There were still some time left in their Summer break. Ishi was hoping that it was going to be relatively peaceful now that his cousin had gotten himself moved in now. Surely nothing interesting was going to happen between now and when school got itself started once more.
Of course he knew that to be a false hope given the neighbor next door. In fact, as he laid in bed. Ishi expected the girl to start knocking on his window with a broom asking him to do something stupid. Or perhaps Otoya could swing by again and trouble him some more with a weird scheme. That boy certainly had reason to come by, and it wasn't because they were best friends.
What he didn't expect the knocking on his door. It wasn't the simple fact that someone was at their door, since he imagined that being how Otoya would make his arrival known. Now he knew that boy's style of knocking, so this definitely wasn't him. So he went downstairs to go answer it, as his parents were out shopping and they had left him to take care of Koto. That boy was really hopeless by himself and sometimes in public.
"Oh, it's you." He unenthusiastically reacted to the sight given to him. Rinse had dropped by, this time coming to his door rather than his window. "What do you want?" Ishi wasn't in the mood to be hanging out. Then again, he was never in the mood to hang out.
"Well I was about to leave for the studio." She said. Idols don't take breaks, regardless of the fact that she was on Summer break. The girl still had her obligations in her career. "I wanted the two of you to join me there." She left out the word 'ask', which changed the intentions of her statement drastically. It wasn't a question, rather it was an order for them to carry out.
However, before he was able to answer. The two of them had their conversation interrupted by the arrival of Koto.
"Ishi!" He called out to his cousin as he walked downstairs. "My uniform came in today. Oh, I see Rinse is here to see me in all my glory." The other two were utterly stunned by his appearance. This boy came down with all his pride while wearing a school girl uniform. "I have to say, the boy's uniforms look kind of weird."
"That's because that's not a boy's uniform." Ishi informed him. Not in an embarrassed manner, but rather sounding very disappointed that this boy couldn't just figure this out on his own. This is what the girls wear." He couldn't believe that the school could make such a major mistake. They hadn't even seen him yet, so there's no way they could've been fooled by his feminine looks. Must've been the name that caused them to trip up.
"G-girl's uniform?" Koto spoke slowly as he came to a bitter realization. "Then that means Rinse… She's watching me wear… Girl's clothing?" Absolutely humiliated by his blunder, the boy quickly covered his face and ran upstairs to his room in shame.
"You don't mind waiting a couple minutes, do you?" Ishi asked, to which she nodded her head. After the boy returned wearing normal clothing, they were able to get back to their present conversation. "Now that you're done embarrassing yourself, you want to go to where Rinse works?" He asked his young cousin.
"Really?" That was more than enough to turn the mood around for the young boy. "Y-you're not joking with me, right?"
"When have I ever joked?" His confirmation sent the boy into a frenzy as he rushed Rinse and gave her a big hug.
"What?" She responded, shocked and trying to get the boy off of her. "But, I didn't expect you'd accept so easily?"
"Well, considering that I've been stuck with an idol for a neighbor. I figure I might as well… You know, experience the fact that you are one." So far in his time with her, Ishi had yet to see much idol from her outside of singing. But if that was going to be the case, then she might as well have been just some popular beauty that could sing. It would've been nice to at least know what caused everyone in his school to go crazy over this girl.
"Shame, and I even had a presentation prepared to try and convince you." She wasn't kidding either. Rinse had spent all of last night writing down all the points for why he'd want to come along with her. And if that didn't work, then incessant begging was plan B.
***
The wonders of an idol office. There were a lot of workers around and it was making Koto rather nervous. However, that wasn't enough to keep the boy from being enamored with the blessing her received in being able to take a step inside the workplace of idols.
"Wow, I can't believe I'm seeing real life idols." He said.
"It's nothing special." Ishi was far less impressed than his cousin. Mostly because he didn't care for the line of work, even if he understood the challenges they faced. Not to mention that most of the people they could see right now weren't idols. They were simply office workers who handled most of the finances and decision makers of their talent. If anything, they were likely agents negotiation prices and setting up events.
"Now make sure you wear these at all times." Rinse handed the pair a couple of visitor passes. This was to ensure they wouldn't get kicked out by security when not accompanied by her. "I gotta go greet the producer before I head inside to practice." She told them that they were free to tour around the office, but to try and not disrupt anyone from their job. Ishi wasn't someone she had concerns about, but Koto was a bit of a wild card.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Ishi assured her as she left them. What was the point of inviting them if she was just going to abandon them as soon as they got here? Perhaps it was to give him a showing of her life to him, as he had done for her? Though, it wasn't as if he planned on allowing her to be as close as they became.
"Where should we go first?" Koto eagerly asked. It was like he turned into a young child excited for a trip to the candy shop. "I want to meet one of the other idols."
"First off, please be respectful to them." He reminded him that those girls were here to work. Even if he didn't care about the profession, that didn't mean he was going to mess with any of them. The boy wasn't someone that disliked them or anything. Nor was he the vengeful type even if he did hate idols. "And second, stay with me so you don't get lost."
"I'm not a kid anymore." He replied with some resistence. "I'm a first year in high school now. So I can take care of myself."
"Says the boy who was wearing a skirt this morning."
"Not so loud." Koto's voice lost all power as his eyes darted back and forth to see if anyone heard. "Okay, I'll stick with you." While he wasn't sure how to navigate this area, Ishi figured that watching one of the idols practice their singing was a nice start. They entered one of the studios where they flashed a pass to show they could enter. These things had a bit too much power in his mind, but they were going to take advantage of it.
There was a girl inside the recording booth. There was an air of softness to her voice as she sung her song. Even Ishi can't deny facts that she was talented, not to mention very beautiful. Her golden locks shined under the spotlight, glistening and sparkling like the aura she produced from her demeanor.
"Who's this?" Koto asked. "I've never seen her before."
"She's known as Chi on stage." The producer with them answered. "It's short for Chiana, or given name." The reason why the boy hadn't heard of her was due to the fact that she was a minor idol. This meant that she didn't have a contract with the studio, but was able to audition for gigs. She was here right now to record a song thanks to wining a recent contest that came with a lucrative contract. At this current rate, she most likely wasn't going to be minor to too much longer.
"Lucky us." Ishi responded after hearing that. Of course he would be the one, along with his cousin, fortunate enough to witness the rise of a potential superstar. Though he'll just let this one be held a secret from the rest of his classmates. They were still a little miffed at him with the living next to Rinse ordeal.
"It looks like she about to be finished." Koto noted. "Can we please meet her, please?" The young boy abandoned any sense of shame as he begged.
"She should have some free time, so you boys go ahead." The producer allowed it.
"Okay, but can you please be respectful?" Ishi prepared them as they headed out the door. "And don't lay a single finger on her. I really don't want to have to be escorted out of here."
"I promise." They were going to see how long that vow was going to be kept. The pair went out and saw the young idol just outside. She had her back turned to them as she took a gulp from her water bottle.
"Hey, we just saw your performance." Ishi spoke up first. "We're here with Rinse, but she's a little busy. But my cousin wanted to meet another real idol too."
"Aww." She responded positively while still drinking. "It's always nice to meet some fa-" The girl turned around to face them. The moment her eyes laid on them, she immediately spat out her water from the shock.