After hours of filming, morning was finally about to begin in earnest. While waiting for the crew to pack up, Julia walked along the water alone.
As always, filming music videos and promotional footage was brutal. Earlier this summer, she’d been completely drained after they filmed at the zenith of a rugged mountain. This time, they were asked to dance barefoot in icy ocean water without pause. By the end, her feet were so numb that she feared she could step on a needle and feel nothing.
Nevertheless, every last member endured these conditions without letting it affect their performance. The instant they officially wrapped filming, Towako pointed straight at one of the cameras and shouted, “They’re training us to be super-soldiers!” Everyone on set burst out laughing, and Julia suspected it would be used as B-roll at some point.
They had done their absolute best. Now it was up to the video production team.
The completion of a job filled her with a deep sense of satisfaction. Impatiens was not a cargo ship carrying the dreams of every girl in the world—it was an entertainment business comprised of a major record label and a handful of creators, and she was proud to do the hard physical labor at the forefront of the resulting product.
After a while, she arrived at a large rock. Making this her endpoint, she turned back. At the other end of her trajectory, Maki stood staring out at the ocean, lost in thought.
“You’re local, right? Did you ever come here with friends when you were a teen?” Julia called out, unsure if she was interrupting.
“There was one time I came here with my family when I was in elementary school, but I joined the industry pretty early on, so I didn’t do beach trips with friends or anything.”
“Ah.”
“What about you, Jul?”
It wasn’t immediately clear what Maki was asking. After all, Julia wasn’t from here, and her hometown didn’t have a beach. When she displayed this confusion on her face, Maki responded with one of her trademark giggles.
“Did you ever go on a beach date with a boyfriend as a teen?”
Julia had rehearsed a stock “pop star” answer for this.
“No. While I had more of a ‘normal’ high school experience than you or Sakuna, it wasn’t that magical.” But while rehearsed, this wasn’t untrue. “To be honest, I don’t have many memories from junior high or high school. All I really remember is singing along while playing the family keyboard.”
“What, were you born at a music venue?”
Sometimes Maki could cut deep with the slightest quip. “Maybe so.”
Learning fosters wisdom, as the saying went, but there were moments when Maki seemed to prove this theory wrong. She hated studying so much that she lacked a lot of basic knowledge and vocabulary. (When she asked if tilapia was a type of dessert, Julia was sure she had to be joking, but she wasn’t!) Management, the TV and radio shows they went on, even the fans treated her like the token ditz. And yet she, of all people, could somehow reach into Julia’s heart.
Was there any way to showcase this trait for everyone? Julia sometimes tried to plot out storylines for Maki, but none made it out of the drafting stage. Portraying someone’s true essence was a lot harder than one might imagine.
Obviously, each person had good points and bad points. To Julia, being an idol meant living your life with a select few—either the good ones or the charmingly bad ones—on full display to the public. If you were lucky, people would notice your strengths of their own volition, but in most cases, you had to shove it in front of their faces or into their ears. Otherwise, it would be overlooked.
Immediately after beginning her career as a pop star, Julia burned this mindset into her brain. This formed the foundation for the character she had defined thus far. In order to stand proudly on that stage in front of thousands, shoulder to shoulder with girls possessed of superior talent and background, she constructed her storylines.
She and the rest of Impatiens would always need to keep evolving. Earlier this summer, their first-ever national tour was a smashing success, and tickets to their final headliner concert of the year had just sold out as of yesterday morning. This was good, but it wasn’t enough. As long as the fans wanted them, they needed to do more—stand on bigger stages in front of bigger crowds for bigger hype. For that reason, it was critical for each member to more aggressively promote their strengths. Maki needed to be seen not as a cute and ditzy sweetheart, but a cute and ditzy sweetheart who could hit the nail on the head with an offhand comment.
Once Maki finished her reading marathon, Julia thought to herself, maybe the two of them could do a book review livestream together. Maybe she would have unique insight into the story of Girl’s March. But Julia decided not to tell her quite yet. After all, the added pressure could interfere with her honest perspective.
They heard the staff calling to them. The scattered group members all walked back from the beach or climbed out of the cars where they were resting.
First, they said goodbye to the film crew, who went their separate ways home. Then the members of Impatiens split into two groups and hopped into their designated Toyota HiAce. Unlike this morning, when they were divided based on residential proximity, this time it was a matter of whether or not they had something else scheduled that day.
As it happened, Julia, Mei, and Ao were headed to the recording studio to guest on a web show livestream. It was originally going to be just Mei and Ao, but Julia was told that management had requested either she or Sakuna sit in as a chaperone. The reason she was chosen over Sakuna was because the topic of this particular show was “the road to stardom,” or in other words, what their lives looked like before Impatiens. Sakuna had only ever been a performer, so the production staff must have decided Julia’s history as a working adult was more relevant. That, and they liked the little anecdote she submitted.
After the three girls piled into the van, they were joined by a fourth, Ran, who settled in next to Julia as the door slid shut. Ran was scheduled for a photo shoot with a fashion magazine today, and in her case, had been chosen for no deeper reason than her obvious beauty.
“Hey Shinogi-san, when’s mealtime?” asked Ao.
“We’ll have plenty of time for a lunch break once we get back. I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you, but do try to be mindful of what you say, livestream team,” their manager replied from the front passenger seat, with a masterful use of the carrot and stick technique.
“Right,” Mei answered firmly from the back row.
Next to her, Ao snickered. “If I say a slur, will I get arrested?”
It was obvious from her tone what she was playing at. Hashimoto Ao had no respect for any of the adults, their manager included. Julia saw this irreverence as part of the girl’s narrative, so as long as it wasn’t in excess, she generally wouldn’t comment on it. That being said, she didn’t want a good opportunity to go to waste, so she offered a small warning: “You won’t be arrested, but you will be held accountable.”
“Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of that. You’d better watch yourself, Mei.”
“I never say slurs!”
As Ao cracked up laughing, Julia made eye contact with Shinogi. Evidently she had proven herself as a fitting chaperone.
“I love this combination of Firecracker, Brat, and Nanny,” Ran whispered next to her.
“Spare me the new title,” Julia muttered back with an exaggerated sigh and a laugh.