rubestie

Season: Summer

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Chiaki, Jin, Tori

Chiaki: …Precisely because that dark age is still ongoing, Sagami-sensei’s existence must’ve felt like a miracle. You were able to become an afterglow and light up the idol industry again, even if just for a moment.

jin+chiaki

Jin: Yeah. It feels weird to say this about myself, but that might really have been a miracle. But miracles don’t happen twice.

I worked my ass off and was able to prolong its life, but the idol industry has been fatally injured already.

There’s nothing to be done about it. As soon as I retired, things reverted to the way they used to be.

I’m making myself cringe by saying this, but I was the last super idol.

After that, there was no one left to inherit the title of super idol. So the industry became rampant with mobs of people without enough talent to achieve the necessary results.

As Himemiya mentioned earlier, this has become like an era of populist politics.

And that original super idol has passed away. The throne is empty, and the big names of the industry who used to support us are all gone.

With no one left to rule over the chaotic ruins of the industry, everyone is just scavenging around for relics and treasures left from the past. That’s the kind of tragic era we’re living in.

You could say we’re living in the post-apocalypse.

I once went to see a movie with that kind of setting, and found myself thinking “Ah, this reminds me of the idol industry nowadays”, y’know.

Chiaki: A world where everything has ended… is the current situation really bad enough to be called post-apocalyptic? Personally, I don’t really want to see it that way.

Jin: Well, I probably did exaggerate quite a bit just now. Think of it more as a rough summary of the current era.

Let’s take our conversation back to the beginning. Kunugi-sensei was born into that dark age…

Plus, he entered the industry a while after the super idol Sagami-jin had appeared to light up the industry.

When you compare our situations, it just wasn’t fair.

He was very passionate, and I’m sure he was just as talented as I was. But because the times were bad, his flower didn’t sprout.

The industry was like a wasteland where every living thing had died out, the earth was too dry for flowers to bloom.

Some people tried to utilize the temporary economic boost I created for the industry to work hard and revitalize the industry.

But their efforts fell through and the systems and atmosphere of the industry ended up worsening.

In an environment like that, it’s impossible for anyone to make use of their true potential. Furthermore, Kunugi-sensei looked up to me and tried to do everything by following the old rules.

He was unable to keep up with the ever-changing industry of the time, and was only ever able to achieve mediocre results before he retired.

And now here we are. He is a hard worker, much more so than I ever was.

Plus, he’s a diligent student, so he knows a lot about the golden age of idols.

He’s a living witness who has experienced that gloomy era where the industry was like a witch’s pot being stirred endlessly…

He knows about both the good things and the bad. And he’s a person who put in a tremendous amount of hard work without ever producing any results. He’s experienced an unusual amount of setbacks and unfairness.

That’s exactly why he’s so well-suited to being a teacher.

I’m sure no one wants to hear me bragging about myself, and none of my experiences hold any value in today’s era.

But Kunugi-sensei’s failures and hardships are still normal tragedies that can inflict anyone even in modern times.

He wants to help you children avoid making the same mistakes he did.

Or at least I think so. So when he tells you to stop what you’re doing, you really should heed his advice.

There are things only Kunugi-sensei can teach you, as someone who wasn’t able to become a super idol.

So, all of you should try to pay more attention to Kunugi-sensei when he talks from now on. Well, both me and Kunugi-sensei are merely relics of the past at this point, we’re almost like ghosts.

When all is said and done, you guys who are actually living today should think for yourselves and choose the path you want to take on your own.

Chiaki: Hm. I’ll keep that advice with me deep inside my heart. However, haven’t we gone somewhat off-topic?

We asked about Kunugi-sensei’s abilities, and before I knew it, I was listening to some grand history lecture.

Jin: Ahaha. I thought it would be best to explain his position in idol history, or rather, what the industry was like in his era.

His achievements are kinda mediocre, and I often tease him about that, but…

I wanted you all to understand that the reason why he didn’t achieve results was because of the industry at that time, and definitely not because he is lacking in ability.

Rather, because he is a person from a time when the idol industry was desperately struggling to survive…

He’s lived through all kinds of experiences, way more than I have.

And unlike me, he’s also formed an idol unit before, and he also tried doing comedic jobs and stuff like that.

He achieved decent results in every field, except for in modeling and singing, where he really made a name for himself.

Meaning he is able to do almost everything with some level of quality.

He’s a true all-rounder. If you underestimate him and think that he’s only good at singing, you’ll be in for a world of hurt.

Chiaki: Does that mean there’s nothing we can do to counter him? Then what was the reason for all that explaining up until now…

Well, there were a lot of things I had never heard about before, so I learned a lot.

Jin: Yup. That’s why I told you all at the beginning that I was going to hold a lecture. If you learned anything then all is good.

I’m sure it’s annoying to hear old men talk about the past like this, but someone has to pass on this history.

Though it’s not a pretty tale, nor is it one I’m proud of enough to call it a heroic legend.

But it’s still the history of the world I dedicated my youth to, the world you’re all trying to live in today.

There’s no loss to knowing about it. And I have to mention, everything I told you just now was the true story, though I did exaggerate a little… I’m a teacher, I would never tell you lies.

Tori: …

jin+tori

Jin: N? What's wrong Himemiya, you look displeased. I guess all this talk must be boring for children, after all.

Tori: N~n… I had no idea about any of this before hearing you talk about it just now. I mean, I never had any interest in idols in the past. So I feel like I’ve gained something from listening.

(...I see. So that’s the kind of era we’re in right now. That’s why Eichi-sama is called “Emperor” and “top idol”...)

(Does that mean his goal is to someday become an even more powerful “super idol”, so he can reign over the entire industry and bring back that bright golden age?)

(Or am I overthinking things? It doesn’t seem as if Eichi-sama likes being called “Emperor” very much, after all…?)

(That’s right. We’re going to close the curtain on the old era and create a brand new world… that’s why we’re “fine”.)

(Eichi-sama is sure to be able to reach even greater heights than the super idols of the past.)

(He will grow to become as great, or even greater, than the “original super idol”, who was said to be a godlike being.)

(No. He’s probably working hard even now to accomplish that, I’m sure…)

(Sagami-sensei only explained the big changes in idol history, so I still don’t really understand the current circumstances.)

(It’s as if I sat in on a lecture concerning ancient history, but modern history is still vague to me. But, Eichi-sama is spearheading that history, and even now he’s fighting on the front lines.)

(I’m still inexperienced, but I want to keep growing more and more and support him.)

(That’s why I went against my parents’ wishes to enter Yumenosaki academy.)

(Well… Right now I’ve been forced into this unnecessary detour and have been given the name “Rain-bows”, though.)

Chiaki: Hm? What’s wrong Himemiya, you look tired!

Your head must’ve started hurting after being told so many difficult things in one go. To tell you the truth, I’m the same way! That means we’re together in this, that makes me happy ♪

Tori: You’re so loud… Rather than all that, the bell will ring any moment now.

Shouldn’t we clean up after ourselves and begin heading back already? Being late for class would create scars for my resume.

Chiaki: What, don’t worry about that! Scars are like honor badges for men! Hahahaha!

…Or I guess I shouldn’t say that. Since we can only meet up once a week during lunch break, we never have enough time together.

There’s no end to the things I want to talk about, and we’ve had nowhere near enough lessons together, it’s making me feel frustrated.

Aah, if only there were 48 hours in a day! If only the days lasted as long as we wanted them to!

But I’m not a god, so I can’t change the speed of the sun rising and setting!

Tori: …Stop saying weird things like that, and let’s get going to class already, okay~?

Really. I want to return to Eichi-sama’s side right this second and support him, so why should I have to waste my time on something like this…♪

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Season: Summer

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Jin, Tori, Hokuto, Chiaki

Hokuto: …Did that person really exist? I find it hard to believe, it just sounds like an urban legend.

jin+hokuto

Jin: Well, that’s probably a good word for it. Most of what we know about that person comes from exaggerations and rumors, no doubt.

Only the people who lived through that period of change would know how it actually went down.

In summary, it’s become somewhat of a myth, I don’t know how much of it is historical fact and how much is made-up.

But it seems that person really did exist, and his influence was large enough that it can still be felt even know.

He spent a long time as an active idol, and even after retiring, he controlled the idol industry from behind the scenes through that powerful influence. Well, this is all something like an idol legend.

Back when I was still active, he was apparently just barely still alive…

His tentacles extended to control both the overworld and the underworld, not only in the idol industry but also various other fields, from behind the scenes.

You could say he was like the Godfather of the idol industry. …Or maybe young people nowadays wouldn’t know about such an old movie?

Tori: …I might have heard about that person before. People would often mention him at the social gatherings I attended with my family. It seems he had a strong influence in the financial world as well.

Yeah. I think the timeline matches up, somehow. If this was back when Sagami-sensei was active, that means it was around 10 years ago, right?

Jin: Yeah. I retired when I was 20-something years old, so that would be right. Huh, I was pretty sceptical of these rumors even back then, but…

Thinking about it now, that otherworldly person might really have existed after all.

Either way, that was the dawn of the idol world. That was where the current idol industry took roots.

It’s like the Genesis in the Bible, when God proclaimed “Let there be light”.

“Let there be idol”, I guess. That person held a love for idols which bordered upon paranoia.

He wanted to raise idols’ social status as much as possible, so the profession would gain influence.

Apparently, he worked hard until the very end to become an existence which was acknowledged and sought-after by the public.

jin+tori

Tori: …That sounds kind of like Eichi-sama.

Jin: N? Did you say something just now, Himemiya?

Tori: Ah, no… that person you’re talking about passed away, right? So it's not like he has anything to do with us active idols nowadays.

Jin: That’s kinda true, but also not really. That person’s influence and assets were apparently divvied up and passed down all over the place… and that’s the foundation today’s industry is built upon.

There were lots of successors who inherited that person’s status as a powerful idol.

There were even rumors going around saying that the true goal behind SS was to find people who could inherit those positions.

It seems he had been looking for someone who could truly inherit his place in the industry ever since he was still active himself.

Well, by now SS has been reduced to some flashy festival that’s only held once a year, though.

Hokuto: Hey. Don’t go saying stuff that’ll dampen my motivation for participating in SS.

Jin: Ahaha. Well, SS is just as much the biggest festival in the idol industry today as it was back then…

Some of the meaning behind it has been lost, but the value of that festival hasn’t gone down at all.

Plus, the amount of fans excited for it has definitely gone way up from when that person was still active. And making our fans happy is what justice is for an idol.

Hokuto: Hm. Well, I guess that’s true.

Jin: Yup. Either way, that person… the original super idol retired and disappeared from official business.

Of course, he stayed in control behind the scenes, exerting way more power than necessary to keep everything under his thumb.

And naturally, there then came a need to find someone who could take the center stage publically in place of that person.

Someone who could become the face of the industry, the first person to come to mind for anyone when they heard the word “idol”.

In other words, they needed someone to become the next super idol.

Which is why, after that person retired from center stage, he kept establishing new super idols throughout the eras, each one replacing the last.

And thanks in part to that person supporting them from behind the scenes, those super idols have shone brightly as the sun of the idol industry through the generations.

This is how idols have been able to keep pleasing the everchanging fanbase all this time.

And those peaceful days kept going for a long time.

Days of a singular super idol rising high above the horizon before setting again kept repeating over and over.

It definitely wasn’t always smooth sailing. Of course, each and every super idol was an extremely talented person, worthy of carrying that title.

However. That original super idol was such an amazing existence, that it seems like no one was able to act as his replacement for very long.

Apparently there were several dangerous periods of time where they would end up changing his replacements several times within the same year.

jin+chiaki

Chiaki: I feel like I’m listening to a history lecture about the Roman Empire or some other ancient dynasty.

Jin: Ah, that comparison is pretty fitting, I think.

A god-like person founds an empire, and his God-given status is then passed down from generation to generation to a new ruler for each era.

Hokuto: The idea of a divine right to rule was created during the late middle ages, however… Well, I understand what you’re trying to say.

Tori: Hmm. If the idol industry is like the Roman Empire, then it’s doomed to crumble one day under the weight of its own bad policies, right?

Jin: Yup. I’d argue that’s actually happening right now, but let’s put a rain check on that discussion for now.

Either way, that’s the history behind today’s idol industry. There were both good times and bad times.

The best example of a good time for the industry would be back during Hidaka’s old man’s era.

Hokuto: …My dad’s?

Jin: Why do you make that disgusted expression every time someone mentions your parents? He’s a pretty awesome person you know, that dad of yours… you should try respecting him some more.

Hokuto: …I do respect him. At least the bare minimum amount.

Jin: Haha. Hidaka-san must really be going through it now that his only son is in his rebellious stage.

Anyways, it’s a known fact that your dad was the top idol in his age.

Hokuto: Yeah. It’s rather troublesome, actually. Even today that shine of his casts a large shadow that I have to try and escape from.

Jin: Ya know, lately you keep saying these weirdly deep things.

Well, whatever. Back during Hidaka’s father’s reign, there were no huge problems in the idol industry.

The industry was developing smoothly, the masses were happy, and everything was shining brightly.

For a while, successive generations of super idols were able to do some pretty impressive things, both big and small. Until a certain person came along.

At the very least, nothing major enough to flip the entire industry on its head went down.

The system that allowed this is something that was created by that original super idol.

But that person kept controlling the industry from behind the scenes, and the eras kept changing too quickly for the new super idols to keep up, no matter how skillful they were.

The world keeps changing from day to day, and even just media technology is developing at a break-neck pace…

Swallowed up by the turbulent waves of the changing eras, even the system created by that genius started showing cracks. The whole thing was standing on its last legs.

And that’s when the incident concerning “that Akehoshi” occurred.

Hokuto: Ah… As I thought, the “certain person” you were referring to was…

Chiaki: “That Akehoshi”, huh.

Tori: Eh, eh? “That Akehoshi”? Who’s that? Akehoshi is that useslessly noisy, annoying guy from Trickstar, right?

Chiaki: …Not that Akehoshi, no, though he is related to this as well. Well, don’t go looking into this too much. It's a thing of the past.

Tori: …?

Jin: Right. Well, at the same time as when that person met his tragic fate, the idol industry was plunged into a dark age.

It was a dark and cold time when nothing worked out okay no matter what you tried. It was as if the world was spitting at the industry and turning away from it. No one in the industry today would want to remember those days.

That’s when the curtains closed for a while on that glorious era inherited by those super idols who shone like supernovas.

The golden age of idols at this point is merely a ghost, something you can only find written about in holy tomes and history books.

And even today, the dark period still isn’t over. It’s been a long while since that incident occurred, and the torch is being passed on from one generation to the next, so people are starting to forget, but…

That system that once supported the entire idol industry has completely crumbled away.

jin

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Season: Summer

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Hokuto, Jin, Chiaki, Tori

Hokuto: Moving on. Who are the other members of that temporary unit we will be competing against?

Jin: Uuuhm, I’ll just go in order. The third-year participant is Mikejima from MaM and the second-year is Kagehira from Valkyrie.

The first-year is that one from Switch… Harukawa, was it? Since he’s still a new student I can’t remember his face just from reading his name.

