Two months later

“One-two-three-four! Ready, set, jump!”

Seven girls jumped in near-unison in the dance practice room of the new 765 Office. For this part of the lesson, they were all dancing along to the Million Stars song, Welcome!!. 

When they were back on their feet less than a second later, the dance for the song continued. 

“I really, really love you!”

 Kanagawa Hana tried her best to keep up with the girl who was leading dance practice for the day. The two of them had similar builds, but the girl in front of her was infinitely more agile. Her movements were also much more fluid, yet somehow still had a graceful composure to them. It was as if dancing was as natural to her as breathing.

What was surprising was that she was also smiling throughout the entire song. Her long, light brown hair and twin braids framing the side of her face bounced around with every jump and turn. 

Without a doubt, Kousaka Umi was the real deal. 

“I want these overflowing “Thank you!”s to reach you more and more!”

All of their right hands slowly raised upwards, starting from their hip area and ending when they were pointing at the ceiling. 

“Everyone take a second to get some water!” Akizuki Ritsuko said to the group. She was supervising this session. “Be ready by the time the guitar solo finishes.” 

Kanagawa Hana sighed as the song reached its bridge. She headed over to the shelves near the practice room door, opening her water bottle and taking a drink. Her breathing had slowed down a little bit but was still heavier than usual. Looking at the mirror, she moved some of the pink hair off of her forehead that had started to mat with sweat. 

It definitely made practice tougher, but the days 765 Productions’ Million Stars helped out were the ones Hana looked forward to the most. Not a day went by that she didn’t see one of 765 Productions first 52 girls on an advertisement or commercial. Kousaka Umi, with her ballet experience and flexible body, was one of the best choices to help with dance practice.

Hana had a little under a minute to compose herself before she had to get back to her position. Since this was just dance practice, the new recruits didn’t need to do the calls for the audience that they would need to do on stage. 

“One-two-three-four!” Hirose Miyako, a dainty 13-year-old said from the other end of the room. “Cheer me on, please!”

Although, that didn’t stop the other girls in the room who were fans of 765 Pro from saying the lines that their favorite idols would say.

The song was definitely catchy. Hana found her right hand moving along to the lyrics of the break as the singers on the track said them. Once the guitar solo started, a lot of the other girls had started getting back to their places. With this being their free time, the mood in the room was a mix of getting into the song and preparing for the break to end. 

Hana was lucky enough that her position for today was right next to Umi. The end of the break wasn’t anything rehearsed, but it was definitely fun to do. 

“One-two-three-four! Ready, pose!”

Hana looked at her reflection as she tried to make a cute pose. A quick glance at Umi showed the girl just standing there confidently, with one hand on her hip. 

“With you! Ready, pose!” 

Everyone’s poses changed. This part of the song had every girl do two different poses. It allowed the girls in the song to express their personalities by showing a pose only they would do. 

Hana, still being new, did what felt natural. She brought her hands to her chest and smiled. A few of the other girls copied Umi, with a hand extending a peace sign and smiling. 

“It’s a brand new page. Come on, let’s go!”

Back to practice, and the pre-choreographed moves started again. Hana’s shoes bounced off of the room’s sprung wood floors as she jumped. 

“I want these overflowing “Welcome!!”s to reach you more and more!”

“Ready? Go!!!!” Umi yelled. 

The chorus began again, but this would be the most exciting rendition of it. The jumps were higher, the movements were more energetic, and Umi was somehow even more excited. 

“One-two-three-four! Ready, set, jump!”

“Hai!” yelled a lot of the girls in the room after that line. Umi’s excitement was contagious. Hana couldn’t tell if the atmosphere was changed because of her, or if she was just moving more desperately as she waited for the song to end. 

“I really, really love you!”

Looking at the clock, the hour for the practice session was almost over. She still hadn’t performed on stage yet, but she could tell her dancing was getting better. She felt less tired than usual.

“These overflowing “Thank you!”s will forever be my treasure”

Hands pumped to the ceiling in rhythm with the beat as the song closed out. The guitar set the pace for the dance, while Umi set the energy. Feet shuffled from side to side to give extra motion to the dance, and Hana did her best to keep up. Today was the first day she hadn’t tripped while doing her side steps. 

