LU Chapter 6

# Chapter Six - "Morning Routine"

### Junko

    "Well, I'm glad to hear that your first day on set was so… exciting for all of you." Ms. Rossi addressed all of us around the conference table with a rather substantial dressing of flat sarcasm. "I had hoped we would avoid this sort of lecture, but it seems my high standards weren't adequately communicated. Of course, I blame only myself. Subsequently, there will be a few changes going into effect with the production today to make things more… efficient. We start shooting tomorrow, so please make sure you're all prepared by the end of today, and do try to have this all out of your system by then. Expect to have your final fittings this afternoon. Ms. Nanasawa will be overseeing that once we're done here. Ms. Fujimura, you had something you wished to add?"

    "*Several things*, thank you. Okay girls… Knock it off! I know being on a live set is exciting for all of you, but when you're told to report somewhere, you need to do it right away. ***And stay there until you're done.*** No sneaking off to explore the set or the rest of the building. Which brings us to the props. Some of them are very expensive. They are not toys. What do you think that means, Akira?"

    "Ah, uhm… No challenging Rinko to swordfights? But it was for a good reason! You see, it was a duel-"

    "There's nothing you can say that will make it acceptable. Absolutely no sword fights on set unless it's part of your training or practicing the choreography. Now what else?"

    "Oh! I know!" Next to me, Rinko raised her hand high and jumped halfway out of her chair. Lina rolled her eyes and took a chug from her bottle - some kind of coffee flavored energy potion that seems to be popular among the staff in the studio - and waved Rinko to go on. "No fights with any of the other weapons either, even if they aren't swords!"

    "Technically, I guess you're correct. No fighting with the props, no playing with the props, no *sleeping* on the props, *Ms. Mitsuboshi*. Just leave the props alone."

    My little sis opened her eyes and looked at Lina, flushing fairly pink. "Sorry, Lina… I didn't mean to cause problems…"

    "Just don't do it again, okay? There's one more rule about the props. This one is extremely important. Ms. Chanel, can you fill us in on what you think that rule may be?"

    "Ah, moi? Um… No eating when in costume!" Anette acted surprised to be called on from right next to Lina, despite cradling the reason for this new rule in her arms.

    "That's also a decent rule, so let's add that to the list. Thank you, Anette, for that well thought out addition. But I was thinking of something to do more specifically with the props. The props, Anette, that are supposed to be near the stage so they're ready for shooting?"

    "I know what you're talking about, Ms. Fujimura!" Kazue raised her hand proudly. We all knew what Lina meant though. At least, everyone except Anette. "It's her guitar. She shouldn't have it right now."

    "Ah! Oh I see! Non! This is a mandolin, not a guitar. You see, I am a method actor, so for the next two weeks I must *be the bard*, and no bard would be caught without their trusty instrument! Plus, Mademoiselle Kanon is teaching me how to play. She already taught me one chord. See?" Anette carefully positioned her left hand at the bridge of the instrument and strummed her right quickly, filling the room with an only slightly off-tune sound, of which Anette looked blissfully proud.

    "It actually wouldn't hurt for her to get used to holding it so it looks more natural when she's moving around with it on stage. But how about you don't try sneaking it home anymore, okay? Does that feel like a fair compromise?"

    Anette weighed Nana's offer and graciously accepted. "Oui. That way I won't fall behind on my melodica practice. This will be acceptable."

    "And please, Ms. Chanel, none of that in the conference room. This many people are noisy enough without a soundtrack. Now that that's out of the way, we're going to have some changes to the schedule today to make up for time lost yesterday. Your producer will pass those around, along with tomorrow's call sheet. From now on you will each get an updated itinerary by the end of the day with the following day's schedule. Do not leave for the evening without receiving it. If you haven't received it and need to leave, locate your producer or Ms. Nanasawa first. Unless anyone has any questions, you're excused to the set. Please be there within fifteen minutes."

