EE Prologue

# Prologue - "A Pastel Project"

### Ai

    My name is Ai Nakajima. I'm the biggest Lunula ever. That is to say, I'm a big supporter of Interlunium, my favorite idol group. That's what we call ourselves… I… I helped come up with it, along with some of the other girls online. It means "little moon". It's kind of cute, right? I help out with their fan clubs. We're talking about starting a newsletter, which I think could be fun. But I try to support them as much as I can, because other than that, I'm not sure what I'm really very good for. I'm kind of trying to become an idol myself, so I can sing and dance okay, but not as well as most of my group. If I have a specialty, I guess it would probably be…

    I'm… still trying to figure that out.

    "Hurry up. Akiyama-sama gave us very strict instructions. Pick up the microphones she ordered and come straight back to the dorm. You're dawdling, Ai-chan." The pink-haired pixie sent along to help me on my errand is Erika Horie, my youngest group mate. You know, the famous one. She's… I've never met anyone else quite like Erika-chan…

    "I'm not dawdling! I'm just watching where I'm going. People don't move out of the way for me like they do for you for some reason…"

    "It's because you aren't confident. If you look confident, people will move out of the way, even if you're small like us. So… do that, so we can hurry on home."

    "Why're you suddenly so concerned with being late?"

    "I'm trying to decide on my character traits for the group. You know, for the story. It's important we all have a role to play. It's what idol fans expect. Akiyama-sama is the smart and serious leader who's also a popular girl. Peterson-sama is the laid-back one who's into spooky things. And Song-sama is the friendly one who buys me milkshakes. So all that's taken."

    "Those aren't all quite accurate…"

    They were all sort of half correct, though I couldn't guess at whether this was Erika purposely pretending to not know us very well or if it was her genuine perception of us. Still, what does she mean by choosing her character traits? I'd met an idol once who was a lot different onstage than when she was in class, but I just figured that all idols are more energetic and happy when they're performing, because that's when they're making people happy.

    Do idols really act a special way when they're onstage or for their fans? If they do, then that could mean that any idol could just be making things up anytime you talk to them. Could they really just say things they don't mean…?

    I remember what she said to me as though it had just happened minutes ago, not nearly a week. *"Well, I'm glad to have such a cute fan as you."*

    "N-Nonono! You're supposed to be yourself! That way your fans can get to know you for who you really are. If you're not showing them who you really are, then who are they even cheering for?" Which one of us was I trying to convince? Erika-chan's tiny, mocking laughs made me think it wasn't working anyway.

    "And that's why you're the dumb, idealistic one. I think I'm going to play a good girl, since I'm the baby of the group. Always helping out my senpais with errands and chores, studying really hard to get good grades, really goody two shoes stuff. A perfect widdle angel." She gazed up at me and batted her eyelashes like little wings. All she needed was a tiny halo and her disguise would be perfect… which she probably already owned. It was obvious she'd practiced this kind of act before.

    She's wearing a pink and baby blue version of our school uniform, which she changed into after class was over. I wouldn't put it past her to have *anything* in her closet.

    Hey, wait…

    "I-I'm not dumb…"

    "I just need a good hook so people will really want to love me. Beyond being the cutest, most adorable one, of course. That's gonna happen no matter what. Maybe I should be an orphan? A poor little girl rescued from the streets by The Pastels, and immediately made their leader. Nah, nobody would believe that, Koko's too famous. Everyone knows I'm not technically an orphan. Hmm."

    "Why don't you just be yourself? You're usually kind of… niceish. I think that'd probably work just fine…"

    "Ai-chan, I had no clue you were a successful actor. I must have missed your body of work when I was busy shooting all those commercials and tv shows."

    She's right.

    She definitely needs to figure something out so she's not so rude!

    I hurried up, trying to be as big and confident-looking as I could so we could get this errand over with, lifting my chin and even rushing ahead of Erika to prove that I could do it. The first person, a man in a business suit, stepped to the side as I passed. So did the woman and small child who walked around me next. It's working! The third person, however, was either not as sure of my confidence or hadn't been paying attention, and crashed into me in front of a little corner convenience store. While I tried my best to untie my tongue and apologize to the girl, an annoyingly cute, high pitched laughter rang out from a short distance behind me as me and the girl untangled our limbs and bags from one another.

