SG Chapter 2

# Chapter 2 - Ascension

### Minori

    To say that I was skeptical about this arrangement would be an understatement, but somehow ever since we left the practice rooms things just kept getting worse. The first sign was when Asa led us down just two flights of stairs to meet her producer. In most corporate buildings, the standard convention is that the higher your position in the company the higher your office, with the CEO and his staff on the top floor. At I MY ME things are a little different by necessity. Because the building acts as not only a corporate office but also a girl's dormitory and a rehearsal space, it's necessary to put some distance between the noisy practice areas and where students are expected to study, so the main dorm rooms are on floors one, two, and three, and the rehearsal studio is pretty much all of floor seven. This leaves floors four, five, and six to house the staff, but for similar reasons, the best offices are those furthest away from the rehearsal studio. So, Mr. Shishito, I MY ME's CEO, has a large office on a corner of the fourth floor. This is also where most of the company's best and most experienced producers have offices.

    Since the sixth floor is largely the company mail room, music archive, and costume department, and since Asa led us to the *fifth* floor, this already means that her producer is either new, mediocre, or otherwise unsuccessful. Once Aoi and I saw the name on the door it became apparent which of those it was.

    Even if Asa actually can get her producer to take us on as a group, is it better to have no producer and hope we can each make a good impression on one quickly, or to take our chances with one-and-done Kumasawa…

    He had a huge hit ***once***. Like… ten years ago.

    I guess, purely by the odds, it means he's overdue for another one…

    "No. Absolutely not. What were you even thinking?"

    Then again, it isn't entirely up to us.

    Asa's face was currently a bright blood-red color as she choked back her embarrassment and anger.

    "I was *thinking* that since groups are the *big thing **right now***, that it only made sense for your *biggest talent* to headline her ***own group***. Solo acts are already on their way out! Lookit what Ms. Fujimura and Mr. Matsubara are doing, huh? Do we need to take our idea to one of them? Rumor is even ***Starsphere*** is putting out an idol group! Starsphere! What's next? ***Absynth?!***"

    "Ms. Asakura, as I've explained-"

    "**Starsphere!**"

    "Ms-"

    "This is what people want! Right, girls?!"

    I couldn't help but feel embarrassed for… honestly, for all of us. On the plus side, things were so awkward for Aoi and I that I'm pretty sure we'd both forgotten our earlier run-in with Eimi Inagawa, so… Silver linings, I guess?

    "M-Mr. Kumasawa sir, may I… C-Can I speak?" The middle-aged man behind the desk pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger like he was thinking before saying 'Go ahead.' "Asa *is* right that groups are the most popular trend right now. I know it must sound really self-serving to hear it from us, but you can't deny that that part of what she's saying is true…"

    "See?! Everyone knows-” Asa started to reiterate her point, but stopped suddenly when the producer narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

    "That may be true right now, but trends can come and go in the blink of an eye. Just because the company has gotten lucky with two group debuts in quick succession doesn't mean that it will be the same if a group debuts next week or next month. And Ms. Asakura herself made that point quite successfully. Every producer is trying to put together a group right now. By the time you three are ready to debut, how many new acts will already be fighting for the spotlight?"

    "May I have a moment to voice my viewpoint as well, please?" The thoroughly average-looking man nodded at me and yielded the floor. It's amazing what can be accomplished with politeness. "First, I want to apologize for blindsiding you with this. Aoi and I were brought here under exaggerated circumstances. We were led to believe that Ms. Asakura was acting with your authority when she approached us about forming a group. We regret our part in your current headache." Mr. Kumasawa chuckled silently and smiled just a tiny bit at my attempt at diffusing the situation with humor. "Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, despite the way she's gone about making it, Asa has made a rather salient point. You make an excellent point as well, of course, but I believe you're misjudging our timing. Aoi and I both attend classes with girls from other agencies. I'm sure Asa does as well. Aside from Interlunium and Kerberos, and Starsphere's rumored project, neither of us have heard a single credible rumor about producers putting together groups yet. A lot of wishing and hoping, yes, but nobody has mentioned being approached to actually do it. Perhaps if you look at it from that perspective - as coming from a social butterfly who's well connected to the web of idols that cover the entire city - then Asa's actions will seem more palatable." As I improvised my argument I stood up, careful to stand straight with my hands at my side, exactly as we're taught in our diction classes. "At school, they teach us that whenever something bad happens you should look for the opportunity to be seized. Aoi and I have already been training together for a while now so we're already used to thinking as an ensemble, one of your most promising new talents thinks we'd compliment her well, and even though we would be chasing the trend, it sounds like we'd be starting in only fourth place. That hardly seems like we're at any disadvantage at all. We'd very much like to work with you to seize this opportunity."

