Bonus Chapter - A Pastel Cow

### Erika

    "That was fine, but we want to try a few more takes. Ms. Inagawa, you're doing great. Ms. Horie, the director would like to see a little more emotion. Remember, you need to sell how happy you are with the product." An older man passed along the rest of the director's notes in a gross, phlegmy voice. Most of it is kid's stuff. Not even worth paying attention to. "We don't love the makeup. Maybe we can do something about that?"

    *Your* stylist is the one who did it in the first place.

    "We're not loving the dress."

    Just give me another one! I don't understand why you're giving me these notes when it's *your people* who made the decision in the first place! Maybe splurge on a different stylist. Momiji would be a good start. It's not my fault you want me in brown. Who hires the cutest girl in Japan to dress her in *brown*? And how do you "sell" happy? What am I supposed to do with a note like that? We're *selling* milk! Have you ever done this before?

    "You really need to concentrate. You're embarrassing me out there."

    "Yes, mama."

    "Ahem!"

    "Sorry. Yes, Koko."

    "I swear, it's like sometimes you want people to think I've raised a failure."

    "No, Koko. I'm trying, but they keep changing what they want."

    "Your job is to be so phenomenal that they want whatever you're doing. That chubby blonde girl is running circles around you."

    "She's not chubby, she just has really big…" Mama stopped teasing my hair and sucked a deep breath through her teeth. She'd already kicked out the company's stylist and insisted on taking over. I think I like it better when she's busy… "Sorry, Koko."

    "You're looking chubby too. Has that woman been letting you eat sweets again?"

    "N-No! Miss Hasegawa makes me stick to my diet. I think I'm just… I grew three inches since my last birthday, and all of a sudden they just… I'm not chubby. Yurika says it's just my body becoming a woman's."

    "Well, I knew you looked bigger. Do try and stop that. None of the women in my family developed like that. Just another thing to blame on your father. We'll have to make sure to work on your wardrobe so nobody notices. Nobody wants to hire 'Erika Horie, teenage model.'"

    "But I am a teenager. I'm thirteen now…"

    "You only look as old as you want to. Remember that. There's a reason everyone's always mistaking us for sisters."

    "Yes, Koko. Sorry, Koko."

    Nobody has ever mistaken us for sisters…

    "There. That's as good as you're going to get. I don't know what you've been doing to your hair. I really need to have a talk with Mr. Shishito about how that woman is sabotaging you."

    "Mama, Yurika's not-" My blood ran cold as Koko glared at me. "Sorry, Koko."

    "Such an ungrateful child. Do you even know the invitations I turned down to be here today of all days? Instead of Ibiza I'm on the set of a milk commercial because my daughter is helpless without me. Go. Get out of here. And stop letting that blonde girl steal your spotlight."

    My fists clenched underneath the salon cape. I didn't even want mama here. She's like this every time her own career hits a bump - she decides she needs to meddle in mine. I wanted to say something very much. Lots of things, actually. But if I do…

    Koko… has a temper…

    She says that "all great artists do." That it's just her "passion" flaring up.

    It does that a lot…

    "Are you all done, Erika-chan? They're ready for you on set." Outside the makeup trailer I was greeted by a voice that was kind and caring, completely unlike Koko's.

    "Yup. I'm good."

    "You're doing great. I'm really proud of you. Teppanyaki for dinner?"

    "That's not in my diet. Koko says I need to lose a few pounds."

    "Right. Of course. We'll stop by the market on our way home then. Maybe grilled vegetables and a little fish."

    My Manager's voice got sad. If I let her, I'm pretty sure Yurika would spoil me. She already lets me eat stuff I'm not supposed to. She lets me pick out my own clothes when I'm not working, and I get to stay over whenever I want, which is more often than not. She even lets me take Mikanyan to my bed there, even though she loves the fluffy ginger cat more than anything. I don't really have a reference point, but according to movies, Yurika is ten times the mother Koko is. No, a *hundred* times.

    "Can you show me how to cook some more? I had fun last time." I now know how to make rice - even though Koko says carbs are our nemesis - miso cabbage, and strawberry sandwiches. Practically a whole meal…

    "That sounds fun." Yurika's voice sounded happier. I was a little excited too. It's just making dinner, but it gave me something to look forward to once the shoot was done. Even if it's just for a few hours.

