What does it have to do with me if they hate vests?

Of course, as a 12-year-old child, it would be meaningless for Alice Tachibana to worry too much about such adult matters.

Apart from this kind of thing, there have been some other things that have been worrying her recently.

"hungry."

“……”For example, the seemingly carefree girl next to me.

The other person's name is Chiju Natsuyo, and she is the last member to join the U149 project. Although she is only 10 years old, two years younger than herself, she has always given people an unusually mature feeling.

And that kind of familiarity made Alice Tachibana a little difficult to resist.

For example, when you first meet someone, you just introduce yourself and the other person smiles lazily and says something like, "Ah, Alice, I know, the one from Alice in Wonderland, right~"

Obviously, I have always been very concerned about the fact that my name sounds childish. I have always said that I can just call myself by my last name, Tachibana. But after she said that, even some children who used to call her Tachibana started calling her Alice. No matter how I corrected her, it was useless. Even if I debated with Chiju Natsuyo, I would be convinced by her strange theories...

I originally thought that Chizu Natsuyo was just a 10-year-old kid, and she usually looked lazy and unmotivated, so she should be at least a little worse at training.

When the training began, Alice Tachibana first confirmed that Chiju Natsuyo was indeed just an ordinary person who had no dance or vocal foundation at all. Her movements and vocal skills were completely that of an amateur among amateurs.

But she has a very strong memory. Often, after the teacher demonstrates it once, she can remember most of the content.

At the same time, Chishou Natsuyo has a strong control over her body that is completely different from her appearance, as well as almost monstrous physical strength.

Sometimes the training intensity was so great that even the 12-year-old Tachibana Alice herself could not cope with it, and other children under the age of 12 started halfway through. However, Chishou Natsuyo was always able to complete the full set of training with ease, without seeming to get red in the face or out of breath, as if what she had just done was not physical training but just a simple warm-up.

After joining the U149 project for less than half a month, Chizu Natsuyo has transformed from an ordinary person with no foundation to an idol who has obtained qualified certification from dance and vocal teachers.

Such an outstanding existence is like "other people's children", like a dark cloud hanging over Alice Tachibana's head - in the past, even the most mature Sakurai Momoka in the plan did not bring her such great pressure.

"Alice, are you hungry too?" Perhaps noticing that Alice Tachibana looked depressed, Chishou Natsuyo suddenly came up to her and asked.

"No." Tachibana Alice said loudly after being a little flustered.

"But you look a little listless. How about I treat you to cake after today's training is over?"

Chishou Natsuyo said in a friendly tone.

"I don't need it...and didn't your mother tell you not to stay outside after training!"

Alice Tachibana saw this rare opportunity and immediately spoke in a little adult-like tone.

Chishou Natsuyo shook her head, "I don't have a mother."

"what……"

Messed up.

Tachibana Alice immediately lost all her momentum. She looked at Chishou Natsuyo helplessly and apologized weakly: "I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"It's okay, don't worry about it... Even if I say this, Alice will definitely still be very concerned, so as an apology, tell me what food you hate the most, Alice."

Chishou Natsuyo said in the same tone as always.

"...Natto?"

The girl answered uncertainly.

In fact, she originally just "disliked" natto, until one day she read in a children's encyclopedia that natto was rotten beans, and then she began to hate it. She even vaguely surpassed green pepper and topped the list of hated foods.

"That's really pitiful, Alice! Natto is an invincible health food. As a fermented food, it can supplement many trace elements needed by the human body. It is also said to be good for eyesight. It has even been selected as a must-have food for the Air Force. Recently, it is said that even the Lighthouse Country is studying the medicinal value of natto! Alice who hates natto will lose a lot of fun in life."

Chishou Natsuyo said seriously.

"...Oh." Tachibana Alice looked a little confused, but because she was still in the apologetic period, she responded in agreement.

"How is it?" Chishou Natsuyo suddenly asked again.

"What?" Alice Tachibana was stunned.

"You didn't really feel anything about what I just said, Alice? You don't care at all, so even if people pity you for not being able to eat natto, you'll just feel confused."

Chishou Natsuyo continued, "My mother died when I was born, so I have no memory of her at all, and I can't empathize with maternal love at all. When I tell others that my mother is gone, they look at me with pity. I feel the same as you mentioned above, I just find it hard to understand. So don't worry about it. If you really can't accept it..."

She extended her hand and made a handshake gesture: "Then become my friend. The man in my family seems to mind that I have no friends. If you can become my friend, he should feel more at ease."

