A/N: Early chapter update!
Next week's update will not be on Monday, though...it will probably be in Saturday or Sunday. Sorry about that.
6 / Spooky Scary Calendars
"A...a photo shoot?"
It was already a new day and some of the girls were already dreading what was to come.
"That's right! You corpses are having your first ever photo shoot...for, brace yourselves, a calendar!"
"A calendar?" Ai repeated, sounding a mighty bit incredulous. "Can I ask why?"
"Why not!?" Kotaro responded back, annoyed. "Why!? Think you're too good for a calendar, eh!? EH!?" Ai glared at him as he turned his back to the girls. "Pah! This calendar isn't just some calendar, it's special! It's amazing! It's一"
"If it's anything like that ugly shirt design, I'll rather not do it at all," Lily interrupted, giving their manager a deadpan look. Ai nodded.
"Or if it's anything like our web page…."
"AH!" Kotaro turned to face the girls, slamming a hand on the blackboard behind him. "You...you girls are just so...so….DEAD!" That got him a few unimpressed looks, a pair of glares and a sad expression. "Those shirts were fabulous! You zombies don't understand fashion at all!"
Saki suddenly laughed. "Yeah, right! Those shirts are fabulous alright! They didn't sell at all in our last event and we still have boxes full of that shit in the attic." Sakura absentmindedly nodded in agreement as Kotaro made a face at Saki.
"That's true...they sold well the first time but after that, they stopped selling. The only things that seem to sell well are the signed autographs, the photos, and oh! That cute little towel with Romero on it."
"It is a cute design," Lily agreed. The other girls, minus Tae who groaned, nodded.
"And now you see why we must expand our horizons!?" Kotaro cried, crossing both arms over his chest. "We need new merch!"
"Maybe we can start by getting a new shirt design," Lily suggested but Kotaro was already shaking his head.
"Not until those shirts are completely sold out!"
"Yeah, sure...that's definitely not happening," the youngest muttered under her breath, while the ex-biker snickered.
"So…" Sakura began, trying to gain Kotaro's attention and avoid extending this meeting longer than it had to. "...what's the calendar about, anyway? It has to have a theme, right?" The man began clapping.
"Very good! Yes and yes! Our calendar has a theme! An amazing theme, mind you!" At that, Ai and Saki rolled their eyes. "This calendar must be special, after all! Limited time and all that jazz…" Kotaro stopped his clapping and nodded. "The theme is simple...SPOOKY. SCARY. SKELETONS!"
Silence.
"...what?" Saki asked.
"SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS!" Kotaro repeated.
"B-but...how does that even…" Sakura shook her head. "...we are zombies, how would thatー"
"WHATEVER!" Kotaro cried out, getting a little too close to the zombie's face, making the girl jump slightly by the suddenness of it all. "Skeletons and zombies are both dead, stupid!" Sakura just stared at him wide eyed. Kotaro moved away from the pink haired zombie's personal space and walked towards the blackboard. "So, that's the theme."
"Umm...is that it?" Junko asked, sounding nervous. "That seems so…" she trailed off as their manager grinned.
"Amazing? Interesting? Out of this world?"
"Stupid." Saki responded, looking bored. "Really, Shades? You wanna us to skin ourselves and start taking pictures?" Kotaro shook his head.
"You girls just don't have any imagination."
"Or that's the first thing that came to your head when Sakura asked about the theme," Ai said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Face it. You have no theme for this nonsense of a calendar you're making us do."
"Hmph...believe what you want," Kotaro told her. "The point is that we need merchandise. Money is getting low again...we have a few events scheduled in the coming days but we need new merchandise for the fans and for our collective wallets."
"It will cost money to get that calendar, too, you know," Ai pointed out. "If the calendars don't sell well…"
Kotaro nodded. "That's why they're a limited time thing...makes it easier for us in case they fail."
"I guess…"
Saki let out a sigh.
"Okay...so a calendar...how they heck are we gonna do that?"
/…..
A few minutes later, the girls were back in their room; Junko and Ai were sitting together, leaning against each other while Saki lay on her futon, behind them, Tae wandered about as Yugiri, Sakura and Lily sat on the couch, the little girl already holding her favorite magazine and turning the pages.
