An Annoying Paradise - Den-O 32 - Repairing the Damage - 12/30/12 season finale

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 22 ("serialized in sho-komi")

"I think it's time."

Oh no, what now?  Aika sits in one of the oversized chairs in front of the desk of producer T.  His expression is one of shock.

"It's time for you and Reina to release a duet."

"That's good, but, there's a problem."

"Problem?"

"Reina told me that after we did our duet that she would treat me by taking me to an onsen."

T looks at Aika for about fifteen seconds with a blank expression and then laughs.  "Well, we would have had to tell her eventually, right?  And, it's not like you enjoy dressing like a girl."

Aika blushes.  "I know it might sound weird, but somehow I think that I enjoy going to the new high school.  Somehow, I seem to fit in better there than I fit in at my previous school.  So, while I would rather dress as a boy, the current situation is not that bad for me."

T nods.  "I'll try to figure something out for you.  You've upheld your end of the bargain very well.  I will make sure that you wind up in a better position at the end of this."

"Thank you sir."  Why do I have a feeling of dread about what he just said?

T hands two copies of sheet music and two CD's to Aika.  "Here is the song.  Give a copy to Reina."

Aika takes the material and rushes off to Aika's dressing room.  Aika uses the special knock that Reina has given him to use.

"Come in!"

Aika enters with a smile.  "New assignment."  She hands Reina her copy of the sheet music and the CD.

Sachiko looks over Reina's shoulder as Reina reads the sheet music.  "Miss Reina, how lucky, this song seems tailor made for your most powerful range."

"It is?  Cool."

Aika raises an eyebrow.  Wait a second, doesn't Reina know how to read sheet music?  Well, it might be possible that she doesn't.  She might have been relying on Sachiko's piano and her memory to memorize the right notes.

"Why don't you two try to get the notes down before you listen to the back up CD?  That way you won't get confused if the track does something strange."

Aika and Reina nod.

--

Reina and Aika sip juice and water in the talent lounge.

Reina shoves Aika.  "Hey, whatever you told Kiraki yesterday during lunch must have really cheered him up."

Aika looks at Reina with a blank expression.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice.  Last morning he was all gloom and doom and today he was on cloud nine.  He didn't confess to you, did he?"

Aika flinches.  Sumo boy had "confessed" to me, but he confessed peeping the shoot, not confessed being in love.  "I didn't tell him anything that would have made him that happy."

"But, I saw you give him money."

Aika gets a busted look on his face.  "Well, it's like this, it's kind of embarrassing to say ..."

Aika sees that Reina's anger is about to boil over.

"You're have to swear that you won't tell anyone else, okay?"

"Okay."  Reina looks at Aika with laser beam like eyes.

"Well, Risako and Saki are a couple.  Sumo boy saw them making out so I had to pay him hush money."

At first Reina is relieved to hear that Aika was not directly involved, but then her anger turns back on.  "I am going to wring Sumo boy's neck."

"No, no.  The hush money was my idea."

"What?"

"I figured that I could guilt trip Risako and Saki into calming down, or at least into being more discrete, if I told them I had to pay hush money on their behalf."

"Has it worked?"

Aika smiles. "No, but at least I doubled my money when both of them paid me back."

Reina finally giggles.  "You sure have your hands full at this agency."

Aika nods.  You don't know the half of it.

"I still think it's disgusting, though.  If Risako gets bounced from the agency then she only has herself to blame.  I mean, honestly, first Sayumi, then Saki?  Doesn't she have any sense of what's supposed to be important in an idol's life?"

"Well, if the two of them are happy, then I'm not going to worry about it."

Reina nods, then gets a sly look on her face.  "So, you do know what day it is tomorrow, right?"

Aika panics.  Wait, I know it's not her birthday.  What could it be?  "I don't know."

Reina shoves Aika.  "It's Valentine's day.  You know, when girls are supposed to give chocolate to their favorite guys."

Fortunately, I never got any of that in elementary school.  That would have been pretty uncool.  "Oh, that.  Well, it's not like we have to care that much.  As idols we're not allowed to date boys."

"You're mean.  I'm trying to figure out what sort of chocolate you want from me."

"But, I'm a girl!"

"You're my boyfriend, so it's only right that I get you chocolate."

You know, bringing up the fact that Reina considers Risako and Saki disgusting is probably not going to help.  "Geez, Reina, remember the fact that I'm a Tom boy.  I've never given chocolate to a guy before."  For obvious reasons. "I'm sure that anything that you want to give me is fine."

"Okay, then it will be a surprise."

--

The next morning Aika approaches the school with dread.  People will be a stressed out today at the school.  If there was ever a day when photographers would be trying to shoot long distance pictures of the school, today would be that day.  Today is a scandal just waiting to happen as there will surely be girl idols who would break ranks and confess to their crushes.

Aika looks at the park near the school and starts imagining eyes looking back at him hidden in the bushes.

Aika goes to his shoe locker.  Inside, to his dismay, are two boxes of chocolate, both identical, both bought from the same chocolate shop.  There are no cards on either box.

"Yompi!"

Aika sees his duet partner catching up to her.  This is bad.  I had better proactively tease her.  "Hey, are you so afraid of my figure that you're trying to get me fat?"

Reina bursts out laughing.  "I don't worry about things like that.  And, how is one box of chocolate going to make you fat?"

Aika holds open his locker and holds up two fingers.

Reina stomps her foot.  "Kuso.  I have a rival."

Aika cringes.  That's certainly what I don't need to hear.

"Does it have a letter?"

"Neither one does."

Reina lifts up the top box to show that the bottom box has a card attached with Reina's hand writing on it.  "Looks like you have an anonymous admirer."


To be continued

[oddball]

An anonymous rival?  Hmm ,I wonder who else could of sent Aika chocolates, hmm will definatly be intresting to find out.......

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 23 ("serialized in sho-komi")

"Looks like you have an anonymous admirer."

Aika's head drops.  As if my life wasn't complicated enough as it is.

"So, which girl do you think it was that left it?"

Aika gets a blank look.  "No idea.  Heck, this school is so weird it might have been some guy who left me the chocolate."

Reina's eyes burn with fire.  "I think I know who that might be."

Aika follows Reina's menacing stomp toward their home room.

In the home room Aika sees Sumo Boy acting like he is on cloud nine.

"All right, buddy boy, why did you leave chocolates with my boy friend?"

The rest of the class, which had been making lively conversation, goes silent at this loud question.

It takes a few seconds for the question to register with Kiraki.  "Chocolate?"

Reina waves her hand over Kiraki's eyes.  "Yeah, chocolate."

Kiraki finally seems to rejoin reality.  "This isn't White Day.  Boy's don't give chocolate today."

"So, why were you so happy?"

Kiraki gets a scared look on his face.  "It's embarrassing."

Reina grabs Sumo Boy by the ear and drags him out into the hall, followed closely behind by Aika.

"So, what is it?  Did some girl give you chocolate?"

Kiraki rubs his ear to make sure that it is still attached to his head.  "No, it has nothing to do with Valentine's day at all."

"No love-love business?"

"None."

Reina looks disappointed.  "Well, someone besides me left Aika some chocolate, and I'm trying to figure out who it was."

Kiraki gets an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Come on Sumo Boy, what do you know?"

Kiraki looks at Aika with a helpless look.

Aika raises an eyebrow.  "Go ahead."

"Well, um, er, at the video shoot that Aika had at the onsen, I saw her hugging one of the other girls in the group."

Both Reina and Aika start giggling.

Finally Aika slaps Kiraki on the back.  "That was for the benefit of the camera.  I hugged both Risako and Saki.  They had asked me to do it ahead of time.  Remember you saw them making out?  It was part of a cover up."

"Oh, I see."

