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A year or two ago, Maya Yamato would’ve never imagined that one day, she’d be surrounded by real deal famous idols. The fact she would eventually join their ranks would’ve been out of consideration. Yet here she was, laughing and goofing off with her fellow Pastel*Palettes members, and getting to see a side of Chisato Shirasagi very few others could. She was having the time of her life, surrounded by the first friends she’d had in years.
On the other hand, Chisato couldn’t be less thrilled to spend time with Maya. Just a month ago, Chisato had been trying to stop Maya from letting her true self show. Having someone as flawed as Maya standing next to Chisato could simply ruin her career and the careers of everyone else in Pastel*Palettes! She had to make the girl more presentable by any means possible.
She kept pestering Maya into becoming more like an ideal idol, more like herself. For example, Maya dressed too tomboyish, so Chisato kept subtly urging her to alter her fashion sense. Maya laughed too strangely, so Chisato tried to get her to fake a more socially acceptable laugh. Maya’s hair was unruly, so Chisato kept giving her hair products.
Of course, not everyone could be as perfect as Chisato, and her efforts to change Maya’s personality all ultimately ended in failure. It was a given, of course, but her knowledge of what would happen in the end didn’t make the stinging pain of failure hurt any less. She refused to give up and vowed to get her way, albeit with a bit of patience involved. Yes, Chisato was going to wait things out and play the long game in exchange for permanent results.
Chisato had to play a complex game of pretend, acting all buddy-buddy with Maya and the other Pastel*Palettes members. In reality, though, her facade couldn’t be farther from how she truly felt about them. Aya Marumaya, despite being a hard worker, was too unrealistic; Hina Hikawa, despite being a genius, was too eccentric; Eve Wakamiya, despite being earnest, was too gullible; and, last of all, Maya Yamato. To Chisato, Maya was the very worst of them all.
Even Hina the nonconformist was less embarrassing to be seen with than Maya! Hina had her charms that kept the fans coming back for more, but Maya had nothing besides obscure knowledge about instruments, which didn’t attract large crowds like Hina’s strange catchphrases did. In other words, she brought absolutely nothing to the band.
Perhaps what upset Chisato most of all was that Maya hadn’t trained at all to become an idol and yet was still welcomed into Pastel*Palettes with open arms. She had originally been a temporary member of the band, but was eventually accepted due to the fact they couldn’t find another drummer. She knew nothing about what it meant to be an idol, and she never would. She was a talentless poser.
The worst part? Maya didn’t even want to join the band in the first place. She was originally a temporary member due to the lack of idol drummers. Maya was unsure of herself and didn’t know if she was cut out to be an idol. Chisato thought she was right about that, of course, and secretly wished for them to find a real, trained drummer.
They didn’t, and Pastel*Palettes worked tirelessly to change Maya’s mind to the point where she eventually conceded and agreed to play with them. While Maya never became a paragon of confidence, she believed in herself enough to go up on stage and set the tempo for the rest of the band.
That was what disturbed Chisato. Their performances all depended on Maya, and she wasn’t somebody Chisato trusted when her reputation was on the line. The most Maya ever did to look more presentable was ditch her glasses and trade them for contacts, but it seemed to stop there.
What Maya failed to understand was that being an idol was a full-time job. You didn’t stop being an idol once you went backstage. You had to maintain an appearance always, even in the comfort of your own home. She went out in public wearing these outfits that conflicted with Pastel*Palettes’ image, and her shortcomings would eventually reflect on her bandmates.
Chisato knew she needed to keep trying until Maya agreed to change her ways. It was for the best. Aya, Eve, and Hina claimed to not care what Maya was like because she was their friend or whatnot, but Chisato knew that deep down, they were lying.
If that nobody showed up and ruined everything they’d ever worked for, she knew they’d change their minds. She knew Aya would be heartbroken to realize all of her hard work as a trainee was gone all because of Maya Yamato, the idol only in name. Chisato just had to tell them what she already knew and maybe then they’d realize what had to be done.
Yes, she figured that Maya would never truly trust her, so she had to get closer with both of their bandmates first. The only way she could pull this off was by feeding the other Pastel*Palettes members a mixture of truths and lies about Maya and getting them to try and change her instead.
One person telling you to do something is a suggestion, but multiple people telling you to do something is almost a command. Maya would recognize that and behave accordingly. That was Chisato’s hypothesis, and she was depending on it to prove true. Out of all of the Pastel*Palettes members, Maya was arguably closest with Eve, so that was where Chisato decided to start.