She was starting to get comfortable with the songs they practiced with, although she knew this was only the beginning. She knew lives usually ran much longer than an hour, and with more movement and energy involved than during practice.

The song closed out with everyone giving the same pose. Hana held a peace sign to her right eye, giving her best smile to her reflection in the mirror. 

The music ended, meaning that practice was now over. Hana took a few deep breaths since she was done with moving around so much. 

Looking over to Umi, she looked unfazed.

 “Everyone, you did so good today!” she nearly yelled as she turned around. “It was so fun to dance with you all!” 

“Kousaka-san, good work leading practice today,” Ritsuko said to her. “Do you have anything to say before we finish?”

“Um…” Umi tried to think. “My ballet teacher once gave me good advice that’s always stayed with me: be very mindful of everything, from your fingertips to your toes and up to the top of your head! Your body while dancing is an extension of yourselves!”

Hana listened diligently. If there was anything she needed to improve the most on, it was her dancing. It was why she was at a remedial lesson today, and yesterday, and until her Producer thought her dancing was good enough to not need them.

“One more thing,” Umi started to say. “Always smile when you dance! I know you’re all hard at work, but if you smile, then you’ll feel better! Once you see your hard work paying off, you’ll smile even more!”  

That was something Hana noticed about Umi while they practiced together. Despite the difficulty of the dance, and needing to teach six people who were bad at it, Umi always seemed to be enjoying herself.

“I want to find my own love story.” Hana had said during her audition. 

If she was going to be an idol, then maybe someone would fall in love with her smile?

“Have a good night!” Umi said, leaving the room. She practically skipped on her way out. 

Ritsuko started talking again once Umi left. “I hope you all learned something from Kousaka-san today. Otherwise, practice is over. Remember to stay hydrated!” 

Hana got up to grab her things before she left. This dance practice marked the end of a long day of training, including vocal, performance, and another dance lesson earlier in the day. Now, she was finally free to spend her own time for herself. 

To the left of her, she saw Miyako approaching a reddish-brown-haired girl around Hana’s age. Watanabe Akari, a third-year at her high school, was one of the first girls hired for the SUPERNOVA!!! project. She seemed to have the least trouble in keeping up with Umi today. 

“Akari-san, I leveled up my dancing today!” Miyako said, hugging the older girl’s arm. “Did you notice?” 

“You did amazing!” Akari responded. Her burgundy eyes were warm and inviting. “Is your ankle doing better?” 

“I’m practically back to full health!” the younger girl beamed. If anything, she was tougher than she looked. The wrappings around one of her ankles didn’t seem to get in her way today. 

Akari looked at Hana. “Do you still want to go to karaoke later?”

Hana smiled. “Of course! I’m just going up to the roof for a little bit to write.”

“I’ll meet up with you when I’m done cleaning the room.”

“Let me help!” Miyako said. 

Hana waved to them as she left the room, walking towards the stairwell on the first floor. Since they were doing extra practices today, it was getting late enough that many of the other girls had already gone home. 

She reached the roof in perfect time to see the sunset, opening the door to feel cool air hitting her. Hana sighed at how nice the breeze felt, especially after today’s supplemental dance practice. 

Fortunately one of the other girls had laid out a blanket on the roof, so she used it to sit down. She leaned against the side of the roof’s entrance while she took her pen and diary out of her bag, and started writing.  There was still enough sunlight to let her see what she was writing.

Dear Diary, 

Today we had a special guest for our extra dance practice, Kousaka Umi-san!!

She’s really pretty! And she dances so well. I want to be able to dance as nice as she can one day.

She also told us all to smile more. I need to work on that when I’m dancing!

During my break, I finished that new romance book by Kohei-san. It was soooo good! But really sad!

Akari asked me why I was crying in the middle of the office, and then said my face looks funny when I cry (´；ω；`)

The love interest reminded me of the office’s new assistant. He’s not very manly, but he has a big ‘cute’ factor to himself. 

And the main character reminded me of Umi-san’s Producer. I haven’t really talked to him before, but he seems really nice. He Produced Umi-San after all!

I wonder how well he knows assistant-san…

“Hana no, that’s forbidden love!” she said to herself, shaking her head.

She blushed as she looked around and noticed that someone else on the roof with her. She was silhouetted under the sunset, dancing by herself. 

