Volume 10 Chapter 20 Shirogane Lapis, A Manager Trainee
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
As part of an extra-curricular lesson from St. Claris, I, Subaru-chan, and Miyako-chan are visiting Beryl Entertainment, where we were accepted for work experience.
”Ah, here come the three from St. Claris, Shirogane Lapis-san, Nekoyama Subaru-san, Sabato Miyako-san. Good morning!”
”””Good morning!”””
We respond nervously, and the suit-wearing big sister smiles warmly. Our stiff faces soften under her friendly demeanor.
”Yes, yes, relax. Everyone, please relax. By the way, in the entertainment industry, even at night, it’s ‘Good morning’. So remember that.”
Wow, that’s interesting. I guess big brother wasn’t just mumbling as usual. I glance at the employee badge hanging from the big sister’s neck.
===
Beryl Entertainment
Tenga Akira Exclusive Manager
Kaito Miyuri
===
Oh… So this lady is Tenga-senpai’s manager.
Back when the agency was smaller, it was just me, Mother, Nee-sama, Nii-sama, and Ako-san. I used to help out with cleaning and other tasks a few times. But ever since the company grew, I haven’t gone there anymore.
So, apart from Kotono-neesama, I’m meeting most of the Beryl staff for the first time. I thought Tenga-senpai’s manager would be someone more sharp, but I sensed a warm and gentle impression from this lady, just like Tenga-senpai shows in his private life.
Say, Tenga-senpai, I can’t figure out why, but he always has candies in his pocket. Whenever we meet, he always gives me candy. I asked my brother why, and he said it’s for giving to kids, but Lapis is already in middle school, so I’m not a kid anymore.
”Wow… Subaru-chan really looks like his big brother!”
”I’m told that all the time.”
There was a time when magazine was out, and there was a lot of talk about Subaru-chan from St. Claris.
I was about to make a mistake at first, and I’m sure the people who meet her for the first time would be surprised too.
”And then there’s Chief Sabato’s little sister and Aqua-kun’s little sister. Well, I guess that’s why Kotono-san accepted the workplace experience project.”
Kaito-san introduces herself again, and flips through the paper clipped to the clipboard.
”Should I leave Subaru-chan with Kotono-san and Miyako-chan with Chief Sabato? In that case… Kaoruko-san, could I ask you something?”
”Miyuri-san, is something wrong?”
Kaito-san stopped a neatly dressed, glasses-wearing lady. The lady with glasses had on clean high heels without any mud, thick tights without any lint, a wrinkle-free pencil skirt, and a jacket without a speck of dust on her shoulder.
Overall, her appearance exuded cleanliness. At the same time, I got the impression that her personal life must be just as organized and put together as her appearance. I directed my gaze towards the employee ID card hanging around her neck.
===
Beryl Entertainment
Mayuzumi Shintaro’s Exclusive Manager
Hanabusa Kaoruko’
===
Oh wow, she’s Mayuzumi-san’s manager. Just like Kaito-san, this is my first time meeting Mayuzumi-san’s manager.
”Kaoruko-san, could you take the two of them to the Chief Sabato’s and Kotono-san’s place? I will take the other child to the usual place.”
”Understood. By the way, Miyuri-san, I wanted to discuss something about the upcoming Christmas festival. Can we do it during lunch?”
”Alright, I got it.”
We exchanged greetings with Hanabusa-san once again.
”Subaru-chan, Miyako-chan, see you later.”
”Yeah, let’s both do our best!”
”Uh, yeah, Lapis-chan, do your best too.”
Subaru-chan seemed fine, but I felt relieved seeing that Miyako-chan was a bit nervous.
It was good to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling nervous.
Until the last moment, I was fine, but when I arrived at the company, the inside was more magnificent than I had imagined, and I was overwhelmed.
”Hehe, Lapis-chan, are you nervous?”
”Ah… ye-yes…”
”Don’t worry, I was also very nervous when I first came here, everyone feels the same way.”
I see…
I thought even an adult lady like Kaito-san would get nervous, but it made me feel a little more at ease. As we were walking through the hallway at work, a blonde lady came walking towards us.
”Oh, Miyuri-neesan, hey!”
The blonde lady, who had a slightly mischievous atmosphere, noticed Kaito-san and waved her hand.
”…Not nee-san, it’s Miyuri-san. And not ‘hey,’ it’s ‘good morning.’ Also, if you’re on a break, it’s fine, but you should be more professional during work.”
The blonde lady, who got scolded by Kaito-san, tidied up her appearance and greeted us again.
”Ah…M-Miyuri-san, good morning.”