Tori: Ah, he’s in my class. He seems like he is somewhat of a problem child, he’s always getting scolded by the teachers.

Well, pretty much everyone in my class is like that though~, I’m the only normal person there.

Hokuto: Fufu. Aside from Valkyrie, I haven’t heard much about the other two units mentioned, though.

Switch, was it? Wasn’t that unit created by Sakasaku in my class?

Chiaki: Hm. I know MaM, or rather, Mikejima-san, personally, so I’m very familiar with him.

He’s a fiercely talented person, probably comparable to the likes of the Five Eccentrics or Tenshouin.

Tori: Huh? The president is far and beyond the most talented top idol though!?

…Wait, what? What are the “Five Eccentrics”? Isn’t it the “Three Eccentrics”?

Hokuto: Ah… In the past, there were five of them, and they were called the “Five Eccentrics”.

Tori: Is that so? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before~?

So there were two more people who acted like that long-hair in my unit, woah…?

Hokuto: Yes. Sakasaki, whom I just mentioned, was one of them.

If that kid named Harukawa is in the same unit as him, then Harukawa might be something of a disciple of the Five Eccentrics.

And needless to say, Kagehira is still active in the unit that used to stand at the very top of Yumenosaki Academy, Valkyrie. He’s been under the care of the last of the Five Eccentrics, Itsuki Shu.

Chiaki: Hm. Itsuki rarely shows up to school, so I’m actually rather worried about him… But I know he values his friends more than anything, and he’s an outstanding leader.

I don’t know much about Kagehira’s abilities, or more like, even though I’ve seen Valkyrie onstage many times, he never left a huge impression on me…

But he’s probably Itsuki’s favorite, and will have been taught well. We should be careful.

Hokuto: I see. Their lineup seems random at first, but each one of them is surrounded by this mysterious and powerful aura.

What could Kunugi-sensei be planning to do with such a group of people?

Jin: You tell me… Nowadays that guy acts like he’s some smartass megane character, but back in the day he was the type to let his emotions get the best of him, and often let himself get swept by the atmosphere of the situation.

This might actually just be him acting on a whim.

Tori: Hmph. Well, no matter what our enemies are plotting, we just need to defeat them through sheer strength.

Chiaki: Oh, how reliable, Himemiya! You’re so cool to be able to stay completely calm even when faced with a strong enemy.

tori+chiaki

Tori: Fu, fufun… Well, we probably shouldn’t let our guard down, though.

I never want to lose to someone after underestimating them again, so maybe we should try and find out as much as possible about these people.

Hokuto: …Ah, I nearly forgot to ask, but what did those guys name their unit?

I don’t want to keep referring to them as “those guys”, so I’d like to know their name.

Jin: Right. Uhm… Thing is, I don’t actually know how to read this. I wrote it down just in case, but this is written in English, right? What does it say?

Hokuto: Let me see. Uuhm, so it’s written as “Ba-Barrier”. That really is difficult to read, wouldn’t it be ba…baria?

Tori: Bavarois? What an unexpectedly cute name.

Hokuto: … ♪ (Looking at Tori and nodding with satisfaction.)

Chiaki: Hm. I don’t think it’s bavarois, it should be barbari… barbarian?

Hokuto: As in savages? What a scary name, there’s nothing even slightly idol-like about it.

Chiaki: Ah, the transfer student is saying it should be read as “Ba-barrier~”!

Tori: What kind of word is that? Did they make it up…? We’ve said it out loud so many times I feel like it’s lost all its meaning.

Compared to the simplicity of “Rain-bows”, this name might be more fashionable, though.

Hokuto: For now, let’s go with the transfer student’s reading of the word… So “Ba-Barrier” is the name of our enemies.

Chiaki: Fufu. You look happy, Hidaka. Having enemies around makes things more exciting! I get how you feel, how boyish ♪

Hokuto: Right. People have been telling me this often, so I’ve come to realize I might be more aggressive than I would’ve thought.

Tori: I’d say you’re something like a mad dog who bites at anyone who comes close.

…More importantly, I don’t know anything at all about Kunugi-sensei. What was he like when he was active as an idol?

Since he’s the leader, he will probably be the one to decide on things like the contents of their performance. We might be able to think of counter-measures if we consider Kunugi-sensei’s preferences and skills.

Jin: Yup. To explain that, I’ll need to go over a quick idol history lesson with you.

Hokuto: Why. Lunch break is almost over, we don’t have the time to stay here and listen to you talk forever.

Jin: Now, now, just listen up. It’s kinda hard to explain what kind of idol Kunugi-sensei was.

His career was kinda mediocre, and thanks to that students often end up underestimating him, which is honestly a shame.

Since this is what Project-Saga is all about, it wouldn’t be bad for you guys to learn a bit about idol history while we’re at it.

We old folks love to tell tales of the past, so please hear me out… I’ll begin a classic Sagami-sensei lecure ♪

Chiaki: Thank you for letting me attend! Wow, I’m so happy! To think we’re able to hear the testimony of a living witness of history…✰

Hokuto: No thank you, I’m not interested. The past should stay in the past, and we should care more about the present.

Tori: Yup, the most important thing is the future after all.

Jin: Both the present and the future are built upon that past, though. And if there really are someone conspiring behind the scenes this time…

The motivations behind those schemes could be found in the past. If not, then there would be no reason to create a conspiracy around a project bringing back past idols.

I’m old and my eyes have gotten cloudy, so I don’t really understand what we’ve gotten ourselves mixed up in.

You guys have no biases or prior knowledge, your perspectives are much more fresh than mine. If I teach you what I know, you might be able to notice something I can’t.

Within the entertainment industry, any dark parts of the past tend to be erased, so with time they fade away and are forgotten…

Thinking about that makes me feel bad for my own seniors, so I want to let their stories live on as much as possible.

Chiaki: I get it! Kamen Rider also regularly brings back the past to remember its history!

Jin: Why do you keep making every conversation about tokusatsu shows… Well, then, allow me to briefly explain some idol industry history to you all.

In the beginning, there was a single idol. He was something like a God, who created everything upon which the current idol industry was built.

For example, he took the year-end festival which up until then had centered around normal celebrities and musicians, where idols were simply treated as an afterthought…

He miraculously transformed it into an event completely by idols and for idols.

That is how the event we know as “SS” started, and it is still being held even now.

That person similarly caused countless other small and large revolutions.

At first he was seen as a regular musician, but then he went on to make a name for idols, a field which up until then had been fragile.

Even before that, there existed people who named themselves idols and were called idols by others….

But that person was the one who made idols into something unique, into an existence different from anything else.

Once that person appeared and started doing activities, the very meaning of the word “idol” changed drastically.

Really, absolutely everything changed. History was changed, and the world was turned upside down at the hands of a single person.

Compared to the legacy left behind by that person, my own accomplishments are mere garbage.

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Season: Summer

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Jin, Hokuto, Chiaki, Tori, Anzu

TW: mention of weight/calories.

Jin: Anyways. The outfits you’re looking at are just prototypes, so if you find any problems with them, we can have them fixed. The transfer student is also saying she’ll make us a few more outfits if we want.

jin+chiaki

Chiaki: It should be enough with just this one. It’s still just our first live as Rain-bows, after all…

If we keep doing costume changes before cementing a clear image of ourselves as a unit, we will just be making it harder for our audience to recognize us.

Hokuto: I agree. It would be hard on the transfer student as well. She has a lot of other jobs to attend to besides making our outfits, after all.

This outfit is really well-made, so there should be no problem at all to make this our official outfit.

Tori: Agreed~. I feel like these need some fine-tuning, though. To be honest, I’ve lost a bit of weight since entering school…

If this was made based on the measurements taken back then, then it might be a bit big.

Chiaki: Hm? Is that true, Himemiya? You’re already pretty slim… do you really have any weight to lose?

Tori: It’s true. Not only am I burning lots of calories with all these lessons, but I stopped eating sweets because I don’t want to risk getting pimples.

It’s no wonder I’ve lost some weight.

Chiaki: That’s not good, Himemiya, more meat equals more power! You need to eat lots and build up your strength! Here, I’ll give you the rest of my bento ♪

This one has eggplant in it so I could never eat it…!

Tori: Don’t push your leftovers onto me! I-I’m okay! I usually gain weight easily, so I’ll probably go back to my original weight in no time!

Jin: Hahaha. Uuuhm, summing up… Everyone’s happy with these outfits, right?

The transfer student ended up finishing them before I could run the design through you guys, so I was a bit worried actually.

Hokuto: Don’t say that as if the transfer student did something wrong. You should be praising her for how effective her work is.

Jin: Yup. You’re a good kid. Honestly, this applies to all of you, but… the transfer student is really evolving at a surprising speed. Youth really is an amazing thing.

Moving on. For our songs and choreography, we had Hidaka ask his father’s connections, or rather, friends, to help us out.

From what I could gather from today’s lesson, we’ll have memorized them all in time for the live.

And since the outfits are looking to be fine as well, we should be able to perform live without any problems. Of course, we’ll still have to advertise ourselves beforehand, as well as practice our fan-service in preparation.

Ah, that reminds me. Apparently, the magazine serializing Project-Saga will also be advertising for us, so we might be getting audience members even from outside of the school…

It seems like Project-Saga has been picking up popularity lately, so we can expect there to be quite a lot of people coming to see us.

Hokuto: I see. Since there will be guests coming from outside of the school, does that mean our live will be ranked as an “S1” dreamfes?

Jin: No, it won’t be anything that grandiose. This live is being treated as if it was an official dreamfes, but in reality, it’s more like a special event that has nothing to do with that system.

I feel like this kind of thing will become the norm moving forward. Call it a hunch.

Yumenosaki has become somewhat out of touch with the current trends, so I think the dreamfes system itself is due to be reformed.

jin+tori

Tori: Ah, the president also said something like that.

He rarely shows himself in the student council room, but each time he comes over, he will end up bickering with the vice president about those kinds of topics.

They always look like they’re having fun together… I’m still not at a place where I can join their discussions.

Well, whatever. Then, uhm, does that mean things are going well for now? Is all we need to focus on for now to do our best to improve the level of our performance, even just by a bit?

Jin: That’s the most important thing, yeah. But there is a slight problem. That’s what I wanted to ask you guys’ advice about.

You see~, I don’t really get what’s going on, but… It seems there’s another unit that wants to participate in that live alongside us.

Hokuto: Right. What’s the problem with that?

It’s not like we really need it to be a solo live, and I feel like having more units participating would raise the overall quality of the live and make it more exciting, no?

Chiaki: Yup! More people will come to see that unit as well, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone! We should always accept all challengers… ✰

Jin: How are both of you this confident already, we haven’t even achieved any results with Rain-bows yet… And also, there’s something even weirder to this.

Apparently, the unit in question was formed by Kunugi-sensei.

It’s like he’s imitating us, he’s got himself a first-year, second-year and a third-year to create a unit with him as their mentor.

Hokuto: Kunugi-sensei? I wonder why?

Jin: You tell me… I tried asking him directly, but he refused to give me an answer. I don’t really get it.

Based on the unit, maybe he also wanted to participate in Project-Saga?

Chiaki: Fufu. Maybe he didn’t want Sagami-sensei to be the only one in the spotlight.

Jin: He’s not really that type of person, though. Anyways, I don’t really know why he created that unit…

It somehow creeps me out, so let’s keep our guards up.

This isn’t like Kunugi-sensei, after all. This might be due to someone meddling unnecessarily.

Chiaki: Someone, huh…But who would that be? Don’t tell me there is a mysterious organization behind Project-Saga scheming to conquer the world!?

Jin: Yeah, no. That’s such an overused plot that even if some drama TV show tried to use it they would just be cancelled for being unrealistic.

But then again, I can’t help but have this bad feeling… I’ll try bothering Kunugi-sensei again to find out more.

Well, leaving that aside. Since we’ll be performing together at the live, we’ll need to tweak our performance to match up with theirs.

It seems like they want to do a live battle, so if things go down that route we’ll have to be proactive and come up with countermeasures.

In a live battle, the winners stand alone on top, while the losers gain almost nothing at all, after all.

We’re supposed to be the main characters of Project-Saga, so it would just be shameful if we lost.

If that happened, we could end up being kicked out of the project, with Kunugi-sensei and his unit replacing us and taking over the center position for Project-Saga.

Tori: H, hmph… Well, I wouldn’t want to be involved in this stupid project forever, so I wouldn’t really mind though.

But it would feel a little frustrating, I guess. I hate losing, after all.

Hokuto: Yeah. I agree. Of course, we’ll be going in with the intention of winning.

Chiaki: Fufu. If we can resolve the conflict through the power of friendship and words, then that would be best, though.

If it comes down to it, then it can’t be helped… It would be pathetic if we showed up to a fight without preparing ourselves and got our asses kicked.

We should do whatever we can to prepare ourselves in case we end up fighting. What exactly is Kunugi-sensei’s unit like?

Jin: N~, I still don’t have a lot of info on them. They’re another temporary unit, formed later than us - the day before yesterday, I think.

As of now, I don’t think they’ve done any activities at all.

I used my authority as a teacher to look over their application form, for what it’s worth. But the only thing on there was their unit name, as well as the names of the members.

Chiaki: Even that is important information. If we’re familiar with any of the members, we might be able to estimate their abilities somewhat.

Jin: Right. Well, let’s start by going over the members. The leader is, obviously, Kunugi-sensei.

Unlike me, Kunugi-sensei didn’t stop his training regimen even after retiring, so I think he’s a pretty formidable enemy.

Tori: If only Sagami-sensei had kept training on his own, then we would have had less trouble as well… Well, I guess continuing to do lessons after retiring is weirder than stopping them.

Jin: N~. It hasn’t been that long since Kunugi-sensei retired, after all, I guess he hasn’t lost all of his old habits yet.

As for me, it’s been long enough that I sometimes forget that I used to be an idol at all.

Hokuto: Don’t forget that. Even if you were to forget, the world will keep remembering.

Navigation:
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Season: Summer

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Hokuto, Tori, Chiaki, Jin, Anzu

Hokuto: Fufu. This feels somewhat strange, being able to sit down and enjoy a meal with Morisawa-senpai and Himemiya like this… Life can be hard to understand sometimes.

hokuto+tori

Tori: Yup. I really don’t understand this at all.

Chiaki: Fuhaha! This is why life is so wonderful! You guys think so too, don’t you!?

Tori: How annoying… Why are you always this energetic? Well, it’s the same with that long hair in my unit, though.

Your energy must be overflowing~, I almost wish you could share some of it with me.

I’m still lacking in stamina, so I can’t keep up with fine’s lessons yet… If I’m causing my friends to stagnate then that would be the worst.

I didn’t work hard to get all this way just to become a hindrance like that.

Chiaki: …

Hokuto: …

Tori: Uhm. Senpais. Why are you moving your jelly cups over to my bento box all of a sudden?

I’ll admit I was thinking about how this bento wasn’t sweet enough for my taste, but I’m not a beggar!

Hokuto: No, sweets help with stress relief.

Chiaki: They do! Eating lots will help you become stronger, I promise ✰

Tori: …I was in the wrong for expecting these guys to be delicate or considerate. Yup, I already knew this much.

