April 28, 2014
I notice I'm becoming more clinical with Niko. Yesterday during her first physical therapy session, I didn't say a word and I waited for a cue from my mother before giving Niko pills and water. Niko will thank us all a year from now for all the pain we have to put her through now.
It's definitely a blessing that she's back to the determined girl she was when she started at Otonokizaka. She's not complaining as much as I thought she would. Tutoring her has been a breeze, too. That first year basically tore her heart out and she was just going through the motions her second year. I guess the main reason she stayed after school in the club room after the club collapsed was that the Yazawas didn't have any internet at home.
I have to be in this for the long haul. I am arming myself with horror stories of people who didn't do their PT and how they ended up crippled for life. She takes too many medications to study hard subjects, so we do the easiest subjects and at a lazy pace, and chat. I also got help from a voice coach (one of my piano teachers knows them) and I am going to have us take a break from studying by doing vocal exercises. Boy does this bring back memories. I am going to take a break from writing and text with Hanayo.
Okay, Nikki-san. Hanayo remembers our little voice lesson very fondly indeed. She said it was the push that gave her confidence to try joining the 2nd-years. She thinks I should just be bold with Niko like I was with her. I'll make sure Niko's voice is rested and she's well hydrated, but then I will push her a bit. I will tell her when she's bored she must make a habit of doing various voice strengtheners. I have a couple videos of her actual performances with Ageha and Mimi, but I think, unfortunately, they're from after the amnesia sets in. Thank goodness, Niko somehow got Nozomi to film one of their practices. I got a copy from her and so I can critique Niko's singing based on that. Of course, really based on years of singing with her. Counter to the blessing above, my guess is she's really slid back as a singer. Unless there's more to body memory than I think. At best, my guess is it will just maker her learn a little faster this time around.
I am putting all my faith in the lawyer Nozomi found. In such tense circumstances, you have to trust your intuition, and mine is that she's very wise, yet also very compassionate for the weak in society. She still thinks that, in the end, Niko might get more of a settlement from Talent Star-ball than from JRE, which would be astonishing. I mean, it's not like they'd derail a train just to get Niko-chan.
I texted Tsubasa and said I welcomed any help she could give me. Since she brought it up by mentioning Honoka, I may have been rude, but I asked what was up with them. Apparently, she's training Honoka without her knowing it. She does things with her often, always surreptitiously and says it's to avoid overeager fans and people from magazines. Really, it's so when Honoka is trained in discretion, they can date. She says Honoka's hinted at her feelings a lot, and Tsubasa has simply ignored all the hints. Honoka's been seemingly content to settle for all the attention she's getting "as a friend" from the great idol Kira Tsubasa, "which is very cute, I will tell you."
I wished her luck and said she was my role model. Despite the fact that a huge number of our fans put Niko and me together, especially after Zurui yo Magnetic Today came out, we were never photographed together doing anything we couldn't explain. I might not be able to be as aloof as Tsubasa is being. I sort of get why she's so popular. A bit like Niko, but more-so, she has to stand out with charisma since she's so tiny. No wonder Niko was so threatened by her before we went to New York. But anyway, I am going to be Tsubasa to Niko's Honoka. I guess "the idiot trio" needs handlers like me, Tsubasa and Hanayo so their spontaneity and occasional heedlessness doesn't get them into trouble.