Chapter Six- First Live!
James' POV
We were at the stairs near the shrine practicing… Well Honoka-chan and Umi-chan were, Kotori-chan was timing them. "Nice work girls! On to dance practice!"
"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight!" Umi-chan shouted while they were dancing.
"Kotori-chan, left hand!" I heard Honoka whisper to Kotori
"Were doing pretty well!" Umi said while Honoka shouted her agreement.
"Okay girls, time for a break!" I said.
"Were finally done…" Honoka said contentedly
"We still have to practice after school" Umi reminded her. "But things are going nicely!" added Kotori
"I didn't think you three can work so hard… Well Honoka-chan and Kotori-chan, I can definitely imagine Umi-chan working seriously" said James
"Yeah, I expected Honoka to sleep in" agreed Umi
"Don't worry! I get enough sleep in class to make up for it!" she exclaimed proudly
" I don't think that's something to be proud of…" I deadpanned.
Honoka suddenly got up and shouted at someone, "Nishikino-san!"
Eh? Maki's here? I didn't think she'll join that fast.
When she was ignored, she copied my way of calling her and shouted again," Maki-chan!"
"Don't yell my name like that! And who said you can call me that!" Maki said
"Why not?" Honoka asked confused. I didn't know if she was joking or not…
"It's embarrassing!" countered Maki
"But you don't mind James calling you that!" Honoka pointed out
"Shut up!" was Maki's reply
"Oh yeah!", Honoka exclaimed getting back on track, "That song… We recorded ourselves singing it, so give it a listen!"
"Huh? Why should I?" Maki said stubbornly
"Well… You're the one who made the song for us, aren't you? Honoka guessed
Well, I was kinda the one who made the song and just asked Maki to sing while we were at the Music room but what Honoka doesn't know won't hurt her.
"For the last time, that wasn't me! It was-" Maki said, I saw her look at me and I shook my head. "No, don't tell them it was me." Was my silent message.
"You're still denying it?" Umi interrupted her. Lucky Umi was there, I was almost caught.
Honoka suddenly hugged Maki and was bringing her mouth near Maki's nose when Maki yelled," What are you doing?!"
Honoka merely inserted the earbuds in Maki's ear then said, "Alright! Mission Accomplished! I think we sang pretty well"
"Here it goes!"
"Muse…"
"Music…"
"Start!" they said together
Hanayo Koizumi's POV
"Hey, which club are you joining?"
"I was thinking about joining the choir"
"Why don't you join the school idol club instead?
"What?! I could never become an idol!"
"Don't sell yourself short"
I was hiding behind a wall thinking about whether I should join or not when those two girls passed by. I quickly ran to the flyers, got one, then proceeded to hide.
Huh? That's strange…
I saw Nishikino-san look at the flyers with a smile on her face. Was she interested in becoming a idol?
Honoka's POV
"You look like you're about to fall asleep." Umi-chan said while I yawned.
"Hey, aren't they the ones?" I heard someone behind us whisper.
"Hmm… How bold of you to say that I'm the one…" I called out to them teasingly
"Eh!" "That's not what we meant!" They defended.
"A-Anyway, Aren't they the girls who formed the school idol club" one of them asked me.
"Yes, we are!" Kotori answered for me, "Our groups' name is Muse"
"Muse?" they asked, "Oh! Like the soap b-"
They weren't able to finish that sentence when Umi interrupted them, "No." Umi said simply.
"My little sister said she found out about you through the internet."
"Really!?" Honoka asked excitedly.
"You're doing a live concert tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah! After school!" Kotori said.
"What will you be performing?" "Can you show us part of your dance?"
"What, right here?" Honoka asked surprised
"Just show us a few steps!" they urged.
I suddenly noticed that Umi-chan stiffened at the word performing and dance. Ah! Stage fright! It happened to Charlie during our first live.
Before Honoka agreed to anything, I spoke up.
"Now where's the fun in that? You'll have to wait like everyone else!"
"But James-senpai! If you let them show a part of their dance, people will se how good they are and come watch their live!"
"And if they mess up?" I questioned
"E-Eh?"
That caught them of guard. " If they mess up here, you won't watch them anymore right?"
"Y-Yeah but-"
"Besides… The less you reveal, the more they wonder…." I said flirtingly
As usual, they blushed bright red and took my chance to get the girls out of their
"Why didn't you agree James?" Honoka asked
"Well, it looks like not all of you are looking forward to the live, right Umi-chan?" I said
"W-When I imagine myself singing and dancing in front of others…"
"You get nervous" Kotori finished for Umi
"Oh right! If you get nervous, just imagine everyone as vegetables! That's what my mom told me!" suggested Honoka
Umi thought about but exclaimed suddenly, "You're telling me to sing all alone?!"
