"So that's about all we've been told," Iori informed his members.
Currently all seven members gathered in the living room, where they are holding a group meeting. The annual festival is held by the university to give groups more publicity. All the idol groups would be able to perform 3 songs each, though there would still be a huge hurdle.
As of current, TRIGGER is the top idol group of the university so the majority of the audience would most likely be fans of them.
This would be the biggest event they'd be performing in, despite having performed at a few other minor events in the past since their debut.
The group was understandably nervous but also excited. Together, they brainstormed ideas on how to make their group stand out more, and planned their set list.
"What if we sing a new song?" Sogo suggested.
"The festival is next month so it'll be a tight schedule, but definitely doable," Iori jotted down the idea.
"Oohh! New song!" Tamaki excitedly exclaimed.
"Festival means there'll be lots of people there..." Yamato sighs, "Welp. It's only going to continue going uphill from now on."
"Got to put in 100% like usual!" Mitsuki hyped the group.
"Yes~! All eyes will be on us!" Nagi agreed.
"Festival..." Riku whispered under his breath.
"What are you smiling for?" Umi asked.
"I'm just happy..." Riku had a soft smile on his face, watching as his members all also had a bright smile on their face, messing around while still contributing ideas to the table.
Everything felt so surreal to him, as if a dream. As a kid, he wished to be an idol with his brother, Tenn, but had long given up that dream when his asthma got in the way of him doing physically straining activities. After first posting a cover of a song, he slowly grew a following online, and even got scouted to the best university for performing arts. And now he's working hard to fulfil his dreams with his group who he calls friends.
***
With groups busy with preparations, everyone wanted to shine; to attract new fans and a chance for their popularity to grow.
With such numbers of visitors, it would be hard to think that this is only a university's festival, and not a professional performing arts festival. It was safe to say that the campus was lively. Family, friends and fans came to support the artists- and even some companies looking for potentials in a group.
Comedians, models, singers, bands, dancers, idols... the list goes on.
Back with the idol department, most fans sitting in the auditorium were TRIGGER fans. As graduates of the university, Re:vale has been invited back as MC's.
"Wow! Look at how many people we have here today~!" Momo exclaimed, running around the stage greeting people.
"Brings me back to our days when we were students here," Yuki chuckled.
As the duo continued to introduce groups performing one after another, time flew by and it was soon IDOLiSH7's turn. Prepared in their stage outfit and mics all set up, the seven were on standby backstage while Umi's with the crowd, excited to watch them perform.
When they were introduced to the crowd, they got on one by one and waved at the audience. Re:vale chatted with the boys on stage and it was a good thing Mitsuki was with them, because everyone else was frankly quite nervous and he was able to help carry the conversation without replying to the duo too much.
After that, they got into their positions and performed. Lights shining and music blasting... a large number of audiences were mesmerised and captivated by the idols. Indeed, they have successfully made good impressions and gained more publicity and fans.
The time they performed the three songs went by so quickly and unfortunately had to say goodbye to the grandest stage they've stood on yet.
"Yay! A success!" Tamaki jumped with joy.
"Onii-san's tired..."
As the group packed up their greenroom as they're done for the day, as they each would like to spend their time differently, they splitted up into smaller groups to explore the festival grounds- groups being Riku (and Umi) and Iori, Yamato, Mitsuki and Nagi, and lastly Sogo and Tamaki.
Riku and Iori planned to watch other groups perform and some from the other departments, while Yamato, Mitsuki and Nagi wanted to relax a bit by going to booths to get some drinks and snacks. Being the messy one, Tamaki took longer to finish packing his things which therefore made him and Sogo to leave after everyone else.
Sogo insisted that the others leave first actually. He said that he'd be with Tamaki so there's no need to worry and that they'll be fine. Luckily, he was prepared. Sogo had brought some Osama pudding with him to get Tamaki to listen to him.
"Osama pudding!" Tamaki savoured every bite of it.
Finally packed up, the two were on their way out of the venue but saw a familiar face.
"Oh- It's Ryuu-aniki," Tamaki noticed the tall figure down the hallway.
"Sogo-kun and Tamaki-kun! Good work out there," Ryuu smiled while greeting the duo.
