Just then, I noticed Kobory standing outside the room. I froze. Her eyes looked empty and bloodshot as she glared at me. I was frozen in position, wearing a frilly magical girl(?) costume, holding a stick, and striking a pose.
“Um...” Kobory said. “Excuse me, but it’s three in the morning.”
“S-Sorry,” I mumbled. Can you imagine the despair I felt? Wearing that outfit, striking a pose, and being told, “it’s three in the morning”? Good thing I didn’t have a gun or a knife on me. I would’ve killed myself on the spot!
“You’re going to bother the neighbors,” Kobory said.
“R..................... right,” I agreed.
“Anyway, guys. I have the sketches done.”
Wait a minute, why did they get off with an ‘anyway, guys’?! Does she think I’m the ringleader?! That’s not fair!
“Okaaay!” Kobory’s art friends slumped back to work.
Once they were all out of the room, Kobory walked up to me and whispered: “I’m sorry. I can imagine how it happened. They all forced you, right?”
“Ah... yeah,” I admitted.
“I’m really sorry... But anyway, get some rest,” Kobory said, then went back to the room next door. As she did, she took the opportunity to get a picture of me with her smartphone.
“Ah... hey?!” I protested.
“Good night.”
“How can I sleep?!” I wailed. I felt like she’d gotten blackmail material on me. It was awkward, embarrassing, pathetic... By the time I dozed off, it was already morning.
I must have looked like a zombie from lack of sleep, because everyone I met on the way to work looked at me with concern. It wasn’t just me; Kobory seemed to be on her last legs, too. She had worked all night, and apparently only got 30 minutes of sleep in the end. So, a deeply concerned Muse ended up canceling our morning performance (the fact that it was raining helped), and Kobory and I took a nap.
“I don’t know what kind of wild party you got up to last night, but...” Kanie Seiya-kun, our acting manager, was saying; he’d heard that we’d taken the day off and had stopped by to look in on us. “You need to take better care of yourselves. We start B-team auditions this week, so I need you to stay sharp until then.”
“Yeah. Sorry...” I told Kanie-kun, my head woozy from sleep dep.
In case you’re wondering, the B-team was a back-up cast for Elementario. Up until now, the four of us had been running all the performances ourselves. But we needed rest days, and sick days, and it was impossible to keep up half a dozen performances a day seven days a week while also planning and rehearsing new content. In the past, even during our busy season, we’d been able to arrange a day off on Monday or Tuesday, but we knew we couldn’t keep that up forever—we did have the fourth most popular attraction in the park, and all—which was why Kanie-kun was putting out want ads for substitutes. We weren’t sure how it would work out, but I guessed the idea was that we’d cycle between teams to reduce the burden on us. Which sounded nice on the face of it, but knowing Kanie-kun, he was probably angling to use the chance to give us a pay cut.
And, not to brag or anything, but our dancing and wire stunts aren’t actually all that easy. We’ve gotta fly around in midair, spinning all around and weaving in and out of spotlights, and any accidents we get into can result in major pain. Our popularity wasn’t just because of our sexy costumes (...I assured myself).
And sure, it’s a stage show, so the audience is far enough away that you can make girls look enough like us with makeup to pass... still, I found myself thinking, could some run-of-the-mill dance school dropouts really do what we did? The B-team auditions would be in two days, and obviously, we’d be taking part in the judging.
“Anyway, get some sleep,” Kanie-kun said. “Sento told me about the fire, by the way. Are you still looking for crash space?”
“Yeah, I...”
“I can make room for you somewhere in the general affairs building. I’ll be pulling an all-nighter tonight anyway, so if you want a spot on the meeting room sofa...”
“No, thank you!” I said quickly. One night with Isuzu-chan had left me exhausted. Imagine how much harder it would be to sleep around Kanie-kun! Not that I think Kanie-kun would take advantage of me or anything, but he seemed like a hard guy to relax around, in a different way than with Okuro-kun in security.
I mean, he’s my boss, and he’s super hot. Not that I think it’d go anywhere... But I mean, even if we were in different rooms in a big building, I’d spend the night on the sofa tossing and turning, just knowing he was there! Even if nothing happened, I wouldn’t sleep a wink! And what if we ran into each other on the way to the bathroom during the night?
You get what I’m saying, right?!
Okay, so maybe it’s hard to explain... the point is, I wouldn’t be able to relax knowing he was nearby! (I bet that’s one of the real reasons he doesn’t have a girlfriend.)
But while I was trying to figure out how to answer...
“She’s staying at my place toniiiiiiiight!” ...my coworker Sylphie barged into the conversation.
“Ohh. Sylphie, huh?” He commented. “Is that already worked out?”
“Yep!” Sylphie responded, grinning.
No, it’s not worked out, I thought. This is the first I’ve heard about it.
“Salama. You don’t wanna?”
“Er. Well... I wouldn’t say that...”
“Then it’s on!” Sylphie exulted. “You and me, tonight! I’m nervous, but relaxed!”
Which is it? I wondered.