"Seriously?" Honoka asked disbelievingly
This is a real serious problem we're encountering here…
"But if it really too scary for Umi-chan, we'll have to come up with a plan" stated Kotori
"I-I think I'll be fine so long as I'm not in front of an audience! Audiences makes me anxious."
"Getting used to it would be better than trying to get around it somehow!"
"Tada!" We were currently at the shopping district with arms full of posters for our live concert.
"We're going to hand out flyers for our live concert!" explained Honoka
Well, it was better than what we did with Charlie… We just tied him up in a chair then placed him in the middle of the stage. Needless to say, we never went along with the twins' plan anymore
"Th-There are so many people." Stuttered Umi
"Well duh. That's why we're here!" Replied Honoka
"It isn't called the shopping district for nothing, Umi-chan" I said to her
"We'll be handing out these flyers to advertise our concert" she continued, "Plus, talking to people with a loud voice might help you get over your stage fright"
"Nice plan, Honoka-chan!" I praised her
"Everyone's a vegetable… everyone's a vegetable…" I heard Umi utter to herself
"Is this too embarrassing?" Honoka asked Kotori.
"No, I'm okay with it, Umi-chan on the other hand…" was her reply
"Oh! Looks like a got a rare one." Umi said, unaware of the world around her. Looks like that plan failed…
"You're fine handing them out at school right?" Honoka asked her.
"Well, this beats the alternative…"
"Let's get started then!"
I noticed she was having trouble and approached her, "You alright, Umi-chan?"
"This is harder then it looks…"
"You'll get use it"
"Like you?" she asked sarcastically
"Well, I'm used to being watched in everything I do" I am an idol after all, I finished in my head.
"A-Ano…" I hear a voice say weakly
I turned around and saw a first year with greenish-brown hair and violet-ish eyes. She looks familiar…
"I'll… come to your live concert…"
"Really?" Honoka asked excitedly
"You're coming?"
"Well then, rather than take a couple of flyers, please take all of them!"
"Nice try, Umi-chan but you had a deal with Honoka-chan"
"James, you said people are always watching you, right?" Honoka suddenly asked
"Well, yeah, they seem too"
The Next Day
"Honoka-chan, tell me again why Umi-chan and I have to hold hands the whole day?"
"Well James, if Umi got used to being watched, she won't be nervous for the live concert!" was Honoka's reply
That may be the case but I already felt some glares being sent at our intertwined hands, even one coming from Honoka's direction if I'm not mistaken. So, I had to endure the whole being whispered about.
"Neh, who's that girl with James-senpai?"
"Are they a couple?"
"Why can't you be as sweet as James-senpai?"
"I didn't know Sonoda-san and James-san were a couple…"
After a whole day of being whispered about, we decided to stop it during lunch.
"You didn't seem so nevous anymore, Umi-chan!" Kotori commented
"W-Well it was just because James was with me…" she replied
"Well, you won't be performing alone. Honoka-chan and Kotori-chan will be with you a the stage and I'll be watching you guys from the sidelines!"
Honoka's POV
"Their dance steps are so sharp and clean…" I commented. We were at my house after the experiment with James and Umi, watching some A-RISE videos. Even though it was me idea, I wasn't very comfortable with seeing looking like a couple… It felt like something was stabbing my chest whenever I see it… Well, enough of that! Time to practice for the live!
"Ah… So that's why Ju-chan was surprised that I didn't recognize her." I heard James utter to himself
"What did you say James?" I didn't hear him very clearly
"No, it's nothing…"
"Well, if you say so" I copied their moves and asked them, "Like this?"
They were about to answer when we heard something in the laptop, I quickly opened and was very surprised, "Our rank went up!"
"Someone who saw your flyers must have voted for you" James stated
"That's wonderful!" Umi said
"I'm here!" we hear someone say.
"Oh Kotori! Look at this!" Honoka says excitedly
"Wow! That's great!" she replied
"Eh? Is that their costumes?" I asked her. That got the other two's attention
"Yup! They got some last minute touch-up from the tailors
"I'm so excited!" proclaimed Honoka, "It's so cute! It looks just like something a professional idol would wear!"
A FEMALE professional idol more likely. I happen to be a professional idol but would never wear that. Why do the girls always assume all idols are female?
"Kotori…" I hear Umi utter amidst the chattering of the two, " That costumes skirt length…"
Eh? What's wrong with its length?
"I warned you. I told you I wouldn't wear it unless it covered my knees!" Umi continued
"B-But she couldn't wear it that way. It's an idol costume!" Honoka defended for Kotori
"There's no rule that states all idols must wear short skirts!"
Well, thank God the isn't. Boys Generation wouldn't be caught dead wearing a skirt that short… or any skirt at all…
"Well, yeah but…" she argued weakly
"It's probably too late to make changes to the costume now.
"That's a dirty trick! I'll be singing and dancing in my school uniform then."
"What!"
"Come on!"