    Once inside the soundstage, I went to my mark while Yurika sat with the other I MY ME staff back by the wall. Across the distance I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but a large, gaudily dressed man was laughing loudly nonstop, the same as he had anytime we hadn't been recording. For all the staff the agency had on hand you could have mistaken this for a real production. My Manager and the other girl's producer were obvious, but there were also a few people I didn't know who were here to observe, and enough security in snappy suits that we could probably improvise an entire spy movie if we wanted. Two teenage girls discover an insidious Yakuza plot to poison Tokyo's entire supply of milk. Can they work together to save countless lives, or will the bad guys-

    "What're you spacing out about? Don't like how your mommy dressed you today? I don't blame you. Pink hair and that color dress? You're totally gross." The other girl in the commercial decided to finally come and introduce herself.

    "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Erika Horie, but please call me-"

    "Of course it's a pleasure to meet me! I'm the hottest talent at our label and you're, what, some washed up kiddie actor? Erika-tan, isn't it?" The mean girl stuck her thumb in her mouth and mimed sucking on it.

    "Please call me Erika-chan. It's what my… manager… prefers for me. And you're Eimi-chan."

    "Hah!" She laughed, but it didn't feel funny. "'Eimi-chan!' Do I look like a little kid? Huh? You're so jealous I can feel it!" The blonde girl put her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest. No, she didn't look like a little kid, but I'm pretty sure she was barely in high school, or would be entering soon. I wanted to prove that I was just as adult as she is, but in this stupid ugly dress I look like I'm still eleven, even if underneath I feel like I'm being crushed. Why can't we both just wear cute dresses like hers?

    Maybe if I just ignore her she'll go away…

    "Aww, kitten got your tongue, huh? Maybe it should keep it. The commercial would probably be better as a solo spot, don't you think, Erika-tan? Oops! Klutzy me!" As she berated me, she tripped over a loose cord on the set and caught herself on the table of the mock kitchen. The large pitchers of "milk" knocked over, one of them crashing to the floor with a smash, shattering into a hundred pieces held together in a goopy clump by the sticky white glue they use to look better on camera. A pair of large men rushed the stage, flanking the blonde faster than I could tell what was going on.

    "Are you okay, Ms. Inagawa?"

    "I'm fine, Naoki. Erika-tan here must have tripped me, but I know that no I MY ME girl would *ever* do something so crass on purpose, would she?"

    All three of them glared at me as I stood frozen in fear. I hadn't done anything! I was just standing here waiting for the director when she… She tripped over the cord on purpose! It's right there! The big black one…

    "I understand, Ms. Inagawa. We'll make sure Mr. Matsubara knows that you're good to record." The second man spoke.

    I don't like them…

    "Thank you, Katsu. Excellent work today, though. I don't tell you gentlemen enough how much I appreciate you being so good at your jobs."

    "Thank you, Ms. Inagawa. Ms. Horie."

    The two large men walked off to the same area where our management was sitting. The loud, unpleasant man made a loud, unpleasant noise, but was shushed by the stage manager. The director had returned. A stagehand rushed to replace the broken and ruined pitchers with extras they had on hand. Why does it seem like everyone is looking at me?

    Is… is everyone looking at me?

    "Ok, Erika-chan. We're going to take it again from the top. Remember what we said."

    I swallowed hard and reset my face. Eyes wide? Check. Patented Horie smile? Check. Extra-cute timber to my voice? Check! The director gave the signal and his assistant loudly counted down, three, two…

    "Hi there! I'm Erika-chan! I work hard to stay healthy, and there's no better source of vitamins than milk, and no better source of milk than Gyunyu-Ushi Farms. My favorite is chocolate! What's yours? Remember, that's Gyunyu-Ushi Farms. Where cows are… cows are… are… happy…"

    "Erika-chan, are you okay?"

    "Hm? I'm sorry, Peterson-sama. What did you ask again?"

    "How did you end up getting signed with Starsphere? I bet a lot of agencies were interested in you."

    "Oh. Not much different than the rest of you, I don't think. Koko didn't like my old agency or manager, and Akiyama-shachou promised to handle my accounts personally, so she moved me here." And she got jealous because I called Yurika-sama "Mama" *one time*…

    "I'm not sure that's entirely normal. How many talents can he handle and still run the company?" Song-sama asked.

