An Explosive Clashing of Rivals
- Part 2: Opening Salvo -
Miss Asahina was still standing, so she almost fell flat on her behind. "Wh-whaaaa?"
"An excellent idea," Koizumi nodded.
My shoulders sank like they were weighted down with rocks. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to throw Miss Asahina into the spotlight like that until we had a major record deal and a good promotional campaign to take advantage of the attention."
"That was before I realized that the idol competition is the best way to get Mikuru a major record deal in the first place." She thrust a finger at Miss Asahina. "Because Mikuru is going to win this year's competition!"
...If that was a joke, it's in very poor taste.
Miss Asahina had never won a competition. Not even at a local festival. Her debut album was issued on an independent label and sold barely enough to buy tea leaves for a month. Thanks to Haruhi totally neglecting her during the Yuki Nagato craze, the best Koizumi and I could wrangle for Miss Asahina was a two-album deal with a minimal advance, even if it was at least with a major label this time. The deal got ripped to shreds after critics slammed Miss Asahina's second album with comments about her "off-key, warbling wail that is perhaps intended to sound cute, but sounds more like someone found a squeaky hinge and won't stop playing with it", and over half the planned dates on her supporting tour were canceled due to stage fright and/or excessive booing, which of course hurt our relationship with the promoters and venues.
Long story short: Not only was Miss Asahina's self-confidence in rags and tatters, but it had good reason to be. No matter how talented she was, she had no chance of winning this contest.
Miss Asahina was trembling. "B-b-but... How can you be sure that I'll win? You didn't..."
"Of course not!" Haruhi answered, without waiting to hear what it was she didn't do. "You're going to win because you're amazing, Mikuru, and because you've got us behind you!"
"What the hell makes you think that's good enough?" I sighed. "She'd had us behind her the whole time, and that hasn't gotten her anywhere. The few people in the industry who even know who she is want nothing to do with her, so who's going to vote for her over the multitude of fresh new talent that is going to be in the competition?"
"Before, we didn't try hard enough."
"What, you think the other contestants aren't going to try hard?"
"This time, Mikuru, I believe in you with all my heart, and we're going to pull out all the stops to get you to deliver the performance of a lifetime!"
She's ignoring me again.
"Um, Miss Suzumiya..." Our beautiful idol tentatively raised a hand, as if we were in school. "I... I'm just not feeling ready for this right now, but maybe we can start thinking about next year's competition instead? It's getting kind of close to the registration deadline, anyway."
"Oh, don't worry about that." Haruhi flashed a thumbs up. "I've already got you all registered!"
My jaw dropped open. Miss Asahina flinched in terror. "You... you... wh-wh-whaaaaat?"
"We've already got your complete profile on file here, so I just filled out the application, uploaded your samples, and submitted it. You're officially a contestant in this year's Ultra Stars of the Future idol competition!"
Miss Asahina fell to her knees with a groan.
"I guess it's too much to expect you to ask for anyone else's input, but couldn't you at least have told us you were doing this before today?" I said.
"Huh?" Haruhi blinked. "I wasn't planning on doing it until today."
Wait, so you went through the whole registration process in the time it took me to get you a cup of coffee? My head hurts.
"Anyway, there's nothing to worry about. I'll have a training schedule for Mikuru all written up by tomorrow, so we'll be able to hit the ground running and have her ready in plenty of time for the competition!"
"Tomorrow's Saturday," I pointed out.
"So? You don't have any plans for this weekend, do you?"
She didn't even pronounce it as a question. "Some of us might, yes," I shot back. I didn't have a single thing planned, but my ignorance of Koizumi and Miss Asahina's schedule kept this from being a straight-up lie.
"Well, whatever they are, I'm sure you can cancel them. Your family would want you to dedicate yourself to your job, your friends are probably too boring to come up with weekend activities as exciting as helping Mikuru be a star, and I know you don't have a girlfriend you need to worry about!"
The fact that she was dead right on all three counts only made her presumption all the more infuriating.
