Chapter Twenty-Nine.

It never hurts to become a little famous, right?

"I cannot allow any more deaths in my ship. As the commander of Eighth Star, I am the most responsible for my crew. My job is to ensure that my people can go home to their families not in their coffins."

"Hah! Commander Yuu, we have already surrounded your ship. My men have already infiltrated this vessel. The only way you can save your men is to surrender!"

"Captain Howard, I… am not that weak to give in."

"W-what?!"

"Commander, your gun!"

"Aaand we're done!" The team leader claps. The three actors and actress beyond the glass window frame remove their respective headphones. The recording is finally over for the day.

The operator clicks a button on the far end of his control keyboard, which are mostly buttons and small pulleys. The light of the 'Recording' sign above the door of the recording room turns off. In front of the machine is a large glass frame window where the control operator, sound director, and team leader can see the actors and actresses inside the recording room.

Giving life to the animation are three voice artists - Kurumizawa Yume, Fuji Shuusuke, and Mitobe Kanda.

Mitobe stretches his arms upwards after hanging his earphones on the microphone in front of him. For eleven years of being in the industry, he has always loved working with the younger people as he usually see his younger peers as full of energy and potential, most importantly. He smiles at the other two. "Good job for today, Kurumizawa-chan," Mitobe pats her head. He looks at Shuusuke. "And you, too, Fuji-kun."

Yume smiles. "T-thank you, Mitobe-senpai. It's because you and Fuji-san are here that I feel a lot calmer while we were recording. If it weren't for you, I'd be really embarrassed."

The older male chortles. "It is my job as a senpai to help ease the nervousness of my kouhai."

"Thank you, Mitobe-senpai," Shuusuke says. "Your screams and shouts a while ago made me feel a lot less embarrassed with myself."

Mitobe frowns as he looks at Shuusuke. "Well, that's… uhh, comforting that I am able to help you, too, Fuji-kun." He laughs. "But you could've laid down the sarcasm there."

The younger male simply chuckles. "Seriously though, you were really impressive back there."

"Ain't I always?" Mitobe reaches for his phone in the back pocket of his denim pants. "By the way, have you seen our promotional video for 'Eighth Star'?"

Shuusuke chuckles. "Of course. I really had fun during our shooting back then. I was interested in how it would turn out."

"I feel like I wouldn't want to watch myself on that commercial." Yume shakes his head. "...so I haven't actually looked at it." She leans nearer Mitobe, who opens his phone for them. "When was it posted?"

"Just last night," Shuusuke responds.

"Please support 'Eighth Star' as we launch its anime adaptation!" The video flashes a shot in which the three of them are wearing the costumes of their respective characters.

Yume acts the voice of the main female character. She is standing at the center, wearing blue space captain clothes and her hair tied with a red ribbon. To her right is Shuusuke's character who acts as the vice captain of Yume's character and love interest. He is wearing almost the same clothes as Yume, except with a different badge. To her left is Mitobe who is wearing white captain clothes and an eye patch for the left eye to match the villain character whom he voices.

"You really are cute, Yume-chan," Shuusuke chuckles. "Too cute for a very serious character, I think."

"Yeah…" Mitobe observes, "And it isn't really obvious that you were very nervous back then."

A rosy blush across her cheeks is evident. She sighs. "But we had to do that over and over again before I did it right. I'm really sorry."

"It's nothing." The older male scrolls down to see the number of views. He gasps. "Look! We already reached more than a million views!"

"Ohhh… that's great!" Yume claps.

"Everyone's hard work really paid off."

The team leader suddenly appears behind them. "And let's continue working harder, right?"

Yume and Mitobe shrieks out of surprise. "Kuchiki-san!" "Sasha!"

Team leader Kuchiki Sasha, who is half-Japanese and half-American, glares at Mitobe. "Kanda-kun, I don't believe I ever gave you the permission to call me by my first name."

Mitobe laughs as he scratches the back of his head. "But, Sasha-cha~n, we're close friends anyway, ri~ght?"

Sasha sighs. She massages her forehead using the tip of her fingers to deliberately show her stress. "Not at work, we aren't." She looks at the younger two. "Anyway, the feedback and comments online are also showing the hype for this project. We all thank you. You work really hard even if it is lunch break already."

"Why are the praises only for them?" Mitobe protests, "I'm also part of this project!"

Sasha ignores Mitobe. "Kurumizawa-san and Fuji-san, you should go and have your lunch now. I don't want anyone to be late after the break."


Just how perfect can a Saturday morning be when it is spent with good, old friends, the former captain thinks. The whole group resides at a tennis court near their old school. The plan is that they hang out as usual and spend time together doing what they usually do. The scenery is perfect, away from the roads and the population. The sun is high in the sky while the trees shade them from the heat. The day is to reminisce on the past.

"Until what time should we stay in here? I want to go home." Hikaru yawns as he covers his open mouth with a hand. "Besides, why do we have this reunion when we are all still technically in the same school? We could just simply hang out during lunch." He glances over at his watch.

That Saturday is definitely not as perfect as Shiraishi had planned when he invited all Shitenhouji Middle School tennis club regulars. His excitement is unable to penetrate the gloomy mood of all his friends.

Chitose has been continuously poking at a bright red, bumpy spot on his forehead, complaining about how his beauty has degraded because of this pimple. Koishikawa has been hurling over the side and sulking over a disagreement he had with Miu the last two days. Kintarou, the usual jumpy and overly excited redhead, is currently hanging over the branch of a tree nearby and his energy is beyond controllable. Koharu and Hitouji have not been doing their homo-pair gag as both are preoccupied over a certain homework. Hikaru has been under the weather for a reason Shiraishi could not even comprehend, and he has been complaining to go home. Gin is the only peaceful person among the group, but he is not the type to order the team around and assert order. Lastly, Kenya has chosen to absent himself from the gathering.

