LU Chapter 3

# Chapter Three - "We Can All Level Up!"

### Junko

    Most girls our age are spending their winter break doing the usual sorts of things girls our age do. Some are catching up on sleep, embracing the few quiet days between taking exams and starting to study for their next semester. A good number are hanging out with friends or preparing to visit relatives, hoping for a bounty of envelopes to bring them a good start to the new year. Idols, however, as we all know aren't typical girls no matter the age, and our first winter break together has seen us waking up before the crack of dawn and piling into one of the big white company vans. Our destination was a studio on the other side of the city, one normally used to shoot television programs but which will spend the next two weeks acting as our personal soundstage. After going through an extensive security checkpoint and having our photos taken for our project badges, we were all packed into a large conference room near the center of the building.

    Each of us took a specific seat around the long, rectangular table made of dark hardwood. Our places were carefully and obviously marked out with small placards bearing each of our names, and I ended up sitting near the middle of the table. Looking around, the room was windowless with doors on three walls. One, through which we had entered, was a large double door that led to the hallway outside the room, and the shape of the hall we had walked down to get here made it fairly clear that one of the other doors led to the adjoining hallway. The third door was cracked open just slightly, and trying to peek inside I could just spy a desk. Maybe it's someone's office?

    Everything about this felt far more professional than most of us were used to, and it put most of us off a little bit, the stuffy atmosphere keeping us quiet instead of the usual chatting and joking that we were used to in our downtime. Despite the room containing fourteen people, no one was talking above a whisper or a low murmur, making every sound stand out as though the room were empty. Of those fourteen, twelve are people we all knew - namely, the eleven members of our group and our producer Lina. Looking up and down the table, I couldn't figure out if there was any rhyme or reason to our placement. Megumi sat at my left, nearer the head of the table, while Rinko was at my right, stuck next to Eimi. Well, "Rin! Ko!" was between Eimi and I, and for once we were in total agreement over something: namely, that it is not at all a flattering look for her. Dam-Bi was across from me, and if not for her being seated next to Akira and Anette I would have thought that perhaps the older or more experienced girls had been seated closer to the head of the table. Likewise, the other end of the table sat Kazue, Chiyo, and Yume, quashing any of my halfhearted attempts to discern why we had been placed where we were, though I was happy to see Chiyo was seated next to her favorite emotional support idol.

    At the head of the table sat a woman, probably in her forties or so, though that judgment was made based on her overall bearing and manner of behavior instead of how old she looks. She looks to be of that vague age that models get where they're obviously well into adulthood but nothing much more specific can be ascertained, and this industry has taught me that you can't readily guess someone's age if they really don't want you to. Even though her attitude is, so far, a bit icy, rejecting any attempts at interaction with anyone except our producer and the as yet unintroduced woman at her right, Caterina Rossi is renowned in the fashion world for her unmatchable sense of style, and it wouldn't be a bad guess to assume that the cream business suit, silk blouse, and pearl jewelry she's wearing are collectively worth more than everything the rest of us have on combined. True to her western roots her hair is an ashy shade of blonde with little in the way of imperfections, worn off the shoulders with a heavy wave covering much of the right side of her face with an air of mystery. Unlike our resident blonde it was obvious from the softness of the hue and thinness of the strands that her blondeness is likely natural, and Eimi grew quickly annoyed when the inevitable comparisons started. After some time she looked up from her papers and addressed us with a strong, commanding voice.

    "Good morning, young ladies. Let's begin. Before we get into the project properly there's a few matters of decorum and confidentiality to address. Firstly, before we go any further, my assistant Ms. Nanasawa is going to distribute a contract to each of you. Please read it in full and sign where indicated. Once she has confirmed everything is in order, we can move on." Ms. Rossi spoke confidently and, impressively, with perfect pronunciation for a foreigner. The dark-haired woman to her right stood and circled the table, giving everyone - even Lina - a thin manila envelope and ballpoint pen. Inside was a rather standard agreement of nondisclosure regarding what goes on during the production, not much different than what you sign to work on any set or campaign. They're simply a part of the industry, and this one seemed to be geared toward the protection of the agency I MY ME had hired to head this project. The only difference with this one from others I'd seen was near the end, where the penalties for breaking the agreement were disclosed.

    "O-One million yen!" A few of the girls muttered in surprise as they reached that section of the contract.

    "A fraction of the expense your agency is shouldering for this production, and a fraction of the profit they're expecting in return. Trust me when I say that this agreement is quite forgiving."

     In the end we all signed. We didn't have a choice, really, and since we mostly all talk with each other, and because so many of our fellow idols are working on the project in different capacities, we just need to be careful around people who aren't working on the project. It probably won't be a tough thing to manage since we're going to mostly be either in this studio or in our dorms for the next two weeks.