Suddenly, Reina gets a sour look on her face.  "Maybe they thought this was obligation chocolate to repay you for participating in their conspiracy?"

That would make sense.  Aika nods.  "It wouldn't hurt to ask."

During lunch, Reina and Aika track down and corner the notorious two.

Risako pouts.  "Okay, what did we do wrong this time."

Reina smirks a little bit.  "It seems like you say that entirely too much Risako."

Risako blushes.

"Anyway, to get to the point, someone besides myself left Aika some chocolate this morning."

Both Saki and Risako bow contritely.

Saki tries to put on a charming look.  "Look, we really should have done that.  We promise we'll make it up on White Day."

Aika waves his hand in front of his face.  "Hey, we're team mates, I don't need you guys giving me chocolate."

Risako lets out a sigh of relief.  "That's good, I can't tell you how long I worked making a box of hand made chocolates for Saki."

Reina blushes.

"This box was from the store, so I guess that lets you guys off the hook."

Risako and Saki nod.

Walking back from lunch Aika is so distracted by this mystery that he doesn't really notice Seiji until he was right on top of him.

"Miss Aika!"

"Oh, Seiji.  How goes it?"

"Do you know what's wrong with Hiro?  He was acting strange all lunch."

"I don't know.  Didn't anyone give him chocolate?"

Seiji turns to look at Kamei, who sits on his shoulder, then turns back.  "That might be a good explanation, but he got over six boxes."

"He probably wanted twelve."

Seiji smiles.  "Miss Aika, you must be very smart.  You don't hang out with Hiro but you seem to know him really well."

Aika panics a little.  I can't tell Seiji that I know Hiro from our previous school.  Aika giggles a little.  "Well, I have boy cousins who act a lot like Hiro, so I can make good guesses."

"Amazing.  I can see why you got signed to a contract.  You're both pretty and easy to talk to."

Aika blushes.  Is Seiji coming on to me?  "Oh yeah, just one of the boys, that's me."

"That's the sort of image that I strive for.  It's good to have role models to learn from."  Seiji walks off.

One second after Seiji walks off Reina pounces.  "Was it him?"

"No.  He was worried about Hiro."

"He was giving you a pretty interesting look."

"I think he wants to be like me."

"That's so silly."

Aika looks in the direction that Seiji walked off.  Is it?

After school Aika gathers up the boxes and prepares to make the walk to the agency.

"Aika!"

Aika turns around and sees his group mate Yurina running up.

"Wow, look at you.  A girl getting two boxes on Valentine's day.  You're not two timing Reina now, are you?"

Aika shakes his head.  "No, nothing like that.  I don't even know who gave it to me.  Reina and I were running around all day trying to find out."

"There was no card?"

Aika shakes his head.

"May I see the box?"

Aika shows Yurina the box.  Yurina looks at the box closely, then looks at the side of the box.

Yurina's face crumples.  She gives the box of chocolates back to Aika and runs away crying.

What the heck?

To be continued

[oddball]

  seems Reina is very, um, determinded to find out who else gave Aika chocolates......  I wonder what she will do when she finds out.

Yurina ran away crying, why did she react like that when she saw the chocolates, did she recive the same type from someone or was thier something more....

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 24 ("serialized in sho-komi")

Yurina's face crumples.  She gives the box of chocolates back to Aika and runs away crying.

Aika looks on horrified.  Oh, no!  Yurina is headed right for the door of the school.  The scandal sheet photographers hiding in the woods will have a field day with pictures of some idol crying over Valentine's Day chocolate.

Aika grabs a math book and races after Yurina and catches her as soon as she gets out of the door.

"Go away."

"Look baka, you're probably being photographed right now.  If you don't want to be on the cover of every scandal sheet in the country then you better play along with me."

"Scandal?"

Aika shoves the math book in front of her and opens it to a random page.  "Look, I know this problem looks hard, but if you first use this formula and then use this second formula it becomes easy."

Yurina starts realizing the predicament that she is in and starts focusing on the page.  The page didn't have any problems, but it strikes Yurina that Aika is using this a pretense to explain her crying.  "But, what does this variable plug into?"

"The result of the first formula.  Let me explain it to you inside."

Aika and Yurina walk back to Aika's locker.

"Do you think they bought it?"

"For your sake I hope so."

They reach Aika's locker where Aika had dropped the chocolate boxes to grab the book.

"Aika, thank you, but I still hate you."

"Hate?  What is that about?"

"I recognize the scratches on the box from where I dropped it this morning.  The person I gave it to ripped off the letter and put it in your locker."

"Let me get this straight.  You're hating me because someone you like put your chocolates in my locker and I have no clue as to who this person is?"

"Don't give me that.  I know you two are secretly together."

"So secretly that I don't even know about it.  Is this person a guy?"

Yurina nods.

"We don't see very many guys peeping into this locker room.  And, these lockers are not marked.  Maybe this guy threw it in at random?  After all, my locker is pretty close to the door."

Yurina nods but then steels herself.  "Very pretty words, but I am not going to lose to you Aika.  I consider you my rival now."  Yurina grabs her chocolates and walks off in a huff.

--

After practice, Aika and Reina rest in the lounge.  The song they were working on as a duet, Miss Robo Love, seemed to be full of promise.  Aika's part seemed to be less high profile than Reina's, but Aika understood that Reina was the one that T wanted to push, not really him.

"So, why were you late?"  Reina whispered.

"I had a little situation come up with Yurina."

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know, but I now know that the chocolates were from her."

Reina snaps.  "I will rip that hussy limb from limb.  I don't even care if she's a foot taller than me."

"Calm down.  It wasn't like that.  It was her chocolates but she didn't put it in my locker.  Some guy ripped off the card and threw it in my locker, maybe at random."

"So, there's no problem?"

"Well, ... , Yurina thinks that I am having a secret affair with her guy."

Reina shakes her head sadly.  "Some girls can be so irrational."

Must stop eyes from rolling.

"But, boy friend, you're not seeing some guy behind my back are you?"

"When would even have the time to do something like that?  And, why would I want to risk my contract?"

Reina sighs.  "I guess you're right.  It does seem pretty far fetched.  But, I wonder who it is that Yurina is crushing on?"

"It's a school full of boy idols.  We couldn't walk down the hall without bumping into a suspect."

"I hope you'll still be able to work with her at the concert in three weeks."

Aika nods.  My first big concert.  They are pushing hard to have me and Reina debut our duet, but I will also have to perform with Shabondama Four.  "Well, I also have to deal with the love love twins.  I hope your group mates don't act as weird."

Reina gives Aika a knowing smile.  "Please, you don't even want to know about all the drama that does on with the Race Car Five.  At least Momoko and Massa sort of act normally for Edge."

"Drama?"

"You haven't forgotten about Risako going out with Sayumi before she latched on to Saki, have you?  And, even though they always deny it, I am very suspicious of Eri and Risa.  Eri looks annoyed if Risa even talks to anyone else."

"Yeah, I was better off not knowing."

Reina glances at the clock.  "Oh my god.  Dance practice time.  I hope it goes easier than the vocal practice."

Aika nods.

After an exhausting evening of training, Yurina finally arrives home, if you can call where she lives a home.  Her parents had chose not to follow her to Tokyo so she rents a tiny apartment.

Yurina throws a bento into the microwave.  She does not even turn on the lights to the apartment.

She sits down in front of her computer and pulls out a mini-disk from her purse and plugs it into an external reader.  She views a sequence of pictures of her.  She is lost in thought until the microwave oven bell rings.

Absentmindedly she grabs the food and continues looking at the images while eating.  Finally, she stops on one image.  She opens up the program "photoshop" and starts playing with the image while importing other images.

After a while, she is satisfied with the result and prints the result on her color printer.

Yurina grabs some tape and puts up the image on the wall opposite to where the computer is.  She then turns on a lamp to light up the wall.