    "I'm so sorry! I was walking too fast! Please forgive me! Are you okay?" How embarrassing!

    "I wasn't paying attention! I walked right into you! I'm sorry too!" The girl bowed slightly, even though her shopping bag and mine were still twisted together. I mimicked the gesture, only lower, to signify how sorry I was for the unwanted contact. We must have looked ridiculous, as more than one person was laughing at us now.

    "Please forgive my friend. She doesn't always pay as much attention to where she's going as she should." A cute, cultured voice spoke to me, trying to shift the blame to the girl I'd impacted upon. It didn't help. I was still half-panicking. What if the girl ran off, dragging my bag and Mariya's special order off with her? I could never go back to the room if that happened. I'd need to work for a year just to replace one of those microphones! "Rinko, cut it out, you're embarrassing her."

    "S-Sorry Miss! I'm sure we can… uh…" As she pulled frantically at our tangled bags, knotting them together more tightly, her friend grabbed her arm and yanked the handles away from her. A few deft tugs on the straps by the second girl and my bag was my own again.

    "Thank you so much, Miss!“ I bowed again, though this time to my savior, and once I had finished groveling I froze completely as I realized who it was I had just ran into. She'd called the girl Rinko… How did I not notice her right away? That's definitely Rinko Hanazawa I ran into. How could I do that in front of one of my favorite idols? W-Wait. If that's Rinko, then isn't it possible that the girl with her is…

    "J-Junko?!" I could die right now from embarrassment…

    "Oh, you recognize me? Are you a fan?"

    I was, as had become my custom, stricken mute in her presence. I nodded the best I could, transfixed by those one-of-a-kind sea-green eyes she was already growing famous for, and felt like I was gonna faint.

    "Oh, it's you." She smiled a little bit. Does she… remember me? No, she wouldn't… "My number one fan. How lovely to see you again." My vision narrowed into increasingly smaller circles until it was barely a pinprick, and I'm positive I would have actually passed out if not for my errand-buddy stepping in.

    "Rinko Hanazawa! Five feet, two inches! One-hundred and two pounds if you've had extra dessert! Birthday, May Twentieth! Blood type, O-Positive! Leader of the most popular group of idols to premiere in recent history! Your favorite flower is pink roses! This is perfect" I had no idea what Erika was doing. She seemed to be shouting all of the confused idol's statistics from their website at her, making her - and Junko, and me - more confused with each new Rinko factoid. "I figured it out! Hanazawa-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Erika Horie, center idol of The Pastels, an up and coming idol group. Please call me Erika-chan until you select a more personal nickname for me. I'm going to be playing the role of your little sister from now on, so let's become really great friends, okay?"

    "...J-Junko? They never told us what to do if this happens…" The most confused idol stammered.

    "Ai, isn't it?" Junko remembers my name… JUNKO REMEMBERS MY NAME! I may still faint… "Is this girl-"

    "I'm Erika-chan. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Junko-sama."

    "Right. Ai, is Erika-chan with you? She's awfully friendly, but…"

     Erika pouted a bit now that both girls' attention was no longer focused squarely on her. She probably thought whatever she was trying would go over better than it had.

    "Surely you're familiar with me. The grape juice commercials? My famous campaign for the dairy industry? Last month's pivotal episode of *Psychic Detective Kawasaki?* I played the adorable three thousand year old vampire."

    "Ohhhhh. You're on the posters for flavored milk at the convenience store! I love the chocolate kind!" Rinko perked up, now that the strange girl harassing her wasn't a total stranger. Erika-chan took a noticeably deep breath, and from where I was standing I could see her fists clench behind her back, out of view of the two other girls. How could they have known how passionate she is about flavored milks?

    "Chocolate is the best seller, but next time you should try the strawberry. It's my favorite, and I should know, right Nee-san?"

    "I guess you're right." Rinko laughed at Erika's logic, though it wasn't clear if she believed it or not. "But I'm not your sister. My little sister is taller." She held her hand out above Erika's head, just about level with her own.

    "But Nee-saaan…" Erika-chan's voice was somehow even more sickeningly sweet than usual, and I swore she'd managed to make herself look somehow even smaller than usual. "Do you mean I'm not cute enough to be your adorable widdle sis?" Are those… actual tears…?

