After barely calming Neru down, we had a time to listen to other tracks provided by the Maestro.
It seemed like we had already hit rock bottom with the title track; everyone’s reactions weren’t all that phenomenal… but Neru’s silent howls as she clutched her head were blatantly revealing her discomfort.
“Neru-chan, if you don’t want to, you can step out, you know?”
“…What? Are you serious? You’re not joking, right?”
“Of course, you can step out if you want☆”
“…What’s with that? What’s your angle allowing that so easily?”
With suspicion bubbling over, Neru narrowed her eyes and glared at me.
“Huh? Nothing in particular. I was just going to say that after our debut, when we have an interview, I’ll mention that we were originally a six-member group but one person couldn’t handle the practice and dropped out because they were such a weakling. Nothing big, right?”
“Kyaaaaak!!! You still call yourself an angel after saying that?!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve been corrupted by these cute little devils for a long time now…”
“…Damn you.”
Just because they’re called angels doesn’t mean they’re all that nice. Regardless of whether they’re angels or devils, they’re just different races, after all.
“Is there anyone who has more to say?”
“Um, I have one question. I’m not confident with high notes, is that okay…?”
“Well, that’s something we can fix with proper part distribution, so no worries. We’ll continue vocal training before and after our debut. By then, the part distribution will be somewhat established.”
Next up was a choreography video. I found it hilarious due to the situation itself, but the other kids might have a slightly different impression, so I thought it’d be better to give them a heads up.
“We’re going to show the choreography video now, and the person in the video is our producer, okay? Just look past the peculiar appearance☆”
As soon as the video started and the Maestro began dancing,
Pff… Phew. Ahahaha! What is this! This is hilarious but cool!
Asuna burst into laughter. Her reaction starkly contrasted with the other kids’ confused expressions.
The parts were divided among puppets likely created using mimesis, and I wasn’t joking when I said it was creepy.
“…It’s kind of creepy, huh.”
“No, with that unnecessarily heavy atmosphere, I can’t even tell if this choreography suits the song…”
“I don’t know where they got that producer from, but they definitely have some skills.”
Regardless of the varying reactions, there was no thought of reversing what had already been decided. We had confirmed what we had to complete, so now it was time to introduce the fujoshi… I mean, Maestro.
“Due to our producer’s circumstances, most of the training will be done remotely. They’ll oversee everything from dance to singing. Oh, just keep the courtesy to a minimum.”
After all, from the Maestro’s perspective, most of the students are probably invisible to him. So maintaining a purely business-like relationship is best.
As communication began through the disc, the Maestro’s hologram soon appeared before us.
[I am your producer, Maestro, who will lead you until the moment you transform into butterflies. Feel free to call me Producer or simply MaP.]
While the kids were left pondering how to react to the Maestro’s bizarre appearance, Asuna, as expected, took the lead.
“Waaah~! I look forward to working with you, MaP! Oh, by the way, I’ve just checked the song and choreography! The song was pleasant to hear, and the choreography was impressive, balancing vibrant moves with occasional restrained flair…”
[…Ahem. Thankfully, we have at least one gem who can communicate effectively. Good. I will polish you until you shine as a jewel worthy of standing by my Muse!]
“Muse…? Wow, so the angel is MaP’s muse?!”
Well, I thought that even if the others didn’t catch on, those two would manage just fine.
Aside from Asuna, everyone else had lukewarm comments like “I look forward to working with you,” but the Maestro was unfazed and started with our basic skill checks.
[We must properly polish the basics first. You’re not tone-deaf, so with effort, you should be able to meet the standard. I will propose a perfect training plan that won’t harm your vocal cords. You just have to follow my lead. I won’t allow anything to hinder my Muse’s endeavors.]
[Hmm. Your timbre is clear and splendid. Your pitches are quite stable too. With a little polish, you will surely surpass as a perfect sub-vocal to support my Muse.]
After Hina and Noa received such evaluations, Asuna was told her singing was average, but she was praised for her rapping.
[Are you tone-deaf? No, that shouldn’t be the case. Clearly, just looking at your voice, you should be a fine gem… but your rhythm seems a bit off. At this point, I can’t figure it out. For now, let’s just overhaul everything starting with your pitch.]
After hearing that they’d proceed to completely revamp her singing, Haruna…
[…What do you even think art is? If you show zero effort, just get lost!]
“Eh? You think I’m doing this on purpose?!”
“Neru-chan, like I said earlier, if you want to quit, you can do so right now☆ If it’s that pathetic that you can’t handle even this, then there’s nothing we can do.”
“…Ugh, you’re really pissing me off! Damn it, why can’t I just get it right?”
Eventually, even Neru, who was called out for her poor attitude, crashed into the Maestro.
