"Just now, Ichigo asked me to tell you that there will be new members joining the group tomorrow, so you should prepare tomorrow's plan," Miyako revealed.
"What an unreliable guy," Hiko grumbled, then asked, "How many people?"
"Two. Actually, Ichigo is quite reliable. It's just that this afternoon, you disrupted his rhythm, so he couldn't tell you about it at the company," Miyako explained. "And during the last call, he was right next to me, but because you hung up too quickly, he didn't have time to say anything."
"Then why didn't he just use his own phone to call my number? It's not like he doesn't have it," Hiko retorted.
"Haha… I wouldn't know about that…" Miyako's sheepish voice came through the phone.
Alright, it has something to do with you.
Hiko got his answer from Miyako's reply.
"That's all for now. Remember to prepare for tomorrow." Miyako hung up the phone before Hiko could react.
'I wasn't going to do anything, why hang up so fast?'
Hiko felt a little disheartened thinking about the two new members joining tomorrow morning.
Both the lyrics and dance steps would need to be adjusted.
However, he had already considered the possibility of new members joining before this.
All he had to do next was update the correct dance step version, then draw it out and print the lyrics for annotation.
Hiko thought for a moment and decided to change the dance formation to a V-shape at the start, then transition to a three-one-three formation during the performance.
He would have to stay up late again tonight.
He had just been advised by Ai to go to bed early.
Hiko sighed inwardly. After returning home, he opened his computer to work.
Finally, it was done.
Hiko glanced at the time at the bottom of his computer screen.
2:36.
It was this time again.
He sighed in his heart, shut down the computer, and went to bed.
…
Wednesday
When Hiko arrived at the office, the original five members were already chatting in the lounge.
"It was understandable for you to come late yesterday afternoon, but why are you late again today?" Arisa saw Hiko's late arrival and seized the opportunity to chide him.
Ai merely nodded when she saw Hiko.
The other three also greeted Hiko calmly.
"You have so much energy; you need extra practice," Hiko retorted to Arisa, then nodded to the others. "Mm."
As he spoke, he handed out the picture book and the copied, annotated lyrics he had brought with him to the five people present.
"What's going on? New song and dance? New members?" Watanabe looked at the new dance moves in the picture book, which showed seven people, and asked Hiko.
The other three also showed puzzled expressions, while Ai did not look surprised.
It seemed Ichigo hadn't contacted them yesterday.
Hiko drew this conclusion from their reactions.
"This isn't a new song's dance. The president said new members would be joining today, so I rearranged and modified the START:DASH! dance," Hiko replied.
"Are we just going to be in the background again?" Arisa looked at the first few drawings of the three-one-three formation and questioned him.
"Can't you just flip through a bit more?" Hiko lectured. "You're talking nonsense without even finishing looking at the drawings."
Chided by Hiko, Arisa lowered her head sheepishly and continued to flip through the picture book in her hands.
"When will the new members arrive?" Ai asked Hiko.
Hiko didn't know when Ichigo would bring the people over, so he could only reply, "Don't think so much. Let's start today's practice quickly."
"We're still looking at your revised dance steps. Don't rush," Niino replied.
"Once you've finished looking, start practicing quickly. Time is limited; you'll be performing in less than a month."
Hiko knew they indeed needed time to memorize, so he could only say this.
The five had no choice but to diligently memorize the new dance steps, then stood separately to practice the correct postures.
In the afternoon, Ichigo brought two young girls to the dance practice room.
Hiko felt that both girls were around twelve years old.
Both girls were wearing school uniforms today.
After Ichigo brought the two young girls to the dance practice room, he gathered the members, stood them together, and then announced, "I'm sure you already know that new members will be joining today. These are the new members who will be joining the group to become idols. Please introduce yourselves to each other."
After Ichigo finished speaking, he stepped aside, leaving space for the two girls to speak.
The short-haired girl on the left stepped forward, placed her hand on her chest, and said with a smile, "Hello, seniors of B-Komachi. I am a new member joining the group. My name is Futami Ami. Everyone can call me Meimei."
After she finished her simple self-introduction, she took a step back and looked at the long-haired girl who came with her.
The long-haired girl felt a little nervous. She took a deep breath to compose herself before stepping forward and, mimicking Meimei's way of speaking, said, "Hello, seniors of B-Komachi. I am also a new member joining the group. My name is Hayakawa Asuka[1]. Everyone can just call me Asuka. I'm very happy to be a part of B-Komachi~"
Ichigo saw Asuka's nervousness. When she finished speaking and there was a long pause before her next action, he spoke up, "It seems both new members are a bit reserved, but I believe you will quickly integrate into B-Komachi."
After he finished speaking, he left the two girls there and exited the dance practice room alone.
After Ichigo left, the B-Komachi quintet was about to gather around the two girls to ask questions, but Hiko spoke first, "You are very lucky. B-Komachi will have a performance in March. At this time, there's still time for rehearsals."
As Hiko spoke, he handed two prepared copies of the script and picture book to Meimei and Asuka.
