“Yeah, nell. Remember that trouble we had with the first live show in April, nell?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “That was very difficult, wasn’t it?”
“There’s a theory that it was the fairy that came along and fixed it, nell. We were still struggling to figure things out when the problem just righted itself. We still don’t know how it happened, nell.”
“I thought there was a problem with one of the connections?”
“Maybe so! But I think it was the fairy who fixed it, nell! It’s the only way it could resolve itself at such a perfect moment!”
I’d never liked the idea of asking for divine intervention when things got tough. I thought people should fix technical problems themselves. But seeing the desperation in Dornell-senpai’s eyes made me hesitant to point that out.
“...Anyway, I understand the situation,” I finally said. “We’ll keep it in mind, so for now, please focus on making the new live show a success.”
“Thank you! Thank you, nell! I’ll take you to Kurobe Dam some time as thanks, nell!” I forgot to mention it, but Dornell-senpai is a dam geek. Yes, a dam... geek. I supposed that Kurobe Dam must be a pretty good dam if he was recommending it. I wasn’t sure why—maybe something to do with the amount of water it stored, or the views of the release? Dam Manga artist Inoue Yoshihisa would probably know. The Spirit of Water, Muse, would also probably get it, but as a Spirit of Earth, I was completely in the dark.
Still, it seemed like this was something I should express gratitude about. “Okay. If we can make time,” I told him.
“I promise, nell! You’ll love it, nell!” I didn’t really want him to promise, but the conversation wasn’t going to end unless I smiled and agreed. That dam must be far away, though, right? We’d probably have to stay the night, wouldn’t we? Staying in a hotel with my boss... I wasn’t really a fan of the idea.
“Um, anyway,” I said. I should be going...” I left Dornell-senpai, who was still bowing and scraping on the floor, and the MCR, behind. I wondered why I was hearing so much about “the fairy” today?
On my way home, I got a message from our head of administration, Tricen-senpai. Tricen-senpai had apparently been worrying about content for the PV that would be going out in September, and he wasn’t sure what to do with Elementario. Regarding, well, you know... The sexiness of our costumes, and whether he should push it, or play it down to make it more family-oriented... That was the dilemma he was facing.
《Yeah, I’m struggling. The fairy arranged things last time in just the right way, but...》 Tricen-senpai told me in his message. More about the “Fairy,” huh?
《What do you mean?》 I replied.
《The truth is, the last PV we put out was not entirely my work. I went through a lot of trial-and-error until I hunched over and passed out.》
A normal person would refer to that as “pitched over.”
《Then I uploaded the video, although I had little faith in it.》
《Ahh...》 I replied.
《I fell asleep, woke up, and looked on the video site once more, though it took substantial courage to do so... After all, in the version that I edited, I had worked hard on Isuzu-chan’s panty shot, Salama-san’s cleavage shot, and such like.》
《......》 I had nothing to say to that last statement.
《I was even worried that perhaps I had overdone it. ...Yes.》 Tricen-senpai really was a creep. He was casually turning us into sex objects.
《Um,》 I typed back.
《No! Please, do not get the wrong idea! I, Tricen, was forced to hunch over in indecision! That is why it was a struggle to decide if I should upload that video!》
But he had still uploaded it... Tricen-senpai’s concerns were probably more along the lines of “Will men dig these particular shots?” than any matter of taste.
《Kobory-san. Are you angry?》
《No.》 I was lying, of course. I was, in fact, a little angry with him. 《Anyway, what was that you said about a fairy?》
《Yes! Exactly! Let’s get back to the subject. The morning after! Trembling in fear, I watched the video I uploaded the night before... and it was fixed brilliantly!》
《The PV, you mean?》 I asked.
《Yes! The PV’s content had been brilliantly moderated! Thanks to that, we managed to avoid blowback from the local mothers. Thinking back now, I think that was the platonic ideal form of that PV!》
Tricen-senpai was asserting that a video, tinkered with by a complete stranger without permission, was “perfect.” That seemed like a problem in and of itself, but...
《I have never been witness to such a miracle before. Ashamed as I am, I find myself thinking, “I wish the fairy could visit me again...”》
《I understand how you feel, but...》 I responded. 《I don’t think it’s right to rely on a total stranger like that.》
《Hmm. I’m forced to hunch over from the harshness of your words, Kobory-san.》
《I’m sorry. But I’m really not sure what to say when people talk to me about these “fairy” things.》 Maybe it’s because we were talking over text, but my tone was coming out a little more pointed than usual.
《You are indeed correct, yes. So... what should we do? Should we push the sexuality, or the family appeal?》
《Let’s see,》 I typed back. 《I think you should show restraint.》
《What do you mean?》
《I understand wanting to push sexiness, but I don’t think it’s good to have it be on screen for too long. The longer it’s out there, the greater the risk that you’ll upset the women watching the video. If you keep just a little sexiness for a small period of time, that should be okay. Just scatter cuts of one or two frames in about three locations, and that should do it.》
《Ahh...》 he replied.
《Not so little that it feels subliminal, but if it’s just twelve frames it should be enough that fathers sick of dealing with family-oriented stuff will go snap to attention, I think.》
《I see! How educational! But Kobory-san, where did you learn such things?》