    It was Akiyama-sama who provided a more specific answer than she was probably looking for. "Six. My mom, myself, Erika-chan, Aya Yasutake, Hoshi Taniguchi, and Nana Arakawa. But Erika-chan and myself are the only new talent he's taken on in almost a decade. The rest have been with him since before he formed the company and threaten that they'll go to another agency if he tries to hand them off."

    "How's your mom feel about that?" Peterson-sama asked, though given the subject matter it was a bit of a faux pas. The old trade magazines - the ones Koko used to keep all over the apartment from her heyday - detailed the drama at great length. Mariya's dad's broken engagement to one of his talents only to marry another shortly after was quite the controversy all those years ago, but I'm glad it happened as it did, otherwise we wouldn't have Mariya-senpai to lead us.

    "Mom doesn't mind at all. She says the best woman won, and this way she can keep a close eye on Ms. Yasutake. They even have tea whenever she's in the city to record. I think she may actually be more fond of her by now than dad is. He dreads it every time."

    "That sounds like a nightmare. Your ex-girlfriend and your wife, talking about you over tea."

    "How would you know, Tae? Is there a girl we don't know about? Is she your girlfriend, or your ex-girlfriend?" Akiyama-sama poked fun at our friend, who looked embarrassed at her accusation.

    "You know I've never really had a girlfriend…"

    "Not even back in Korea? Because that would explain why you seem so miserable here sometimes." Peterson-sama jabbed at her as well. I don't quite understand why she's making fun of her for it though. It isn't the nicest thing to do, and none of us have ever had any sort of significant other, Peterson-sama included. "Not here-here, like in the practice room. Here like…" She gestured widely with her arms. "You know… Japan."

    "I was barely thirteen when we came here, you know. What kind of girl do you think I am?" Song-sama is getting angry again…

    "Oh. Right-right. So, she was definitely Japanese then. Or, you know, maybe it's a trick question and you only *met* her in Japan. You do spend a lot of time with your friend Dam-Bi…"

    "We're just friends!" Song-sama steadily turned bright red as our two friends teased her, eventually forcing a change in the topic of conversation. "I was recommended by my old dance instructor Mrs. Park and signed with the Busan office. It was pure luck that they're an international label, and that they accept transfers. How'd you get discovered?"

    "Mrs. Akiyama attended one of my parents' retreats. She took a liking to me and my parents thought it'd be good for me to meet more people my age. I signed before the weekend ended. So yeah, not too different from Erika-chan." That's very different, Peterson-sama…

    "Doesn't anybody want to know how I was signed? It's a great story."

    "Mariya, did your parents make you sign up?" Song-sama deadpanned, though Akiyama-sama didn't seem to understand this as well as the rest of us.

    "It was my dad's idea. I wanted to take lessons and learn how to record people, and he wouldn't let me unless I agreed to sign with the company."

    "That is a great story." Song-sama said, tongue in cheek.

    "I told you so. See? Exactly like Erika-chan's."

    Still nothing like how I ended up here…

    Though, I guess technically closer than the other stories…

    "Are you sure we shouldn't be working harder? Not that I mind slacking off now and then, but so far this rehearsal all we've done is…"

    Song-sama extended her arm toward Peterson-sama, distracting the girl who stopped her questioning to take a few more rice crackers from the bag. "I'm too tired to rehearse. I was up way too late, but if you want to dance feel free. I probably have enough energy left to tell you what you're doing wrong."

    "Didn't you sleep over at I MY ME last night?"

    "Dam-Bi keeping you awake again?" Akiyama-sama giggled, implying something.

    "We were playing *Capsule Girls* with a couple of our friends. She didn't want to stop until she beat me."

    "Did she?"

    "*Eventually*. Once she made me swap partners." She extended the bag in my direction, offering the carbohydrate-laden snacks. The nemesis. "Want some, Erika?"

    "I prefer Erika-ch-"

    "Want some, Erika-chan?"

    "No thank you. I need to start watching my diet again."

    "Why? You're still cute as a button."

    "Yeah. You're even tinier than Ai. That's impressive because she's…" Akiyama-sama brought her fingers together very close but not quite touching, presumably meaning "small."

    "Yeah. You look way healthier lately. You don't look twelve anymore." Song-sama got embarrassed again when our friends exchanged glances. "Don't act like I'm the only one who's noticed!"

    "Thank you, but I need to lose a couple pounds. It's in my contract. I need to remain at my peak weight or I'm in violation."

    "Seriously? Why? You look great though." Mariya and Kohaku giggled to themselves again, but I understood Song-sama was just trying to be kind to me.