"Fuck this shit," Saki muttered, turning to face Junko and Ai. "Did you ever have to deal with this nonsense?"
"Are you talking about Mr. Tatsumi or the calendar?" the Showa idol asked, only for Saki to laugh.
"Both, actually...but mostly the calendar," their leader told them, earning a small nod from Junko in return while Ai sighed.
"In all honesty...no." Ai told their fearless leader. "If the company had made any calendars, it was on their end not ours...although…Hey! Sakura, you wouldn't happen to…" But Sakura was already shaking her head.
"I wasn't much of a collector when I was alive. If there was a calendar, I'm the wrong person to ask." Everyone turned to Junko, who seemed thoughtful for a moment before shrugging.
"No...I was too busy with tours. At best, maybe autographs and signed records but that's about it."
Saki turned to Lily. "And you, Shrimp?"
"Not a clue." The little girl looked at Yugiri. "What about you, Yugi? Did you ever get a calendar of your own?"
"Did they even make those in her time?" Saki ventured to ask, earning a slap in the leg from Ai.
"She's not that old!"
Ignoring their leader's comment, Yugiri placed a delicate hand over her mouth, thinking. Finally, she shook her head. "I fear I did not...I do recall a few artists that requested that I model for them but…"
Saki sighed, sitting up. "So...we're stuck. Shades has no clue and neither do we."
The girls were silent, even Tae, who had stopped walking around to stare at the others.
And then, Sakura was snapping her fingers as if an idea had suddenly taken hold. Everyone turned to stare at their friend with a mixture of confusion and interest. "How about we make a list? About things we like and whatnot?" she asked them. "We're bound to come up with something if we work together."
"That's not a bad idea," Ai said after a while. "Let's get some pen and paper. We ought to come up with some ideas by the end of the day."
A day later, the girls had finally settled for a theme; they had the eras they'll work with, the ideas for the pictures they'll take for the months, etc. All that they needed was their manager's approval and they were good to go. Still, Ai had suggested they come up with a backup idea if Kotaro went all crazy on them and said no.
"A-are you sure you guys want to go with that as a theme?" Junko asked nervously for what seemed to be the tenth time that day. The girls were back in the dungeon, waiting for their charismatic (crazy) manager to arrive.
Ai sent her a smile while next to her Saki shrugged. "Come on, girl. We talked about this. We all agreed. Besides, it sounds better than that skeleton nonsense the idiot came up with on a whim."
"But…"
"Let's just worry about Kotaro right now," Ai told her gently. "That guy probably isn't as broke as he would like us to believe. He wouldn't have suggested the calendar if he wasn't willing to put some money aside for it. Just relax."
"What if he says no, though?" Junko asked her, sounding more than a little anxious. Saki responded with a grin.
"If he says no to both options we'll follow his stupid theme...but he's the one we're skinning first."
/…..
As it turned out, Junko's worries had been for nought. Kotaro had liked their idea for the theme, surprisingly enough.
To be fair, so did most of the girls and despite her worries, Junko had been so happy when Lily and Sakura suggested it.
Since the girls had come from different eras, why not use that as a theme? After much debate, which was just Saki and Ai arguing about whether to include this year or the other, Sakura and Lily suggested that they use the Showa and Meiji eras as the themes.
Sakura had pointed out that those two eras would compare and contrast pretty well, certain historical events notwithstanding.
(Junko and Yugiri were quick to notice the similarity by two numbers but Saki told them they were seeing things with a big grin)
Now they had an idea, but they needed more, so the girls began to plan out scenes, making barely recognizable sketches, stopping Tae from eating the paper and so on. They had even included Kotaro's silly idea about the skeletons for October because according to Lily, Halloween was a big deal in Japan nowadays.
Once Kotaro approved, it was just a matter of getting clothes and things in order.
For the Showa scenes, Saki had suggested they use the playground outside. "It's close, and well, we can avoid accidents if something happens."
As for the Meiji scenes, Kotaro had suggested they use a screen and a few tricks with the background to make it work. He had a few things back in the attic that would do.
Clothes had been rented, a few things had been bought and the girls were just about ready for the photo shoot.