Friendly Coexistence

Before heading to Sanae's and Risa's place, I visited my friends, who I remembered had a Huma. We all lived in the same apartment block, so it wasn't much of a detour.

Once I arrived at one of my friend's, I rang the bell by pressing the button on the panel next to the door. A tornado whirled in the room for a while before he finally opened the door. He hid behind it.

"What's up?" he panted.

"Hey. I just wondered if you still had that Huma—"

He took his arm out to shut my mouth with his hand.

What's wrong with him? Wait, is he naked?

"Not now, I'm busy," he whispered.

Unable to speak, the voice of a woman came from inside the room.

"Who is it? It's another one of your lovers, isn't it?"

A woman?! Since when is he popular with women?! And he put his hand on my mouth!

"No, sweetheart! I'm coming back already!" he shouted in fear. He moved his hand away from my mouth. "I'm sorry, come back another day."

"Sure. Sorry for interrupting."

Not even saying goodbye, he shut the door. If he was busy, why did he answer the door in the first place? I guess I'll go to my second option.

I walked to the neighboring apartment and rang the bell on the panel. He opened it in no time.

"Kaito. What brings you here?" he smoothly asked with his deep voice.

His teeth are shining as always. And his voice is always nice to hear.

"Tomokazu, do you still have those Humas—"

He shushed me. "Come in."

I stepped inside and he closed the door behind me. Even though he was a handsome gentleman on the outside, once you got on his side, he would show you his true self.

Bodypillows of many characters filled his bed and floor. Posters not appropriate for public TV covered the walls. Countless figurines furnished the shelves. And, what was important for me, three Humas that were projected from the floor into two beautiful ladies and a rather good-looking fellow.

He's new.

"I told you not to talk about that stuff in public," he said as he sat on his bed. "Is there something I can do for you, dear friend?"

"Yes. Can I talk to your Humas for a minute?"

He seemed confused. "Sure."

"Thanks!"

I approached the Humas. The three of them stood together near the window, looking at me with a lovely smile. Except for the guy, who had a piercing glare.

Who am I to judge?

"Just don't ask them anything about me," Tomokazu said.

"Noted."

That'll be for the best.

"Hello," I greeted the girl in the middle.

"Hi!" she joyfully replied. "Are you Overlord's friend?"

"I am. How are you?"

"I'm great! Overlord is always caring for me. We always play—"

Tomokazu—aka, Overlord—coughed as if he was dying.

"Oops. Looks like he doesn't want me to talk about it," she smirked.

Good. I prefer knowing nothing.

"Can I ask you something?" I wondered.

"You already did."

"Another thing."

"Oh. Sure, go ahead."

"What do you think of these two?" I glanced at the Humas standing beside her.

"It would be weird having an opinion about them. I only care for Overlord."

"I see. What about you two? What do you think about her?" I asked the Humas.

"I'm only interested in Overlord," the other girl said.

"I don't care," the guy answered.

Just as I supposed.

"Thanks, Tomokazu."

"Was that everything?"

I nodded. "I'm working on my final project. I'm sure you'll love it."

"Now I'm intrigued."

Before walking out of the room, a new idea popped into my head.

"Actually, there's something you might be able to help with. You're famous on those anime forums, right?"

"I am."

"Awesome. I'll give you the details later. Thanks again!"

"Anything for my dearest friend."

We awkwardly stared at each other for a moment. He smiled and I didn't know how to react. I simply walked out of the room and closed the door.

And to think he once had a crush on me. Anyway, time to work!

With no time to lose, I walked out of the apartment block and headed to the monorail station nearby. After one minute of riding, I got off at Nova Shibuya; one of the most famous commercial districts in Japan.

Because of the lack of space in the world, even the greatest companies were forced to close the majority of their stores. Or they couldn't afford the exorbitant costs. It meant that people had to travel greater distances to find a store of the brand they liked, something mundane with the hyper-fast transportation we had. Sadly, it also meant long lines to buy stuff.

Just to buy a new pair of glasses, I had to queue for twenty minutes, but that was nothing compared to the usual queue time. Once inside, the checkout process was instant. I just grabbed the glasses I wanted and the cost was deducted from my account. This time, I made sure to pick a nice brand.

I took the same monorail back but got off one station after passing by my university. Sanae's and Risa's place was only two minutes away. I arrived and almost opened the door of their room. Luckily, I remembered to knock to avoid any accident.

"Come in," Sanae answered.

I stepped inside. Sanae and Risa danced in front of the shattered mirror. However, something blue on the floor caught my eye; panties.

"Could you at least keep your clothes somewhere I can't see them?"

"What do you mean?" Sanae asked.

I pointed at the panties laying on the floor at the other side of the room. Risa's face became red as a tomato before running to the panties and hiding them in a suitcase.

"You should be more careful," I said. "By the way, do you always dance without music?"

"We don't need it," Sanae answered. "We just hear it a few times at the café and memorize it."

I can't believe it…

"Well, you'll have music at home now." I lifted the bag I held.

"What's that?"

I stuck my hand inside and took one of the glasses out. I approached Risa and gave them to her. Then I gave another pair to Sanae. Both of them stared at me with their mouths agape.

"Are these…," Risa stuttered.

"They are for you."

Before I realized it, she hugged me and thanked me. I grabbed her shoulders and moved her away.

"I bought them for work. I'd tell you to only use them for it, but it would be dumb to ask that from a pair of teenagers. Use them for whatever you want."

"We wanna thank you anyway," Sanae grinned.

I shook my head but still smirked. "Okay, let's take the first step."

Sanae and Risa blushed. They looked at me, startled.

"The first step to becoming an idol group," I clarified. "Auditions!"

"Eh?" they uttered.

"Can you afford to hire more people?" Sanae asked.

"That's something I needed to discuss with you," I responded, scratching the back of my head. "First of all…. I mean, are you okay with me not paying you in the beginning? I can afford it, but the transactions will look suspicious to the bank since I don't have your contracts to clarify them."

"You're right," Sanae replied. "It's fine, we are doing this because we love doing it."

"Even if you love it, I suggest you don't do it for free. It's just that we are in a strange position. And don't worry, you can ask me for money if you want something."

They nodded with a smile.

"About the audition, I saw that idol groups used to have many members, so let's try to find at least two. You'll help me pick."

"Sure!" Sanae said.

"And about the change we need to overcome Humas, I came up with something."

"Really? What is it?"

"Friendship."

"Friendship?"

"We can't compete against them individually. Humas feel love and affection towards their owners and nothing else, making them perfect for people that look for that. But, if you ask Humas about other Humas, they will answer that they don't care. So, we'll show people the importance of friendship. That idols and Humas belong to different categories. That they can coexist in the same world."

Sanae and Risa nodded with excitement.

That same evening, we hung the digital sign Sanae and Risa had used to look for a manager to announce idol auditions for the next week. At the same time, I told Tomokazu what I was going to do and asked him to post about it on forums. He agreed without hesitation.

Not much happened after that. I went to more boring lectures—except for Fuku-sensei's—and visited Sanae and Risa every evening, including the weekend. They worked hard, using their glasses to play the music they danced to. I also heard them sing for the first time. I didn't expect them to sound that good, but they surprised me.

My confidence about the project kept rising as I planned more. I prepared the necessary legal documents and we came up with a name for the agency; Galactical Idols. However, we decided to wait for the group to be complete to choose a name for the group itself.

The day of the audition arrived. I expected five girls to come at most. As I approached the building, I saw a line coming from inside all the way to the sidewalk. The audition was still an hour away and there were at least fifteen girls already waiting.

Alright, let's get to work.