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“...Really?”
Under Sodachi’s judgemental gaze, Sakiko had an uncharacteristic blush of shame.
“The label insisted. It’s a joint marketing campaign with MyGo!!!!! and several other bands. It’s out of my hands.”
Nobody else had the apprehension that Sodachi did. In fact, Nyamu and Umiri were already getting dressed. All it had taken them to agree to this was the promise that they would get to keep the clothes after. They were all designer brands, so they didn’t hesitate.
Mutsumi, on the other hand, was hesitating. Sodachi couldn’t read her face, so she wasn’t sure if she was feeling apprehension or if she was waiting to see how the argument went. Next to her, Uika also hesitated, but Sodachi knew that she was holding onto every one of Sakiko’s words.
“The label insisted nothing. I know your family owns the company. They haven’t been able to force anything on us before this, so why is this different?”
Sakiko frowned. She hesitated for a moment, then admitted, “Well, one of the other bands involved is Morfonica, so…”
Sodachi rolled her eyes. “We’ve done promotions with Morfonica before. What makes this different?”
Sakiko’s blush deepened. She touched her index fingers together in a fidgety manner. Sodachi was close to the truth. She didn’t say anything more, but she levied her gaze against Sakiko and waited for that to do its job.
Eventually, Sakiko broke. With a whimper, she admitted, “Uika said I would look cute…”
Sodachi’s shoulders fell with disappointment. Of course that’s what it came down to. She sighed. “I don’t have a choice in the matter, then, do I?” She turned to Nyamu and asked, “Can you help me with my makeup?”
Nyamu held up her hands to show off her fake nails. “Sorry, can’t! Just got these on.” Her nails were too long to do much of anything. It was an easy excuse, but that didn’t make Sodachi less frustrated.
She turned to Umiri. Without saying anything, Umiri held up her hands in the same way Nyamu had.
Sodachi turned to Uika. Now that the argument was over, she was busy getting ready. “Uika. When you’re done, can you help me?”
Uika smiled. “Of course!”
With that dealt with, Sodachi started getting dressed. The clothes had been picked out by the team in charge of the cross-band promotion. Each outfit was coordinated to the person it was made for. Considering how many bands were involved, Sodachi had to respect the effort involved. There were dozens of unique outfits.
That didn’t mean Sodachi had to like the outfit that had been picked out for her. There were all kinds of things she disliked about the outfit. The blazer felt childish. The loose socks were uncomfortable. There were so many accessories and she had no idea what to do with any of them. The skirt was so short that with the slightest breeze, her panties would be shown to the world. All in all, it was something that Sodachi wouldn’t have been seen wearing in a million years.
Some of the accessories were cute, but even then, it felt overbearing. Mathematical symbols as hair clips might be the thing she wore if she had an entirely different personality. Maybe she would consider it if she got a lobotomy.
At least fake nails weren’t mandatory. No, Nyamu and Umiri actually wanted to wear them.
Once she was finished getting dressed, Uika helped her with her makeup. Sodachi was usually light on her makeup, so it was jarring to see her face so made up. She didn’t look like herself. Uika, as a former idol, was quite skilled with make-up, but that skill felt wasted on Sodachi.
Whatever. It was a job. Sodachi was doing this so that she could pay her bills. If she needed to humiliate herself for the enjoyment of others, she would. She didn’t have standards.
By the time Uika was done with her, everyone else was done. Nyamu was filming a vlog, while the others were killing time. They all seemed much more happy with things than Sodachi was. Even Mutsumi seemed more at home in her own skin than Sodachi. If that wasn’t a sign of how poor a fit this really was, then what would be?
The band left their changing room and headed over to the studio. Due to the high number of bands involved, it was decided that it was easier to break it up group by group. Naturally, Ave Mujica was paired with MyGo!!!!! All five of those girls looked like naturals in their outfits. Raana was perhaps the closest thing Sodachi had to an ally in discomfort, but even she didn’t seem too bothered by it.
Sodachi was the odd one out.
There were a lot of themed shoots that would happen. Tomori and Uika did a shoot together. Raana, Mutsumi, and Anon did a shoot together. The former members of Crychic did a shoot together.
Sodachi was, again, the odd one out. MyGo!!!!! didn’t have any members who played instruments comparable to hers. Neither did she have a personal connection to any of them. They were glorified strangers, friends of friends who she only sometimes talked to. The best anyone could do to fit her into a shot was via color coordination. It was a good thing that MyGo!!!!! was a blue-coded band. That gave her something to do. There were also pictures of Ave Mujica wearing their masks with their outfits, but that was just a band picture. They took those all the time.
Well, normally when they took those pictures, Sodachi didn’t need to worry about her panties being seen by strangers, but it wasn’t an unfamiliar position to be in, at least.
When they stopped for lunch, the photographer let them look at some of the pictures that had already been taken. Most of the pictures taken looked good. They were, after all, shot by a professional team. They didn’t come cheap, but you got what you paid for.
But while everyone else’s pictures looked fine, good even, Sodachi couldn’t help but frown when she saw hers. She had tried to play to the mood, with direction from the photographer’s assistants. However, it was a vacant smile. It didn’t suit Sodachi. It looked strained, but if anything else, it looked stupid. It made Sodachi look like a girl without much going on in her head.
Maybe she’d already gotten that lobotomy and she didn’t realize it.
She handed the pictures back and did her best to hide her disgust. The photographer might get the wrong message if he noticed her with that kind of expression. It was herself she took issue with, not the pictures. There was an important distinction there.
Now that she had gotten used to the outfit, the rest of the day was easier. A lot of her parts were done earlier in the day, anyway. Once she finally got the okay that she was done, Sodachi took that as her chance to begin loosening the outfit. She started taking off accessories and loosening the buttons on her layers. She was even able to sit back and take a more comfortable position.
It wasn’t until she heard Nyamu snickering that she realized what she looked like. She was like a porn parody of a gyaru. She hadn’t even realized that her bra was visible, but that cemented the look.
As soon as she realized, she began to correct herself. She redid the buttons on her layers, sat up properly, and brushed her skirt to ensure that nobody could see her underwear.
That didn’t stop Nyamu from teasing her about it.
Sodachi had a feeling that the way the day was supposed to go was that, at the end, she would learn a lesson. She would decide that dressing as a gyaru wasn’t that bad after all and maybe even consider dressing like that in her own time. That was not the case. Once she was allowed to leave, she let out a sigh of relief at being allowed to wear real clothes again. She just hoped that Sakiko wouldn’t start planning concerts around those outfits.
Then again, knowing that pervertess, it was probably inevitable.