ID Chapter 2

# Chapter Two - "The Perfect Lyrics"

    Our leader flung the office door open and shouted at us, clutching a pad of paper in her hands, bringing our individual conversations to an immediate halt. She walked confidently to the center of the room, though she looked a bit of a mess. Her hair was lightly frazzled and flat on one side, and black ink was smudged in a few long lines across part of her face. I nervously looked to the girls around me to try and glean an idea of how I should react. Despite a week having passed, and our first appearance having already happened, I was still the newest of us all to the business of being an idol, and was finding it a little difficult adjusting to this new life. Beyond it being so busy, leaving precious little time for sleep when combined with school, I was finding it highly confusing because no two members of my group ever seemed to act exactly the same.

    Right now for instance, their reactions to a single proclamation by Rinko were all over the place. Eimi, who was both our newest member, replacing my status as the "new girl", as well as our most experienced member by a great deal, laughed loudly, pointing at the pen marks on Rinko's face in a way that I wouldn't have expected. Our next most experienced member was nothing but supportive, immediately stopping her conversation with Junko about exactly what sorts of fabric would be best for our new costumes and sitting quietly, her attention having shifted absolutely over to what our leader had to say. Junko, our prettiest member and Rinko's roommate, had an expression that I can only describe as trepidation, as though she was almost afraid of what was going to come out of Rinko's mouth next. The only girl who had so far made a real effort to get to know me - and was becoming something like a good friend - did have a look similar to Junko's, though Chiyo is a nervous person in general, and it's likely she may have had the same cute little look of worry even if Rinko had just announced she had figured out what we were going to have for dinner. Our final member, of course, merely smiled pleasantly at the news, just as she did nearly every time I'd seen her. A little bit creepy, but since she tended to break it up with really good points and observations, I have a feeling that behind the pretty smile there's a whole lot going on that we aren't privy to.

    Absent any consensus over how we were supposed to be feeling, it seemed best to just pretend to be tired and see what was going to happen.

    "Ok! I know it was quick, but it took six tries, and I think this is finally exactly the type of lyrics I was imagining!

    "Oh? Wow, that's actually impressive. Let's hear ‘em then." Our producer was right. If she hadn't even started this morning, writing lyrics for an entire song in just a few hours - plus taking a nap by the looks of it - did seem pretty impressive.

    Everyone watched intently as our leader opened up her notebook to the correct page and took a deep breath.

>     *"Let's dance! Come on, take my hand and let's go, farther than ever be-efore.*
>
>
> *Let's go and dance, I'll lead you to the destination, take my hand and go!*
>
>
> *We've gotta dance! Go dancing! Dancing in the street! Yeah, dancing even o-on the train!*
>
>
> *Yeah, you can take my hand, and we can dance together - all night, 'til the dawn!*
>
>
>
> *Yeah, baby, dance, dance, dance! Till you can't anymore, it'll be real fun!"*
>
>

    I didn't even need to glance around to know that everyone in the room was thinking that a mistake may have been made, but I did anyway, just in case I had perhaps missed something in Rinko's performance. Megumi was still smiling sweetly, though a few trails of sweat were winding down her temples. My friend looked even more like herself than ever, her eyes tearing up. No doubt we would be talking about this a whole lot later, but for now I subtly reached over and touched her hand to let her know she wasn't alone and didn't have to worry… at least not as much. Junko had slunk down on the couch like she was trying to hide, while next to her Dam-Bi's face - normally quite emotive - looked as though it had encountered a computing error and had no clue how to process the song that had just been input. Eimi, lastly, merely looked terrified, as though the song were capable of doing her some actual, physical harm. I just slid my headphones over my ears, hoping I would be able to pretend I had missed the entire thing.

    Lina quickly cut the spirited girl off. Rinko had this big smile, as if she was expecting to be praised for her efforts. Sadly for her, everyone in the room was hoping this was some sort of joke…

    "Well? It's great, right?!"

    None of us wanted to be the first one to say anything. Usually, Eimi would probably have been the first to have said something - she had the most experience to draw on in matters like these - but she was managing to hold her tongue very well. Lina looked at us, appraised the situation, and took the unpleasant task upon herself.

    "Um... I think… they need… some more work?" With that out in the open, the girls mustered up the courage to speak somewhat honestly. Not completely honestly, but at least in the ballpark.

    "Yeah, they were… nice. But it was a little repetitive!" Dam-Bi chimed in. "Lots of dancing…"

    "Yes, and I think that, uhh, they could flow a little better!" Chiyo spoke carefully, trying to be polite about it all.

    "Ms. Hanazawa, if I may, maybe it would be better to allow us to help? I'm sure we could make something wonderful if we worked together!" Megumi maintained her vulpine expression throughout, trying to offer assistance instead of critique.

    Rinko looked confused as to what was being suggested. "So... they're good but they just need a little work, right?" She smiled, looking at Junko as if expecting her roommate to back her up. The pink-haired beauty looked pained, which was unpleasant to see.

    "I'd maybe start from scratch, just to get a new perspective." She tried to sound optimistic, despite the general mood in the room being confusion and disappointment. Rinko seemed to get the picture, her smile wilting slightly around the edges and becoming more an accessory than a feeling.

    "I-I think I'll give it one more shot. Wait here. I'll be right back!" Without another word, she rushed out of the room, leaving her group and producer to ponder what exactly had just happened.

    Eimi couldn't hold herself back anymore, it seemed. "That was so… She… Oh, my. I..." The blonde bit her lip, trying to keep her composure.