    Mr. Kumasawa stayed silent for a few minutes after I finished as though he were weighing my words. Asa tried to speak up and add her thoughts but I tapped her on the knee and gave her a firm shake of my head. I was pretty sure whatever she was going to say wouldn't exactly help. I was still a little unsure about this myself, but my own rhetoric had gotten me a bit fired up and, having gotten this far, I think all three of us wanted to see if we could pull this off. How many idols can walk into the office of a producer they've never met, pitch their project, and actually be heard? Wasting that opportunity would make my teachers flunk me out of principle.

    "With an argument like that I assume you attend Kikyo?" Mr. Kumasawa finished weighing my words and asked a simple question. I smiled slightly with embarrassment and tried to hide it under my hand. Is it that obvious?

    "Y-Yes, Mr. Kumasawa. I'm sure you've heard similar things before from other idols you've managed."

    "I have. Your brand of logic is very familiar." He sighed heavily and spun his chair to face the back of his office, muttering under his breath. "That was a dumb decision, for sure… Well, I'd never stop kicking myself if I saw any more idols I'd turned away on the front page of the papers. Good job. Not many students your age can make such a well articulated argument, so take that to heart no matter what we decide, alright? That was Takagi and Yoshioka, right?"

    "Y-Yes, sir."

    "Yes, Mr. Kumasawa."

    Mr. Kumasawa went to the large file cabinets in the rear of the office and searched for a moment until he found a pair of folders. While he was doing this, Asa turned to Aoi and I with the same devilish grin on her lips as earlier along with a big thumbs up. It was heartening to discover that she was in fact capable of keeping said lips closed. Back at his desk, Mr. Kumasawa flipped through our files slowly. It felt a lot like watching a teacher grade your test in front of you, except worse because he wasn't grading our work but our entire capacity to be idols.

    "Ms. Yoshioka, it looks like you're nearly done with high school. What are your plans after graduation?"

    "W-Well, I hoped I'd be an idol by then, so I planned on working full time to support myself…"

    "If that's the case you'd have a lot more time to devote to work than your group mates. You'd have the potential to take on a lot of projects by yourself, but you'd still have to keep your group commitments. Idols in that position can't always take all the opportunities they want. It seems shortsighted to form a group if you may want to pursue other projects in just a few short months."

    "I-I won't! I mean, I don't mind that. I figure that even if everyone in a group is the same age, you still have to be committed to the group first or you'd never find time to rehearse and perform together. That doesn't sound any different, really."

    "Well, other than that concern, the remarks from your coaches and exam-givers are mostly positive, though you'll need to work on your assertiveness and interview skills, but we could get you extra coaching on that. Now Ms. Takagi, which course are you in at Kikyo?"

    "I'm part of the Phoenix course."

    "I see."

    Despite the ridiculous names, there's actually no real difference between the two idol courses at my school whatsoever. When an idol passes the entrance exams for Kikyo they're placed as evenly as possible into either the Dragon or Phoenix class. Unlike normal school classes where you'll be supported by academic performance into an "A Tier", or "Tier 1", and so on, the two courses are really just their way of building a bit of rivalry between the idols at the school, and the instructors are quick to mention when one group is performing better than the other. It's a little bit like joining a gang in manga. Once you're a Dragon or a Phoenix there's no moving to the other. You're in it for life. Or at least for high school. So, it really shouldn't make any difference whatsoever to anyone familiar with the school's curriculum. Odds are how I answered wouldn't have mattered in the slightest.

    "And what other producers have you interviewed with so far?"

    "Sir? None so far. I have some meetings scheduled for next week though."