    Peterson-sama agreed. "That's kind of insane. You're fitter than any of the rest of us."

    "That's not a standard part of Starsphere's contracts. Are you sure you read it right? They can be really confusing…" Our leader added on as well.

    "Koko made sure to add it. She's just looking out for my brand image." *Nobody wants to hire "Erika Horie, teenage model"…*

    "Maybe we should all take our diets a little more seriously then. We look better than when we started, but we need to get serious about it eventually." The dark-skinned girl across from me poked at her stomach. "And we have been going out to eat a lot, even though we're not supposed to…"

    "Yeah, and if Erika needs to do it, it isn't really fair to do that stuff without her. It feels like ditching my little sister. Once in a while is ok, but if she needs to change her diet then we should set a good example as her seniors."

    "Thank you for saying that Song-sama, but I'm very happy with how seriously you've all been taking things. I was really concerned at first, but somehow you're still getting good results. I've just…"

    "Had too many milkshakes?"

    I nodded. I'd never had a milkshake before our first visit to Lunation Bakery. I thought they were my new best friends, but they weren't. They're my new nemeses. I guess I've just been having too much fun with my new friends, and it's my body that's paying for it.

    "We've all been really lax. It probably just shows more on you since you started out in way better shape than we did. We're all in." Peterson-sama held out her hand toward mine. "We can even pinky promise if you want."

    "That only works if all of us are here. Where's Ai-chan?"

    "She's feeling kind of rundown today. She looked sick all through school."

    "I bet Junko-sama blew her off."

    "Blew her off?" Song-sama sat up for the first time since our "rehearsal" began. "What's going on with her kamioshi?"

    "An email date. We had desserts with our rivals Junko-sama and Rinko-Neesan yesterday, and Junko-sama promised to email her so they could do it again. But she probably stood Ai-chan up because she was so dorky, even though I tried really hard to make her look good."

    "Wait, who's whose rival?" Peterson-sama was somehow confused.

    "Also, Nee-san? Huh?" As was Akiyama-sama.

    "So not, like, a real date then…" And Song-sama completely buried the lede.

    "Yup. Rinko Hanazawa is my new onee-san, and we're Interlunium's nemeses now. They're very scared."

    "I see… Did anything else happen?"

    "We picked up your microphones, Akiyama-sama, like good girls."

    "Thank you very much for that. But from now on, we should probably vote before we declare any other idols our… what did you call us?'

    "Nemeses. It means-"

    "Rivals. Meh… I already compete with Bibi all the time anyway. Does this mean we need to find two more members? Because I really don't want to have to redo all of our choreography."

    "I don't think we could get approval for more members just yet. On paper, we're really just you, Kohaku, and Ai. Erika-chan and I just get to choose our projects so long as they don't conflict with other work because daddy's too busy to notice, so I guess you could say we just got lucky with a loophole. Meiko's already biting her tongue a lot when I inform her of our activities. Plus, if we had seven members it would look like we were copying them exactly. We can be their rivals with just five of us, right? We'll just need to each be forty percent better than they are."

    Better than that, actually, but I promised Nee-san I'd keep it a secret.

    "Riiight. Just forty percent better than the best idols we know… That should be a piece of cake."

    "See? Even Tae thinks we can do it. It should be easy then." Song-sama, now sitting, glared at Akiyama-sama like she wanted to say the obvious, before giving up.

    "You're gonna regret saying that at our next rehearsal. I'm going to be a nightmare."

    "You still can't be as bad as Erika-chan." The dark-haired girl on my left said, before looking at me and saying, "Sorry. You can just get a little intense. I did think your first rehearsal almost killed us." Maybe for them. But they've only seen Level One of the patented Horie Method that Koko used to put me through. I've had the same exercise routine from the time I was six, so I really don't understand why it's so difficult for a bunch of teenagers…

    "Good point, Kohaku. Erika-chan, want to run rehearsal tomorrow? Maybe we'll be more motivated to be proactive after that."

    "Okay." Being used as a punishment felt kind of bad, especially since I thought we were becoming friends, but if it's the best way to motivate the group then I guess it's only right that I be cast as the bad guy…

    Is it possible to be your own nemesis?

    "Is something wrong? What happened to practice?" Somehow, quiet as a mouse, our missing member managed to sneak up on us in the studio.

    "Tae-Eun's tired, so this is as far as we got."