"Tsunashi-san!" Sogo was frozen in shock.
While the pale haired male was unresponsive, Tamaki continued to casually chat with Ryuu, "Oh! Did you watch us perform?"
"I did! I could tell all of you have improved significantly!" The younger's eyes sparkled with happiness, receiving praise. Ryuu continued, "And the choreography fits the songs really well! Tamaki-kun, you're in the dance department, aren't you? So I'm assuming you're in charge of the choreography?"
"Yes sir!" Tamaki grinned from ear to ear.
"And you're in the composing department, aren't you, Sogo-kun?" Ryuu asked, "Do you compose the songs for IDOLiSH7? I've always loved your songs."
Sogo stuttered, "T-thank you for your generous praise! Yes, I'm mainly in charge of composing our songs, but I can't take all the credits..."
"Oh? Do you have someone else helping you?"
"Well..."
Seeing how Sogo is hesitating, Tamaki thought it wouldn't be much harm in answering Ryuu's question, "Rikkun's older brother helps proofread it!"
"T-tamaki-kun!" Sogo hissed, only loud enough for the sky blue hair boy to hear him.
"It's reassuring to have someone look over your work before finalising it," Ryuu nodded, oblivious about Sogo partly panicking, "I didn't know Riku-kun has an older brother. But I guess he has a 'little brother' atmosphere."
The three chatted for a little longer before Ryuu had to leave to take care of some other matters.
***
While some of the members are in a lecture or other compulsory activities they have to attend, Riku, Tamaki and Iori were free and lounging around the living room. The redhead actually just finished recording a new song for Terra. Their rooms may not be completely soundproof, but Riku makes a huge effort to soundproof his room the best he could using acoustic panels and foam.
He could rent out a recording booth in the university, however the recording booth and panels are separated into two rooms for the singer and the audio directors, and Riku couldn't really be in both rooms at once. He wouldn't want anyone to find out about his identity as Terra in the first place, so he couldn't really get people to help.
Of course, only the other IDOLiSH7 members know about it and he intends for it to stay the same. He could obviously teach them to help him, and obviously they'd be more than happy to help, but Riku didn't want to bother them during their free time.
Tamaki however, begged to listen to it while he's recording- and somehow managed to convince Iori to join the two in order to learn more about how recording songs are usually like. Of course, Riku agreed but Umi forced the rule of which they have to be dead silent and to not touch the equipment.
"Waaa... so tired..." Riku leans on the sofa as if he was melting.
Once he was done with the recording, the three decided to hang out in the living room seeing as the others were out. Sogo was the only one who had a lecture while the other three went out to run errands.
"You were amazing, Rikkun!" Tamaki excitedly cheered, "Umimin did a great job at composing too!"
"Here's some tea, Nanase-san," Iori brought some snacks and tea he prepared for the three of them to enjoy, "Speaking of which, is Umi-san here too? Or is he in your room?"
"Umi-nii's resting right now. Understandably, he's tired from spending so much time in front of the laptop to perfect the song. Did you need something from him?"
"It's nothing important so don't worry about it," Iori shook his head.
***
"Oh Mitsuki... these are heavy..." Nagi whined.
The tall blond male had only wished to go to Akihabara to go on a little shopping spree for his beloved Magical Kokona, only to get dragged to an errand run by Mitsuki. Despite behind dragged alone, he was promised two hours before they went on their run, so Nagi got to drag Mitsuki and Yamato around Akihabara.
Yes- Yamato.
Yamato too was unfortunately lazing around the living room. What about the others? Sogo had already left for his lecture, Iori was busy reviewing notes for his lectures, Umi was using Riku's body to compose, and Tamaki was still asleep. Mitsuki insisted they needed extra hands to help carry the groceries as they needed to buy enough as there were the seven of them in the dorm.
After finally finishing their run, it was already the evening so they decided to get takeout on their way back. There was a local soba shop that would be on the way back to the dorm so they stopped by.
Entering, they were immediately welcomed by the staff, "Welcome to Yamamura Soba."
As if the voice wasn't familiar enough, the somewhat familiar face was presented infront of them.
"Yaotome Gaku?!"
