March 25th, 3-26 Shiratori Avenue…

Jun began to examine the other contestants in the lobby. "Hmm, this doesn't seem so bad. The competition isn't all that great, and I just got this great dress for the occasion!"

The contest seemed rather normal; with people of all types participating for what Jun heard was a position for some new pop group or something, along with the cash prize he heard of on the poster. He hoped that the judges would be okay with his crossdressing, as that was his main gimmick for now.

"Hey! Can anyone hear me?"

The young man turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. However, he couldn't trace the source of it, and so he tried calling back to the unknown person.

"Where are you? I can't seem to find your location."

"I'm right over here," the voice said. Jun turned to the direction it came from, but all he could see was a table with a small vase on it. Suddenly, Jun saw a short flash of a person right next to the table, wearing an odd uniform and an agitated look on his face. Before he could ask anything more, the speakers overhead began to play an announcement.

"Attention all contestants, the beauty portion of this contest is starting. All contestants must report to the auditorium immediately."

Jun went up to one of the guards, inexplicably wearing shades and a wig, and asked, "Hey, about that guy right next to the vase table…"

"Hm? I don't see anyone over there. Are you sure you've been drinking enough water today?"

"Eh?" He looked back at the table, but there was nobody there. Was there even a person there in the first place? Either way, he had to move on.

An excited announcer was at center stage, providing an introduction with exaggerated gestures. "Welcome to Asahi Idol! Sponsored by the MHK and Friend Association. Today we're going to see our contestants show off their stuff for the chance to join our exclusive Saint du Carrefour Academy and win our cash prize of 60 million yen! Now who's going to be our lucky winner? Just wait and see!"

As the others were done their turns, it was finally Jun's turn to get up on stage. The spotlights were blinding, and there was quite an audience, but Jun tried his best to show his stuff. Walking gracefully across the stage, the audience was both enthralled and confused.

The announcer sputtered, "M-Miss? Weren't you told earlier that this was a male-only contest?"

"But of course! Why do you think I prepared this?" Jun flung his dress upward; revealing that underneath his Caribbean Green dress was a shimmering gold vest with black pants. He caught the dress in his arms and did a waltz with it, further confusing the audience. His steps were slow and graceful, but a little shaky from inexperience. Even so, he won the audience over as he flung the dress up one again, only to slip back into it in a ballerina-like pose.

The announcer geared right back up to maximum loudness after the contest came to a close. "Now THAT was an interesting turn of events! Now it's up to our panel of judges to see who will win this once-in-a-lifetime experience! Unfortunately, their decision is TOP SECRET! However, it's not final yet, as we still have the interviews to cover! That's all for now, folks, on… ASAHI IDOOOOOOOL!"

Exiting the stage, Jun began to wonder to himself, "Is everyone in this town really that crazy? If so, I actually feel pretty relieved that I don't have any customers." He then remembered the person he saw from earlier. He tried looking around again, but he couldn't see anyone who fit the profile.

"Maybe that suspicious-looking guard was right. I should probably take better care of my health." But as he said this, he noticed a note on the vase.

Congratulations! I thought your performance was great. Senpai seems to really like it too. I'm sure we'll be able to talk later, but I think I've overstayed my visit for now. I hope you win the contest! (Because personally, you're the only one I think I can talk to.)

PS: I was the one you saw next to this table. Don't worry too much about it, as I wasn't annoyed at you.

A person suddenly appearing and disappearing is one thing, but that same person apparently leaving a note to congratulate you is another. Jun couldn't quite grasp the meaning of this, but he hoped it wasn't some sort of creepy quasi-psychological thing. He just seemed rather uncomfortable with the whole idea.

All he had to do now was wait to be interviewed. Each contestant was given a room and a time to arrive there. The building was especially large, so he didn't have to wait long. Unfortunately, this also made it hard to navigate through, especially since he was still new around town.

