With the album's release date out in public, we had to work even harder to get everything done on time. Aya became very busy with replying to messages on our social media accounts and business inquiries. Jun still had song cover art to make, as well as an animation. Miki had to work with him to design a stage for the tour while working on the songs, and Tomokazu also had to work with Jun to create new merchandise.

Meanwhile, I did the necessary paperwork to register the copyright we needed while replying to business inquiries and finding more venues to perform at. Aside from not revealing that the collaboration was with Aeryx, we also didn't reveal that there was going to be a tour. There were very few shows scheduled, so I needed more time to find my way around them since it was my first time doing something like this.

But that wasn't all. Although it wasn't my job, I had an idea about how to update Blostars' costume, so I approached the person in charge of that.

Music was being played on the other side of the dance studio's door. Not wanting to bother them, I quietly walked inside to wait for them to finish, but they immediately noticed me this time.

The music stopped and the girls turned around in confusion. Astra and Sanae plopped to the floor when they saw me as the five of them panted in exhaustion.

Satō grabbed a towel to wipe away her sweat and asked, "Boss, what brings you here?"

"I need to talk with Aki."

Umi frowned, "Can't you wait until we're done?"

"It is a work matter," I answered.

"Of course, it is," she deadpanned.

Satō replied, "Sure. Girls, let's take a break."

Risa and Umi joined Astra and Sanae on the floor, while Satō threw them towels to wipe their sweat off also.

"You know what? Take your time," added Umi.

Satō handed Aki a towel as she approached me, then we stepped out of the studio and closed the door behind us.

"Are you that keen for a sweaty kiss? I didn't know you were into that," Aki smirked as she wiped her sweaty forehead with the towel.

"Very funny. I do have something to suggest."

"Only to me? I'm all ears."

"It would be nice to update Blostars' costume. I've had the idea ever since I saw Ceruty's live stream for the first time. It made me realize how much our costume is lacking in color."

"Alright. What is your idea?"

"What do you mean? I just told you. The costume should be more colorful."

Aki stared at me with no expression. "Is that all?"

"Well, yes. I know nothing about design and I'm not creative like you."

She smiled. "I was joking. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're creative, just in different ways."

"…Thanks?"

She chuckled. "To be honest, I've given it some thought too. The more I look at the current design, the less I like it. Now that I have your permission, I'll dedicate more time to work on it."

"Thank you. Accumulate as many ideas as you can come up with, then we'll review them together. Make sure not to overwork yourself and neglect your main job, that is being an idol."

"Will do."

After exchanging smiles, I turned around to head back downstairs, but Aki's hand grasping my shoulder stopped me.

"Talking about overwork and neglecting your main job," she said.

I turned around. "What do you mean? I'm doing completely the opposite of neglecting my main job. And I'm not overworking myself. I'm not tired at all and I don't work at home."

She squinted at me.

"Okay, I work at home a little bit sometimes."

A long, deep sigh came out of her mouth. "I wasn't talking about work. You've been neglecting your main job of being a boyfriend and a friend."

"What do you mean? I often spend the night at your place and you at mine. We even have…"

"That's not everything it takes to be a good boyfriend. More importantly, you've barely talked with the rest of the girls."

"Because I don't want to disturb their work."

"That's the problem. Did you know that Sanae's and Risa's parents finally called them again?"

The next excuse I was preparing vanished from my mind. "Really? Why didn't they tell me?"

"Because they were afraid of disturbing your work."

Not knowing what to say, I merely stared down at the floor.

"Do you see where this is going?" added Aki. "Our work shouldn't only be work. I know this is a company, but I'd prefer it to feel like a school project with our best friends as it used to. I'm sure I speak for the rest of the girls as well."

Although my brain understood what she meant, it decided Aki was wrong since a company was bound to grow, and getting more serious was unavoidable. On the other hand, my heart squeezed upon the feeling of growing distant from the girls and losing the passion for the project.

It took a while for my inner self to get tired of arguing with itself, even though my brain and my heart hadn't come to an agreement.

"Alright," I sighed. "I don't know what I should do, but I'll start by making lunchtime the same for everyone, and it'll be mandatory."

Aki smiled and leaned forward to kiss me on the cheek. "That's a good start. Now come up with a plan to be a good boyfriend."

"Being a couple is a job for two, you know?"

"I know, I'll be thinking about something too."

"Good. I should get back to work."

"Not yet. Wait here."

She turned around and stepped back into the studio, not elaborating on what she was planning to do. A few seconds later, Sanae and Risa walked out of the room and approached me.

"You want to talk with us?" Sanae wondered.

They both seemed as confused as I. However, my brain was agile enough to quickly connect the dots.

"I do. Aki told me your parents finally called you again."

Their eyes immediately glimmered and their lips curved up. "Yes," they both replied.

They spent the next several minutes telling me about it. It made me realize that, even though I wasn't tired, a change of pace wasn't bad from time to time.

It was also nice to know Sanae's and Risa's parents hadn't called them because they were scared of creating more problems with the hacker. Even though he wasn't the president anymore, it wasn't too crazy to think that he still found out that Chiharu was spying on us.

 

Progress was steady for the next several days. Establishing a specific hour for lunchtime was the right decision. Sadly, there was no place for the entire team to eat together, forcing us to split into groups in different rooms or even go to a café or a restaurant, for the staff members that weren't going to get recognized.

However, Aki and I still struggled to come up with something to keep the flame burning. The only thing we could think of was to have a date every weekend, but that wasn't enough. We needed something that worked during the week as well.

Eventually, Aki accumulated enough ideas to update the costume, so I summoned the entire team to a meeting in the dance studio.

I placed my glasses on the floor to project a whiteboard onto the wall with all of the sketches Aki had made, and we didn't waste any time to start reviewing the sketches.

It didn't take long for me to realize it was going to take longer than I had expected since the opinions were split with each design.

Everyone contributed to the ideas, even mixing them with each other. Nonetheless, we still had to gradually get rid of the ideas people liked the least, even though it was disappointing for several people, including the girls.

We held a vote when only two designs remained, and the one I liked the least won by two votes. I didn't want to give up and tried to convince everyone to change their minds, but Aki wasn't having any of it. We ended up arguing in front of everyone.

The design achieved the original goal of being more colorful, but it also added more details I didn't like. The most notable differences were that the strips of the ribbon wrapped around the girls' waist were shortened, and a fluffy type of fabric was added on top of the skirt.

It took a while for Aki and me to realize we needed to stop arguing. I had the final say on what the design would be, yet honoring the vote was the logical thing to do.

"Meeting's over. Please get back to work," I said. "Except for Jun and Tomokazu. I want to talk to you about something."

Confused, they stared at me, while everyone else walked out of the studio.

"Should we leave too?" asked Satō, referring to herself and the girls.

"There's no need," I answered. "This concerns everyone that currently lives in the university apartment blocks, meaning Umi, Jun, Tomokazu, Aki, and myself. I know we still have plenty of time before our rent increases, but who knows how busy we'll be by the end of the year. Not only that, but we'll also be surrounded by holidays. So, I plan to buy the neighboring building for all of us to move in."

Everyone frowned at me. "Huh?"