"You only have yourselves to blame, you agreed on this without me!"
Before Honoka did something like shout out something to whole world, I interrupted them, "It's three against one, Umi-chan. They just probably wanted the concert to be a complete success, that's why decided to use that costume…"
"You guys are always like this, it's unfair. Fine, I'll wear it"
James' POV
"And that concludes the new students orientation, you're now free to check out the student clubs so please look into those if you're interested". I was at the stage along with Eri-chan and Nozomi-chan. Eri-chan just finished the student orientation meaning Muse's was about to perform soon.
I bid them good luck when I saw that they were distributing flyers again. I saw them on my to the student council room for a meeting.
"I'll go to the auditorium as soon as the meeting finishes, I'll hand out some flyers when I can" I told them.
I was almost to the student council room when I say the green haired first year again screaming for help while her friend was dragging her somewhere, "Ohayo, Hanayo-chan was it?"
"Eh?! James-senpai knows you Kayo-chin?" I hear her friend tell her.
"W-We met yesterday" was her shy reply
"I have a meeting to attend but I'll be looking forward to seeing you at the concert!" I told her
I can faintly here her friend and the other first years gossiping about how they'll have to attend the concert.
We just had a short meeting about regular stuff, nothing important. Well, I hope it was nothing important, I was itching to go to the auditorium as early as I can. As soon as the meeting was over, I was about to make a beeline straight to the auditorium but I had one detour in mind.
"Worried about those girls?", Nozomi asking Eri that was the last thing I heard in the student council room.
"The first live concert of the school idol group, Muse, will begin shortly. If you want to watch them perform, please head straight to the auditorium. Hope to see you there!" I was at the sounds room hoping my idea work. I have a feeling not a lot of students will watch them so I made sure atleast some students will watch. I feel bad about using my popularity like that but I'm sure they won't mind. After all, why they don't know won't hurt them… or me.
I was near the auditorium when I started to worry. I can't hear them singing… Please let me be wrong, please let me make it in time.
I saw the first year was also running and I told her, "Kayo-chan! Go on ahead, I'll have to pick up a few people!"
"H-Hai!" was her reply, I hope she makes it in time…
I quickly ran to the gym and saw the players taking a break.
"James-san, what are you doing here?" one of them asks me.
"To anyone who wants to watch the school's very first school idol group, please follow me!"
When I don't hear any response, I pressed on harder.
"Their doing this for their school, our school, YOUR school… Please, just give them a chance…"
"So where can we watch them?"
"At the auditorium, just follow me!"
"I say…"
I can hear the music now, Kayo-chan, the first year, must have made it!
The athletes eagerly sat down and continued watching their performance.
We finally arrived at the auditorium just before they sang the chorus. They were good! Well, I might be a bit bias but the compliment IS from a world famous idol so that means they were really good. I made my way to the sounds room which is where I plan to watch them. I was surprised Eri-chan actually came to watch but didn't think about it too much.
I tuned out the rest of my thought and just focused on their performance.
We gave them a standing ovation after their performance. Even I was just part of the audience, I had a suprising sense of pride after seeing their performance.
"James, there's something the girls and I have to talk about, care to accompany me?" asked Eri
We then made our way to the stage where the girls were.
"What are you gonna do now?", Eri asked the girls.
"We'll continue performing" stated Honoka firmly.
"Why?" Eri asked, "I doubt continueing would make a difference"
"We'll continue because we want to" Honoka said, "I want to keep singing and dancing. I'm sure Umi-chan, Kotori-chan and James-kun feel the same. I never felt this before, I'm truly glad that we went through this! I want to believe in this feeling. We might never get anyone's attention, we might never have an audience without James' help, but we'll keep trying! We'll do anthing we can to get this feeling out there! This feeling in our hearts that brought us here! Someday…Someday we'll definitely… fill every seat in this auditorium!"
Fill every seat in this auditorium? Somehow, I don't find that hard to achieve.
"Starting from the ground up, huh?" I hear Nozomi mutter.
"You five? Become Idols? Hah! You must be joking!" Another producer laughed at us… Another rejection…
"Just watch! We'll be the best Idol group that ever existed!", said William. "We'll definitely fill every seat in this stadium!", agreed Philip
"We'll be so famous that you'll beg us to play here!" Logan said arrogantly
I wonder what the other's are doing now? Maybe going on a world tour? You won't get me to admit it but… I miss performing with the guys…
Author's Note: Sorry for not updating, got really busy with school. For those who reads at wattpad , please check out the story,
A Dangerous Change by MJDuwady.
It would really mean a lot to me. I work on the story whenever there's no classes so I mainly finish a chapter in 2-3 weeks if i'm busy during the weekends. Our periodic exam will begin soon so I might publish the next chapter a bit late. Feel free to pm me for story suggestions , questions and reviews for A New Start and the wattpad story.