    Mr. Kumasawa flipped through a few pages in my file, muttering to himself again. "I see. She's probably been busy… Hmm… Excuse me, girls, would you mind stepping outside for a minute? I need to make a couple phone calls before we discuss this any further. Thank you for understanding."

    Outside in the fifth floor hallway, we were all a little confused as to what was going on.

    "Do ya think there was a producer who was supposed to make you an offer?"

    That was the impression I had gotten from what I had been asked, but if so, why hadn't they? And what does it mean about our current endeavor?

    "I don't know. I'm not sure what he meant by that."

    "He said 'she', so I bet it was either Chikafuji or Hasegawa. Oh, or I guess Fujimura, but why would you want the same producer as *Eimi Inagawa*? Gross."

    After about ten minutes, during which Asa and Aoi excitedly pitched premature ideas for group themes back and forth - we were finally invited back into the office and took our seats on the old gray sofa.

    "Thank you for being patient. Everything's been cleared up. Just fill out the form and sign where indicated and we'll be all set." In the course of those ten minutes, it seems that whatever hurdles stood in the way of us becoming professional idols had been swept away.

    "R-Really?!" Aoi shouted excitedly from next to me in the center of the sofa.

    "Told ya I'd get my way. Easy peasy." Asa was the first to sign, scribbling a messy signature in triplicate on the form before passing it on. Aoi did similar as well before handing the mostly-empty form over to me. I lifted the pen, then hesitated slightly.

    "Mr. Kumasawa, I don't mean to sound ungrateful… but may I ask as to the nature of the difficulties you cleared up?"

    "Ah, that…" He pinched the bridge of his nose again. He seems to do that a lot. "Are you really sure that you want to know? It's boring, I promise."

    "I think… Yes, please."

    "It's straightforward. Another producer was interested in you so as a professional courtesy nobody had put forth an offer, then they got too busy with a recent project and couldn't take on as many new talents as they expected. We just had to have a chat to make sure there were no hard feelings if I made you an offer. It wouldn't be worth it if it was going to get that woman to have it out for me, you understand?" He chuckled to himself. Evidently whomever had been momentarily interested in me can be vindictive. "With that taken care of, I decided to accept your premise. It'll be a lot of really hard work, but you've convinced me you're serious enough about it that you're up to the challenge."

    "What about all the other stuff on the form? We're going to need a good name at least…"

    "You can just leave that blank for now. I'm sure you know that there's a lot of things we're going to need to figure out very soon, but there's no point in holding off on what we can do now until everything else is perfect. Look for the opportunities, right?"

    "Right…"

    "Come on, just sign already." Asa, tickled at having gotten her way entirely, grinned from the other end of the couch.

    "Y-Yeah! We're finally going to be real idols! This is perfect! Let's rock!" Aoi cheered me on in a voice that was at least fifty percent larger than normal, her excitement making her longest lock of auburn hair sway to and fro as she pumped her hand in the air.

    This morning all I could think about was today's audition. It was one of those things that it's hard to imagine happening more than once in a lifetime, and after that disappointment, I suppose this didn't feel as significant in comparison. But, I guess the expression is true. "Never meet your idols." Aoi definitely has the right viewpoint. We may not have even gotten into the audition room, but we met a new friend and ended up in a group anyway, and we're going to get a chance to debut as real, professional idols. Looking at it from that perspective, the decision to sign my name three times was easy.

    "Yeah! Now we're gonna kick those jerks' butts!"

    "Asa!" Mr. Kumasawa scolded our new friend and partner harshly, causing her to grumble. "Watch your language. You're all representing your group now, so from now on act as though you're working at all times. Now, as for what to do next…" He looked up at the ceiling pensively as he thought for a minute. "It's Friday evening. I'm going to get dinner. Try to think of a name as soon as possible and come here right after school on Monday. Ms. Yoshioka, you're in charge of that."

    "Uh, wait a sec. It's my group, so I really think that I should-"

    "You all have the same exact exam date and your files say she has the most performing experience by a wide margin, plus she's the oldest by a year, so Ms. Yoshioka is the most qualified to be your leader. Guess it's like they say, be careful what you wish for."

