Arc-2 Ep-10
30
The CM shoot wrapped up without a hitch. But after that—no personal gigs for me. Well, it made sense. If clients wanted a cute Sistema Solare girl, they’d obviously go for Takechi Rina first.
Only when the industries overlapped and Rina-san wasn’t available would the work trickle down to me. And right now? Nothing.
So my days were back to lessons and mini-lives. We had three songs now, and everyone finally felt like real group assets. Sixth-gen morale was sky-high.
Thanks to that, even the fact that Nozomi-chan and I got solo jobs didn’t create any negativity.
Mid-October.
The new event we’d all been waiting for finally arrived for sixth-gen.
“—Autograph sessions?”
“Yes. You know 『Hexagram × Octagon』 is on the album dropping next month, right?”
“Duh~”
“Of course.”
Before lessons, sixth-gen’s overall manager, Taneyama-san, gathered us all to announce the news: autograph tour. Two months after debut—finally, something like this.
“This album’s a big push from upper management.”
“Because Rina-chan’s the lead?”
“Maybe… Anyway, promotion means autograph events nationwide.”
“Nationwide!?”
The scale just shot through the roof. Sistema Solare members were going to be busy.
“Yep. We’ll split everyone into trios and send them across various regions.”
“Trio teams…”
Current total: forty-eight members. Divide by three—sixteen locations.
“We’re not divisible by three, though…”
“Right. So Owada-san and Sekiguchi-san from the affiliate training school will team up with seniors.”
That made sense—pair the trainees with familiar faces from practice. Then, divide the remaining six.
“How’s the rest divided?”
“My plan is: Matsunobe-san, Furusawa-san, and Nanazawa-san for one team. The other three in another.”
Bummer—no me and Nozomi-chan together. Balance-wise, though, it couldn’t be helped.
“…Me, Yuna-chan, and Mikuri-chan…”
“Yes. I think that’s the best split.”
Sub-manager Matsuzono-san answered Mami-san clearly. Popularity-wise, they split me and Nozomi-chan. Mental strength (god-cheat) wise me and vice-leader Sayaka-san: also separated. Then age and personality rounded out the teams.
“Destinations set yet?”
“Not final, but mostly decided.”
“Ichihara-san and Furusawa-san—pretty high chance they’ll go to their hometowns. No other Sistema Solare members from those prefectures.”
“R-Really!?”
“Then Grandpa and Grandma might come…”
The two named members reacted with shock and joy. First regional trip for sixth-gen.
“Next meeting decides for sure—nothing official yet.”
“Uuu… Please make it happen!”
“I’ll request it too.”
“Got it. I’ll try.”
Sayaka-san was from the countryside too, but her prefecture had higher-ups, so they’d handle it internally. She stayed quiet, understanding how it worked.
“…So weekends mean no mini-lives?”
“Right. Two weekends off—full deep clean and maintenance for the live house.”
Since the Reiteisai weekend, every Saturday and Sunday had been mini-lives. They did light cleaning on weekdays, but now was the time for a full overhaul.
“Ahh… So sad. I can’t be with Mikuri-chan…”
“Yeah. But it’s management’s call.”
“Uuu… Wait! How about a private trip together instead?”
“Th-That’s unfair! Chie wants to go too!”
After lessons, I was lounging in the break room with Nozomi-chan and Chie-chan, cooling down while chatting.
Topic of the moment: the autograph tour. The three of us—unfortunately, split.
“Private trip, huh~ That does sound fun.”
Super-beauties, on a personal vacation. Same room, but a completely different vibe than usual. My imagination was already running wild.
“Yeah. Super fun♪”
“Chie wants in!”
Hot springs—bathing together. Nozomi-chan and Chie-chan’s pale skin turning rosy pink. Night at a ryokan: futons lined up side-by-side.
Or maybe a hotel—double bed.
Yeah. Nice. I really wanted to go.
“But we don’t really get any days off.”
“…Every weekend’s a mini-live.”
“Long school breaks filled with lessons…”
Exactly—rookie idols didn’t have real holidays.
“December’s full concert too.”
“New songs to learn—gonna be busy.”
“More school absences…”
Reality crashed down mid-conversation. Idol life—tougher than I’d imagined..Guess I’d just have to think of it as more chances to meet cute girls, or I’d burn out fast.