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This series will probably release once a month, seeing that this is the latest (and possibly last) volume anyway.
Standing in the way of X, who aim for the highest heights, is a harsh challenge.
Yuiga Nariyuki is an entertainment manager at Ichinose Productions.
“You three, I expect some serious efforts today as well!”
He was responsible for the freshly-found idol group called ‘Students’, consisting of three members. These three had already gathered in the office room.
“Yes, let us try our best.”
The first to respond was Ogata Rizu, possessing a cool and indifferent expression. With her small stature, she made up for it by being ‘big’ elsewhere, making her extremely popular with this unbalance.
“Yawn…Alright, let’s do this~”
As if she had slept until now, Furuhashi Fumino forced out a drowsy response. Possessing long, beautiful hair, with a ‘slender’ stature, yet another group of fans had taken a big liking to her.
“Alrighty, time to go all out!”
The one raising her fist with brimming energy was Takemoto Uruka. With this healing factor of hers, a great number of tired salarymen find joy in watching her.
“Good, then let’s go!”
Seeing the three girls show motivation in their own way, Nariyuki nodded in satisfaction. And, with him as the guiding light, they all stepped into the lesson room. They aimed to become top-class idols, walking down the thorny path that would only take them one step at a time…However.
Taking the dancing lessons for example.
“Ogata…you see…it’s a bit hard to say, but the movement you show is greatly off from what the trainer just portrayed…”
“I see…So my timing was off for about 0.2 seconds.”
“No, it’s not on the level of that…Wait, Ogata, don’t try to fix the small things now, we’re not on that stage yet. You have to get it right on a more fundamental—Again, can you stop trying to fix the small…Hey, Ogata, stop already! Ogata-san? …Ahhh! Stop the music!”
Nariyuki clapped his hands at the sight of Rizu trying to correct every small movement, completely messing up her rhythm. Receiving the instruction from Nariyuki, Uruka and Fumino stopped the music. The reason for their bitter smiles probably originated from their voiceless agreement with Nariyuki.
“Why are you stopping mid-lesson, Nariyuki-san?” The only one not satisfied with the situation was the girl herself.
“Well…how do I say it…Ah, it might be better to just show you the footage instead.” Troubled with the explanation, Nariyuki operated the digital camera.
It was a classic procedure to review the taken footage after the lesson.
“Here, look at this”
“…Oh, what might this be.” Rizu put one finger on her chin, as she watched the footage with great interest. “This is a robot that looks exactly like me, right?”
“No, it’s the real you.” Nariyuki didn’t hold back to put in a full-blown retort.
“Fufu, you won’t be able to deceive me with this. Though I am surprised that you managed to edit this footage so quickly.”
“No, this hasn’t been edited in the slightest. It’s the real, and all-too horrifying reality.”
Rizu showed mysterious confidence in her means of escaping reality, so Nariyuki retorted once again.
“…Is this…reality?”
“Yep.”
Rizu asked, visibly terrified, to which Nariyuki nodded along several times. With this, she apparently finally accepted the cold, hard truth.
“So this…is me…” With an expression distorted in despair, Rizu put both her hands and knees on the ground, clearly dejected.
“W-Well, you just have to work hard from here on out.” Even as Nariyuki put one hand on her shoulder to cheer her up, it took her a while to recover.
Another example, during the vocal lessons.
“How was that, Nariyuki? You like my voice?”
Having just finished singing one song, Uruka turned to Nariyuki in a confident manner.
“Hmm…”
“Eh? Was it not good?”
As Nariyuki only showed a troubled expression, Uruka grew worried, approaching him.
“Ah, no! It was great, really!” With this sudden shrinking of distance, Nariyuki grew flustered, waving his hands in denial.
Just as he stated, there was no problem whatsoever. With her skill as a singer, that is.
“Then what’s that weird expression of yours about?”
“Well…it might be easier to just have you listen to it.”
Just as with the dancing lessons, recording the training to review it at a later point was standard procedure. Rather than trying to fumble his way through an explanation, Nariyuki judged it would be easier to give the girl a clear view of what he was talking about, so he handed Uruka the headphones.
“Hm…? I don’t hear anything weird though?”
“It’s fine at first, but it should be around time…”
On a side note, for this particular voice lesson, they had used the song of a Senpai idol of Uruka’s. Though it was a Japanese song, it has a few bits and pieces of English mixed into it.
“…Pffft!” Having apparently reached the part Nariyuki was concerned about, Uruka burst out in laughter. “Ahaha! The heck is this! The English is horrible, and it doesn’t sound like the actual lyrics!”
However, after laughing for a second.
“…Ah, this is me, isn’t it.” Her expression distorted into one of despair. “So that’s what I sound like…”
Uruka had both her hands and knees on the ground, shedding tears of defeat.
“W-Well, we just have to work hard on that from now on.”
Even as Nariyuki put his hand on her shoulder, she wouldn’t recover until a bit later.
Yet another example, gravure idol photoshoots with swimsuits.
“This is hell…”
Before Nariyuki could even say anything, Fumino had already both her hands and knees on the ground, shedding tears of denial.
“Fumino, what happened?”
“Aha…ahaha…”
Rizu tilted her head in confusion, as Uruka showed a bitter smile. Forced to observe her ‘difference’ to these girls, Fumino found despair even further.
“W-Well, you just have to work hard on that from now on.”