Eve was a kind, honest girl who hated to lie or cause harm to those she loved, so Chisato had to convince her to change her ways. She told half-Finnish Eve, who was obsessed with everything Japanese, that Maya was standing in her way of mastering Japanese culture. It was a truly flimsy excuse, and when Eve asked her to elaborate, she found herself struggling for words.
“You won’t understand why until later, Eve.” Chisato maintained a poker face, perfect posture, and a neutral tone, using the tips a psychology book had taught her. Surprisingly, Eve believed her, and agreed to talk to Maya about changing her behavior. Chisato had to give her a word of warning before she got too carried away.
“You can’t start with a full makeover, Eve. Try to get her to change smaller things, like the accessories she wears. Once she’s fallen for that, then you can talk her into replacing her entire closet. The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Chisato echoed the quote her friend Kaoru had said a while back verbatim.
Chisato had to admit that she felt a bit bad for manipulating innocent Eve like this, but as soon as she remembered the reason she was doing this, all guilt instantly left her body. Maya Yamato was a disgrace to Pastel*Palettes and a threat to everything the girls had worked for.
A week later, Maya started wearing classy jewelry, and a week after that, she began to wear her contacts in public. She came to one of the band’s outings dressed in all the latest, trendiest fashion. Chisato couldn’t help but smile with delight. It was all coming together nicely.
It didn’t matter to Chisato how guilty Eve looked, or how lost Maya seemed to be. In fact, it only annoyed her. They couldn’t go out in public seeming anything but content, happy, and perfect. They were professionals, and they were constantly on the clock. Eve hadn’t even said a word this entire time, which was unusual for her. Something had to be done about those two’s strange behavior.
Chisato pulled them aside and privately chastised them for their unseemly behavior, and for the remainder of the outing, they had plastered smiles on their faces and were acceptably talkative. Chisato decided to let them be as long as they kept it under control.
Thankfully, Hina didn’t suspect anything. When they returned to the rest of the group, she welcomed them back with a real smile. Aya seemed to know what was going on, but held her tongue. Chisato just hoped she wouldn’t ask questions. After all, she wasn’t needed for the operation yet. Maybe she wouldn’t have to tell them her secret plan ever, because only letting Eve in on it seemed to be working just fine.
Months passed. Eve, formerly driven and easygoing, became withdrawn, unsure of herself, and prone to anxiety. Surely this would happen to anyone if they didn’t know what they were working to prevent. Chisato would have to tell her the truth behind everything eventually. She wasn’t sure Eve was ready for it just yet.
Maya, formerly unbearable, became complacent, proper, and agreeable, going along with whatever everyone else wanted and having no opinions of her own. Chisato was very pleased. This was exactly what she’d wanted all along. While Maya might not be acting like her authentic self anymore, she was no longer a threat to her bandmates’ careers. And what was self-expression really worth when compared to having a bright future?
One day, after practice, Chisato saw Maya crying as she looked in the mirror because she didn’t recognize the girl staring back at her. Chisato savored every tear that fell from Maya’s eyes, as they were the sign of a job well done. In the privacy of her own dorm, she laughed and laughed all night long. Oh, how joyous a sight! She’d never seen anything quite like that before.
The next person Chisato needed to fix was now-neurotic Eve, and she was going to do it all on her own. She was shocked to find that manipulation no longer worked on Eve. Chisato had pored through psychology books galore, but nothing they taught her seemed to produce results anymore. Had Eve been broken beyond repair?
If that was the case, then Eve could no longer stay in Pastel*Palettes. She had to be removed and replaced immediately. Now that Maya was fine, Eve had now become the threat standing in everyone’s way, putting their idol careers in jeopardy. One bleak, cloudy Sunday, Chisato invited Eve to tour a Shinto shrine with her, just the two of them, alone…
Naturally, she accepted. Chisato walked them off the trail, to a densely forested area where they were relatively isolated from everybody else. She didn’t like to resort to violence, but when words failed, weapons were the only things that could produce results. That was exactly what her pistol did – it fired once, and that was it. In an instant, Eve was lying completely still on the ground.
In death, Eve could no longer play a wrong note, say the wrong thing, or stray from the norm. She could no longer make simple grammatical mistakes like mixing up past and future tense. Chisato gazed at Eve’s still form thoughtfully. Had Maya not changed herself to become more like the perfect idol, this would have been her fate instead.