The wall is covered with images of Yurina photoshopped together with Hiro.  Yurina takes her camera with its long distance spy lens out of her book bag and caresses it.  Yurina sighs.

To be continued

[oddball]

Right, ok, now Yurina officially scares me! 

I think that maybe Aika might br in more throublr than he thinks.....

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 25 ("serialized in Shounen Jump")

Kiraki walks to the Jeneral Entertainment building with a spring in his step.  Wow. Last night I got to deliver the news to the crap twins that they were fired and today Aika had paid me hush money just because I peeped her shoot.  Could things get any better?

Kiraki walks into the lobby and runs into Seiji who slaps him high five.

"I heard what went down last night.  I'm sad only because I wasn't the one to throw those two out."

Kiraki nods.  "Do you think they're still going to go to our school?"

"I supposedly share a class with them, but they've only shown up three times so far this year.  Without JE backing them up I'm sure the school will terminate them, that is, if they ever show up to find out."

"Well, they're not my problem anymore."

"Indeed.  Oh, almost time for vocal practice.  Got to run!"

Kiraki looks up at the clock.  He would have to run as well.

Kiraki takes the stairs so that he wouldn't have to wait for the elevator.  Halfway up he almost runs by Hiro.

"Yo, Hiro!"

Hiro looks down, mumbling to himself.  He looks awful.

"Hiro, what's wrong?"

Hiro looks up and down the stairs.  "Look, promise me you won't tell Seiji or Josephine.  I don't want them to worry."

Kiraki nods.

"I think that someone is following me.  Several times this week I have felt that someone was looking at me from behind, but when I turned there was no one there, but there seemed to be some evidence that I just missed seeing someone, you know, like a moving tree branch or something."

"Maybe it's the magazine photographers?"

"Yeah, maybe.  Maybe they want the scoop on the next big star?  This stinks.  I hate being followed."

"Do you best, Hiro."

Hiro manages a half hearted smile.  "Thanks.  Maybe with your help I'll be able to?"

Kiraki blushes and then panics.  "Vocal practice!"  Kiraki runs off.

Kiraki makes it to his practice room and his instructor is only slightly annoyed at him being late.

"Ready to try again?"

Kiraki nods.

"Okay, let's start with a C-major chord."  The instructor plays on the piano and sings.  "C E G."

"~C~ ~E~ ~G~!"

The instructor shakes his head.  "Kiraki, Kiraki, you need to concentrate."

Kiraki nods.

The instructor goes into a deep think.  Finally, he comes out of it.  "Kiraki, when is the time you have felt the most focused?"

"Fighting, in martial arts."

"Really?"  The instructor gets a sly grin.  "Wait here."

Five minutes later the instructor returns with Josephine.  "Boss has some ideas for you."

Kiraki nods.

Josephine takes a seat in the cramped practice room.  "Kiraki, I would like you to demonstrate for me some of your favorite fighting moves, that is if you can refrain from hitting me with them."

"Okay, one of my favorites is drawing a five sided star in front of me as if I was holding a weapon."

"Okay, do that while he plays a C."

Kiraki does.

"Now, trying singing C while doing this."

"~~C~~, ~C~, ~C~, C."

Josephine smiles.  "There we go.  Because you were doing the move you were not thinking about the note so the pitch came naturally."

Kiraki's eyes double in size.  "Sugoi!"

"What is another move you like?"

"Pummeling fists."

"Okay, give me pummeling fists and singing while he plays E."

"~E~, ~E~, ~E~, E."

"Wonderful!"

Kiraki bushes.  "I knew you were going to me my martial arts master someday."

"Don't get you hopes up too high, kid.  What else do you like?"

"Well, there's the Russian folk dance kick."

"Great.  Do that to G."

"~G~, ~G~, ~G~, G.  Hai!"

Josephine gets up.  "There you have it Kiraki.  You can sing.  It's just a matter of distracting your mind enough to allow the notes to come naturally."

Kiraki bows low to Josephine.  "Thank you, sensei."

Josephine nodes.

"Would you suggest any moves."

"Well, if you had one for B flat then you could do a dominant seventh.  How about this?"  Josephine demonstrates a hip check.  "It's called the butt of destiny."

Kiraki tries it out.  "I think I have it."

"Great, now with B flat."

"~B flat~, ~B flat~, ~B flat~, B flat."

"Superb.  Now use those to do dominant sevenths and I think you'll be on your way."

Suddenly a look of worry comes over Kiraki's face.  "You're not going to make me dress up in a sailor fuku to learn martial arts, are you?"

Josephine giggles.  "No, no, no.  No chance of that."

Kiraki breathes a sigh of relief.

"I prefer my martial arts students to wear tutus."

Kiraki face plants.

Later on that evening Kiraki is exhausted in dance practice, but he doesn't mind.  Not only had he learned dominant seventh, but he also learned the suspended fourth.

It was indeed a good day for him, but he could still tell that Hiro wasn't himself in dance practice.  Oh, well, he'll get over it.

After practice, Seiji walks him to the train station.

"Kiraki, did you notice anything wrong with Hiro?"

"I ..."  Kiraki remembers his promise to Hiro.  "I don't know."

"Well, it's probably nothing.  Maybe he's stressed about tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, Valentine's day.  Maybe he's worried about not receiving enough chocolate?"

Kiraki laughs.  "Well, I don't think I'll be getting any."

Seiji smiles warmly.  "That can be a good thing.  It will let you concentrate on your singing.  After all, eventually, you'll want to debut."

Sooner than you think, Seiji.  Kiraki smiles.

To Be Continued

[oddball]

So perhaps they have figured out how to get Kiraki to sing!  if he can keep it up, his debut cannot be far away.

Hiro feels as though someone is stalking him, well, we know that to be true, hmm I wonder how this will end up being settled?......

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 26 - ("serialized in Shounen Jump")

Kiraki smiles and almost skips on his way to school.  Josephine had allowed him to ditch his chores today, partly because he had finally learned how to sing on key and partly because it was Valentine's day.

Suddenly, Kiraki stops skipping.  Who am I kidding?  I'm not going to get chocolates.  I'm not really friendly with any of the girls in the school and I am pretty new.  Heck, the only girl who occasionally even talks to me is Aika, but she isn't the type I would expect who would give boys chocolates, especially with that scary girl Reina hanging all over her.

Three blocks from the school he catches up with Seiji.  "Yo!"

Seiji, with turtle Kamei-ko on his shoulder as usual, smiles.  "Kiraki, want to have some fun?"

Kiraki's eyes grow wide.  Seiji wants to get into mischief?  This is too bizarre.  "What do you mean?"

"Follow me."  Seiji leads Kiraki on a detour to the school through the park across from the school.

"Over there."  Seiji points to a man hiding behind a tree.

Kiraki nods.

Seiji walks right up to the man.  "Good morning!"

The man jumps nearly two feet in the air, then turns around.  "What the heck, you could have scared me to death!"

"I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to scare you.  Okay, maybe I did.  I go to the school over there, the school you're planning on taking spy pictures of with that long range camera."

"Yeah, kid.  That's my job.  The tabloids pay good money for boy teen idols getting their chocolates from girl idols."

Seiji nods.  "I guess it can't be helped then.  Well, do your best, and make sure to shoot me from my right.  That's my good side."

"Oh, go away kid, you bother me."

Seiji grabs Kiraki by the hand and runs toward the school.  "That went well."

"He was really creepy."

"No kidding.  But he was less creepy than the other four guys with cameras I saw."

"That's amazing!  That's a rare talent for seeing hidden enemies.  In the old days you would have been in demand as a spy hunter."

"Really?  I don't think it's anything, myself."

