「Okay, everyone's here!」
A raccoon face with long, flowing hair.
A woman with a petite figure wrapped in a
gray suit appeared in the airport lobby where we were to meet.
「Oh, hello... are you from KKO?」
「No, I'm not. I'm from an entertainment
consulting company. My name is Kinuta, and I'm in charge of coordinating this
photogravure shoot. Please feel free to call me Ponpoko-san」
「Ponpoko... san?」
Sanae Ichida tilts her head, squinting her
eyes at me.
**a
「You see, my surname is Kinuta, so if you
read it backwards, I'm Tanuki」
I look at Doremi and she looks at me. Probably,
we are thinking the same thing.
（—Isn't the nickname derived from the face?）
However, she looks like a Ponpoko-san, so I
decide to call her Ponpoko-san, thank you very much.
「This is your first time in gravure, isn't
it?」
「Of course it is, aren't you an idiot?」
When Ichida's mouth curved into a grimace,
Ponpoko-san smiled bitterly.
「It's fine with me, but please be careful
about the language you use with the publishers and local staff. As long as
you're hung up on it, it's fine, but if you lose your job because of it, you
could be sued for damages of up to four digits million yen, if you're not
careful」
「Ugh...」
Ichida's cheeks twitched at Ponpoko's
smilingly exasperated remark.
（In the first place, of course it's
impossible for Ichida or Doremi to be a model）
At that time, I almost lost my temper when
Ichida and Doremi came to me with a smug look on their faces to tell me that
they had decided to join KKO.
Of course, I immediately called President
Kijima and asked her about it.
「Oh, yeah, those kids. They're here to make
you look good. Just the thing. It's good to have an easy comparison」
（Comparison target... But isn't that too low?）
Ichida has a wolf cut and a jersey top and
bottom.
Doremi is wearing a frilly Lolita outfit,
candy-girl style, for her upcoming trip to Okinawa.
I want to say to them, "Do you think
you're a model?"
I mean, Ichida is just a yankee, so she is
out of the question.
And Doremi's breasts just a little bigger
than mine. That's all.
「Our schedule is to arrive at the site before
noon today. After checking in at the hotel, we will have a camera training and
indoor shooting in the afternoon」
As Ponpoko-san looked at the file in her
hand, Doremi gently raised her hand.
「Umm... Do we have any free time?」
「You are free to go out after the shooting,
but since you are still minors, President-san has strictly told all of you that
you are not allowed to go out. If you have to go out for shopping or something,
you are allowed to do so for a short time with me」
「Accompanied, huh...? I see」
I am taken aback by Doremi's slightly
disappointed mood.
（I mean, I told her that we were not going
out to have fun）
「By the way, I heard that we are going to
shoot with Lolisla-chan this time, but she's not with you?」
She is simply a senior staff member of the
office and a celebrity. I was looking forward to meeting her, so I asked her
that, but Ponpoko-san laughed again.
「Lolisla-"chan"? *Laugh*
Between you and her, she is older than all of you... or rather, older than me」
「「「Ehhh...!」」」
We were all speechless.
Lolisla Yamauchi can now be seen on the
cover of magazines and in gravure photos.
The fact that she is actually an adult is a
deep mystery in the world of entertainment.
「I was also surprised when President Kijima
told me, haha. And she’s a successful actress, you know. She is traveling
separately in business class. I wish you all the best in your career」
「Um...」
Doremi raised her hand again.
「Do you know the name of the hotel and
preferably the room number? My dad is very picky... I’d like to send him a text
message」
「Uh... well, yeah. You’re a minor. The hotel
is FW Paradise Hotel, and the room number is, uh, room 808 for three people」
**b
* *
*
[Ayame Hanabusa
POV]
「Ayame-san」
After school, I changed into my uniform and
stepped into the gymnasium, and Ritsuko-chan walked up to me.
「Good evening, Ritsuko-chan. Aren't there a
few people here today?」
I asked her. She looked around and opened
her mouth.
「Yes, it seems so. I heard that Mangi-san is
absent, and Ichida-senpai, Nitani-senpai, and Mimura-senpai are absent」
「I see...」
「Yes. So... maybe you don't have to be in "that"
uniform today」
「Hahaha, yeah, but that's okay. I've already
changed my clothes」
Ritsuko-chan and I sit down by the wall.
We've already finished our preparations, and we can each do some exercises at
most until the practice starts.
「Senpai, what's going on here?」
「I don't know... Well, it's better that
they're not here」
「Uwaa... that's harsh, by the way, Mangi-san
was absent yesterday, too, wasn't she? Is she not feeling well or something?」
「It seems to be a family matter」
Ritsuko-chan smiles at that. As one would
expect from a young lady from a good family, her every gesture is elegant.
She joined this club because of her
admiration for Kaitou-senpai, and I thought she might quit the club when senpai
left, but she is still a member of the club.
「Oh, yes, Ayame-san. Kijima-senpai who I
talked to you about before...」
「Oh, yeah, what's wrong with him?」
「Well, it just so happens that I had a chance
to have lunch with him today」
「Heh, really? How was it?」
「Yes, he's just like Ayame-san said」
「Right... Kijima-senpai is a very nice
person. He not only takes Saori to and from school, but he also takes me to and
from school with him. I can see why Saori has had a crush on him for so long」
「Yes. He seemed sincere. But Kaitou-senpai
also said that she didn't care what the gentlemen looked like...」
「Indeed, she was... But it's no good, you
know. Kijima-senpai is Saori's」
「Oh, that's too bad」
Ritsuko-san smiles jokingly.
Ever since Kaitou-senpai quit club
activities because she was crazy about her boyfriend, Ritsuko-san seems to have
a longing for love.
It may be a fan mentality or something, but
she seems to agree with everything Kaitou-senpai says.
I think that the reason why she is so good
to me is because Kaitou-senpai directly appointed me as her successor.
It seems that Ritsuko-san is just like
Kaitou-senpai, she curious about love, which made Kaitou-senpai so crazy to
abandon basketball that she had devoted so much to it.
（It's kind of dangerous...）
Almost at the same time as I was muttering
this in my heart, captain turned to me and raised her voice.
「Hey, Busako, Sankon. We're going to start
soon, so go get the teacher」
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