Oh, and even though I obviously had no claim to her being my girlfriend after one date with no follow-up, nor any real desire for it in light of her recent behavior, it still stung to hear her spell out to me that she wasn't. Damn Koizumi must have got my hopes up that Haruhi might eventually turn into the caring, self-sacrificing, fun, and altogether desirable woman who I'd glimpsed that one evening, or perhaps hallucinated. It was sure hard to see anything of her in the self-centered, presumptuous dictator who was now looking at me with the damn stupidest grin.
"Mikuru, Koizumi, you guys don't have any weekend plans, right?"
They shook their heads.
"Then we're good to go!" She beamed as though we'd just given her our wholehearted endorsement. "Now, for the second item on this meeting's agenda."
There's another item on the agenda? The first one alone was enough to shake us to our very souls.
"It's been too long since we've done a citywide search for fresh talent. So that will be our mission for the day. Everyone, get changed into something comfortable, grab your things, and let's go!"
There was actually a good reason why we hadn't done a citywide search for talent lately. We never found any talent on these searches, which frankly just seemed like an excuse for Haruhi to get us out of the office and have a good time. And lately, we hadn't had the money to spend on extravagances and recreation.
...Actually, frugality didn't seem to be in Haruhi's vocabulary, so I'm not sure there was a real reason why we hadn't done a talent search lately. Certainly doing one now, when Miss Asahina was on the brink of poverty, Haruhi was living in the office, and my parents were just about to force me to quit this job was pretty damn insane. A point I brought up when Haruhi suggested we look inside a karaoke box.
Not in those exact words, of course. Rather: "You realize we don't have any money for that, right?"
"That just shows how little you know," she returned. "I've got money. I've saved up from what I made doing website design these past few months."
"You've been taking jobs doing website design?"
"Well, I had to do something to keep SO3 Studio afloat, didn't I?" She snorted. "What did you think I was doing on my computer these past weeks – browsing the internet?"
Frankly, yes, that's exactly what I thought. Which was why I was too abashed to make an immediate response, like pointing out that if she wanted to keep SO3 Studio afloat, the obvious thing to do would be to work on finding opportunities for Miss Asahina, not moonlight with her own private job.
"There's no need for you to pay for this, Miss Suzumiya." Koizumi pulled out his wallet. "I will gladly take care of it."
"You will do no such thing!" Haruhi snatched the wallet out of his hand and stuffed it back into his pocket so roughly that he stumbled backwards a couple steps. "This is a SO3 Studio outing, so it's being paid for with SO3 Studio funds!"
She marched into the karaoke box, leaving Koizumi looking rather embarrassed.
"Don't sweat it," I told him as I followed Haruhi inside. Having a generous effort go completely unappreciated and even despised by Haruhi was something I had plenty of experience with.
We got our room, and Haruhi made Koizumi lead off. He seemed unhappy at having this embarrassing task thrust upon him, but once up on the stage he kept his cool perfectly, much to my disappointment. He sang a slow, jazzy tune which required little vocal talent and was delivered with even less, but just the sound of his sensual voice delivering melodic lines and sultry lyrics was enough to bring Miss Asahina to the verge of swooning. Seriously, her eyes were staring enraptured and her body was swaying like she was going to keel over at any second. It was enough to make a man's blood boil with jealousy.
Even Haruhi had something of a dreamy look on her face, which was even more aggravating to my male ego. Not because of any thoughts that I might conceivably want to ask Haruhi out on a second date one day. I'd seen clearly by this time that she wasn't worth holding your breath waiting for her to change. What ticked me was that Haruhi was supposed to be immune to male charms. She was too smart to fall for the standard lines, too cold to be won over by sentiment, and too demanding to settle for any real man. For anyone to get her to have that look was so incredible it was unfair.
Miss Asahina was pushed up next, and she certainly looked lovely in the simple pink and white dress she had changed into. While Haruhi always chose great outfits for her idol exhibitions and concerts, there was something special about seeing Miss Asahina in normal clothes, ones which didn't humiliate her with their amount of skin exposure. Her natural, unadulterated femininity was a sight to behold.
