“.........I see.”
“It’s honestly pretty gross,” Isuzu’s friend confided.
“......” Ah. Gross, is it? Isuzu was quietly hurt, but she couldn’t say anything.
“The fact that they only show her from the neck down means she’s super ugly, I bet,” her friend said with a laugh.
“...Perhaps she is,” Isuzu agreed. You’re talking to her from the neck up, you know, she wanted to say. But of course, she couldn’t. The costs for a local bus advertisement were prohibitive, and the speedy indoor pool setup had run up quite a bill, too. That meant they didn’t have the money to hire a swimsuit model... which meant Isuzu had been required once more to ‘take one for the team.’ The swimsuit PV she’d shot months ago in March was still online (the hits had broken 300,000), and a few of the boys around school seemed to have realized it was her. She could feel them undressing her with their eyes from time to time. The next time something like this came up, she would turn them down flat. That’s right... next time.
But... when Seiya told her to do something, she found it impossible to refuse. Isuzu felt deeply indebted to him, and in addition, she also knew that what she was doing would benefit the park. Still, shouldn’t he show her a bit more consideration? As a secretary, of course. As a subordinate.
“Okay, ron. Let’s put our hands together...” Fairy of Music, Macaron, said to the girls of the idol(?) unit, Task Force ABC. “Follow after me, ron. ‘Book of Ezekiel, chapter 25, verse 17...’ Okay!”
“Um, Book of Ezekiel, chapter 25, verse 17...” Adachi Eiko, Bando Biino, and Chujo Shiina echoed him hesitantly.
“... ‘The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men,’ ron. Okay!”
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men!” The three girls chorused together.
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.
“...‘And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!’ Okay!”
“‘A-And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!’” It had sounded like a peaceful prayer at first, but it ended with fire and brimstone.
“Okay,” Macaron beamed. “We’ve got our pre-show prayer down pat. It’ll be a success for sure, ron.”
“It is a lovely idea,” Eiko said. “Although I have never heard that particular prayer before...”
“I don’t recognize it either, but I think it’s pretty cool!” Biino said.
“Isn’t that from Pulp Fiction? The scene before he shoots the drug dealer?” Shiina said.
“Oh, good eye, Shiina-chan! ...Wait, how old are you again, ron?”
“I-I’m fifteen... but, why are we practicing prayers, again?” she asked.
“I decided to take a page out of Michael Jackson’s book and say a prayer before we perform. But since I’m not a Christian, so I don’t know any Bible verses. So I decided to just pull one from a movie scene I like, ron.” The woolly sheep Macaron raised his head up proudly.
“That’s not much of an explanation...” Shiina grumbled.
“Incidentally, Maple Land is polytheistic, so we’re all pretty chill about that stuff, ron. The Goddess Libra tacitly approves too, ron.”
“Ahh.”
“Anyway, you guys have your big live show tonight, ron. Give it your best, ron!”
“Okay!” the girls cheered.
Task Force ABC had a live event scheduled for 7:00 tonight. It would be held at Macaron’s Music Theater inside AmaBri, and the three girls would be the stars, while Macaron would be relegated to a side role.
Prior to this, they had mainly been doing drudge work at nursery schools, old folks’ homes, shop events, and festivals—and even that was more like promotional activity than proper idol unit work. They’d hardly done any real stage performances; they mostly served as MCs to open the mascots’ shows, so this was their first time serving as headliners.
“We’re putting on this show because your fans demanded it, ron!”
“Yes! I’m honored!” Biino said.