It’s not like I was really expecting much from you two, but what kind of reaction is this to someone venting about their own weaknesses to you?

jin

Jin: O~i, I’m home~, sorry for leaving outta nowhere… I’m happy to see the three of you getting along so well.

Chiaki: Sagami-sensei! Welcome home!

Oh, the transfer student came along as well, how amazing! I was worried that you wouldn’t show your face here today, come here, come here, come here ♪

Hokuto: Don’t pspsps her like a cat. Treat her with respect like a proper human being.

Tori: Sigh, Morisawa-senpai sometimes shows this side of himself, doesn’t he?

Chiaki: I don’t want to hear that from you guys… I’m not very used to interacting with girls either, so I’m still trying to figure out how to treat her.

Up until middle school, there were usually girls around. But I didn’t really mingle with them…

I preferred playing baseball and stuff with my guy friends rather than playing with the girls.

Tori: Huh. Isn’t that fine…? From my perspective, being able to have such a normal life sounds like a blessing.

Chiaki: Fufu. Everyone wants what they can’t have, after all.

Jin: Haha. You really have gotten close all of a sudden. You’re able to forget all about your troubles and have fun together, I feel like I used to be like that when I was a kid, too.

Anyways. Transfer student, please hand “that” out to everyone.

Hokuto: “That”? What are you talking about?

Chiaki: Ah, I’m sorry, Sagami-sensei. I got so absorbed in talking with the others that I completely forgot about explaining.

Jin: Huh. Well, isn’t that for the best? Right now, your top priority should be to become closer.

Then, allow me to explain from the top. We’ve finished working out the fine details for our upcoming live, and our plan has been approved and we’ve been given a generous budget.

Tori: Wow, that’s good news. I was worried because we hadn’t finalized the plan yet.

In the worst-case scenario, I thought I would have to ask the student council president for help or provide the money myself.

Hokuto: Hm. Himemiya is helping us out in good faith, so I feel bad for burdening you with that.

Tori: What are you talking about after all this time? I’ll have you know that just showing up each week and missing out on my precious lunch break is already a huge burden.

Besides, you seem to have forgotten this, but it’s not like I’m helping you guys just from the kindness of my heart, either.

Hokuto: Aah… That’s right, you’re also here as a spy sent by the student council president.

Is that going alright for you? Are your reports living up to the president’s expectations?

Tori: Why are you acting so worried about the person actively spying on you… Honestly, this is such a weird situation.

I don’t know whether or not the president is satisfied with my reports, but I have been summarizing our activities and reporting them back to him on the days after our meetings.

In addition to that, it seems the president is looking into various things on his own as well. It seems he was looking into the magazine that will be publicizing Project-Saga.

He said it seemed like we were having fun and that he was jealous.

chiaki

Chiaki: Right. This has been unexpectedly fun.

Unlike in Ryuseitai, I’m not the leader here, so I’m able to lower my shoulders, relax, and work freely.

Hokuto: That’s the same for me. Being a leader, huh… I still don’t feel like I’m suited to that position.

Tori: ? Sagami-sensei is the leader of Rain-bows, right?

Hokuto: Oh, I was talking about my position as leader of Trickstar. Though it’s just a formality for the sake of paperwork, since we treat each other as equals.

Being the leader means your responsibilities and your workload increases, so it’s a position you can’t ignore.

Tori: Phew. Being weak and understaffed sure sounds tough, huh. You even have to take on roles you aren’t suited to do?

Jin: Now, now, don’t go off chatting at every opportunity. Though I’ll admit I’m used to it, since you guys are pretty much like this during class as well.

Actually, I’ve always felt like bouncing your opinions off of each other and discussing stuff leads to better learning than just shutting up and listening to some lecture.

Hokuto: Ah, right. I apologize, we were acting rude.

Jin: Okay. Transfer student, did you finish handing out “that”? Everyone, go ahead and take a look.

Hokuto: Hm… Oh, what’s this?

Chiaki: Ooh! I was wondering what it could be, but it’s our costumes! You’ve finished them already!

Tori: Eh, ah… Is this Rain-bows’ outfits? The ones we’ll be wearing for our live?

Hokuto: I’m amazed, transfer student. When we spoke last week you still hadn’t finished the design, and now you’re all finished sewing them?

Now that I think about it, you were really quick when you made the outfits for Trickstar as well…

Kiryu-senpai helped you out back then, but this time you were on your own, no?

Amazing. You really have a talent for making outfits.

Tori: Yup. I was wondering what kind of cheap thing you would pull out, but these are pretty high quality.

They seem really durable, but also easy to move around in. You must’ve used a really high-quality fabric, right?

Chiaki: …

Hokuto: Hm? What’s wrong, Morisawa-senpai? Is there something you don’t like?

Chiaki: Aah, no… The outfits are perfect. But did you make these before our budget came in?

You need to make sure you’re getting compensated for this, transfer student, you shouldn’t have to spend your own money on this.

And, I couldn’t help but wonder, did you use Sagami-sensei’s old outfits as inspiration when making these?

I felt as if I had seen this design somewhere before, and zoned out while trying to remember where exactly.

Jin: Oh, you noticed that? It would have been a pain to design new outfits from scratch, and the magazine company funding this plan asked it of us as well…

They wanted us to add in some easter eggs inspired by my looks from way back then, so we changed the design to reflect that.

Of course, if we had used the exact same designs as my old costumes they would’ve looked outdated and uncool, so I had the transfer student redesign them for me.

I’m sure it would’ve looked fine on you guys, but I’m in my 30s already… I couldn’t bear to put on any more sparkling and glittering clothes with bright colors, it would be too embarrassing.

Hokuto: Fufu. That reminds me, back when he was active, Sagami-sensei used to always wear really flashy outfits screaming of nouveau riche, didn’t he? Like covering your entire body in glittering gold and stuff.

Jin: Yup. I needed to stand out on my own, after all. That’s how it was back then.

The entertainment industry was on the verge of decline, but there were still a lot of people within the higher-ups who liked to pretend as if the economy was going smoothly.

jin+hokuto

Navigation:
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Season: Summer

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Hokuto, Chiaki, Tori, Jin, Akiomi

Hokuto: Either way. The things we’ll need for the live are songs, choreographies, and outfits as well?

Chiaki: Yes. We should decide on a setlist first, and then adjust it to balance things afterwards. We should design our outfits as well as the stage based on the overall vibe of the setlist.

Hokuto: Oh, the transfer student’s eyes are sparkling. Do you want to make our outfits?

Your abilities are trustworthy, and leaving it to you would be cheaper than hiring someone from outside the school…

Chiaki: Yeah. I was planning to ask my good friend Kiryu for help with the outfits as I usually do, but if the transfer student is up for it, I’ll leave it to her.

Kiryu did mention he’s gotten an influx of requests lately and is feeling overwhelmed, after all.

Tori: Uuuhm, you guys are moving the conversation along too quickly so I can’t get a word in… Wait a sec.

Since it sounds like we’ve solved the issue of creating outfits, I take it our next problem is how to make ourselves a new song?

Hokuto: When it comes to songwriting, I could ask some of my dad’s acquaintances for help.

Though since they also helped me out during the revolution, I feel a little bit bad about letting them spoil me like that again.

Chiaki: I see. Well, worst case we could always rent a song for a low price.

Tori: Rental songs? That’s a thing?

Chiaki: Doesn’t fine use those? It’s a rental service where you can borrow songs to use for lessons and lives for a fee, it was set up sometime last year…

It’s not like everyone is able to create a brand-new song for every live show. This system was set up to help out with that kind of thing.

Tori: Huh… I had no idea, this must be commoner culture.

Hokuto: I was thinking. Seeing as how we’re able to perform alongside Sagami-sensei…

What if we used some of Sagami-sensei’s old hit songs, either as they are or rearranging them?

Chiaki: Ah, that would also fit with Project-Saga’s theme of reviving old idols.

Using old songs for nostalgia might be a good plan, and it would also fit well with the purpose of Project-Saga.

Plus, singing Sagami-sensei’s old songs at karaoke is my specialty, so I already know them by heart.

Tori: Ah… Morisawa-senpai, are you into karaoke?

Chiaki: Hm? Are you also a fan, Himemiya? No, I guess there’s no way you would be, you are a young lordling after all.

Tori: No, I also… N, never mind.

jin

Jin: N~. That might fit well with Project-Saga, but whenever I listen to my songs nowadays I can’t help but think that they feel outdated… will that be okay?

Wouldn’t it just sound annoying and lame for today’s young people?

Chiaki: It will be fine, Sagami-sensei, those are timeless masterpieces… ✰

Jin: H~m. I don’t really want to drag you youngsters into an old man’s nostalgia like that but…

Let’s keep it in our minds for now, I guess it’s a common thing within the music industry to take old masterpieces and remake them.

However, even if those are my old songs, it’s not like I own the copyright to them.

Depending on which songs you want to use, it might be difficult to gain permission to use them, or we might be required to pay a stupidly high fee for them.

If that ends up being the case, then making a new song that actually fits in with modern trends would be better.

As I keep saying, Project-Saga is a low-budget plan and we really don’t have any money at all right now.

Tori: Yup, that’s the heart of the issue right there. So this is how it feels to be poor… This is exactly why we need to hype up our live so we can earn lots of money.

I feel a little motivated now. I guess being an idol really is all about performing lives.

Jin: Idol activities is more than just that though.

There’s marketing for our lives and fanservice, as well as responding to “Mr. Bossman”’s interviews and holding photoshoots… I guess we’ll be doing all kinds of typical idol activities.

I’m praying that these experiences will be useful for all of you on your original paths as well.

Tori: Fufu. Actually, when I’m with fine it’s pretty much all I can do just to keep up with my seniors…

Being able to plan everything by ourselves from the beginning like this actually feels a little refreshing, which is nice.

Chiaki: Right. I’m having fun as well. I have no complaints whatsoever about Ryuseitai, but thanks to yours truly all our activities are pretty hero-like.

Being able to act like an ordinary idol like this makes me feel like I’ve started over from the beginning, which makes me happy.

On the other hand, I’m almost worried that I won’t be able to stop acting like a hero as usual and that I won’t be able to do normal idol activities at this point.

Hokuto: We’ve been doing fundamental lessons up until now in order to avoid that, haven’t we?

…I also think it’s delightful to be able to be a normal idol without worrying about revolutions and grudges anymore.

Idols should be focused on singing and dancing to make our fans happy, not on defeating our enemies and changing the world.

I feel like I’m relearning all these obvious things.

Jin: Why did you ever unlearn them? Those things are important.

Actually, as long as you don’t forget those things, you guys can keep being idols forever.

As long as you are wanted, you can keep standing on stage.

I threw that right away by my own hands, but I feel like you guys won’t make the same mistakes I did.

…Wait, what? I just noticed, but where did Kunugi-sensei disappear to?

Tori: Huh? You’re right… Well, lunch break is about to end, so he probably went back?

Jin: N~, honestly, what did that guy even come here for… Was he really just watching over us?

Well, whatever. Lunch break is pretty much over… Should we clean up and call it a day?

Make sure you’re not late for class now, okay? I don’t wanna get scolded by the other teachers.

Hokuto: Huh… Honestly, just when I thought you said something nice for once, this happens.

Jin: Ahaha. Being just a little pathetic makes me seem more like a regular human, which makes me more lovable. Don’t you feel it?

<Second floor hallway>

akiomi

Akiomi: …Yes, right.

Indeed. I’m sorry to call you over the phone like this. If I had used the school broadcast to call out to you then Sagami-sensei would have noticed.

If necessary, I can meet you in person and explain more thoroughly.

That won’t be necessary, you say? That’s good. It would be a pain to have to find you to talk to you after all.

Yes. As I briefly mentioned earlier, I plan to join Project-Saga myself as well.

Things seem to be going almost too smoothly for everyone so far, or rather, they’ve gotten too relaxed and have lost any sense of danger.

They might be in need of some outside encouragement. Yes, that is how living beings come to grow.

Yes. Come see me in the staff room once school ends. And bring with you a couple more “allies”.

Yes. If you don’t mind, please bring those children I recommended to you.

Fufu. I’m counting on you then, Mikejima-kun… Yes, as expected, the main character really does need his fated rival.

-

Navigation:
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Season: Summer of ES! timeline

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Tori, Hokuto, Chiaki, Jin

Chiaki: Alright, break ends there! There’s no point in us students getting ahead all on our own, so please do your job properly and work hard with us, sensei!

jin+chiaki

Jin: Uu~... I’m supposed to be the “master” here, but I feel like I’m really being taken advantage of by my “disciples”.

Hokuto: If you want to be respected as a master, then please work hard to earn that respect.

Jin: Guess I’ve no choice… Well then, I guess I’ll try hard a bit longer.

Aaalright. Everyone, c’mere. Let’s go over our plans from here on out one more time.

We’ve been repeating these basic lessons each week over and over again, and at this point we’ve reached a point where we’ve started to come together pretty well. I think. Probably.

Hokuto: You should be more confident in that declaration, for our sakes as well.

Jin: It's just one demand after the other with you… Anyhow, there’s no point in just continuing these basic lessons forever.

If we kept going like that, then the articles for Project-Saga would just be repeating the same stuff forever, which would be troublesome for Mr. Bossman, and we would end up getting rusty.

Which means. I’d like for us to hold a little live next month.

Chiaki: Ooh, a live! It’s finally time to reveal Rain-bows to the world… ✰

Tori: Uu. I don’t wanna reveal anything. I want to hide my past involvement with you guys away in the dark.

Jin: Well, I bet you all have your own opinions about this. Lives are the most effective and most idol-like work we could do, though.

Right now, we only have the basic funds we were given when we formed our unit, but if we were to produce results in an official DreamFes, then we’d be given additional funds.

Well, in our case, even if we had tons of money, it's not as if we have anything to spend it on.

But if we have money, we’d at least be able to rent a proper lesson room instead of having to use the rooftop like this.

The quality of our lessons would go up, and we’d be able to achieve better results in a shorter amount of time.

Chiaki: Hm. That’s true, they do say that you achieve better results when you use better equipment, both for muscle training and for other training.

Hokuto: That reminds me. Why are we doing lessons on the roof anyhow? Isn’t this place supposed to be off limits… Will we get in trouble?

Jin: It is. But I am a teacher, y’know?

They made a special exception for me, under the condition that I supervise our lessons… And thus, they allowed us to use the rooftop as our official lesson room.

Actually, the fact that this place is normally off-limits means that no one else needs to use it.

We won’t get in the way of any other units, so this was the most convenient place for us to use.

jin+tori

Tori: Nn~, I like this place because the view is really nice.

Right now it’s nice because the weather’s been sunny for a while, but wouldn’t this place be pretty awful if it rained?

Jin: Yeah. We’re still a ways off, but the rainy season is approaching, after all.

I want to save up at least enough funds so that we’ll be able to move indoors right away when the weather turns bad.

We could rent an empty classroom for free as well.

But since those aren’t soundproof, we’d be annoying to our surroundings, and it might be difficult to have a satisfying lesson in that kind of environment.

Chiaki: Right. So that’s another reason why we should hold lives to earn money?

