@sbtxame

Kuon laid down on the ground and stretched his arms a little, letting out a heavy exhale. He was definitely tired. Though he considered himself quite the dancer and he was accustomed to even more vigorous dance sessions, it was no secret that he had recently been focusing more on his vocals than his dancing lately and it resulted in his body being a bit more stiff than usual. Though it wasn't as though he hadn't been keeping himself active, playing soccer made use of a different set of muscles compared to dancing and it was clear to him that he had definitely neglected that other set of muscles.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Ah, how Kuon loved just laying about and doing nothing. His slight exhaustion made the experience all the more sweet in his mind. He considered staying there motionless for a while but he was thirsty and his throat yearned for some water. And so, with a loud groan that sounded similar to a whine, he sat up and moved to lean against the wall his things were sitting by beside Ame's. He grabbed his bottle -- or at least, what he thought was his own bottle -- and immediately chugged down most of its contents. After having his fill, he sighed contentedly and placed the bottle back down, realizing it wasn't his and immediately looking to Ame.

[Voicemail] Hello, I’m calling back from AKS office in relation to the auditions. We have the pleasure to announce that you have been successfully passed the three stages of the audition and are now part of MNT48. If you have had a change of heart, you may still decline the offer. Either way, please call us back to let us know your final decision. Official training will begin on Wednesday, but there will be a meeting on Monday evening, the 28th, in which you need to take part. We will introduce you to the staff in charge of the group, go through the contract and deliver several important information. On Tuesday the 29th, there will be an official press conference to introduce the group, your presence is required and no information on the results of the auditions must be known by the public before that day. If you have any questions, feel free to also give us a call. Needless, to say that all of this must remain confidential. Congratulations and we cannot wait to start working with you

Upon receiving the voicemail, Rina had initially jumped to the conclusion that she had been dropped out of MNT48’s audition. Despite her fear of it being the 14th rejection, she continued to listen to the voicemail.

As soon as she hears the words ‘passed the auditions”, Rina screams as loud as she could. ”ONIICHAN!! OMI-NIICHAN!!” The soon-to-be idol screams out for her older brother. She had went home straight from school and wasn’t too sure if her older brother was home even.

Rina drops her phone on her bed before jumping on her bed in joy. Should the creepy, peeping neighbour seen her, she didn’t care at all. She was crazy excited. After failing so many auditions, Rina was finally that much closer to achieving her dream.

For Rina, this was the greatest thing to happen to her. Getting into law school was amazing but to be able to chase her dreams as an idol was a greater joy. All the injuries and trips to the clinics had been worth it.

Making a backflip off her bed, Rina rushes over to her laptop and plays the first song that crosses her head.

それぞれの自由 それぞれの理由で

悲しみ妬み また傷つけ合って

なんで僕たちは 同じ夢見れないの

大切な人 今も泣いてる

“Reina-sama! Fujigaya-sama! Maiyan-sama! Shige-sensei! I’m part of MNT48. I can’t wait to be on the same stage as you one day. Wait for me!” Elated Rina clasps her hands together as she faces the posters on her wall.

1, 2, 3, 4 Go!

今日も超ハッピー みんなバリハピ

70億のマルになろう

手を繋いだら 心ひとつ

みんなで輪になって踊ろう

明日も超ハッピー みんなバリハピ

70億のマルになろう

笑顔咲いたら 心ほんわか

みんなで輪になってPeace, Peace, Peace

“Where’s Omi-niichan when I need him?! I need to call Ericchi, Ma-kun and Kamiya-kun!! Can I even call them? MOU!” Rina lies down on the floor, pouting.

As you can see on the BYS42 blog, a prompt concerning part of the last practice during week 3 of the training camp has been posted.

Because of their high dancing, your character has received positive feedback from the coach. If they have been able to catch the coach’s attention, they will definitely catch interest from the public when this airs. As a result, we now offer them the chance to gain 10 more supporters!

