Chapter 01: We just started

"Kanagawa-san, watch out," Reina said from across the outdoor table. "If you spill that on your outfit, it'll look bad if one of us has food all over themselves."

Hana responded by taking another bite of her crepe. "I'll be careful!" She relished in the sweetness of the strawberries, melted chocolate, and whipped cream the freshly-made snack filled her mouth with.

She was surprised when the camera girl took a picture of her eating, and then again when she tried to cover her mouth with a free hand. For a moment, the pink-haired idol had forgotten that her unit was currently on a photoshoot and not on an afternoon outing that also included the office's assistant, Harumi.

"Well, this part of the shoot is supposed to be a casual lunch after all," Akari said. The redhead was almost done with an order of hot gyoza.

Reina had gone with the least-messy option out of all of them: an iced cup of coffee and a scone. "She could've picked something less messy."

"The boy at the stand was really cute, though," Hana tried to argue. She pouted when she thought back to how the crepe worker ended up focusing more on her other two unit members, instead. She hoped he may have recognized her from her appearance on Idol Talk Live two weeks ago, but her attempts ended up being in vain.

On the bright side, her performance ended up generating a lot of hype for the unit that led to their single's release hitting top 50 on a few popular music charts. The success resulted in Hana currently partaking in a photoshoot for an idol magazine.

She was brought out of her deep thought when the photographer took another shot of her mid-thought. "A rare pensive look from Miss Kanagawa, nice!"

Hana was surprised to hear that. "Can that really be used?"

"The more pictures, the better!" the camera girl responded. It was hard to see the girl's yellow eyes behind her glasses as she looked through the photo gallery in the camera, but Hana could tell she was pleased with what she had shot.

"Okay, let's move onto the next portion of the shoot," the camera girl said. "The next thing we'll need is shots while the three of you are walking down the street."

"Got it, Hana responded. She stood up to smooth out her skirt with her free hand, which was a white piece with a green plaid pattern that went down to her mid-calf. Her white, lacy blouse was left untouched by her food, while a black ribbon tied at her waist and platform wedges finished the outfit.

"I'll watch everyone's stuff," Harumi said as they left the table. "Try not to run into anything while you're walking," he said to the photographer.

They were currently at a magazine shoot to commemorate the release of their unit's single. They were all told to come in casual wear, so Akari was wearing a tank top with the British Union Jack on it and a pair of shorts. Her hair was tied up into a long ponytail to fit with her baseball cap. In the center walked Reina, who opted for a robin's egg blue summer dress with white polka dots on it.

"Alright, now just walk towards me," the photographer said. She walked backward effortlessly as the unit approached her and she took pictures, not paying attention to anyone who might approach them in the quiet shop plaza. "Reina-san, try not to walk too fast for everyone else."

Several quick clicks from the camera fired off in succession while Reina adjusted her pace. Hana did her best to finish her crepe before the walk finished, although she couldn't eat too fast without getting messy. At this point, she held onto it as part of the look.

The photographer slowed down after a few minutes of walking through the area. "This is a perfect background," she said, stopping them at the fountain at the center of the plaza. "Ladies, stand in front of this, please."

Hana stood with her hands behind her back, feeling some of the spray from the water tickling her arms. She was trying to look more confident with herself, so she shifted her position a little closer to Reina and leaned her head towards her fellow unit member.

As she waited for the photographer to start shooting again Hana looked around to see the plaza around them. They were surrounded by meadows of perfectly trimmed hedges and flowers, with fat bees zipping from petal to petal. The mist from the fountain cooled her back from the heat of the afternoon sun rays.

Summer was in full bloom. With this beautiful day they were having together, Hana couldn't help but smile.

"In three, two, one," the photographer counted down. A few quick shots were taken, and soon their photoshoot was over.

The next portion of their work for the idol magazine was an interview. Currently, they were in a nearby cafe Reina picked out. The three unit members sat at the same side of a booth as they faced the photographer- now their interviewer- while her phone was at the center of the table recording the conversation. They were apparently at the same place Reina had gotten her iced coffee from earlier, considering how she was sneaking in bites from another scone whenever it was someone else's turn to speak.

"Your unit is named Triple Point, or TriPoint for short," the interviewer started to say. Like Akari, she had decided to keep wearing her hat indoors, allowing a few strands of brown hair and a single silver streak to peek out from under it. "What can you say about the scientific origins for that term and how it might relate to the three of you?"

"I thought the name was just talking about how there's three of us," Hana admitted. No one responded as she looked around the cafe's clean, modern-inspired interior after. The interviewer silently wrote some notes into a pastel-purple journal while waiting for someone to say something else.

"Hana-san, there's a little more to our name than what you just said," Akari said to her.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hana asked. The pink-haired idol hadn't done interviews in a long time, so she was worried she said something she wasn't supposed to.

"The name has a double meaning, something to do with states of matter that are in balance."

"Triple point is the temperature and pressure where a substance's solid, liquid, and gaseous form can coexist," Reina told them.