Her golden hair was nearly translucent in the sunlight, while her moves looked nimble and deliberate. She was taller than Umi, but her limbs looked just as poised. There didn’t seem to be a wasted stretch of her fingers or a foot out of position. 

Hana saw the faint outline of earbuds inside of the girl’s ears, the cords swaying in the air every time she turned. Hopefully, that meant that she didn’t hear Hana’s comments while writing in her diary. 

Hana found herself subconsciously moving her hands to match with her. 

She could already picture the girl performing in the 765 Theater. 

The golden-haired girl would wear a beautiful, flowing white dress, a spotlight shining above her. Her eyes opened as she faced the crowd, which flooded with bright penlights as the music started. She would stand alone, commanding everyone’s attention, and having every eye focus only on her. 

Hana would be watching from backstage, looking in awe as the girl showed off her skills as an idol, the crowd cheering as she sang and danced for them.

Although for some reason, she wasn’t smiling while she did so… 

“What are you staring at?”

Hana broke out of her daydream, looking at the girl who was now standing in front of her. She hadn’t noticed when the other girl moved from the end of the roof and to now stand practically in her face. Fukuyama Reina had her arms crossed and was staring back at Hana, her face contemptuous. Her icy-blue eyes were piercing.

“Well?” Reina asked. 

Hana tried to back up to clear some room for herself, but she was already against a wall. She ended up dropping her pen onto the ground during the scramble. At a closer glance, she noticed Reina was wearing a similar practice outfit to Hana’s, although hers had blue accents, while Hana’s were pink. 

“I was just, I um… I went up here to write in my diary while the sun was still setting, and you just happened to be here,” Hana responded, picking up her pen. She turned her diary around to show Reina that she was indeed writing but quickly brought it back to herself after realizing what she had written down earlier.

“I don’t mind people watching me practice, but you had a weird face while you did so.”

“I’m so sorry!” Hana said. “My mind was wandering.”

Reina gave her a weird look. 

“Not like that!” Hana tried to clarify. “I was just imagining you on stage after seeing how pretty your dance moves are.”

Reina was one of the more-talented girls at the company. Hana had done vocal practices with her once, but the blonde was transferred out the next day. Hana’s dancing was way worse, which meant the two also never practiced dancing with each other. 

From what Hana had heard from the other girls, Reina had also been in the industry since she was nine. She was senior to even some of the Million Stars. 

The other sighed. “It’s not enough. I need to be the best I can be for my debut.”

“It’s going to be a while before we debut though. The NeoStars project only just started practicing a month ago.” 

“It’ll be a while before your debut,” Reina responded coolly. “I’m performing with the Million Stars next week.” 

Hana had vaguely heard about that a few days ago when Akari told her how she’d been asked to work as a backup dancer to tease the Supernova Project. It made sense to hear Reina would be part of it. 

“Let’s do our best!” Hana said.

“If you’re looking to be friends, I don’t have time for that.”

That comment confused Hana. “What do you mean? Aren’t we all here together in this company?”

“Do you really plan on staying with 765?” Reina asked her.

“Well, of course! I need to take every opportunity I have.” 

“There are more companies than this one that’ll hire me. Better ones. That’s why making friends isn’t my priority.”

The door to the roof opened, distracting them from the conversation. Akari poked her head out of the doorframe, looking at the two girls having their first meeting. “Are you done writing? It’s karaoke time!”

“You should be practicing your dancing,” Reina said to her. “All of us should be.”

Akari groaned. “I just finished practice ten minutes ago. Too much work is unhealthy!”

“Watanabe-san,” Reina started to say. “There is a reason you’re taking remedial lessons.”

“I just want to make sure that I’m ready for the concert,” Akari responded. “Not everyone has your amount of experience, unfortunately.”

“That’s why you need to be practicing as much as you can. I do hope that you don’t mess up this opportunity. For the sake of all of us.” 

“Don’t worry, I won’t disappoint,” Akari responded, grinning. Although, something about her smile was different than what Hana was used to. She opened the door to the roof again as she looked at Hana. “Let’s go, Tae just texted me that she’s already there.” 

The pink-haired idol turned around before she followed Akari inside. “Do you want to come with us?”

Reina didn’t respond. She was already walking back to her spot earlier, her earbuds back in place.