“I’ve worked pretty hard this far, you know!” Fumino screamed with tears in her eyes.
***
As you can see, the practice and training of ‘Students’ certainly didn’t work flawlessly. That being said, this wasn’t enough for Nariyuki to despair. Knowing the girls, they would eventually make it through these problems, and he was ready to support them with all his might.
“Late.”
These were the first words Nariyuki had been greeted with as he arrived at the president’s room. No matter what the topic was, she was the highest horse in the entirety of Ichinose Productions, Kirisu Mafuyu.
“I do believe the situation has been on a stand-still for too long.”
“R-Referring to…?” Nariyuki carefully asked for clarification, while being met with a sharp gaze.
“When exactly is that group ‘Students’ that you’re responsible for actually going to show results?”
With this freezing cold voice arriving at Nariyuki’s ears, his cheeks naturally stiffened up.
“Ah, well…we’re not at this sort of stage yet, so to speak…I was hoping we would be given a bit more time to guarantee their talents to bloom fully…”
“Laxity. You will not be able to survive in the entertainment business with a carefree attitude like that.”
Nariyuki’s excuses were entirely disregarded by the president.
“It seems as if I have been a bit lax on my end as well.”
Nariyuki felt an awful premonition from her words.
“Regarding the sales of the new ‘Students’ single, how are they looking?”
“Um…well…I can’t say they are great, but…”
“The release date of the new song has already been decided as well, has it not?”
“U-Um…we haven’t gotten to the recording yet…”
The bad premonition of Nariyuki got worse the more the talk moved on.
“Examination…Make sure the sales of the next single go up times 100. If not, ‘Students’ will be disbanded, and the girls will have to step back from being idols.”
“100 times?! Disbandment?!”
President Kirisu’s demand was harsher than Nariyuki could accept.
“Excuse me, but…this is going too far, isn’t it…”
“Is there any reason to keep them around if they don’t bring any profit? I don’t mind if they transfer elsewhere, but the same thing would probably happen there as well, am I wrong?”
“Ugh…”
Her logic was absolutely correct, leaving no room for debate.
“And also.” President Kirisu averted her gaze. “Having them mindlessly chase after a vain dream is highly inefficient. They are still young, so having them give up earlier, the better for their future.”
“President…”
For Nariyuki, she had been the person to even get him into this business. She had seen people give up on their dreams, and retire. It might be obvious, but even after retirement, your life goes on. Rather than fixating yourself on one path that won’t work for you, being on the lookout for something else was far more logical. This condition, and the words that followed, were nothing but kindness, that’s how Nariyuki felt.
But, in regards to that.
“100 times, huh…”
The trial bestowed upon them was too cruel.
“To be honest, that is pretty tough…”
“With the current us, my calculations have shown that there is no way to achieve this.”
“I still want to be an idol though…”
Having gathered in the lounge at the request of Nariyuki, the three girls showed grim expressions. Judging from the atmosphere, the girls had already half accepted the fact that they would be retiring.
“Hm? What is this gloomy atmosphere about?”
Then, a familiar person walked into the room. With a small stature, lovable facial features, looking like a middle school girl to people who didn’t know any better, she was actually the Senpai of these girls, and the top-earner of Ichinose Productions, the childish idol ‘Pixie Ashumi’, also known as Kominami Asumi.
“Did Prez Mafuyu give you some ridiculous trial again?” She meant to say it as a teasing joke, but nobody dared to show a giggle. “Ah? Really? Did I actually hit bulls-eye?” Asumi awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“I see, so you have to pump up your sales or you’re out, huh…”
Hearing the explanation of Nariyuki, Asumi nodded in consent.
“Haha, that sure is like Prez Mafuyu alright.” She showed a rather nostalgic gaze.
“Um…did you go through this as well…?”
Nariyuki felt this coming from Ayumi’s expression, so he asked.
“Yeah, when I was a newcomer, I had something similar to this.”
As Asumi nodded, the three girls of ‘Students’ all showed a relieved expression.
“So that means you made it past this trial, Kominami-senpai?!” Fumino asked, leaning forward.
“I would love to hear from your past experience.” Rizu already had a piece of paper and pen ready.
“Is there some certain-win technique that you can teach us?!” Uruka’s eyes were sparkling.
“Certain-win technique…” Asumi sighed. “Nothing like that exists.” She spoke with a serious expression. “You have to work your asses off, and gain more fans. That’s all I did.”
Everybody swallowed their breaths.
“Is that really it…?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ah, well, working hard is an essential part of this job, so no problems with that…but…”
Being glared at by Asumi, Nariyuki waved his hands.
“It sure doesn’t feel like that alone would be enough…”
Met with Nariyuki’s meek voice, Asumi let out a sigh.
“If you can’t succeed by doing so, then that just means you’re not cut out to be an idol.”
“No way…”
Met with destructive words like these, Nariyuki lost his means of arguing back. Same for the three of ‘Students’, as their expressions grew gloomy yet again.
“But.”
In the midst of that, Asumi showed a beaming grin.
“If you manage to overcome this hurdle, it means that you’re able to get to the top of the idol world.” A gentle light resided in her eyes. “Prez Mafuyu must be aware of this, and put up that hurdle for you guys.” Asumi shrugged her shoulders. “After all, as I made it through her trial, I got myself a breakthrough in my career. Since it’s for my cute Kouhais, I’ll help you out as much as I can, alright?” She smiled, giving off a reliable vibe.
