair and makeup. She held her plum leather bag, her favorite one at the moment, tightly in her lap, feeling a bit of anxiety.


    Another staff member rushed over to her with a laminated stack of papers held together by a metal ring.


    "Okay, so here is the concept of the shoot today. We''re going with a light and innocent look, pure and new. These pictures are going to be used for your profile pictures so they''re going to be an introduction of you to the public. Think of it like you''re a blank canvas being introduced to the world for the first time and as you gain experience you''ll be colored and a picture will form. Does that make sense to you?" They flipped through the stack of papers which contained numerous poses and reference photos of the concept as they spoke.


    Minami slowly nodded her head, the makeup artist putting on her lip makeup made it difficult to speak, so she was only able to mutter an, "uh-huh" in response.


    When her hair and makeup were done, she was whisked away to the next stage: the changing room. It was a small room with a big mirror and some metal chairs, there were two racks filled with clothes and numerous pairs of shoes lined the floor right next to them. There was a bathroom attached which is where Minami would change.


    "Wow~" Before she could even get a proper look at the clothes they''d selected for her, the stylist was handing her clothes and pushing her towards the bathroom. She was given a white baby doll style dress with matching thigh high socks. Both the dress and socks had very subtle heart designs on them that would most likely not show up in the photos, but they were adorable nonetheless.


    ''This is totally my style!'' she thought to herself as she eagerly got dressed. It was really all coming together, things were starting to feel more and more real. If she had told herself from two years ago that this is what she got to wear she''d scream with joy, not that the current Minami wasn''t also doing that on the inside.


    She exited the changing room and the stylist held up a pair of shoes against her feet, then switched them out for another pair, "Put these on!" She seemed very rushed, which was starting to spike Minami''s anxiety. She quickly put the pair of shoes on and the stylist started swarming her with various accessories, holding ones up to her neck and ears and then switching them out.


    About ten different combinations were rotated about before settling on a metal star necklace that trailed down to the middle of Minami''s chest and dangling silver white star earrings to match. She was given a charm bracelet that had hearts and stars and a ring with a little pink cat on it.


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    Minami wondered if maybe the heart ones that the stylist had held up earlier would''ve been better, but then again maybe that would''ve been too many hearts.


    It was then that she finally got to take a look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes widended. She slowly went up to the mirror and touched it gently. Was that really her?


    Her hair was curled and rested shortly below her shoulders, and her bangs with clipped with a sparkling cat clip. Her makeup really accentuated her natural features ¨C big eyes, soft lips and great jawline. The ring and her bracelet had also managed her bejeweled white glitter nails pop as well.


    "I''m so....pretty¡­." For so long, Juri''s words had echoed in her brain, that image of herself crying after throwing up in the bathroom two years ago burned into her memory, constantly reminding her over and over again how ugly she was. This was the first time that those thoughts were silent. It was almost like this new image of her had entered her brain, grabbed the other thoughts, crumpled them up and tossed them out of her ear. They were completely gone.


    Tears pricked the back of her eyes and she suddenly leaned back, blinking and fanning her eyes frantically. She couldn''t cry, not after all the time that had been spent on doing her makeup. ''Dangit, why am I such a crybaby¡­''


    "MINA! Stand by!" A male voice yelled from the main area. Minami rushed over and waited for them to adjust the settings on their equipment and prepare the props. She stood there awkwardly and glanced over at her manager. He was walking back and forth on the phone, not paying any attention to her or what was happening around him.


    Her shoulders slumped, she''d wanted to ask if she could take behind the scenes photos. Even though lots of idols took photos like that, she wasn''t sure if she needed permission beforehand or not. She looked around hoping to ask someone, but everyone was so busy with their own tasks that she felt like she would be inconveniencing them.


    "Okay! Mina, come on, we''re ready for you!"


    Mina hopped over to the middle of the white display, standing still while waiting for more directions, when the camera suddenly flashed. She stood there puzzled for a moment, her brain not registering what was happening, when the camera flashed again.


    The photographer scoffed, "Come on. Don''t act like a deer in the headlights. Do something! Pose!"


    Minami shook her head, shaking off the anxiety and surprise, and immediately began posing. She thought back to all the videos she''d watched of behind the scenes of footage of idols like 5year filming their music videos and doing their album jacket shoots, all their photos, all their poses and how they changed pose with each camera flash.


    Copying the poses she''d seen and liked, she did just that, switching it with each camera flash. She shifted her weight onto on foot, stretching the opposite leg out to the side and pointing her toes, while keeping her hand on her hip and shifting her shoulder slightly.


    "Good! GOOD!"  the photography was smiling now, his own energy picking up with each shot.


    From looking up to the side and shielding her eyes from pretend sunlight, to holding her arms behind her back and learning into the camera while winking.


    "She''s such a natural." One staff member whispered to the other in awe. She overheard them and felt an insane amount of energy build up inside her. ''You''re doing it Minami, you''re doing it!''


    Her manager was still on the phone, but at this point he was standing behind a computer screen monitoring the images being taken. He held a thumbs up to Minami and smiled at her.


    Throughout the session, they changed outfits a total of six times and took what must''ve been thousands of photos. Although Minami had been a little disappointed to not get any behind the scenes photos like she intended, the day wrapped with everyone feeling ecstatic and proud about the work they''d accomplished which was a much better outcome.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Minami returned home exhausted, and flopped onto her blush blue couch, putting her feet up on her coffee table and sighing, ready to fall asleep.