The two girls took the books, looking at Hiko with confusion.
"I am your coach responsible for training you this month, as well as the music arranger, choreographer, and movement director, Saito Hiko. You can just call me Hiko-sensei or just coach," Hiko replied, seeing the two girls' puzzled expressions.
Asuka looked at the copied lyrics in her hand and the drawings in the picture book, then tentatively asked, "Did you do all of this yourself, Coach?"
Meimei next to her also showed a curious expression, looking at Hiko.
"Yes, everything in your hands was made by me alone," Hiko nodded in reply.
Asuka showed an expression of admiration. "Wow~ Coach is amazing~"
Meimei, however, just looked at Hiko, who was not much older than her, in silence, seemingly not believing that he had done all of this by himself. However, she thought that since she was a new member, it wasn't appropriate to ask about it.
So she quietly said to Asuka beside her, "How could you believe it so easily?"
Hiko was happy to see Asuka's reaction.
'I'm so talented, yet none of you have ever praised me.'
"Of course I'm amazing. Otherwise, how could I be your coach?" Hiko replied with an arrogant expression.
He got praised by Asuka once and became so smug. He's too easy to read.
Meimei thought this in her heart, seeing Hiko get carried away just by a single compliment from Asuka.
So she also showed an expression of admiration and said, "Coach~ Please take good care of me from now on~"
"Mm, I will supervise your training," Hiko nodded in response.
"Coach~ Please take good care of me too~" Asuka raised her hand, mimicking Meimei.
"No problem, no problem. I like hardworking children."
Hiko felt relieved hearing the two girls' declarations of wanting to work hard and decided to be stricter with their practice moves later.
Watanabe felt a sense of crisis rising in her heart, seeing the three of them like this.
"I am the leader of B-Komachi. You can call me Ai."
Ai stepped forward at this moment and introduced herself to the two girls.
The other four, seeing Ai proactively introduce herself to the two girls, also followed suit and introduced themselves.
After they had gotten to know each other for a while, Hiko urged, "Stop chatting, quickly start practicing!"
"Okay~" ×7
The seven girls responded in unison.
At 4:30 PM, Hiko announced the end of today's practice.
"Alright, you can all go home now," Hiko began to dismiss them.
"Coach, I still want to practice more," Asuka wanted to stay for extra practice.
"No, everyone, go home! Practice shouldn't be continuous training driven by pure passion. Overtraining can cause physical harm," Hiko rejected Asuka's request to overwork herself.
"But I only started training this afternoon," Asuka tried to persuade Hiko.
"That's still a no."
Hiko didn't give her a chance to say more and continued, "I know you want to practice, but now is a holiday. You should enjoy the relaxed days of the holiday instead of constantly training."
"Coach... but I just want to be an idol, and I really enjoy the feeling of practicing and improving. Practice is inherently a happy thing for me," Asuka retorted against Hiko again.
Hiko planned to educate Asuka privately, but some things weren't suitable to say in front of everyone. So, he said to her, "Asuka, come out with me for a moment. I want to talk to you alone."
After he finished speaking, he walked out of the room, waiting for her to come out.
"What can't be said here?" Arisa muttered quietly when she heard Hiko's words.
Asuka, hearing Hiko's words, followed him directly out of the room.
"What do you think the coach will say to Asuka?" Meimei asked Ai after the two left.
"I'm not sure," Ai replied, shaking her head, then added, "It's probably another lecture."
"A lecture, and alone? Darn it!" Arisa heard Ai's words, recalling the scene where she was scolded in front of everyone, and whispered maliciously, "He probably has a thing for Asuka. That's why he's spending time with her alone."
"Ari, why are you badmouthing the coach behind his back again?" Ai looked at Arisa and admonished her. "I just told you last time not to gossip about people behind their backs. Have you forgotten so quickly?"
'Badmouthing the coach again?' Meimei listened to the conversation around her, analyzing the situation within the group.
"Alright, everyone, don't argue," Watanabe spoke up at the right time.
"Please, everyone, don't fight," Niino followed Watanabe's lead.
"Leader and Ari, please don't argue," Meimei also tried to mediate between them.
Takamine, however, just stared at Arisa.
The others' intervention made Arisa drop her intention to argue with Ai.
"Hmph!" She snorted coldly and fell silent.
With more people in the group, there were also more schemes.
Ai sighed inwardly as she looked at the members present, each with different expressions.
'Just as I got the members to trust me, the president brought in two new recruits. The timing is really bad…'
Hiko led Asuka to a place where few people would pass by.
"Where are you taking me?" Asuka saw Hiko leading her through various parts of the company and didn't understand where he was taking her.
Hiko heard the question from behind him, glanced at the surrounding environment, thought for a moment, and then said, "Few people come here, so this will do."
"What can't be said in front of them?" Asuka asked.
"I'm talking to you alone to save face for you, and also for them."
Hiko pondered for a moment and said, "Before you came, they were all training according to the standards I set."
