Arc-3 SS-03

 After finishing the weekend practice session, Sayaka-san and I, both from the same mini-live group, were resting together in the break room when Yuka Tatsumura-san, with whom we had almost no prior contact, came in.

“Excuse me. …Good morning.”

“Good morning, Tatsumura-san.”

“Good morning.”

In the entertainment industry, the standard greeting is “good morning” regardless of the time of day, whether it is morning, noon, or evening.

Since we are inside the production company, “hello” would probably be fine, but we match it to avoid any mistake.

“…If I remember correctly, you are from the sixth generation…”

“Yes. I am Sayaka Matsunobe from the sixth generation.”

“And I am Chie Sekiguchi, same generation.”

Of course, we had already exchanged greetings and introductions before debut, but it seemed she had not memorized our names.

Well, that is only natural. She has been in the top internal group Schus Sola since the first generation, while Chie and the others are newcomers.

“May I sit here?”

“Y-Yes. Of course.”

“Please do.”

We shifted to make space, lining up side by side with Sayaka-san, and Yuka-san took the seat across from us.

Since the table is round, it is not a perfect face-to-face arrangement.

“Phew… Matsunobe-san, if I recall correctly, you came from ‘Triple Entertainment,’ right?”

“Yes. That also makes me your junior, Tatsumura-san.”

“That’s right. Back in Yuka’s time, there was a famous instructor named Oda-san.”

“Ah, the one with the shaved head and the distinctive way of speaking… It seems he is still there even now.”

“That person is still around… I thought he was quite old already.”

Listening to the two of them talk, it became clear they shared the same idol training school background.

When Schus Sola was first formed, the Fortissimo training school was still weak in the idol department, so many of the first-generation members came from other training schools.

Around that time, I had heard that they began putting serious effort into idol development, which led to the establishment of the affiliated training school.

“By the way, why are you in this break room today?”

“The air conditioning in the usual one seems to have broken down. It's under repair and unusable.”

“Is it because this building is so old?”

I had not been able to join in on the training school conversation, but since the topic had shifted, I interjected.

“Our agency has been around for a long time.”

“That is why we are strong in film and drama-related work, but we still have a long way to go with singing.”

Schus Sola, to which Chie also belongs, is leading the charge in pioneering that area.

“I think there are advantages once you graduate from being an idol.”

“If it is acting work, you will probably get introductions.”

Yuka-san must be approaching the point where graduation is starting to come into view.

For Chie, who is also in the little-sister type category, this is a topic of great interest.

There are also rumors that a true successor candidate will appear among next year’s eighth generation.

When I saw her during a visit to observe the mini-lives, she really was a beautiful girl on par with Mikuri-san.

If she stays looking exactly like that without growing much taller, the little-sister type members from each generation might never get their chance to shine.

I was thinking that I would prefer if she grew normally in height, when the sound of the door being unlocked with a clack came from the entrance.

Next came a knock, and someone entered while greeting us.

“…Excuse me.”

The person who came in was Mikuri-san, the very one I had just been thinking about a moment ago.

When she saw the three of us surrounding the table, her eyes opened just a little wider.

“Mikuri-san!! Good morning!! ♪”

“Good morning. Chie-chan, Sayaka-san… and Yuka-san too, good morning.”

She is probably surprised to see Yuka-san here and sitting together with Chie and the others.

Mikuri-san is also aware that there is practically no connection between us.

“Yuka-san, so you were here today. I had heard you had work.”

“The new CM shoot finished earlier than expected, so I decided to drop by.”

Mikuri-san came over to the same table and sat down next to Yuka-san, talking with her.

Regarding the CM topic that came up, I know that new offers have also come in for Mikuri-san.

“Speaking of CMs, Mikuri-san apparently received new offers as well.”

Although we talk a lot on the phone, it has been a while since we actually met in person. Not wanting to miss the chance, I joined their conversation.

“It seems there are two talks in progress. I have heard both are leaning toward acceptance.”

Mikuri-san responded with a smile.

Just seeing that face makes happiness well up inside Chie’s heart.