    Bzz! Bzz!


    ''Huh?'' She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked the screen, it was a text from Naoto.


    [Naoto] Hey, haven''t heard from you in a while. Do you want to come over?


    Minami bit the nail of her thumb. She was going to debut soon, dating was a big no-no in the idol world, and even being seen with a guy could cause an uproar. As of right now though, no one knew who she was, so it should be fine right?


    [Minami] Sure¡­I''ll see you soon!

 Ch 13: A Risky Game

    Minami sat awkwardly on Naoto''s beige leather couch in silence, looking around the tiny living room of his apartment. It was her first time there alone with him and she was incredibly nervous. She had liked him since she met him and they had so much in common.


    Both of them were huge fans of 5year, and both of their favorite member was Ri, they had the same sense of humor and loved the anime "Kiss in the Clouds", which they would be watching the new episode of tonight. He was two years older than her but she felt like they were practically one in the same.


    Although, she would definitely spruce his place up more if she were him. He had a wooden coffee table that sat in between his couch and tv, a small bookshelf with a few books and some pictures of him, her and Akina on it. There weren''t any photos of his family since they didn''t get along.


    ''Needs more decorations.'' She thought to herself and she smoothed out her mint checkered skirt, making sure nothing embarrassing was showing.


    Naoto entered the room, two drinks in his hand; a water and a lemonade. He placed the lemonade in front of Minami on the table and sat down next to her.


    "So, where have you been?" He asked as he stretched one arm across the back of the couch.


    "Ummmm¡­" she bit her lip, she wanted to tell him so bad, but she was told not to.


    "Um? Um what?" He gently poked her cheek, as if to push the answer out of her.


    "Well¡­" She clenched the edges of her skirt nervously. ''Do I tell him? Should I just say it? He wouldn''t betray me, he can keep a secret. I trust him. It should be fine right? Maybe I should just lie¡­'' her mind was racing, unsure what to do.


    "Well?" Naoto scooted closer, his eyes narrowing and staring at her with concern, "Is¡­everything okay? No one is harassing you, right? You can tell me if something is wrong¡­."


    She avoided eye contact with him and blushed as she cleared her throat, "Well¡­there''s¡­hold on."


    Minami jumped up and grabbed her bag, pulling her planner out of it. She shuffled back to the couch and sat beside him, keeping her head down to shield herself from his gaze. She held the planner out to him and waited for him to take it.


    Naoto lifted his eyebrows, "Oh?" He smiled and took it out of her hand gentle, chuckling, "Nice planner, where''d you get it?"


    She remained there with her head down, "Someone important to me gave it to me as a gift."


    He smiled, "Someone important huh? What are you trying to say by handing me this? You want to be busy with me?"


    Her face became completely red and her head shot up, "Flip to this month!"


    "You didn''t deny it¡­Now, let''s see what is this month?" Naoto smirked and flipped to the current date, "Photoshoot¡­recording¡­.meeting¡­.huh? What''s going on? Is this for Smile Days? Are they finally debuting? You know Akina is a fan of theirs."


    She cleared her throat, refusing to acknowledge the fact that he pointed out how she didn''t deny it, "Not Smile Days¡­..me."


    His eyes widened, "You?!"


    Minami pouted, "What do you mean? Why''d you say it like that? I can be an idol too!"


    He chuckled and ruffled her hair, "Of course you can. You''d make the best idol. I was just surprised. I thought you''d given up."


    Minami smiled shyly, looking down and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I didn''t give up¡­I just put it on the backburner."


    "And yet now it''s on the front burner. How''d it happen?" He grabbed her chin and pulled her head up to look at him.


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    Her face somehow felt hotter and hotter and each time she thought the heat couldn''t increase, it did.


    "Well, Smile Days WAS going to debut, but their guide singer never showed up to record, so I had to do it and I did it so well that I was offered to debut. I really didn''t think they were serious! But then I was called into a meeting and all of these details were thrown at me and then suddenly my planner was filled up and I was off to photoshoots." Her face lit up as she was talking and the redness faded away, it was almost as if she had been transported to another world as she went on and on about the photoshoots and the recording session.


    Naoto sat there watching her intently as he listened, his head resting on his hand. His smile grew larger and larger as she continued in the story.


    When she had finished, she had the largest smile he had seen from her in a long time. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and cupped her face with his hand, rubbing her cheek lightly and causing the deep red hue to make its return to her face. "You know, you look really beautiful when you''re talking about this love of yours."


    "H-huh?" Minami''s eyes widened and she felt her whole body start to get hot. ''This is the first time someone has told me I''m beautiful¡­''


    "That twinkle in your eyes¡­..it''s really attractive¡­." He stared deeply into them and started to lean forward.


    Minami turned her head and quickly grabbed her lemonade, gulping it down quickly and fanning herself. "It''s really hot in here you know¡­"


    Naoto laughed and ran his fingers through his blonde locks, "It is¡­isn''t it?" Minami was too flustered to notice, but there was a red hue also crossing his face.


    They sat in silence for a while, occasionally clearing their throats or taking a sip of their drink. When finally, Naoto broke the ice.


    "Minami¡­.do you want to be my girlfriend?"


    She looked up and, upon making eye contact with him, immediately averted her gaze, too shy to look him in the eyes. She wanted to be his girlfriend so bad, but¡­she was going to debut soon, she wouldn''t have time for him, she wouldn''t be able to have a boyfriend at all, it was so frowned upon.


