Chapter 9: Our way to Stardom starts now!
It has been a month and a half that the members of the GoM worked in both group and solo projects. Everyone in charge of GoM were busy making sure the guys are still able to show up on TV, radio and photo shoots without looking too messed up. If makeup can mask their tiredness, so does injections into their exhausted body.
Aomine stared together with Kise and Momoi for modelling shoots for the magazines Puray-Boi and Puray-Garus. His debut modelling career was unexpectedly successful that few other companies called Teikou Group to have a schedule with Aomine, be it photo shoots or for commercials. All those seductive poses of hip thrust and half naked, well-toned body paid off for Aomine. He believed now when people said he has the 'model' look, and surprising himself by liking this job. Photographers love his expression on photo shoots that they think Kise had found his own equal match.
Thanks to Aomine's skyrocket fame, he unconsciously finds himself staring at women's chest whenever he shoots for Puray-Boi. Puray-Boi usually invites female models and Aomine would sometimes be the male model in the shoot, posing intimately or however he is needed by the photographer for the theme. He won't forget the shoot where he was asked to bent down and lie on the female model's stomach. Aomine swore he could have lost his calm over some photo shoots but has to maintain professionalism in front of the camera. Behind the camera, however, is a different story. More often than not, he failed to ask for email addresses or personal numbers from some of the female models. But when he does score, he enjoyed making friends among the celebrity world. At such a young age, Aomine considers himself lucky.
Kise may be Aomine's rival according to the media but Kise knows better who can get the job done faster. His experience as a model started at such a young age that cameras love his poses. The face angle, type of shoots, fashion input and his personality makes it pleasant for some clients to invite Kise for any commercials or fashion runaways. Just recently he had ranked one in 'guys you want to date' and 'most photogenic model' in a female magazine. Kise believes that he has the bragging right of who is better in the modelling world. Never mind that Aomine is both his friend and rival, Kise knew his fans are always behind him in making sure he is the top in this modelling business. Their friendship won't let Kise miss any runaways, even if he has to compete against Aomine for clients.
All the years of fame as a model means he has a wide connection to celebrities. He may be young but in this industry, as long as you are successful, people look up to you. Kise's friends range from famous superstars to supermodels. Thanks to this kind of connection that he had been constantly on demand. Few nights were given to Kise to celebrate his success with his superstar friends and they often hang out at the expensive bars in Roppongi. Unfortunately, it came with a cost. Paparazzi caught Kise hung out with a female model late in the night and was being photographed hugging each other before she entered a taxi. In his defence, Kise was making sure his friend went back home safely and that the female model is just a friend. Teikou Group even had to come out with a statement to strongly support Kise.
Midorima was probably the busiest among the GoM members. Not only he has a drama that he had been shooting with his co-worker, Miyawaki Sakura, Midorima did host the radio programme together with Akashi once a week. Juggling between memorizing drama scripts and radio scripts, Midorima wasn't sure which one was tougher for him. He knew acting is harder because he is working with experienced actors and actress and he is a newcomer. The director once stopped filming because Midorima forgot his lines thrice and got reprimanded for wasting everyone's time. Since then, Midorima made the effort to remember everything. The moment the spotlight is switched on and the director said go, he transformed himself into the character. Sakura would help him overcome difficult scenes by practicing before the actual filming, which Midorima thought it was nice of her. Unconsciously he developed a tiny feeling for her. He knew this to be true because whenever Sakura smiled at him when they were having a conversation, Midorima actually enjoyed the moment, no longer feeling nervous. He loved that she is smiling at him. As a newcomer to this industry, however, Midorima tried his best to ignore his feelings and tried to not cause any problems.
Co-hosting with Akashi, on the other hand, wasn't as stressful as he initially thinks of, considering the format of the show was conversational. As Midorima is only needed once a week, he had some time to remember the radio script before the live broadcast. Akashi also helped during the broadcast so that Midorima won't sound weird or awkward on air. He was thankful that the ratings were good when he is on the show. Fans started to write in more. Midorima also tried to hide his tiredness by not yawning too much. Since the show was aired live and recorded on video for online viewing, he had to stay awake and pretend that everything was fine.
Akashi, while only host the daily radio show, he made sure he promote Generation of Miracles on air, alongside with other segments. Mr Kamiya and Mr Ono agreed to Akashi's way of hosting the show since the ratings were consistently on a high. This is thanks to the different celebrities coming for the show and the weekly appearance of Midorima. When the two hosted together weekly, there are more emails coming in than usual. Akashi has to give credits to Midorima for being able to increase the number of listeners. He wasn't sure what charms his friend has but if the producers of the show are happy, then Akashi has nothing to worry about. He does wonder if Nijimura-senpai or Mr President will give him more jobs. After all, being the 'center' has to be recognizable to the public.
Akashi's wish came true when Nijimura called him to Teikou Group. Nijimura handed Akashi 3 files. One file containing a list of variety shows he will attend, another file containing an agreement to be a host for a new show produced by Teikou Group and lastly, a schedule of interviews for various magazines. Akashi accepted all three proposals gladly without giving much thought. He is the center of the group and will do anything to be even well known. Having his face up on billboards and his voice on air isn't enough, he needs more exposure and doing these jobs will make him more recognizable. He vowed to tackle all the jobs well, to impress everyone and always be number one.