So this is an investment into our future, as expected of Sagami-sensei… You’re even keeping an eye on possible future developments ♪

Jin: Yeah. If you hold a live, you’ll get customers, which will increase our number of fans.

There isn’t much meaning to increasing fans of Rain-bows by itself, but it’s not bad to increase you guys’ reputations and popularity as individuals.

It will be profitable for your original units as well.

It seems that Himemiya isn’t feeling too enthusiastic about all of this yet, but I’d like you to work hard for Rain-bows with that thought in mind.

Tori: …

Jin: Project-Saga is being serialized in a country-wide magazine.

If we do well, you’ll be able to have your name known to a far wider audience compared to doing work only within Yumenosaki.

This might come especially in handy for Hidaka, who will be participating in this year’s SS.

SS attracts audiences from all over the country, so the more people recognize your name the better.

And since the magazine which is publicizing Project-Saga isn’t specifically an idol magazine, that means you’ll be able to appeal even to people who usually wouldn’t care about idols.

That’s a target audience you’d normally have no way of reaching, after all…

If you’re able to attract that crowd, you could get one or two steps ahead of the other idols.

Hokuto: Hm. I’ll admit, I was thinking that I would have to do such preliminary preparations for SS.

Chiaki: Right! Necessity births success! Once you have a clear goal set in your mind, it suddenly becomes easier to work hard to achieve it!

Jin: Well, we’re just a temporary unit showing up outta nowhere.

We have basically no money, so throwing a flashy live and attracting lots of guests is just a pipe dream.

So you shouldn’t get your hopes too high up. I was just fantasizing about what could happen if all goes well.

Tori: Hmph. Obviously things will go well, I’m going to be helping you out after all.

hokuto+tori

Hokuto: That’s some confidence you’ve got there. Well, it’s not like I’m planning on failing either.

Chiaki: Right! I got a burst of motivation~! Our first goal is a live! What should we be doing now in order to reach that goal… Sagami-sensei!?

Jin: You all are almost too dependable, good job.

Thanks to that, I’m able to take it easier. As far as preparing for live performances goes, I’d say you guys are more knowledgeable than me.

Can you think of anything specific we should be focusing on from here on out?

Hokuto: How unreliable of you, “master”. This is the part where you should act the part and relentlessly order us around.

Jin: That kinda thing doesn’t suit me though… You might’ve forgotten, but I’m just a retired relic of the past.

The way I see it, letting you guys who are still active in the entertainment world be in charge of this is the safer course of action.

Tori: I guess you have a point… Uhm, so, the most important thing for the live is that we get a lot of guests!

It seems like the president is willing to cooperate with Project-Saga for some reason, so if I personally request it of him, he might be willing to help us out with publicity?

Hokuto: No, first of all we should decide on a program for our live. Just attracting lots of guests won’t do us any good if we don’t have a show prepared for them, after all.

Chiaki: Right. If we decide on the contents of the live first, that will make advertising easier as well.

That being said, we’re just a temporary unit put together recently, so we don’t have a single original song to our name.

Hokuto: Hm. It would feel weird for us to use songs from our original units, like Trickstar or Ryuseitai, as well.

Those songs all have lyrics and choreographies created to suit the atmosphere of that original unit, after all.

Tori: Eh~? But I wanna sing fine’s songs!

More importantly, I still haven’t even completely mastered fine’s songs, so even if we were to make lots of new songs right now there’s no way I would be able to learn them all!

Hokuto: Hm. I guess that’s true, fine’s songs all seem like they require lots of practice to master, after all.

Chiaki: I have a proposal. What about taking songs from our original units, and then arranging them to fit with Rain-bows’ atmosphere and using them like that?

Of course, we would need to acquire permission from each of our original units before we could use those songs, though.

Fundamentally speaking, it would be more effective and easy for us to use the weapons each of us is most acquainted with.

Hokuto: Huh. So would our best course of action be to focus mostly on re-arranging existing songs and then supplying that with some new original songs then?

chiaki+hokuto

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Season: Summer of ES! timeline

Location: Rooftop

Characters: Akiomi, Anzu, Jin, Hokuto, Tori, Chiaki

<1 month later>

Akiomi: Hmm.

Thank you for the explanation, transfer student.

I looked over the report you wrote for this “Mr.Bossman” as well, and its contents were nicely summed up and easy to understand.

Even I, a complete outsider to Project-Saga, was able to understand the current status of the project.

To summarize, the temporary unit created by Jin and the students, “Rain-bows” successfully passed the application process and has been approved by the student council…

And they have been steadily increasing their activities in the month since.

Even then, all the members appear to be rather busy.

It seems they’re only barely able to gather everyone for a lesson once a week. This project sure is amping up to take an awful long time, don’t you think?

Like this, it’s more like they’re gathering to do circle activities together than doing proper idol work.

Well, it seems like they are able to relax and have fun with it, and looking in from outside it seems almost fun enough to make me jealous.

Jin: If you’re jealous then switch with me~, Akiyan. Aa~, I’m beat…

Akiomi: Hey, Jin. If you’re going to lie down at least move to a different bench or do it on the ground. You’re disturbing my meal.

Jin: And why are you eating in a place like this? I can’t relax if you’re sitting there watching me.

Akiomi: Hmph. I was worried that you might be slacking off instead of working properly.

I came over to scope the situation out while eating. I won’t be interrupting your lesson in any way, so please don’t mind me.

Jin: But I do mind. And your entire body is sending out some seriously bad vibes.

…Oh? Akiyan, is your bento homemade?

Gimme a bite, I’ve spent all my energy doing too much exercise… munch munch ♪

Akiomi: Hey, stop nibbling on my food.

Hokuto: Why are two adult men sitting and acting like a couple of schoolgirls?

Don’t slack off, Sagami-sensei. Come back and continue your lesson.

Jin: Uu~. You youngsters are too energetic, you’re shining too bright for me. I can’t keep my eyes open.

Hokuto: Don’t go to sleep either. If you need to rest, then rest properly. Don’t just lie down out of nowhere, or else you’ll get sore all over. You’re not young anymore, Sensei.

Akiomi: Fufu. Looks like you’re going through it, huh, Hidaka-kun.

Hokuto: Ah, Kunugi-sensei, nice to see you. Sorry for interrupting your meal, did you come to check on us?

Akiomi: Yes. It’s not that I’m lacking things to do, though. But I took a personal interest in whether or not Sagami-sensei is properly working hard…

Plus, I received some strange orders from the top.

Hokuto: The top? Strange orders?

Akiomi: Please don’t pay it any mind. For now, it’s just some paranoid old people who are panicking over nothing~, or at least that’s what it feels like.

Hokuto: …? I don’t really understand. Since you came all this way, why don’t you watch our lesson and let us know if there are any points we can improve on?

It seems like it’s all Sagami-sensei can do just to make sure he is acting like a proper idol, so he isn’t able to give us any pointers himself right now.

I’m worried about whether or not I’m doing okay.

Chiaki: You’re doing absolutely fine! There’s no problems, we are certainly becoming more and more like a proper unit!

You think so too, right Himemiya? Is your youth burning brightly!?

tori+chiaki

Tori: Please stop bothering me with everything…

Aah, I’m tired already. fine’s lessons are harsh as it is, but Rain-bows’ lessons are mentally exhausting.

Akiomi: Oh. Morisawa-kun and Himemiya-kun, good work.

I’m sorry that you’ve been roped into this troublesome situation… I’m sure you’re having a hard time dealing with Sagami-sensei?

Chiaki: No, this is actually like a dream come true for me! I’m thoroughly enjoying myself!

It seems like Himemiya is having a rough time keeping up physically, though. Are you doing okay? If you’re tired, then feel free to take breaks, okay?

Tori: Don’t take me so lightly. It’s true that on days when we have Rain-bows lessons during lunch and I have fine lessons after school, I barely have the time to relax and it’s super tough.

And in addition to all that, I still haven’t gotten used to being at Yumenosaki Academy yet.

However. It seems like the president is actively cheering me on.

It seems like no matter how much I complain, I won’t be able to get away from this troublesome party. So I’ll mentally prepare myself, no, I’ll give up and do my best.

Aaargh, why did things come to this?

Chiaki: Hahaha! You’re such a hard worker, Himemiya, I really admire that part of you! There, there, there ♪

Tori: Umyah!? Stop hugging me all the time, you’re too clingy, I’ll bite you!?

Akiomi: Ahaha. It seems like you’re getting along surprisingly well.

Hokuto: Well, Himemiya still hasn’t gotten over what happened during DDD, and I still feel like there’s a certain tension between us…

But since Morisawa-senpai is skillfully acting as the mediator between all of us, the atmosphere is pretty harmonious.

I’m sure that is the kind of quality necessary for a leader. I should learn from him.

…Well, on paper, the leader of Rain-bows isn’t Morisawa-senpai, but rather Sagami-sensei, though.

In other words. Stop being lazy and get back to work, what kind of leader are you if you don’t take the initiative and work hard?

Jin: Alright… The four of us can only meet up once a week, during lunch break, after all.

No matter how we look at it, we don’t have a lot of time. I guess we really have to make good work of the time we have.

I do understand that. But this old man is tired, I can’t believe I used to be able to keep up with this lifestyle when I was younger.

Akiomi: Your youth was even harsher than this, wasn’t it?

You were supporting the entertainment industry all on your own… Watching from beside you, I couldn’t help but admire how superhuman you seemed.

In the end, I could never imitate you.

Jin: Hm. The unit system was probably put in place exactly so that those responsibilities could be shared between several people. If one person is left carrying it all on their shoulder, they’d break down after all.

Honestly speaking, I’d like to leave all the hard work to the youth.

Akiomi: Honestly now. You’re already this beaten down, huh… Jin. Are you sure you’ll be okay from here on out?

…Maybe it would be better if I stopped acting as a bystander and instead joined in to support you. That is what the top ordered me to do, after all.

Jin: Eh, what? Did you just say something scary, Akiyan?

Akiomi: No. I was just talking to myself. Please pay it no mind.

jin+akiomi

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Season: Spring

Location: Empty classroom

Characters: Chiaki, Tori, Hokuto, Jin, Anzu

-

Chiaki: Hm. Himemiya, since you’re a new student here, you probably don’t know about the origin of the name fine, do you?

chiaki+tori

Tori: Eh? I, I dunno… I feel like I read some article where the members were asked about the reason behind the name though.

Wasn’t it something like “we want to end the old era and create a new world~”?

Fufu. The first time I read the name I thought for sure it would be pronounced like the word fine, you know.

I liked it cause it sounded so positive… it took me a while to realize it was actually a musical term.

Even though I was taking violin lessons, so I was familiar with the term already.

Once you convince yourself something is true, it gets kinda hard to reset that information inside your brain, doesn’t it.

To be honest, there are still some moments where I almost say “fain” on accident. …Keep that a secret from the president and the others, okay?

Hokuto: Huh… so Himemiya has also done violin lessons. I was made to learn it by my parents as well.

Tori: You were? Wait, is Hidaka-senpai also from a wealthy family? I can’t remember ever seeing you at any events though…?

Hokuto: Oh, my parents might have attended some.

Well, my family only recently became wealthy, so it might have been difficult for them to show up at social gatherings for distinguished families.

Tori: N~. This area is surprisingly elitist, after all. My family is also rather new money, so sometimes those gatherings make me uncomfortable as well.

Those gatherings are filled with old families who brag about how their ancestors have lived in this area since the dawn of time or whatever.

Chiaki: Ooh, what a bourgeois conversation… If I remember correctly, Sagami-sensei is the son of a long line of doctors. It feels tough to be the only commoner in the room.

Jin: Ahaha. Shouldn’t humans’ worth be based on how we chose to live rather than how we were born? Not that I care.

Rather than that, we should be trying to think of a unit name right now. Does anyone have any good ideas?

Tori: N~. Maybe we should take a page out of fine’s book after all and choose a name related to our goals?

Hokuto: Hm. There’s no red thread between the four of us, after all. It’d be impossible to find a name based on our members’ impressions like with Ra*bits.

It would be difficult to summarize this disorganized group with just one word.

Chiaki: Hm. If we try to think based on our goals…

We were created because of Project-Saga, so what? Do we find an English term for “master and pupil” or something?

Tori: N~, I can’t really think of any. This project is centered around Sagami…sensei, isn’t it? Why don’t we try thinking from there?

Sagami-sensei, what kind of unit were you a part of back during your active days?

Jin: N? No, when I was active, idol units weren’t trendy at all yet.

It might sound unbelievable to you guys who are so used to the unit system nowadays though.

I used to do all my activities solo, under the name Sagami Jin. Meaning I used my real name as my stage name.

Tori: Huh, so that used to be the norm…?

And here I was thinking we could have taken Sagami-sensei’s old unit name and played around a bit with it or something.

Project-Saga is a plan for reviving old-fashioned idols, isn’t it?

I thought that if we could borrow the stage name from such a legendary idol, it might give us some dignity and give the fans something to be excited about.

Hokuto: Hm. Then what about making a pun based on Sagami-sensei’s real name or a nickname?

…Fufu. Trying to think of something like this is kind of like a puzzle, how fun.

jin+hokuto

Jin: Eh~? Trying to arrange my own name into something cool makes me feel self-centered, I don’t like it…

Doesn’t it make you cringe? It’s like a nickname a middle schooler would pick for their twisted net persona.

Well, the name Project-Saga already makes me feel like that though.

Chiaki: Hm. Thinking about nicknames for Sagami-sensei, it has to be “Super Idol”, doesn’t it?

Hokuto: That’s true… Then, how about pluralizing it and making it “Super Idols”?

Though the rest of us aren’t really super idols yet, so we might be setting ourselves up for failure with that name.

Tori: Eh~, that’s too lame. Make it something more glam!

Jin: Ahaha. I feel like idol names are more popular the more silly and easy-going they sound though… Is that point of view old-fashioned already?

Chiaki: Oh, eureka! Sagami-sensei used to be the legendary hero, “Ryusei Rainbow”, didn’t you?

What if we used that name as our basis and named ourselves “Rainbows”?

Tori: That’s also lame, you’re making us sound like a baseball team!

Hokuto: …I actually like it. It’s a rainbow, doesn’t it give off a pretty impression?

Tori: Eh~, you guys have no sense of style… Do I really have to do idol activities with such a group of baboons?

I don’t want to spend too much time on just a name though, so if everyone else wants that I’ll go along with it too.

At the very least leave the katakana out of it. If we use Latin letters it might actually look a little bit cool.

Chiaki: …Hm? The transfer student is noting something down in her notebook?

Oh… I thought you were just scribbling all this time, but you’ve already summarized our meeting in a report.

You’re a producer, though, so I’d like it if you could participate in the discussion instead of just doing secretary work.

I see. You tried writing down the unit name in Latin letters to test it out, transfer student?

And while you were at it, you tried designing something like a unit logo… you say?

You sure work quick. But that’s very helpful, it really helps to see these kind of things with your own eyes before deciding.

…Nn? “Rain-bows”? Where did that hyphen sneak in from?

Oh, that’s just a stain or a trace after erasing something? I kinda like it, though. It feels more meaningful when you divide it down the middle like that.