    "I¡­I¡­.don''t know¡­" Her shoulders slumped. She wanted so desperately to say ''Yes! Absolutely!'' but, she wanted to be an idol more than anything, it was her dream, it was her passion.


    "What don''t you know?" he laughed nervously, "Do you not like me or something?"


    She rapidly shook her head, "No! No! That''s not it at all! I do like you! I''ve liked you since I met you! It''s just¡­" she bit her lip, embarrassed that she just confessed. "It''s just¡­I can''t. I want to, but I''m going to debut¡­dating and being an idol never works out."


    He breathed a sigh of relief, "That''s all your worried about? Do you think they don''t date? They''re all doing it, they''re just being discreet." He scooted closer to her so their hips were touching. "So be mine."


    His breath tickled her ear and she felt a shiver go up her spine. It was getting hard to breathe and the heat was unbearable. Tiny sweat drops started to form on her face making her even more nervous. "But¡­..it could ruin my career."


    Naoto gently pushed her over and climbed on top of her, "Then, be my temporary girlfriend. Have fun with me until you debut. Your not an idol yet, so it should be fine right? There''s nothing against you having a boyfriend right now, is there?"


    She turned her head to the side, still avoiding his gaze, "There isn''t¡­.I guess that could work¡­"


    Naoto smiled and leaned in, his lips almost touching her ear, "So it''s a deal then? You''re mine?"


    Minami glanced over at him and glanced away again, shutting her eyes, unable to find the courage to look at him. "D-deal!"


    "Good. Then, Ishihara Minami, from now until you debut, you''re mine and no one else''s!" He gently nibbled on her ear which caused her hand to fly up and grab it, grazing along his hip and side as she did so. "Hey! Naoto! Cut it out!"


    He blushed at the warmth of her touch, butterflies erupting in his stomach. He cleared his throat, "You''re pretty handsy¡­"


    "No I''m not! You''re the one that''s handsy! Look at what you''re doing right no-" Finally she turned her head to face him and they locked eyes.


    They''d made eye contact multiple times throughout their friendship, this wasn''t the first time, so why did they both feel so surprised and shy? Why did both of their hearts skip a beat? Truthfully, they both had liked each other since their first meeting, so why did they suddenly feel like strangers meeting for the first time. They had both longed for this moment for years.


    Naoto leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, "Mm!" Suddenly, things felt more relaxed, it was like that kiss broke the tension between them and returned them to that familiarity. "Mm!" Their kissing became more heated, more passionate and Naoto began stroking her thigh.


    "Ah!" Minami broke their kiss, turning her head to the side and pushing his hand away. "N-no!" He pulled back, and sat back down on the couch, lifting his hands in the air, "Okay! We''ll stop!"


    "I-I''ll talk to you later!" Minami quickly jumped up, grabbed her bag and ran out of the apartment.


    "Damn¡­" Naoto scratched the back of his head awkwardly. ''Why did I do that, it was too fast¡­'' he wondered.


    He reached to grab his drink, desperate for some water to cool him down, when he spotted her planner on his coffee table. "Shit¡­she forgot this¡­I''ll bring-" he thought for a moment, bringing it to her work might jeopardize her debut, "I''ll tell Akina to bring it to her tomorrow¡­."

 Ch 14: These Are My Days

    SUN MEDIA had been abuzz with delighted chatter once Minami''s photoshoot images had come in. They had to do numerous rounds of selections which lasted a total of three days, since so many good and useable photos had been taken. In the end, they narrowed it down to nine. One she would use as a profile picture on all sites, three of them she would post on the rest of her accounts as normal photo uploads with a link to her blog which would contain the rest of the photos.


    The social media accounts had been set up for her by the company, although she would be the one posting, she would need permission and the greenlight from her manager. It was important to filter what was posted to ensure no scandals or anything of the sort would erupt and cause potential damage to her up and coming career.


    "Hello everyone, my name is Ishihara Minami and I''m 17 years old! I want to be an idol, so I''d like to share some wonderful photos with you. The photoshoot day was difficult, but everyone did really great work. I''m thankful to have worked with such a wonderful staff and to have such pretty photos taken of me. Thank you everyone! Please take a look!"


    Her blog post was short and sweet, just how Makoto liked it. The post did well for a sudden unknown. It received a little over 100 likes and a handful of comments such as:


    "Wow, this is you? You''re so pretty!"


    "I''m going to support you, Ms. Idol~"


    Next up on the schedule was a recording studio day, which Minami was late for. Makoto had set up the day for Minami to record a cover for her Hivideo account. This would be recorded in house and Makoto would professionally edit the audio. Then, Minami would record a video of herself in her room as if she were recording it at home. That way she would seem more relatable as a girl that just got picked up randomly off the internet.


    "Sorry, I''m really sorry!" Minami exclaimed as she burst through the door to the studio.


    Makoto took a puff of his cigarette, "You tell me right now. Am I here to babysit you? Why do I need to text you to get here? Do you not want to debut? Tell me now because I don''t need someone that''s not serious about this." He stared her in the eye and spoke sternly. He wasn''t yelling but there was definitely anger and disappointment behind his words.


    Minami bit her lip and looked down at her feet, "I''m really sorry. I lost my planner¡­."


    Makoto raised his voice, "I don''t want excuses! If you lost your planner, you should''ve come to the office and asked for a repeat of your schedule as soon as you realized it was gone. Be serious about this or I''m not going to bother with you!" He smacked his hand down hard against the table, causing a loud ''SMACK'' to echo throughout the room.


