Chapter 48 – Idol Training: Day 1
Mugi's POV
"Oh…I have all my fingers
The knife goes chop chop chop
If I miss the spaces in-between my fingers will come off
And if I hit my fingers
The blood will soon come out
But all the same I play this game cause that's what it's all about
Oh, chop chop chop chop chop chop
I'm picking up the speed
And if I hit my fingers then my hand will start to bleed!"
*SLAM*
"BAM! Perfect!" Aoi-san yelled out as she slammed a knife she had in her hand on the small table in front of her. Apparently, there's this thing called The Knife Game Song and she made a bet with Kasumi-san on if she could do it or not.
…
This was something I wished I didn't know about.
"Woah…"
"She actually did it…" Sumire and Ruby-san were watching it happen and were pretty amazed that she didn't manage to cut herself with such a huge knife.
"Damnit! I was hoping you would cut yourself!" Kasumi-san yelled in anger as she slammed ¥5,000 on the table.
"Hahaha! Two days in and I'm already loaded with cash! Odaiba's proving to be a hell of a lot better than Okinawa! Hahahaha!"
"Aoi, quit screwing around. We're too busy for this." Yu-san said to her cousin.
"What? I'm just making a quick buck out of this sucker over here."
"Wh-Who the hell are you calling a sucker?!" Kasumi-san yelled.
"We came to the roof of the school to help the idols practice. Not to watch you play with a knife."
"Where'd you even get that, anyway?" Azusa-chan asked.
"Stole it from the cafeteria. It was just gonna sit there for a whole month, anyways. Why not use it for myself?"
"That just made you sound like a psychopath…" Hiro-san said as we all gained sweatdrops.
Meanwhile, as all of that was taking place, I was sitting near the wall with Honoka taking a small break. I had actually sprained my ankle while practicing these idol dance moves and was now icing the pain down.
"*painful moan* Damn, this hurts…"
"You sure you're okay?" Honoka asked me. "That was a pretty nasty fall you took."
"It could've been worse…like a fully broken leg…but I think I might just sit out the rest of today's practice…o-ow, ow, ow!"
"Yeah, good call."
"I brought you some more ice, Mugi-san." Riko-san said as she walked over with a small back of ice.
"*sigh* Thanks, Riko-san." I then took the bag of ice and placed it on my ankle. "*painful moan* Geez…"
"That was a pretty bad fall there, Mugi." You-san said. "You sure it's just a sprained ankle?"
"I'm sure it's nothing serious. A day's rest and I should be back at it tomorrow."
"Well, in that case…I guess we can call it quits for the day." Yu-san said. "On a separate note…did you finish your idol card yet, Mugi?"
"Oh…that. I honestly forgot about it. I haven't looked at it since I got it. My mind was on…other things."
"I see…well, do you still have it with you?"
"Yeah, I should. I placed it somewhere in my bag." I said as I began digging in this small bag I brought along looking for this card. "What's supposed to be on it again?"
"Oh, you know. The normal stuff…your current year in school, your birthday, gender, blood type, height, three sizes…some small details like your favorite and most disliked foods, your charm point is an important detail. You also need your own personal icon and signature. And let's see…what else…"
"Um, hold on a second! What did you just say?!"
"What? You mean your icon and signature?"
"Before that!"
"Your charm point?"
"Before that!"
"Your favorite and most disliked foods?"
"Even before that!"
"I'm not getting what you mean."
"Yu…I think she's talking about the part about the three sizes." Ayumu-san said.
"Yes! That! Why the hell do I have to put my three sizes on here?! That's an invasion of privacy!"
"Ha! You're worried about privacy?!" Kasumi-san asked. "When you're an idol, all your privacy goes away in favor of people trying to get special nudes of you to sell on the internet! You ain't getting your privacy back!"
"You're kidding…" I whined.
"Wait, for real? People would PAY to see the nudes of an idol?" Aoi-san asked.
"Well, duh! How else was I able to buy that fog machine? I've got nudes of myself spread across three different sites. And I get a decent profit from it all, too."
"Woah…"
"Isn't that just porn?" Ruby-san asked.
"It isn't porn if you censor your face out. Perfectly legal, too."
"I HIGHLY doubt that." Azusa-chan, Hiro-san, and Riko-san said with huge exasperated looks.
"Anyway…" Honoka said. "…aside from the nudes, putting this kind of information is a standard rule in the idol industry, Mugi. Even I had to do it."
