> Decision
> >1 - No. Not on your life. It might be Kitabayashi’s birthday, but this is too far.
> >2 - Agree to dress up in cat girl cosplay for Kitabyashi’s birthday
> >3 - Agree to dress up in cat girl cosplay, but only if Kaiba joins you
> >4 - Write-in
>
> Winner
> >3 - Agree to dress up in cat girl cosplay, but only if Kaiba joins you
> >Oh, and get Yui a pair of cat ears too.
It’s true. She’ll probably never forget.
She probably won’t ever stop reminding you either.
But…
You wouldn’t ever admit this, but…
You’ve always kind of wanted to dress up like that.
Trying on clothes is fun and dressing like that always seemed a lot of fun, too.
Back when Chigusa Iki was doing the cosplay shop you browsed some of the shelves while you waited and wanted to try it.
You didn’t, of course.
You were there as her manager – a professional.
A girl in her late twenties like you shouldn’t do such a thing, right?
Such luxuries are reserved for teenagers and college girls.
Not that you ever indulged that curiosity when you were that age.
But now you have an excuse…
“I suppose it would make it a party to remember…” you say.
“If you don’t want to, then we can think of something else…” replies Kaiba.
“No!” you say, then cough into your fist, “Ehum. No, it’s fine. It can’t be helped. After everything Yui-chan has done for us, this is but a small price to pay.”
Kaiba stares at you in silence.
“…You want to, don’t you?” she says.
Well, yes, but you don’t want to get called out on it!
”Eh? I mean, it’s for Yui-cha--” you try, but then Kaiba interrupts you.
“…M-me too…” she says, as she hides her face, “When other girls dressed at things like the cultural event during high school, I also wanted to, but I…”
She then goes quiet.
The silence lingers.
“…Dressing up seems fun, doesn’t it?” you say in an effort to break the silence.
Kaiba nods solemnly, “I want to try…”
Seems like Kaiba is a lot braver than you are, being able to voice her desires like that.
It brings to mind your very first conversation with her, so many months ago.
She said she wasn’t happy being her shy and reserved self, that she could be more like other people and unapologetically have fun.
Despite being Kaiba’s manager and being almost a decade older than her, it seems like you can learn a thing or two from her, too.
Youth is fleeting. You have to enjoy it while it lasts.
It’d be terrible to waste those years sitting idle because you’re afraid of what others may think.
If only you had been able to shoulder past that mental block when you were younger.
You might’ve been able to actually enjoy your youth instead of sitting inside and judging others.
…
But you’re not going to get those years back.
There’s only the here and now.
“Let’s do it,” you say, “It’ll be fun.”
That’s all the justification you need.
The fact that you’ll dress up in private setting does make it a little easier though.
You should probably get some things for Kitabayashi as well.
It’s her birthday after all, she should be able to have fun, too.
“We’ll pop by Isekai Cosplay after work to get some things,” you say.
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Kaiba nods eagerly, “I’m looking forward to it!”
It seems like having you in her corner has allowed Kaiba to be a little more honest with herself.
That matter settled, you continue on to share what you have planned for the debut of Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki.
Any concerns that Kaiba feels threatened by others entering her niche are swept aside, if anything she seems happy to have people to talk with about streaming.
However, you still press that it’s mostly their debut that’ll be streamed live.
Whether or not it’ll be a reoccurring thing for them will depend on the success of the streams.
Finally, you mention that Kaiba will be sent out to Yoshikawa Sailing for this week’s job to star in a short commercial to promote sailing.
She looks uncomfortable for a moment and then asks if she’ll have to be in a bikini for such a shoot.
Luckily, you can mention that Yoshikawa Sailing is a company with decent morals, so you doubt something like that will be necessary for a promotion video of a sport like that.
With that, the meeting is over and Kaiba leaves to attend the meeting with marketing on her “comeback” stream.
A short while later receive word from Matsui that all the jobs of your respective idols have been scheduled and noted down on your weekly schedule.
> All events will be summarized by default, but the ones with the most support will be written out, get some art, and you might be able to micromanage them a bit.
> Previously I tried to hard-cap it at one or two, but you can vote for as many as you want now.
>
> Events
> >1 - Kitabayashi’s surprise party (Monday evening)
> >2 - “One-day Marriage” shoot at Starscape Entertainment’s studio (Tuesday)
> >3 - Enatsu Mari’s job at Kyoto Animation for 3D tracking dance choreography (Wednesday)
> >4 - Kaiba Aoi’s job over at Yoshikawa Sailing (Thursday, morning)
> >5 - Enatsu Mari’s idol debut as a sport and fitness streamer (Thursday, late afternoon)
> >6 - Chigusa Iki’s idol debut as a cooking and health streamer (Friday)
> >7 - Write-in
>
> Winners
> >2 - “One-day Marriage” shoot at Starscape Entertainment’s studio (Tuesday)
> >5 - Enatsu Mari’s idol debut as a sport and fitness streamer (Thursday, late afternoon)
> >1 - Kitabayashi’s surprise party (Monday evening)
With the schedule set, it’s time to get to work.
You call Enatsu Mari and Chigusa Iki into your office and relay the plans for this week.
They’ll both have jobs coming up in the days to come with their formal idol debut at the end of the week.
You spend the remainder of the day sending back and forth emails with various departments.
Marketing is going to ensure there’ll be proper promotion for the new arrival of two “Mystery Idols” and have publicized the time of the respective debut streams.
Your emails are forwarded, replied to, CC’d , and end up reaching all corners of the company.
In one of your emails, you mention that they could contact Isekai Cosplay for some possible cosplay outfits for Chigusa to wear during the stream, which is met with loud complaints by the in-house stylists and costume designers.
There’s no chance in hell they will outsource such an interesting job to a third party.
It’s short notice, but Chigusa Iki’s outfit will be made by them from scratch.
One of the higher-ups, a production designer, with contacts at a recording studio pulls some strings on your behalf.
Chigusa’s show, which was supposed to be a simple camera recording a girl working in a kitchen, will end up being recorded in a studio setting where they will build up a set featuring a kitchen and will be shot by proper studio cameras.
A different employee mentions how Enatsu Mari’s debut should be recorded outside somewhere.
Perhaps some kind of sports festival or open tournament. Some sport she can promote or participate in.
If Kaiba Aoi’s entire show happens indoors, then Enatsu’s should be the opposite of that.
Inevitably, being the original sender, you end up being CC’d in all their replies.
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“I suppose people will listen to anything as long as it’s being told by a cute girl…”
“Kukuku, teaching them about health while feeding them sugar~”
“Chigusa-san’s file states she has a fairly plain idol-persona. Isn’t regular, fashionable clothing with an apron fine?”
“IT’S A COSPLAY SHOOT. A COSPLAY SHOOT. THIS IS LIKE A FREE-PASS!!!”
“Maybe like a maid uniform?”
“GEH! THAT’S SO BASIC. IT’S EDUCTIONAL, RIGHT? IT HAS TO BE A CUTE SCIENTIST OUTFIT.”
“Can we dye her hair? Maybe like a few strands? If its dye that washes out then it should be fine, right?”
“No. It’s a debut. People will expect certain features to remain the same. It should suit her idol persona.”
“HAH? POOR TASTE!!!! WHY DON’T YOU JUST SLAP CAT EARS ON HER AND BE DONE WITH IT???”
“No, she just had a shoot featuring those. It’s too soon.”
“I WAS BEING S A R C A S T I C”
“Hmm. Sent by Sawada Izumi… from costume design, right? Please report to my office.”
“I suppose this is some kind of health-promotion duo? It can work.”
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People are getting really into this.