    Minami flinched and bowed, "I''m really sorry, it won''t happen again."


    "Get in there. Now." He shook his head and switched his gaze to the sound board, making a ''tch'' sound as she entered the recording booth.


    Luckily for her, the song that was selected for her to cover was DELIGHT by 5year. It was their newest single and it was sweeping the charts, so if she uploaded it, she''d no doubt be able to piggyback off their success and see a big view count.


    She recorded the song with ease, it took only an hour and a half to complete, which earned her a lot of praise from Makoto. Minami sighed in relief, glad that she was able to shift his mood from before thanks to her good work.


    Once finished, Makoto immediately took to audio mixing the cover, which Minami stayed around for. She was so filled with anticipation that she couldn''t wait for the mixing to be completed and needed to watch the entire time.


    "Don''t you have somewhere to be?" Makoto asked, he seemed annoyed with her again, thanks to her constantly staring over his shoulder, her big brown eyes fixed on the screen.


    "Nope!" she mindlessly replied without taking her eyes off the sound waves before her.


    "Oh? You''ve completed your lyrics for the B-side already?" He turned his head to look over his shoulder at her. She looked down at him and pursed her lips, "No, but I assume I''m going to right now?"


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    He nodded and returned to his work, "Correct. You shouldn''t even need to ask."


    Minami hopped over to her bag and pulled out a pen, her mp3 player and the notebook that Akina had given her. She popped her headphones in and started playing the song, flipping through to one of its pages.


    At first she started jotting down random words. "Love." "Longing." "Happiness." "Smile." "Dance." "Question." "Fairy Tale." "Sing with a smile." "Hope."


    The song ended and she replayed it. This process continued over and over again while she leaned back, crossing her arms and tapping her pen against one of them. As time went on, words were circled and others were stricken out until only "Love." "Longing." "Sing with a Smile." and "Question." were left.


    She then started jotting down additional sentences as she continued to listen. "With You." "Want You." "You and I." "Run to You." "Run With You." "Come to Me." "Love You." and the process continued.


    After six hours, Makoto completed the song and handed Minami a USB with the song file on it.


    "I want you to go home now and film yourself singing this. Act like you''ve just recored it in your bedroom and make it very casual, okay? Wear what we agreed on and then send the video file to my email. We''ll edit it for you and upload it, got it?" He waved the USB around in front of her as he spoke.


    "I''ve got it! I''ll go home and do it right now!" She grabbed the USB and headed out the door.


    "Oh! Minami!" one of the female staff members ran up to her, her short caramel hair waving back and forth, "Someone brought this for you." She held out Minami''s planner.


    Minami beamed and grabbed hold of it, hugging it to her chest, "My planner! Who brought it? Do you know?" Part of her wanted to know if Naoto had been near by, if his presence might still have lingered, while the other part of her was flashing red warning lights and neon signs that said ''DANGER! DANGER!''


    If a boy had come to her workplace and dropped it off, who knows what they would think. Would they put two and two together and come to the realization that he and Minami knew each other and that they must''ve spent time together for her to lose it? Or maybe they could get away with saying he''s just a stranger that must''ve found it on the floor, but then again how would he have known to drop it off at her place of employment if he was just a stranger.


    Her head was starting to spin as she overthought all of the scenarios.


    "It was someone named, Akina. She said you left it at her house¡­.Are you okay? You look like you''re going to be sick." She gently put a hand on Minami''s shoulder and hunched over a little, as if trying to check Minami over.


    Akina! Minami breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness it was Akina.


    "Oh! No! I''m fine, I''m fine! I''m just tired from recording and working in there!" Minami put both her hands up and stretched to the side, "Just ready to go home!"


    "Oh, alright! Get home safely!"


    "You too when you get the chance, and thanks for giving me my planner!"


    Upon returning home, she set her things on the floor by the door and pulled out her phone to text Naoto.


    [Minami] "Thanks for sending Akina to bring me my planner!"


    She headed to her bedroom. It was basically the same as it was when she was at her parents'' home. Walls were littered with 5year and Ri posters, her favorite star shaped pillow was still laid out on her bed and complimented her new baby blue dolphin bed spread, shelves still lined with CDs and plushies. Although her star curtains from before were just plain white ones now. It was relatively clean with a few piles of dirty laundry, which she cleaned up to ensure it wasn''t in the shot she was about to film.


    She changed into the previously agreed upon outfit, a pink cross-cross dress with white boarders and a star embroidered on the right chest. She pulled her hair into a high side pony, trying to match with her profile photo images, and curled the ends, brushing them out to give them more volume. After touching up her makeup, she inserted the USB into her computer and extracted the mp3 file.


    Bzz! Bzz! It was a text from Naoto.


    [Naoto] "No problem. Next time leave something that I can drop off at your house so I can see you personally."


    She smiled and giggled.


    [Minami] "Will do! I''m going to film with my phone now so no replies for a while!"


    She then proceeded to set her phone up on her desk, making sure that some of her 5year CDs were visible in the back. Her microphone was pulled up to her mouth so it looked like she was recording it at home, just like Makoto had told her to.


    PLAY!


    Throughout the song, she bopped her head along with the colorful beat and occasionally closed her eyes, making it look like she was pouring her whole soul, her everything into the song. It wasn''t completely fake, she''d done that in the recording studio too. After she finished the take, she looked back and checked it over. It wasn''t satisfactory.


    Maybe it was just her being nitpicky, but she looked funny mouthing certain words, her hair at one point flew in front of her face which cause an awkward shot, and her pop filter had fallen a bit during the recording.


