Chapter 14

Keep Calm and Eat Away

Hina extended her hands; each carried a box of chilled boxed lunch. "Hamburger steak or beef croquette?"

A convenience store employee held her waist. "Hina-senpai entrusts her fate to Moca-chan, it seems." She wore a smug smile. "I must tread very, very, carefully because it might affect Hina-senpai's guitar-playing later." Moca did a praying pose and stared into the distance with teary eyes. "Ooh, God of Beef, please give Moca-chan your guidance~"

Hina laughed. "Yeah, you'd better choose right!" The girl cleared her throat before resuming, "O mortal, the fate of humanity rests on your shoulders!"

Hina's parents were away for a holiday, while Sayo left the first thing in the morning. It was a bummer that she couldn't at least eat breakfast together with her sister. Didn't want to have breakfast all by herself, Hina went to the convenience store instead. Luckily, Moca was on shift this morning.

Moca squinted her eyes at the lunch boxes. She stopped blinking for a while before declaring, "Hamburger steak!"

Hina glanced at the losing set. "I wanna eat the croquette too, but my stomach can't handle double portions of rice..."

The situation was dilemmatic. It had been quite long since Hina ate lunch sets from a convenience store. Her allowance got cut because electric guitars cost a lot of money and she was known to get bored rather quickly in doing stuff. But then, just yesterday her parents went for a two-week holiday so they left the twins some money. And that made Hina want to eat anything that she couldn't afford during these past months.

Hina put the beef croquette lunch set back to the open-display fridge with heavy heart, then proceeded to the register where Moca was stationed. The part-timer then whispered that Hina could always buy beef croquettes from Kitazawa Meat Shop nearby, as it was cheaper and way yummier than a convenience-store-bought one.

"Hey, you guys can come to the concert later, right?"

"You bet~," said Moca. "Ran couldn't sleep a wink like a kid thinking of a long-awaited holiday~"

Hina giggled at her underclassman's joke. She couldn't imagine a cool person like Ran behaving adorkable like that.

"Moca-chan' gonna be so busy today~" The underclassman put the lunch box into the microwave and began monologuing. "Working part-time in the morning, choosing buns at Yamabuki Bakery, going to Lisa-san's gig, then hopping to idols' concert…" She looked down. "I can feel my battery's drained already~"

"Wait, did you just say 'Lisa-chi's gig'?"

Moca nodded. "Hi-chan and Tomo-chin's coming too~"

Hina envied Moca and the others. She wanted to see Roselia's performance so badly, but Pastel✽Palettes had to do a dress rehearsal at the exact same time. The girl originally wanted to ask Kaoru to do her a favor, but alas the school prince must visit her horse that was having labor or something.

The microwave then went ding; so did Hina's brain. Moca took the hamburger steak set and gave it to Hina. As the idol received the box, she leaned forward and asked:

"Hey, can you do me a favor? Pretty please…?"

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Hina opened the door to the agency's lounge and found all of her bandmates there. Chisato was on the phone near the entrance; she smiled at Hina as she spoke with whoever that was on the other end. Meanwhile, Aya was sitting on the sofa with Ayumi, the leader of their senior idol group. At the other end of the room, Eve and Maya were snacking mini-sized cakes with a blissful expression at the bar table.

Hina walked toward Eve and Maya who didn't seem to be occupied with anything except sweets. Ayumi waved at Hina as she talked about performing tips, but Aya didn't seem to realize Hina was there (she was muttering and taking notes with a very serious expression).

"Wow, looks boppidy!"

There was a luxury-looking box of confectionery on the bar table. It contained a platter of bite-sized cakes in assorted colors and shapes; tiramisu, cheesecake, red velvet, brownie, fruit tart, and many more.

"Right? It's from Ayumi-san!" said Eve.

Hina's eyes sparkled in delight. Although all Pastel✽Palettes did was tarnishing the other artists in their agency, Ayumi was so kind and generous to them. Hina smiled at Aya who was still busy taking notes. She could already imagine how Aya would be like in the future if their band managed to have a successful comeback this evening.

Maya pointed at a couple of cakes. "I recommend these ones, Hina-san!"

"Thank goodness you've arrived just in time."

Chisato's voice stopped Hina from taking the desserts.

"I know we still have a few minutes before we leave for the venue, but make sure to come earlier next time, alright?"

Hina rubbed her head. "Ehe, sorry! I had a slight detour~"

"Don't be." Chisato smiled. "Was there a sudden business?" she asked out of curiosity.

Since the dramatic ticket-selling in the rain, Chisato had become much closer to the rest of the group. The actress usually only showed up in music lessons taught by professional instructors, yet in these past few weeks, she participated in their extra training as well (Eve was overcome by joy and hugged her when she first came). Chisato also offered advice on various stuff. And whenever the management people messed up, she was the one who represented the girls and spoke up to them.

"Welp, the food was too boppin' to miss out~" Hina grinned. "I ate a hamburger steak lunch set, beef croquette, melon bun, mochi, crepe, and choco-mint ice cream!"

The bassist's smile wavered. "I… I see… I never know you can eat that much," she said. "Is your stomach fine, by the way?"

"Mm…" Hina squeezed her belly. "My pants feel tighter?"

Chisato facepalmed, which confused Hina. The guitarist resumed the snacking plan, but her hand was stopped abruptly by her bandmate.

"Hina-chan, I believe you had more than enough brunch." Chisato's lips formed yet another smile, but her eyes said otherwise.

Chisato was still the same old Chisato. She often got into friendly arguments with Aya, which usually resolved within minutes. The girl also scolded Hina from time to time for behaving inappropriately as an idol (what were the standards anyway?). To sum it up, Chisato Shirasagi was like the mom of the group while Hina Hikawa could be considered as the youngest troublemaking child.