Thus, the first meetup of our producer and members would be… well, I guess, it went rather normally.
*
Following the assessment of singing skills, it was naturally time to teach us the dance. The Maestro divided the parts and showed the choreography, and exactly two hours later, clapping his hands, he said,
[You two should practice to the death if you don’t want to drag down the group. I won’t tolerate anything hindering my Muse’s endeavors.]
As expected, Noa and Haruna couldn’t escape the criticism here either. Noa seemed like she’d be okay with enough practice, but Haruna was undoubtedly a klutz. The lucky part was that among the two, Haruna had the most time to invest in practice.
Come to think of it, Haruna was the only one who received criticism for both singing and dancing. This might take a toll on her spirit a bit.
[The other four just need to maintain the status quo. Especially you with the red hair.]
“Why, what’s that supposed to mean?!”
[…I was just about to say you should be fine. Tsk. My Muse, it might be wise to keep an eye on that temper so it doesn’t cause any issues.]
“Ahaha… Well, your skills are still decent, so we can manage that as we go. Thanks for your hard work today, Maestro.”
[Next time, prepare a vocal training plan. Remember that you need to consistently practice dance and basic vocal exercises to meet the timelines.]
“Bye-bye~, MaP!”
“Thanks for your hard work!”
With that, the Maestro signed off with a creak, and I clapped once to gather everyone’s focus.
“So, what do you all think of our first practice?”
“I don’t know.”
I could already guess Neru would sulk regardless.
“Uh, well, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. But, you know, that’s only saying it wasn’t bad compared to what I thought, so don’t get carried away?!”
Anyway, even though she grumbled, I wasn’t overly worried about Neru as she got fired up once she’s in it. If she can maintain that momentum, I think she’ll do fine on her own.
“I… Whew. Dancing isn’t easy, but I’ll do my best to make the most of my personal time. I didn’t expect to find any talent for this, but dreaming of becoming a singer-songwriter doesn’t sound too bad. Fufu.”
“I am a bit worried about the dancing, but… if it’s Noa-chan, I can trust her, right? As for being a singer-songwriter… I wonder if composing could be a challenge compared to writing lyrics. Anyway, I’ll cheer you on!”
While Noa’s klutziness might pose a slight problem, her expression didn’t seem too grim. With her determination, I’m hopeful for her future development.
As for singing songwriters… Noa knows well that being good at singing doesn’t automatically provide the knack for composing. So she probably made that comment half-jokingly.
Next, the social butterfly who even astonished the Maestro, Asuna, opened her mouth.
“Ahah! Angel-san, how was my skill? Pretty great, right? The best? Yup, I know!”
“…Ugh, Asuna-chan. Actually, I wanted to mention something earlier. Can’t you just call me by my name? Referring to me as Angel-san makes me feel a bit weird, you know?”
Completely a Lucifer… Ugh, my head.
“Then should I just call you Mika? Or Mika-chan? Either way seems fine, so I’ll go with Mika♪”
“Yeah, please do that. Asuna-chan, you did great today. You dance really well!”
After finally wrapping up a conversation I could never hope to keep up with Golden Retriever levels of enthusiasm, I moved toward Hina and Haruna.
Hina seems to just need to focus on improving her singing, while Haruna feels like she’ll need to work hard on both fronts, making it a bit difficult for me to say anything.
Not to mention that it’s not just about mastering them; she has to sing while executing choreography, and needs to also align her movements on stage while memorizing an array of routines.
“Mika, I’m fine, but please look after Kurodate… no, wait, Haruna.”
“Ahaha, Hina-chan, come on… how could I do that?”
“Ugh, wait! I’m probably going to smell like sweat right now…”
Immediately hugging Hina, she seemed a bit shy and had an odd remark. What’s she even talking about?
“Great job, Hina-chan. I know it’s annoying, but let’s hang in there together. If you polish your singing, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Mika, um, could I ask just one thing…?”
“Sure?”
“…Never mind. I’ll head out first today.”
Before I could respond, Hina stood up and headed to grab her stuff. It felt like she had something she wanted to say but was too shy. Hmm, I’ll have to pry that out of her later.
Now, it’s just Haruna left, and I’m a bit troubled on where to comfort her…
“Mika-san. This just won’t do.”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
“That curry specialty shop we talked about earlier, let’s go right now. Then we’ll come back for practice.”
…It’s just dawning on me how much stronger Haruna is than I thought.
“Ahaha! That’s so typical of Haruna-chan’s conclusion. Alright, let’s go eat!”
“Fufu… I suddenly feel so energized. There’s no other health food like this.”
“…How is curry health food?”
“You know, pretending not to understand is not cool? Now, let’s embark together. To the world of gourmet. Fufufu.”
There’s still a long way to go, but the completely serious☆Straight has finally left the starting line.