Hokuto: It feels more meaningful even though the word itself somehow means less now. Well, that might be more like us.

It might work as a metaphor for us, who met by accident after going down a detour.

Jin: Then, is everyone on board with “Rain-bows” as our official name?

If everyone agrees, then I’ll report it to Mr.Bossman and then I’ll submit the application form for our temporary unit.

Chiaki: I’m on board, Sagami-sensei! As for the application form, it feels wrong to make you spend your time on it, so leave it to me!

Hokuto: No, the transfer student says she’d like to do it. It seems she’s never made an application form before, so she’s curious.

This should be a good experience for her, so I’d like to let her do it.

Fufu. You could say that Rain-bows is the first unit you’ve created from scratch.

To be able to be a part of that is an honor. Though I feel a little bad for Akehoshi and the others.

Tori: I’m still not completely convinced about this awful name…

I guess it’s fine, whatever. Hey, if there’s nothing else we need to talk about today can we call it quits already?

Jin: That’s right. We’ve decided on everything we needed to decide on and I’ve told you all there is to tell.

If we agree to meet back up in a week or so, we could end things here for today.

The detour ends here for now, so everyone should hurry back to your original paths. Good work today, everyone.

And once again, let’s keep working hard together from here on out… Rain-bows. Haha, to think I’d participate in a unit for the first time at this age.

jin

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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Empty classroom

Characters: Hokuto, Tori, Chiaki, Jin

-

Hokuto: By the way, what kind of person is this “Mr. Bossman”?

We might end up being acquainted for a long time, so I’d like to establish a profile for him sooner rather than later.

jin+hokuto

Jin: He’s some youngster from a magazine company. Once you get to be my age it becomes difficult to tell those young people apart.

Hokuto: Are you sure you should be saying that as a teacher? Isn’t it your job to tell young people apart?

Jin: N~. To think that back when I was active as an idol, I was able to remember the faces and names of each of my fans.

Actually, all the thinking I did back then must've worn my brain out or something, so now I’ve gotten worse at remembering things.

Tori: Hmph. Isn’t it too soon for you to start making jokes… sir?

Jin: You don’t have to force yourself to speak respectfully. We’re a ragtag and rushed mashup of members, but we are still a team and we should support each other.

Let’s be frank with each other, that’s easier on me as well.

Hokuto: I would prefer that as well, but are you sure it’s okay to be so nonchalant about this?

Jin: Sure, it’s okay. This is just a silly low-budget project, there’s no need for us to go above and beyond.

Tori: Hm. And why exactly do I have to get involved in such a cheap project…?

Chiaki: Hm. And this “Mr.Bossman” is only gonna come visit us once a week?

Jin: Yup. It’s old news that magazines don’t sell well in this day and age, but it seems like the industry was hit especially hard by the recession and had to make some staff cuts.

Seems the magazine company doesn’t have enough people who can write their articles.

Mr.Bossman is still young, but it seems they’re making him write lots of different articles so he’s having a rough time of it.

Which means he can’t spend all his time on just us, or rather on just Project-Saga.

Tori: Hmph. Both the planning and the staff reek of poverty, this really is a low-budgeted project, isn’t it?

Chiaki: Isn’t that a good thing? It feels like a passion project. It’s important to work hard without neglecting these kinds of jobs, Himemiya.

Jin: How arrogant… By the way Morisawa, did you mean anything by that question earlier?

Is there any problem with Mr.Bossman only coming once a week?

Chiaki: No, I was just thinking how difficult it must be to write an entire article based just off that one day.

If possible, why don’t we summarize our activities into a report and give that to the Bossman on the day he comes here?

I don’t know much about magazines or articles, but surely the more materials the better, right?

Jin: Aah, hm. It might be none of our business, but thinking about it from the point of view of the person writing the article…

I’m sure a report like that would be really helpful.

Transfer student. Could you try to take notes like that whenever you have the time?

We have to focus on actually doing our idol activities, so it would be nice to be able to leave this task to you.

Well, I’m still not sure if we should be doing this on our own, so I’ll check if it’s okay with Mr.Bossman first though.

Chiaki: Ooh, the transfer student perked up. Do you enjoy writing these kinds of reports?

hokuto+chiaki

Hokuto: Fufu. That reminds me, the transfer student is always taking notes whenever something happens, isn’t she?

Tori: N~. Well, that kind of work is best suited to the servants. Make sure to note down how cute and great I am.

Jin: Ahaha. You do realize we need to actually do our activities before she can start writing any sort of report, right?

Chiaki: Hm. The magazine is published weekly… so we would need to do some activity at least once a week.

Jin: That’s right.

Well, we could always pull off something like doing a super flashy activity once a month and then dividing that content into four pieces for the actual articles.

That all depends on you guys’ individual unit activities and your schedules from month to month, after all.

We should aim for once a week, and if it gets difficult, we should at least make sure to meet regularly.

Tori: Eeh~, this isn’t a one-time thing? I’m already feeling kinda fed up with this, you know?

Chiaki: Don’t say that. I’m kinda excited for this actually, it feels like we’re gonna be getting together in our secret hideout or something.

Jin: Well, do try to have some fun with this.

Either way, the content of our activities is pretty much up to us, and the magazine company hasn’t come up with any particular requests… What do you want to do?

For my part, I just want to do something idol-like every once in a while.

Hokuto: That’s awfully vague. What does “idol-like” mean, specifically? Lives?

Jin: Lives will probably be difficult to pull off with our budget, but we could probably at least imitate a real live.

It would be enough to just borrow the Auditorium when no one else is using it and sing and dance, after all.

Tori: Hm. If we’re gonna be doing lives, I’d prefer to gather a bunch of audience members and go all out, though.

Chiaki: Oh, that’s good Himemiya! Keep it up, keep voicing your opinions assertively!

Tori: You’re annoying, stop commenting on everything I do!

chiaki+tori

Chiaki: Fufu. Either way, since Sensei is one of our members, we’ll probably get some special treatment no matter what but…

How about registering us as a regular temporary unit?

We can send in an application, and if it’s accepted, the student council should give us an activity budget.

Even with just a small budget, our range of activities should broaden and we might be able to do proper live performances.

Jin: N~. I’d prefer if the students got to use the budget for themselves, but that could work yeah.

Frankly speaking, the budget provided by the magazine company is close to nothing at all, I doubt it would even cover the bare minimum of our activities.

Tori: Huh? Wait a second, what is a “temporary unit”? I thought each student could only be part of one unit each?

A, are you telling me to drop out of fine? There’s no way I’d ever do that!?

Hokuto: Ah… How nostalgic. Come to think of it, even though it hasn’t been in use recently, there was a system for establishing “temporary units”, wasn’t there?

If I remember correctly, you can establish a temporary unit for temporary work, right?

With that, you can do unit activities with a different unit even without dropping out of your original unit.

Of course, you need to apply and have your unit approved by the student council first.

Jin: Yup yup. It might be good for us to consider that. It would be convenient for Project-Saga in its entirety as well.

Chiaki: …What do you mean?

Jin: Yeah, I did mention there was one thing we needed to agree on today, didn’t I?

You see, the magazine company requested that we find a name to describe our unit in just one word already.

Meaning they want us to come up with a unit name.

“Jin Sagami and his students” doesn’t really flow off the tongue, after all, and it would be annoying to keep writing that in the articles.

Since we’re at it, why don’t we come up with an official name, prepare the necessary documents and apply for a temporary unit so we can receive a proper budget?

That way our activities going forward will become easier as well.

Chiaki: Fufu. That is a little idol-like, isn’t it. Most idol stories usually start off with the main unit trying to decide on a name for themselves, after all.

Jin: Do they? So you actually watch TV outside of just Tokusatsu shows?

Chiaki: Ahaha. Not just TV, I’ve also been fond of reading ever since I was young… I like reading all kinds of stories for both children and adults through novels and manga.

Hokuto: How unexpected, people’s appearances can truly be deceiving… I also often read books on the train to and from school, so this could make for an interesting topic of conversation with Morisawa-senpai.

Chiaki: Oh, really? What kind of genres do you like, Hidaka?

Tori: …It feels like we’re getting off-topic. Weren’t we going to decide on a unit name?

I want to finish up here and return to fine’s lessons already, so please focus!

Chiaki: Ahaha, we got scolded. But Himemiya is right, we should come up with a unit name first of all!

Does anyone have any ideas?

Hokuto: Hm… That’s difficult, I’m not very good at this kind of creative task.

Tori: Uhm. I didn’t know much about idols before starting high school, so I’m not very familiar, but how would you usually decide on a unit name?

Does everyone talk it out together like this?

Chiaki: How, I wonder?

Ryuseitai was around even before I entered school, so I didn’t have to come up with a name… I’m not too sure myself.

Hidaka, how did you guys decide to call yourselves Trickstar?

Hokuto: …Huh, I can’t remember.

I feel like it came out of nowhere, who was it who suggested it again…

I feel like one of us said “Let’s name ourselves Trickstar!” out of nowhere one day when we were chatting as usual?

Chiaki: Ahaha. That’s very much like you.

Navigation:
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Season: Spring

Location: Empty classroom

Characters: Tori, Hokuto, Chiaki, Jin, Anzu

-

Tori: …

Hokuto: Alright. It seems like Himemiya’s mood has gotten better since he ate the sweets the transfer student prepared for today’s meeting…

It’s about time we restart the meeting.

Tori: …My mood hasn’t gotten better. Sigh, this is the worst.

I’m not sweet enough to be convinced just with some pieces of candy. You ought to present me with something more suited for my noble self!

Hokuto: You may not be sweet, but the candy sure is. Fufu. I got you, Himemiya.

tori+hokuto

Tori: …? …?

…D-don’t speak so casually to me, Hidaka-senpai! You traitor, I still haven’t forgiven you!

Chiaki: Now, now… Don’t be so cold, try to be patient and get along, Himemiya. Here, I’ll give you a cookie ♪

Tori: I, I said sweets won’t change my mind! Don’t treat me like a child!

Hokuto: Don’t say that. Here, I’ll give you some konpeito.

Tori: …? What’s this, I’ve never seen anything like this before. Don’t try to trick me into eating weird things. Konpeito? What country is that even from?

Hokuto: …Fufu♪

Tori: Wh, why are you laughing? It feels like you’re making fun of me, hmph~! How annoying!

Jin: Alright, let’s keep the small talk at that. Everyone is taking time out of their busy lives to be here, so let’s try to be effective and not waste our time.

Chiaki: Yup. I understand why you feel discontent, Himemiya, but please try to play along. I’m sure Tenshouin has his own reasons for recommending you for this project, don’t you think?

If you don’t fulfill your role as he wants, it would be like betraying his expectations… That might be an unfair way to put it, huh?

Tori: …Hmph. Still, I have absolutely no motivation for this, you know? I don’t know about Project-Saga or whatever, but this feels like a major detour!

Oooh whatever, I just want to get this over with so I can go back to fine’s lessons~!

Chiaki: Yup. And with that goal in mind, let’s properly discuss our activities going forward. Here, have some more candy♪

Tori: Hey, have you been trying to hand-feed me for a while? Even for you that’s too cheeky, Morisawa-senpai! Stand back!

Hokuto: (Hm. As expected of Morisawa-senpai. He’s good at dealing with Himemiya. So that’s how you should interact with him… I’ll remember that.)

(I wonder if this is the same strategy as when I give Akehoshi a 10-yen coin to make him listen to me.)

(No… Akehoshi himself is aware of that and goes along with it, it’s more like a ritual between the two of us.)

(It wouldn’t work with anyone else.)

(I need to learn strategies that will allow me to win over people outside of Trickstar as well, or else I might not be able to survive in the entertainment industry.)

(Project-Saga is the perfect opportunity to learn. I’ll make sure to internalize all of it, the proper way to interact with other idols.)

Jin: …Yup. Everyone’s bringing their own motives into this project, but since you’ve agreed to participate, I’d like it if you could do your best.

I’m praying that Project-Saga will turn out to be more than just an “unnecessary detour” for all of you.

Once again, thank you all for deciding to help me out with this.

Hokuto: Hm. How rare for you to act like a proper mentor, Sagami-sensei.

Jin: It's been known to happen. It’s an adult’s job to lower his head, so you guys should also learn how to act properly when necessary.

Either way, since this will be our first meeting… It’s enough if we confirm what our plans going forward are.

And as a bonus, there’s one thing we need to decide on.

I guess I just took the lead there, but is that okay? If anyone else wants to do it, I’m willing to give up the leader spot?

Hokuto: No, you should do it. You’re the main character in all this, so I’d like you to properly steer us through it for now.

Chiaki: Yup. You’re the one with the most superiority here, after all. You are the safest bet for our leader, and it makes the most sense.

Toku: Yeah. Well, I’m the greatest person here, though.

Jin: Where did that confidence come from… You seemed so polite when you first enrolled here, is this your true nature shining through?

Well, whatever. Then I’ll lead the show for now. Everyone is familiar with the general gist of Project-Saga, right?

How about it Himemiya? If there’s anything you don’t know I’ll explain it for you.

Tori: It’s okay… sir. I read through the materials you sent me before coming here, and the president and Yuzuru explained the parts I didn’t understand.

Hokuto: The transfer student and I have been involved since the beginning, so we are also familiar with the concept.

hokuto+chiaki

Chiaki: I’m also caught up for now, Sagami-sensei.

Jin: You’re all such diligent students, huh. If only every student here could be like you, then my job would be way easier.

Anyways, since it seems like you’re all familiar with the general concept for Project-Saga, I’ll leave out the explanations for now.

For now, we’ll go over our plans moving forward… and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Project-Saga is a leisure project to be published in a weekly magazine, and an employee of that magazine will be responsible for writing the articles for the project.

That person isn’t here right now so I can’t introduce him, but for convenience, I’ll be referring to him as Mr. Bossman from now on.

Mr. Bossman will visit us once a week to interview us and to take pictures for the magazine articles.

Then he’ll write the article before the deadline is up, and if we have no problems with the finished product it will be published in the magazine.

The main topic is legendary idols… well, it’s pretty much about me.

It’s about reviving retired idols like me and having us tutor young idols. They’re aiming for a dramatic effect like you’d see in a story.

Think the hot-blooded teacher trope, or one of those teacher-student themes.

It seems like the plan is for idol vocational schools as well as idol companies from all over the country to participate in this at the same time.

Well, for now I’m the only legendary… or rather, retired, idol participating. So it will be more like our own exclusive article.

If negotiations go well, then more and more “teacher and disciple” units will be added to the project later on.

Once that happens, we’ll be given less feature space in the articles.

Which means at that point, we won’t have to work as hard anymore.

But since we’re the only “teacher and disciples” available for now, we’ll need to come up with some drama to get the show rolling.

Hokuto: When you say drama, what exactly do we need to do?

Jin: N~. Well, it seems like you really went through it when you tried recruiting members for the project, Hidaka. So for our first feature you could try to put a funny spin on that experience?

In due time Mr. Bossman will come to interview us, so make sure you respond to whatever he wants to know about.

Hokuto: Hm. I understand.