    We all breathed a sigh of relief. It's undeniable she knows what she's doing, but Ms. Rossi can be a little bit intimidating. Several of us stopped our sighing as our particular relief was proven to be premature.

    "Rinko, Junko, Eimi, and Akira: Take fifteen then meet us back here. We have some additional things to go over with you four." Nana smiled a little bit as she addressed us, but a private meeting with the bosses already? Even Eimi looked shocked.

    Rinko, true to her unflappable self, saluted toward the end of the table, shouting "Sure thing, Nana, Ms. R! Come on, Junko. Let's go find something to drink. I'm exhausted…"

    Out in the hallway, as Lina pushed her way through a clog of idols to go wherever it is Lina goes when she isn't in her office, Rinko produced a yawn large enough to rival one of Kanon's. "I was still so excited last night that I could barely sleep at all. Maybe I should start drinking coffee like Lina…"

    "You hate coffee. Let's find some tea instead. I think they have some at the main office."

    "I like coffee *milk*. I bet it's over there where all those girls are…" Rinko, in spite of her claim of exhaustion, bounded off happily toward a group of girls wearing the uniform of our production crew standing around just outside the building's main office. This is where the building's real, permanent offices are located, including the building manager and some of the talent who work on the studio's regular productions, and even though it's a fairly large space most of it is devoted to places we aren't going to be going as guests in the studio. Some of the regular workers also seemed slightly annoyed that a gaggle of teenagers had invaded their workspace - particularly the office lady whose job now seems to be primarily refilling the kettle and cleaning up cups every time there's a break in production - while others seem perfectly happy to have girls like Eimi and Dam-Bi spend their breaks walking by to check out the men working. Most girls though were like Rinko and I, just looking for something to perk us up at the start of our work day. It was only the start of the second day, but it already felt like we had been going non-stop for a week. This is going to be a long production…

    "Eimi! Ah… huh?! How'd you beat us here?" A blonde girl who could be described as distinctly Eimi-ish - right down to the sour look on her face when she saw Rinko - was standing along the wall outside the offices with a couple other girls.

    "I'm not Eimi!" The girl spat back with frustration. From up close, she clearly isn't Eimi. But she does look a lot like Eimi, especially from across the hall, with very similar long blonde hair and an exaggerated physique. For once I couldn't blame Rinko's mistake on her not paying enough attention, and by the girl's reaction she couldn't have been the first one to make that mistake.

    "Really? Wow. Well you're super cute like our friend Eimi! Do you know where the coffee is? I need some extra energy for work today…"

    The girl once again made a very sour, Eimi-like face at Rinko's question before flipping it to a big, saccharine smile, again just like Eimi tends to do. First Rinko and now this girl… Is the whole company trying to become Eimi Inagawa?

    Save me…

    "There's c-coffee and tea inside the door, but it'll be a few minutes for more water to heat up." I vaguely recognized the girl pointing us in the right direction to get our caffeine fix from one of the other classes at school. I'm pretty sure she's a third year like Rinko and I, though I've never had a class with her in all this time.

    "Thanks, uh… Aoi! I didn't know you were an idol too. That's so cool!"

    "Y-Yeah. We all just passed our exams a little while ago. Asa said our group should volunteer to help out with your big project, so here we all are!"

    "Well, thank you for helping out. I know we all appreciate it." I gave my thanks, which still felt a little odd. All these idols being here just to help out behind the scenes on our project is still kind of unbelievable, and it only makes it worse when I recognize them from school or the dorm.

    "Don't mention it. We're all really happy to help, and I think it'll come in handy later in our careers. I was still a little nervous about the idea of being on a soundstage someday, but seeing how everything works has already made me a lot more comfortable. It's been very interesting so far. Right, Asa?" The third girl, a tall beauty with strikingly bright blue hair, lightly elbowed the blonde in the ribs, catching her in one of her sour expressions.

