Chapter 05: my, and your shiny smile

"In three, two, one, pose!" the photographer said.

Less than a second later, a flash of light filled the room. The NeoStar standing in front of the backdrop blinked a few times after, although she kept her position in place. She changed her pose, going from having both of her hands raised to one with a hand placed under her chin, smiling cutely.

She was wearing casual clothing- a black sheer panel top and a pair of jeans that hugged her long legs nicely. The top contrasted nicely with her white hair, which flowed all the way to her hip bones. Compared to a lot of the other girls, Maeda Chisa seemed to be a natural in front of the camera.

"You're doing great!" the photographer said to her. Another flash filled the room as they hit the camera's shutter. "One more!"

Hana watched her fellow idol from the other side of the room as she wrote about the day in her diary. For the company's Saturday plans, they were all getting their headshots and other photos done for promotional material. They were currently in the last thirty minutes out of their hour and a half session, barring any setbacks, with the order for today going by last names in reverse alphabetical order.

"Next please," the photographer said. "Kanagawa Hana-san?"

"That's me," Hana responded. She stood up and put her diary in her bag. She'd have to finish writing when she got home.

As Chisa passed by her, Hana went to compliment her. "You did really good!"

"It's my first time getting my picture taken like this so I was really nervous!" Chisa responded. "Good luck, Hana-san!"

Hana walked up to the white backdrop, adjusting her skirt to make sure that there weren't any wrinkles in it. Today she had on a white short-sleeved top accented with lacy flowers at the neckline and a high-waisted pastel green skirt with white carnations on it. Her cherry blossom-colored hair was done neatly, with no accessories in it. Brown heeled ankle boots and a matching belt completed the look.

It was a lot cuter than what she was wearing two weeks ago at the Million Stars concert, although she felt like most outfits would've been a lot cuter than just her school uniform.

Once she was in position, it was time for the photographer to direct. He was an artsy-looking person, with cool blue hair tied into a ponytail and a silver cross necklace hanging from his simple white shirt. A small black goatee was growing on his chin.

"The first picture will be from head-on," he directed.

Hana nodded. She went with a familiar pose: a warm smile and a hand over her heart, with one foot in front of the other.

"In three, two, one," the photographer said. The flash of light after would've blinded her if she wasn't looking at the camera instead.

Immediately, she went to change poses. She adjusted her position slightly, and another photo was taken. There were other girls looking at her from across the room, with some waiting for their turn and others just looking to see what Hana could do.

"Is this good?" she asked, turning around to change her pose again. The photographer took another picture as she was mid-turn, her skirt swaying from the motion.

"Have you done this before?"

"Huh?" Hana asked. She stopped while in the middle of changing into another pose.

"You're a natural," the photographer said to her. "Or have you modeled before?"

"Oh!" there was another camera flash. "I've had photos taken professionally a few times. It's been about a year since I've last done it, though."

"I can see why you're trying to be an idol, keep it up!"

Hana posed for a few more pictures, before returning back to her seat. The next girl after her walked past excitedly, her black ponytail swaying back and forth as she walked.

"Do your best, Yuuki-san!" Hana said to her.

Yuuki gave a thumbs up in response, grinning back at her. Her purple eyes were full of excitement. "Here I go!"

Once back at her seat, Hana gave out a big sigh. She had gone through the motions for a lot of her photoshoot without really thinking of what she was doing, so she wasn't really anxious during the time. Now that it was over, she was feeling a little self-conscious about how her photos were going to turn out.

During the past two weeks since the Million Stars concert, training had gotten a lot harder, although she didn't mind. More Million Stars had shown up to help lead practices, including Umi, and more practices just meant that Hana would be improving more. It also meant that she was able to spend more time with her coworkers and that they were all improving together, step by step.