"Me too." Ayumu-san said.
"As did I." Ruby-san added.
"Well, I already revealed MORE than my blood type and three sizes~. *giggle*"
"Like, for real. Do you have ANY shame?" Chika-san asked Kasumi-san with a rather disgusted look.
"Well, if you four had to do it, then let me hear your three sizes."
"78, 58, 82." Honoka said.
"82, 58, 84." Ayumu-san said.
"76, 56, 79." Ruby-san said.
"76, 55, 79." Kasumi-san said. "I know…impressive, right?" She then asked while posing in a sexy manner.
"They're near-identical to Ruby's." You-san said with a sweatdrop.
"*sigh* Geez, idols sure are bold…" I mumbled to myself. I really wasn't expecting all four of them to reveal their three sizes like that without a care in the world. So, the fact that they did (with the addition of Kasumi-san admitting that she has naked pictures of herself on the internet) caught me off guard.
"I didn't think you were this sensitive about your body, Onee-chan." Sumire said.
"I-It's not that I'm sensitive! It's just…well…" To be completely honest…I was sensitive about this. I was never close with anyone to the point where I would just talk about my body and the "issues" it came with it. Something I resented a lot from the yuri manga I read and even from the others at school.
While Ricchan had Mio-chan and Yui-chan had Azusa-chan (despite all four of them hating the forced pairings from the start), it wasn't until Miharu moved here that I didn't have anyone to rely on as a close friend. I mean, sure…there was Sumire. But even then…the whole "master/servant" thing didn't make bringing it up all that easy.
"If it's that uncomfortable for you, Mugi-senpai, you could just skip it." Azusa-chan said.
"N-No, I…" I went silent for a bit. "*sigh* Fine. If I don't do it now, it'll only bug me in the future. So…"
I seriously can't believe I'm about to say this…
"…83, 58, 85." I finally confessed.
"See? Was that so hard?" Yu-san asked.
"You have no idea…"
"Well, Goddamn it, Mugi-senpai. You've got some pretty nice breasts, don't ya?"
"It must be really nice to have such things, ain't it?" Azusa-chan and Aoi-san asked as both girls were giving me really bad exasperated looks of jealousy. And I was feeling the negative aura tenfold.
"U-Uh…"
"Oh, don't mind them." Yu-san said. "They've been flat all their lives and easily resent those with bigger chests. It's truly pathetic, honestly."
"Screw you, Yu!" Both cousins yelled at her. To which she replied with a teasing face with her tongue sticking out.
Well, those three certainly get along together…
"*sigh* In any case, I've had enough of this idol card thing for now. Can we get something to eat already?"
"You haven't eaten?" Honoka asked.
"No, because I had to come here at 6:00 in the morning for idol practice. Whose tortuous idea was that, anyway?"
We all then looked at Yu-san, who then grew a rather panicked look on her face.
"D-Don't look at me like that! It was on a list of tips on how to become a superstar idol!"
"List of tips?" Riko-san asked.
"There's this website that gives any and all new idols advice on how to become an idol and the best ways to start off. That tip was like…the 6th one or something like that. "Be active and well fit! Wake up each and every morning at 6:00 sharp for early morning practice! NO SLACKING OFF!" As to who wrote that…it's labeled as anonymous."
"Who the hell wakes up at 6:00 in the morning to exercise?" Aoi-san asked.
"That's like…torture." Azusa-chan added.
"Ugh…Actually, I've got a pretty good idea on who wrote that damn tip." Honoka said with a rather pissed-off tone. And for the rest of us, it was pretty hard to ignore.
Could it possibly be…
"Honoka, come on. You promised not to think about that." Chika-san said.
"I did, but…it's rather hard not to when stuff like this happens. It just pisses me off even more."
"I get that, but…just try to have some fun this summer. I didn't drag you all the way to Odaiba on a last-minute trip for nothing, you know."
"You know I'm still mad about that, right?" Honoka gained a sweatdrop.
"So, about the food…" Ayumu-san said. "…there's this nice restaurant downtown that Yu and I go to a lot. We can all go there for lunch."
"Ooh~! A trip to downtown Odaiba! I've always wanted to go there!" Sumire cheered.
"We were actually planning to go there after seeing Big Sight." Hiro-san said. "But then we saw what Big Sight actually was and…"
"Yeah, I don't blame you for that. It's a normal reaction for people from the mainland."
