Arc 3 Ep-03

 Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to have lunch with Nozomi-chan.

She called me sounding regretful, saying she needed to head home early because she had family matters to deal with in the afternoon.

My fellow 6th-generation members, like Chie-chan, don’t start until later in the day, so I decided to go home and work through the mountain of summer homework I had been neglecting.

That was how Monday ended, and now it is Tuesday morning.

After changing into practice clothes in the dressing room, I headed to the lounge that the internal group “Schus-Sola” almost exclusively uses.

“Good morning!”

“Morning.”

“Mikuri-chan, good morning♪”

“…Good morning.”

I had left home early, determined to be the first one here, yet three senpais were already in the largest and best-equipped room in the entire production building. Erika-san, Mutsumi Hayase-san, and Yuka Tatsumura-san.

“…You are all early. I left home thinking I’d be the first.”

“I always try to be the first to arrive. Not always, but in most cases.”

That answer came from Mutsumi-san, the current leader of Schus-Sola.

She became leader after the 4th Reitaisai, which was the event where I debuted. The member who had served as leader since the 1st Reitaisai fell below 10th place in that 4th popularity vote, and so the position passed to Mutsumi-san.

Incidentally, that former leader is now the overall captain of all Sistema Solare.

“Yuka was told to come early today for a work-related discussion. Normally, she arrives much later.”

“I see. As expected, the higher you rank in the popularity vote, the more solo work you receive.”

Even though she looks to be around my age, or even younger, she has a considerable number of solo jobs. Now that she has turned twenty, she can legally drink and smoke, so she is receiving more roles where elementary or middle schoolers are portrayed doing those things.

In this day and age, making actual children do that would cause all sorts of problems.

“I just happened to wake up early today.”

“That’s right. Erika is usually the absolute last or second-to-last to arrive.”

“I’m too scared of being late to do that when Yuka is around.”

“Are you really cutting it that close?”

“As long as I make it on time, it is fine. Making it is all that matters. Although it is different when outside companies are involved.”

Well, if it is just internal work within the production, the worst that happens if you are late is a warning or a scolding.

I am the same as Yuka-san: too afraid of being late, so I end up arriving far too early.

That seems to be a matter of personality, and I doubt it can be changed at this point.

Knock knock

“…Good morning!”

After the knock, Rio Kidato-san entered, greeting us with the same bright energy as always.

“Good morning!”

“Morning, Rio.”

“Good morning.”

“Rio-chan, good morning.”

“…Erika-san is here!?”

Rio-san froze in surprise when she noticed Erika-san returning her greeting. It seems that within the group, everyone simply assumes that Erika-san always arrives at the latest possible moment.

“What is going on!? Was today’s meeting time actually earlier!?”

“…See? It becomes strange when Erika behaves unusually.”

“Even if you say that, it makes it sound like coming early is some kind of abnormality…”

Erika-san puffed her cheeks slightly. I couldn’t help smiling at how cute the gesture was.

“Kusu♪ It really is rare for Erika-san to show up this early.”

“In the past year, I cannot recall a single time she arrived before me when it was only Schus-Sola.”

“That is harsh. Kusun.”

“Ahaha.”

Everyone laughed at her obviously fake crying. At least compared to the 5th generation, the atmosphere within the group did not seem bad at all.

Knock knock

“…Morning… wait, Erika is here!?”

Next to enter was Suzuka-san. The very first thing she did was point out the fact that Erika-san was present.

“…I have a feeling everyone who walks in is going to react like this…”

“It is because you are doing something out of character.”

“What happened, Erika? Is it going to snow in midsummer?”

“You are saying it is literally impossible!?”

And so, every time another Schus-Sola member arrived, Erika-san was met with shock and playful teasing.

“Everyone is so mean. Pien.”

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“Yes! Both the choreography and the formation look solid. Let’s run it from the top with vocals this time.”

Practice for “Supercluster,” with all nine members present, was progressing smoothly.

I was not allowed to use my injured right hand, but everything else, including the choreography and formation, should be fine.

Of course it was.

“Supercluster,” which we are scheduled to perform with live vocals on Music Window, was only released last month.

Naturally, there is footage of the previous Schus-Sola lineup performing it.

The parts assigned to the current Terra (which is me) were previously done by the former Terra, Tomomi-san.

All I had to do was watch that reference footage, and the god-cheat handled the rest.

For me, it was easy work.

◆◆◆―――――――◆◆◆―――――――◆◆◆

“…Yes! Music Window should be fine. The only concern is the condition of Kayanuma-san’s right arm. Painkillers are not a magical cure.”

That is something we can only confirm on the day itself. Well, it is just one song, so it should be all right.

“Then let us move on to practicing the festival songs. I expect those to proceed smoothly as well.”

“Understood.”

“Leave it to us.”

“Given the song list, we should be all right.”

The number of songs is increasing, which is troublesome, but I do not expect any problems.

I have already reviewed the previous material, and all that remains is to sing and dance exactly as shown in the footage. It was safe to say that my second year as an idol had begun without incident.