Her singing... Okay, I guess I have to be honest. It was kind of painful. I knew she had a good voice, and she certainly practiced hard enough at her delivery, but when she got nervous she forgot all about how to project. All we could hear was a faint squeaking coming through the microphone as she blushed and fumbled.
This went on for about a half hour, or so it felt, and then Haruhi couldn't stand it anymore. "Augh, Mikuru, what is wrong with you?! How can you be so shaky when you're just performing for friends?"
I highly doubted that Miss Asahina would rate Haruhi as a friend. Friends don't make you as miserable as Miss Asahina was whenever Haruhi wanted something from her. Still, she had a point; I'd seen Miss Asahina less nervous performing in concert for an audience of hundreds of people.
...Okay, an audience of dozens of people. Many of whom were Koizumi's relatives and A&R men coaxed in with free tickets and I-don't-even-want-to-know whatever other persuasion Haruhi employed.
"I'm so sorry..." Miss Asahina sniffed, bowing her head.
"No! Don't be sorry! You're supposed to be having fun!" Haruhi gripped her shoulder and pulled her close. "Listen, Mikuru. Karaoke is not like a concert or an audition. You're not being judged here."
Then why did you interrupt her performance?
"Karaoke isn't about pleasing your audience. It's about feeling the music and the song flowing out through you. You have to perform like there's no one else in the room at all. You have to sing the song for love of the song itself, and know that when you sing it you're the most beautiful, amazing person the world has ever seen, and that no one can stop you from expressing yourself this way, not even by tying you up and throwing you in a maximum security padded cell within a thousand maximum security prisons!"
I wonder which of the thousand wardens would have jurisdiction in such a situation.
Haruhi shoved Miss Asahina. "Now do it! Shine like the star I know you are!"
"B-b-but..." Whether or not Miss Asahina was inherently capable of doing what Haruhi just described, she certainly wasn't capable of doing it under this level of pressure, or perhaps I should say this level of intimidation. Haruhi had her mortally afraid of delivering another unsatisfactory performance.
"Miss Asahina," I said to her, making my voice as reassuring as I could. "Don't worry. Just do your best. No one is going to yell at you for being less than spectacular." I shot a glare at Haruhi. "Right?"
"Huh?" Haruhi looked completely taken off-guard by my rebellion, modest though it was. "W-well, of course not!" She folded her arms, putting on a look of affront at my insinuation. "I always support you, Mikuru. I just think you should do your best in all circumstances, that's all."
But Miss Asahina was still trembling. "I... I don't know if I can..."
"Ugh, we don't have all day! Here, give me the microphone, and I'll show you exactly how it's done."
Miss Asahina looked quite content with that solution. She gave Haruhi the microphone and sat down with a sigh of relief.
Haruhi picked a song that started with a rapid drums assault that led into a frenzied synthesizer medley, and the moment that the vocal part came up, she tore right into it. From the first note, her voice struck with a passion that would make you think she'd written the song herself.
"I'm not the one to tell you what to do
Where I lead you won't follow
But if you'll listen to me just one last time
I promise my words aren't hollow"
As she sang, Haruhi's eyes drifted close, becoming lost in her own world. She moved her hands with the music, as though coaxing it. Her voice was strong, but conveyed a deep vulnerability that she had never let us see before.
Haruhi could certainly be a drama queen, but this was no act: she was practicing what she had just preached. She couldn't care less what any of us thought of her performance. She had given herself up to the song.
The chorus moved the song into a sensuous rhythm, and she moved her body to match, her shoulders rolling to highlight the pout of her lips, her hips swaying with mesmerizing fluidity and enough energy to lift the bottom of her t-shirt significantly above the waistband of her glitter-covered pants. I knew it was unwise for me to stare at these fleeting exposures of her stomach, or at the shifting impressions of her breasts beneath her t-shirt, but I couldn't help it.
"I can be the one you want
I can be the one you want
I can be your one fantasy, baby"
It struck me that this was one aspect of her demonstration that Haruhi couldn't reasonably expect Miss Asahina to imitate. Miss Asahina was talented, attractive, and altogether stunning, but she couldn't be sexy. Not in the same way that Haruhi could, anyway. She was too shy, too protective of her body. No matter how much confidence in herself she gained through our instruction, she could never totally let go of those inhibitions. On top of that, her youthful appearance was an obstacle. Even with her remarkably developed bosom, Miss Asahina still looked like she could be in high school. That was unquestionably a big asset for an aspiring idol, but it limited her sex appeal to a less mature audience. Miss Asahina had the looks of a girl, while Haruhi was all woman.