"I still don't understand how such a thing ended up being legal." Riko-san said.
"You and me both, Riko-san…" I added.
"A restaurant downtown…wait, you mean that pancake restaurant that opened a few months ago?" Kasumi-san asked. "Wh-Why haven't you brought me along?!"
"Because we don't want to hear you brag about your idol status. It gets annoying."
"Especially when you bring up your nudes." Yu-san said. "Last time we brought you along, I lost my appetite due to you and a couple of lesbians talking about pubic hair of all things."
"What the hell…?" The rest of us gained uncomfortable sweatdrops.
"Well, it's not my fault lesbians find me attractive." Kasumi-san said. "And besides…I was just giving them advice. You gotta make sure that you have enough down there for when you finally get a d*ck up your p*ssy. It's standard knowledge."
To WHO?!
"*sigh* You are a freaking mess, Kasukasu." Yu-san said with a facepalm.
"D-Don't call me Kasukasu!"
"Let's just get going before I get a massive headache."
"Do you need help walking, Mugi?" Honoka asked me.
"My leg should be fine by now. I should be able to…ow, ow, ow, OW!" I then winced in pain from the sprained ankle stinging like hell after trying to get up. And I almost fell to the ground.
…
"O-On second thought…your help would be very much appreciated."
"Yeah…figured as much." Honoka gained a sweatdrop.
After we had gotten something to eat, we just relaxed for the rest of the day. I couldn't really do much with my sprained ankle. So, even if I wanted to continue with idol practice, my injury wouldn't allow it.
Plus…I'm exhausted as hell. I never knew that idols have to move around and dance while they're singing. How do the others do it so easily?
Being an idol truly is something else…
Right now, I was outside on a balcony near the school dorms looking up at the night sky. Everyone else was either taking a bath or lounging around in their rooms. As far as I know…I was the only one out here.
"There you are, Mugi."
Well, there goes that…
"You were looking for me?" I asked Honoka as she walked up and stood next to me.
"Well, no. I just wanted to be alone and decided to come out here. I didn't think you had the same idea."
"I see…"
"So, why'd you come out here? Still conflicted about today?"
"*sigh* You could say that." I went silent for a bit. "All of this is still kinda crazy to me. I'm going to become an idol of all things…never in my life did I ever just wake up and decided that I was going to sing to all of Japan. It's a pretty bold thing to do."
"Yeah, I get what you mean. I felt the exact same way a year ago. Back when my old school was set to close down."
"I see…" I went silent again. "Hey, Honoka. About that incident you told me about…"
"You're bringing it up now?"
"Well, I did overhear you talking to your friends about something that happened before coming here. I'm kinda curious as to what that is."
"Seriously?" Honoka sighed to herself. "You know, you're too nosey for your own good."
"Yeah, I get that a lot." I gained a sweatdrop.
"*sigh* Well, if you must know…last week, I had gotten a visit from a specific group of people that I still have issues with. If you know what I mean."
I thought about it for a bit. As it has been a while since I first met Honoka and learned of her story. But when I finally remembered who exactly she was talking about…you could say that I was shocked.
"No way…you mean your old friends from the idol group?"
"Yeah…them. I don't know how, but they found out that I moved to Kichijōji. And came all the way there to try to talk to me. Such a nightmare that was…"
"Why? Was it all of them?"
"No, just 4 of them. 2 of them I knew since childhood and the other 2 were already in college. *shiver* Geez…Nozomi's still terrifyingly aggressive with the groping…"
"Wh-What?"
"N-Nothing! J-Just…talking to myself. Hehhehhehheh…"
"Uh…"
Whoever this Nozomi girl is, I hope to God that I don't ever meet her. For the safety of my breasts…
"A-Anyway…long story short, it didn't end well and I threw them out of my apartment. And I ended up with a splitting headache, too."
"Wow…sounds like it was pretty rough."
"Yeah, it was. And then just minutes later, I got a text from Riko about the upcoming exams. So, that brought even more stress on me."
"I see…" Was all I said.
"So…I gave an update on my messed-up life. Now's your turn to spill it about yours."
"Huh? Well…after we left Okinawa, I permanently moved in with my half-sister and her guardian. Soon after that, her best friend from France moved here…who has been dating my friend's little sister for a month and neither brought it up until the day they finally met. And then it was discovered that this particular friend has had incestuous feelings for her sister for years and is trying desperately hard to get rid of them so that she could love this other girl she knows. And of course…there's me and the idol stuff."
