Chapter 35 Lovely Fairy Airi!
Airi's POV
The day for Youthful/Friends to appear on Yume Yume Jump's livestream had arrived, and we were outside of Shizuku's house.
"Thank you so much for coming, everyone", she greeted us when we arrived. "Now then, please follow me."
With this, we all went inside and let Shizuku lead us to where we would be doing the stream from.
"It's been a long time since we've been to Shiho-Chan's house", Saki pointed out.
"It has", Ichika agreed.
Then, Shizuku stopped in front of a door. "This is my room. We'll be doing the stream from here."
After saying this, Shizuku opened the door to her room. We all walked inside, and found the other members of Yume Yume Jump; along with a young woman we didn't know."
"Shiho-Chan", Saki said happily before rushing up to her.
"Hey there, Saki", she greeted. "Hey there, Ichika."
"Hey there, Shiho", Ichika greeted.
"Hey there, guys", An greeted. "Long time, no see!"
"Um…hello everyone", Kanade greeted. "It's nice to see you all again."
"It's nice to see you too, Yoisaki-San", Ichika greeted.
"Everyone", Shizuku started, before leading the woman we didn't know up to us. "This is Yume Yume Jump's manager, Saitou Ayaka."
"It's nice to meet you, Youthful/Friends", Saitou greeted. "I've heard a lot about you from Shizuku-San and Shiho-San."
"It's very nice to meet you too, Saitou-San", Ichika greeted as she bowed down respectfully.
"Wow", Saki said in awe. "It's so cool that you guys have a manager!"
"Saitou-San was actually the one who came to me about forming a group in the first place", Shizuku revealed.
"Really", Ichika asked.
"Yes", Shizuku replied. "She…"
"Shizuku-San", Saitou said, interrupting her. "Maybe we should leave that story for later? We have half an hour to go over everything before the stream starts."
"Oh, right", Shizuku said. "Then I'll tell you guys how I met Saitou-San later."
"Right", Saitou said, before changing the subject. "Now then, Youthful/Friends. I'll explain how everything will work before the stream starts."
Once Saitou explained everything to us, she went to the computer setup and got the livestream ready.
"And…start", she said, before clicking a button. "Okay. The stream has started, and is on the 'starting soon' screen. Everyone, get into positions."
After we heard this, we all sat down at a traditional low Japanese table. Yume Yume Jump! sat on one side while Youthful/Friends sat on the other.
"This so exciting", Saki said. "I can't believe we're about to be on a livestream that a ton of people are going to watch!"
"I'm actually kind of nervous", Ichika revealed.
"You'll be fine, Ichika", Shiho reassured her.
"Is everyone ready to go live", Saitou asked.
"Ready", everyone replied.
"Okay then", Saitou said, before turning the camera to face just Yume Yume Jump! "Then you'll be on camera in three, two, one…"
"Hello everyone", Shizuku greeted. "Welcome to our livestream! We're the idols who dream, dream, big. We're…"
"Yume Yume Jump", everyone in the group exclaimed.
"Everyone, thank you for joining us today", Shizuku greeted. "Today, we have very special guests with us. They're a band whose goal is to enjoy their youth to the fullest. They are…Youthful/Friends!"
With this, Saitou turned the camera so that it was facing us.
"Hey there, everyone", I greeted. "We're Youthful/Friends! It's nice to meet you all!"
"Nice to meet you", the rest of us greeted.
"Youthful/Friends, thank you so much for agreeing to be on our livestream", Shizuku said. "Could you all introduce yourselves individually to our viewers?"
"Sure. I'll go first", I said, before looking at the camera. "Hey there, everyone! You may know who I am, but if you don't, I'm Momoi Airi! I used to be a member of the idol group QTE. Now, I'm the bassist for Youthful/Friends!"
"I'll go next", Ena said. "Hi there, everyone. My name is Shinonome Ena. I'm the drummer for Youthful/Friends, and I've been friends with Airi since middle school."
"Me next, me next", Saki said excitedly. "Hey there, everyone! My name is Tenma Saki! I'm the keyboardist for Youthful/Friends! Also, Shiho-Chan has been one of my bestest friends since childhood!"
"That just leaves me", Ichika said, before taking a deep breath. "Hello, everyone. My name is Hoshino Ichika. I'm the guitarist and vocalist for Youthful/Friends, and I've also been friends with Saki and Shiho ever since I was a child."
"Thank you for all introducing yourselves", Shizuku said, before looking at Saitou. "Saitou-San, do we have any interesting comments about our guests?"
