Chapter 51: Utapri
My alarm rang and I immediately got up and took a bath to wake me up. After taking a bath, I put on a white long sleeve turtle neck and a greed sleeveless hooded jacket; my pants were beige cargo pants and my shoes were black boots. I then sat over to my vanity mirror and started doing my makeup; I had to do it really well today so that it could last till the evening with minimum retouch. I was told that I didn't have to wear a wig anymore so I can keep my long hair; I just tied it into a nice and neat ponytail. Today is the first day of my photo shoot for ManAge and I decided to dress up as Kaoru already so that I won't have to rush my makeup later; it was still a bit early so I practiced my lines for the drama series for a bit; I spent around three hours on it. I got bored on working on my lines after a while and since the photo shoot for ManAge was going to start later on in the afternoon, I decided to hang around a bit; I went over to the lobby to be with everyone else.
Haruka saw me approaching.
"Kao-Kaoru! Good morning!"
"Hm, what's this? Lady is not a lady today?" Ren-san said.
"Good morning, everyone." I smiled.
"Good morning, Kaoru! Working today?" Otoya smiled.
"You're Kaoru today; does that mean you have a job as him?" Tokiya-san asked.
"Yes, Kaoru got a modelling job for a men's magazine; I've still got time. The photo shoot is still in the afternoon but I dressed up right away so that I wouldn't have to rush my makeup later. Plus Manager-san will kill me if I'm not yet ready by the time he comes to pick me up."
Cecil was looking at me intently.
"Is there something wrong with my makeup, Cecil?"
"You know my name? Have we met before? Are you a fortune teller?! Are you a spy?! Hmm...you do seem familiar somehow."
Natsuki chuckles at Cecil.
"You really don't recognize her?" Masato asked Cecil.
"Eh? "Her"?"
He takes another good look at me.
"EH?! You're that woman who was with the senpais during the card training!"
I smiled. "Yes, that was me. I'm Yamashita Kaori; it's a pleasure to formally meet you." I used my real voice when I introduced myself to Cecil and then I used my "Kaoru" voice when I introduced Kaoru to him. He seemed quite confused at first until I explained to him that I was like a trap idol.
"I see...so you really are that woman from before."
He looks at me intently and seriously for a while.
"U-um...Cecil, why are you looking at me like that...?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to read you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Why not tell this Lady about her own fortune like you did for all of us?" Ren-san said.
"Cecil, you can read fortunes?" I asked.
"Hmm, you can say that."
"That's interesting! I'd like to hear my fortune from you then!" I smiled.
"Let's see..." Cecil looked at me again for a while.
"You're very kind hearted and you always do your best. You put other people first before yourself."
"Exhaustion is your enemy; you'll be out for two weeks and..."
"And?"
He smiles. "An angel will steal your heart. Actually, he probably has it already and soon the angel will lose his too."
"Eh?!"
Suddenly, we heard someone shouting from the hallway; it seems the person is coming towards us.
"Yahoo! Alright!"
It was Syo; he was running towards us while jumping up and down into the air. He seemed really happy about something and he was holding something in his hand; it looks like a script.
"Listen to this, everyone!"
He then showed us what he was holding; it was indeed a script.
"Prince of Fighting two-hour special..." Otoya was reading the cover. "Eh?! What?!"
All of us became surprised.
"Syo-chan, don't tell me you're going to appear on Prince of Fighting!" Natsuki said.
Syo smiled and opened the script to the cast page; "Kurusu Syo" was included in the list of cast members.
"That's amazing." Otoya said as he and Natsuki saw Syo's name on the cast list.
"You did it, Syo-chan."
"Well, yeah." Syo said happily.
"Do your best, Syo-kun." Haruka said.
"This would mean that you'll have achieved your heart's desire to perform with Ryuya-san. Are you going to be playing as someone's little sister again?" Ren-san smiled.
Otoya and Natsuki smiled as they recalled the time when Syo was "Syoko-chan".
"Syo, you looked great in a dress." Otoya said.
"Your hard work must have paid off." Natsuki said.
"That's not it at all! I'll be playing an unmistakable man this time!" Syo said as he was a little annoyed with the two.
"I hope that I'd get all sorts of work soon. Tokiya is in commercials and dramas while Ren-kun has a modelling job offer from a magazine." Natsuki said. "Even Ori-chan got a modelling job and will sing for a drama series."
I put on a wry smile.
"I didn't know that idols do more than just singing." Cecil said.
Syo got annoyed at Cecil.
"Listen, you! We idols do a wide variety of things! From television to movies to stage! We take every opportunity to show off our talents! That's what an idol does!"
"I see. I had no idea." Cecil said.
Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke to all of us.
"Hello, everybody."
We all knew who it was already by the sound of his voice but as usual, we couldn't predict where he was going to pop out from.
"This voice again..." Otoya was not very enthusiastic.
Saotome-sensei's head suddenly came out from one of the curtains of the windows. The strange thing was that his head was at the very top of the curtains.
"There he is!" Otoya said.
"When did he get there?" Syo said.
"I heard you rejected the seniors I prepared for you."
Saotome-sensei's head went up and down the curtain and finally after a while, he slid down to the bottom of the curtains and then he came out.
I guess I'm the only one who has accepted the seniors. I guess Starish wants to beat them without any help; I wish them luck then!
"Working on your own is all well and good! It's no problem at all if you become actual idols!"
Saotome-sensei was making really weird movements and dances.
"But you probably think you're already real idols."
Otoya was confused with what Saotome-sensei said. "We're not? We put out a CD."
"That concert was successful too." Syo said.
Saotome-sensei took out a flower.
"I told you; the reality is that many would bloom splendidly..."
He snapped his fingers and the flower became bubbles and glitters.
"...and then fade away like fireworks."
"Are you trying to say we're going to fade? We're not a one-hit wonder, you know!" Syo said in annoyance.
"Haha! In that case, you should claim this title!"
Saotome-sensei did a magic trick and made a capsule appear from his hands. The capsule split in half and a little banner came out from inside it.
Syo looked at it and read out loud what was written on it. "The Utapri Award?"
Upon hearing those words, Tokiya-san suddenly stood up. "Utapri?!"
Saotome-sensei spins around and strikes a pose with his arms stretched out and with one leg pointing up to the air. "The pinnacle of new idols! The Uta Prince Brand-New Award! Claiming this title will open the path to becoming a true idol! Do your best, boys!"
Saotome-sensei then started pulling cards out from his mouth as he walked backwards and disappearing with pink smoke. He's too eccentric...I swear...
"What the hell was that about?!" Syo said.
"The Utapri award, huh?" Ren-san said.
Natsuki looks at Tokiya-san and asks him, "Do you know about it?"
"It is granted when brilliant new idols appear. It is a rare title."
"Rare?" Natsuki was intrigued.
"So we have to win that amazing award?" Otoya asked.
Tokiya-san was serious as usual. "What the president said isn't entirely incorrect. Starish is not as well known as we think."
Syo, Natsuki, and Otoya were shocked with what Tokiya-san said.
"The quickest way to become established idols would be by claiming this award."
"We should secure a foothold first." Masato said.
"Ren-san seemed to be unaffected by the pressure that everyone else was feeling. Then, let's take the Uta Prince Award and stand at the top. If we do that, the boss can't complain."
Natsuki seemed to be interested and got his game attitude on. "Let's do it! Let's become real idols and deliver our songs to even more people!"
Otoya completely was into it too. "Yeah! I'm sure we can do it with Nanami's music and our singing!"
Syo got fired up too and his eyes showed determination. "All right! Let's show them what we're all made of! Let's all aim for the pinnacle of new idols together! Let's do our best! We can totally do it!"
I'm happy to see that they're all motivated and determined to win the Utapri award. I'll be rooting for them all the way! I think Starish is really an amazing group and Haruka is an amazing composer; they can do it for sure. Starish then went back to their rooms after a while; I guess they went back to ask the senpais about the award and on how to win it. I stayed at the lobby and just played around with my phone. I got curious about the Utapri award and researched about it a bit with my phone. I read that you have to be able to perform really well in different jobs and get the attention of the Utapri Committee in order to win the award; the committee checks all of your work as an idol aside from your singing. I guess that everyone would have to work really hard so that they can get a chance in winning the Utapri award; they all have to shine brilliantly in their field.
My phone then started ringing after some time; it was a call from Manager-san.
I pressed the answer button.
"Kaori, I'm already here in the car waiting at the front of the agency."
I looked at my watch.
"Isn't it a bit early to be on our way to the photo shoot?"
"A fellow manager who was within the vicinity of the place where your photo shoot is going to be held contacted me and told me that there's some traffic on the way to the location. I don't want you to be late; that would not make a good impression."
"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes."
The call ended and I went on my way to Manager-san; I feel nervous somehow since this photo shoot was for a very famous magazine.
I got into the car and Manager-san started driving. I was sitting at the back beside the left window. Manager-san doesn't want me to sit at the passenger seat because he said it's a higher chance for me to get injured or die if I sit there if ever an accident would occur; he's like a father figure sometimes.
"Have you eaten, Kaori?"
"Hm?"
I thought about it and tried to recall if I ate at all after waking up. I scratched my head.