““““Y-Yes! We’re counting on you!!!””””
Nariyuki and the girls all lowered their heads, feeling more cheerful than before.
***
“It’s Pixie Radio time! Today, it’s your cutie cutesy Ashumi again!”
At the radio station’s recording studio, Asumi spoke into the microphone with a sweet voice she would never show back at the office, as she started her radio show.
“And, you won’t believe it, I have some special guests for you today!”
Three other girls were present in the booth.
“H-Hello, I am Takemoto Uruka! Ah, from…uh, ‘Students’, yes!”
“Um, same here, Furuhashi Fumino.”
“I am Ogata Rizu.”
Though they were all in great agreement when Asumi invited them to appear in her radio show, now that it came to the real deal, they all felt stiff and nervous. Uruka had lost her energetic nature, Fumino’s expression was frozen, and Rizu had turned into a robot altogether. Seeing this, Nariyuki gave them quick advice via a white board outside the booth.
‘Relax a bit! Senpai, provide some follow-up!’
“The girls from ‘Students’ are actually my cute Kouhais from the office I work at! Their single is currently on sale, and I heard there will be yet another one coming out soon?”
Just as expected, Asumi did great work.
“Y-Yesh! Thash right!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Indeed, that is correct.”
However, the other three didn’t manage to make use of that at all.
‘Put in some more appealing!’ Nariyuki gave out further instructions.
“Ah, um…I’m really good at swimming!”
“I really like talking.”
“Whatever numerical formula you have, I can solve it, yes.”
‘Not that kind of appeal!’
That was definitely not what Nariyuki was referring to.
“I see… Your personal traits! They’ll be working hard in their future activities, so please support them with all you have!”
Luckily, Asumi was with them to get the conversation back onto rails, which ended their part on the show. Without ever being able to show their own appeal, they left the booth. That being said, contrary to his expectations, a lot of supportive messages came in, leaving Nariyuki relieved.
***
“Hello there! I’m from ‘Students’, Takemoto Uruka!”
“Furuhashi Fumino here!”
“Ogata Rizu.”
Today, ‘Students’ is participating at a local event. They weren’t the main deal of the event, but rather helped out at a shopping mall.
This is the time, you three! Work like this is just as important!
On a side note, Nariyuki was disguised as the mascot of this mall, Wankoro Hanako, so that he could stay close to the girls at all times.
“Yay, it’s Wankoro Hanako!”
“Can I get a balloon?”
“Me too me too!”
—Only for him to be flooded with children. This being a rather popular mascot of this mall, the children were all looking up at him, their eyes sparkling with joy and excitement.
“E-Everyone, we also have balloons, you know?”
“Wankoro Hanako can’t hand them out at the same time, so come take some from us?”
“I even brought some udon as special service.”
The three girls tried to give an appeal to the children.
“………”
The children just gazed at the girls for a moment, eventually hiding behind Wankoro Hanako
“But…”
“Mama always told me…”
“That I shouldn’t accept things from strangers…”
“““Ugh…”””
Though they probably didn’t have any ill-will behind these words, just possessing the naivety and innocence of children, the girls still felt like something stabbed them right into the chest. That being said, for everybody else, basically in middle school or older, they took great liking to the girls, and the event was a success.
***
“Are you all excited?!”
“We’re going to sing our new single now!”
“For those of you who enjoy it, please buy it once it becomes available!”
Today’s event was a live show. Naturally, it wasn’t a solo concert, but rather an event with various other artists. Even today, there were more than ten of these artists participating. That being said, idols were definitely regarded as the main part, so they were working hard to dance and sing properly.
“Officer Uruka~!”
“Your dancing is off as always!”
Two girls in the audience raised their voices towards Uruka.
“Princess!”
“As beautiful as always!”
“Look over here!”
Another pair of three girls adored Fumino.
“Kyaaaaaaaa! Ogata Rizuuuuuuu!”
A single girl screamed louder than anybody else. Nariyuki recognized the face of a few, meaning they must be fans of the group.
Great…more and more fans are coming on…!
Nariyuki formed a fist of success, as he watched the girls from the side of the stage. Things were going great today as well. With all these viewers, they must have gotten some new fans.
***
As a result of these activities, the current situation:
“Aren’t we doing pretty good right now…?!”
“Yeah, I think we’re making some good progress…!”
“My dancing has been getting better as well.”
The girls must have felt this progress as well. As they had gathered in the lounge of the office, they were brimming with motivation. And of course, Nariyuki was part of them.
“At this rate, we might be able to pull off the sales we’re aiming for…!”
“Really?!”
“Fufu, I can’t wait to see the president’s reaction.”
“It was easier than expected.”
Without a doubt, the atmosphere was much better than it had been a few days ago.
“Yo, aren’t you looking good, my dear Kouhais from ‘Students’. If you keep going like that, you might be able to pass me even~” Asumi showed her face, shrugging her shoulders as she pulled a joke.
“Oh please! We are still far off from that~”
“That’s right, Senpai is on a whole other level.”
“You are our goal, Kominami-senpai.”
Though the three girls denied Asumi’s words, their expressions were full of confidence, arrogance even.