As he got to his room, an older man began to talk to Jun. "Did you find it a little difficult to get here? I have to admit, only recently did I hear that this road got renamed. Did you know that they renamed it for the figure skater that won the Olympics last year? Shiratori-san, however, claimed that it should be named for her sister, who served as her inspiration to move on. Quite a heartwarming story, if you ask me."

Jun then noticed that he arrived right on time, and walked into the door, hoping for something normal after the ball of loudness that was the announcer. What he saw instead was a far cry from normal. His interviewer was wearing a large Hawaiian t-shirt with baggy jeans. He wore a huge hard hat and even larger star-shaped glasses obscured his face. The only thing that tipped Jun off about his high class status was his shoes, which were an expensive designer brand. And curiously, the seemingly eccentric man had an aura of intimidation around him, and the odd combination of the three had Jun off guard.

"Ah see you've done pretty well," the interviewer said in a heavy Kansai dialect. "Now tell me, whaddaya like about this here town? What are yer goals?"

"A-At least he's calm," Jun thought. "W-well, um, sir…"

"Mah name's Akira Tomogawa. Don't worry yer head off, jus tell me what you wanna say."

"Oh, alright. W-Well, I'm actually quite new here, so I can't really say much about this town. The river is k-kinda nice and the people here are really helpful. I don't really have enough money to keep my flower shop afloat, so I decided to enter this contest. Maybe if I join you guys, I-I can help inspire other people to reach their dreams! I want to inspire others to change for the better, and I want them to realize that nothing is 100% impossible."

Akira smiled ever so slightly. "I see. Well, it appears that you certainly have the potential, and I certainly admire your spirit. If we do accept you, you may find a letter delivered to your address. May you tell me your name for future reference?"

"Of course. My name is Jun Kashihara. Also, what happened to your accent?"

Now Tomogawa was showing a hint of nervousness, which helped clear the air a little. "Whaddaya mean? Ah never lost mah accent. You Tokyoites jus got used to it! Well, ah think it's time fer another guest, so ya ought to be leavin' now."

Jun bowed as he exited the room. "Thank you for the interview. I sincerely hope you consider me as a candidate."

Once he shut the door, Akira uttered one word to himself. "Perfect."

"Isn't today a great day?"

"Of course it is, mama! It's getting really warm now!"

"That's great, because I hate the cold."

"Come on, there's no reason to be like that. Wasn't that deep freeze a year ago a lot colder?"

"Hey, I have reasons to dislike the cold."

"And you haven't consulted me about those reasons… why?"

"Cuz I've been too busy loving you, that's why!"

"You are so corny."

"Not as corny as that guy, though."

"Oh right, that guy. That bad pun was probably the first time I've seen confusion that wasn't caused by a demon on your face."

"I think anybody would be confused by a demon on your face."

"What are you guys even talking about? Anyways, I'm getting hungry."

"Right. We wouldn't want our newest family members to starve, now would we?"

"Come on, I'm totally fine."

"Me too! But I want Papa to make us something good to eat when we get home!"

"And remember, you said you were gonna give us a party!"

"Alright, everyone, we're going to go to our new home soon. I'm sure you'll all love it there. It's right across the river from a really rich town, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds! First things first, let's get off of this hill. Make sure you guys don't slip! We wouldn't want anyone to go to the hospital, now would we, Maki?"

"Not very funny, Naoya. Minato, Mizuki, Mika, Rika? Try not to play around for too long or you won't be able to catch up with us!"

Weird, the original Author's Notes disappeared in a fire, so I suppose I'll have to write new ones. Well, I decided to go with the canon names of the people from the manga, and the FeMC of P3P is now Mizuki Arisato. I kinda made a ficverse-retcon so that Naoya and Maki had twins, just so it would be a weird common occurrence in the family (Yeah, Naorin and Minato are cousins here). That, and I had a bit of the manga spoiled for me by Japanese wikis (And I edited TVTropes to give mild spoilars to it).

If there's anyone alive out there, please review! See you… sometime in the future!