As much as she was excited to start doing idol work, every time she thought about performing in front of people again made her feel nervous. Her arms and legs tensed up, and it felt like her heart was about to get crushed by itself. She hoped that by the time for her debut performance, she'd feel comfortable enough to perform by then. Otherwise, being an idol who couldn't sing in front of others would feel like another failure.

"Is this seat taken?" someone asked. Looking up, Hana saw her pantsuit-clad Producer standing next to her. Her dark hair was in a bun today.

"Feel free!" Hana responded, patting the seat next to her. "How is the photoshoot going, Producer?"

"A lot… smoother than I expected," she responded. "Of course a lot of girls are new to this kind of stuff, but there's also a lot who are used to being in front of the camera."

Looking back at the photoshoot, Miyako had just finished with her session. The 13-year old was wearing a green and white dress with sleeves long enough to cover her hands. Her medium-length brown hair had a simple flower in it. She ran back over to Akari, going to hug the older girl.

"Harukaze Yui-san!" the photographer called out. Another middle schooler approached the backdrop, wearing a yellow off-shoulder top and skirt. Her short brown hair was tied up in pigtails. Hana watched as she walked up in front of the photographer, looking excited as any of them were.

"For example, Harukaze-san has been in the industry since she was 8. Although, she hasn't been serious for the entire time," her Producer explained. "We'll see if that changes under 765."

"Everyone looks like they're having a lot of fun!" Hana responded. "Is everyone here?"

"All thirty girls, although some are still getting changed. Once Akatsuki-san is done, then the entire project will take a picture together."

"Next is Fukuoka Yuki-san!" the photographer said.

A girl with long, light-blue hair walked up to get her photos taken. She looked to be around Hana's age and was dressed warmly despite the summer weather. She had on a white, long-sleeved blouse and black pinafore. Red accents like her necktie and headband contrasted quite cutely with her otherwise cool appearance. The room felt colder as she took the center of attention, her cool gaze looking back at the photographer.

Hana wanted to watch how the girl would pose, but a pair of footsteps walking up to her and the Producer ended up distracting her. Looking to their left, she saw Fukuyama Reina approaching from the dressing room.

"Producer-san, is this adequate?" Reina asked. Her hands were in the pockets of her jean jacket.

The cool beauty was wearing a navy blue and white striped dress that reached her knees. A jean jacket covered most of her arms and shoulders, while a blue ribbon kept part of her hair at the side of her head up. A pair of white flats finished her look.

"You look lovely," their Producer responded.

"Your outfit is really nice!" Hana added.

"Thanks," Reina responded, although her tone and expression didn't change. "I decided to go with something simple for today's shoot."

"Are you nervous at all?" Hana asked her.

"Not particularly. I'm used to photoshoots by now," Reina shrugged. "Producer-san, how soon do you think these photos will take to finish processing?"

"Hmm," their Producer responded, looking towards the ceiling. "Assuming that everything turns out well, we should have the digital copies sent in by Sunday afternoon."

"I would like to request physical copies of my headshots, please."

"That should be no problem. Although those will most likely take another day to get printed."

"May I also have some copies?" Hana asked. Reina gave her a weird look. "Of my photos, I mean."

"Of course," their Producer responded. "I was going to get everyone at least two copies of their photos and then of the group one after."

"Fukuyama Reina-san," the photographer said.

"Don't worry." the golden-haired idol started walking away. "You can save money and not get me the group photos."

Did their Producer know that Reina was planning on leaving 765 Productions one day?

She was right there to ask, but this didn't feel like the right time to do it. Even then, Hana didn't want to be the first one to let her know this information.

"Fukuyama-san, nice to see you again," Hana could barely hear the photographer say to Reina. "I didn't know you were with 765 now."

"I'm moving up in the idol world," Reina responded, standing in the middle of the backdrop. She seemed to already know the first pose, standing with her hands in her jacket pockets as she faced the camera.

"In three, two, one," the photographer said. The flash went off, and then another followed it as Reina changed her position ever so slightly. Without his instructions, she touched a part of her hair and pulled it to the side. Another few flashes followed it.