"I didn't know you were into science," Hana responded.

"It's our unit name, shouldn't all of us know the meaning to it?" Reina asked. "You at least know the meaning of your solo song, don't you?"

"Of course!" Hana responded. "It's about greeting every day with a fresh outlook on life."

"Speaking of which, I have a question for Miss Hana," the interviewer started to say. "How does it feel to be the first artist to sing something written by Aina for her composing debut?"

"Is she really that big?"

Akari nearly spat out her fruity drink. "You're kidding. The Aina wrote your song?"

"Apparently she is," Reina said.

"You never told me this!"

"I didn't think it was very important to say," Hana responded.

"She sold out the Budokan in 2 hours!" Akari nearly yelled. "It's a dream for anyone in the business to be able to perform there. Even Reina hasn't sung there yet."

The golden-haired idol scoffed. "How nice of you to mention this, Watanabe-san."

Hana had a feeling that if this wasn't being recorded, Reina would've said something much less tame. Although on the outside, she looked as composed as normal while she took another bite of her food.

"But it's true!" Akari said. "It's even in one of the Million Live songs we've covered. It's our handmade Budokan!" she sang.

Hana vaguely remembered the lyric to the group song they'd sung at the mini-live nearly two months ago. They hadn't practiced it since, but she felt a sense of gratitude thinking about performing that song, Thank You, again.

"So to get back on topic ladies," the interviewer said. "What can you say about your unit name? Any hints your Producer might have given you?"

Hana looked over at the other girls to see if any of them would respond. Surprisingly, Reina was the first to speak. "She mentioned back when we formed about how she thought we could all balance each other out," she said. "Everyone in this group has something they're bad at, but it's also what someone else is the best at."

"Very interesting," the interviewer said. She scanned through her journal to look for the next question. "So, do you have anything you'd like to say to Almandite, the next unit to debut after you?"

"Almond type?" Hana asked. She knew there was a new group announced, but it had only been days since the news broke out. She barely even knew every member.

"Almandite," Reina corrected her. "It's a type of gemstone."

"The members are Hirose Miyako, Sugita Kazuko, Miyagi Nari, Fukuoka Yuki, and Niijima Sumire," the interviewer read off of her notes. "I'm sure you've met or practiced with some of them before?"

"If they work hard enough, then they have the potential to do as well as those who have already had their debuts," Reina said.

"We've practiced and performed with some of them before," Akari added. "I know from firsthand that Yuki-san and Nari-san are going to do great!"

Those two met up with Hana, Akari, and Tae back when they were all getting ready for the mini-live. They both had good work ethics, and Hana thought they were chosen to be part of the company's first big performance for good reason. It was only a matter of time before they'd make their unit debuts.

"I've practiced with Sugita-san before," Reina said. "I'm sure she'll be a good role model for the rest of the unit."

The last two members were Miyako and Sumire, with the latter being someone Hana only met before at remedial dance lessons. As for Miyako, Hana always remembered her as someone who tripped over themselves in practice. She didn't want to mention this during the interview, but she was surprised to hear the 13-year-old was going to debut so quickly. Compared to some of the other young girls like the ones in Seishun Shining, they improved much faster than her.

"Hana Kanagawa, what about you?" the interviewer interrupted her train of thought.

"Huh?" Hana responded. She had forgotten what the question was even about.

"What do you have to say to the next unit to debut after yours?"

Hana looked up at the ceiling while she took a moment to think about what advice to give. She had only just overcome her crippling stage fright two weeks ago. Even then, she didn't know if it was only a one-time occurrence.

"Just a few words is good, I just want something from each member," the interviewer gave her a reassuring thumbs-up.

Advice from someone she knew was what had given her the confidence to perform in the end. Hana wanted to give the same sentiment to someone else.

"I think no matter how new they might be, they shouldn't be afraid to shine on stage," Hana said. "Being new doesn't mean you're bad."

"That's perfect," the interviewer said. She closed her journal as she asked her final question. "For the last part of this interview, can each of you give a message for the fans supporting you?"

"I won't disappoint!" Akari said immediately. Turning to see her fellow unit member, Hana saw a familiar determined look on her face.

"I wasn't able to perform at the TV show, so please stay patient until I can perform my solo live," Reina said after.

The last to speak was Hana. This time, she didn't have to put much thought into her final message. "Please keep supporting us!" she said. "We haven't performed as a unit yet, so stay with us until we do!"

"Thank you for the help today," the interviewer said, reaching over to her phone to stop the voice recording. "The next edition of this magazine should be out sometime next week."

"Thank you for the interview," Akari said to her.

"Thank you for the interview," Reina and Hana repeated after her.

Akari and Hana waved to the interviewer as she grabbed her bag and left the cafe quickly after. With the job finished, Harumi stood up from the next booth over and walked over to them.

"Good work today," he said. He was dressed less casually than the girls, wearing a light-colored vest over a short-sleeved button-up. "For the most part, you all handled the interview portion pretty well. I'm told the reporter was an intern, so thank you for being cooperative with her."