    "Ms. Inagawa, you seem to be overheating. I'm feeling a bit flush from all these people in one tiny office as well, would you like to accompany me on a walk?" The blonde seemed to find that idea acceptable, immediately grabbing her bag and heading toward the door.

    "Of course! Let's go!" The two girls gathered their things and left, with Dam-Bi excusing herself as well.

    "I have to go... lay down or stretch or… something. I'm feeling a little light-headed."

    When I agreed to join Interlunium - or more precisely the unnamed group that would become Interlunium - I was flattered. It wasn't even my first day on the job and already a bunch of idols wanted me to work with them. Even when I'd learned that they weren't all exactly successful, it didn't bother me. Dam-Bi Han is pretty well known around here, enough so that people usually sing one of her songs nearly every open mic night I attend. Junko and Megumi *look* like they know exactly what they're doing - especially Junko - and if they have the idol look down, I figure that that's the hard part. Even finding out that Chiyo is essentially brand new to this like I am wasn't a bad thing. Having someone else inexperienced actually made this first week easier because it meant that I didn't have to be the one to ask every stupid question that came into my head. We got to share that embarrassment, and I think that's a big part of why we get along so well. We're sort of the same. Well, that and because Momo is so adorable, but she's more of a perk of friendship than a reason for it. And Eimi Inagawa… even the people around here who have no interest in idols have heard her stuff thanks to I MY ME's marketing machine, and I can't even count the number of times I've heard *Milk Tea Galaxy* belted out at open mic, so hearing that she was even *potentially* interested meant that this group must be a big deal. So whoever had been tapped to lead a group like that has to have some serious talent… right?

    For the first time though, it seemed everyone was questioning Rinko's capabilities. Junko, Chiyo, and I all looked at each other. Lina had turned around in her chair and was doing the thing where she pretends that nobody else is in the office. Chiyo started to tear up again, despite my attempt to comfort her.

    "Junko... You're not gonna leave too, are you?" Now the only experienced idol left in the room, Junko seemed to realize she was going to have to step up a little bit for our sake.

    "No! I'll stay here, don't worry!" Her words didn't help much, despite being somewhat of a comfort, and only made Chiyo burst into tears.

    "Isn't there something you can do? I'm no lyricist, but even I could tell those were... were… not good at all!" It seemed my green-haired friend was putting quite a lot of faith in Junko, and getting awfully close to her. Junko blushed, from embarrassment over the proximity or just the attention - I can't be sure - but I could tell she was trying to think of the right thing to say. She looked to me, as if looking for help, but what could I do to help someone like her? I must have looked just as pitiful as a puppy begging for leftover food at the moment, so as much as I may have wanted to come to her aid, and do more for Chiyo, I simply didn't have the experience to do so.

    "I'm not a lyricist either, but I'm sure Rinko was just tired from a long week! She'll do better on the next try! Nobody ever gets it right their first time."

    Lina couldn't help but chime in from across the room, despite having detached herself from the situation.

    "If she can't get it on the next one, I'll just have the composer do it. We can't waste a ton of time waiting for her to suddenly get good at writing lyrics. She can try again if you guys get another song down the road."

   "What?! She'll be heartbroken..." Junko suddenly looked just as pathetic as Chiyo and I. Chiyo by now had locked herself onto our senior's arm, causing them both to lose their balance and collide back on the couch. They both seemed not to mind too much, both being too busy in their own worlds to notice. Plus, it is a couch, so it can't have been too uncomfortable in the first place.

    As they were dealing with that situation, Junko trying to sit up without removing Chiyo too firmly, I looked around the room, trying to think of any way in which I may be able to help. I perked up when I saw a small notebook poking out of Junko's bag. As stealthily as possible, while they were both distracted, I leaned over to the table next to the couches and snatched the little blue notebook. I sat quickly back onto the couch and flipped it open to a random page. There, in neat handwriting, was written the following stanza:

> *There's something about the way it shines*
>
>
> *Nostalgia floats through the deepest night*
>
>
> *From all the darkness it illuminates*
>
>
>
> *Nostalgia floats through the deepest night*
>
>

    "Junko... You write really beautiful poetry..." Both Chiyo and Junko snapped their heads to look at me.

    "My notes! How did you get that?!" She looked both confused and a little upset, her face turning a shade of pink that, if anything, made her sea-green eyes stand out even more. Chiyo's tears stopped and her eyes lit up, a reaction almost as nice as and not entirely unlike watching the sun come out from behind a storm cloud, as she understood exactly what I was suggesting.

    "Come on, Junko! Can't you help her? Or write it for her?"

    "I...I can only write short poems… Lyrical poetry is a whole different thing! Plus she really wants to do it herself. If I did try to help, she'd just feel like a failure…" Despite both Chiyo and I having faith that this was something well within her abilities to accomplish - or at least offer assistance - Junko remained adamant that this was not the case. "I-I can't do that to her…"

    What could we say to that? It was pretty clear to me how much she cared about Rinko. She was right of course, in her own way, but wouldn't it hurt Rinko even more for her efforts to be rejected completely by Lina than to compromise and make this a group effort? But, as the two least senior members, if everyone else's minds were made up, what was there that we could do? There was only one thing I could think of.

    "Do you guys want to go get some dinner? I'm kinda hungry…"

\_\_\_\_

# Chapter Navigation

* Next Chapter
* Previous Chapter
* Back to Contents