Looking around, Hana noticed that she wasn't the only one who was watching. Almost every eye in the room was looking at Reina to see what she would do. Even Akari had gone from watching over the younger girls to watching her intently from her spot.

Reina kept looking at the camera as if none of the other people starting mattered to her. She kept changing poses as the photographer took her photo, although she refrained from smiling the entire time. She had the same, focused expression that she always had when working.

Another, heavier pair of footsteps approached Hana and the Producer.

"I'm ready for my photoshoot!" a girl yelled, approaching from the dressing room. Looking away from Reina, Hana saw an incredibly tall person wearing a complete set of hockey equipment, stick included.

"Allen-san... what are you wearing?" their Producer asked. She seemed less annoyed than she did confused.

"You said that we could wear something in character!" Erica Allen responded.

"Next up, Ellingham Elise-san," the photographer said. He had a little bit of difficulty pronouncing her last name.

"That's me," Elise said from the other side of the room. She had on a pair of dark pants and a lavender blouse. "I'll be in your care."

"You're up next, aren't you?" their Producer asked Erica. The company's other foreigner nodded. "Allen-san, please stop messing around. Change into your casual clothing."

Erica removed her helmet, showing a pale face with light blonde hair. "Are you sure that it'll be alright? I'm afraid that it won't be 'me' enough."

"Well, what were you wearing before you walked in?"

"I had my maple leaf shirt on, and a pair of jeans."

Their Producer smiled. "I think you'll be fine."

Erica looked puzzled. "But everyone else is wearing all of their nice clothes. I figured that this would let me be unique"

"I think," their Producer started to say. "That every girl is unique even in how they wear their casual clothing. What you wear says something about you, even when you're not thinking about it. And plus, you're more comfortable in what you own yourself."

"Okay. I'll go change right now," Erica said. She started heading back towards the dressing room. "Thank you, Producer-san!"

"Producer-san," Hana asked after the foreigner left. "What were you before this job?"

"It's a long story, but it started with the Million Stars' Producer."

"Almost done!" the photographer announced. "Allen Erica-san?"

"She's going to take a little bit. Let Akatsuki-san go next," the Producer called back to him.

A short blonde stood up, her face unreadable. Her short hair framed her face cutely, her red eyes sticking out almost as much as the cat ears on her head.

"Are you sure you want to keep those on?" their Producer asked.

"Absolutely," Akatsuki Komaru responded.

She ended up getting her photos taken without much complaint, and so did Erica after her. As it seemed, the Producer's advice turned out for the better.

The last set of photos for the day would be the group photo. Hana crowded into the middle row out of three, with Akari to her right and Tae on her left, bending her knees to match their height. As every girl got into position, she was surprised to see that there was enough room on the backdrop to fit all of them.

"It's our first company photo," the Producer said. "Let's make it memorable!"

"In three, two, one!" the photographer called out. Two photos were taken in rapid succession.

"Producer-san!" Akari called out after. "Take one with us!"

"This is your photo," their Producer responded. "It's alright."

"You said to make it memorable. It'll be for you too!"

"Pleeeease!" Miyako said. "We need our guild leader!"

"Producer-san, come on!" Erica yelled.

Very quickly, a lot of the girls started to protest their Producer's decision to not join in to take photos. Even Hana ended up raising her voice in protest.

"Alright," after a few more seconds, their Producer raised her hands in defeat. She went to the right side of the group. "Let me squeeze in."

"One more time," the photographer said. "Everyone, say cheese!"

Hana smiled as the shutter went off. Akari ended up pulling Hana in for a hug right before. Another flash happened immediately after, and Akari held the hug for another few seconds.

With the Supernova Project's mini-live in a week, it would be Hana's first time performing with the company. It would also be her first time performing with her new friends, specifically Akari. For once, with everyone with her, she didn't feel nervous thinking about the future. She felt reassured, with their shining smiles making it all go away.