Haruhi wandered near me, and I found myself squirming with embarrassment. Even with her eyes still closed, it felt like she was singing to me.
"I know I did you wrong
I know you don't want to see me again
But it doesn't change
I still love you, with or without the pain"
I wondered, for the first time since the day I applied to SO3 Studio, why Haruhi hadn't considered becoming an idol herself. She obviously had the talent. Her singing had passion, and plenty of technical skill underneath it, too. She had moves as smooth as any top idol, and with a good choreographer she could be even better. And while it might be crass and demeaning that good looks are a requirement to be a successful idol, Haruhi had that, too. Her breasts weren't especially large, but she had an outstanding figure overall, and that face of hers could sell a billion CDs.
Damn it. I shouldn't be thinking of her as attractive. I don't want to date someone who treats other people like crap.
If she could just do one nice thing... No, I can't think like that. I should be looking for a woman with a great personality, not latching on to a woman just because she looks hot and hoping that she'll become a decent person.
Haruhi finished her song, and Koizumi and Miss Asahina both enthusiastically applauded her. I gave her a lazy clap, lest she jump to the conclusion that I was too awestruck by her performance to even be polite. Some might think me petty for not giving her the full accolade she earned, but I was absolutely not going to give any positive reinforcement to her bad behavior.
"Alright Kyon, you're up next!"
I blinked. "Me?"
"Yes, you! I don't expect much of a performance from you, but it's only fair that everyone gets a turn with the mike."
She'd forgotten that she was giving an example for Miss Asahina to follow. Haruhi really took attention deficit disorder to a new level.
For a second I expected someone to say something. But Miss Asahina was naturally relieved that she wouldn't have to go again, and Koizumi, I guess, was as afraid as ever to say anything that might anger Haruhi, and pointing out such a lapse of memory was definitely enough to anger her.
I decided not to take away Miss Asahina's reprieve. "Okay," I said, and took the microphone from Haruhi's hand.
She smiled at me. Not her usual smirk of triumph, but a sincere expression of fondness. "Just do your best. Okay?"
For a moment I was knocked for a loop by this gesture of good will. My heart caught in my throat. Then Haruhi sat down and looked at me with an expectant smile, and it hit me.
She was expecting me to entertain her. To fumble and sing amusingly off-key. In our little karaoke lineup, I was the comic relief.
Damn you. I'll show you my best, all right.
I chose a rousing rock anthem, and gripping the mike, I let my rage at Haruhi tear through my inhibitions. I belted out lines of oppression and rebellion, thinking of how Haruhi yelled at Miss Asahina and hit her with a ruler. I moved and gestured while growling into the mike, thrusting my index finger at my little audience like I was pointing a finger of accusation at Haruhi. She jerked back, her mouth popping slightly open, and that added encouragement to my efforts. I felt my lungs burn with the fury that I was blasting into the song.
At some point I noticed that Koizumi had raised an eyebrow at me, but I was too charged up to be embarrassed. I could feel that I was singing better than I ever had in my life (granted, you could probably count the number of times I had sung on one hand), and it was apparent from Haruhi's stunned expression that I was shoving her condescending words right down her throat, so screw whatever he thought.
I finished the song, and for a moment there was only silence. The exhilaration I'd felt only seconds before was replaced by a sense of awkwardness.
Koizumi and Miss Asahina being quiet wasn't such a big deal, though polite applause would have been reassuring. Haruhi, though, usually filled any silence with her big mouth, and it looked as though she were struggling to say something, anything.
At last she managed, "That was... pretty good." Then she seemed to shake herself out of her state of shock, her voice again becoming that of a cynical talent scout. "I mean... What did you think, Koizumi?"