Another hidden photographer observes Seiji and Kiraki with interest.  She is happy that Seiji apparently didn't notice her. Those are the two boys who were with him that day at the onsen.  She takes a couple of pictures of Seiji and Kiraki.  She caresses her camera, then puts it in her book bag to go to class.

Kiraki and Seiji arrive at their indoor foot lockers.  They notice that Hiro arrives after them but is already wearing his indoor shoes, as if he had just run out and run back in.

"Let's see the harvest."  Seiji opens his locker and a dozens of cards spill out.

Kiraki assumes they go with the boxes of chocolate stacked on top of the row of lockers.

"How bothersome.  Well, I know an orphanage that will appreciate all of this."

Kiraki opens his locker and there is just his indoor shoes there.  A tumbleweed rolls past.

"Hiro, how was your catch?"

"Six.  Six more than I need really."  Hiro starts muttering to himself and walks off to class.

Seiji looks at Kiraki with a concerned look.

Kiraki follows Hiro to their homeroom class.  Kiraki sees that Hiro looks troubled but unresponsive.  Oh well, I can't help him unless he wants to be helped.

Kiraki's looks out the window.  He can see the tree that Seiji had startled the photographer under, but the photographer was too well camouflaged to be seen.

Kiraki's thoughts drift off.  He starts imagining other martial arts moves that he could use to enable him to learn the other seven notes of the scale.

He then imagines singing with great energy and style on stage, the same way he saw Hiro's friend do in the audition, before he was carted off stage on suspicion of being a female.

The door slides open to the homeroom with a slam, but this barely registers on Kiraki.  However ...

"... why did you leave chocolates with my boy friend?"

Kiraki turns around from the window to see his classmate Reina staring at him, some two inches from his nose.  Oh, no.  It's that girl who always looks like she wants to hit someone.  "Chocolate?"

Kiraki sees Reina wave her hands in front of Kiraki's face, a gesture not really needed since Reina's face was already there.  "Yeah."

Kiraki imagines a chibi version of Reina stomping on a chibi version of Kiraki.  I had better think of something good.  "Um, it's Valentine's Day.  Wouldn't I be the one getting chocolate today?"

"Oh, yeah?  Then why are you so happy?"

Kiraki panics.  If I tell Reina that I am happy because I had made a break through in singing on pitch then she would think I was giving her some lame story and it will be chibi on chibi beat down time again.  "Well, I'd rather not say."

Before Kiraki can even react, Reina grabs him by the ear and drags him out into the hallway.

"Itai!" Kiraki rubs his ear that was all but torn off by the yankii girl's hand.  Kiraki sees that Aika has followed them out.  Aika must have been the one who received the chocolate.

"So, what is it?  Did some girl give you chocolate?"

"Nope, struck out."

"So, you're not happy over some romance thing?"

"It has nothing to do with it."

"Well, somebody left Aika some chocolate other than me, and that somebody has something coming to them."

Suddenly Kiraki remembers the incident where he saw Aika hugging one of the other girls in her group at the video shoot at the onsen which caused him to walk into a wall in surprise.  Wait, I can't tell the scary girl that.  I can't rat Aika out.

Reina looks at Kiraki closely.

Oh crap, she can tell I am hiding something.  Kiraki imagines Reina pummeling him with a kendo stick.

"Come on, spill the beans, Sumo Boy.  I can smell that you're hiding something."

"Well, um, at the onsen, while Aika was shooting a video, I, um, saw her hugging one the members of her group."

Aika and Reina start laughing.

Aika slaps Kiraki on the shoulder.  "Have you forgotten that you peeped the same girl making out with another member of the group?  Yeah, I hugged her, but that was for the benefit of the cameras, not because I wanted to."

"I see."  Kiraki starts breathing easier, but is still wary of Reina's temper.  At least I didn't rat Aika out on something important.  Even though she is "under the protection" of the scary girl, she always treated everyone fairly so she didn't deserve to be done wrong.

Reina's smile vanishes.  "Wait!"

Kiraki sees his life flash before his eyes again.

"We should check those two anyway.  Maybe they gave you obligation chocolate?"

Aika nods.  "Well, it's not like I am their boss, but it wouldn't hurt to ask."

Kiraki cowers against the wall, not knowing what to do.

Aika smiles at him.  "Hey, Sumo Boy, it's almost time for class, let's not have the teacher yell at us."

Kiraki breathes a sigh of relief and walks back into the class room.



To Be Continued

[oddball]

Poor Kiraki, seems as though even when it really has nothing to do with him he can't help but get involved! 

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 27 (from Shounen Jump)

Seiji catches up to Kiraki after school.  "Do you want to come with me to the orphanage?"

Kiraki frowns.  "Normally I would, but I checked my text messages, and Josephine wants to see me before vocal practice."

"Sounds like it's good news.  Well, see you in dance practice."

Kiraki and Seiji bump knuckles, a habit that Kiraki has gotten Seiji into.

Kiraki walks through the park, taking the same path that he and Seiji had used that morning.

Kiraki gets to the same spot as where Seiji pointed out to him one of the photographers.  Kiraki intensely looks around.  He tries every martial arts trick he can think of to try to detect hidden enemies.  He sees no one at all.

Kiraki kicks a stone in frustration.

Kiraki suddenly sees one of Akia's group mates, the tall one, run out the front door of the building looking like she is going to cry.

Immediately Kiraki hears movement all around.

A giant sweat mark appears besides Kiraki's head.  Kiraki still can't see any of hidden photographers.

Kiraki then sees Akai run out with a book and holds it up to the tall girl.  They talk for a short while and then they walk back into the building.

Kiraki doesn't hear any camera shutters go off, but hears some disappointed grumbling.

Josephine's meeting!  Kiraki runs to the Jeneral Entertainment building, and then to Josephine's office.

"Kiraki, you got my message.  I have some great news for you."

Kiraki struggles to catch his breath.  "Yes?"

"I talked to the boss and he feels that he might have a group for you after all.  And, Hiro and Seiji will be in it."

"Wow!  A trio?"

"Actually," Josephine leans forward giggling, "fu fu fu, the boss says that there will be a fourth boy in the group.  But, he wouldn't say who the fourth boy would be."

Kiraki scratches his head.  Jeneral Entertainment has several large groups that they promote, but Hiro told me that it is inconceivable that someone from an established group would get broken off to be added to a new group.

Worse, the three new Junior trainees that helped me clean the building this morning were all worse off than me in the singing department.

"Any idea who it is?"

"No clue."

A look of horror crosses over Kiraki's face.  "You don't think that he got one of his nephews to reform?"

Josephine makes a face.  "If he did then I would prevent them from getting into the group.  You can't be in a group after ditching practice for six months."

"I wonder what they are doing now?"

Josephine gets a serious look on his face.  "Kiraki, there are certain roads that young boys should never go down.  I have heard legends about boys who were idols but lost their way.  There are many bad people out there, some as bad as monsters, who are always willing to latch onto people who are sort of famous and drag them down to the lowest depths imaginable."

Kiraki gasps.

Josephine adopts a spooky voice.  "I have even heard legends of boys being dragged so far down that they turned into donkeys."

Kiraki giggles.  "You're thinking of that American film."

"Was I?"  Josephine speaks in a spooky voice.

Kiraki gulps.

"Anyway, off to vocal practice.  When I learn more I'll let you three know."

After vocal practice, Kiraki joins Hiro and Seiji and several others in dance class.

Seiji gives Kiraki a hug.  "I heard the news.  This is great.  Instead of picking up after us or introducing us you're going to be joining us."

"Oh great, the kid who has a better chance of hitting a mountain with an arrow than hitting the right pitch is going to be singing with us?"  Hiro looks surly.

Kiraki frowns.  I don't want Hiro to lose his way and become a donkey.  "Well, for your information, I can find my pitch quite well now."

"Oh yeah?  Give me middle C."