"Let me see", Saitou said, before reading through some comments.
"Oh, we got a super chat from someone called 'TheWorld'sNumberOneStar88'", Saitou said, before reading out the comment. "SAKI! IT'S YOUR BIG BROTHER! I'M WATCHING YOU FROM HOME! DO YOUR BEST!"
"Thank you so much, Onii-Chan", Saki said happily.
"You have such a wonderful big brother, Saki-Chan", Shizuku said, before looking at the camera. "Thank you so much for the super chat, Tsukasa-Kun!"
"Oh, we've got another super chat from someone called 'ApplePieLover'", Saitou revealed, before reading out the comment. "Ichika, Saki, do your best on the stream. And you as well, Shiho-Chan. Also, Minori and Mizuki say hi too. We're all watching the stream together."
"That must be Hona-Chan", Saki said happily, before waving to the camera. "Hi, Hona-Chan! And Minori-Chan and Mizuki-Chan too!"
"You sure have a lot of friends supporting you guys, huh", An asked.
"We do", Saki replied happily. "They're the best!"
"That's so wonderful", Shizuku said. "Now then, would you guys please tell us how your band came to be?"
With this, we spent the next few minutes explaining how Youthful/Friends came to be.
"That was such a wonderful story", Shizuku said. "Thank you for sharing it with us, Youthful/Friends!"
"Maybe we should see what our viewers are saying", Kanade suggested.
"Good idea, Kanade", An said, before looking at Saitou. "Ayaka, do we have any interesting comments?"
"Let me see", Saitou said before scrolling through the comments. "Here's on for Airi-San. It says 'Airi, does this mean that you've given up on being an idol?'"
Hearing this comment upset me, but I pushed that feeling aside and answered the question.
"Of course not", I replied. "Being an idol and delivering hope will always be my number one goal!"
There was a tablet on the table we could use to see comments, and I spotted another one about me.
"Why am I in a band when I want to be an idol", I asked. "It's because…"
No agency will accept me as an idol.
"It's because there are many different ways to deliver hope", I replied.
"Airi-Senpai's right", Saki said suddenly. "Back when I was in the hospital, there were many days when I was pretty down. My illness made me miss out on a lot things, and sometimes…I wondered if that was ever going to really change."
"Saki", Ichika said sadly.
"But you know what", Saki asked. "When I would see Airi-Senpai on tv, it really cheered me up! And It made me hopeful that things would get better!"
"Saki", I said.
Then, Shizuku suddenly spoke up. "You know, when Saitou-San first had the idea of me starting my own idol group, I wasn't sure if I should do it. I was worried about what my fans from Cheerful*Days would think. But when I told Airi-Chan about it, she encouraged me to follow my heart and make my dreams come true!"
"Shizuku", I said.
"To me, it doesn't matter if Airi-Chan is singing and dancing, or playing the bass", Shizuku added. "No matter what, she will always be an idol to me!"
"Shizuku, Saki", I said, touched by their words.
Even when I wasn't doing traditional idol work, I was still able to deliver hope to them.
When I had this thought, I became filled with determination.
"Saki, Shizuku, thank you for saying those things", I said, before getting an idea. "Hey, do you guys remember this?
With this, I held my hands in a pose, and Shizuku and Saki instantly recognised it.
"I know that pose", Shizuku said happily.
"Is that what I think it is", Saki asked excitedly.
"Looks like it", Ena replied.
Then, I looked at the camera. "Everyone, no matter what I do, I'm going to try my best to deliver hope as much as I can! That's because I'm the, lovely, fairy…"
"Airi", Shizuku, Saki and Ena exclaimed as they posed with me.
"Wow", Saki said in awe. "I remember seeing Airi do that all the time on tv! I can't believe that I got to see it in person!"
"Me too", Shizuku said, before looking at the camera. "Everyone, that's all the time we have for today."
"Thank you so much for coming to our livestream, guys", An added.
"And a big thank you to Youthful/Friends for joining us today", Kanade added.
"Thank you so much for having us", I said.
"If you want to see more of Youthful/Friends, then make sure to check our their official YouTube channel", Shiho added.
"You can find all kinds of stuff from us there", Ena added. "Including the music video for our original song!"
"You can also find clips from our live performances there", Ichika added.
"And we were thinking about vlogging the fun things we do there and posting those too", Saki added.
"Please make sure to check out Youthful/Friends out", Shizuku said. "That's all from us today. And remember everyone, no matter what happens, never be afraid to…"
"Dream, dream big", we all exclaimed together, ending the stream.