Since she’d become an idol, naturally she had to have a manager, and as time went on, most idols would also pick up people like nutritionists to join their team.
There was no doubt about it: even though Yurika was still a newly debuted idol, she definitely had a manager.
“Hello, Yurika-sama.”
Nanahara Nadeshiko was dressed in an OL outfit, a pair of serious black-framed glasses on her face, doing her absolute best to project the image of a capable career woman.
But look a little closer and the thick, undisguisable excitement seeping out from between her brows was impossible to hide.
“Starting today, I’m your manager.”
“Get me someone else.”
Yurika looked coldly at Nanahara Nadeshiko, pulled out her phone, and dialed Aleister, decisively and without hesitation declaring Nanahara Nadeshiko’s doom.
“Wa… wait, Yurika-sama!!!”
She’d only just finished daydreaming about her future of striving side by side with Yurika, and before she could even put any of it into action it had been so mercilessly snuffed out.
Panic flooded Nanahara Nadeshiko’s face.
She lunged in a single stride to stand right in front of Yurika, flustered, trying to snatch the phone out of her hands.
“Why are you rejecting me, Yurika-sama!?”
“I don’t need a chijo as my manager.”
Yurika looked at Nanahara Nadeshiko the way you’d look at a sow in heat.
Nanahara Nadeshiko hadn’t actually done anything substantively bad to her, but for some reason, every time Yurika looked at her now, an unsavory thought would surface in her mind unbidden.
She somehow always felt like Nanahara Nadeshiko would steal her laundry one of these days.
“I get the feeling that one day you’re going to do something nasty with the clothes I’ve changed out of.”
“H… how could that be, Yurika-sama?”
Nanahara Nadeshiko’s eyes shifted away evasively.
After a brief moment of self-hypnosis, she put on a firm gaze again, looked at Yurika, patted her chest, which had already started to develop, and hurriedly showed off her merits as a manager.
“Yurika-sama, you should know very well that I’m the future heir of the Nanahara Conglomerate. I’ve already undergone a great deal of business training and I’m someone fully capable of handling negotiations on my own. As your manager, I won’t let you down!”
“Business and personal life are two different things.”
Yurika pursed her lips and crossed her legs on the sofa.
Ever since learning from Aleister that her idol path was now unavoidable, her behavior in private had started getting a little brazen.
“Why don’t you tell me how you plan to market me first?”
“Of course!”
As if she’d glimpsed hope, the fire in Nanahara Nadeshiko’s eyes reignited.
She turned slightly, and suddenly a thick stack of documents appeared in her hands.
She slapped them down onto the coffee table in the reception room, pulled a few of them out, and began explaining to Yurika.
“First is Yurika-sama’s positioning as an idol. Your cold, aloof aura is practically a natural gift, and it’s already well known throughout Tokiwadai. So that aura definitely needs to be preserved; it can also serve as your main image going forward.”
“Mm.”
Yurika had thought about this too, and nodded in agreement.
“Go on.”
“Next, as an idol, Yurika-sama also needs your own moe point. Although I think Yurika-sama is already plenty moe as is, the idol market is fiercely competitive, so we should prepare just in case.”
Nanahara Nadeshiko pushed up her glasses, and her whole face came alive.
“So, Yurika-sama, I think your biggest selling point should be gap moe!”
“Gap… moe?”
Yurika’s understanding of this sort of thing didn’t run deep.
In fact, what she cared about most was food-related programs; she didn’t have a clue about idol activities and such.
So she tilted her head, puzzled.
“What’s that?”
“Yes yes yes!!! That’s exactly it!!!”
But Nanahara Nadeshiko didn’t directly answer Yurika’s question.
Instead she suddenly broke into a fanatical expression, like a frenzied fan who’d just spotted their idol making an entrance.
“On the surface, Yurika-sama is as cold and aloof as an unattainable flower, but on the inside, she’s actually a ditzy kid. That kind of gap moe can draw in fans by the truckload!”
“Is it really as dramatic as you make it sound…”
Startled by Nanahara Nadeshiko’s sudden burst of fervor, Yurika shrank back a little, feeling like she couldn’t get too close to her.
“Besides, even if you wanted me to act adorably clueless, I wouldn’t know how.”
“Yurika-sama only needs to keep doing what you normally do. And you actually show a ditzy side quite a lot already; you just haven’t noticed.”
Nanahara Nadeshiko gave a light cough, showing off her stalker-level competence.
Things Yurika hadn’t even noticed about herself, Nanahara Nadeshiko knew clear as day.
As a manager she passed with flying colors, but for some reason Yurika just felt a chill down her spine.
“During programs, whenever we need to get a better reaction on the show, I’ll hold up cue cards for you backstage. Just perform according to what’s on the cards and I guarantee there won’t be any problems at all!”
“Is… is that so?”
Yurika felt like her brain was struggling to keep up with Nanahara Nadeshiko’s train of thought, and her expression turned a little awkward.
Watching Yurika like this, a glint of light flashed in Nanahara Nadeshiko’s eyes.
Honestly, a slightly ditzy Yurika like this was already plenty appealing.
“Then there’s Yurika-sama’s path as an idol. Personally, I lean toward an actress-singer dual track!”
Nanahara Nadeshiko pulled a few more sheets out of the thick stack of documents, glancing over the summary as she explained.
“With an aura like Yurika-sama’s, many roles can be perfectly portrayed without needing any particularly strong acting skills. This not only sheds the ‘pretty vase’ label but also makes your image leave a stronger impression. But since that aura does limit your acting range, pairing it with a singing track for two-way development is bound to push your popularity to its peak!”
“P… probably…”
Yurika felt like her head was about to spin.
Just as expected, she really was more suited to eating.
All this idol stuff simply didn’t fit her at all.
“So, Yurika-sama, what do you think of my plan?”
Seeing that Yurika seemed to approve of her plan, Nanahara Nadeshiko’s face lit up with delight.
There was nothing more thrilling than having your idol approve of you.
Though Nanahara Nadeshiko had set her sights on being Yurika’s manager, she was, in truth, also Yurika’s diehard fan.
“If you agree, then please sign me on?”
“Fine, I guess it’s you then…”
Yurika rubbed her temples.
She didn’t know why, but some inexplicable instinct kept telling her Nanahara Nadeshiko was a chijo.
Still, after hearing Nanahara Nadeshiko’s plan just now, Yurika had to admit the woman really knew what she was doing, and besides, she had no real misconduct on her record.
So Yurika didn’t give her a hard time.
“Let’s sign then.”
“Thank you, Yurika-sama!”
Nanahara Nadeshiko stood up excitedly and bowed to Yurika.
“I’ll definitely help you become the most popular idol in all of Academy City… eh?”
Because she’d stood up with a bit too much force, a photo slipped out of the pocket of her OL outfit, landing, by sheer coincidence, right on the coffee table in front of Yurika.
“What’s this?”
Yurika blinked, reaching out to pick up the photo from the table.
And there, plain as day in the photo, was Yurika changing clothes in the locker room before P.E. class.
“…I think I’ll change managers after all.”
“N-nooo—!!!”