"Of course no problem." At this moment, Tachibana Alice only felt that the person Chiju Natsuyo was talking about was her father. She had completely forgotten her grudge against Chiju Natsuyo and held her hand tightly.

"If you can travel to Wonderland again next time, remember to take me with you."

"That's not the case!"

Tachibana Alice began to regret having rashly agreed to become this guy's friend...

Chapter 248 Sprouting Family

Alice Tachibana thought that Chishou Natsuyo would change after they became friends.

But the facts proved that she was overthinking. Chiju Natsuyo was still doing her own thing. However, after Alice learned about her mother's early death, she became more tolerant of Chiju Natsuyo. Many of her behaviors that she used to dislike were not so annoying now.

If you think about it carefully, Chishou Natsuyo is two years younger than me after all. Rather than being a friend, she might be more like a younger sister...

However, considering that the youngest child in the U149 project is only 9 years old, Chizu Natsuyo’s sister feeling is indeed not that strong.

"Come to think of it, why are you all still in the lounge of the Third Arts Class after the training is over?"

Tachibana Alice asked, somewhat confused.

After all, the members of U149 are all children. After the training, everyone will often disband immediately, some go home and some go out to play.

But that was not the case today. Everyone was sitting neatly in the lounge.

"Alice, don't you know? When the training ended, the general manager said he had something to announce and asked everyone to wait in the lounge."

Sakurai Momoka, who was sitting on the sofa drinking tea, explained softly to Tachibana Alice.

"Alice went to the toilet at that time..." Chishou Natsuyo on the side defended her new friend, but Alice covered her mouth before she finished speaking: "Picking flowers, just picking flowers!"

Faced with Alice Tachibana's attempt to cover up her mistake, Momoka Sakurai could only give a friendly dry laugh.

"But that must be the only thing that could make the general manager ask everyone to stay," said Alice Tachibana.

"Oh? Alice thinks so too? It should be like that..." Sakurai Momoka also showed a serious look.

The two looked at each other tacitly and spoke in unison.

"It must be about the acquisition of the Third Arts Class!"

"It must be about an agent coming here!"

"what?"

"Ah?"

While the two were stunned by the unexpected information, Chishou Natsuyo finally broke free from the seal of Tachibana Alice's white and tender palm and asked, "Alice, did you wash your hands after picking the flowers?"

"Of course I did! Why are you asking such a question? Aren't everyone looking at me with strange eyes?" Alice continued to speak loudly, not noticing that the main reason why everyone was looking at her was because she was yelling.

"Because it's Alice." Chizu Natsuyo smiled gently.

"Don't force my image to be associated with picking flowers without washing hands! This is slander, defamation, and frame-up!" Tachibana Alice loudly accused, but the other children were focusing on the strange point that 'Oh, Alice knows so many difficult words'.

"No matter what Alice becomes, she is still my friend." Chishou Natsuyo said firmly.

“Although the content alone is touching, can you please stop using this euphemism to say that I just didn’t wash my hands?”

Tachibana Alice lost her usual awkwardness of pretending to be a mature adult, and started to make noise like an ordinary child, and she herself experienced the feeling of wanting to cry but not being able to cry for the first time in a long time.

Just as Chizu Natsuyo was happily chatting with her new friend, the door of the third arts class was opened from the outside, and a figure walked in.

"Oh! It's the handsome big brother!"

The little girls' eyes lit up. Although the man's hairstyle and hair color were a bit strange, his face and temperament alone made him more handsome than ordinary male idols. Especially his sunny atmosphere, which gave people a feeling of being approachable. It was as if he came with a buff of +30% friendliness.

The calmer Sakurai Momoka and Tachibana Alice were not fooled by the handsomeness of the man, but looked at the newcomer with a bit of caution, while Chiju Natsuyo showed a rare look of surprise.

"Mr. Haruta?"

"Natsuyo, do you know him?" When Tachibana Alice heard Chishou Natsuyo call out the other person's surname, she immediately turned her head and asked.

"Ah."

Chishou Natsuyo said confidently: "He is Natsuyo's fiancé."

"What kind of plane are you using?"

Alice was shocked and complained the loudest she could today.

"The Kanto accent is not very standard." Chishou Natsuyo commented seriously, and Sakurai Momoka beside her nodded: "There is still some distance before she can debut as a comedian."

"No, no, no, that's not the problem! He would let a child as young as Xia Shi be his fiancée. This guy is dangerous no matter how you look at it!"

Alice Tachibana scolded loudly.

The girl's loud voice apparently caught the attention of Mr. Springfield.

