Episode 71 – combat mode

The tingling air.
Their gazes were clashing so sharply that I felt a sense of danger that they might unravel at any moment.

“Uh, Harushita san? Why are you here ……”

Harushita san looked nervous.
I didn’t even know if she was angry. I didn’t understand the emotion there.

Harushita san pulled out her cell phone in front of me as if to say that was the answer to my question.

“Actually, I knew Mia san’s manager. Well, I got to know her before she made her debut.”

Hearing this, Mia san turns her attention back to her phone with a grim look on her face.
And I couldn’t help but peel my eyes back at the message that was floating in there.

“[I wonder if Suzu has picked her up by now.] !? that woman is going to get her ass kicked today……”
“Mia san. I’m getting a vibe that I probably shouldn’t be getting, but …………”

It’s called “murderous intent. It was the eyes of a girl who really wanted to murder her manager.

That was the type of person I was not supposed to see, so I turned my attention back to Harushita san and she continued her explanation.

“Then I got a call yesterday.”
“W-Why?”
“[Mia is staying at Nagishiro’s house, but if she is not back by morning, I will call you one more time and ask you to go to his house to check on her.]”
“Why didn’t you come by yourself!!”

Thanks to this, Harushita san and Azusa found out that Mia san stayed over at my place and spent the night with me
No, it may be rather guilty, if you recall in a light-hearted way that this happened, but …….

“So Azusa knew about it?”

I asked Azusa, who entered the room late, why she was not happy.

“Of course. Suzu san called me today and asked me to help!”
“I’m prepared for nothing. ……”

The fact that Harushita san did not rush in alone was a true indication of her character.
You don’t miss the prey you’re after. Oh, was I the prey?

“S-So, senpai.”
“W-What is it?”

“What does it mean that Rin senpai is with Mia san?”

Azusa was throwing questions back and forth in an unusually biting manner. It was obvious that this one was overtly nervous.

Although she tries not to be conscious of it, clearly Azusa’s gaze is constantly on Mia-san.
When I turned my attention to Harushita san, she seemed to be trying to talk to Mia san as an equal in her own way, but every part of her back and shoulders seemed to be stiffening.
Mia san, on the other hand, was hostile, but did not seem nervous at all.

Harushita san and Azusa are superstars in Japan. To exaggerate a bit, they are so popular in Japan that there is no one who does not know them.
But that’s only in the island nation. overseas, there are probably more people who don’t know them.

But on the contrary, every being here knows Mia san from overseas
Her popularity is so outstanding that she is quite apart from ordinary superstars like Harushita san and Azusa.

That is the difference in their attitude now, and it is not surprising that Harushita san and Azusa cannot hide their nervousness.

“So, if you’ll excuse me.”

Hostile and threatening to “shirk” at any moment, Mia san cut in, not hiding her irritation.

“Who are you people? Why are you at Rin’s house?”
“That’s my line. ……”
“Rin, shut up.”

Yes, sorry. Seriously, I’ll shut up.
I thought I was going to die.

“We are Nagishiro san’s …… business partner. He writes the music and we sing it.”
“I’m the same way! Rin senpai and I have known each other for more than 3 years now!”

Harushita san, and to take advantage of this, Azusa explains
Azusa really does look like a small person, but she is going to say what she wants to say at least for the moment.

“Rin’s, business partner ……?”

She looks dubious, but Mia san’s eyes change from hostile to questioning.

“What’s your name?”

It was not a question of weighing the other party, but a simple question.
At least that’s how it looked to me.

To this, the girls nervously reply with a few words.

“My name is Harushita Suzune ” Harushita san said clearly.
“I’m Ikuta Azusa ……,” Azusa fumbled.

Hearing this, Mia san is somber, as if remembering something from it.

No, it was not so much quiet as somber, and she was groaning something like, “Hmmm,” or “Uh”
It’s that feeling of almost being able to remember, of being almost up to your throat, but not being able to get the next bit out.
She lies on her bed with both index fingers on her temples, thinking in circles.

The sight of this confuses me, Harushita san, and Azusa.
I was not smart enough to understand what the hell was going on.