It was a good thing it wasn't peak dinner time and there weren't any guests in the shop as it was quiet. The staff chuckled and said, "You mean the idol? Nah, I don't look as handsome as him."
"R-right..."
"Besides, isn't he an idol? I don't think idols have time to be working at a local soba shop, especially when Yaotome Gaku's quite a famous one too," the staff continued, "May I take your order?"
Barely having enough hands for all 7 orders, the trio hastily made their way back to the dorm. Sogo only just returned to the dorm so they all gathered in the dining room and ate together.
The next day. Riku, Nagi and Tamaki were together on campus after their respective lectures. The three were heading to the outdoor cafe on campus to get a drink and to chat. Noticing a familiar face, Tamaki notified the other, "Hmm? Is that Gakkun?"
"Oh~! Yaotome-shi!" Nagi excitedly waved his hands, as if having something exciting to tell him, "It's the real one!"
Gaku chuckled, "Real one? Is there a fake one going around?"
"Yesterday when Mitsuki, Yamato and I went out, we went to a soba shop to get takeout! The staff that helped us looked exactly like you!" Nagi happily informed.
"Eh?! Really?? Maybe we should all go together next time. Oh! We should invite TRIGGER too!" Riku exclaimed.
"R-right..." Gaku could only nervously reply.
***
Finally finishing their work for the day, TRIGGER were in the greenroom packing up ready to leave. The three shared momentary silence. It wasn't rare since it was obvious they were all tired after a long day but the silence was soon broken as a hum could be heard.
Eyes turned to the oldest of the group, as the man unconsciously continued to hum happily. Once he finally realised that the two were staring at him, he noticed now he had been humming, "Ah-! Sorry..."
"Don't worry about it," Gaku replied, "You looked happy humming the song. Say, which artist's song were you humming to?"
"It's Terra's news song," the other replied.
"Terra? I didn't know you are a fan of his," Tenn joined the conversation. The teen knew Terra's somewhat popular online, but never had time to the songs due to his busy schedule and always perfecting his singing and dancing.
"Well, his songs are quite refreshing so I enjoy listening to his music from time to time."
"Terra huh..." Gaku thought for a second, "For a second I thought you were humming to IDOLiSH7's song."
"IDOLiSH7's? Ah, now that I think about it, I can see where it's a little similar..."
"Isn't IDOLiSH7's composer Osaka?" Gaku asked.
"Primarily yes, but..." the brunette trailed off.
Gaku raised a brow, "But...?"
"Apparently Riku-kun's older brother helps proofread it when Sogo-kun's done with it," he answered.
That caught Tenn's attention, "Older... brother...?"
It is as if a switch has been flipped as the room's temperature dropped to zero. Pink quartz eye's gaze was practically pearling Ryuu's soul.
"Ryuu," Tenn asked with a demanding tone, "Where did you hear that from."
"I-I happen to run into Tamaki-kun and Sogo-kun at that festival and we ended up chatting a bit..."
"They're a friendly bunch, aren't they? I ran into Nanase, Rokuya, and Yotsuba earlier too," Gaku tried to steer the conversation into a different direction, "Right! Actually, they invited us to dinner too."
"I'd love to go! But..." Ryuu glanced at their centre, who's still pissed. And remembering how the previous interaction went between the two centres, he was hesitant.
"I'll go," Tenn didn't spare a second to reply.
***
Hanging out in the living room, everyone- well, almost everyone as Mitsuki's busy cooking in the kitchen- they were doing their own things, being: scrolling through the internet, watching TV, or folding laundry. A faint sound of a notification was heard as Yamato's phone on the coffee table lit up.
"Oh~! It's a message," Nagi took a peak at the phone.
"Oi. No peeking," Yamato scolded as he leaned over to grab his phone.
Their leader raised a brow and typed something, turned to Riku, Nagi and Tamaki, sighs, "What did you three do..."
"Eh? Did I do something wrong?" Riku wondered and thought about the things he had done.
"I did nothing wrong too," Nagi said.
"Same," Tamaki replied.
Yamato deadpanned, "Look at this," the oldest showed his phone to the others.
By this point, everyone was already listening to the conversation and took a look.
"E-eh?! D-dinner with T-TRIGGER?!" Sogo exclaimed, "Riku-kun, Nagi-kun, Tamaki-kun, you invited TRIGGER for dinner?!"