”Sure, sounds good! Yeah, that’s the feeling. By doing this regularly, even when we go outside, it’ll be fine, okay? Beryl is relatively free, so she won’t mind, but please remember that our every move is being watched by the fans and business partners. Let’s make sure we don’t inconvenience the affiliated talents, creators who have agent and management contracts, and sponsors who support Beryl. Shall we?”
””Yes!””
Oh, even though it wasn’t directed at me, I couldn’t help but respond like the blonde lady. Because of that, I caught her eye who noticed me.
”Hmm? Who’s this… I mean, who is this girl?”
”She’s Aqua-kun’s little sister, Shirogane Lapis, who’s here at Beryl today as part of a work experience learning.”
”Oh, oh, the rumored little sister…no, wait! Um, nice to meet you! I’m Kai Aika, the newly hired manager through mid-career recruitment. Remember my name even if you read it backwards!!”
”Um, I’m Shirogane Lapis. Nii-sama is always indebted to you.”
”Oh no, no, it’s actually the opposite. It’s me, or rather, all of us women who rely on your brother… Eek!”
Huh? What’s the matter?
I turned my gaze towards where Kaia-san was looking. And there, I saw Kaito-san with a smiling face… no, the smiling demon.
”Kaia-san, what kind of conversation are you having with a middle schooler… and with Aqua-kun’s sister, no less?”
”S-Sorry about that!”
For some reason, I found myself bowing with Kaia-san towards Kaito-san.
Upon seeing that, Kaito-san let out a small sigh.
”Well, it’s fine. Aika-chan, sorry to trouble you, but can you take Lapis-chan with you and run a small errand from now?”
”Yes, yes!”
Kaito-san is speaking at an incredible speed, giving instructions to Kai-san.
Um, um, if I’m told so many things at once, I won’t understand.
However, Kai-san, with a serious expression different from before, took notes while listening to Kaito-san’s words.
I also hurriedly took notes on my smartphone, but there were too many instructions and I couldn’t keep up with typing.
”Well then, Lapis-chan, do your best!”
”Y-yes!”
I parted ways with Kaito-san here and headed to the intended location in the car driven by Kai-san.
Uh… I couldn’t really take any notes. I never thought I would be such a klutz… and I feel down.
Seeing that, Kai-san seemed worried and kindly spoke to me.
”Are you okay?”
”Ah… um, I couldn’t hear all of the instructions earlier, so I felt down.”
”Ah… I see. Both Miyuri-san and Kaoruko-san are Mary University graduates, they’re really smart. I’ve only been here for a month, but I had a tough time in the beginning. So, things like this, you just get used to them.”
”Is there any trick or tip for taking notes?”
”In that case, you should take a look at this.”
Kai-san showed me a notepad that she took out from her pocket. When I looked inside, it only had simple contents like time, location, and who to meet.
”What you really need is the time and location. For me, as long as I write those down, I can somehow remember. Some people find it more practical and easy to manage by taking notes on their phones, while others, like me, can only remember things if they write them down. So, it’s good to try both methods.”
”I see, that’s helpful. Thank you very much. I’ll try both methods too.”
I handed the notepad back to Kai-san. When she stopped the car at a traffic light, she reached out to the back seat and rummaged through a cardboard box. Is she looking for something?
”If that’s the case, I’ll give you this.”
”Ah, thank you!”
As I carefully examined the pastel-colored rainbow notebook handed to me, I noticed it had ‘BERYL ENTERTAINMENT’ written on the cover.
”W-what is this?”
”It’s the employee-exclusive notebook for Beryl Entertainment next year. You might find it quite interesting to look through during your travels!”
I opened the notebook as instructed. Inside, I found a message written in my brother’s handwriting.
[Aiming for a world where everyone can laugh together]
Is this a print? Below that, it continued with the following words.
[We cherish the smiles of all the staff who support Beryl Entertainment. Shirogane Aqua]
Below that, I saw the signatures of Nekoyama Toa, Mayuzumi Shintaro, Tenga Akira… and Atori Ako, lined up alongside.
”That, isn’t it great? This notebook, it was the first job I handled alone when I joined Beryl. I wanted to put something on the first page, so I consulted Aqua-san, and it turned out like this.”
”Yes! It’s really wonderful!”
Kai-san rubs her nose with her index finger, looking delighted.
”If you’d like, please take a look at what’s inside.”
I obediently flip through the pages as instructed. The contents are just like a regular notebook, or so I thought, until I noticed Tama-chan and Shiro-kun in the top right corner.
And upon closer inspection, it seems like the drawings are slightly different on each page. Oh! It’s like a flipbook! Realizing this, I go back to the first page and start flipping through the pages.
Tama-chan spinning around and Shiro-kun falling down are so cute! And as I reach the end of the pages, I see information about each talent’s affiliation, complete with photos.
Hey, why are there so many pages that look the same? And it would be easier if she puts the information on a double-Page spread, but it’s written on the back of the photos, making it a bit hard to read.