“Don’t be like that. I do think you girls are working pretty hard. And since I’m saying that, you can take my word for gold.” Asumi laughed, handing the girls a piece of paper.
Nariyuki accepted one as well, and took a quick glance at it. Apparently, it was a flyer for an upcoming live concert Asumi’s.
“In order for you to not lose that momentum, I came here with a request of sorts.”
“Request…?”
Nariyuki felt he had grasped Asumi’s intention.
“Would you like to act as my background dancers?”
And the words coming from Asumi showed that his hunch was on-point.
“Of—”
“““Of course!!!”””
Before Nariyuki could answer, the girls already screamed.
“You all…I’m the manager here…” Nariyuki gave a wry smile, but the answer would have been the same.
Even just being background dancers of Asumi’s concert was on an entirely different level than the other events they had participated in. For ‘Students’, this was a chance they could not waste. After giving his thanks to Asumi, Nariyuki turned towards the three girls.
“This is a chance like never before…We definitely have to make this a success!” He held out the back of his hand towards the girls.
“Of course!”
“We’ll make the best out of this big chance!”
“If it’s us, we’ll definitely make it.”
The three girls put their hands together with Nariyuki’s.
“‘Students’, fire!”
“““Yeah!!!”””
They raised voices of motivation and energy.
***
And thus, the day of the live concert arrived. A great amount of fans had gathered already, passionately waiting for the beginning. That being said, unlike the fans, the staff behind stage were panicking, as they looked at each other with expressions of despair.
“Kominami-san still isn’t here?!”
“Seems like she’s stuck in traffic…It doesn’t seem like she’ll be making it in time for the opening ceremony.”
“Can’t help it…Maybe we should tell the crowd about this…”
“I wonder…Are you sure the scene wouldn’t go crazy?”
“We can only pray that it doesn’t end up like that…”
Hearing this decision, the three girls of ‘Students’ and Nariyuki looked at each other. Naturally, they fully agreed with this decision. That being said—
“Um, we might have an idea for this.”
As the representative, Nariyuki called out to the staff.
“How about we have ‘Students’ create an opening performance so that Kominami-senpai can still make it in time for her actual live concert?”
Hearing Nariyuki’s words, the staff all went ‘Eh…’ in unison.
“‘Students’, huh…”
“I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m not so sure about that…”
“I know you’ve been selling better, but…”
The staff was openly worried about having girls with barely any experience take the opening performance.
“It’s true that they clearly aren’t on the level of Kominami-senpai yet, especially in terms of popularity, but Senpai has admitted their potential! Please, could you not leave this to them?!” Nariyuki lowered his head.
“…Well, it’s definitely better than postponing the start of the show…”
“And, having an opening performance isn’t that unusual either…”
“If things work out, the fans will be even more pumped up once Kominami-san arrives…”
The atmosphere in the room, and between the staffs changed, growing more light.
“Alright, we’re counting on you, ‘Students’.”
“Yes! Thank you very much!” Lowering his head one more time, Nariyuki then turned towards the three girls. “This might be a bit abrupt, but…can you pull it off?” He flashed a provocative smile.
“Fu fu fu, are you even aware who you’re talking to, Nariyuki?”
“We are ‘Students’, right?”
“This is the perfect outcome.”
The smiles they returned were radiating with confidence.
Shortly after that, the show began.
“Hello everyone~!”
“We are a small group called ‘Students’!”
“Before the main concert of Kominami-senpai, please enjoy our short performance!”
The place grew noisy.
“Huh? Where’s Ashumi?”
“Did they mention an opening performance before?”
“Also, who? Never heard of a group called ‘Students’…”
The words coming from the fans clearly weren’t filled with positivity. That being said, that was what they had anticipated beforehand.
“Please listen to our first song! It’s called ‘I want to clean before the exams!’”
Together with Uruka’s signal, music started playing from the speakers, but the atmosphere in the crowd was still as heavy as before. Eventually, that would vanish as well. They just have to get the crowd on board, and get them excited with their performance. Thinking like that, ‘Students’ started their performance, but…
“U-Um…our next song will be ‘I can’t believe my friend for saying they’re not studying’!”
Even after the first song ended, the crowd showed no signs of being fired up in the slightest. Seeing some people even yawn audibly, Fumino fumbled over her words.
“Next is ‘I studied the wrong subjects for the tests!’…Eh? Not that? Ah, I’m sorry. It was supposed to have been ‘Keeping the notes clean and proper, and it still doesn’t help studying’, excuse me!” Rizu announced the wrong song, as more and more mistakes snuck into their performance.
Fumbling through their words, mistaking the dancing steps, which created even more mistakes. And finally, after a few songs came to an end.
“““Huff…haa…”””
The three were clearly out of breath, as their endurance ran close to it’s limits, caused by the tension and mistakes they made. Their heads went blank, as they couldn’t think about anything anymore. Though Nariyuki had written their next song on the white board to signalize them, he himself wasn’t sure how to handle this situation.
In the midst of that, another song started playing, which had the girls freeze up. Not because they were unable to do anything, but rather because this wasn’t the song they had expected.
“Alright everyone! Thanks for waiting~”
Appearing from the other side of the stage was a girl with a small stature.
“It’s everyone’s favorite idol, Ashumi!”
Flashing a brimming smile, the exact opposite of ‘Students’, Asumi filled the room with excitement.
