Silence flooded the venue with a capacity of twenty-thousand people. It was a sight to behold from the green room. Her words were still impactful even though we all knew they were coming.

Aeryx didn't hesitate to continue.

"I planned to tell you about my real identity tonight regardless of the news that came out a few days ago, and it's a shame you had to find out that way. Yes, I'm an android created by TOTOT as an experiment. I know it sounds awful, but I want to be honest with you. And believe me, they have treated me like any human being and let me act freely. That was part of the experiment, in fact."

I couldn't even fathom how she must've felt having more than twenty thousand people listening to her reveal her deepest secret.

"I'm sure you're wondering what experiment I'm talking about. Sadly, TOTOT isn't ready to announce that yet, and we don't think this is the time to do so. As for me, I won't disappear. Unlike most androids, I have free will, I have emotions, I feel pain, and I'm working hard to get my citizenship. So, I'll stick around for a long while."

Ms. Yoshida couldn't stand still anymore and stepped out of the room, while the rest of us didn't move.

"That's also the motive for my retirement from the stage," continued Aeryx. "Everyone agrees that the band has achieved its goals, so we'll look for new goals somewhere else. Again, this isn't a farewell, but a see you soon."

Aeryx bowed, and the crowd remained silent as she walked off stage.

The girls stood up and walked out of the green room, so I followed them, but they stopped walking just outside of the room. We could see Aeryx and Ms. Yoshida hugging each other at the exit of the tunnel, so we decided to wait.

The hug lasted a while. Eventually, the crowd slowly started clapping, until the venue filled with cheers.

It was a bittersweet end to the tour, to say the least. Sadly, TOTOT couldn't do anything to the person that had posted all of the information since there was nothing illegal about it. Still, it was strange that they nailed every single point they mentioned. We even suspected Chiharu was behind it, but it was impossible for her to do it from prison. She also would've leaked stuff and not just assumed things.

There was nothing we could do about it either, and some of us barely had time to reminisce about it because the entirety of GIMA went on vacation. We had to be quick to find new apartments since Haru's loan had been paid off and the expansion of HQ was bound to happen.

Jun and Tomokazu decided to become roommates, and they were the only lucky ones to find a new apartment before the construction began. Umi had to stay with her brother for a few weeks, while Aki had to stay with Haru. Although her apartment was big enough for one person, two already felt cramped.

Luckily, Aya was kind enough to let me stay with her in the meantime. She used to have a bigger apartment near the center of the city, but she had to give it up for a cheaper one when she got fired from her previous job. Still, it was big enough for two people. Barely.

Even though most GIMA operations had to be paused during the construction, everything was going well. The sales growth and stream numbers gradually decreased, but they were already high enough to give us the profit to survive, and that was to be expected.

Despite all of GIMA liking Umi's new song, there was no real progress for the third album, and the clock was ticking.

Eventually, Umi, Aki, and I ended up finding two apartments near the Trading District, just like Jun and Tomokazu. Because not many people wanted to live near such a problematic area, the rent was significantly cheaper than most apartments in the city. Regardless of the price, they still seemed to be well-maintained.

Aki's and I's apartment was located on the fortieth floor, at the very top of the building. It was annoying every time we had to go up or come down, but the view was worth it.

Aside from two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a laundry room, the apartment had three rooms. The biggest one was the master bedroom, while we turned the other two into our offices. We couldn't have been happier about it.

Finally, after several weeks of construction, the HQ expansion was completed.

The entirety of GIMA gathered in front of the building. Then, Haru and I started giving them a tour.

Since there were two front doors instead of one now, we hired Sugioka to guard one of the two doors, while Butcher guarded the other one.

Both doors led into the same lobby, for which we hired a receptionist, not only to receive and help people coming into the building but also to answer calls and redirect them properly.

Next to the left entrance was the therapy office. There was no need to have a full-time therapist, so we only hired their services a couple of times a week. The same applied to the makeup artist and the photographer, who were going to be hired only when needed.

On the same left side was the art and sewing department, and the developer office, which was going to be used in the near future for new projects.

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Just next to the stairs was the locker room, built so that we stopped struggling with where to put our belongings for the day.