    She redid the process a total of 10 times. By the time she finished, she was starving and ready to eat. After reviewing the takes, she selected five to send to Makoto to look through and edit. She''d save the other five just in case he decided that none of what she''d sent was usable. Although, she was bored of filming in her room already and prayed she wouldn''t have to start over completely tomorrow.

 Ch 15: Twinkle In My Heart

    Makoto thankfully approved the takes that Minami had sent over and got to work editing them. Time was of the essence, and they wanted to get the cover up as soon as possible. Who knew how long the song was going to be popular and they needed to rid off the song''s success.


    The cover was uploaded to Minami''s Hivideo account by Makoto.


    Title: DELIGHT cover by MINA [orig. 5year]


    Description:


    "Today I''m singing a song by my favorite group, 5year! I''ve been obsessed with this song recently. One day I''d like to be an idol who can stand on stage with 5year. Let''s support them together and make all of our dreams come true, okay?"


    The description had been debated, Minami wanted to write a lot more, but Makoto didn''t approve of the length. It had been written and rewritten for what felt like an entire day before they''d finally settled.


    It didn''t take long for the cover to rake in views. There were thousands within the hour and loads of comments. It took Minami a long time to read them all.


    "I LOVE this! You did such a good job!"


    "Ms. Idol, I''m going to support you forever!"


    "You did better than others who have covered this song."


    "I''m also a fan of 5year! I''m going to support you just like them!"


    Her eyes welled up with tears. Happy ones this time. She couldn''t have imagined the amount of love she was receiving from this cover. Years ago at the Carrot Star concert, she was so embarrassed in front of everyone, and when Juri and Saki abandoned her and made her feel so less than, she had lost so much of her passion.


    Even though in that time she had worked tirelessly to improve her singing and dancing skills, had worked on her appearance, and dedicated herself to her debut¡­ somewhere along the line, she had given up. She wasn''t sure when or where it happened, but it did and she was just now realizing how much of that passion she''d last in the past two years.


    Her smile reached ear to ear as she read the comments. It brought her back to those days when she first started out on Hivideo, recording covers and posting them, and the excitement at what people would say and what people would think. It wasn''t just the passion that had been restored, but the pure joy of it all. It had been so long since she felt so elated, even the photoshoot hadn''t given her this much feeling.


    Bzz! Bzz!


    She looked at the top of her phone screen. "Ri mentioned you in a post."


    Her heart stopped, or at least it felt like it did. She opened up her MyDiary account and saw that Ri, from 5year, had reposted her cover.


    "Good work! I hope to stand on stage with you one day too!"


    Her body fell forward and she started to bawl. She covered her face to hide her tears from Akina and Naoto whom she had been hanging out with when she got the text message that her cover had gone live.


    "Are you okay?!" Akina exclaimed, jumping up from her seat.


    "Whoa! What''s wrong?! What happened?!" Naoto immediately jumped to her side, grasping her arms and rubbing her back.


    She gasped for air in between her sobs and eventually just turned the phone to face Akina, since she couldn''t get the words out herself.


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    Akina took the phone from Minami''s hands and stared at the screen.


    It took a moment for her brain to register, but when it did she screeched in a high pitch tone ¨C almost inaudible to the human ear.


    "WHAT?! RI SAID SHE WANTS TO STAND ON STAGE WITH YOU?!" Akina began jumping up and down, her red hair bouncing along with her, "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! I''M SO JEALOUS OF YOU RIGHT NOW!"


    "Ri?! That''s amazing! She''s still your favorite member right?" Naoto continued rubbing her back and smiled wide.


    Minami''s hand shook against her face, her forward wrinkled as tears flowed down her face, nodding to confirm.


    "Look at you! What a successful fan! Congratulations on achieving such an accomplishment. I think we should celebrate! What do you two say to dinner?"


    Minami shut her eyes tight, trying to squeeze the last remaining tears out and nodded. She gasped for air slowly, trying to steady her breathing and halt her crying so they could go to dinner without her eyes being red and puffy.


    "I''m in too! I''ve got your bag Minami!" Akina grabbed both of their purses and helped Naoto safely escort Minami, whose vision was blurred from her tears, out the door.


    It took a few minutes to calm Minami down, but they eventually managed to make it to the restaurant with minimum eye puffiness.


    "You know, it really is such a compliment Minami. Not just because Ri is your favorite member, but she''s so talented! She''s just like you! Not only that, but she''s insanely talented! I have no idea how you''re okay right now, I would still be crying if I were you."


    Minami had really connected with Ri. Ri had wanted to be an idol since she was little and struggled a lot on her journey to debut. They were from the same hometown, Minami''s favorite color was Ri''s image color, they ended up sharing a lot of the same likes and dislikes (according to 5year''s official profile page), and they shared the same hobbies.


    Ri even wrote lyrics, and her advice of, "Sometimes, there are things I can''t experience, so I will take from movies or tv shows, or maybe even something a friend or family member told me. I will put myself in that situation and write from there," was what Minami had begun to use, and she had seen a major improvement in her lyrics.


    Bzz! Bzz!


    "Oh! I bet you that''s Ri, since you''re practically best friends now that she''s noticed you." Akina joked, poking gently at Minami''s arm.


    Minami smiled and rolled her eyes, "I wish." She stared at her phone and her heart dropped. It was from Saki.