Then she eureka! had a flash of brilliance that was almost good enough to make her jump out of bed and say, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Ah! –That Suzune and Azusa!”
“””————————-Eh?”””

Which, I wonder, is that?
We looked at each other, but neither of us had any idea what was going on, and if anything, the girls seemed more confused than I was.

Mia san had successfully tucked away the negative aura that had appeared earlier, and instead appeared to be sparkling and in a good mood.
She takes the liberty of taking Harushita san’s and Azusa’s hands and shaking them.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you, I hear you! I hear your songs! Well, only the ones Rin wrote.”
“Umm….”
“Is that so!?”

Harushita san was still bewildered by her flip-flop, and conversely, the honest Azusa was happy to accept her words as they were.
Azusa even seems to have a hearty feeling in her cheeks. ……

“No, I knew Rin’s music would be great!”
“Yes yes”

Azusa is completely on the same wavelength, and they are excited to share their feelings with each other.
As for me, I’m itching to hear it.

“I know Suzune has only sung two songs, but she sang them! Her debut song was great.”
“Debut song….”

Harushita san has only retired from show business once, so her debut song is separate, if I may say so. …… Perhaps she is unaware of such trivial matters.

Harushita san laughed at her words.

“No, I never thought I’d be talking to that Mia san!”

Azusa is bouncing around happily. And it seems that she is fixed by Mia san’s hand.
She seems to be enjoying herself like a fish out of water.

As for me, I don’t want to see a nasty atmosphere between someone I know and someone I just became acquainted with.
I think it was good to see this kind of trend.

Somehow the fact that she spent the night with me is also going to be a non-issue. Good, good, good.

And just as I was thinking that, Mia san dropped a bomb.

“—-I can sing better than you, though.”

I could feel the air getting heavier with each mishap.

Azusa’s body stopped laughing, and Harushita san, on the contrary, laughed dryly ha ha ha.

‘’Um, …… Mia san? what about that?”
“Mia San. Are you mistaken about something?”

But I guess the two of them getting into a fight was also calculated by Mia san. Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say that Mia san had planned for this to happen and said something challenging on purpose, and in fact, it did.
Mia san says with a smile on her face.

“No, no, no, no, I’m not mistaken about anything. I like your songs, of course, but …… I wouldn’t be like that.”

It sounds like a very arrogant and condescending act, but the fact that the person who said it is Mia Brooks changes the complexion of the situation.
Words backed by confidence. Attitudes backed by achievements.

So Mia san says with conviction.

However, it was a source of struggle for Harushita san and her colleagues.

“All right. Then let’s play the game.”
“A game?”

Harushita san, who is more competitive than I thought, makes a suggestion.
I’m not sure if she even anticipated the suggestion, but Mia san listens with the corners of her mouth hanging open.

“Two weeks from now, on February 14. On that day, myself, Ikuta san, and anyone else who has ever received a song from Nagishiro san will participate in a live concert called [Valentine’s Day Live.]”

Hearing this, Azusa makes an ah-ha face. Maybe she understood what Harushita san was saying.

Harushita san continues, as Mia san listens in silence.

“You’re going to have to be there. We’ll settle it there.”
“That’s interesting.”

Mia san is in full battle mode. Not bathhouse mode.
Her demeanor His demeanor is that of an artist, and it’s hard just to be in the same place with her.

“So how are we going to play the game?　Of course you’re going to sing Rin’s song, right?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”

And there, Harushita san looks at me.
What, me?

“How about having Nagishiro san write a song by the day before the event and upload it to YouTube? then How about having the six of us sing it on the day of the event?”

Azusa and Mia san nodded in satisfaction at these words.

“Eh, that’s seriously interesting, Oh, but I still won’t lose!”
“Good. It would be nice if I could sing Rin’s song too.”

Two people in high spirits.

No, but please wait.

“No, um Harushita san?”
“You can do that, right?”
“Let’s see, February 14th is only about ten days away.”
“Then I leave it to you”

With that, she leaves the room, and Mia san and Azusa follow her lead.

I was the only one in the room.

“Umm….”

Write a song in 10 days? Oh, isn’t that bad? Yes?

Well, for now.

“I’ll go get some energizer. ……”

The 10 days of hell will now begin.