So he asked Chishou Natsuyo cheerfully, "Who is this little guy who looks so impressive?"

"I'm not a little one!" Without waiting for Xia Shi to answer, Tachibana Alice looked at Mr. Haruta and tried to make her voice sound a little dignified: "My name is Tachibana Alice, and I'm a member of U149."

"Alice, oh, the one from Wonderland..."

"Natsushiro has already used this joke!" Tachibana Alice interrupted the other person: "Now it's Mr. Strange's turn to introduce himself."

"That's right." The strange adult smiled and continued, "Then let me introduce myself briefly. My name is Haruta Masaki, and I'm the person in charge of the newly established idol entertainment studio 'Moe Family'. We have acquired the management rights that originally belonged to the U149 project from your company, so now you are also members of the 'Moe Family'."

"I don't understand the word 'troublesome'," the little girl in a puppet costume asked curiously, "Anyway, will big brother help us in the future?"

"Well, in short, that's how it can be understood," Haruta Masaki showed a sunny and gentle smile: "From today on, I am your producer, and I will do my best to help everyone in U149 become qualified idols."

The other children began to high-five to celebrate.

"Even if you say so..."

Only Alice Tachibana still looked at Haruta Masaki with distrust: "After all, you are the guy who treats a ten-year-old girl as his fiancée. I always feel that you are like a big bad wolf who becomes a sheepdog in U149..."

Haruta Masaki did not explain that he and Chiju Natsuyo did not have that kind of relationship.

Firstly, this kind of thing is hard to explain, and secondly, forcing an explanation would give him the feeling of severing his relationship with Chishou Natsuyo. He didn't want to do something that would easily upset the delicate little guy.

"Don't worry," he just gave Alice Tachibana a thumbs up, "I'm a believer in 'not attacking children under fourteen'."

"This person sounds too realistic and makes it seem dangerous!" Tachibana Alice, who was only two years away from turning fourteen, couldn't help but complain.

Chapter 249: Traceless Extension Spell (Small)

Haruta Masaki took out a thick stack of documents.

"So the next step is to come up with a plan for how we're going to carry out our activities?" There was a hint of anticipation in Alice Tachibana's eyes.

"No, it's a waiver regarding the U149 project."

Suddenly, Haruta Masaki received more distrustful looks.

However, he still read all the documents and then took out a plan for the future development of U149.

But the members of U149 are still just children after all, and the starting age is 9 and the upper limit is 12 years old, so this time he found that several children had already dozed off after reading a few sentences.

Faced with Haruta Masaki's half-smile, although she felt a little reluctant, Tachibana Alice had no choice but to carefully wake up her sleeping companions.

However, Haruta Masaki did not continue to talk to these children about the development plan, which was as boring as a mystery to them.

He simply threw aside the stack of plans he had spent a lot of time working on and announced loudly, "Let's go to the amusement park!"

The pages of the plan book fell like snowflakes, reflecting the girls' completely different reactions - there were girls like Tachibana Alice and Sakurai Momoka who were more mature and looked stunned, there were also girls who didn't know what was going on but cheered when they heard that they could go to the amusement park, and there were also girls like Chizu Natsuyo who didn't care or didn't react so had no expression...

The second type is the majority, and it is obvious that children are very happy to go to the amusement park.

"Wait, wait a minute, Producer, are you serious?" Tachibana Alice couldn't help but ask, "You suddenly want to go to an amusement park at this time..."

"OK."

Haruta Masaki nodded happily. "Because in my opinion, going out with everyone is the best way to get closer than using boring data or rhetoric. What do you think, Alice~"

Also, although I don't sympathize with these little ones, after all, the U149 project itself is a project with a certain degree of humanity. If they didn't want to, they wouldn't join the project. But just like those children who have parents' high expectations of their children, after joining the project, the U149 members have to learn and work harder than other children of the same age. I'm afraid they haven't been able to relax and have fun for quite a while.

Precisely because of this, even if it was just to consider the other party's mental health, Haruta Masaki did not plan to start working right away - unlike the U149 that was almost operated in a laissez-faire manner before, because Mengya Family only has two "products" himself and U149, there will be a steady supply of resources when the operation officially starts, which means that these children will not be as idle as before, and will be correspondingly busy, so necessary relaxation is very important.

"Please call me Ju!" Ju Alice corrected him at first with great care, then she was still a little confused: "And I always feel that..."

However, there is no need for Masaki Haruta to persuade the other party himself. The other members of U149 have already reached a consensus on Alice Tachibana.