"~C~, ~C~," Kiraki does a high kick, "C."

Seiji's and Hiro's jaws drop.  Then Hiro starts laughing.  "You need to do a high kick to find a pitch?"

"Well, I did find it."

Seiji starts giggling too.  "Well then, I think our group will have some lively choreography."

Hiro pushes Seiji.  "No we won't.  What is going to happen is that Sumo Boy is going to work harder so that he won't need to kick the ceiling to find a pitch."

"Hiro, you're mean."  Kiraki pouts.

Seiji gives him a reassuring smile and whispers to him.  "Hiro only wants you to do your best.  He wouldn't pick on you like that if he didn't think you were someone special."

Kiraki blushes.

Later on that night a color printer fires up, printing a picture of Hiro and another girl.  Hiro is shown at the front of the school, from the same perspective that Kiraki had seen in the morning while walking through the woods.  However, there are signs that the image has been altered and that the girl wasn't in the original image.

A shadowed tall girl takes the picture and tapes the picture to her wall.  She turn on a lamp revealing the wall to be covered will similar images of Hiro and the girl together.

The lamp also reveals that girl is Yurina, the tall girl from Shabondama Four.

Yurina goes back to her desk and caresses her camera with it's long distance lens.

She then opens the image folder on the camera's removable disk.  She searches through and brings up her images of Seiji and Kiraki.

She brings up some image editing tools and works away with a crazed look on her face.

After a couple if minutes her new pictures are complete.  The new pictures show Kiraki and Seiji in a fiery abyss.

Yurina laughs demonically, then deletes the pictures.

To Be Continued

[shenlog]

could the other boy be Aika? 
Yurina is mental 

[oddball]

^

I was thinking that the 4th boy could be Aika too

Dude, Yurina has got like some serious issues, she needs help I think!!! lets hope that she dosn't go all out to get Seiji and Kiraki away from her Hiro.....

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 28 ("serialized in sho-komi")

Twenty of Harmony Project's top idols join hands backstage.

Sayumi, having the longest tenure at HP, speaks.  "Tonight is a huge night for all of us.  Especially for me since I am so cute."

The other members cat call her.

Aika smiles.  Sayumi managed to relieve some of the tension with her appalling behavior.

"Aika, tonight is your first live.  Remember, the most important thing to do out there is smile.  It's more important than singing or dancing by a lot."

Aika nods.

"Now, the people out there are our true fans, the ones who crawl over broken glass to worship at our feet.  If you are successful in making eye contact with one of them it will make all his sacrifices worth it.  Now, let's go out there and show them what we can do."

"Ohhhhhhh, yeah!"  The girls shout in unison.

Reina shakes Aika by the shoulders.  "Time to get excited!"

"Um, sure."  Aika is made dizzy by Riena's shaking but quickly recovers.

Sayumi shouts over the other girls.  "That's our cue!  Let's do it!"

The most tenured girls, Sayumi, Risa and Eri lead the way.  On their cue they pass through the curtain and onto the stage and start singing.  "Lullaby, the mutual love I admired, those days seem like a dream."

Aika notices that Yurina, Saki and Risako are in another group which goes out to sing their lines.  "From a long time before your heart was frozen.  I tried to thaw it in the sun."

Finally Aika, Reina and Momoko hit the stage and start singing.  "What, what now?  Just go already.  Good bye, bye bye."

Aika eyes grow wider.  Oh my god, there must be thousands of screaming male fans here.  Good thing I put in all those hours of practice and can do this song on autopilot.

After the first song they do two other numbers, Youth Love Bento and Hyokkori Hyoutan Peninsula, Aika starts sweating, since he is wearing two costumes on top of each other.  One is a mid-length vinyl dress, similar to the dresses all the other girls wore.  Aika's outer dress is red and green colored, similar to the other Shabondama four members.  Underneath the outer dress was a briefer outfit for his duet with Reina.  He would then have to change for the Shabondama performance.

T comes out to be the master of ceremonies.  "Everyone, good evening!  Tonight we have a lot of new and exciting performances to show you all.  Also, as special guests, we have two boys who will be performing."

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH???"

"Let me bring out their announcer."

Kiraki hits the stage.  "Everyone, tonight my two friends Hiro and Seiji will be performing for you all.  And, I am so jealous of how great these two guys are!  They will be on later, so please look forward to being surprised."

Kiraki gets some polite applause, but since Kiraki is a boy the crowd doesn't quite know what to think of him.

"Thank you Kiraki.  And now, let's have some introductions!"

The girls line up and do their introductions going down the line.

Risako steps forward.  "Everyone!  I'm Risako, and if you don't cheer for me I'll pout."  Risako pouts and the crowd starts chanting her name.  Risako smiles again and waves.

Momoko steps forward.  "A magical fairy princess who makes people's dreams come true; followed closely behind by a magical bird, monkey, and dog; bursting from inside of a peach, I am Momoko!"

Aika snickers.  Wow, and I thought these girls were being petty when they almost had fist fights over which girl got to do which style of introduction.  But, each girl has to have her own elaborate style of introduction or else the fans would feel gypped, so it makes sense that there was a lot of jockeying over who got to do which gimmick.

Fortunately, I am the only new girl at the concert so I get to do the standard new girl introduction.

Reina strikes her usual pose.  "Everyone!  Yompi!"

The crowd says Reina's catch phrase with her.

"Everyone!  Tonight, not only will I be your race car girl, I will also be doing a duet with this hottie right here!"

Aika is shaken by Reina, but he has time to recover because the crowd gives a favorable reaction.

Aika steps forward.  "Is everyone lively tonight?"  The crowd roars.  "I am a new member of Harmony Project and a member of the Shabondama four.  I hope you will all take care of me, I am Aika!"

At the end of the line is Sayumi.  "Everyone, usa-chan peace!"  Sayumi does her trademark pose.  "I will be in charge of cuteness tonight as always.  I am Sayumi!  Is everyone ready for some more songs?"

The crowd screams their approval.

They do another group number, Haru Love Romance, and then the stage goes dark.  Stage hands rush past Aika so they can grab and take with them the outer outfits from the three girls who are up next.  Aika and Reina are rushed backstage and given some water and towels.

Aika gulps it down his water.  "Wow, there's a lot of people out there."

Reina, instead of talking, motions for a stage hand to give her a pad of paper and a pencil.  She writes a note for Aika.  Shut up!!  Our headsetts are still on!  (Reina misspells headsets.)
 
Aika panics.  He also writes on the pad.  Can the audience hear us?

No, but hakkers can record us.

You mean hackers?

I guess.

Aika nods and continues to pass notes back and forth the Reina.

Finally, it is their turn.

Aika and Reina hit the stage in darkness and run to their spots which glow slightly.  They strike the pose that they have rehearsed.  This lights come on, nearly blinding Aika, but he doesn't care because he can do the routine blindfolded if he needs to.

"How should I catch it?  The love of a robot, because I wanna get those feelings, but it doesn't compute."

Reina and Aika do their routine without a hitch.  The fans even do a cheer for Aika after the song.  Aika remembers to make eye contact with as many fans as he can while waving after the song.

Reina and Aika rush backstage.  Aika is handed his Shabondama four outfit.

Some stage hands motion for Reina to come with them.

Aika smiles.  Nice little subterfuge by T so that I could change in private.  Aika takes off his headset and gives it to a stage hand for safe keeping.  Aika waves to Reina and then runs down the hall.

Aika finds the closet that T had picked out for him.  Looking carefully to both sides Aika slips in.

Aika takes off the bottom half of his duet outfit.

The closet door opens.  "All right, let's not have any monkey business ..."  Sayumi stops in mid sentence and stares at Aika in shock.

To Be Continued

[oddball]

Aika was doing so well in the concert too but suddenly Sayu steps in a finds, well, something that perhaps she will be surprised to see!!! 