All you need to do is to answer to this prompt with your character’s reaction to the kind words of the rather difficult coach and tag the main blog.

There is no minimum of words to write! Just have fun with it according to your character’s personality, but make sure to reply before September 13 at 7PM EDT!

Getting praises from the coach was certainly difficult. Alex had genuinely thought that he would be able to get instant praises and recognition from the coach for how great a dancer he was. However, not once for the first week was he praised.

As much as it annoyed him, he was even more determined. With such a feminine song like Flying Get and cool song like Mirotic, Alex was able to show the different side of his abilities. Indeed, he was pulled out as many times by the coach but for different reasons from the others. He was used as an example and it made Alex that much happy.

However, at the end of the second week did Alex finally receive a praise.

“You have good form and expression. I think you just need to work more on your singing.”

Even though those words weren’t exactly the words he had wanted to hear but it made him happy to hear them nevertheless. A professional dancer had acknowledged his ability. It made him feel rather proud of himself. His choice to audition for BYS42 had now became one of his best decisions he had made. Alex thanks the coach with a bow and loud and energetic ‘”Hai!”. 

As soon he was given the praise and the coach makes his leave, Alex makes a flip and screams. “Finally a got praised. I need to prove myself more.” Alex blurted out in English, not even noticing that the camera was on him. The jovial dancer does the moonwalk before sliding over to his stuff and taking a big gulp of water.

Finally the words settled in. I think you just need to work on your singing. Alex nods and chuckles to himself. He indeed wasn’t that great a singer at all. Heck, he was horrible at it during singing class. “Maa.. I need to work on singing. How can I do that?”

It was getting ridiculous.

At this point, Rie knew she was only hours away from shorting out youtube entirely. She had watched Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo so many times at this point, she got the feeling at least a million of the video’s views were because of her. Rie certainly didn’t mind taking credit for it, but she had more important things to focus on. Such as what she was going to do about this dancing business. Part of her felt bad for her neighbours down below. She’d been traipsing about the apartment, dancing along to the music video for a large part of the day as she strove to remember the dance moves.

Admittedly, the dance had seemed a lot more intimidating when they’d first begun. Garbed in spandex and hair pulled back, Rie couldn’t say she was familiar with the song all that much, but that didn’t seem to matter too much. Miki, their dance teacher, a young woman slender and tall, who looked like she couldn’t be any older than twenty-five, was all smiles and grins. She made a point of easing them slowly into the track the first dance lesson, mapping out the general outline of the dance, and what she would expect of them over the next coming weeks. Rie constantly told herself it was like learning one of Beyoncé’s dances, something she did as often as she could. But the feeling was different, while dutifully learning her idol’s choreography was for fun, the studio work was for a chance at something more. She couldn’t say it was a dream, as even at this point, Rie didn’t know what she wanted to do exactly with her life. But the opportunity was wondrous to say the least, a chance she had never thought she’d be given. The more sweat that gathered at the back of her neck and stained her tee, the closer she was to a future she could have never come up with in her wildest imaginations. 

There was a pressure to impress. Not only herself and the judges, but her peers as well. The atmosphere was a generally kind one, young girls and young women alike lending a hand, touching a shoulder that slouched too long in quiet encouragement. They were all in the same boat, vying for the same spot– which made way for the tension that was unacknowledged but strung between them all the same. Rie wasn’t a normally competitive person, not when it mattered at least. Arcade games, impromptu catwalks on the street, karaoke nights– she’d put her life on the line to win any of those. But this was new territory, and as she allowed the choreography to sink under her skin, jumping when the song called for it, spinning as Miki-san had shown them; she tried to remember she had to be better. 

