#idolexplot

As an idol, you have to do things to keep the interest of the public.

That was why, willing or unwilling, you had agreed to participate in The Idol Experiment. 

When the promotion for it first came out, it promised to bring in “a new era of entertainment”, advertising itself as an idol-centric game show with a unique twist. It sounded promising enough, so you and your management decided to give it a go; now, you are one of the lucky contestants that have been accepted.

The journey to the set was a lengthy one, requiring you to fly whatever distance from your original location to reach the destination where the crew would pick you up. Though the process and location was different for all of you, each idol eventually found themselves with a personal chauffeur and a car with tinted windows to take you to the location of the recording studio.

The location of the studio? Undisclosed -- but you’ve been assured time and time again it is for safety reasons, and you can’t really disagree. Idol fans can get a bit crazy.

One by one you arrive, being dropped off in front of a large open gate while your vehicle leaves to deal with your luggage. Standing to the side of the gate is a figure, clad in all black aside from the mask hiding their face: a pure white mask with a cut out smile, which most of you would recognize as a comedy mask.

“Ah. You’ve all been expected.” 

“Welcome to Cantata Studios. This will be your home for the duration of our show. And, before you let your minds wander -- don’t worry about the mask. All of our crew and staff will be wearing them for anonymity and to preserve the illusion of you being the only guests in our studio areas.”

The figure gestured towards the open gate and further beyond towards a large circular-shaped building marked with a star. 

“Please, follow me to the auditorium. Manager-san is waiting.” 

The lights dimmed after another fanfare and round of applause, signifying to everyone that the cameras had finished rolling. Even if the public’s eyes weren’t on you at the moment, the tension hadn’t lifted at all, especially given Kana’s collapsed form. A few of you rushed to help Kana up and get her some possible medical attention, but the host herself, Manager-san, seemed apathetic, instead pulling out her clip board after she had de-idolized. 

“Well, everything went according to script aside from that little...incident. Oh well, it might give us a ratings spike.”

“Jeez, enough whining, it’s not like the brat’s dead. I let her off with a warning this time. Next person who gets any bright ideas about breaking the rules though? I’m not going to be as nice.”

With an annoyed huff, Manager-san walked towards the backstage, her plushy feet making the sound of metal on wood as she waddled along. Before leaving, she turned to face the group one last time.

[♫♫]

“Don’t think I was joking or exaggerating back there. I laid the rules out pretty clearly: if you want to leave the game? You’ll have to kill everyone else.”

“And in case anyone thinks they’re smart enough to go behind my back? These cameras aren’t just for the show. They’ll be monitoring the entire studio during our little game. Same with our staff...their orders are to interfere in case of rule-breaking, but otherwise stay hidden.”

If any of you were to look around, you’d notice the people in comedy masks behind the stage, by the doors, in the rafters...they were everywhere, and they all took orders from Manager-san.

“So, just like the usual...you’re always being watched, but no one is going to save you.”

Her words almost seemed to affect the very atmosphere of the stage: it felt too wide and too enclosed at the same. You were all trapped until the game ended, yet expected to have free reign to slaughter each other until only one person remained alive. All for the sake of entertainment.

The Idol Experiment had truly begun. 

- PROLOGUE END.

Even with Manager-san having just announced the planned death of you all, automated cheers and flashing lights continued. The contrast between the peppy atmosphere and the chilling content of the speech was almost comical, and all any of you could do was stand frozen in shock for a good moment.

That is, until a certain rowdy shamisen player took action.

"-Uh, run that by me again, BITCH?" "I signed up for a run of the mill, average game show, not to be forced into some messed up, battle royale, bloodthirsty colosseum of bullshit. Screw you!"

With those words, Kana stormed towards Manager-san, kicking the mascot over before stomping onto her round purple body. The little host flailed around uselessly under Kana’s shoe, letting out a loud cry of distress.

“Aieeee! Mayday, mayday! I’m being manhandled! Security, save meeee!”

At Manager-san’s cries, two masked figures appeared from behind the curtain, one rushing to secure Manager-san and the other going for Kana. With a flash of light and the sound of static, the newly arriving security tasered Kana, letting her unconscious body fall to the ground. Once the chaos subsided, Manager-san readjusted her bow and let out a sigh of relief.

“Jeez, those shoes are gonna leave a mark...just goes to show, anything can happen on live television.”

“But that little hiccup shows one of the cardinal rules of the game: any attacks on me, your darling host, are strictly forbidden! If you break that rule...well, just ask Kana-chan~!”

“So, if anyone wants to leave, they’ll have to win the game! And to win? You’ll have to be the last one left standing!”

After combing through the areas for a few hours looking for clues, you all heard an intercom announcement from Manager-san sound over through the area.

“Well, time’s up! Time to get in costume for the show!”

Just like last time, this murder was going to made a spectacle on live television. It felt wrong somehow, as if even in death, Aya Ishiguro was being used as entertainment. Even so, there wasn’t much choice but to find out who killed her, either for the sake of justice, or for the sake of not having your darkest secrets getting revealed.

Once everyone had gotten performance ready, you all arrived at the auditorium to find the stage organized just like the last Murder Mystery Live had been, this time with Aya’s podium grayed out along with Kaito’s. Manager-san still sat in full idol garb at the top of the stage, putting on a large grin once everyone had taken their places and the camera started rolling.