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Season: Spring, ES! timeline

Location: Empty classroom

Characters: Hokuto, Chiaki, Jin, Anzu, Tori

<The same day after school>

Jin: Eh~, ahem. Well then, let’s get this Project-Saga meeting started or whatever.

Chiaki: Glad to be heeeeeeeere✰

Hokuto: …

Jin: Yup. Morisawa is too energetic, meanwhile Hidaka and the transfer student are too quiet. What’s up, are you feeling bad or something? Do you need to go to the infirmary?

Hokuto: No, that’s not it. I feel fine. I just can’t get used to this, it’s too different from our usual meetings with Trickstar.

Jin: Oh, so even you guys hold proper meetings. I was under the impression you just did whatever you felt like without prior planning.

Hokuto: Well, that is mostly true. In our case, it’s more like whenever we get together it often ends up becoming a sort of meeting.

Chiaki: Fufu. It’s good that you’re all friends but… That won’t fly outside of this school, so you should get used to doing things by the book as well.

Hokuto: Ah, I also think so. …Thank you so much again for joining, Morisawa-senpai. It makes me happy.

I’m still lacking experience, so I’m relying on your guidance and encouragement going forward.

Chiaki: How polite! But since I’m still busy with Ryuseitai as well, I probably will be going a lot back and forth between here and there, so I won’t always be able to participate.

I’ll let you know beforehand whenever I’m unable to participate, so I’d like you to keep me up to speed on what goes on during the meetings and lessons when I’m not there.

I want to be able to keep up with you guys as much as possible, after all.

Hm? What’s wrong, transfer student? You’re raising your hand… what are you trying to say?

Hm. So you’ll take responsibility for sending those messages, will you? That’s a huge help.

Going from that topic, we should make a group chat for Project-Saga in the school SNS.

Jin: Aah, I’ll leave that to you. It’s too difficult for this old guy, so please teach me how to use it later.

chiaki+jin

Chiaki: Okay! Leave it to me, Sagami-sensei♪

Jin: You’re so bubbly… Students usually don’t take me seriously at all, so I’m not used to being treated this way.

Hokuto: Hmph. It’s weird that you aren’t being taken seriously, you should act more like a proper teacher.

Jin: Yup, yup. …Either way, we’re already off to an awkward start, but is it okay to actually start the meeting now? Everyone’s here already, right?

Hokuto: Ah, that reminds me. Originally we were supposed to gather one member from each grade to participate in Project-Saga, right?

Finding members proved more difficult than expected, but shouldn’t we try to find a first-year member before beginning anything?

It feels a bit wrong to start holding meetings when we don’t have the entire team here yet.

Chiaki: Ah, you don’t have to worry about that. I managed to secure a first-year representative for us already.

Hokuto: Oooh… You’re so reliable, Morisawa-senpai. I’m glad we’re working together.

Chiaki: Fufun. You shouldn’t praise me so much, this isn’t even my achievement, really.

Hokuto: What do you mean? Since you said you managed to secure someone, I thought you meant you took along a first-year from Ryuseitai… or something like that?

Chiaki: No, it’s not one of my kids. I mentioned this earlier, but I would prefer for the Ryuseitai children to be able to focus on getting used to life in Yumenosaki and to their idol activities for the time being.

It wouldn’t feel right to get them involved with Project-Saga, which wasn’t part of their plan originally.

In the end, they would end up doing both jobs half-heartedly, and it would be like trying to catch two rabbits and ending up with none.

Hokuto: Hm. I don’t really get it. Then who did you invite?

None of the first-years have gotten used to their idol activities or to the school yet, which is why it was so difficult to ask any of them to join-

Chiaki: Yup. I talked it over with Tenshouin, and I think “that kid” is supposed to come over here once he’s done with his classes…

But he’s late, I wonder if he ran into any trouble?

Hokuto: T, Tenshouin? The student council president? Honestly, I’d prefer not to get involved with that guy…?

Chiaki: You don’t have to be so wary. Even Tenshouin is a human like me and you. It’s not like he eats children’s dreams for breakfast or anything.

It seems Tenshouin thinks there might be some ulterior motives at play behind this Project-Saga.

He got curious while we were talking, and wanted to send one of his own over to run surveillance.

It’s something like a spy. But well, we were in need of a first-year representative either way, so it’s a win-win situation for everyone, don’t you think?

Hokuto: What is that, how suspicious… So the president is sending one of his underlings to infiltrate us? Who could it be?

Chiaki: Wait a bit, I’ll send him a message. Tenshouin gave me his contact information, you see.

Uuuuhm, it should be under “H”... I should organize my contact list more often, it’s hard to find the name I’m looking for.

Oh, found it. I’ll call him.

Hokuto: …!? What’s that, a phone started blaring from nearby!

tori

Tori: …Pyuu? Wa, wawaa?

Hokuto: Himemiya! So you're the spy sent to infiltrate us by the student council president!

Tori: I, I’m not a spy! Though the president did tell me to dig around for information and then report anything I learn to him~ or something like that.

He also said to “Basically just go have fun”, but… There’s nothing fun about this at all!

Putting Sagami-sensei aside, everyone else here are enemies of fine!

Don’t wanna~! I wanna go ho~me, why should I have to work alongside you guys?

Uuu. Did the president think that this Dropout Corps would fit me better than fine?

Does that mean fine doesn’t need someone like me anymore…?

Chiaki: Fufu. I don’t understand how Tenshouin’s head works, but either way you’re welcome with us.

You can sit next to us, let’s get along… Let’s work hard together on Project-Saga♪

Tori: No! I don’t know what Project-Saga is, but I didn’t enter Yumenosaki to participate in a detour like this!

I want to work hard as a part of fine, alongside Eichi-sama~!

chiaki+tori

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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Yumenosaki infirmary

Characters: Chiaki, Jin

Jin: …Hm, this wound is smaller than I thought. I should be able to fix you up here, so you won’t have to go to the hospital.

I’ll just sterilize it, apply some medicine and wrap your arm in bandages. Try not to use your arm too much for today.

If you keep rubbing your sleeves against the wound it’ll heal slower, so you really should take off the jacket if possible.

Chiaki: Huh… I, I see.

Jin: How’d you get this wound? Is it another medal of honor gained from stunt work?

Chiaki: No, I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately, so when I was walking around the other day I almost got hit by a car…

I managed to jump out of the way, but I ended up scraping my arm against the stone wall along the road.

Jin: Hey, hey, that’s dangerous you know… You need to be more careful, or else you could die.

…Are you overworking yourself, Morisawa? I’m sorry, I’m sure you have enough on your plate with just looking after Ryuseitai alone.

And now you’ve ended up agreeing to help out with Project-Saga as well?

Hidaka told me. That guy had an innocent smile on his face, without even trying to hide how happy he was.

Chiaki: …I see. If I managed to make him smile, then that’s enough for me.

Jin: Hmm. But you know, if you ended up overworking yourself, getting into an accident, and seriously injuring yourself because of that, then Hidaka would have to carry that guilt around for the rest of his life.

Take care of yourself, Morisawa.

That’s my advice both as a doctor, as your teacher, and as a person. It’s as I’m always telling you, being an idol isn’t worth dying over…

Chiaki: …

Jin: Well, I guess there’s no use in telling you youngsters that kind of stuff.

Compared to my generation, you guys are almost too well-behaved, after all. I almost think you would benefit from being more reckless sometimes.

It’s fine to grow up in a peaceful environment and all, but that doesn’t prepare you for the real world.

You should go through difficulty, make mistakes and grow that way… you brats.

…Alright. Treatment finished. Now head on over to your classroom, Morisawa. Take care.

Chiaki: Right. Before that, there’s something I’d like to ask you about if that’s okay.

Jin: N? I don’t mind, but what is it? If it’s not important, could you save it for after school?

Mornings are always super busy for me, so I can’t spend all my time on you alone you know~?

Chiaki: No, it’s about Project-Saga. Is that project really an unimportant, low-budget plan?

chiaki+jin

Jin: Yup. It’s a project one of my acquaintances came up with on a whim.

It’ll be serialized in the corner of some magazine, it’s a nonsensical project with no real impact… Or at least that’s how I see it, did something about it catch your eye?

Chiaki: Yeah. When I’m doing stunt work, I often hear the name Project-Saga come up amongst the members of the industry.

Since I’ve officially joined the project, it’s become my business as well, so I ended up getting curious and listening in on their conversations.

It seems as if some office is getting very interested in Project-Saga, and might end up putting a lot of money into it.

Apparently, it would be enough money for the stock market to fluctuate, so they were speaking rather seriously about it.

Jin: Some office? That's the first I've heard about it...

The person chosen to be in charge of Project-Saga by the magazine company also didn’t mention anything of the sort…

Chiaki: Ooh, is there a person at the head of this project?

Jin: Yeah. The project is being developed by a magazine company, so they can’t let us do whatever we want with the project.

It seems like young people will come regularly from the magazine company to check in on us and make a report on our progress.

And with those reports as a base, the company will write funny articles and feature those in the magazine. That’s all there is to Project-Saga.

A lot of money, huh. It would just be troublesome if someone dumped that into this project.

Rather, there’d be nothing for us to spend it on, seeing as there are no plans for any live shows or anything flashy like that. I think that’s probably just some rumor with no real background to it.

Chiaki: H~m. It seemed as if even the people talking about it were pretty skeptical, though it would be a shame if it was false.

When I mentioned it while chatting in class, Tenshouin ended up showing some interest.

He said he was keeping an eye on those kinds of movements, and that he might have to come up with a countermeasure of sorts…

I don't really understand what he meant by it, though.

Jin: Huh, that Tenshouin… I thought he was satisfied or tired or both after DDD and had calmed down, but is he getting back to plotting already?

That makes me a little nervous. Morisawa, if you get along well with Tenshouin, could you try to ask him for more details?

No matter how the world sees it, this project is important to me as a request from the person who saved me… I don’t want to get dragged into some weird conspiracy.

If there’s something fishy going on under the surface, we’d better get ahold of it sooner rather than later and put a stop to it.

Chiaki: Right… Well, I’m on pretty good terms with Tenshouin, so I’ll try to ask him about it casually.

Jin: Haha. Are there even anyone you aren’t on good terms with?

I’m jealous of your ability to get along so well with everyone. That was the one thing I lacked the most when I was younger.

In this day and age, communication skills matter more than hard work and talent. In that sense, you might be a modern superman of sorts.

chiaki+jin

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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Yumenosaki Infirmary

Characters: Chiaki, Jin

<Some days later>

Chiaki: Excuuuuuse meeee!

Chiaki Morisawa, nay Ryusei Red… has entered the premises ✰

chiaki+jin

Jin: …Why are you this energetic. If you’re injured, act like it, Morisawa.

Chiaki: Yes! It’s as you say, Sagami-sensei, I’ll be more careful from now on!

Jin: At least you're responding properly.

…Why are you in your unit outfit exactly. Did you have Ryuseitai activities since early in the morning?

Chiaki: Yup! We were doing “Good Morning Exercises” along the neighborhood school route!

Also, I’m so excited to have inherited the color red that I often wear this outfit even without any reason!

Jin: Huh. I’m guessing you only have one set of that outfit, so don’t go dirtying it too badly now.

Well, whatever… What’s wrong today, did the wound I treated the other day start hurting again?

Let me see for a bit. Sit down over there.

Chiaki: Yes! Ryusei Red, sitting down!

Jin: Your energy is gonna tire me out so please stop. Speak normally. You’re a high schooler already, so you should graduate from playing hero.

Chiaki: Fufun♪ That won’t be a problem, Sagami-sensei. I’m not “playing” after all!

Jin: That’s an even bigger problem, though… Hmm, your wound from the other day was around your knee, wasn’t it?

It appears you’ve pretty much healed, so what are you doing at the infirmary today? Skipping class?

The bell’s gonna ring any minute now, so make sure you go straight to your classroom, okay?

I have to close the infirmary and head on over to class 2-A soon too, or else the students will complain that I’m slacking off again.

…It might be too late to complain at this point, but why exactly am I a homeroom teacher when I’m also the school nurse anyways? Does Yumenosaki Academy have a teacher shortage or something?

Chiaki: Fufu. Sagami-sensei is so reliable, so people end up trusting you with important work. An “ally of justice” takes no days off ♪

Jin: No thank you, I’m not the type to be called an ally of justice, so I’d like to take days off.

…I could have declined the offer if I really didn’t want to do it, but I never was very good at telling people no.

Turning people’s favors down is pretty mentally exhausting in and of itself, after all.

So I prefer to say yes and work hard through the struggle on my own.

Chiaki: Fuhaha♪ As expected of Sagami-sensei, you’re so kind! So you can’t turn down people’s requests, huh, you really do possess heroic qualities!

No, that’s exactly what makes you a legendary hero… Ryusei Rainbow ✰

Jin: You’re the only one who still remembers that name. Y’know, if you want it, I’d gladly give you that stupid nickname any day of the week.

Chiaki: No thank you, I wanna be red!

Jin: Is that so. Well, that color suits you… I’ll disinfect your wound, so shut up for a bit so you don’t bite your tongue.

Chiaki: …Mgh!?

Jin: There you go, your knee is disinfected. You should be fine to wear a bandaid instead of a bandage over it now, just make sure not to get it wet when bathing.

Chiaki: Yes, I’m well aware! I often get injured after all!

Jin: You really are always injured, aren’t you… Are you okay? You’re not being bullied or anything?

Chiaki: No, it’s because I’ve been doing more stunt work recently. I want to make connections with people in the industry, so I’m working on expanding my connections.

It seems like if I get along well with people on-set, more work might come for Ryuseitai as well, after all.

Jin: Hmm. Stunt work, huh. You’re an idol, you know, so you should be the one asking for a stunt man, not working as one.

You’re getting by with small injuries for now, but make sure you’re careful so the worst doesn’t happen.

Retiring due to an accident, illness or injury sometimes feels worse than losing your job because of messing up, you know.

Kunugi-sensei went through something like that, and he’s always bitching about it in the Izakaya.

Chiaki: Oh, did he really? I’m not too familiar with Kunugi-sensei, so I had no idea!

Jin: Yup. Everyone should show more interest in Akiyan.

The general public sure is cruel, they won’t even give anyone the time of day unless they get the gold medal.

Especially people from outside the industry, I don’t think they recognize the fine details that go into niche parts of the idol industry at all.

Chiaki: Exactly! People who aren’t into Tokusatsu shows think that every Kamen R*der is the same Kamen R*der after all!

They don’t get what I’m talking about when I mention stuff like De*ade or A*azon!*

Jin: Actually, that’s pretty much where my knowledge stops as well. Just how many of those shows are there at this point, they’ve been creating too many Kamen R*ders… It sure is a dangerous world to live in for a villain.

Chiaki: Fufu. When you put it like that it makes it sound as if the villains are the ones being bullied, it makes me want to cheer for their side instead.

To save the weak and punish the strong, heroes will always be the allies of the weak ✰

…Owie!?

Jin: N? Oh, Morisawa… Did you hurt your arm? I just noticed, but you’ve got quite the graze there haven’t you?

Chiaki: Yes. I actually came to the infirmary to get this wound treated.