What will her reactions be and how will Aika get out of this one?

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 29 ("serialized in sho-komi")

Sayumi stares at the half undressed Aika who is in a broom closet.

Aika recovers from the shock and grabs Sayumi and pulls her into the closet and closes the door.  "This isn't what you think."

Sayumi looks at Aika with fear.  "I'm not thinking anything."

"Oh."  Aika puts on his bottom for his Shabondama four performance.  "It's like this.  T saw me at a Jeneral Entertainment audition and asked me to impersonate a female so that I could help Reina."

Sayumi stares at Aika for a minute, then smiles.  "I was going to say that T isn't that stupid, but he is that stupid.  So, what have you been helping Reina with?"

"Losing her fear of guys."

Sayumi's jaw drops.  "What an IDIOT!"

Aika looks at Sayumi with shock.

"Reina doesn't fear guys.  She was just upset at Takaki for teasing her for being a baka a couple of months ago.  That's why I tried to have the low score on that pop quiz show.  Otherwise, I would have had a perfect score."

Aika raises an eyebrow.

"And, she has several grown older brothers.  There no reason to even suspect that she fears guys."

Aika cringes.  "Wait a second, you're saying that everything that I've done for the last couple of months has been a waste of time?"

"I wouldn't say that."  I liked the duet and the Shabondama Four song.  You've had a really good run as a girl idol and you're not even a girl."

"What am I going to do now?"

"No girl or boy is going to quit a concert that I'm leading. You're going to finish the concert.  Your group mates need you."

"For what?  To make sure they're not making out?"

"That's what I was doing.  That's why I don't have my headset on."

"Are you going to rat me out?"

"Are you going to continue with this masquerade?"

"Not after tonight.  Reina wants to take me to a hot spring to celebrate."

"Then your secret is absolutely safe with me.  But, don't be mad when I take Reina from you."

"Deal."

Aika and Sayumi shake hands and then Sayumi leaves the broom closet.

Aika quickly finishes changing and rushes to the waiting room set aside for Shabondama Four.

Yurina is quick to attack her rival.  "Where the heck have you been?"

"I got delayed while I was changing."

"You weren't seeing him were you?"

Aika's eyes grow wide.  Yurina still hasn't told me who the guy was that I am supposed to be dating yet.  But, that boy must be going to their school and also be backstage at the concert.  "Sumo boy?"

Yurina's expression of a large "x" on her face tells Aika that it's not Kiraki.

"Seiji?"

Again no match.

"You can't think that I'm with Hiro, can you?"

Aika looks at Yurina and realizes that she has finally scored an "o".  "No way."

Yurina looks at Aika for a minute and then decides that she sees no deception in Aika.  "Well, that's a relief.  I guess he really must have ditched my chocolates at random."

Aika looks around the room, then raises her voice.  "This is great.  We go on in ten minutes and me and Yurina are arguing about guys and you two are sharing meaningful glances on the couch.  Don't you think we should get our heads in the game?"

The other three girls look down and nod.

The Shabondama four perform without a problem.

Aika ditches her headset and hurries backstage.  She sees T talking with some production workers.  "Producer-san, a word?"

T walks over to Aika.  "Here's the envelope you gave me for safe keeping."

Aika grabs it.  "Just so you know, Reina isn't afraid of guys."

"Amazing!  You did a wonderful job, Aika-kun."

"She never was afraid.  She was having academic problems.  You made be dress like a girl for nothing."

T's ever present smile and confidence vanish.  "Oops."

"Oops?  Is that all?"

"Well, for now, just put the envelope by Reina's makeup area.  The final group number is right after the Race Car Five's songs and you can exit the building in the backstage confusion at the end of the concert.  When you get out the back service exit you'll see how I'm going to make it up to you."

Aika nods.  "It had better be good."

--

After the final group number Reina works the crowd for several minutes, finding people to make eye contact with and waving.  Finally she is herded off of the stage with the rest of the girls.

Reina exits on the opposite side of the stage of Aika.  Reina rushes across the back of the stage to find Aika but Aika is no longer there.

Disappointed, Reina walks back to her make up station.  She is not a natural beauty and has to wear a lot of makeup to stand out on stage, so she has a lot to take off.

Reina sees an envelope at her station.

"Dear Reina, I'm sorry that I have to tell you this by letter but I'm afraid that we won't be going on that onsen trip.  Two days ago a situation came up with my family.  The short version of the story is that I have to leave Tokyo and give up being an idol.  I cannot tell you where I will be because I don't want you to be tempted into giving up your career to try to join me.  The months we spent together were really great and I am happy I had a chance to perform on stage, but my family needs me.  Aika."

A dark pit of despair opens beneath Reina and her soul falls down a spiral, screaming all the way.  "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Aika puts down the envelope and races to the back service exit.  No one is there.

Reina breaks down and cries.

After a couple of minutes, "Reina, are you okay?"

Reina pulls Sayumi into a desperate embrace.  Reina whimpers "She's gone."

"Who?"

"Aika.  She's quit being an idol."

With Reina's head buried in Sayumi's shoulder, Sayumi knows her sneaky, sinister smile can't be seen.  "Well, she must have had a good reason."

Reina nods.

"Well, I can stay here with you as long as you want, but there is a cake and a party that we could go to.  So, whenever you feel ready."

Reina nods.  After another five minutes, Reina composes herself.  "We should get to the party."

Sayumi helps Reina walk to the party room.  The mode in room is somber.

Saki walks over to Reina.  "T told us the news.  I going to miss being corrected by her."

Reina takes a deep breath.  Well, moping around won't bring her back.  Reina smiles.  "Well, maybe now you'll stop being such a screw up that needs to be corrected."

"You're mean!"


To Be Continued

[oddball]

So all Aika's time spent as a boy was for nothing 

though perhpas it seems as though she may well have left an impact on those in the group, and also very much on Reina herself......

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 30 ("serialized in sho-komi")

At the end of the final song, Aika waves to all of the fans.  Must smile and make as much eye contact as I can.

He sees the other members start to get herded off stage.  It's time.  He exits the stage and breaks away from the rest of the girls and races off for the back service exit.  Good thing I came to the concert hall in my first costume so I don't have to waste time grabbing by street clothes.

Aika rushes out the service exit into the service parking lot.  Now, where are my parents?

"That was a lovely performance, Towa."

The sound of Towa's real name shoots through him like an x-ray.  Aika whips his head around to see who called him.  "You, you look familiar."

"We've met briefly before, at the onsen.  I'm Josephine, producer and talent coordinator for Jeneral Entertainment."

"Okay, I remember you now."

Josephine opens the sliding door to his van.  "But, we had better get your butt out of here before the girls in your agency try to get you to change your mind."

"Where are my parents?  They're supposed to help me make my getaway."

"I have already talked to them.  They've gone home.  They're allowing me to do that job."

Aika nods and gets in.  "Where are the other guys?"

"I dropped them off earlier.  By the way, I know your secret and my boss knows your secret but no one else does.  And, it will stay that way until you want the story to be told."

"Thanks, I guess.  So, where are we going?"

"T didn't tell you?"

"Only I was going to find out something at the back service exit."

Josephine laughs.  "Oh, dear.  Well, maybe I should ask you a question then.  You once auditioned to be a Jenny Boy.  Are you still interested?"

"Sure."

"I was there that night as well.  I think that you would have been signed that night by JE if there wasn't that mix up with your long hair and all.  So, my boss made a deal with T to sign you on the condition that Hiro and Seiji could perform at your concert."

"So, does this mean I am being signed to perform as a guy?"

"Yes.  We're going to Jeneral Entertainment's headquarters now for your new makeover."

"And, my mother knows that you're going to be making me over as a guy?"