He cracked an amused smile at that. "It had its good points, and his enthusiasm is commendable, but it was overall a bit overwrought, and I feel, a bit more conventional than I thought we were looking for."
"I'm not talking about taking him on as a client for SO3 Studio!" Haruhi scowled back at him. "We need him to handle our menial tasks, and with his looks he'd never make it as an idol anyway. I'm just asking if you liked it, that's all."
Koizumi seemed all the more amused that she didn't realize he was teasing her. "There you have it, Kyon. You're welcome to audition again next year."
But Haruhi wasn't the only one who didn't realize he was teasing. "Don't say such mean things!" Miss Asahina protested. "Kyon just sang his heart out, and he did a great job!"
I gave her a bow of gratitude. "Thank you, Miss Asahina." Hers was the only opinion here I valued, anyway.
"Anyway, no one told him this was going to be an audition..."
"I just said, this isn't an audition! Augh, no one ever listens to me!" Haruhi got up and stalked out of the room.
We all looked after her in silence for a moment.
But only a moment. Then I said to Koizumi: "I think you'd better apologize to her."
Yeah, I can't believe I actually suggested someone apologize to Haruhi, either. But Koizumi should have realized the joke wasn't going over well.
He nodded. "I may as well. Though I strongly suspect that my joke was not what disturbed her peace."
"What are you talking about?"
We were both already headed out after Haruhi, with Miss Asahina gathering up her things and trailing behind us, but he answered, "I can appreciate your wanting to flirt with Miss Suzumiya, but I think you both took it a bit too far with those karaoke performances."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You don't think it was coincidence that she chose that particular song, do you?"
"It hardly even qualifies as a coincidence. Love songs are to pop music what rice is to dinner."
"It is more than that which makes the song particularly suited to the two of you. And she was singing it specifically to you."
"That's your imagination. If you had paid close attention, you'd have realized that she was singing to herself. That's how she was able to be so passionate and unreserved."
"Hmm. Perhaps."
He sounded unconvinced for some reason, so I added: "If you knew Haruhi Suzumiya as a person at all, you'd know the last thing she'd ever do is try serenading someone with a love song."
"You may be right with regard to Miss Suzumiya's song. But as to yours..."
Give me a break. "Mine wasn't even a love song."
"That did not prevent you from delivering it with undeniable passion." I opened my mouth to rebut, but he continued, "And regardless of what your intent was, your performance had Miss Suzumiya nearly swooning."
"She was in shock."
"Indeed she was."
"I meant -"
"Ah, there she is." He picked up his stride to catch up to Haruhi, who was already outside the karaoke box. "Miss Suzumiya, I would like to -"
"I was thinking we'd look over the shops next," she said, as though we'd all left the karaoke box as an orderly group. Actually, I guess by SO3 Studio standards, this was orderly.
"A fine idea. But first, I must apologize for my poor joke of a moment ago."
"Skip it. Kyon and Mikuru are the ones who needed apologies, not me. Come on, let's go."
We headed down one of the more drab looking streets, Miss Asahina and Haruhi stopping at over half the stores to look in the windows and chatter excitedly about cheap products that we probably still couldn't afford. I wondered how any of this was supposed to lead to us finding new talent.
It's funny. One minute you're strolling along, thinking you've got big problems just because you're working a job with no paycheck, you're attracted to a woman who got a D+ on the human decency exam, and your boss and your biggest client are frittering their time away window shopping while the company teeters on the brink of financial collapse... and the next, you bump into something that shows you what real problems are like.
I saw them walking down the street, straight towards us and in the opposite direction, and I knew it was trouble. My reaction was immediate, and okay, rather lacking in subtlety.
"Hey, check out that store across the street!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster and grabbed Haruhi's arm to pull her away from the shop window and across the street with me. I couldn't pull all three of my companions with me, so I had to trust that Koizumi and Miss Asahina would follow the boss.
"Kyon – what are you doing?" Haruhi gasped, her voice like a tea kettle about to start spewing out steaming water. "Let go of me!"