"Ahh... that was out of excitement but I didn't expect them to accept..." Riku said.
"Yaotome's asking when we're all free," another buzz informed Yamato there was another message received, "At the soba shop we got take out from last time?"
"Yes! We told Yaotome-shi about his look-alike!" Nagi proudly said.
***
"Looks like the Yaotome look-alike isn't here today... what a shame," Mitsuki noticed upon entering the shop.
"Y-yeah... It's a shame..." Gaku replied. The silver head could feel Tenn glaring at him without even seeing him.
Taking a seat, everyone got comfortable and ordered their food. The shop is a little small but there weren't many customers at that time and the owners didn't seem to mind the crowd. They chatted and were talking to each other in a friendly manner.
It was half way through the meal, Tenn noticed how Riku was sitting at the seat the furthest to his, as if avoiding him. The teen spent the rest of the time observing Riku though the red head wasn't talking much in the first place. Iori would lean over and whisper something from time to time, but other than that, Tenn saw how Riku's expressions changed.
From pouting to a soft smile, to embarrassment... the list goes on. Another thing he noticed was how Riku's hand was moving on the table, as if writing something. Unfortunately the bowls of soba have obstructed his view of clearly seeing what his brother was doing.
"Have you guys decided on a group for the next assignment yet?" Ryuu asked.
"No, not yet. I suppose we should start finding one soon," Mitsuki said.
The next assignment they were given was a collaboration with a group doing similar activities. It was pretty open ended so students were tasked with creating something freely. All students no matter how long they've been studying are given this task, and there's no limitation to only work with the groups the same year as them.
"Then that's perfect then. Why don't we do a collaboration concert then?" Gaku chimed in.
Sogo's eyes widen, "Eehhhh?! With TRIGGER?!"
Although excited at the offer, all of them, or at least the ones listening to the conversation, took a step back to think of the consequences that may happen. IDOLiSH7 members all knew about Riku's relation with Tenn, and were understandably hesitant. After all, it'll be a huge problem if another fight breaks out.
The two other older TRIGGER members could see that Riku seemed happy to get to speak to Tenn, but the centre's remarks threw all of them off guard. The two knew Tenn was harsh, but he wouldn't say that to someone he didn't know. Usually he'd ignore the stranger but it seemed to them that Tenn has a history with the other centre. They thought it'll be good if the two could repair their connection and besides, there was a bigger issue why they wanted to ask IDOLiSH7...
"You see, no group is willing to pair up with us..." Ryuu sheepishly admitted.
"Huh?" Eyes blinked in confusion. Afterall, THE famous TRIGGER got rejected from other groups?
"It's not like we're not grateful for the offer but... why not just pair up with the same group you did last year?" Yamato raises a brow.
"They were with Re:vale last year and they've graduated," Sogo informed the older. As a fan, Sogo knew a lot about Re:vale and TRIGGER.
"And along with that, no other group wanted to perform with us because in their words, 'TRIGGER is too popular'. To be fair, it would be overwhelming to do a collaboration with a famous group huh..." Ryu stated.
"But isn't this a chance for us?" Tamaki bluntly said, "I mean, TRIGGER is famous so I don't see why we should take a chance to steal their fans."
"T-tamaki-kun!" What Tamaki said was indeed blunt and could be seen as rude, so Sogo was panicking inside.
Commending his bravery, Gaku let out a laugh, "Sure. Try to steal our fans, if you can."
"Ichi?" Yamato's head turned to the raven's head, asking for his opinion seeing as the teen was their manager. The forest green head knew the younger has been listening even if he wasn't contributing to the conversation.
"Well..." he trailed off, thinking for a minute. Sure he was worried about Riku, but this was a chance they'd never get again.
"Do it, Riku. You want to get more chances to talk to Tenn, don't you?" Umi said, "Stop sulking and prove to him you're an idol."
Riku sighs, knowing Iori's weary about the twin's dispute, and nodded in agreement to the collaboration.
"We'll do it. We look forward to working with you, TRIGGER," Iori stated.
***
I'm running out of chapters fast huh. Hope you enjoyed chapter 4!