    [Saki] "Hey¡­.It''s been a long time but I saw your cover. I want to tell you that it''s really good and you should be so proud of yourself. Honestly, I really regret not debuting with you. I want to debut too! Let''s do it! We can do it! Let''s debut together, my beautiful Kissiks leader. I love you so much!"


    She wanted to puke. The back of her hand flew up to her mouth as she suppressed a gag, her chin wrinkled and her eyes started to tear up again. She wasn''t sure why. Was it anger? Sadness? Confusion? Reminiscence? All of the above? She couldn''t tell, it was all so complicated.


    "What happened?" Akina and Naoto asked in unison. They glanced at each other with a surprised look which lasted momentarily as they quickly shifted their focus back to Minami.


    "It''s Saki¡­.She just sent me a text that she regrets not debuting with me and she wants me to debut with her now." Her jaw locked and she gritted her teeth as she spoke. A lump formed in her throat. She had missed Saki so much, and there were so many things she wanted to share with her, but she couldn''t forgive her after what she did. She had never even apologized, never reached out in all this time, so why all of a sudden?


    "¡­..What a snake. She just wants you now that Ri''s acknowledged you and you''ve uploaded a really successful and amazing cover." Akina crossed her arms and scoffed, "I hate her."


    "Screw her! She''s so annoying. After everything she did, now she''s crawling back to you. How pathetic. God, I just want to- I want to! AGH! I don''t even know what I want to do, I just want to throw her into space or something." Naoto clenched his fists and took a big gulp of his water, averting his gaze from Akina and Naoto.


    Then, Minami realized it. Her fists were also clenched and a heat had risen up inside her. She understood now, it was anger. Anger that Saki had betrayed her, and was never truly her friend, not then and not now. It had all been a fa?ade to use her in some sort of way and she was trying to do it again.


    "I don''t want anything to do with her! I want her out of my life for good!" Minami pulled up her phone and started typing away.


    "Maybe don''t do it now though¡­" Akina sighed, "Let''s enjoy our dinner, what if you end up in a feud?"


    "I''m just going to text this one thing and then I''ll put my phone away. Promise!"


    "Yeah, Akina, let her just do it. Otherwise, she''s going to be bothered the whole night. It''s better for her to just get it out of the way."


    Akina smiled at him and reached her hand under the table, gently stroking the top of his. He returned her smile and wrapped his fingers around hers.


    [Minami] "Please refrain from sending me messages in the future. I don''t want anything to do with you anymore. Thanks."

 Ch 16: Is It Really a Smile Day?

    Minami entered through the tinted glass doors of the small white office that was SUN MEDIA. In the main room was the receptionist''s desk, with a couch and a very, VERY sad looking plant in the corner. To the left were the guest bathrooms and to the right was the door leading to the rest of the office.


    Considering Takanori Makoto had been a big name, the office was hardly anything. There were a few cubicles in the middle of the room, and Makoto''s desk was in the very back corner next to the room that led to the recording studio. The opposite side of the room had plain wall where the artist photos were displayed and a makeshift sitting area with two couches which were currently in use by the SUN GIRLS and Smile Days members.


    She''d waved at the SUN GIRLS members with a smile, to which they responded with the same response. They''d been friendly with one another in the few times they''d interacted so it was no surprise. Smile Days, however, she''d never seen before in the office. Sometimes she''d even wondered if they had disbanded somewhere along the line.


    They were gorgeous though, sitting prim and proper and silently chatting amongst themselves. SUN GIRLS might''ve been more popular, but Smile Days seemed to have an elite air around them, which made her wonder why Makoto was talking so poorly of them all the time.


    Their leader, Miki, glanced over at Minami who smiled big and waved. Miki snarled at her, rolled her eyes and focused her attention back to her groupmates.


    Minami was taken aback. Part of her wondered why she was being like, but then the other parts of her started to have an inner argument amongst themselves.


    ''You took their debut song, duh! I would be mad at you too.''


    ''Yeah but, it''s not like they''ve been disbanded, Makoto will give them a new song.''


    ''But the focus is not on them now, now they have to wait even LONGER to officially debut.''


    ''BUT they already have songs of their own already to work with, so they have way more than I do.''


    ''OH! Maybe, we should go explain to them and apologize. We''re all on the same team here right? We all want SUN MEDIA to succeed.''


    She nodded to herself, agreeing with the last statement her own brain had made. Just as she was about to approach Smile Days, one of the male managers came up and greeted her, smiling wide as he did so. "You''re wanted in the back," he winked while motioning to Makoto''s desk.


    Due to his disposition, she assumed she had nothing to worry about, so she confidently waltzed over to Makoto''s desk and sat down on one of the cheap, uncomfortable, plastic chairs that sat in front of it. The same one she had sat in during her interview to get a job here in the first place.


    She patted the seat as she wiggled around, trying to get comfortable, as if to say ''Hello again my lucky chair.''


    He was currently on the phone and typing away at his computer, so she waited patiently for him to finish up. His desk was surprisingly clean, with his desk organizer, pen jar, stapler and other tools all neatly in their place. Even though there were various stacks of papers and documents scattered across the top, they still appeared to be in their own uniform structure. There were some papers jutting out from some of his desk drawers, but she was willing to overlook that, surprised he could keep any sort of organization with the amount of work he was doing at all.


    She put her hands in her lap and played with the ribbons that decorated her black and white dress. It was awkward sitting there while everyone else was rushing by with their work. For a moment she thought about getting on her phone and checking her accounts, but she didn''t want to come across as rude, or make Makoto feel like he was taking too long, so instead she just continued to play with her ribbons and look around the office.