If I had been thinking more calmly, I probably would have wondered at this point why Haruhi wasn't yanking herself free from my grip. I had a pretty desperate hold on her arm, but this was a woman who, I had learned, could reliably be found performing stretches in gym clothes that were delightfully wet with her sweat every time you showed up to work before 8:30 a.m. And who would then put you in an arm lock that would bring you to your knees if she happened to catch you gawking at her toned muscles. She had the strength to at least give me a decent fight.
I got my answer an instant later. A car honked, and Haruhi used her free hand to grab my other arm and yank me back to the curb as a car sped past where I had just been standing. "You're going to get us killed!"
True. I'd been stupid. I was so focused on getting away from the approaching group that I didn't even think to check for traffic. They might be an oncoming disaster, but no disaster was as bad as getting myself killed. Or getting Haruhi killed.
"Oh, wow!" Miss Asahina exclaimed. "Miss Suzumiya... you just saved Kyon's life!"
An insufferable grin spread over Haruhi's face. "I did, didn't I? Well, that's -"
"Kyon?" the starring member of the little band of doom called as they reached us. "Well, I'll be. It is you. And playing in traffic, no less. I thought even you knew better than that."
"Huh?" Haruhi blinked. "Are these friends of yours, Kyon?"
I groaned. "Not exactly."
Of the five of them, three I didn't even recognize. Granted, that may have been partly because one of them had nothing but her knuckles and scrawny legs showing; the rest was hidden behind the member of the group who had just spoken to me. But I couldn't think of anyone I knew who would cower behind another woman's skirts like that.
That's figuratively speaking, of course. The woman she was hiding behind was not wearing a skirt, but an elegant, professional suit. And yes, I suppose I can't get around the point any longer. Much as my brain wanted to avoid it, to wish her away just by ignoring her, the woman in the suit was the single person I least wanted to run into at the moment: Sasaki.
"What kind of an introduction is that?" she demanded, with a teasing smile. "I can understand why you might not want to classify an ex-girlfriend as a friend, but surely there's no other way you can label Mr. Asahina."
Haruhi looked like a firecracker had just gone off right in front of her face. "Ex-girlfriend? Mr. Asahina?"
Her stare was focused on the group of newcomers, but Miss Asahina and myself were the ones squirming in discomfort. "Our relationship ended years ago," I said, not sure myself if I was answering Sasaki or Haruhi.
"Really. How did it end?"
"Oh, I dumped him," Sasaki jumped in before I could even begin to formulate a defense. "He didn't meet my standards."
"I see."
Great. Just great.
While this was going on, Miss Asahina's brother had approached her and was giving her one of his bashful smiles. Not that he was at all bashful; he just had such an unassuming manner that you couldn't help but feel at ease with him. "Funny running into you here, Miku."
"Mmm." She looked away.
"I've spoken to Miss Sasaki again. She says that she might -"
"Please!" she cut him off. "Please, don't talk about that here!"
He fumbled for a moment, and with my situation with Haruhi and Sasaki also hitting a terrifyingly awkward patch, he saved us both by turning to me and saying, "It's good to see you as well. Have you been taking good care of my sister?"
"The best I can," I answered, glumly aware that that wasn't nearly enough.
"So long as you've kept encouraging her, that's enough." He briefly clasped my arm. "You and I both know that my sister has far more talent than she realizes."
"Alright, that does it," Haruhi snapped. "Introductions, now!"
That was undoubtedly directed at me, but Asahina took it upon himself to bow to Haruhi and say, "My apologies. Miss Suzumiya – you are the Haruhi Suzumiya my sister has told me so much about, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right." Her temper looked like it had gone down two notches just from Asahina's apology and acknowledgment that her fame preceded her. I really had to hand it to that guy sometimes.
"I am Mikuru Asahina's little brother, currently employed as a secretary at Warm Tones Studio, the top talent agency in Japan. Right here is our image consultant, Kyoko Tachibana," he said, indicating a pretty young woman with a binder under her arm and her hair in a ponytail.
Tachibana smiled at us and bowed. "A pleasure to meet you." Her greeting was friendly but inescapably professional. I was getting the sense that the five of them were walking together for reasons of business rather than pleasure.