He slightly modified the information in his words.
Asuka didn't understand what Hiko meant, so she asked, "But what does this have to do with me wanting to do extra practice?"
"I know you want to work hard, but you have to consider your teammates," Hiko told her. "If you do extra practice, what will your teammates think?"
"Knowing that the other members need to work hard? Can they disband and not practice with a clear conscience?"
"While diligent practice is a good thing, it shouldn't be excessive. And once someone among you does extra practice, the others will certainly secretly do extra practice as well."
"Under mutual competition, someone will get injured due to excessive extra practice," Hiko said, looking at Asuka.
"No one would be so foolish as to injure themselves from practice, would they?" Asuka felt something was off about Hiko's theory, but she still somewhat agreed, so she said, "I only said I wanted to do extra practice today, not that I wanted to do it all the time."
"This matter of extra practice cannot be allowed unless it's a full-member extra practice arranged by me."
Seeing that she still had the idea of doing extra practice, Hiko continued, "Moreover, not everyone is like you and enjoys practicing."
"They are all working hard to become idols, but practice can cause physical pain and wear down their will."
"Perhaps you might think that if they give up on becoming an idol just because of extra practice, giving up their dream so easily, then they shouldn't be idols."
Asuka quickly shook her head and replied, "I didn't mean to look down on my seniors."
Hiko ignored Asuka's reply. "One or two extra practices might seem like nothing to you, but one day it might become the last straw that breaks the camel's back. Furthermore, if I allow your extra practice this time, next time someone among you will use this incident to argue with me and make me allow their extra practice. Understand?"
Asuka finished listening to Hiko's words, thought for a while before understanding his meaning, and quickly bowed to apologize to him, saying, "Coach, I'm sorry. I almost caused you trouble just now."
"It's alright, you're not too foolish. Get up. You haven't made a mistake yet. We can go back now." Hiko felt relieved to see Asuka's sincere attitude in admitting her mistake.
Amidst his relief, he couldn't help but think of the 'troublemaker' Arisa in the team.
Even after she later acknowledged him as the coach, Arisa never apologized.
There's no harm without comparison.
"Thank you for your guidance, Coach~" Asuka thanked Hiko.
Then the two returned to the dance practice room.
As Hiko returned, he saw Miyako walking toward the dance practice room.
Seeing this, he quickly ran over.
While it was good that Miyako came to pick up Ai, now wasn't the best time.
"Auntie! Wait!" Hiko quickly called out to stop her from opening the door.
"Oh, Hiko. Why are you calling so urgently? Is something wrong?" Miyako heard Hiko's shout and stopped her action of opening the door.
Since Asuka was behind him, Hiko found it difficult to explain the complex issue to Miyako, so he just said to her, "Go to the president's office first. I'll come over and talk to you later."
"Is that how you talk to your elders?" Miyako chastised Hiko, then turned and walked toward the president's office.
Asuka was wondering what the relationship between the two was, but then she saw them walk away in separate directions.
"Go on in," Hiko turned to Asuka and said.
Asuka had no choice but to give up her intention of asking Hiko and entered the dance practice room.
"You two are back so soon?" Watanabe asked when she saw the two enter. "Did you finish talking?"
"I have now recognized my mistake." Asuka walked in front of the six girls, bowed to them, and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry."
The six girls were puzzled to see Asuka apologize directly to them upon her return.
Asuka hadn't committed any major mistakes, so why such a formal apology?
Ai didn't know what Hiko had said to Asuka, but she felt she should now represent the team in accepting Asuka, so she spoke up, "It's good to correct your mistakes and be brave enough to admit them. You're a good child, and we all like straightforward, good children."
Arisa felt a catch in her heart when she heard this, suspecting Ai was implying she wasn't straightforward, so she also had to follow up, saying, "It's good that you know your mistake."
"Leader is right. It's good to correct your mistakes; I like that too," Watanabe also echoed.
The others all said similar things.
"Thank you, everyone," Asuka finally looked up after receiving everyone's understanding.
"Alright, you're dismissed. Leader, continue to go with me for inspection."
Hiko waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
"What are the coach and leader going to do?" Meimei asked Watanabe with a curious expression.
"Oh, them? They're going to look for suitable performance venues," Watanabe replied casually.
"Looking for performance venues?" Meimei felt confused. They hadn't even debuted yet, so why were they already scouting locations?
"I don't know the specifics either, but they'll tell us once they've decided in a while," Niino interjected.
"After we're dismissed, do we all go home?" Meimei asked the older members.
"Yes," Arisa replied.
Meimei looked at Ai, thought for a moment, and then said, "Then let's go home early."
She actually wanted to ask Ai why they didn't have dinner or do something together after dismissal, but she considered that Ai needed to go with Hiko for the on-site inspection.
And if she were to suggest getting together after dismissal, Ai might think she was being provocative.
[1] No one had this name in the original B-Komachi member, however, Kyun is the only member that isn't present so I guess this is her, just different name