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    Her eyes couldn''t help but look at the posters of SUN GIRLS and Smile Days''. Soon, her own image would be right up there. She wondered what the cover of ''My Days'' would look like. Would it be pretty? Colorful? Popping? Bouncy? Then, she noticed something odd.


    Smile Days'' images, had still not been changed out. Ayumi, Miki, Kairi, Megumi and Chisato were all staring back at her in poster form in the same poses and outfits as their original profile pictures. They''d released singles since then, and done new profile photos, so why had they not been changed out yet?


    She glanced over at the member sitting on the couch and watched them for a while. SUN GIRLS were interacting with staff members, bringing them drinks and chatting with them from time to time, while Smile Days only sat and kept to themselves, ignoring when SUN GIRLS tried to give them drinks as well.


    Were the just rude to begin with? Was that why Makoto didn''t like them? They were rude? Is that why their new photos were not on the wall? Because he felt like they didn''t deserver it? Or maybe¡­they were rude to everyone else because they were treated poorly. Maybe they were jealous and upset with everyone else who was receiving better treatment than them. Maybe she should try to reach out to them¡­.or ask Makoto what the situation was.


    "I''ve sent you the file and the concept, so please create something that fits it. I''m putting my trust in you." He said before hanging up the phone.


    Finally, he turned his attention toward Minami.


    "Well, congratulations are in order. Your cover of DELIGHT is doing extremely well and you''re pulling great numbers," he wore a giant smile on his face, which accentuated the wrinkles around his eyes, "You were even recognized by the group members themselves. That''s not so easy to achieve."


    Minami smiled back, her youthful skin a contrast to his, "Thank you. I''m very happy with the result!" a very subtle, light pink hue flushes over her face as she suddenly realized that she was actually gaining quite a lot of attention. It felt like, with each step she took, it was starting to feel more and more real. Now the CEO of an agency was giving her high praises.


    "You should be. You did good work, you deserve a pat on the back. Now, I also want to talk to you about the choreography for your song. I want to put you in a dance class to help you gain more experience, because I requested for your choreography to be difficult. People like to see complicated dances now-a-days. I sent the demo to the choreographer to start creating something, so in the meantime you need to learn some skills."


    Minami bit her lip awkwardly, "Oh well¡­.I''ve been dancing since I was young. I don''t have a problem learning choreography."


    Makoto thought back to the video of her performing as a member of Kissiks and pursed his lips. She definitely had potential and he could see her drive so clearly, but her dancing had been all over the place and looked like she''d just learned it. Although her singing sounded like a completely different person, maybe it was possible that her dancing had improved since then too.


    "I would be more comfortable if you took the lessons anyways. There''s nothing wrong with continuing to improve is there?" He rested his elbows on the table, and leaned forward, "I''m surprised that you aren''t jumping at the chance. I don''t give this opportunity to everyone. If you aren''t ser-"


    "No! No!" she interrupted, "I''m very serious! I will take the lessons!" Her heart pounded, she absolutely could not let this opportunity get away from her. She had to grab it with all her might and hold onto it like her life depended on it, no matter what!


    However, part of her was a bit disappointed. She really didn''t need the lessons and they would also cut into the free time she had available to spend with Naoto. They''d hardly gotten any alone time since becoming boyfriend and girlfriend and at this point she was honestly wondering what the point of making the commitment was. They''d probably end up breaking up without having done anything at all.


    "Good. I will schedule you some with a wonderful dance trainer and the next time I see you, I will give you the dates to put into your planner. Sound good?" He turned toward his computer and started typing away again.


    "Yep! Sounds good!" She laughed at bit at the end, nervously of course. She didn''t want him to think she wasn''t serious, she didn''t want to be scolded or end up like Smile Days. She wanted to be the driving force behind this agency, she wanted to be just like Ri, and be number one.

 Ch 17: A New Career Path?!

    Dance practice for Minami''s debut single, "My Days" had already begun and between that, dance lessons and recording and filming new covers, she''d been insanely busy.


    The lessons were boring, Makoto had put her in a beginner''s class. All they were doing was going over the basics, which she knew like the back of her hand. She wasn''t learning anything and didn''t even work up a sweat. It all just felt like one big waste of time and part of her wondered if Makoto hadn''t somehow picked up on her relationship Naoto.


    Maybe this was just some ruse to fill up her time and keep the two of them apart. Maybe he''d seen her texting him at some point and it raised suspicions, or maybe he heard from someone else or seen them out together. Although they always met in public with Akina present, maybe he somehow picked up on the romantic tension between them.


    She shook her head, attempting to free her mind from those kinds of thoughts as anxiety started to creep in. ''Don''t think like that Mina, you''re overthinking. There''s nothing wrong with making sure you''re refreshed on your basics¡­'' Of course that''s what any professional would say, but it didn''t make them any less boring.


    Learning the choreography for "My Days" was much more exciting. It was very high energy and bubbly, a perfect match to the song. The choreographer even praised her over how quickly she picked it up. She wanted to tell Makoto ''See? I told you I didn''t need the lessons!'' but she wasn''t willing to be scolded again, or potentially lose her opportunity, and she KNEW he would cut her if she got on his nerves too much.


    Bzz! Bzz!


    Minami glanced at her phone as she entered the building. They were texts from Naoto. She put her phone away without looking at the messages. He''d been messaging her almost constantly, to which she had yet to find a moment to respond.