"This is our newest client, Kuyoh Suoh." He held out a hand to the quiet, bespectacled woman whose eyes were darting over those of us in the SO3 Studio group.
Prompted by Asahina's introduction, she gave a soft "Hello," and bowed. I had a hard time picturing this bookish whisperer as a pop idol. Admittedly, she did have a nice figure, and long flowing hair that seemed to beg you to run your hand through it. I guess you could say she had the sexy librarian look, but I really couldn't judge; I've never been a glasses man.
As if reading my thoughts, Asahina winked and said, "Don't let her fool you. She may seem shy now, but when she's on stage she completely comes alive." Before she could be embarrassed by his praise, though, he moved on: "And this is our boss, Miss Sasaki."
"Boss?" I echoed. This was news to me. "You mean..."
"That's right, Kyon," Sasaki smirked. "Working my way up the corporate ladder turned out to be even easier than I thought it would be. I'm now president of Warm Tones Studio."
"Then we're rivals!" Haruhi exclaimed, as if this was a cause for celebration. "I'm president of SO3 Studio, and Kyon and Koizumi are my underlings, and Mikuru Asahina here is our star of the future!" She saluted the heavens. "Together we intend to rock the entire world!"
"SO3 Studio?" Sasaki looked bored by Haruhi's spiel. "Never heard of you."
"We represented Yuki Nagato," I offered helpfully.
"As the saying goes, Yuki Nagato is so last month. Unless you have any current stars on your roster, I don't see how you can seriously suggest that you're our rivals."
"Ha! You're one to talk!" Haruhi shot back. "I haven't seen Kuyoh Suoh's name anywhere on the charts!"
"That's because she's brand new. We plan to break her in through the Ultra Stars of the Future idol competition."
"Well, that's too bad for you. Because we've entered Mikuru into the competition!"
Sasaki regarded her through eyes that were more than half lidded over. "Yes, and?"
That terse reply really hit home for me how brief Sasaki was being. It used to be that she could hardly answer a question without going into some long-winded philosophical sidebar. Either she was in a very impatient mood, or she'd changed. And while I would have said that eliminating her boring digressions was the best way you could improve Sasaki, right now I wasn't so sure that the change wasn't for the worse.
"And Mikuru is going to win this year's competition single-handed!" Haruhi boasted, clapping a hand on Miss Asahina's back.
"W-w-wah!" Miss Asahina trembled, obviously not having expected her victory in the competition to be held up as a certainty. If Haruhi kept putting this much pressure on her, she was practically guaranteed to lose the competition.
"Your champion doesn't look very confident in her chances," Sasaki observed.
"You're hardly one to talk about lack of confidence." Haruhi thrust an accusatory finger at her. "Who is that hiding behind your skirts, anyway?"
"Forgive me; I didn't get around to introducing her," Asahina said, lightly tugging on the woman's sleeve. "Come on out. They won't bite."
The girl emerged, one tentative step at a time, from the cover of Sasaki. And when she did, my eyes just about bugged out of my head.
"This is -"
Haruhi burst out in utter astonishment, "Yuki?!"
Author's notes: I wanted this cliffhanger to be the ending for Part 1 of this story, but it ran long so I had to break it into two parts. I'm just not a fan of long chapters (even if one of my all-time favorite novels is All the King's Men, the shortest chapter of which can't be read in one sitting without skipping a meal).
While writing the karaoke scene I put on some Manassas, and I had to laugh at "What to Do"; that has to be the most inappropriate lyric to accompany a Haruhi Suzumiya story. So I stole a line from it for the song Haruhi sings, naturally. (For some lyrics that are appropriate for Haruhi Suzumiya, check out "Mimi Gets Mad" by Utopia. I heard this song for the first time while writing this chapter. Swap out "Mimi" for "Haruhi" and imagine Kyon singing it, and it fits surprisingly well.) Despite Koizumi's deductions, I didn't put too much thought into the lyrics Haruhi sings; I just visualized the brief karaoke scene from "Endless Eight" and imagined what kind of song it looked like Haruhi was singing, throwing on just enough inspiration from Haruhi's relationship with Kyon to make Koizumi's theory plausible.