    "Right! You girls're the entire reason we're here, aren't you? We're sooo happy to be helping out however we can! In fact, Rinko, try this. It's my little secret to stayin' alert an' on my toes all day. And it tastes way better than coffee, you're gonna love it."

    "Y-Yeah. Asa drinks like five bottles of it a day. I'm not sure she ever even sleeps anymore…"

    "Sleep is for people who don't have anything they need to get done."

    A large plastic bottle with a bright blue label covered in giant, obnoxious red and yellow letters found its way from the blonde's bag and into Rinko's hands. Rinko twisted the lid and sniffed the cloyingly sweet, unnaturally green liquid within, which I could already smell very clearly from right next to her. It assaulted my nostrils, giving me the feeling that someone had soaked a lemon in acid until it went bad before mixing whatever goo was left with pure sugar and just a hint of apple juice for a sweet afternote. Undeterred by the obvious virulence of the drink, Rinko took a sip and her eyes went wide with wonder. A moment later she was shoving the bottle into my face.

    "Junko, try some of this stuff! It's really good!"

    "No, thank you. It smells kind of toxic…"

    "That's th' caffeine. It's how you know it's gonna work. Four times as much as black tea, plus it's sugar free. Best secret weapon an idol can have."

    "Come ooon, Junko. You're tired too! This way we can both be wide awake for our meeting with Ms. R!"

    "I'm going to stick to tea, but thanks anyway Rinko… Oof… Please get it away from my face, I think it's making me nauseous…"

    While I waited for the water to heat in the sizable kettle and Rinko chatted with the girls all around us, I took the opportunity to check my phone's messages for what I was fairly certain would be there.

    "Whatcha smirkin' at? Get some good news?" The strange blonde girl noticed me and tried to make conversation.

    "Oh. Am I?" I reflexively hid my mouth behind my hand. "I just got a very nice message from a friend wishing me a good day at work."

    "Junko gets a text *every morning* from a cute idol she's friends with. You sure text a lot lately, Junko. Come to think of it, I think you've been on your phone more lately than I've ever seen before…"

    "I am not. It's just a few times a day. I've had a lot of emails to answer with all the jobs Lina's been sending us on, and there's an event going on in a game I play, that's all…"

    "A cute idol… Well, whatever! Some of us have to get to doing the actual work around here while you text that two-timing son of a- OW! Minori!"

    "Please forgive Asa. She's not a morning person and the early schedule is making her cranky."

    "Is not!" In yet another eerily similar behavior, the blonde stuck out her tongue at her friend childishly. "Hmph. I need to use the little idol's room. I'll see you guys back on set." Wasting no time, the girl stomped down the hallway leading away from the soundstage, muttering to herself as she trudged.

    "Asa! The restrooms are… Well I'm sure she'll figure out she's going the wrong way eventually… Please forgive us," The tallish girl remaining after that impressive tantrum said politely, "I wish I could say that she isn't usually like that, but Asa is a little extra… We do actually have to get to work though. It was great meeting both of you face to face. Let's become good friends while we're working together, okay? Do a great job today!"

    "Y-Yeah! Let's all do our best and make this a great success! Mizoroge girls rock, right?"

    The two girls took off down the hallway toward the set, and along with them the rest of the girls who had been milling about dispersed this way and that like ants in a sudden rainstorm.

    "Junko, we should head back too. Our break's almost up." Rinko tipped back the remains of her pick-me-up and slam dunked the empty bottle into a trash bin with a thunk. I was barely able to grab a styrofoam cup of freshly heated water for my tea to steep in before she started tugging on my sleeve. "You know, I bet that stuff would go really good with tea…"

    I will admit I laughed. I hope this doesn't start a strange new habit for Rinko, because that sort of drink can't be healthy to use everyday, but something about how surreal everything felt today just struck me as funny. Even the strange propagation of Eimis hadn't put me in as bad a mood as I may have expected. "I'm going to take my tea straight, but those girls were right about one thing. Let's all do our best today."

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