    Maybe we'll need to keep a tight leash on Dam-Bi, just to be safe…

    Once Ms. Rossi's assistant had collected and verified everyone's signature, the next part of our orientation continued.

    "Now, for security reasons, your phones were modified on the way into the building with security tape over the cameras. Please set them to silent for everyone's benefit. They'll be checked and resecurred each time you enter the premises. Under absolutely no conditions are you to bring any sort of camera equipment into my studio. Not on phones, tablets, laptops, watches, nor in any other form. This is a zero tolerance policy. Is this understood?"

    Again, this isn't an uncommon requirement in the industry, but the authority with which the woman spoke amplified the nervous energy in the room, leading to a series of mumbled answers.

    "It is my understanding that idols are meant to behave as proper young ladies. Answer clearly when asked a question. When in doubt, 'Yes, Ms. Rossi' will suffice."

    **"Yes, Ms. Rossi…"**

    "That's good. Now, remember where you're sitting. When you report ready for work each morning, that is where you will go unless Ms. Fujimura, Ms. Nanasawa, or I have instructed you otherwise. Exactly as you are right now. Is this also understood?"

    A few of us exchanged glances, but we were much quicker to respond this time.

    "Well then, introductions are in order now that production can officially be said to have started. I, as you may have discerned, am Caterina Rossi, and you will address me with the same respect you afford your company's CEO. I've been hired at great expense to your agency to make this project an undeniable success, so please keep in mind that whatever you may think you know about your industry, I carry the experience of dozens of campaigns much larger than this one. If you have issues, please take them to your producer. If - and only if - Ms. Fujimura deems them valid, will she then bring them to me herself on your behalf. My time is very valuable, not just to myself but to your agency, and it won't be wasted idly. Please confirm that you understand."

    **"Yes, Ms. Rossi!"** Lina looked almost happy with how quickly we responded. I bet she's going to try to get us to talk with her this way now too.

    "Better. Now please give your full attention to Ms. Nanasawa. She is my assistant on this project and you will treat her words as though they came from me directly."

    Without so much as a gesture in her direction, the woman beside Ms. Rossi stood up to address us. Unlike Ms. Rossi, Ms. Nanasawa is of clearly eastern descent - likely Japanese, by her name - and quite a bit younger. Older than us, but definitely younger than our producer. Also unlike Ms. Rossi, the woman is dressed sharply but practically, with black dress slacks, a plain black blouse, and long hair - also naturally black - pulled back in a loose ponytail. Not a fashionista at all, just your standard level of professional dress like you'd see in any office building.

    "Good morning. My name is Mori Nanasawa, but you can just call me Nana. I'm not usually a manager on big projects like this, but since I grew up not far away from here I was asked to assist to make things easier on everyone. I'm actually the lead visual designer on the video, so we'll actually be getting a lot more face time than you will with Ms. Rossi. I'm not much for formality and stuff, and we'll probably all get along fine, but do your best and try not to make me mad or I'll make your costume look terrible on you, okay?" Several of the younger girls laughed at the levity being injected into the meeting. If they're playing good-cop/bad-cop, then Nana is definitely the good cop. "Lina filled us in that she's already shared the basics of the project with you, but now that you're here we can give you a little more in the way of solid details. I'm going to pass around some of the concept sketches. Once we're done here I'm going to start meeting with each of you in my workshop so we can finalize things. We'll do a fitting on the base layers, make any last minute changes we need so you can move properly, do a makeup test, and so on. We start shooting later this week and we only have a relatively short time to film, so make sure to pay attention and give it your all. Trust me, neither of us want Ms. Rossi to have to step in."

    "Or me!" Our producer piped up for the first time since we arrived. "Rinko, take that ridiculous thing off! This is no time for jokes. I'm expecting you to be on better than your best behavior, and that goes double for Mr. Shishito. A few of you have barely debuted and you're being tossed headfirst into a gigantic project like this and I know it's going to be bewildering, but just be perfect now and freak out about it later when we're in post production, okay?"

    For Lina, that almost qualifies as sweet, even though Rinko grumbled and took off the blonde wig she'd recently fallen in love with, shaking out her hair messily as Lina shook her head silently.

    "Yes, Ms. Fujimura!" Only a single voice responded that way. It was Kazue from a few seats down toward the end of the table, probably the only one of us who didn't actually have to suck up to Lina, though our producer seemed to be quite tickled by it anyway.

    "From here we're going to break you up into groups. The next two days will be spent getting everything in order and ready to shoot. You've already recorded the audio, so all that's left is to be exceptional. You may not hear me say this again, but at this moment I'm quite happy to be working with eleven talented young women such as yourselves. Please, do your best to be a credit to your profession and keep me that way."

    Though on the surface her words sounded nice, even complimentary, there was an unspoken threat in Ms. Rossi's statement that nobody was willing to ask about.

    *What if we don't keep you happy?*, I wondered while looking around the table.

    *What would happen then?*

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