“Welcome, welcome, everyone! I hope everyone watching at home is ready for another exciting Murder Mystery Live! I know I’m ready to watch our remaining contestants battle it for the truth of poor Yaya-chan’s death! Just thinking about it makes me so excited!”

“Will everyone be able to sniff out the dirt on the culprit? Or will these be the time you guys goof up! Either way, the audience is raring for a good show so be sure to give it all you got!”

“Let the truth set you free! And now, let’s get started-- you should all know the drill by now! Let the debating start now~!”

To most, the act of focusing on just about anything other than the fact you were expected to kill each other on live television wasn’t something that came easy -- but the majority managed all the same. Is this what they mean when they say dance saves lives? ...Do they even say that?

After the few days you were given to work with your teams and prepare yourselves, the moment of the Special Variety Hour finally arrived. Hounded by Manager-san and her masked lackeys, you were all in your costumes and on the brightly lit stage in record time.

Just like before, you were told where to stand, this time divided up in your teams. And, just like before, the lights flashed brighter as the camera turned to you.

"Oh look! It’s that time again! Welcome back to the Idol Experiment, everyone~!”

Manager-san gave a cutesy wink, sticking to her usual routine you’d become so familiar with. Hopefully this time would go without any death threats. [♫♫]

"After days of preparation, it’s finally time for our teams to go head to head in this week’s Special Variety hour, the Super Dance Extravaganza! I can’t wait to see the routines...but wait! What’s this? There’s a twist to this little song and dance! We gotta shake things up, right?”

"All the routines are just a formality, really. The real test is...how well can you perform when everything doesn’t go to script?  You see, your lovely host has a few curveballs to throw at you! During the performance, some biiig bright arrows will be shown on the stage! When it’s your turn, you better pick an arrow fast! And what happens when you do? Well, that’s up for me to decide~!”

...Seriously? Seriously!? All that hard work you put into learning your routines at such short notice... Was for nothing. Go figure.

"Oooh, can they all keep in step?! Or will they lose the beat?! It’s so exciting! Here we go...Super Dance Extravaganza....BEGIN!”

Days came and went, with various secrets fanned out into the open. Now the morning of the day all secrets were supposed to be revealed had come. Would Manager-san really follow through on exposing you all?

Not wanting to dwell too much on the whole thing, Nonoko and Nonoka decided watching a movie was the best way to distract themselves, and hoping there was something that appealed to them, they went to the movie theater.

[♫♫]

Before they could even begin to get some popcorn, however, the twins heard the loud scream of a young girl. The following call for help confirmed the identity of the voice as Stella.

“Gyh...! The skies part as the fate of all in this realm are foretold, any who hear my voice, join me at once! For someone has fallen before another's might...!”

Looking towards each other in dread, Nonoka and Nonoko quickly ran into the theater to check what had happened. What they found, however, made them stop, almost ready to scream themselves...

It didn’t take too long for the rest of you to file into the lounge alongside the first three, met with the chilling sight of Poppy’s corpse laying on the floor -- which Makaze, Kon, and Megami had been forced to deal with for even longer than the rest.

Once everyone had arrived, an all too familiar sickeningly sweet voice sounded from behind the crowd.

“Gasp! It looks like our resident member of Water Lily found himself in some hot water last night...and didn’t exactly come up breathing!”

Manager-san, dressed in her idol outfit, waddled her way in front of the group and next to Poppy’s body, careful not to step in the blood pooled around him. The small bear turned to face the group, lifting her arms in the air with a smile.

“What a thrilling turn of events! Now we’re moving onto the fun part--the investigation period, or as I call it, Murder Mystery Prep Period! That’s right, it’s up to you all to search for evidence and figure out who could have killed the little merman here...you’ll be given a little star-studded autopsy report for the corpse, but the rest of the case is up to you! You have 4 hours until the Murder Mystery Live, where you’ll go on stage and try to pinpoint the correct culprit of the case! And if you mess up...someone will be walking around here with a kill count of one and a bank account of 500 million yen!”

That was simple enough, even if Manager-san’s cheerful tone clashed with the dread that filled the situation at hand. With a wink, Manager-san passed out the autopsy reports and gave her parting words.

“The audience is waiting with bated breath! Good luck searching, everyone~!”

And with that, she waddled away from the group, leaving you to your own devices.

This would be hard -- there was no denying that. Death was a hard pill to swallow... But you didn’t have much choice. You needed to investigate.

You needed to figure out who would commit this atrocity for money.

[♫♫]

Chapter 1 Investigation: Begin~!

More than half of you had defaulted. Despite all of the risk she had dealt with, ALiCE had managed to survive both Kaito Kiyomizu’s attack on her and the voting that could have lead to her death. 

It seemed to come as a shock, if Manager-san’s silence was any indicator. She didn’t stay quiet for long, however.

“A...A...”

“Are you serious?! You guys literally had a murder confession right in front of you, and half of you didn’t vote?! Who do you think you are?! Like I’m going to shell out prize-money to some edgy ****-sucker who thinks she’s too good for the industry because she can play guitar in crappy underground gigs! I ought to take those podiums and shove them right up your--”

She might have gone further on her (suspiciously pre-censored) tirade, but one of the masked individuals behind the scenes made a cutting motion at her, as if indicating that she better not continue her yelling on live television.

“Haaaaaaaah....I mean...*cough cough* Well, isn’t that a crazy twist? Looks like we’re going to be having an odd number in our next variety hour, and that we’re going to have a killer wandering around Cantata studios for the next week! How will this effect the coming weeks?”