Murasakibara probably has the least to complain about. He had been enjoying the weekly taping of 'Shokugeki no Tabemono' with a live audience and special guests. Sometimes his comments about food were misinterpreted, causing laughter among the audiences. This made him a comical character on the show and Murasakibara doesn't seem to mind at all. As long as he had the opportunity to taste the food for free, and sometimes receiving vouchers as part of the sponsorship, Murasakibara's odd character and honesty can be overlooked for the sake of entertainment purposes. He sometimes gets to promote his group members' eating habits, causing a spike in viewership and the number of new followers on his Twitter account.
It was only a few weeks into the show and Murasakibara were already receiving offers to be on other food-related shows. Teikou Group was surprised at a number of offers Murasakibara has, particularly because he isn't exactly the member Teikou Group would want to push him to be well known. Nevertheless, Teikou Group accepted the offers, and Murasakibara is content to be able to have more sponsorships of free food coupons.
At the same time, each of the members of GoM were busy doing their own solo projects, they had dance and vocals training sessions for almost every night. All of them attended the sessions unless they really couldn't make it. Most of their solo projects ended before practice sessions at night so they could go to the studio and practice. It is exhausting to practice at least 3 hours and sleep for about 5 hours, and then continue their schedule every day. During practice was the time the boys get to meet each other and talk about anything interesting that had happened.
During the short break, Akashi started asking each of them about their day. Murasakibara who was munching on snacks replied "T'was great. I got another free lunch buffet coupon." Very rarely Murasakibara would give away his free food coupon, more so if the coupon involves free sweets and snacks.
"The drama filming is going to end in another 2 weeks. I can't wait to have it done, really." Midorima expressed his thoughts. Although the last comment isn't true for him.
"Oh really? I thought you liked your co-worker? Ha!" Aomine said it with confidence. He knew Midorima had a 'thing' for Sakura even though no one told him anything. Midorima was surprised at Aomine's words but his expression remained still.
"Hmpf. I only liked her acting skills." Midorima excused himself to the washroom, ignoring all of them. Kise shook his head.
"As if you yourself aren't involved, Aominecchi!"
It was Aomine's turn to be surprised by such similar statements. Kise grinned at him for a bit and took out his phone.
"What the eff did you just said, Kise? Oi!"
Kise, pretending not to hear Aomine, put on his headphones and watched some videos of the fashion runaways, admiring the pieces of clothing from different fashion designers.
Akashi signaled the start of practice after a short break and all 5 of them continued the routine. They'll be having city-wide live shows soon in a matter of few weeks. None of them can miss training or afford to make a mistake in dances. Just then, Nijimura entered.
"I need your attention, everyone." The music was switched off and the boys listened.
"This is a new agenda to the group. Kuroko Tetsuya will be joining you guys as the 6th member."
There was silence. No one was sure of how to react. Nijimura continued.
"I know this is shocking but as shocking as I am, Mr President believes this to be the best for now."
"Is he crazy?" Aomine busted out. He couldn't contain his confusion. "I'm not sure how having him will help. I mean, he isn't a well-known soloist either."
"Minechin is right. If he is famous, I don't think I would bother but problem is, he isn't." Murasakibara was vocal about having a new guy in the group.
Aomine continued further. "Mr President is crazy. Really. Having such a big press conference, announcing us as the new group. Only 5 of us!"
"Still, Aomine-kun, Mr President can always change his mind." Nijimura tried to explain but no one seemed to listen to him.
"I refuse to have him."
"So do I." This time, Midorima voiced out his concern. "He could be dragging our name down and I want to avoid him. He may be the misfortune of this group."
Only Kise seemed to be the optimistic one. He doesn't understand the problem of adding one more teammate. "Guys! Kuroko may be a little less famous now but hey, imagine his fanbase is added to this mega group! We could be selling out tours, thanks to him!"
"Kise, are you an idiot?" Aomine retorted. "Akashi had been doing interviews about how GoM as 5 will be successful. If Mr President wants Kuroko into this band, what makes Akashi then? A lousy leader in the eyes of the media."
"Well, information can always be updated and changed last minute. I mean, we are in the era of fast connection, right? Give Kuroko a chance, guys." Kise still doesn't get it. Aomine burst in anger. "I still don't understand why he is in the group. We barely even debut and there's another guy coming in like he wishes!"
"You should be more considerate when you say such things, especially if the orders comes from Mr President himself." Finally, Akashi commented something. He was observing everyone. He was surprised Aomine defended him but his outburst was more surprising.
"Whatever, I'm taking a day off." Aomine stormed out of the room. Kise followed him from behind, in an attempt to calm him. Murasakibara and Midorima minded their own business while Akashi tried to reason out with Nijimura.
"Senpai, isn't this too sudden? Why am I not aware of it earlier?" Akashi wants no more secrets from Nijimura. He wished he knew this kind of arrangements prior so he could soften the blow to his fellow teammates.
"I'm very sorry Akashi-kun. Mr President has his own mind." Nijimura said apologetically. "I wanted to inform you earlier but he said to slow down the process. Kuroko will join you guys in practice starting tomorrow."
"Understood. Thank you for this surprising information, senpai. I'm hoping for the best."
"Thank you for your understanding, Akashi-kun. I shall take my leave."
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I updated the previous chapters with better grammar because the grammar sucked. English is not my native language per se. So let me know your comments for this chapter in the review section. Shout out to new followers: otaku319, SwedishDiva, Alaskapuppy, huhwhatyak, amudragon16, , Abunnygonewild, Ainilly, Shiranai Atsune and Scarletfire16. Thank you for your support!