    "And we were a little concerned when Erika-chan told us about what happened yesterday. Is that why you've been worried sick?" Akiyama-sama asked, though obviously it is.

    "Yesterday? Don't be worried about me! Junko finally emailed me! I'm feeling a lot better now." Ai-chan sat down on the floor a short distance away from the rest of us and started stretching, more motivated than any of the others had been when they arrived. "What did I miss?"

    "Not a lot. We're all on a strict diet now because Erika's mom is insane, and apparently Erika is both sisters and rivals with Interlunium."

    "Nemeses", I corrected Song-sama.

    "Why are you on a diet? You've started looking so cute lately."

    "See? I told you I wasn't the only one who noticed. Stop assuming it's just because-"

    "Tae-Eun also still doesn't have a girlfriend. She forgot to mention that too."

    Song-sama sighed at Peterson-sama's poking. Maybe she should just get a girlfriend like Ai-chan is trying to do if it bothers her so much? Her having a romantic arc could solve a lot of problems…

    "I swear, that's the last time I tell you anything private… Ai, so your kamioshi reached out to you. What did she say?"

    "She gave me her phone number. So… I gave her mine just in case she needed it, though I wasn't sure why she would. But then she sent me a text right after, a-and now we're going to go…"

    Everyone's faces hung in suspense as they all waited for Ai-chan to regroup and finish her thought. Not me though, for two reasons. Firstly, because it was obvious to everyone in the bakery yesterday that Nee-san's friend really liked Ai-chan, so whatever she was going to say would be obvious in hindsight. Secondly, the stories in my books are much more interesting. Though there is something fun about watching them play out in real life…

   "On a date?"

    "To a festival?"

    She stood up from her stretches and joined us in our circle, kneeling between Akiyama-sama and Song-sama. "We're getting c-coffee. Next week when she's back from their group trip. We're just getting coffee. It's not really anything like a date…"

    "No, Mariya is right. That's a date. A coffee date. That's a really common thing. That's so exciting!" Peterson-sama insisted loudly.

    "N-No. It's just coffee…"

    "Coffee is a date, Ai. Your kamioshi asked you out on a date. Congratulations."

    "B-But if coffee is a date, then dessert could be a date. A-And yesterday… Erika-chan, tell them it was just…"

    "I was just having desserts with my Nee-san. I would never go on a date. I'm far too wittle for that."

    "See?! She was there, and-"

    "*You* were totally on a date though."

    "Actually, didn't you confess to her at her concert? And now you're texting and going on dates together. That sounds pretty serious. Ai, I think you may actually be dating-dating her."

    Ai-chan started to wobble on her knees and her face turned pale when she registered her roommate's words. If not for Akiyama-sama grabbing her arm, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd fallen all the way backward onto the mat.

    "I… I'm dating J-Junko… N-No, that can't be right…" Ai-chan started stammering her words. I think we may have broken her… Maybe if she focuses on something else?

    "Ai-chan, why don't you tell everyone the great idea you had yesterday."

    "I… I had an idea?"

    "Yup. About our group name."

    "Oh. Well that wasn't really my idea. It was… was…" If this were a cartoon, a large geyser of blood would be shooting out of Ai-chan's nose at the thought of her crush. Being real life, I have no idea where all of her blood actually went, other than to confirm that it was currently once again nowhere near the vicinity of her pale face.

    "Ai-chan would like to propose that we change the name of our group to: Pastel Project'. She thinks it sounds much trendier than The Pastels."

    "Hmm. Well then, in accordance with our rules a vote has been called. Because this is such a substantial change, I think that it should have to be unanimous, and that we should agree not to take any more votes to change our name again unless Meiko or the executives request it. We're going to have to start advertising ourselves soon, and we can't afford to change things once we've had promos printed and a webpage created. Is that fair to everyone?"

    Each of us nodded except Ai-chan, who made a motion close enough to be counted.

    "Then let's take the vote. Ai, I assume you're in favor?" The girl, still somewhat stunned, nodded her head "yes".

    "I vote yes. That's way better than her first name. No offense, Ai. 'The Pastels' is cute, but this is way more modern."

    "I agree with Tae."

    "Erika-chan?"

    "Yup. It's much better."

    "I like it too. The vote passes. I'll head upstairs right now to Meiko's office to change the paperwork. Great idea, Ai. From now on, we'll be ***Pastel Project.***"

\_\_\_\_

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