“Good work. Leave the rest to me.” Putting the mic away from her mouth for a brief moment, Asumi spoke so that only the three girls could hear her.
The three girls could only watch her step to the front of the stage.
“Alright, the first song today is ‘Teasing Pixie’! Are you ready?!”
“Wooooooooooooooooooooah! Ashumiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”
The place was wrapped in excitement you wouldn’t have expected could be possible just a few moments ago. The girls of ‘Students’ finally caught on to their real job, and started dancing behind Asumi as well.
They should have mastered the dance perfectly after a lot of rehearsing…But, possibly as a result of their solo performance, they were still a bit shaken, as mistakes snuck in here and there. But, that didn’t dampen the mood at all. And, the three of them were perfectly aware of the reason why.
Nobody was looking at them. It wasn’t just because they had come to see Asumi in the first place. The radiant shine she emitted, the energy she created, it all made the girls realize how inexperienced they were.
Asumi could create this atmosphere because she had worked this hard for it. Not just dancing and singing, her expression, her gaze, the ability to be aware of the situation behind her without having to check, everything connected to make her who she was. And with this, the curtains fell on the girls’ first live experience.
***
After this event, the girls went to challenge their lessons even more passionately.
“Huff…Wheeze…Nariyuki-san, please play that song one more time! I need to get down the movement a bit more, and the…huff…timing…!”
“Ogata, you’ve been at this for hours now…Aren’t you at your limit now? You’ve improved significantly, so how about we just call it a day…”
“No, I can still keep going! If I don’t break through my limits, it will just be like last time…!”
Rizu would participate in dance lessons until late night.
“Wui kyan notto sutadi! Ahh, no good…! Wui kyan notto sutadi…Not this one either…! Wahh, why am I having so many problems with such short phrases…!”
“Uruka, how about you take a break for today? At this rate, you’ll just ruin your voice…”
“I don’t care if my voice gets ruined! I have to get the pronunciation right! If not, I’ll just end up fumbling over my words!”
Uruka practiced her English pronunciation with blood-shot eyes.
“You can do it, my abs…! Th…thir…thirty…times…yeah! But, I’m not done yet! T-Thirty…one…!”
“Furuhashi, I really think you should give it a rest here…You haven’t been able to raise your body for a while now…And why are you so obsessed with muscle training all of a sudden?”
“Back then, I found out…even if I don’t have the right proportions, I can have my own charm…so I have to focus on that…!”
Fumino worked on her physical appearance, drenched in sweat all over.
The path they had chosen was no easy one. Whether it was dancing, pronunciation, or muscle training, the results wouldn’t show in just one day. Yet, without showing any glimmer of resignation, the girls continued their days polishing themselves like this.
“Now, Nariyuki-san, it’s time for the dance lessons again…Huh? There’s two of you…? Did you use some ninja skill to create a body double…?”
“Cough, cough…Nariyukiii, you have to join me in my pronunciation lesson as well…Wait, who just spoke…? Was that me?”
“Nari…yuki…kun…Ah, it hurts…! Just talking makes my abs hurt…! This must be the proof of my progress…fufu…ugh…!”
Seeing the three exhausted, Nariyuki had to cut between.
“Alright, no more lessons for a while from today onward! And no private training either! If you break this rule, I’ll dissolve ‘Students’!” He spoke with no restraint.
“N-Nariyuki-san, what are you talking about…?”
“You can’t do that, Nariyuki!”
“That’s right, not during such an important time…!”
“I’m saying it exactly because this is such an important time! Taking proper rest is part of your jobs as well, so go home for the day!”
Though the girls complained for a while, Nariyuki forcefully pushed them out of the office.
“…Haaaa.”
Having returned to the lounge, Nariyuki let out a tired sigh.
“They’re all working hard, and yet I can’t do anything…?”
Naturally, it wasn’t as if Nariyuki didn’t feel anything during the last concert. Rather, having stood at the side of the stage, he had seen the difference between the three and Asumi better than anyone. Yet, he was unable to come up with any measures of chopping away at this. He was unable to do anything.
“Yo, Kouhai, are ‘Students’ taking the day off?” Asumi appeared.
“Senpai…Yes, they’ve been overworking themselves, so I had them take a break.”
“I see. Makes sense.”
The girl most likely had seen what the three had been doing, as she flashed a wry smile.
“………Um, Senpai.” After hesitating for a moment, Nariyuki opened his mouth. “I know that asking you this might make me a failure of a manager…” He thought so from the bottom of his heart, but still had to ask nonetheless. “What should I do now…?” The words coming out of his mouth sounded more pathetic than he had assumed. “I understand their feelings. Ending their first time on a stage in such fashion…They had almost ruined your concert in the process. That they had to work harder so that things won’t end up the same way again. But, what should I be doing…? I don’t even know if stopping them was the right choice…”
Once he started speaking of his feelings, they came gushing out.
“Seems like you had it rough.” Asumi nodded.
“Yes, that’s why I had them rest today—”
Before Nariyuki could finish his words, Asumi put one finger on his lips.
“You as well.” She showed a kind smile. “You take a rest too, Kouhai. Resting is part of your job, right?” She repeated the same words Nariyuki had given the girls a moment ago.
“But, I have to think of something I can do for them…”
“Not happening.”
He was denied right away.
“No matter what you say, they won’t listen. It’s not like you’re not enough, it’s just that no matter what anybody would say, they won’t listen.”