She never believed her size put her at a disadvantage, but that was a matter of her self-esteem. Realistically, she knew circumstances weren’t necessarily the same. Visual appeal was just as important as talent in the idol game, if her years as an idol fan had taught her anything. The dance may not have been created for someone like her, but she was out to prove that didn’t matter. She would dance just as well as the others– better, if she had any say. Which brought her back to her apartment and religious repetitions of the music video, the volume shook from her laptop speakers as the breakdown wavered out and she let muscle memory take control. Her skin was damp, flesh pink, but she wouldn’t let that slow her, she kept at it, flicking her hair and feet sliding in place with the footwork they’d been taught. Even though she could feel the strain in her knees and every time she stretched her arms out before her, the way in which her mouth curled up at the corners was genuine. She liked the way she felt, and wouldn’t take it for granted if she could help it.

Rie had come to expect the worse.

She wasn’t familiar with the idea of a training camp to begin with, which probably said a lot when she was first assigned her group and sent the schedule. Her eyes had bulged as she noted the number of hours necessary for the training to be fulfilled. It wasn’t to say she was all that surprised, no, but she knew it would mean a lot of bowing and pleading to get her shift supervisor to play along. Thankfully she had built up quite a rapport at work, an ability she’d made use of in all aspects of her life, and she’d begged her supervisor to keep the information to herself. Rie didn’t believe in jinx, but she recalled the rules, and had made a point of keeping the results of the audition so far to herself and a very select few. 

Thankfully her roommate was much more familiar with the process, and pulled Rie towards her laptop as soon as she could to show her the training camp episodes from previous generations. The first thing she noticed was just how young some of the participants were, and it was all she could do to keep from staring at the young girls when she arrived too. She wasn’t entirely ashamed, and made a point of asking some of the youngest among them just how young they were, gauging their excitement by the shy, nervous, and confident expressions marring the faces of everyone around her. Settling into her group and being corralled into the studio was a relatively quick process considering the fact there had been so many of them. The staff worked quick though, handing out name tags and setting them up as a collective swarm.

Rie’s favourite thing about the vocal lessons had to have been their teacher. He was an older man, but kept himself well maintained and well dressed– as the days progressed, he was always finely dressed in clothes that would normally look casual on others. Of course Rie couldn’t help but notice, her work meant cataloguing people’s styles, contemplating what was readily available and would suit them appropriately. They were required to call him Nakai-san, and though his features were usually taut with a stringent sense of duty, sometimes his mouth would soften into something that might’ve been a smile when they followed his vocal directions correctly. This was nothing like what Rie was used to, she wasn’t trained in any capacity, so the vocal training was strange at first, and learning to widen her mouth, rely on her diaphragm– all these techniques were new, but she would practice in front of the mirror at home between work and lessons. 

Her expectations weren’t high to begin with. Maybe that had been the wrong thing to do, but she felt like an alien, the experience was strange and new. That wasn’t to say it was bad. Over time, the more she accustomed to the cameras that would follow them, they were hulking and without even realizing it she would sometimes catch herself staring straight at the large lenses, she relaxed. It was embarrassing to say the least, especially when the practices veered on the ridiculous, and she knew her cheeks were flushed from the effort holding long notes and posture took. After a while she had even forgot about them, not entirely, but enough so that they weren’t much of a bother. It was difficult to take much note of them anyway when Nakai-san watched them like a hawk, unafraid to call out on any of the girls that looked to be falling behind. He was a strict man, terrifying at first, but as they dove into the lyrics and harmonies of Flying Get– her focus narrowed in on following his every word, belting along to the keyboard, smiling as if she was already under the hot lights of a professional stage.

MNT48 Training Camp - Week 3 Evaluation

Huddled in an isolated corner outside the huge hall, the young girl had her forehead pressed to her knees that she held tightly to her chest as she cried. Realising it was finally time for evaluation day, Seika had gone into panic mode. The two weeks of lessons had flown past despite the occasional torturous lesson by some extremely strict instructors and she hadn't even noticed the stress dams building up inside her that threatened to overflow the moment this day arrived. And the moment the day arrived, as predicted by fate, she had finally broke.