"Yes.  She was heartbroken, of course, but I assured her that some of the finest makeup artists in all of Japan work for JE, and that she wouldn't be disappointed by your new look."

"Wow, that's great."

"Oh, just so you know, I knew when I saw you at the onsen."

"What?"

"Don't be surprised.  After all, I am a crossdresser myself.  I know all the tricks and what to look for.  But, no one else would have suspected."

"Well, thanks for not telling anyone."

"Hey, girls like us have to stick together."

They arrive at the JE building and take the back entrance and the service elevator.  Josephine takes a quick look to make sure everything is safe and then escorts Aika to a makeup room.  Three makeup artists are already there.

The next fifteen minutes are a blur of grooming products, wardrobe, and flying hair.

Finally, Josephine turns Aika's chair to face a mirror.  "Take a look."

Towa does a double take.  Oh my god.  There is almost no trace of Aika left.  My hair, my eyebrows, and my makeup now all scream boy.  "It's amazing.  My mom is going to faint."

"She'll just have to get used to it.  And, Towa?  Your voice."

Towa realizes that he is still talking like Aika.  He coughs.  "Is this better?"

Josephine nods.  "Now, there are three guys who are waiting on pins and needles to meet the newest member of their group.  Let's not keep them waiting."

Josephine leads Towa down a flight of stairs and into a meeting room.  "Here he is!  His name is Towa.  Towa, this is Seiji, Kiraki and Hiro."

Hiro looks like he's seeing a ghost.  "No way!"

Towa looks in shock at Hiro, Kiraki and Seiji and then he smiles.  "Hey, Santa."

Kiraki looks at Towa funny.  "How do you know that name?"

"I was at his previous school."

Hiro laughs.  "Actually, the three of us went there, only we never crossed paths with Kiraki, here."

Kiraki looks sad.

"It's okay s- ..., I mean Kiraki.  It was a big school."  Towa mentally kicks himself for almost calling Kiraki by Aika's nickname for him, sumo boy.

Seiji smiles.  "Hiro told me about your audition.  That must have been crazy."

"It was."

Hiro nudges Kiraki.  "You were there, too.  Towa had long hair under a wig and wound up being mistaken for a female."

Kiraki's eyes double in size and points at Towa.  "Impossible!  Towa doesn't look like a girl at all, and I thought the guy on stage was a girl."

"I wouldn't worry about it.  What's important is that I'm here, and I know that the four of us will make one hot idol group."

The other three nod in agreement.

--

Reina walks into homeroom, moping.  This is the worst not having Aika here.  Well, at least Sayumi offered to help me with my homework.

Reina looks at the empty chair next to her and sighs.

The class fills up and the teacher enters.

"Class, I have some bad news to tell you.  Aika had to go back to her home town to take care of her relatives.  She's not expected to be back this school year.  I would ask all of you to think positive thoughts for her.  It must be very hard for her coming at such an inopportune time."

The class nods.

"However, by some strange coincidence, we also have a new student transferring in today."  The teacher leads Towa into the room.

Towa writes his name on the blackboard.  "My name is Towa, I am a newly recruited idol for Jeneral Entertainment.  I love performing on stage and playing softball.  Please take care of me."

"Thank you Towa.  Why don't you take the seat ..."

"Teacher?  I was wondering if I could sit next to Hiro?  We both went to the same school before we transferred here."

"Is that so?  Okay, Miyabi, would you take the seat next to Reina?"

"Okay."  Miyabi's voice betrays some fear.

Miyabi sits next to Reina.

Reina whispers to her, "Don't be scared.  I'm never the one who starts a fight, just always the one who finishes them."

"Okay."

Towa sits next to Hiro.  He steals a glance at Reina.  He smiles.  This is the way it has to be.

The end of the Sho-Comi chapters.

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 31 - ("serialized in Shounen Jump")

Seiji grabs Kiraki from behind in a bear hug trapping his arms.

Hiro gets in Kiraki's face and gives him a stern look.  "Now, C."

Kiraki concentrates.  "~~C~~".

Seiji lets go of Kiraki and both Seiji and Hiro look exasperated.

"But, I've improved.  Watch."  Kiraki twirls his fists in front of him.  "C".

Seiji looks at Hiro with hope.  "Well, that's somewhat less weird than doing a high kick."

"Seiji, now is not the time to be nice.  Kiraki will never reach his potential if we let this slide."

Seiji nods.  "Sorry Kiraki, but sometimes being a sempai means having to be harsh."  Seiji puts Kiraki in another bear hug.

Suddenly, Josephine walks into the dance rehearsal room.  "Guys, huge news!"  Josephine looks at Seiji and Kiraki and gets a giant sweat drop by his head.  "Should I come back?"

Hiro waves his hand in front of his face.  "No, no.  Seiji is trying to help Kiraki sing without moving his hands.  So, what's the news?"

"We have a live next Saturday.  And, you'll never guess where."

Kiraki wiggles free of Seiji's bear hug.  "Next Saturday?  Rats.  Aika told me that Harmony Project was going to do a concert.  I was thinking of getting a ticket."

"No need for that, you guys will be joining them."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH"

"Yes, I know this is bizarre.  I have no idea how my boss pulled this off, and, I have no idea why he'd want to.  It's not like a nearly all male audience is our target demographic."

Hiro turns to Kiraki.  "Since you're going to introduce us, you had better think of a way to make us sound appealing."

Kiraki turns pale.  They would give me the hardest job.

Josephine smiles.  "We'll need to come up with a more blunt sound.  The boss says that he will remix the sound of your songs.  Guys will respond favorably if we give them something they can rock to."

Hiro and Seiji nod and smile.

--

Kiraki looks out the window of homeroom class.   How can I make Hiro and Seiji appeal to an audience of male wotas?

"SUMO BOY!"

Kiraki jumps and instinctively covers his ears.  It's that scary girl again and she doesn't sound like she's in a good mood.  I'd better get to the door so that she won't have to drag me by the ear.

They go out in the hall.

"I didn't send any chocolates."

Reina looks at him sternly.  "Come on, spill the beans.  How come Hiro and Seiji are joining our concert?"  Reina invades Kiraki's personal space.

"Calm down.  Calm down."  Aika pulls Reina away from Kiraki.  "Come on, Sumo boy, this has never happened before.  All of the girls at my agency are baffled.  You can tell me."  Aika winks.  "I'll keep it a secret."

Kiraki smirks to himself.  Can they be more transparent with their good cop/bad cop act?  "I would like to tell you, but the boss didn't even tell our handler Josephine."

"Interesting."  Aika turns towards Reina.  "I believe him.  T didn't tell Megumi anything either."

Reina looks at Kiraki with a cold eye.  "Okay, but listen up, buster, you and your friends had better not do anything inappropriate at the concert.  Got it?"

Kiraki nervously nods his head.

"Let's go."  Aika and Reina walk back into class.

--

Kiraki, Hiro, Seiji, Kamei-ko, and Josephine pull up to the service parking lot of the concert hall.  The Harmony Project road agents and property managers grab their stuff and escort them to their own dressing room.

Hiro and Seiji start stretching out.  Kiraki reviews his introduction in his mind.

Hiro laughs.  "Sumo boy, it's too bad that we only had one week's notice for this.  We're going to be doing so many high kicks tonight that you could join us singing and stay on pitch."

After a while they hear the music starting.  They then get a knock on the door.

"Excuse me.  I need to get Kiraki on stage next.  Josephine, you can come as well to give him some moral support."

Josephine nods.  "Absolutely, T-san."

Kiraki eyes grow big.  I might not know a lot about the idol business but even I have heard of the producer of Harmony Project.

They rush to the edge of the stage.  After the third song T goes on stage and then motions for Kiraki.

"Go on, Kiraki, just imagine that everyone in the audience is in their underwear."