    "But… But…"

    "I promise I won't let you down!" Aoi, having found the boost of confidence she needed, jumped up and saluted our new producer, who laughed some more at the sudden enthusiasm.

    "Good. I look forward to hearing your ideas Monday. Now seriously, get out. We'll talk about things then."

    Pushed out of our new producer's office we needed a place to go. Granted, we could have gone our own ways and met up tomorrow, because I'm pretty sure that we were all tired from the emotionally draining highs and lows of the last few hours, but we had been given homework, and if we didn't get started right away we may put it off until Sunday night and end up with a group name that's not very good.

    "I know a great spot. You're gonna get all the benefits of my knowledge now that you're in my group." Asa started leading the way back up the stairs, which we followed because we didn't have any better idea at the time. "I know basically every little trick and secret there is to know about this building. Like if it's after lights out and you need a shower, use the ones on the second floor. They're the oldest so they don't think anyone would bother usin' them if they didn't have to, so they rarely check 'em. If the kitchen is out of something, they keep extra stuff like rice and crackers in one of the supply closets on the rehearsal floor, and you can usually wiggle the handle until the door opens. And then there's this trick…" Asa had led us from the fifth floor, up past the seventh, and all the way to the eighth, where she showed us her trick. Taking the stairs all the way past the door to the top floor, Asa approached the final door at the top of the building that, I assumed, led out onto the roof. She fiddled with the handle until the lock popped loudly and the door opened.

    "Won't that be c-cold?"

    "Nah, it's not that bad. You'll see."

    Asa walked through the door like it was nothing. I'm not sure if there's actually a rule against idols going out onto the roof of the building, but if not it feels like there should be…

    Aoi pulled on my sleeve to get me to hurry up and follow. Aoi, in her amateur career, had been a guerilla idol, performing anywhere that had an open stage she could use. Sometimes that meant amateur nights at real venues, and other times it meant throwing concerts in places nobody would have thought could even host them. Underground parking garages, empty factories, even sports stadiums during the off season, and I would bet more than a few rooftops at some point or another. Curiously, Aoi is often terrified of all sorts of things. New people, loud noises, neighborhood dogs… But for some reason new places aren't on that list, and she was eager to see a new part of the building she had yet to discover.

    "Whoa… Cool! It's like a little clubhouse!"

    The door to the roof led to the back of a shed of some kind. The ceiling and walls were almost translucent if not for the layer of dirt and grime that nature had deposited on them, and numerous pieces of junk were piled up seemingly at random. One whole corner was nothing but metal shelves full of buckets and tools.

    "I think this used to be a greenhouse?"

    "Cool! Who knew we had one of those?"

    "It usedta be. There's a bunch of overgrown dirt outside too. I bet a buncha girls used to use it but it looks like it's been years since anyone planted anything on purpose. Pretty cool, huh? Betcha had no clue the building had this super cool stuff on top."

    "It looks kind of… run down."

    "Yeah, but you're not seeing the potential. Typical. I can see I'm gonna have ta be the big thinker in the group. It looks pretty crappy now, but I know a boy who said he can teach me how ta plant things the right way and stuff. We can clean it up a little and we'll have our own private place for group meetings and, ya know, hanging out with people and stuff." Asa blushed reddish. I bet she just wants to get us to help her clean this up so she can impress that boy.

    What have Aoi and I gotten into…

    "Shouldn't we focus on the important stuff right now, though? Like our group theme, or our name?"

    "Are you saying that boys aren't important?! That's the whole reason we became idols, right?"

    "I-I became an idol because I like music…"

    "I did it because I like dancing…"

    "So that's how it is. You two are like *that*, huh? Well, no worries. More boys for me then."

    "Wha? N-No!"

    "Yeah, we like boys. We just… don't really know any…"

    "Well that's gonna change! Once we're famous idols you'll be able to get all of 'em that you want. The trick is to find the perfect one and really commit. You've gotta have a five year plan. First you date while your career takes off, then you make a ton of money as a huge megastar for a few years, then you get married right as you retire from the spotlight. That way you won't waste any time."