As she let the tears run down her face onto her legs, memories of the first day where she gotten harshly scolded by one of the coaches ran through her mind and Seika burst into a flow of fresh tears. Having never been scolded by anyone other than her parents, it came expected but completely by surprise, that is, she had had no idea what it was really going to be like.

She always followed the idea of never crying in front of anyone but not because she didn't want to show weakness, rather, she wanted everyone to not worry and stay happy as she smiled and worked hard through the tough times. That's why the moment Seika realised her tears were not stopping this time, she had dashed somewhere to find the most unlikely spot for people to walk, and let the stress dams release themselves through her tears.

Throughout the whole training camp, there had been girls screaming, shouting, crying and even leaving as the atmosphere during the tough schedule eventually began heating up. Everyone had become extremely stressed as well as competitive that naturally motivated the girls to work harder, however, the thing that shocked her the most was the occasional sight of a stressed girl hyperventilating.

MNT48 Training Camp - Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo Vocal Lesson

Her coach was a new face that Seika had not seen yet in the training camp but she could already feel the strong vibes from the coach that made her chest tighten even more. This coach was not to be messed with. Seika walked towards the piano as the coach motioned for her to follow and the opening melody to Zetsumetsu Kurokami Shoujo sounded from the piano. 

Before the announcement, Seika didn’t even know the song at all so she had resorted to listening to the song on repeat all day before training camp began. Knowing that singing wasn’t a strong point, she had practiced this song over and over again till she was able to feel even just a tad bit of confidence within herself but she was sure it wasn’t enough. Perhaps in the end, she had ended up practising the dance more than the singing as she had already become accustomed to do. It wasn't a good thing to do, especially for someone who aimed to become an idol so Seika knew she really needed to start sorting out her priorities.

Inhaling deeply, Seika began singing. As she sang, the music video for the song played in her mind as she tried to put more emotion into her voice. The original voices of the NMB48 members were a lot more somewhat erotic than what Seika was able to do but she did her best to involve herself more into the song but soon found herself just trying to keep up with the piano after getting lost in her thoughts.

Gripping her hands together tightly behind her back, Seika continued to sing. The vocal range of this song wasn’t too big, thankfully for Seika, and she carefully sang through the brief chromatic ascensions and the unexpected interval jumps. The song was filled with short phrases giving her more time to breathe but at the same time, forcing her to maintain her phrase-control.  

While at the same time trying to recall all the lyrics, she started faltering during the second verse and glanced at the coach who didn’t even look at her, instead continued to stare straight at the piano. But she knew the coach was probably listening to her extremely carefully and analysing her singing, making Seika break out in nervous sweat. It should've been easier for her to sing, seeing as there was only one other person in the room, however the idea of extreme judgement made her mind start fogging. She began wishing it would quickly be over but as the song slowly neared the end, Seika had already braced herself for the coach’s terrifying incoming onslaught. As the song reached its end, the coach turned to her.

Sunday crept up rather quickly. Or was it the days going by fast? He didn't know. But before he knew it, it was time for the solo evaluations to take place. Being assigned to Sunday made him even more nervous, because there were a lot of boys who went before him. He wondered how he would measure up to them, but then he realized that he should just be his own person without worrying about that too much.

The realization didn’t soothe his anxieties very much.

Shuuji had been working really hard over the past couple of weeks. He had even taken to practicing the choreography at home, and in the back room of the cafe whenever he had a break. All of the steps were in his mind, but the question was, would his body be able to perform them. The lyrics to Flying Get were simple enough he thought, he was just worried about the dance part.

So there he awaited the call of his name anxiously, sitting on the floor in the warm up room in order to stretch. There were plenty of boys here doing the same, and warming up their voices as well. With every moment that passed, his palms got clammy and his heart sped up in anticipation of what would happen when he was alone in that room with those judges. Shuuji took three, slow deep breaths to calm and center himself. Hopefully he wouldn’t wind up forgetting to choreography or making a mistake with the lyrics or tune.

“Yamamoto Shuuji.”