"Haha, I just realized that I haven't eaten at all. I was going to eat after dressing up but I since I took a while with my makeup this morning, I kind of forgot I was hungry."
"You haven't eaten at all?! That's unacceptable! What if you get sick or pass out during the photo shoot because of hunger?! Or what if your acid reflux gets bad?! You should have a proper meal every day, you hear me?! I can't have you starving and getting malnourished! That's it; we're passing thru a drive-thru this instant! We're getting you some food to eat!"
"O-okay, I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
I was definitely wrong. Manager-san is not a father figure...he's a mother figure. Haha.
Manager-san stopped by a fast food chain that was on the way; I'm not a fan of fast food but we don't really have a choice. Manager-san ordered for me and chose the healthiest options and then we were back on the road while I was eating at the back of the car; Manager-san also bought food for himself. I think he ordered too much food though.
"Manager-san, you sure bought a lot of food. I think you went overboard."
"Non-sense, that's our ration."
"Ration?"
"Yes, our ration for the intense traffic later on that my fellow manager warned me about."
After reaching a certain road, Manager-san was right about the traffic; it was quite intense. There were many cars and we were barely moving.
"Why is it so traffic in this area?"
"I heard that there's a construction going on at the intersection of this road. They say that the construction started a few days ago and ever since, it's been like this."
"Terrible traffic...you were right in buying extra food, Manager-san."
"Of course I was. Your manager always does his best to avoid inconveniences." He gives me a thumb up and his face was full of pride and confidence.
"Then I'm lucky to have you as my manager then, Manager-san." I pat Manager-san's head.
"Hm? I've noticed you like patting people's heads, Kaori."
"Yeah, I like to pat people and animals a lot. My papa always pats my head and I like it a lot so I started doing it too later on and then it became a habit. Haha."
Manager-san and I just kept talking and eating in the car while waiting for the cars to move; we stayed there for quite a while but we were able to get thru. Thanks to Manager-san's foresight, we were able to arrive at the studio thirty minutes ahead of schedule.
"This is the place, Kaori."
"The studio is quite big and looks cool."
"You should see the sets inside, they're really good."
Manager-san looks at his watch.
"Since it's still early, why don't we go and greet the staff and the other models? You should introduce yourself since it's only proper to do so; you might even work with them again in the future."
"Yes, let's go and meet everyone."
We walked into the studio and upon entering, the first thing that caught my attention were the sets. The studio was really big inside and there were several backgrounds and props prepared in different areas; I think it's to save time from changing the backgrounds so that we can continuously model. For today, Manager-san told me that I'll be working alongside seven other models; there are five other models but they're for the second day's photo shoot. We entered the studio and all of the staff members were all sitting; they were waiting for the other models and staff who were probably still in traffic.
Manager-san taps my back a little and I stepped forward.
"Good afternoon, it's nice to meet all of you; I'm Yamashita Kaoru. I look forward to working with all of you."
"So you're Yamashita-san! It's nice to meet you!"
"I'm one of the hairstylists for the shoot. If you end up in my hands, don't worry and leave your hair to me!"
"You don't look half bad at all. It's a pleasure to be working with you too."
"I hope we get along!"
"Don't worry about your makeup, you're in good hands."
"Let's do our best!"
Everyone was really friendly and I felt that they were really good at their professions; their aura was fun and confident. Someone then went up to me; he had a camera hanging around his neck.
He took a candid photo of me and said, "You look great on camera, Kaoru! I like you already!"
"U-um...t-thank you very much." I rubbed my eyes a little.
"Ah yes, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Kagami Yoshio, the photographer for this project."
"It's nice to meet you, Photographer-san."
I smiled at him and he suddenly took my picture; the flash was so bright that I saw white dots everywhere. I rubbed my eyes again.
"Are you alright? You seem a bit dazed. I can't blame you though since Photographer-san's personal camera's flash is always too strong. I'd go blind if he took my picture with that always! Haha!"
I laughed a little. The man was one of the staff and I think he was in charge of wardrobe since the clipboard he had with him was full of pictures and notes of the combination of clothes.
"I'm Fukujima Itou, I'm in charge of your wardrobe and I'm also something like your little helper. If you need anything or have any questions, feel free to approach me!"
"Nice to meet you Fukujima-san, I'm Yamashita Kaoru; let's do our best."
"Now if you'd come with me, I will show you where your dressing room is located."
"Okay."
I waved at Manager-san and bowed at Photographer-san. I followed Fukujima-san to where my dressing room would be.
"Here you are." He opened the door of a room.
"This is your dressing room and over there are the clothes that you would be using for today."
"Wow. There are so many clothes!"