Nariyuki felt the same way. That’s why he was urging himself to do something.
“This just isn’t something that can be resolved with words.”
Asumi’s words made it sound like she had gone through something similar before.
“This is all I can say.” She finished her words, and turned around to walk away…only to look back at Nariyuki with only her head. “That’s some great service for my cute Kouhai, so keep this a secret from Prez Mafuyu.”
“…Eh?” Nariyuki couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
The way she made it sound like she had given Nariyuki valuable information.
“What do you…?”
“Sadly, this is all I can give you as a hint.”
Asumi finished her words with a wink, and left the lounge.
“…That was a hint?” Watching her off with a blank expression, Nariyuki went through their conversation one more time in his head.
Though she was the type to always joke around, she wouldn’t use such a dire situation to make fun of Nariyuki.
—This just isn’t something that can be solved with words.
Those were the words that stuck out to Nariyuki the most.
“…So what’s important aren’t words…?”
Though he was still dubious, he felt like it was in some way related to that.
“Was that too much of a hint I wonder?”
Right as she left the lounge, Asumi spoke to the person greeting her.
“Most likely. But, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
President Kirisu had her back rested against the wall, nodding slightly. In response to that, Asumi showed a grin.
“If you’re that worried, why don’t you give them some advice of your own?”
“…What might you be referring to?”
She tried to play dumb, but the fact that she was present here next to the lounge was more than enough proof. She probably wanted to check on them since she was worried.
“I just came to see if they were properly doing their homework.”
“Sneaking around like that?”
“There’d be no meaning to it if they caught on to my presence.”
“Heh, is that so.” Asumi giggled ever so slightly as President Kirisu kept adding more and more excuses.
She had received similar homework from Mafuyu as well in the past. And, just like ‘Students’ right now, she had hit a wall. Back then, she had received advice from President Kirisu herself. If Asumi hadn’t taken over this time, she probably would have done so as well. Asumi really liked this hidden kindness of Mafuyu.
“If it’s them, I’m sure they’ll make it through.”
The words she had given to ‘Students’ was not a lie by any means. Exactly because President Kirisu believed they could make it past this hurdle, she had given them such severe homework in the first place.
“…Yes, that’s right…” President Kirisu nodded, full of confidence.
***
A few days passed since Nariyuki had received this ‘advice’ from Asumi.
“Hey, Nariyuki? This ain’t the time to be doing this, right?”
“That’s right, we should be practicing now.”
“I would like to use every second possible.”
Nariyuki had taken the three girls with him, on their way to a certain place.
“Don’t be like that. Taking a breather is important as well.”
Nariyuki wouldn’t hear any complaints. Naturally, the girls wouldn’t accept this just like that.
“Still…”
“Out of all the things…”
“Especially for us…”
He couldn’t blame them. After all—
“““Taking us to a live concert of Kominami-senpai…”””
The location they headed towards was indeed the location of a live concert by their Senpai. For the three of them, that would mean they would be forced to relive their trauma again.
“It’ll also turn into some great reference, so not too bad, right?” Nariyuki grinned.
“Reference, huh…”
“Aren’t there better things that we can learn with…”
“Agreed…”
Naturally, Nariyuki could understand their feelings. That being said.
“Are you sure about that?”
Hearing his words, the girl all had an expression of ‘What is this guy talking about’ on their faces.
“The last time you watched her, it was from the stage behind her, and not as an average guest, right? On top of that, you had to focus on your own dancing the entire time.”
“That is true, but…”
“We did look properly. Or rather, we were forced to.”
“Also, we have seen it better than anybody else. We were closest after all.”
They kept bringing more and more reasons that spoke against Nariyuki’s idea.
“If you feel the same after the concert, I will apologize.”
Or so he said, but inside, Nariyuki was fairly confident. That they will gain something during this concert. The girls seemingly picked up on this confidence as well, and gave up complaining.
Thus, the live concert started.
“Everyone, thanks for coming again today! It’s Ashumi’s live concert!” With a mic in hand, Asumi walked out onto the stage.
Just by doing so, a roar filled the hall.
“Kominami-senpai sure is cute~ She’s getting them fired up just by walking out on stage.” Uruka muttered in a jealous fashion.
“Even though she’s not even showing that much, she’s luring in all her male fans.” Fumino joined in.
“Is this what they call charisma…” Rizu had one finger on her chin, showing a complicated expression.
“Alright then! Today’s first song will be ‘Your girlfriend is a demon girl <3’!”
With a loud volume, a cute, pop-type song started playing from the speakers. Asumi started singing, showing a fitting dance on top.
“That song sure is easy to remember…”
“She’s hitting every tone even though she’s singing at full force with a smile on her face.”
“And her dance shows no flaws whatsoever.”
At first, they felt that way, but…
“Woah, that had to be ad-lib just now, right?! This sounds unreal…”
Opening their eyes at the ongoing arrangement.
“Ahaha, that’s Kominami-senpai for you.”
Joking between the songs.
“Woah! Jumping up that high…”
Raising voices of admiration at Asumi’s dynamic on stage. And after a while had passed, their expressions brightened up immensely.
“““Ashumiiiii! Ashumi~~~!!!”””
They were cheering for Asumi just like all the other fans present.
“Ashumi! Ashumi!”