    "If you say so…" How embarrassing. I'd never thought of that. In fact it's drilled into us during our training: No boys! No dating of any kind. Don't even think about it, because it's one-hundred percent strictly not allowed. We don't even have boys at my school, and trying to talk to strangers at the mall is… I'm getting nervous just thinking about it! I know Asa had the same training, so I'm not sure why she thinks it doesn't apply to her. That could cause problems… "So, about group names, I think maybe-"

    "Hold on! You still haven't seen the best part. Check it out! I made a private little nook. Keeps the heat in when it gets cold. Cozy, right?"

    Asa pushed an old metal shelf out of the way in a cluttered corner of the old greenhouse. She had arranged a bunch of the discarded shelves to isolate a section of the floor, and numerous tarpaulins, buckets, and gardening tools had been used to rig up makeshift walls to separate the small corner from the rest of the roof. Inside this getaway she had even found several chairs that look like they at one point were part of the furniture in the common area, and arranged them tightly.

    "Do you bring people up here a lot?" Aoi asked, noticing the numerous chairs like I had.

    "Nope. You guys're the first. Lucky, right? Usually I just like puttin' my feet up. It's nice and cozy so it holds heat pretty well, an' I even cleaned up the roof so it gets plenty of sunlight."

    "A secret rooftop idol clubhouse… totally rock and roll…" Aoi approved, taking a quick seat. "Maybe that's our theme! The greenhouse. Green thumbs? Plants grow underground, and we can be kind of figuratively underground…"

    "That may be a little hard to explain in just a few words, Aoi."

    "Yeah, and green totally isn't my color. Mr. Kumasawa already agreed that I get to wear tangerine. It compliments my hair super well. Plus Minori probably wants to be pink, am I right?"

    "I like pink."

    "Typical. How about something sexy? We could be Queens of Hearts, cuz all our fans are gonna love us like crazy. We can wear teeny little outfits that showcase the goods, and it'll be easy to work in a heart motif."

    "Wouldn't that be a little scandalous? And really embarrassing?!"

    "Th-The goods…? I don't think I have any goods compared to you and Minori…" Aoi pulled her feet up onto her chair and curled into a little ball with her knees drawn up to her chest. Aoi is really cute, but she may not be wrong. Her figure is fairly average, so compared to the two of us that kind of outfit would probably sit a lot differently. Plus I'm not entirely comfortable showing off quite as much as Asa…

    "I think we should stick with more normal outfits. The management doesn't like idols to get too… flashy… Maybe we could be…" I finally took a seat. It was freezing, much colder than the air around us, and it made me shiver. If she'd told us where we were going we at least could have put on something warm, instead of workout leggings. "The sun's starting to set. Maybe we could use that? Interlunium has their whole moon thing. We could be… I guess it'd be Occasus Solis? It doesn't really roll off the tongue…"

    "It's a good theme though. All the fun stuff happens after the sun goes down. Dates, dancing, *smooooching*. How about Kissy-Kissy Sundown?" Asa blew kisses to us while winking and smiling, as though we were her fans. "Everyone loves kissing so it'd be a huge hit!"

    "Th-That's a little…"

    "It's still kind of suggestive, isn't it? Maybe sunrise instead? That's a little more… innocent. And comfortable."

    "Kissy-Kissy Sunrise? Ooh I like that even more. Good morning fans! Muah! Muah!"

    "M-Maybe we can try something without the kissy kissy… I-I don't want our fans to expect kissy, and it's not very rock and roll…"

    "How about we just do something normal. Like 'Sunrise Girls'. We already like those kinds of colors, and it isn't suggestive."

    "Yeah! I like that one! It's nice and simple. Our fans will remember it really easily."

    "Don't you think it's kinda boring?"

    "Not really. I think it suits us. It matches our hair, auburn, blonde, and pink."

    "Oh you're not gonna wear that pink wig when we perform. No way. Pink is over. We'll figure something else out though, don't worry. So that's it? We're Sunrise Girls?"

    "Yup! I love it!"

    "And Aoi's the leader, so she gets the final say."

    "Well we'd better all work really hard. We're gonna have to stand out with a name like that…"

    "Don't worry Asa. I have a feeling you're going to be an expert at making us stand out…"

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