"Yeah. Everyone was surprised too! This is the first time that the designers produced so many clothes for a collection; I guess they were really inspired this time haha."
There were lots of clothes hanged on the clothes hanger! I approached the clothes and looked at some of them. They were really well made and the cloth they used was really nice to touch and seems to be very comfortable; the designs were good.
"Fukujima-san, you said that these are the clothes for today's photo shoot. Does that mean that there are more for the second day?"
"Definitely! We're shooting the first half of the collection today. The other half is for tomorrow's session."
"This is half of the collection?!"
"To be exact, that's half of the collection assigned to you. Each model has a theme collection assigned to them; yours is the cool and pretty boy themed collections."
"Seriously?! Just how thick will ManAge's next issue going to be?!"
"Haha, everyone also thinks that ManAge went overboard this time but there's nothing we can do. Everyone though is up to the job and I think this would be ManAge's best collection to date; I'm pretty impressed."
Fukujima-san goes over to the clothes and picks out a pair of red pants, a gray vest, a white Chinese collared polo, and a denim jacket. "This is your first set." He hands them over to me and starts looking thru the clothes again. This time he picks out a black muscle shirt, a red and white checked shirt, and a pair of mustard colored pants. "This is for the second set." He then picks out a pair of blue shredded jeans, a black cardigan with a white skull pattern, and a white shirt with black triangle patterns. "This is your third set." Again, he went thru the clothes and picked out a black jacket with silver colored buttons and zipper, a red and black striped shirt with a black rose in the middle, and a pair of jeans with a stem and rose embroidered on the left side. "And this is your fourth set." He smiled and continued to show me the sequence of the clothes for the photo shoot. I decided to write the sequences down on a piece of paper since there were just too much sets to remember.
"That's all of the sets. If ever you forget or think you made a mistake in the combination of clothes, feel free to ask me, Yamashita-san. There's fifteen minutes left before the start of the photo shoot; you're the first model to go. You should change into your first set and then have your hair and makeup done. I'll be just around the studio if you need me."
"Okay, thank you Fukujima-san for telling me the sequences."
Fukujima-san then leaves the room and I started taking my clothes off to change into the first set; I then went over to the hair and makeup station. The makeup artist that did my makeup was a really pretty lady and was very nice...and talkative haha. The hairstylist that did my hair was a man and he was really cool looking especially with his piercings.
"Yamashita-san, you're up." One of the staff said.
"Alright, thank you."
I went over to the front of the camera and started posing with the nicely made backdrop behind me.
"That's good, Kaoru! Now look over there and move your leg a bit."
Photographer-san was really into it; he was full of ideas on how to present the clothes and on the best possible poses. He took several pictures on my first set.
"Good! Next up is Koma-chan! Kaoru, you can go and change to your next set."
"Okay."
I was on my way to my dressing room when I noticed a handsome young man; he was probably "Koma-chan" since he was on his way to Photographer-san.
We kept going on until it got dark.
"Alright everyone, it's break time!" Photographer-san yelled.
I went back to my dressing room to change into some simple and comfortable clothes. Though I'm just posing and smiling for the camera, I sure am quite tired.
Someone then knocked on my door.
"You can come in." I said.
"Yamashita-san, everyone will be eating inside the studio since there's space today. Feel free to eat with everyone, okay?"
"Noted, thanks Fukujima-san."
I went out of the dressing room and Manager-san gave me a paper bag with food inside. I thanked him and went to join the other models and staff members. Everyone was really kind and fun to talk to. Looking at the models that are present today, they really are something; their aura is really different and they're all super good looking.
"Yamashita-san?" a person behind me asked.
"Yes?"
When I turned around, it was the handsome young man from a while ago.
"It's nice to meet ya. I'm Komaru Usui, one of the other models working with you."
"It's nice to meet you too!"
He smiled and it was just gorgeous. He sat down and ate with us; he wasn't very talkative but was a good listener and he also had good jokes. After a while, break time was over and we continued the photo shoot and finished off the rest of the collection for today; it was really tiring if you ask me. I've never done a photo shoot that was this long and with so many clothes.
The photo shoot finished and Photographer-san gathered everyone. "That's a wrap! Good job today everyone! I look forward to working with you all again tomorrow; let's do even better! Have a safe trip home!"
I went back to my dressing room and changed back to my original clothes. Sigh, today was tiring but I sure had fun. I left my dressing room and said my farewells to the other models and staff; I left the studio and went over to the parking lot where Manager-san was parked.
"You did quite well today, Kaoru. Keep up the good job." Manager-san said as he drove.
"Kaoru?"
Manager-san looked at the rear view mirror to check up on me. I was lying down at the back seat and sleeping already.