    [Naoto] "Are you doing okay?"


    [Naoto] "Do you want to go out tomorrow?"


    [Naoto] "Yes No?"


    [Naoto] "Let me know whenever"


    [Naoto] "Hope they''re not working you too hard haha"


    She felt bad that she was ignoring him so much, but she was already at the company and was going to hand in her lyrics for the B-side track of "My Days". She needed to focus on only this right now.


    If her lyrics were selected, it would be incredible, she''d really be just like Ri. This release would also be even more important to her. The fact that she would get to directly take part in the creation process was something not everyone got to say.


    She bowed and greeted everyone as she walked in and sat at Makoto''s desk.


    "Yes?" He asked, not looking up from his computer.


    "I have my lyrics!" Minami rummaged through her strawberry heart tote bag. She had gone with this bag instead of her favorite plum one to ensure that her lyrics wouldn''t get crumpled. After all, she''d hate to present him a page of wrinkled and torn lyrics for her debut single. This was important! This was a life defining moment! She had to make sure everything was as presentable and perfect as possible.


    She gently pulled the lyrics out and put them on his desk in front of him. He held his finger up and typed away at his desk. ''Busy, busy man.'' She thought.


    It took him a few minutes to finish up what he was doing, but when he was done he grabbed the lyrics and looked them over. He grabbed his pen and got up from the desk, "Follow me."


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    Minami followed him into the recording studio where his keyboard was already set up. He placed the lyrics on the sheet holder and started playing the song, humming along to the vocal melody as he read the lyrics.


    He started striking things outs and writing on it, underlining certain words and putting symbols here and there. Then he grabbed it and shoved it back into her hands. "They''re good. You did a good job. Let''s do a run through of them."


    Minami lit up. "Really?! They''re good?! We''re¡­..going to use them?" She needed to confirm. She''d hate to get excited thinking they''d really be used and find out later that she was misunderstanding what he was saying.


    "Yes, we''re going to use them. I''ve edited them a little though. You know what the marks mean right?"


    She started at the page and saw a bunch of swirls, arrows, underlines and squares. "Yeah, I know." Thankfully having worked with him beforehand, she knew exactly what all of these symbols meant and exactly what he was asking by placing them where he did.


    So they practiced and practiced, until she had nailed the pitch, key and emotion.


    "Have you ever written lyrics before?" he inquired. He thought back to her resume when she applied for a job there, and didn''t remember ''lyricist'' on there, nor did he remember her listing any credits.


    Minami blushed, "I only wrote them as a hobby¡­.but didn''t you know I could do lyrics beforehand?" she flashed back to the meeting they''d had where he''d said ''You know how to do lyrics right?'' so surely, he already knew?


    He hesitated a moment. For some reason, he was drawn to her and felt like he could put faith in her, that she would be successful and bring his company to places his other artists couldn''t. "No, I didn''t. I just had a hunch." There was this feeling inside him that she could do anything, and he trusted that feeling.


    "Well, thank you for giving me the chance to do this. I know that not everyone gets such an opportunity and I''m very grateful!" She bowed and clenched her lyrics sheet, trying not to shed tears of happiness. She was working on not being such a crybaby.


    "Would you be interested in writing lyrics in the future?" He tapped on the keyboard to his piano nervously.


    Minami''s heart sank and she stood straight, "Only writing lyrics?" Was he ending her career right then and there? Was she better off as a lyricist than an idol?


    "No. In addition to performing. I think you have a talent for it. I think you could do it for other artists too." He wanted her so bad. With her skills, he wouldn''t have to outsource lyricists, they could create such an impressive team, he just needed her on his side.


    "I would love to do that! If the opportunity comes up again, I''d really like to. I hope I will be able to deliver quality lyrics like these for other works too."


    "Have more confidence in yourself. I believe that you can. You may just be a danger to other idols out there."


    Minami tilted her head, "What do you mean a danger to other idols out there?"


    He cleared his throat, "Nothing. Let''s just practice a few more times."


    They continued practicing the song for another hour. Minami wrote numerous notes on her page to the point it almost didn''t look like lyrics anymore.


    By the time they were going to leave, it was already dark out.


    "Let me walk you home, Minami. You don''t live too far from here right?"


    Minami nodded to confirm, "Mhmm! It''s close. Thank you."


    "Don''t forget, that we''re going to have a birthday party for you. Just a heads up, we''re going to film it for when you officially debut. We''ll do it as a road to, sort of documentary. We''re going to start to filming your activities from now on too."


    A puzzled look appeared on her face, "What do you mean? Shouldn''t we have started with my photoshoot if we were going to do that?"


    He shook his head, "No. We want you to look like a relatable girl who just got picked up off the internet. It''s not going to look good if people find out you''ve been under an agency this whole time, and the agency is the one who recorded and edited the covers you put out. This way it looks like we just randomly discovered you online and people will praise you even more."


    "Ohhhh¡­.that makes sense." She rolled her shoulders back, feeling uncomfortable with the deception, but he knew better than her, he had been part of the industry for so long already and had much more experience. She shoved her gut feeling aside and told herself, ''He knows what he''s doing. Trust him!''


    They arrived at her home and he waited for her to let herself in before saying goodbye. About three minutes later, she heard a knock on her door.


    She opened it up and to her surprise, saw Naoto standing there with a hoodie pulled over his head. "Naoto?" She moved aside to let him in, "What are you doing here? At this hour?"


    "I had to see you okay? It''s been too long, I miss you too much."