    "No! You're really adorable! I'd love it if you could be my little sister, but-"

    "Well then… pwease be my Nee-san?"

    Rinko looked at me as though she wanted guidance, then at Junko, and then they were both looking at me. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. I have no more of a clue what's going on than they do. Possibly even less, having never encountered a fan of my own before while they must have run into hundreds already. The only upside was that I was too confused right alongside them to realize that I was actually right alongside *her* physically, otherwise I probably would have panicked.

    "Junko, look at her… She's so cute… Can I keep her? Please? I promise I'll take care of her…" Rinko doted on Erika, pinching her cheeks just like in an anime as the younger girl smiled and cooed.

    "Rinko, she's not like Artie. We can't just…" In the span it took her to say that sentence and a half, Rinko knelt down on the sidewalk and started happily hugging her new little sister. Junko let out a sigh, then gave up her protest. "I mean I guess you can be friends or whatever. It's kind of weird because she's so young, but I guess there's nothing technically wrong with it…"

    "Um. Well… If it helps, she's actually sixteen. She just looks really young. Though maybe that makes it weirder…"

    "Oh, I didn't know you were so young." There was a faint look of surprise on Junko's perfect face.

    "M-Me? I'm not... I'm the same age as you. I mean, seventeen. But I'm in my third year just like you, so I'll be eighteen… I know you're eighteen because your website says so, and because I'm your… biggest… um…"

    "My biggest fan. I remember." She tucked a long strand of her perfectly pink hair behind her perfectly pink ear and kept her hand behind her head awkwardly for a moment. "Though you're not very big at all, are you? You must take good care of yourself."

    "W-Well, I've been eating better and working out a lot, so I've put on almost two pounds lately, so I'm getting…" She laughed, thinking perhaps that I was joking. It's true though. I think it's mostly all been in my legs thanks to the training Erika-chan and Tae-Eun have been putting us through, but you can't really tell. Or at least I can't. None of my clothes feel any different…

    "Junko, me and Erika-chan are going to go get a snack. Do you and Erika-chan's friend wanna come with us?"

    Junko placed the tips of her fingers to the side of her head and shook it slightly. "I think we'd better chaperone so Rinko doesn't try to move her into our dorm room. Would you mind? Maybe I can get to know my best fan a little better." My whole body felt like it was on fire. Erika can do whatever she wants from now on for this. I don't care how annoying she is. I'm never going to complain again.

    I nodded my head as hard as I could, though it barely obeyed my command to move at all, my chin waving up and down just slightly, which Junko seemed to find amusing.

    "Maybe by the time we're done you'll even be able to talk to me. That may be nice, too."

    She took pity on me in my pathetic state and took my hand - it was really warm despite it being so cold out - and held it the entire way to the bakery, following our respective friends the entire way.

    "Have you been here before?" Junko asked me warmly. She'd been smiling since I encountered her. Not a big, flashy smile like Erika’s been wearing, or a giggly smile like Rinko, or even a goofy, uncontrollable smile like I've been stuck with, but a pretty, understated smile. The kind you would make if you were in her shoes - beautiful, classy, mysterious, trendy, and a smashing success overnight. The kind of smile that makes your heart go pitter-patter if she aims it in your direction, even if it's impossible that it could be meant for you, or caused by you, or have anything much to do with you in any way.

    "Y-Yeah. A couple times. Our friend Tae-Eun likes to come here."

    "Tae-Eun… I think I've met your friend several times. Silver hair, cute sense of style, a little strange at times?" Junko was one-hundred percent correct. I'd seen the photo to prove it.

    I'm still a little upset at Tae-Eun for that…

    "That's her. Song-sama is friends with your group mate Han-sama. They're best frenemies. Not best friends like us." Erika batted her eyelashes at her new sister while taking a sip of an almost comically sized milkshake.

    Rinko scratched her chin for a moment then practically shouted, "So you guys are in Dam-Bi's friend's idol group?!" Rinko finally made the connection as to who we are. Apparently they had heard of us, at least conceptually. Though given the lively trash talking Tae-Eun does with Dam-Bi, I would have thought they'd have heard more about us.

    "We are. We're The Pastels. Tae-Eun's probably mentioned us when she's visiting Dam-Bi."