"Wow…sounds like you've been busy, Mugi."
"Yeah…pretty much." Was all I said.
The two of us went silent for a while as we continued to stare at the sky. Lost in our own thoughts about the specific problems we both currently have.
That is until Honoka asked me something that really caught me off guard.
"Hey, Mugi…just how special is this Miharu girl to you?"
"Huh? Where's this coming from?"
"I'm just curious. Since I never got to meet her and all. Plus, you two seen rather close."
"Okay…" I went silent for a bit. "Well…Miharu is very special to me. Before meeting her, I hated the life I had. The stereotypical rich girl who was sheltered away from the rest of society…not having any friends of your age and having the only person close to you turn into your servant because of the rules set by your family years before…I can't tell you how many times I wanted to escape from it all. No matter if I was alive or dead."
"W-Wow…"
"I'm not sure why my parents decided to tell me about Miharu a year ago. But since then, I've felt that this special bond with her that I've lacked with pretty much everyone else. And then…when we finally met face-to-face by pure chance when she moved to Japan…I felt that bond grow extensively. And these past 11 months have been the happiest time of my life. I basically owe it all to her."
"I see…" Honoka went silent for a bit as she looked away from me. I had no idea what was going on with her or why she asked me such a question in the first place…but I had my suspicions.
And so, with that, I asked…
"Honoka…are you jealous of Miharu because you have special feelings for me?"
"Wh-What?! No! Mugi! I'm not a lesbian!"
"You're not?"
"No! Why did that even come to mind, anyway?!"
"Well, you wanted to know why Miharu was special to me…"
"Like I said, I was curious! I never got the chance to meet her and so I thought asking you was the best choice! But since you had to go and make that DAMN accusation…"
"O-Okay, okay. I'm sorry." I apologized. "You know, you seemed really bothered by the idea of it. Are you…"
"I'm not against homosexuality, if that's what you're thinking. I just get really agitated about it due to the fact that there are nearly 4,700 stories on FanFiction depicting you as one sleeping around with all of your friends. It's insulting."
"D-Damn, 4,700? That's insane."
"Yeah, tell me about it. It's also a minor reason as to why I don't get along with my old friends much. They kept complaining that I broke the 4th wall a lot."
"You're aware of it?"
"Yeah. Aren't you?"
"Yeah, I'm aware of it. It's just that I don't know that many people who at least acknowledge it, that's all."
"I see…"
"In any case…to answer your question from earlier…that's how special Miharu is to me. I wouldn't be here talking to you if she didn't come into my life and change it for the better. I'm completely grateful for her being my half-sister."
"I see…" Honoka went silent for a bit. "…Care to sing about it?"
"Huh? Sing?"
"Hearing you talking about your sister made me think of this song I know. It isn't exactly about sisters…but I figured it could still work considering your strong bond with her. Wanna try it?"
"Well…if I'm going to become an idol, I should probably get used to singing in front of people. What's this song you're talking about?"
"Here, I have it on my phone. The lyrics come with it, too."
I took a look at the song lyrics on Honoka's phone and realized 2 things about it. One, the song was meant to be sung by two people. And two…it was really sweet. As if you were with the person you love the most during all seasons of the year.
It REALLY didn't match my feelings for Miharu (I'm not into incest…or technical incest, in our case). But I still was willing to give it a shot, at least.
…
Plus, the English name for it is "The Day I Met You". So, it kinda works out for the both of us, you know?
And so…with the instrumental version playing, I began singing the song.
Hope this comes out well…
(Quick Note: To follow along with the song, search up the following on YouTube: Kimi ni Aeta Hi (The Day I Met You) – Adachi & Shimamura Opening Song)
Kono sekai de kimi ni aeta hi kara kagayaki hajimeteru
Hitotsu hitotsu kanaete yukeru kana soba ni ite
Doko ni ite mo mienai mirai nante motto taikutsu na hikari
Totteoki no basho de issho ni kakureta hizashi yurete
Ato sukoshi no kyori wo machi nozonde iru no?
