Arc-3 Ep-33

 The Nationwide Song Battle ended safely, and the new year arrived. This year will be a turning point for me in many different ways.

On a personal level, I’ll be moving from middle school to high school. As an idol, that also means the amount of work scheduled for me is expected to increase a lot.

The first major event of the new year is my high school entrance exam.

Academics aren’t really connected to the recommendation from the entertainment department, and my grades were never bad in the first place.

So the real focus is how I handle the interview. I had people from the production company act as mock interviewers so I could practice.

We also used information from interviews that Rina-san and the others went through last year as reference. Based on that material, I worked hard on my interview practice.

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"From what I can see, there’s no problem at all. If you go in with confidence, you should get good results."

"Thank you, Matsuzono-san."

The exam day is on a Saturday in mid-January.

The day before, on a weekday after school ends, I head to the production company for a final mock interview session with staff from HR and general affairs.

Matsuzono-san, the sub-manager for the sixth generation, happened to be there and had some time. So he joined in as well.

"Well, we’ve had a long relationship with that school, so unless something extreme happens, failing is basically impossible."

"Has it been like that for a long time?"

"Yes. I heard that in the past, a lot of people from the acting department went there. Now it’s mostly from Sistema Solare."

"G-good morning!"

As Matsuzono-san and I walked down the hallway chatting after the practice session ended, someone suddenly called out from the side.

When I turned to return the greeting, a girl with a light blue randoseru on her back was staring at me nervously.

"…………. .

…Good morning."

It was only natural that my response came a little late. From her height, around 150 cm, and the randoseru, it was clear she was an elementary school student. That wasn’t the reason I hesitated.

The reason was her face. She was an ultra-beautiful girl on the same level as me or Rina-san.

(So this is the one they’ve been talking about.)

The leading candidate to succeed Yuka Tatsumura-san, who currently holds the little-sister/loli role in Sistema Solare as an eighth-generation debut prospect.

As the daughter of a Fortissimo employee, I immediately realized this must be the rumored girl.

"Good morning, Suwabe-san. You’re late today."

"T-today was my day for class duties… Um, th-that’s…"

"Ah. …Kayanuma-san, this is Sana Suwabe-san, a trainee from our affiliated school and an eighth-generation candidate."

"Huh, an eighth-generation candidate! I’m Sana Suwabe, a Sistema Solare trainee! N-nice to meet you, Kayanuma-senpai!"

With that, she energetically bowed her head, beret and all. Her outfit looked like a uniform. It was probably the standard one from her elementary school.

"S-senpai… 

Um, n-nice to meet you. I’m Mikuri Kayanuma. Nice to meet you too, Suwabe-san…?"

"N-no, Sana is fine!"

"R-right, then I’ll call you Sana-chan. You can use my first name too."

"Yes! M-Mikuri-senpai… I’m so happy…"

Her young, beautiful face flushed red and her eyes grew moist with emotion. This was a reaction I hadn’t seen before. Most juniors who met me for the first time usually showed at least a little nervousness or intimidation.

Of course, I was also a bit shaken by being called "senpai" by such a beautiful girl.

"…Suwabe-san. Is your lesson time okay?"

"Eh? …Ah! I-I’m going to be late!!"

After checking the time on her phone at Matsuzono-san’s reminder, she suddenly started panicking.

She looked kind of like a small animal. Adorable.

"Hurry along now."

"Y-yes! Um, Mikuri-senpai, it was really nice meeting you today!"

"Th-thank you. Let’s talk more next time when we both have time."

"Y-yes!! Please, I’d love that! …Well then, excuse me!"

With something that almost felt like a "pyokon" sound effect, she bowed again and hurried off in the opposite direction down the hallway.

Watching her gestures, she really did seem like the perfect fit for the next little-sister loli role.

"…So that’s the girl in question."

"Yes. …Actually, we have to thank you for her, Kayanuma-san."

"Thank me? For what, Matsuzono-san?"

"Yes. Originally, Suwabe-san had no interest in becoming an idol."

I didn’t understand why I was being thanked, but his explanation made it clear.

According to him, because of her exceptional cuteness and because she was an employee’s daughter, she had received multiple scouting offers from Fortissimo.

But every time, she turned them down since she wasn’t interested.

That attitude suddenly changed after the fourth Reitaisai two years ago.

After seeing me debut at that event, Sana-chan apparently fell for it completely and became my massive, massive fan.

From there, things moved quickly. She enrolled in Fortissimo’s affiliated training school, began lessons to become an idol, and now her debut as an eighth-generation member at this summer’s sixth Reitaisai is basically set in stone.

"I see. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen her at a handshake event? With someone that cute, I’d definitely remember."

"No… 

She wanted to go to handshake events, but once she joined the training school, the agency stopped her."

"…Is there some issue with that?"

"The agency prefers to avoid contact between pre-debut trainees and active idols as much as possible."

"Ah, right. Shion-san mentioned something like that. Even when helping at mini-lives, we basically don’t interact with the performing idols."

"Well, there are various reasons."

Maybe something happened related to who debuted and who didn’t. It wouldn’t be strange if tense rivalries existed among trainees competing for debut spots.

"…Understood. I won’t ask for details."

"Thank you."

"By the way, how many eighth-generation candidates are there?"

"Um, there are eight candidates in total. Three from the training school and five from auditions, I believe."

"I see, eight in total."

That means Sistema Solare currently has 51 members. If all the candidates debut, the total would reach 59. That suggests at least four current members might graduate.

It looks like the unpleasant season of tension among those on the borderline is coming again.