    "We're your nemeses. Just so you're aware." Erika took another long sip of her milkshake while Rinko looked at her awaiting an explanation, then across the table to me and finally Junko, as though any of us would recognize the word. "It means we're your rivals. But we love you too. We're your loving rivals. In fact, Ai-chan here *especially* loves-"

    "Interlunium!" Everyone looked at me like I was suddenly crazy. "I… really love Interlunium. We all do. You're all so great. Right, Erika-chan?"

    "Yup. *I especially love my new Nee-san.*"

    Rinko squealed with delight. Erika had her under her spell even more quickly than Kohaku and Mariya. We're all guilty of playing her little game, and even Tae-Eun has come to treat Erika a bit like a little sister. Though, given that she actually has plenty of experience with younger siblings it's possible that actually backfired on the younger girl, as Tae-Eun seems to be uniquely suited to treating Erika with the firm hand the rest of us seem unable to, milkshake or not. Still, none of us are prone to lavishing Erika with such enthusiastic hugs and attention quite like Rinko, who seems to have embraced her role in Erika's delusion wholeheartedly.

    "My, rivals already? Who knew that our debut would upset so many people." Junko said, though she smiled coyly directly at me after staring intensely at our friends' display of sisterly affection.

    "We aren't upset! We just want to be as amazing as you all are! Your debut was amazing! We were there, r-remember? P-Please don't be mad!"

    Junko narrowed her eyes and leaned in close, as though she were trying to examine my pores, or perhaps read my chakras or one of the other things I don't understand that Kohaku insists on doing with us. She glared at me so intensely that I swear I could feel her eyes burning a hole through me, and her face was so close that if I turned to face her we would almost be… We'd practically end up… Lips… The fuzzy feeling in my head dispersed when my kamioshi gently touched my hand atop my lap.

    "I remember. How could I get mad at my cutest fan? Especially now that I know you're an idol like we are. Isn't *Ai* cute, *Rinko?*"

    And then it rushed back with a vengeance. *C-Cutest…*

    I ate one of the yuzu macarons Junko insisted on treating me to. At least nobody would expect me to speak with my mouth full.

    "Nee-san, aren't Junko-sama and Ai-chan cute together? Do you read a lot? I do, and all my best books have lots of cute girls in them. They look like they're right out of one of those. Isn't it fun watching cute idols do things together?" My mouth almost dropped open. Wh-What is Erika doing?

    "Yeah! That's why I wanted to become an idol. Everyone feels happy when they're around cute things, and idols are the cutest! Right, Junko?"

    "Of course. That's why we were a duo. We're much cuter as idols together than apart, don't you think?" Junko didn't seem especially happy with Erika's comments either…

    "I bet if you come to see us debut you'll love us, and then you can be *each other's* cutest fans." Erika gave me a completely obvious wink as she took another giant sip of her milkshake. "Nee-san, am I *your* cutest fan?" Erika said in a sickeningly saccharine voice, fluttering her eyelashes, preventing Rinko from acknowledging Junko's remark.

    "Of course you are! Sooo cute!"

    "Would you like a sip of my milkshake? It's strawberry."

    Rinko took a sip, then offered her new little sister a bite of her apple pastry, which was graciously accepted. They're already acting like they’re actually sisters. Erika even gave her another big hug, like she was trying to train Rinko. I used to do the same thing with the animals on the farm, feeding morsels of my lunch to them so they'd let me pet them, but there's no way something so simple could ever work on someone as smart as the leader of Interlunium.

    "Why don't you tell us about your group? I didn't think Starsphere really did ensembles anymore." Junko addressed me, but Erika took the chance to intercept the request.

    "They don't. But we're extra special." Erika explained, bereft of any further details, leaving it to me.

    "We're not as big as Interlunium. There's only five of us, not seven, so we're-"

    "We're recruiting more!" Rinko interrupted. "Lots more!"

    H-Huh?!

    "It's supposed to be a secret, but I suppose there's no harm in announcing it a little early to our biggest fans. Rinko's always planned for Interlunium to grow larger. We just needed to wait for the newest training class to pass exams." A warm hand tapped mine slowly four times before coming to rest over it on top of the table. "Please keep it a secret though. We're still not entirely sure how it's going to work. We can trust you though, right?" Spilling the secret like this must be embarrassing for such professional idols, since Junko was practically blushing.