"She asked a lot of good questions," Hana responded.

Hana had been interviewed for magazines before, but not to the extent she had been today. When she was with her old company, she remembered when she was only given a few questions regarding her debut or a concert along with taking two or three pictures for it. Today was much more in-depth of a session, but having Akari and Reina to fall back on made things a lot easier.

"Even for an intern, she did well," Reina said. "I've had a lot of worse interview experiences than that.

"I'm going to have to leave now, though," Harumi said. "I have to go back to the office for some business regarding the next unit."

"Already?" Akari asked. "We just ended the day."

"The three of you may be done, but there are 27 other girls who I have to coordinate schedules for." Harumi started walking to the exit. "I'll see you at the office tomorrow."

Reina stood up after him, crushing her napkin into a ball with the hand not holding her half-full cup of coffee. "I'm going to be leaving, too."

"That's so soon," Hana said. "You don't want to stay and talk?"

"Not particularly," Reina responded quickly.

"You heard Harumi-san," Akari spoke up. "Why are you going so early if you don't have any work for the rest of the day?"

"He wasn't including practice," Reina responded. "Besides that, I have to study for a test on Monday," she added.

"That's the first time I've heard you talk about school."

"I always thought you were just a full-time idol," Hana said.

"Besides my mother's wishes to finish high school, an idol doing poorly in her classes isn't good for her image." Reina walked over to the trashcan to throw away her things. "I know that we don't have practice today, but you should consider working on your solos at home or at the office."

"Will you ever spend a day not practicing?" Akari asked her.

"I'm performing with the Million Stars next week. If I remember correctly, you'll be with them the week after that," Reina responded. "Both of us need to give the best first impression of our solo songs that we can. Even then, consider your performance with our seniors as a trial for our performance at the mini-live."

The golden-haired idol left without saying another word, leaving Hana and Akari alone at the cafe together. The latter moved out of the booth and entered again on the opposite so that she could face Hana.

"Hana-chan, you're not going to leave too, are you?" Akari asked.

"I have a free day now, so I want to enjoy it," Hana responded.

Akari sighed. "I still don't understand Reina. She's in this company with all of us, it wouldn't kill her to make some friends in it."

"She follows my blog, now," Hana responded. "And some of my social media accounts, too."

"I'm surprised she added you in the first place."

"I added her, actually. "

"What do the two of you even talk about?"

"Nothing much," Hana admitted. "It's usually about practice, and then she likes to remind me when the next practice is."

"That's definitely not much," Akari laughed.

"I think she's trying, though! When I ask her about her day, she responds sometimes."

Akari reached over to grab her drink that was still sitting next to Hana. "She's still so stuck up about practicing and doing well. Being an idol is really fun! But Reina never looks like she's enjoying it."

"Did you call me Hana-chan, by the way?" Hana asked her.

"I heard your old partner call you it," Akari said. "It's okay if I call you that too, right?"

"Of course, Akari-senpai!"

"And how about you just call me Akari, instead?" the redhead asked her. "We're in the same unit and everything now, calling me your senior feels a little weird. Especially outside of school."

Hana nodded. "Okay, I'll try to remember."

"Are you excited about our mini-live, by the way?

Following the success of the TV show appearance, Seishun Shining and ORiON had a mini-live together to give fans more performances from the Supernova Project's first two units. Since the project's fourth single would be coming out soon, it would soon be Triple Point's turn to have a performance with the next unit, Almandite. Hana could only assume the trend would continue until all of the NeoStars had one, and then lead up to their first big concert in a few months.

"I'm a lot less nervous than usual," Hana said to Akari. "But I'm really excited to see you and Reina performing your solos!"

"You should see us at the 765 Theater, instead of waiting until then," Akari stuck her tongue out.

"I thought you were only signing up to be backup dancers?"

"We were, at first, but the girls who've had their unit debuts are also being allowed to perform their solos," Akari explained. "You should try volunteering, too."

Hana hesitated in responding. A chance to sing her solo more sounded enticing, but the days when she was still attending remedial dance lessons weren't very far behind her. Even now, the thing people praised about her the most was her singing, not her dancing skills.

"How about this," Akari started to say. "Let's go to karaoke, and if I do better than you today, you have to sign up to volunteer as a backup dancer."

"Are you sure this isn't just an excuse to go to karaoke?" Hana asked.

"Maybe, but I think more people should hear you perform. You just need a little push sometimes to move forward."

Hana was going to decline, but a sudden idea popped into her mind as she weighed her options. "Okay," she responded. "But if I win... you have to ask Reina-san for her number."

"What's that going to accomplish?"

"I think the two of you should talk more often."

Akari shook her head. "She's not going to say yes."

"The worst she could do is say no, and then you wouldn't have to do anything if I won," Hana said. "Besides, don't you want me to volunteer to be a backup dancer?"

Akari got up from her seat. "Okay, Hana-chan, you're on."