Jin: Say that sooner. Take off your jacket for a bit, lemme see.

Chiaki: Y-yes. I’ll take it off, so please turn around.

Jin: Why. There’s no need to feel embarrassed, we’re both guys… You’re so weird.

Don’t worry, I’m a doctor. Come now, Chiaki-chan take it off, take it off~♪

Chiaki: S, stop it, Sho*ker! Are you drunk again, Sagami-sensei!?**

Jin: Ahaha, I’m just joking.

chiaki+jin

-

TL notes:
* - Here, Chiaki is referring to the tokusatsu franchise Kamen Rider, one of the longest running tokusatsu series. Specifically, he is referring to Kamen Rider Decade from 2009 and Kamen Rider Amazon from 1974.
** - Again, Chiaki is being a Kamen Rider nerd and is referencing Shocker, an evil organization featured in many episodes of Kamen Rider.

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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Soundproof lesson room

Characters: Akiomi, Jin, Sora, Mika

Mika: ‘Scuse me~♪

Here, this room’s ta last one. Let’s finish up in one swoop, lunch break’s almost over… uhm, Harukawa-kun.

sora+mika

Sora: Yes! Sora will do his very best, Meka-niisan!

Mika: Nah, it’s not “Meka”, it’s “Mika” though? And I don’t really like my first name so could ya call me by my last name instead?

Sora: HaHa~♪ Then “Kage-niisan” it is!

Mika: Nng~? I’m not Harukawa-kun’s older brother though?

Sora: But that’s what it feels like… oh?

Akiomi: Oh. You two, do you need anything? This lesson room is in use.

Mika: Ngah, sorry ‘bout that! Did we enter ta wrong room?

Sora: HiHi~♪ Sora told you so didn’t he? We were supposed to go right at the turn before, not left~

Mika: Uu… This school’s still too complex fer me ta understand, I often get lost.

Harukawa-kun is pretty great to be able to remember where ta go even though yer a new student here, huh?

Sora: Yay, being praised makes Sora happy! Reading maps is one of the basic skills of a gamer~♪

Jin: Uhm. Kagehira from class B and… Harukawa, was it?

Are the two of you doing part-time work cleaning the lesson rooms or something?

Mika: Ngah, that’s right! We’re supposed ta clean up any lesson rooms after use…

It doesn’t pay very well, but I need ta increase Valkyrie’s funds a little at a time~

Sora: HuHu~♪ Sora was told by Master that he should participate in extracurricular activities to practice communication!

Switch doesn’t participate in many official Dream Festivals, so we’re apparently low on funds~

Jin: Hm. Then that’s perfect, why don’t you clean this room while you’re at it.

I’m at my limit here thanks to Kunugi-sensei’s spartan instructions… so I was just about to wrap things up.

I don’t have the energy left to clean up, so it would help if you two could do it.

Sora: Hm? Then we demand compensation for our labor! It’s equivalent exchange~

sora+jin

Jin: How cheeky. Well then, this old man will give you your allowance~♪

Akiomi: Please don’t say weird things.

…Kagehira-kun and Harukawa-kun, please make sure to prioritize your idol activities and not just do part-time work.

Money should simply be the means to an end, you should never treat it as a goal in itself.

Mika: Ngah~... I know that much, but there’s no helpin’ it since Oshi-san won’t move yet.

Akiomi: What was that? When speaking to people, don’t mumble but look at the person’s face and speak clearly!

Mika: I got scolded!? Ngah~, but I’m bad at meetin’ people’s eyes!

(Fufu. Kunugi-sensei must be lookin’ after me by scoldin’ me. It makes me happy)

(As expected from Naru-chan’s crush. He acts all harsh, but on the inside he’s probably kind♪)

Akiomi: ? What is it, staring at people’s faces for too long is also considered rude, you know.

If you keep your gaze centered on the other person’s forehead area while talking, that should create an effective atmosphere for communicating.

Sora: Sora learned something new~. …Then, Kage-niisan, let’s clean up this room as well!

Mika: Ah, yeah… then please ‘scuse us, we’ll be gettin’ started.

Jin: Please do~. …Ah, I’m beat. My joints are creaking, I feel so old.

akiomi + jin

Akiomi: This cannot come as a surprise to you.

No matter how you look at it, it’s unreasonable to expect retired idols to be able to come back out of nowhere like this. You will have to fool both yourself and the audience for this to work.

Mika: ? Whatcha talkin’ ‘bout? It looked as if ya two were doin’ lessons, but… Are ya makin’ a comeback as an idol?

Akiomi: No, please don’t pay us any mind. This has nothing to do with you two.

Mika: But now I’m all curious… Comebacks, huh. It would be great if Oshi-san was able ta come back soon too.

Akiomi: Oshi-san? Oh, Itsuki-kun, right. Is he doing okay?

It appears he hasn’t been showing up to class at all, at this rate he will be in danger of not graduating, you know?

Mika: Ngah? H, he’s okay! There’s nothin’ ta worry about! If he ends up havin’ too much absence I’ll just attend class for 'im!

Akiomi: No… that’s not how attendance works at all, and the two of you are in different grades so there’s no reason for you to attend third-year classes.

(Hm. It would be a pity if Itsuki-kun’s talent continues to be crushed like this… It seems like I will need to intervene soon.)

(Though, teachers aren’t parental figures, and high school isn’t even compulsory education…)

(There’s not a lot I can do to help, and I probably shouldn’t intervene too far into their lives.)

(I don’t have enough time to go out of my way for each and every dropout, after all. And the entertainment world isn’t that kind of soft environment.)

(I want to be able to think like that… But abandoning students in need would make me a failure of a teacher, after all.)

Mika: Wh, what’s wrong? When I say Oshi-san is doin’ okay I really mean it! It’s true!

Akiomi: Ah, right… Itsuki-kun does worry me, but you should also prioritize your own activities.

You are a part of Valkyrie, the unit that used to stand at the top of Yumenosaki.

I think you are talented. Please continue working hard, your effort won’t betray you.

Mika: Uu, yer right, but… I can’t just go around doin’ things on my own. It’s only Valkyrie when Oshi-san’s there, after all.

Jin: O~i. I don’t really care, but if you’re going to clean please hurry it up. Lunch break is almost over. We’ll help you out as well, so let’s get it done quickly.

Mika: Ngah, right! Let’s do our best together, okay, Harukawa-kun ♪

Sora: Yes! Senpai told me cleaning was related to feng shui, so this is also part of magician training~ HaHiHuHeHo~♪

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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Soundproof lesson room

Characters: Jin, Akiomi

*TW: mentions of death/murder

akiomi

Akiomi: Uhm. Was the one behind this project that big-shot in the magazine industry?

I was under the impression he was planning to go into retirement, but it seems he’s still energetic despite his age.

Jin: Yup. We’ve talked a couple times now and he is in great health.

He did make me worry though, since he was talking about this being his “final wish~” and stuff.

…As for the magazine industry, I think a former successful model like yourself would be more knowledgeable than me.

Does this project smell fishy to you? I’m getting some real suspicious vibes all over the place.

Akiomi: I wonder. I’m a traitor who turned my back to the magazine and modeling world, remember…

Even if there is a dark side to this, there’s no one in the industry kind enough to tell you about it.

Rather, I’m terrified that my feud with the industry is going to cause trouble for today’s young models.

That they’ll be turned away because they’re from Yumenosaki, or because they’re affiliated with me.

People might think just because they’re my students that they would behave as I did.

That’s why I try to avoid interacting too much with the currently active models in this school.

…Is that too self-conscious of me?

Jin: Nope. People tend to unnecessarily hold on to grudges more often than you’d think, after all.

Even after I’ve retired, I still sometimes get people trying to harass me, you see.

Akiomi: Right, like that cursed video someone sent you recently. What ended up being the deal with that again?

Jin: You tell me… It kinda gave me the creeps so I didn’t think too much about it. I asked Hasumi to burn the video for me.

Akiomi: Hm. That old rival of yours who appeared in the video, what was their name again?

Did you try to reach out to them? They are still alive… right?

Jin: What do you mean rival… There’s no way I could work up the guts to reach out to someone like that, is there.

If it had turned out they weren’t involved in making the video, I’d feel bad for reopening their old wounds. And if they were in fact behind the video, I wouldn’t even want to talk.

…But you know. Their name was in the list of retired idols proposed as participants for Project-Saga.

Their career consisted of being used for profit by the rotten entertainment industry, and they became known as the “eternal runner-up” after I debuted.

But up until that point they actually made quite the name for themselves.

Akiomi: Huh. Then maybe you two will be able to reunite after all this time with this project.

Jin: I’d rather not… I wouldn’t even know how to face them after all this time. It’s not like we have any good memories to look back on together.

Akiomi: Even then, that person was the super idol Jin Sagami’s rival after all.

If you were to reunite after all this time, or even face off against each other again, there might be a lot of people excited to see it.

As a former fan myself, I’d love to see it. It would be somewhat nostalgic.

Jin: Well the whole project is made for the purpose of giving middle-aged people a nostalgic feeling. It’s stupid.

Though I bet the old guys would rejoice if we did the whole “showdown between old rivals~” cliche.

But there’s no telling how many retired idols will want to join this low-budget project without a finished schedule.

I laughed when I saw the list, actually. It felt like the person in charge had some “Super Idols ✰ All Stars” in mind and just wrote down every name he could think of.

It felt like some poor intern had been forced into writing the list, rather than the big-shot in charge doing it himself.

Even Hidaka-san, who still hasn’t retired, and that Akehoshi, who obviously can’t participate, were written down on the list.

They probably copied everything off some idol yearbook from way back when.

Akiomi: Wha, is that person still alive today?

If you were to get on stage alongside the great Hidaka-senpai and Akehoshi-senpai, then it would truly be a dreamlike All Stars showdown.

akiomi+jin

Jin: No, that person is already dead. He was killed by the entertainment industry. Or rather, we all let him die.

We all strangled him to death, the man who was the most beloved idol of all.

…It would be wrong to try and make that into a beautiful story, or forget it and treat it as something that never happened.

As long as innocent people like him are sacrificed and killed, it’s just hypocritical of the entertainment industry to preach about love, dreams, and hope.

It’s so warped, it almost makes me laugh.

Akiomi: However. Throwing away all the hard work of our predecessors just because of one single tragedy is also…

Wouldn’t that be true hypocrisy, a true folly?

Jin: Being an idol is a fraud, honestly. An honest salaryman is more praiseworthy; at least that line of work contributes to society.

Akiomi: Why are you being so edgy right now. Well, I guess there’s no helping it… Are you gonna be okay like this, “Sagami-senpai”?

Jin: I don’t know. I just need to act cool until this project is over with. That would be enough to fulfill my duty so I could move on without feeling guilty.

Akiomi: Ahaha. Thank you for your service then, …So you truly have no intention of making a real comeback as an idol?

Jin: There’s a reason why I retired in the first place. And I doubt anyone even wants me to come back at this point. This whole thing is really weird. I’m gonna be so mad if there’s actually some conspiracy going on behind the scenes…

Akiomi: H~m. If you’re that worried, maybe it would be best if I also did some investigating.

Even if I’m on bad terms with the magazine industry, I still have more connections with active members of the entertainment industry than you do, after all…

If I dug around, I might be able to unearth some new information.

Jin: N~... I doubt it’s something that grandiose, though. Just in case, you could check it out whenever you have free time.

I want to avoid creating trouble for the students if possible, after all.

A~ah… Why did things come to this, it’s getting really annoying now.

Akiomi: Don’t be like that. You’re cast as the main character of the story for the first time in a long time. Enjoy it to the fullest. I’ll be watching over you joyfully as well.

akiomi+jin

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Season: Spring, ES! timeline

Location: Soundproof lesson room

Characters: Akiomi, Jin

<Simultaneously, during lunch break>
akiomi+jin

Akiomi: ♪~♪~♪

Jin: ♪~♪~

…It’s useless, my voice won’t come out. I really have gotten weaker than I’d like to admit.

Akiomi: Of course you have. Bodies are like machines, if you never train or upkeep your body, it will start growing rust.

Actually, it’s somewhat unnatural that you’re still able to keep up with the students, or even outdoing them.

Even if you are an unparalleled genius, that is.

Jin: What flattery~. The period when I was active was called the dark age of the idol industry, so there were hardly any other idols to compare me with…

Those circumstances just make me look more outstanding than I actually am.

Akiomi: You’re being modest. Now, rather than giving up right away, let’s keep working hard a little longer.

Even if you’re weakened, you’re still the super idol Jin Sagami. If you keep at it, your senses will remember what to do in no time.

Rather, that’s why you asked me to accompany you for lessons, is it not? I’m a very busy man, so please be grateful to me.

Jin: Sure, sure. You’re a huge help, Kunugi-sensei. I’ll buy you a round later.

Akiomi: That won’t be necessary. Alcohol is bad for your health. If you’re able to make a comeback as an idol, that will be enough thanks for me.

…Though I can’t help but wonder why now, after all this time?

Jin: I explained it already, didn’t I? It’s for Project-Saga, a low-budget project centered on the revival of past idols.

Akiomi: That in itself is delightful news. Male idols like the great Hidaka-senpai have a tendency to last longer…

I’d say you retired way too early, actually.

Jin: As did you. And rather than last long, it’s more like he can’t retire since there’s no once else who can take over for him.

We shouldn’t eclipse the young kids. We need to welcome in the new era, or so they say.

The entertainment industry also needs to reinvent itself… Well, it’s not like I care what happens to the entertainment industry at this point, honestly.

Akiomi: Then why did you become a teacher at an idol school, exactly.

Surely you must’ve had other career options? You could even have started a family or become an ordinary person.

Jin: I don’t like the phrase “ordinary person”~. What are idols supposed to be then? Gods? Objects of worship to be admired from afar?

Akiomi: H~m. Wouldn’t they be something lower in status? Like slaves?

akiomi+jin

Truthfully, during our active era, we didn’t even have the freedom to pick our own work or love who we wanted. Our rights weren’t acknowledged.

Or something like that~... It’s awful how getting old makes you complain about everything.

Jin: Ahaha. You’re doing fine. Kunugi-sensei is still young by society’s standards.

Akiomi: As are you. …You're trying to change the subject, Sagami-sensei.

If you truly have no lingering feelings for the entertainment industry, for idols, then why are you spending time in a place like this?

Jin: No, it’s just because no other workplace would have me.

It’s because I spent all my youth trying to become an idol. I was obsessed with that and I never bothered to learn anything else.

It didn’t pay off. I was content with just focusing all my energy on the goal right in front of me when I was younger, but I kinda regret it now.

I should have worked harder and played harder.

Even though I did get some experience working as a doctor at my family’s hospital, it’s not enough for me to work as a real doctor now…

Through pity and connections, I was able to land a job as the school nurse here.

We~ll I do still have the money I earned while I was an idol, so honestly I could probably play around without working for the rest of my life.

But if I wasn’t able to be around people, I’d go absolutely mad~, really.

After retiring, I secluded myself for a short while. It felt as if all my energy was being drained from my body.

Akiomi: Fufu. You feel annoyed when you’re surrounded by people, but if you try to isolate yourself you feel lonely. What a bothersome person you are, honestly.