Kiraki nods to Josephine and walks on stage.  He looks out at a sea of male faces, all of whom are looking at him as if he was an alien, and gulps.  I am not going to imagine all of them in their underwear!

Kiraki is given a hand microphone.  "Everyone, tonight my two best buds are going to do their thing, and, and, ..., I am SOOO jealous of them.  They are so talented that you guys are going to be amazed when they perform.  I promise."

Kiraki gives the microphone back to T and rushes off stage.

T starts the girls on their self-introductions and then joins Kiraki and Josephine and escorts them back to their room.

"Can I have a word with you, Josephine-san?"

Josephine motions for Kiraki to go into the room.

Kiraki walks into the room sweating bullets.  Did T not approve of my introduction?  Am I in big trouble?

"What?"

Kiraki can faintly hear Josephine yell in surprise through the door.

Finally, after several minutes, Josephine comes back in.

Kiraki looks down at the floor.  "Am I in trouble?"

Josephine waves his hand in front of his face.  "No, no, no.  T just wanted to relay a message to me from the boss."

Hiro and Seiji both jump up.  "What's the news?"

"I need to get you guys back to headquarters as soon as you're finished performing.  The fourth boy for your group arrives tonight."

The three boys slap each other high five.

Hiro calms down.  "What is he like?"

"I don't know.  It's all still very mysterious."

Hiro starts brooding.  "This is bad, we don't even know what type he's going to be."

Seiji smiles.  "You worry too much, big brother."

"Heck, I don't even know what type they are going to make Kiraki."

Seiji giggles.  "Hey Kiraki, show us your rebel bad boy."

Kiraki thinks for a minute.  Do I even know someone who fits that type?  Finally, he gets an idea.  "Hiro, do you actually think that you're going to be the leader of this group?"  Kiraki walks toward Hiro menacingly and invades his personal space.  "Are you kidding me?"

Hiro stares at Kiraki.  "Hey, that's pretty good."

Kiraki smiles.  I am not going to tell Hiro that I am trying to channel our classmate Reina.


To Be Continued

[resop2]

(This is a fan fic based on the "public images" of various Hello!Project artists and is no way, shape or form trying to imply anything about the personal lives of the real people behind the public images.)

An Annoying Paradise Part 32 (from Shounen Jump)

Hiro goes to a large stand up wardrobe that the property managers had brought into the room for them.  "Kiraki, tonight you're going to see a shocking transformation."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't seen me and Seiji dressed in glam before.  Why don't you wait out side the door so that you can get the full effect of the transformation?"

"Won't I get in trouble?"

Josephine smiles.  "I'll escort you."

Josephine and Kiraki wait in the hall.  The hall is nearly a hundred yards long.  Kiraki can barely see the other side of the hall.

Kiraki looks down, disappointed.  "We couldn't peep the girls from here even if we wanted to."

Josephine takes out his cell phone presses picture and zoom.  "Take a look."

Kiraki holds the phone up and him and Josephine look into it.  After about thirty seconds of no activity, they see Aika run down the hall and into a door.

About a minute later, a girl that Kiraki does not recognize walks down the hall.  She opens the same door and is yanked through the door.

Josephine covers Kiraki's eyes with his hand and shuts the camera.  "Kiraki, you didn't see that."

"I don't know what that was, but I feel funny."

"Okay, we're ready!"

Kiraki opens the dressing room door and walks back in.  He is stunned by what he sees.

Seiji smiles.  "What do you think?"

"You, you guys are wearing eye liner?"

Hiro stands proud.  "I told you that we were putting on the glam."

Kiraki stares at their outfits.  They are wearing sequined pants, open shirts, scarves, gloves and shiny under shirts.  They look like rock stars.

Kiraki stares extra hard at Seiji.  Is this the same guy that I cleaned office rooms with?

Seiji smiles.  "What do you think?"

"I'm, I'm, not sure if my intro is good enough anymore."

Hiro laughs.  "Kiraki, do your best.  That's all we can ask for."

They hear a knock on the door.  "Two minutes to stage, let's go."

Kiraki, Josephine, Hiro and Seiji are escorted to the stage.

The stage goes dark.  A stage hand gives Kiraki a microphone and whispers in his ear to make a quick intro and run off the same way.

Kiraki runs out on stage.  A spotlight comes on so he runs to it.  "Everyone!  Prepare to be blown away, here are my friends Hiro and Seiji!"  Kiraki punctuates this with a high kick at the end.  He then runs off stage, passing Hiro and Seiji on the way.

Hiro takes the lead in the race on stage.  "Everyone, time to be burning up!"

Kiraki looks at the crowd from backstage and can see the crowd jumping up and down.

"I won't forget the words you said, that gave me courage when I was down..."

Kiraki giggles.  Wow, Hiro is doing some of the same martial arts moves that I use when trying to get on key.

"We were always together, wherever we went.  And even if we fought, we always laughed in the end."

Holy cow, Seiji's battle aura is rising up to fill up nearly the entire hall.

Josephine nudges Kiraki.  "In just a short while, that's going to be you out there."

Kiraki smiles.  Even if this isn't martial arts, strictly speaking, I can feel the energy that Hiro and Seiji are putting off.  If I could put out that sort of energy, I would be unbeatable.

"Even if my shoelaces come untied and get tangled up, that's youth, bursting out with a dash."

"Sensei, I want to be able to do that, even if it means wearing a tutu."

Josephine smiles.  "I'll definitely teach you, but I was kidding about the tutu."

"Just looking at you's not enough! No, no, no.  I've gotta put it into words and tell you.  Or everything we are won't get across - this isn't all there is."

Kiraki stares at the crowd.  They are doing the same wotagei (fan dances) for Hiro and Seiji that Hiro had told me about earlier.

"Recklessly tearing through, let's walk with our backs straight!"  Hiro and Seiji strike confident poses to a good reaction.  Hiro points out to the audience.  "Everyone, look for our debut soon!"

Hiro and Seiji run off stage.  Stage hands escort the four of them back to the dressing room.

"Okay, let's go.  The boss wants us back as soon as possible."

Seiji looks at Kamei.  "Did you hear us out there?"

Wait a second, did Kamei-ko just smile?

Hiro and Seiji pack up their stuff quickly and the property managers rush their stuff out the service exit to their van.

Before Kiraki could blink, they were on the road headed back to the JE building.

Hiro shoves Kiraki around by the shoulders.  "Hey, Sumo boy, I guess you could tell that we totally stole all of your best moves out there."

"I think if I did them it wouldn't be the same."

"Come on guy, you should be more protective.  Josephine has told me that there have been several fist fights over who would be allowed to hold the microphone a certain way."

Kiraki's eye grow wide in disbelief.

They pull in to the front of the JE building.

The leader of JE runs out and talks to Josephine through the van window in hushed tones.  He gives Josephine an envelope.

Josephine looks at the contents while hiding it from the other boys.

Kiraki sees Josephine's eyes grow wide and a small smirk appears on his face.

"Okay guys, you three go up to conference room six and wait.  I have to pick up the new member.  Don't worry about unpacking, I have to leave now."

The boys get out of the van and watch Josephine drive off.

Seiji looks back and forth to Kamei in wonder.  "This is one exciting night, huh?"

Hiro smirks.  "Come on, guys.  They usually have manga in the conference rooms to read."

The boys go upstairs to the conference room and fight over who gets to read Shounen Jump.

Hiro looks at the clock.  "I hope that Josephine doesn't take too long."

Seiji nods.

"Hey, Seiji, do you think that the girls got to watch our performance on backstage monitors?"

Seiji smiles.  "I don't know, but I did see out of the corner of my eye Aika's group watching us while they were waiting to go on."

"I'll have to ask Aika on Monday what she thought of our performance."

To Be Continued