Chapter 1
A few minutes later
Sorry, I said sorry! It was a joke! I’m not gonna do anything scary, so come over here ♪
Promise? Should I even trust you? If you’re lying, I’m gonna tell Anzu-san all sorts of crazy things about your dating history!
Wait, can you not?! She’s so pure and innocent, she might believe you!
Not just might, she’d believe anything a younger guy like me said~
Fu fu fu, I’ve figured out your Achilles’ heel, Hakaze-senpai—it’s Anzu-san. Now I have the upper hand.
So maybe you should think before you speak in the future—and don’t tell crappy jokes, either. ‘Cause now you have to do everything I say.
Yeah, yeah… I’m your loyal dog…
—Or something like that. Enough with the jokes. ‘kay? Let’s get serious.
Oh I assure you, I’ve been serious this whole time. C’mon, go get me a drink! It’s super hot out here and I’m sooo thirsty!
You’re preaching to the choir there. I don’t even know where we are. This is like, a legit desert, but I’m pretty sure there’s nothing like that in Japan?
Maybe those famous Tottori Sand Dunes? That’s in the Chuugoku region, isn’t it? Like the Tottori Prefecture?
Mayyybe… Feels more like the pits of hell, though? Pretty sure it’s too hot for that place. It’s the middle of winter, remember? What if we’re in some faraway country that doesn’t have winter?
Honestly, the real question is why we were thrown into a place this far from human society to begin with.
And the realest question is whether or not we’re gonna be able to go home… I miss Yuuta-kun…
There, there. I’m all you’ve got right now, so try to deal with it, okay?
Gross… I can’t stop thinking about Yuuta-kun’s squishy cheeks~ Hakaze-senpai, you’re weirdly muscular, and pretty boney too. I wouldn’t wanna hug you at all…
Hang on, this is this ideal male body—Women go crazy for it! Really!
If being a good hugger was all it took to be popular, diets wouldn’t even exist, y’know?
Anyway, I’m pretty sure this is part of some event. So even if worse comes to worst, I don’t think we’ll be left to die.
What do you mean?
Ah, wait, I totally forgot I was supposed to talk all polite with you—Are you mad?
Nahhh. It’ll be easier to tell the difference between you two this way—Yuuta-kun is polite, and Hinata-kun is casual.
Well, that’s how I see it too, which is why I always take up the burden of being cool and casual and risk coming off as rude.
Although, Yuuta-kun isn’t even around right now, so it’s not exactly difficult to tell who’s who.
But it’s kinda hard to change your deep-seated habits… Sorry.
No need to apologize. I don’t have any kids around me who’d be polite with me, so it’s like there’s this distance between me and other people when they’re so formal—It’s kinda lonely.
Ah, anyway—Like I said, I met another idol earlier.
Oh, yeah. So did you shake ‘em down for the deets?
Yep. Based on what they said, this is some huge event for the SS Qualifiers. Apparently it’ll determine which unit in Chuugoku makes it through to the next round.
Hmmm, hmmm? Aren’t the Qualifiers supposed to be a month-long contest to see which unit makes the most SSL$?
You’d think, but it looks like the rules of the game are a bit different here in good ol’ Chuugoku.
Or it’s kinda like they’re prepping us for the real Qualifiers? Qualifiers for the Qualifiers?
Senseeeei! I don’t get iiiit!
Ngh. Yeah, I’m mostly just talking conjecture here, sooorry if it’s kinda jumbled.
But I mentioned there’s a bunch of powerhouses here in Chuugoku, right?
Ossu. Everyone here is like, way better than us. It’s a match made in hell.
I don’t think 2wink’s bad at all, especially not how you are now—
But yeah, the Chuugoku region is too small for all these powerful units who have a lot of fans. They won’t be able to work the way they want like this.
Frankly, they just don’t have enough stages or program slots for everyone, so apparently the SSL$ cost for them is skyrocketing.
Ahh, you need cash to rent those out, after all. The L$ at ES work the same way, so it’s just common sense to us.
Yep. So maybe that’s why they have to sift through the units. I wonder if that’s the Administration’s goal here?