Needless to say, Nariyuki was cheering as well. They all had forgotten their goal of coming here, just enjoying the concert. Yet, Nariyuki felt like he had learned something important still.
***
“Man, that shout gave me goosebumps.”
“The balade in the midst of all these pop songs really got me.”
“Her guitar solo was so cool.”
On the way home from the live concert, ‘Students’ were talking about said concert.
“It felt like the place became one!” Nariyuki couldn’t cold back his excitement either. “…Hey, I feel like I understood something.” That being said, he cut through the topic, getting a bit more serious. “The reason why Kominami-senpai is so amazing is because of—”
“““Wait a second!!!”””
The three girls stopped Nariyuki as he was about to blurt out the solution. Since they were grinning themselves, Nariyuki guessed that they had arrived at this solution as well.
“Kominami-senpai really is good at singing, probably better than us.”
“She’s paying attention to the smallest stuff as well.”
“Her dancing skill is greatly beating me.”
But—their voices overlapped.
“Although her live concert was something else to watch, clearly showing off how skilled she is.”
“That’s not all there is to it.”
“The most important thing…”
They exchanged gazes.
“““It was crazy fun to watch.”””
They gave the solution at the same time.
“That’s probably what we were lacking.”
“The consciousness and skill to make the crowd really enjoy themselves.”
“We haven’t been looking at the crowd at all before.”
As it turns out, this was the exact same conclusion Nariyuki had arrived at.
“That’s right…We were just focussed on ‘getting better’ that we completely forgot about it.”
Of course, possessing a certain level of skill was necessary in any work. But, after watching today’s live concert, it was obvious that they were lacking in basically every other regard. Just as Asumi had stated, some things can’t be taken care of by using words.
“Alright…’Students’, we’re going to work again tomorrow!”
“““Yes!”””
When Nariyuki announced the resuming of their activities, the girls nodded along confidently. No glimmer of worry or anxiety was left in their faces.
***
Ever since then, the activities of ‘Students’ had been diverting in a slightly different direction. Of course, normal lessons were still a thing. They had to hone their skills on the side. That being said, another special lesson was added to it.
“The public building tomorrow is close to the customers, right? I’d like to use that.”
“Maybe we can dance in between the rows of customers?”
“Nice idea, Fumino. We might even get them to dance with us.”
“Yeah, Ogata, that’s definitely a good plan!”
What should they do to have the customers enjoy themselves a bit more. That was the main question filling their heads before every event they would attend. In between breaks from lessons, or at the end of the day, they would always use a small amount of time to think about that.
“I feel like I understood why Kominami-senpai looks like she’s sparkling up on the stage.” Having arrived at a common agreement, Uruka muttered.
“Ah, me too!”
“Same here.”
Fumino and Rizu joined in.
“Then, let’s all say it at the same time!”
The three girls smiled, and opened their mouths.
“““Because she’s also enjoying herself!”””
Their voices overlapped beautifully.
“That’s right…The customers wouldn’t be enjoying themselves if you were just forcing yourselves. They’re having fun exactly because…you are as well.”
Nariyuki had arrived at this conclusion a while ago. Ever since they started working into that direction, all events ended as a great success. The number of fans had been growing rapidly, as they had been entrusted with bigger jobs. That being said—
“The release of the new song is next week…” Nariyuki’s soft mutter caused the atmosphere to grow stiff in a mere second.
Unlike before, they are more aware of where they stood. And, as much as it was hard to say, they didn’t see themselves making it.
“The recording for the new song did go well though~”
“It was the best I could have done.”
“But, I still wish there is something else to raise our popularity…”
Their expressions were riddled with anxiety.
“Good news. I came with something that might pique your interest.”
There, President Kirisu appeared.
“Though, it depends on you girls if you want to accept that.”
“This is…”
Accepting the paper President Kirisu had brought with her, Nariyuki’s face stiffened. After all, it was a flyer for the next live concert of Asumi.
“This time, you’re not there as background dancers, but as the opening performance.”
Not to mention that it was the exact same event that led to the trauma of the girls. Nariyuki would have understood if they were to reject it, but—
“““We’ll do it!!!”””
The three answered before Nariyuki could even ask for confirmation. Then again, it was the same as the first time.
“What should we do to have the fans get fired up?!”
“There should be a big screen on stage, so we can use that.”
“First, we have to check out the location, don’t we.”
Contrary to Nariyuki’s expectations, the girls were already busy with preparations for this event. All they could think of was how to have the fans enjoy themselves. They apparently didn’t even have the time to care about the past mistake.
“…That’s what they are saying.” President Kirisu turned towards Nariyuki. “What does our manager say?”
Though she officially asked him, she expected the same reaction. And of course, Nariyuki’s response had already been decided.
“Yes, we’ll gladly accept! Thank you very much for giving us this precious chance!”
“…We needed an opening performance this time, so I asked the group with an open schedule, nothing more.”
Though President Kirisu averted her gaze in slight fluster, her ears were reddened ever so slightly.
***
After that, a few days passed…until the day of the live concert arrived.
“It’s time for the real deal…Are you ready everyone?” Nariyuki gazed over at the girls of ‘Students’.
“““Of course!”””
Their smiles and words showed no hesitation whatsoever.
“Yeah, that’s what I like to hear.” Nariyuki grinned. “Then…”
Nariyuki stretched out the back of his hand, and the three girls put their hands on his. The last time they did this, it ended up in a great failure, but…
“‘Students’, fire!”