"I have a separate stomach for sweets~"

Hina grinned, showing her white teeth. Despite her love for sweets, she has a perfect set of teeth that could easily pass as a model for toothpaste commercials. Her parents were especially concerned about the twins' dental care because the twins were so crazy about sweets ever since they passed from mother's milk and baby porridge.

"What do I do with you…" Chisato massaged her temple. "Don't come crying if your dress were torn later."

Hina raised her thumb and announced, "I wear nice panties today; don't you worry!"

Eve and Maya choked on cakes. The two coughed and reached for water immediately.

Chisato let out a dry laugh. "Let us have a nice chat over tea later, Hina-chan."

Hina then realized something was slightly off with Eve and Maya, compared to the ever-normal Chisato.

"Is it just me or you guys really have panda eyes today?"

Maya laughed awkwardly. "D-does it shows that plainly?"

"Dead obvious~"

"I couldn't sleep a wink…" Eve breathed a sigh.

"I know, right," said Maya. "Our future's at stake here. If we fail again, I can't even imagine how people will see us…"

"How about you, Chisato-chan?"

"I sleep just fine." Chisato smiled. "It's during times like this that we should have plenty of good rest," she said to the pandas of the day.

"That's a pro for you!" Hina grinned. "Welp, I also sleep like a log."

The manager of Pastel✽Palettes entered the lounge and told the girls to prepare as they would depart in five minutes. Before she left the room, Miyagi informed them to wait for the van in the lobby.

"Miyagi-san seemed kind of awkward today..." Eve commented.

Maya said, "Given what happened two days before, I guess it's understandable that Miyagi-san acted that way—can I have that carrot cake again?"

Hina raised her chin up left and stared downright. "You made this decision to help her perform without issue, and in doing so only created a giant problem for her." She said coldly. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"Huh?" Aya turned her head to the pantry. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing~" answered Hina.

Aya resumed her talk with Ayumi.

"To see someone mimicking that line is kind of embarrassing..." Chisato's cheeks went pink. "But it's not Miyagi-san's fault, actually." She shook her head. "It was the higher-ups who issued orders."

Hina took a red velvet cake. "Still, you expressed your disappointment on her~"

"I can't just barge into the management's office, am I?" Chisato chuckled.

Eve wiped her mouth with a tissue and averted her gaze to Aya. "It's unfair that we got to play our instrument for real this time, while Aya-san must lip-sync again."

Maya added, "I understand their concern, but…."

"Those management people never even see our training." Hina pouted. "How could they know whether Aya-chan is ready or not?"

Chisato looked at Aya who listened to her more senior idol so eagerly. "I think Aya-chan still wants to sing on the stage using her real voice." She smiled tenderly. "She's just too stubborn to give up her years of hard work."

»↠ ≈ ≈ ↞«

"Hey, aren't they Pastel✽Fails?"

"I thought people call them Lip✽Syncers, hahaha!"

"They have the nerve to show their faces again after all that?"

Hina and the rest of Pastel✽Palettes members followed their manager to the band's dressing room. A couple of girls from other idol groups were whispering around or throwing mockeries out loud. She wanted to talk back to them so badly, but Chisato—as if she was able to predict this turn of events—warned the girls beforehand. "Just bear with it and remain silent," she said.

"How come they managed to secure a place in this event, anyway? Their debut was an epic fail!"

"The power of money, I guess."

"Which agency are they from again?"

"...What? Same as Marmalade?"

"I feel sorry for them for having Lip✽Syncers as juniors."

It was school all over again. Hina thought she wouldn't hear nasty remarks outside of school, but of course, there would be more… This event was a wolf's den where fellow idol groups—which hated them, of course—gathered in one place.

The dress rehearsal went smoothly, except for another round of booing. A couple of girls stopped their friends for crossing the line—possibly the leaders of respective idol groups—and apologized on their behalf.

"Idol groups are supposed to be friendly with one another…" Aya said weakly as soon as they got back to the dressing room.

Maya's shoulders declined. "That's kind of disheartening."

"Welp, I get kinda used to this stuff already." Hina shrugged. "People at school even spread unrelated rumors… They say I cheat during exams and such."

Maya looked at Hina sympathetically. Being a student from the same school, she surely knew how far the girls badmouthed the top student. Hina once asked how Maya fared, but she simply said: "Not as bad as yours, really." Being a popular student might lead to a severe backlash, the younger Hikawa twin thought.

The girls then proceeded to their final stage preparation: hairstyling, applying makeup, and changing into their stage costume. Hina didn't know much about makeup and such, to be honest. Fortunately, the girls were aided by professional makeup artists and hairstylists (Eve and Maya's panda eyes were covered by makeup). A couple of agency staff also helped them in wearing their pastel-colored dresses.

Chisato looked at Hina's appearance, specifically around the waist area. She observed it in silence before muttering, "It might hold until the show's over."

Hina touched her stomach. "Feels kinda tight…"

"I wonder who ate so excessively this morning." Chisato wore a teasing smile.

"Shirasagi-san, can you come here for a sec'?" asked one of the staff.

Hina checked her phone as Chisato left. Her pair of green eyes widened when she opened the LINE messenger app. Moca sent her a video. From the thumbnail, she was positive that it was the recording of what she requested this morning.

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Author's Notes

Long time no see (again)! First of all, I'm sorry for the old readers who might receive false updates last week. It was because I divided a couple of old chapters into two parts (so I need to slip two or three 'new-but-old' chapters in the process).

PasuPare's re-debut event will consist of three or four chapters, AND are connected with my other series "Daily Lives of Boppin' 2-A". Thus, the updates for these two series will be simultaneous in one day. Be sure to check Boppin' 2-A as well!