Itsu datte modokashii yo hanarenaide
Kono sekai ni kimi ga ite kureru michi wa fushigi to suki ni naru
Shikari ge nakute yura yura mune no oku tojikometa mama
Donna ni megutte mo mada shiranai kimi ga afureru no ni
Narande aruku tabi awaku irozuita kankaku ga shite
Akubi shiteru yokogao togaraseta kuchimoto
Itsumademo oboetetai no wazuka na shunkan made
Kono sekai de kimi ni aeta hi kara kagayaki hajimeteru
Hitotsu hitotsu kanaete yukeru kana atarashii kaze ga fuku tabi ni
Nemurenai kurai kobore ochite mo kitto
Fumidashitai'n da kakenuketai yo massugu na sora futari de
Kono sekai ni kimi ga ite kureru michi wa fushigi to suki ni naru
Sarigenakute yura yura mune no oku tojikometa mama
Sotto te wo tsunaida
"*sigh* Wow…" I took a deep breath after keeping that up for so long. I'm better at singing than I originally thought I was.
"That was pretty good, Mugi. You really are a great singer." Honoka said to me.
"Thanks. Though, I still felt nervous while doing it. Even though it was just you here."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You did great."
"*giggle* Wow…it's nice to hear that you think I'm a great singer, Honoka."
"Yep. Me…and everyone else down there, too."
"Wh-What?"
I then looked down from the balcony to see something I didn't expect. A bunch of girls clapping and cheering for me due to them hearing me sing from their rooms. Even our friends were down there. None of them cared that they were all outside in their pajamas.
"Wh-Wh-What the?! Wh-When did they…?!"
"They all came out in droves when they heard you sing." Honoka said. "You should've seen them. Some of them even had tears running down their eyes."
"H-Honoka!" I grew an extremely high blush on my face.
No wonder I was feeling tense the whole time!
"What? I did this for you, you know. To help you feel more passionate about becoming an idol."
"Y-You did?"
"Of course. And you enjoyed it, didn't you?"
…
…
…
"Well…yeah. I-I did, actually. I-It felt really fun…singing to other people. It felt just like the concert back in Okinawa."
"See? You've got nothing to worry about. I told you that I was going to help you out, Mugi. I don't break an idol's promise."
"W-Wow…thanks, Honoka. This really means a lot to me."
"No problem, Mugi." Honoka said. "So, with that said…Hey, everybody! Did you enjoy that just now?!" She then began shouting to the group down below.
"*MILD CHEERING*"
"Then, you can see more from this girl, Melody, and myself, μ, at the Odaiba School Idol Festival next week! Don't miss out!"
"D-Don't promote me!" I yelled with the blush from earlier returning.
"Why shouldn't I? It's all part of the idol experience, Mugi~. *giggle*"
"Sc-Screw you!"
"Hey! μ-chan! Can I have your autograph?!" One girl cheered from below.
"I want Melody-chan's autograph!" Another girl cheered.
"I want them both!" A third girl cheered. "And maybe even get some of their nudes!"
Why would anyone want that?!
"So, Melody. Shall we greet our new fans?" Honoka asked me with a smirk on her face.
"I'm really gonna make you pay for this…" I replied in a pissed-off tone.
"Worth it. Now, come on. Let's go!"
"Huh?! You mean NOW?! W-Wait, Honoka! Honoka!"
With my arm being pulled in front of me, I was now forcefully on my way to greet a bunch of fans that I unknowingly gained just a few minutes ago.
My life as an idol is truly a strange one…
Author's Note: Mugi's first day of idol training starts off rough. But thanks to the promise she made with Honoka, she's slowly gaining a positive light on the whole thing. Hopefully, it will be fully recognized by the time the festival begins.
Two main things to bring up. First…I really had to guess when it came to Mugi's three sizes. As they (and even her breast size) aren't listed anywhere. This was done because the Love Live! characters have their three sizes listed (though, I'm not sure why. It's not like we NEED to know that) and since Mugi's becoming an idol in this story, I wanted it to match up. Please don't take the numbers seriously.
And second…what was originally on here was Dreams Dreams (Sweet Snow Ver.) from NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. But I changed it to this song. It just made more sense to me in this case. Plus, Adachi & Shimamura is definitely one of my favorite anime (and I plan to read the manga eventually) and this song is one of the reasons why. It was originally going to be the song Mugi sang at the School Idol Festival. But that was changed to something else, as well.
Anyway…the Summer Break Arc is coming to an end. Maybe like…2-3 chapters left. I really don't want this to be as long as the Golden Week Arc. So, some ideas of mine will have to be cut.
Thanks for reading. Later.