“““Yeah!!”””
This time, they would definitely succeed.
“““Hello everyone, we are ‘Students’!”””
Arriving at the front of the stage, the girls greeted the audience with energy.
“I see, there was an opening performance today.”
“Oh…? Weren’t they doing the opening performance as well a while ago?”
“Ahh, back then…”
The reactions of the people in the audience was about the same as before.
“““Then, please listen to our first song ‘How would I understand the author’s feelings’!”””
That being said, the smiles of the girls did not shake in the slightest. Rather, they started smiling even more passionately, moving their bodies to the music that started playing. Their movement was perfect, showing how much effort they put into their training.
Seeing this, a part of the audience raised voices of admiration. The rest of the crowd got wrapped up in this momentum. Uruka showed dynamic movement on-stage, Fumino smiled at the crowd like a princess, and Rizu pulled off her dance perfectly. Although they each had their individual skills to play, the balance didn’t crumble. Rather, this combination played right into the hearts of the listeners.
Putting a short rap in there, playing an instrument for a chorus, they showed great variation for but a single song. This led to the listeners getting more and more fired up. Them being Asumi’s fans, they enjoyed this sort of live concert more than raw skill. That’s why the girls thought of methods like these to win their hearts.
“Aren’t they actually pretty good?!”
“Yeah, I’m excited to see what they’ll be doing next!”
“I know right? This is really great for an opening performance!”
“Almost like Ashumi herself!”
Voices like these could be heard. Around the time several songs came to an end, the place was fully engrossed in the performance of ‘Students’.
“Everyone, thank you!”
“About our next song…”
“This will be the last song of ours for today.”
The audience went ‘Ehhhhh?’ after hearing Rizu’s words. Every idol wants to hear such a reaction from their fans. That’s why, with their brightest smiles yet, the three girls lined up next to each other on the stage.
“ “ “Please listen to the newest single of ‘Students’. It’s called…””” They took a deep breath. “““We can’t study!”””
The song that played right after stayed in the memories of everyone present.
***
“Good work you three!”
Having finished their final song, the girls returned backstage, immediately greeted by Nariyuki.
“Yup, that was great~”
“That was fun!”
“It looked like the listeners enjoyed themselves as well!”
“No doubt, this was a great success. I was a bit worried that things might end up like last time, but you did great out there!” Nariyuki showed a delighted reaction, leaving the girls staring blankly at him.
After a second passed, the girls had their eyes open wide.
“Ahh, that’s right. That happened.”
“I totally forgot about last time.”
“We were focussed too much on the task at hand.”
As things stood, their efforts had definitely paid out.
“Good work out there. You sure got them fired up.” Asumi, the main part of today’s concert, appeared. “Will I even be able to top that?” She spoke in a joking manner.
Right after that, her expression vanished, leaving Nariyuki with a shiver running down his spine. This was the signal that she had flipped the switch, becoming a proper ‘Idol’.
“Alright, time to rock~” Asumi stepped onto the stage.
Though the audience was still a bit saddened that ‘Students’ left the stage already, it didn’t take even one song for the audience to take a complete 180.
“We really can’t win against her…” Nariyuki showed a bitter smile, as he watched from the side of the stage.
“Kominami-senpai is amazing!”
“Right! She’s doing so many things we can’t even dream of doing…!”
“She must have so many choices…!”
The three girls were watching Asumi’s performance with a glimmer in their eyes, hoping that they would one day make it to where she stood. Yet, Nariyuki was confident they would eventually make it.
***
The opening performance of Asumi’s concert turned into a big success, and a lot of media picked up on it, spreading the name of ‘Students’ everywhere. As a result…
“Congratulations on reaching the required amount of sales!”
“““Yeah!”””
Together with Nariyuki’s announcement, the three girls raised their cups filled with juice. Their newest single had sold sales like never before. That being said…
“Hey, Rizurin, Fuminocchi, what should we do for tomorrow’s concert?!”
“How about preparing a surprise this time?”
“Saying that it’s over…and instead going full-out?”
Instead of celebrating only this success, the girls were already busy figuring out what to do next. They had already forgotten the danger of failure from a while ago, just focussing on enjoying themselves, ultimately making the audience enjoy themselves as well.
At the same time, right outside the lounge.
“They’ve shown me some proper growth.”
Resting herself against the wall inside the hallway, President Kirisu nodded with a faint smile on her lips.
“If you think that way, why don’t you go say that to their faces?” Asumi showed her face from the corner of the hallway, having President Kirisu twitch in shock.
“I-It’s nothing I should praise them for. This was something they had to overcome themselves.” President Kirisu tried to get her reaction back under control.
Asumi watched this with a big grin on her face.
“So you had this much trust in them, Prez Mafuyu.”
“N-Not that much…Also, I told you to stop calling me ‘Prez Mafuyu’.”
The people inside the lounge had no knowledge of this conversation whatsoever.
“Alright, then let’s enjoy ourselves tomorrow as well!”
Nariyuki and the three girls put their hands together.
“‘Students’, fight!”
“““Yeah!!”””
Although they were nothing but a starting idol group, ‘Students’ had shown great progress. Together with their manager Nariyuki, they aimed for the summit of the idol world.
CClaw Translations 
Thnx for the chapter!
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