Jin: Being bothersome is being human, isn’t it? In the workplace, a machine who can complete all his tasks might be more valuable, though.

Akiomi: That might not be true anymore. The winds are changing, you know.

It seems like kids in other schools are even managing various companies.

Kids these days have a far wider future and more freedom than we think.

Jin: Phew~. A CEO in high school, huh. It almost sounds like something from a game. Times really are changing, we old men can’t keep up.

Akiomi: Now, now… Don’t say that, let’s keep working hard a little longer. I’m cheering you on, Jin.

Jin: …Thank you, Akiyan.

Akiomi: What’s that for after all this time. Now let’s not waste our time chatting, we should be more efficient. It’s time to restart your lesson, Sagami-sensei.

At the very least, I’ll need you to regain a tenth of your former strength.

You’re always bossing on as a teacher. You need to be able to back it up, or else you’ll just look uncool you know?

Jin: Yup. That’s why I’m asking you to help me out with lessons like this. Please keep helping me out, just whenever you have the time. I’ll pay you back for it later.

I could train on my own too, but I know I’d just slack off.

Akiomi: You’re lazy, after all. Even if it is a request from a person you owe a lot to, I’m surprised you accepted this job at all.

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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Yumenosaki staff room

Characters: Hokuto, Anzu, Jin, Akiomi

jin

Jin: So to summarize, this “legendary idol” is in need of a few students.

I was planning to randomly ask whoever looked bored. But Hocchan, if you’re up for it I’d like you to join me.

Hokuto: Hm… I can’t answer immediately, but I’ll admit I am interested. It all depends on the time required, as well as what compensation and other things to be gained from participating.

Jin: Aah, there won’t be much in the compensation department. I did mention this was a low-budget project, right?

If we do a good job bargaining with the student council, you might be able to gain additional rewards from Yumenosaki Academy though.

If possible, I’d like to leave the negotiating up to the transfer student. Or rather, I’d like it if you could help me out with lots of small tasks like that, as a producer.

I do still have my duties as a teacher to contend with, so I can’t afford to spend too much time on Project-Saga.

Honestly, this is all a huge pain in my ass. Ideally, I’d want to push absolutely everything over to the transfer student.

Hokuto: Why are you so unmotivated, Sagami-sensei…? The transfer student still hasn’t gotten fully adjusted to life here at Yumenosaki, so don’t go adding to her burdens like that.

Jin: Well, there’s no need to tire yourselves out over this project. It’s enough if you just do whatever you can whenever you feel up for it.

This is just a laidback, low-budget project. Even if it fails, it won’t stain your reputations or anything.

On the contrary, this is the perfect opportunity to practice what it’s like to work as a proper producer but in a safe environment.

Hokuto: You can refuse if you want, transfer student. From what we’ve heard this is a high-effort, low-reward kind of project.

Time isn’t limitless, so it might be smarter to prioritize more meaningful jobs.

Jin: Yup. That’s true. Up until you came here, or rather even nowadays, us teachers often take on the role of producer.

It’s not like I’ll be completely helpless on my own.

Please think it over carefully and give me an answer some other day. I did print out copies of the project document, so you can both have one to look at.

Once you’ve decided if you want to help or not, you can let me know after our daily homeroom class.

Also, if you find anyone you think might be suited to participate in Project-Saga, I’d be grateful if you could introduce them to me.
jin hokuto

I do need to find two or three kids willing to become my students for the project, after all.

And for the record, the client would prefer if the students were all from different grades if possible.

It’s not obligatory, though~. But ideally, we’d want three students, one from each grade.

Hokuto: Huh, that’s awfully specific. What’s the reason for separating by grade?

Jin: You tell me… The “Legendary Idols” are all from vastly different generations, so maybe they didn’t want there to be too many young people from the same grade in one unit.

The client was saying how using representatives from many different generations would more comprehensively reflect idol history or something… it makes no sense to me either.

Well, I thought he was just joking so I didn’t really pay attention while he was talking.

You guys in Trickstar are all in the same grade, so you could probably benefit from occasionally working with kids from the other grades as well.

A lot changes just from one year to the next, so this could be a good learning opportunity.

Of course, that is only if you are able to participate in the project.

Hokuto: I see… Well, I will consider it.

Jin: Yup, thank you~. Well then, you can both go on home. Good work today.

If there is anything in the project document you don’t understand, feel free to call me and ask. I’ll give you my phone number as well, Transfer student.

I am your homeroom teacher, after all. If there’s ever anything you need, you can call me about it. It doesn’t have to be related to Project-Saga.

For example, if any of the boys harass you, please contact me immediately. You’re surrounded by all these pubertal bastards after all~, I’m worried for your chastity.

Hokuto: You’re already harassing her just by saying that, Sagami-sensei.
akiomi jin

Akiomi: …Oh? How rare to see Sagami-sensei in the staff room.

Jin: Nn~? Am I not allowed to be in the staff room or something, Akiyan?

Akiomi: There’s no rule against it…

You mostly stay cooped up in the infirmary and rarely show your face in the staff room. Paperwork and messages for you have been piling up, so please start making an effort to show up here.

If you keep just doing as you please, the higher-ups will be enraged with you.

I’m still a new hire myself, I don’t have enough influence to keep covering for you.

Jin: Don't scold me in front of my students~, it’s embarrassing… I’ve got it already, I’ll make sure to put on a serious face every now and then.

Akiomi: Well then you should start by straightening up your appearance. Always wearing that dirty white coat… What if visitors who come to watch lives here mistake you for an intruder or a suspicious person?

Hokuto: Hm. Kunugi-sensei… will you be participating in Project-Saga?

Akiomi: Eh, Project-Saga? What is that?

Jin: Aah, didn’t they reach out to you, Akiyan? Makes sense, you’ve always had a somewhat half-baked resume after all…♪

Akiomi: That’s none of your business.

…I don’t really understand, but please don’t go around creating trouble for everyone.

Since we’ve already retired, we shouldn’t be causing trouble for the kids who are still active in the industry. We should leave the stage clean and tidy with only beautiful memories for them to inherit.
akijin

Navigation:
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Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Yumenosaki Staff Room

Characters: Hokuto, Anzu, Jin

hokuto

Hokuto: Project-Saga?

Jin: Yeah, that’s what they’re calling this new project that’s underway. It sure packs a punch, doesn’t it?

Hokuto: It’s more that the name doesn’t give any hints as to what the project is about. Is this supposed to be some land development plan for Saga Prefecture?

Jin: What are you talking about.

Hokuto: …As to be expected of Jin Sagami, the super idol. Even your straight-man comments are sharp.

Jin: Why are you complimenting me… Either way, I’ve been placed in the dead center of this project. At the behest of the higher-ups, as I explained earlier.

Hokuto: Hm. Specifically what kind of project is this?

Jin: Well, it’s nothing as grandiose as the name suggests; it’s basically just a low-budget project which is to be published in collaboration with some magazine brands.

The big-shot I’m acquainted with still holds vast influence in a bunch of places, but he’s been retired for so long now. Seems he didn’t want to intrude too much and risk disturbing the current status quo.

Which is why this project will be more lowkey. It would be embarrassing if we went all out and ended up failing miserably, after all. I’m also more comfortable like this.

The basis of this project is to take old retired idols and revive them.

Hokuto: Like Sagami-sensei, for example. Hm, that must be where the name Project-Saga comes from. Sagami Jin… it must be derived from your name.

Jin: There’s also the literal meaning of Saga… a story about a heroic achievement. Who’s the hero here exactly~? I don’t know if I should feel flattered or insulted.

Hokuto: No, I feel like Sagami-sensei more than qualifies to be called a hero within the entertainment industry.

You helped the entertainment industry regain some momentum after a long slump, didn’t you? Even if it was only temporarily.

Jin: Hm~, just for like a second, but yeah. Well, young people nowadays seem like they’re not as energetic as they used to be, so maybe the plan is to make me bring some life back to the entertainment industry again?

You guys’ generation is very promising, but it’s not like you’re standing at the center of the entertainment world yet after all.

Someone needs to buy some time for the industry until you guys can grow up properly.

It’s like an interlude act in more ways than one.

My acquaintance keeps saying energetic stuff like “Let’s bring back the old legends”, or “it’s time to revive the monarchy”, though.

But I don’t think the people currently active within the industry are expecting us to do all that.

If the project goes well, they earn a profit, and if it flops, it won't particularly bother anyone. At this point, what’s one extra scandal or rumor gonna do to my reputation?

It’s that kind of laidback project.

Hokuto: Hm… I was wondering what this could be about since you wanted to talk to us about it, but it seems it really isn’t that big of a deal.

Personally, I would’ve hoped for something more grandiose if Sagami-sensei is finally gonna be making a comeback.

Jin: No way, no way. I’m too old for all that now.

If we’re gonna spend money, I’d prefer all of it go towards you youngsters who still have room to grow. At this point, investing into someone like me won’t yield any results anyhow.

Either way. With me at the center of the project, they’ll be temporarily reviving many different retired idols from all over the country.

I looked over their list, and everyone on it is someone really famous.

Well, they haven’t actually reached out to anyone except me yet, so it’s not like they’ll be able to get absolutely everyone on board.

Everyone retired ages ago and are living regular lives by now, after all.

Telling all those old men to get off their asses and up on stage is impossible. I don’t even want to do it, I feel like I’ll just end up disappointing all of my old fans.

Which is why, even though the project is advertised as a revolving around “Legendary Idols”, each retired idol will have two or three young idols form a unit with them.

In the worst-case scenario, even if us old legends aren’t worth the investment, those youngsters will be able to work hard and reap some benefits…

Or at least that seems to be the aim for the people planning all this.

The framework seems to be that us “Legendary Idols” will teach and train the promising idols of the future.

They probably wanna pull off something like a “sensei and student” setting from a shonen manga.

Hokuto: Hm. I don’t read much manga, so I wouldn’t know, but is that a cliché?

If that’s the case, then this should fit you perfectly, Sagami-sensei. Even if you’re rotten, you’re still an active teacher after all.

According to your job description, you’re a proper educator.

Jin: Yup. They probably got the idea from my situation. It’s almost exhausting how much they want me to be the center of this project.

It’s annoying. The client is probably misunderstanding something…

When he heard I’d become a teacher, he started ugly crying and told me “You’ve matured so much, Jin-kun!”.

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Season: Spring of the ES! timeline

Location: Yumenosaki Staff Room

Characters: Hokuto, Anzu, Jin

-

Hokuto: Excuse us.

We’ve come to answer your call, Sagami-sensei.
hokuto jin

Jin: Why are you talking like that. Not that I mind, but… For now, could you have a seat in this sofa?

I’ll prepare something for you to drink. Would you prefer tea or coffee?

Hokuto: Tea then. You should have some tea as well, teach. Don’t go drinking alcohol.

Jin: Even I wouldn’t drink alcohol in the staff room~, my boss would get mad.

Hokuto: Fufun. Even the super idol Sagami Jin is getting old. Back when you were active, you were constantly fighting with your superiors in order to challenge the corrupted entertainment industry, weren’t you?

Jin: That’s why I couldn’t keep being an idol, you know… Well, in my case it was at least half self-destruction as well, though.

You’re all celebrating this revolutionary business right now, but generally speaking, it’s better to exploit the system than challenge it.

If you incur the wrath of the big shots in the industry, you’ll get crushed in no time after all.

Well, you guys aren’t the types to listen even if I warn you about this stuff so. I guess this is what we call youth…

Do try not to cause too many problems though. It’s pretty tough to clean up afterward.

Hokuto: Hm. We’re always causing you trouble, Sagami-sensei.

Jin: It’s okay~... That’s my job as a teacher, or rather, as an adult.

Moving on. Sorry to call you all the way over here, but I have a favor I’d like to ask of you.

Hokuto: Yes, that’s what we came for. I said this earlier, but I have some free time. I’d like to lend you my powers if possible.

Jin: You really do come off as snobbish sometimes, Hocchan… I guess it can’t be helped, given you’re the crown prince to His Majesty the King who rules over the entertainment world.

Hidaka-san sure is doing well for himself, huh. Even now he’s still working hard in the industry, isn’t he?

Hokuto: Even my father has started doing fewer appearances now though. Recently he’s started complaining about how “my body can’t keep up~”.

My mother, on the other hand, seems to be getting even more energetic as she ages. It’s annoying.

Jin: Don’t call your parents annoying. Are you going through a rebellious stage or something?

…Oops, we’ve steered away from the topic at hand. Like I said, I would appreciate if you two could lend me a hand.

Honestly speaking, I wouldn’t even know what to do on my own.

Hokuto: Are you sure you’re okay like that? Isn’t it a teacher’s job to guide his students, and not the other way around?

Jin: Nah~. You kids often misunderstand this, but even teachers… or rather, even adults aren’t some kind of all-knowing Gods, you know?

Well, anyways… I’ll move on to the real topic now, or else we’ll just keep chatting forever.

Transfer student. If you don’t mind, I’d like you to produce me.
jin hokuto

Hokuto: ….

….So you’ve fallen this low, Sagami Jin.

Jin: Ehh, why are you looking at me like I’m some caterpillar? I really don’t understand what it is that makes you youngsters tick…!

Hokuto: I’ve lost respect for you. Asking her to please produce you, how insolent.

In other words, you’re trying to rope her into looking after you for the rest of your life, aren’t you? You’re asking her to marry you?

Jin: You sometimes get the weirdest misunderstandings, don’t you, Hocchan… You’ve got it all wrong. I’m an old-school type of idol, so I would never marry.

I’m just asking her to produce me as an idol, the same way she would do for anyone else.

Right now there are no other producers in Yumenosaki, after all. I can only ask the transfer student.

Hokuto: …As an idol? Are you making a comeback, Sagami-sensei?

That’s great news. When I was younger, I was a huge fan of yours.

Jin: No, no, it’s only a temporary thing… I’ve been given a kind of troublesome task, you see.

I wasn’t planning on ever continuing my activities as an idol, and I wouldn’t have thought anyone even wanted me to.

But the person who helped me get back on my feet after I retired asked this of me.

The reason why I can live as I do today, playing the role of a properly contributing citizen, is thanks to that person.

I was in his care a lot even during my years in the entertainment industry, so I’d like to pay back what I can.

He’s a big shot who always had a strong influence within magazine companies and the like. Back when I got into a scandal once, he was the only person to help me out.

I think of him as a second father. Nowadays he’s gotten old and is half bedridden, but he lowered his head to me and asked me to “grant his final wish~”.

There’s no way I could refuse. The way I see it, I’m a useless person who’s more rotten than even scum, and I’m not planning on starting to pretend like I’m some good kid at this point.

But if I was to trample all over the final wish of such a good person, then there truly will have been no point to my life whatsoever. I’d rather hang myself and die right now.

Hokuto: …
jin hokuto

Jin: In other words, I’m taking this job pretty seriously, as rare as that is. This might end up being the last big peak of my life filled with fragments of regret.

Well, you guys shouldn’t think of it as something so depressing, though.

It’s enough if you just half-heartedly lend me your skills as you’re able to, just like I usually do for you.

-

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