    "D-Don't worry. We won't tell *anyone*. I promise!"

    "Nee-san, do you want to hear about my group?" Erika asked sweetly, and with a couple nods of Rinko's head she had brought us back to our interrupted topic. "There are five of us. Mariya Akiyama-sama is our leader, and she's Mr. Akiyama-shachou's baby girl, so we get to do some things other groups can't, like have five members. It was Ai-chan's idea though. She even picked the name. Isn't Ai talented, Junko-sama?"

    "I didn't do that much. I-I just asked if we could do it. Mariya is my roommate, so…"

    "I see." Junko grinned, amused by Erika's story. "So it was your idea to form your group? Just like Rinko. And you chose the name, too? That *is* very impressive. I've always been fond of pastels. They're so bright and cheery, it's hard not to smile when you see them." She touched the sleeve of my favorite pullover - the same one that I was wearing the first time we met, and the second, and now the third.

    In fact, this was the only thing she had ever seen me in, further testament to how unlikely it was that she was interested in anything other than being kind to a fan. In truth, her compliment was the reason I thought it would make a good name for a group, but telling her that would be way too embarrassing. I can only imagine how Interlunium got such a perfect name. They probably ran through thousands of choices, seriously market testing each of them until they found an absolutely perfect name to build a group around. Even the way they formed their group is perfect. Four up and coming star idols and the two hottest new talents at their label coming together to form a supergroup so amazing that rumor has it even a superstar like Eimi Inagawa was begging them to be allowed to join.

    How can we possibly be their rivals? Most of us weren't even sure we wanted to be idols until a few weeks ago…

    "Ai-chan is the center of our group. Not onstage. I'm the *center* center, but she's like the group's…"

    "Heart?" Junko guessed, making me blush into my melon soda.

    "Mastermind!" Rinko guessed as well, rather excitedly, but that would probably be Mariya.

    "No, that would be Akiyama-sama. Ai-chan's more like our mascot. She's our Momo."

    "Cuz of the orange hair!" Erika's new big sister shouted and pointed, happy to have solved what I think she thought was a riddle or brain teaser. What's wrong with my hair? Do I really look like a hamster…?

    "Erika-chan, that's not very nice of you to tease your friend like that. Ai is much cuter than a hamster." I could feel slender fingers playing with my hair, though I couldn't be sure what it meant. Cuter than a hamster doesn't necessarily mean I'm not at all like a hamster, and if I remind Junko of Momo then that would explain her urge to pet me…

    "Oh no! Junko! We've gotta go!" Rinko jumped up as she said that, knocking the table and nearly spilling my still mostly full bottle of ramune, if not for Junko's quick hand steadying it.

    "Already? But we're having such a delightful-"

    "I forgot! The reason I wanted to go for a walk is because Lina needed me to pick up this stuff for her ASAP. We were supposed to be back a half hour ago!" The brunette took off with a start and ran toward the door. Next to me Junko laughed. I wish I could be that confident. If I were a half hour late for something I would be a nervous wreck.

    "Bye-bye, Nee-san! I'll text you!"

    Rinko giggled where she stood, waving goodbye frantically.

    "This was a lot of fun. I'll email you… if that's alright? We can get together again sometime soon, once we're back from our group-building exercise this weekend." Junko's voice was quiet but smooth. Of course I didn't expect her to actually contact me. That's just the sort of thing you say to a fan to be polite. But I shook my head up and down as hard as I could anyway while she laughed at my reaction.

    "Junkooo!"

    "We'd better go. Erika-chan, it was lovely meeting you. Ai, good luck with your pastel project. I'll look forward to becoming your biggest fan, too."

    Not even a moment later and they were both gone, with only a lingering heat in my head leftover.

    "That… That didn't go that badly…"

    "See, Ai-chan? That's why you're the dumb one. You should have gotten her phone number so you can text, like me and Rinko-Neesan." Erika's cellphone waggled as she taunted me before she flicked her thumbs rapidly across the screen. Probably texting her new sister already.

    "Did you hear what she said though? Right before they left. *'Pastel Project'*…"

  \_\_\_\_

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