Next to the locker room and behind the lobby, in the middle of the building, was the main office, a huge room where every GIMA employee had their own desk, including the lighting technician and assistant from before, who we hired full-time.

We also hired a live show and event producer, who was going to be in charge of planning and managing the concerts and any other events.

To the right of the office and next to the other stairs was the photography studio, which was going to be used by the photographer when needed.

Next to the right entrance was the meeting room with a long table and several chairs, where we could finally have more formal meetings.

Lastly, in front of the stairs was the janitor's room, which was going to be used by the JanyBot we bought since the building was too big for us to maintain on our own now.

Then, it was time to go upstairs. The first room we came to was the bathroom. It was somewhat small and it didn't have a shower anymore, but it was more than enough for HQ.

To the right of the bathroom and the stairs was the recording studio, much bigger than before, and next to it was the cafeteria. We were finally going to be able to eat together during lunchtime without having to go out.

In the middle of the floor was a lecture room, which instructors could use to give lessons to the girls.

Between the lecture room and the dance studio was the infirmary which, although we hadn't hired a doctor, could be used in case of emergencies. The equipment was more than enough for the injuries we expected to occur in the dance studio, and a doctor could always be called if needed.

The dance studio was only slightly bigger than before, but there were now a couple of proper showers and changing rooms, which were shared with the slightly-bigger gymnasium.

Everyone was eager to start working, and so we did the day after the tour.

Seeing so many people working in the same office of the company I started was surreal the first time I stepped in. I greeted everyone as I walked to my desk next to Haru's.

"Good morning," she smiled.

"Good morning," I replied.

Greeting her in a setting like this made me realize how much I missed the contagious smiles she always had during the four years of class she was my professor.

Once sitting at my desk, I opened the company's qmail to see if there was news, but other than financial reports, there wasn't much.

Aya was sitting close to me, so I asked her.

"Aya, have you checked the qmail?"

"I did, but there wasn't much to see."

"That's weird."

"Why? Did you expect it to be filled with offers?"

It didn't sound nice when she said it out loud, but yes, that was what I was expecting.

Aya continued, "Don't expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter, especially since we're newcomers to fame."

"…Alright, I'll make some calls."

"Good idea."

Even though ideas were still stuck for the third album, it was a good idea to start reserving dates in venues as soon as possible so that we didn't struggle with the schedule later on.

I began by calling the biggest venue in the city, which had a capacity of forty thousand people with its biggest configuration, but I planned to reserve the smallest one for eight thousand. It was going to be a great place to start or finish the tour.

A manly voice answered.

"Hello, this is the Saitama Arena service line. With whom do I have the pleasure?"

"I'm Kaito Miyahara, manager of the idol group Blostars. We're looking to reserve a date for a concert with the arena's smallest configuration."

"Sure thing, Mr. Miyahara. Give me a moment to…. Ah, there is an issue, Mr. Miyahara. The arena isn't accepting inquiries at this moment."

"What? But I'm planning to reserve a date months in advance."

"They won't accept any inquiry regardless of the date, unfortunately."

"Can I ask why?"

"I'm afraid that's confidential."

"…Alright, I guess I'll call tomorrow, then."

"I'd recommend calling in a week, Mr. Miyahara. Hopefully, the issue will be solved by then."

"Okay. Thank you."

"We're sorry for the inconvenience. Have a good day."

The call ended.

"Problems?" asked Aya.

"Yeah. Apparently, there is some issue and the arena isn't accepting inquiries at the moment. They recommended I call again next week."

"Seriously? I've never heard anything like that."

Haru added, "It's rare, but that can happen sometimes."

"I guess," I replied. "Anyway, I'll call other venues."

Shockingly, although with different excuses, they all rejected us or simply didn't answer the call, which was the case of the Saitama Arena a week later.

We could only assume someone was behind it, but we had no way to find out who. Even if we did, who knows if we could've done something against someone that was able to turn every single venue against us.

It became a critical matter as our budget was slowly being used up.

Luckily, an unexpected offer from a new magazine arrived at the qmail. The subject included 'Summer Edition' and the description was just as worrying.

A photoshoot in… bikinis?