Shiraishi sighs at the pitiful sight. "So much for a reunion," he mumbles to himself. Only a few months have passed since their graduation, yet he feels that a rift has already separated them. He does not know at this point if he should just give in to the gloom. He does understand that the people are mostly in the adapting phase of the year. Especially for the recently highschool students, the level of expectations has notched upwards compared to when they were still in middle school. Hikaru is still a newbie to being a captain; despite his capabilities, he still has to find his style in leading the team. Their rookie is still as rowdy as anyone could remember him the previous year.

Sighing, Shiraishi sits down a bench within the courts and reaches inside his bag for the packed lunches his sister helped her to prepare.

Food does attract the wild animals. The energetic redhead immediately stops swinging on the branch of a tree upon hearing the sound of a lunch box being opened and smelling the spices of a homemade chicken curry. "Food!" Kintarou jumps down the tree and runs towards Shiraishi's direction. He catches everyone else's attention.

Koishikawa turns around to see green lunch boxes, wrapped in white cloth. "Is that food?" He gasps.

The homo-pair halts their little study session. "Is this an early lunch, Shiraishi?" Hitouji asks.

"It smells nice! This is a good lunch break from all that studying," says Koharu.

Chitose, Gin and Hikaru approach the bench after seeing the others gathering as well. "Is that Yukari-chan's cooking?" asks Chitose to which Shiraishi proudly nods. "Ahh~ I also wish to experience my sister's cooking in the future."

Seeing that everyone has finally gathered, Shiraishi smiles. "Thank you so much, all of you." He sees how eager each and every one is to eat. "Let's dig in!"

There are three rows of benches beside the tennis court. All of them sat either on the first or the third row benches, facing the middle. In the second row bench, the lunch boxes have been placed. The friends have been recalling the games they had and updating what has happened to their lives. Shiraishi waits for the perfect time to tell the whole group a serious agenda in their reunion.

"By the way," Koharu begins using a deeper voice. He leans closer to the center. "... does anyone here remember Cutieyoshi-kun?"

Chitose and Kintarou look at each other as if mentally asking each other the same question and agreeing that they both cannot remember the person. Hikaru raises a brow.

Koishikawa looks up. "That is the guy who got knocked out from slipping off tennis balls, right?"

"That was our fault for not cleaning up," Gin comments. "Kazuyoshi-han was my former seatmate last year."

Chitose gasps. "Oh, yeah, I remember! He's that pretty boy with very soft hands. The one who Kenya is so obsessed of."

Hikaru frowns. "That's a very comprehensive description, Senpai."

Gin looks at Koharu. "Why do you ask, Koharu-han?"

"Well, you know…" Koharu leans forward. "She is now a voice actress." Everyone blinks.

Hitouji raises his index finger. "There's this promotional video for a new anime they're showing. And the main character was voiced by Kazuyoshi-kun."

"Is that 'Eighth Star'?" Kintarou asks. "But Mikata-chan is a girl."

Hikaru sighs and decides to break the silence. "If you all didn't notice before, Senpai is a girl. She is a crossdresser." He opens his phone and searches for the video in question. He plays it to show to the others.

Three people are facing the camera. Yume is in the middle while Mitobe and Shuusuke are standing to her left and right, respectively. Yume and Shuusuke are wearing similar blue navy uniforms. The young male wears a pair of glasses with oval frame and blue wig. Yume, on the other hand, is wearing a long black wig with straight-cut bangs. Mitobe is wearing a red navy uniform and a patch in his left eye, and his hair is slicked back.

"Hello, viewers!" Yume introduces, "I am Kurumizawa Yume, playing the voice of Yuu Mikata."

"I am Fuji Shuusuke. I play the voice of Eric Schneider."

"And I am Mitobe Kanda, playing the voice of Captain Howard," Mitobe says, "We are the voices behind the characters for the new anime adaptation of hit manga 'Eighth Star'!"

"Starting this week at three P.M. every Monday, get ready for a ride to the breath-taking futuristic universe in 'Eighth Star,'" Yume promotes.

Shuusuke concludes, "So, everyone, please support us and support 'Eighth Star' every Monday!"

And everyone waves to the camera. The video ends.

"Is that really Yuki-kun?" Chitose gasps out of disbelief. "So 'he' is actually a 'she'?!" He rubs his chin. "No wonder her hands were really soft back then."

Hikaru nods.

"What is that with you and your obsession with hands?" Hitouji asks.

Chitose chuckles. "I remember Kazuyoshi-kun by his... ehem - I mean, her soft hands. And her skin looks so smooth, too. I almost envied her."

Shiraishi frowns as his forehead rests on the tip of his fingers like he is deep in his own thoughts.

Their former vice captain stares at the ground. "So… that's why Miu-chan was so comfortable towards Kazuyoshi-kun. She isn't always feels easily comfortable with people she just met except for girls."

Shiraishi gasps. "I understand it now!"

"What?"

He looks over at Koharu and Hitouji. "About Kenya…"

Koharu nods. "Kenya seems to really like Cutieyoshi-kun."

"But he's been trying to hide his feelings from us since Kazuyoshi-kun was posing as a guy," Hitouji adds. He crosses his arms. "I think you guys don't have to observe him too long to know that there was something off in his behaviour."

"He's trying to hide but it was still really obvious," Hikaru mutters.

"So… is Kenya's change of behaviour…?"

"Most likely."

Shiraishi takes a deep breath. "Actually, related to that... there's a reason behind why I called everyone here today."

~ End Chapter ~