”Oh, you see, I thought it would be nice to give them to our business partners along with our business cards. I have some extra refills just in case, but popular ones like Yuujin’s Aqua-san might run out quickly. By the way, my personal favorite is Aqua-san in the Corolle outfit.”
”I understand… It’s exciting when Nii-sama looks the most mature, isn’t it?”
”You’re right, little sister! You catch on fast. However, while Miyuri-nee and Kaoruko-nee understood, Kotono-nee is the only one who prefers Merry Mode Aqua-san, you know.”
”Oh… Kotono-san does seem to like that style.”
Thanks to this notepad, the conversation with Kai-san starts to flow smoothly.
It’s the same at school, but it’s true that even with someone people don’t know, if they talk about Beryl, they can become friends.
I remembered something I saw on TV the other day. When people was in a tough spot, they were told that as long as they talked about Beryl, they’d be fine.
”Um, first of all, here we go.”
The place we arrived at was a building with Beryl’s own shop.
”Lapis-chan, please carry this small stack of boxes for me. Be careful with your feet and stop if there are a lot of people.”
”Yes!”
Aika-san carried two large stacks of boxes, one on top of the other. I followed Aika-san, who was carrying the boxes, and headed towards Beryl’s shop.
”Good morning!!”
”Good morning.”
The shop was as busy as ever. The store clerk’s big sister noticed us and waved her hands excitedly.
”Oh! Good morning!! Manager~! The headquarters sent some additional products!!”
”Add the products right away!”
”In that case, we’ll also help with stocking the shelves!”
”Thank you so much!!”
We put the items we brought on the shelves.
The customers noticed us setting up and kindly made space for us. It’s clear they’re fans of Beryl, the most organized fan in the world.
”It seems like Aqua-sama’s goods are quite popular, with a lot of sold out items.”
”Well, it’s not surprising. Aqua-kun is clearly the most popular.”
”On the other hand, there are many types of goods.”
”Still, Beryl’s goods are good. It’s obvious that the production of Driver official goods isn’t enough.”
”I see, the goods from the Beryl Driver collaboration are easier to get.”
As we were setting up, we heard the voices of the fans.
Hmm, it seems like brother’s fanbase is quite large. It’s quite impressive.
”How about something like this?”
”Thank you!”
”You don’t have to worry about it. This is mutual, so please do your best!”
”Yes!”
After finishing stocking the shelves, we got into the car and headed to the next destination. I never expected the first job to involve transporting and stocking goods.
”Are you tired, Aika-san?”
”Oh, no, I’m totally fine!”
”By the way, as a manager, why did you choose to do something like this?”
”Well… um, yes.”
Aika-san chuckled.
”Yeah, there are a few reasons, but the most important one is that when you’re stocking, you can hear the customers’ real-time feedback, which is quite valuable. Especially in this shop, where sensitive customers come, it’s suitable for that kind of research.”
”I see, so there was such a reason.”
”Although, the real reason is simply that Beryl is short-staffed.”
As I sat in the passenger seat of the car, I almost burst out laughing. Aika-san smirked as she saw my reaction.
”So, as a manager’s assistant like us who don’t have talents or creators to take care of, we have a ton of miscellaneous tasks to do. Actually, I’ve even helped out in the shop as a store clerk and assisted with setup staff and things like that.”
The expression on Aika-san’s face as she gripped the handle with strength was somewhere filled with excitement, her eyes sparkling.
”But still, if there are successful applicants in this audition program, we might have talents to take care of too. So, until then, I want to learn a lot and gain strength under everyone’s guidance, so that I can be a support for the talents I’ll be in charge of.”
I thought it was amazing. A person like Aika-san, who is so positive and full of motivation, gives off such a strong energy just by being watched.
I couldn’t help but think that any talent who gets someone like Aika-san as their manager would surely be happy.
”Well then, we’ll finish the remaining tasks in the morning!”
”Yes!”
After completing all the tasks, we returned to Beryl’s headquarters. I was a little tired…
”Well, I’ll deliver this to Miyuri-san, so Lapis-chan can go ahead and have lunch at the cafeteria.”
”Yes!”
When I went to the cafeteria, it was a bit late, so there weren’t as many people as I thought. I bought a ticket for the Mini Aqua Lunch from the ticket machine. By the way, it costs zero yen and has a smaller portion than the Mixed Lunch.
”Oh, Lapis-chan!”
”Lapis-chan, over here!”
”And Miyako-chan, and also Subaru-chan!”
The three of us were happy to reunite and talked about what we had done in the morning. Miyako-chan was involved in server-related tasks, and Subaru-chan participated in a selection meeting for Tama-chan’s new outfit.
They both did amazing, so I also decided to do my best in the afternoon.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.