They all pushed me!

Abiko Samejima casually talked about some past events before ACE was formed. After all, MEM啾 and Kitagawa Rumi were not familiar with her before, so talking about these things could increase their understanding of each other.

"At that time, Ruby was also planning to sign up for the Toho Cinderella Selection, which is as famous as the All-Japan National Beauty Contest. MEM should have heard of this."

"Well, it's Toho Film Company's talent show audition. I remember that Masami Nagasawa was one of the winners in the previous sessions."

"It was Ryo who came out and stopped Ruby from doing this at that time."

Thinking of the night when Kitagawa Rumi excitedly bombarded her with dozens of messages, Samejima Abiko couldn't help but sigh again with a little melancholy.

"Ryo told Ruby at that time that she only needed to shine on the stage as an idol, and leave all the other work to him."

"Although I'm not sure if the latter part is Ruby's own imagination or exaggeration, she has this tendency anyway..."

Samejima Abiko seemed to feel ashamed of herself. Her expressionless face was now filled with a rare hint of shyness. She tried hard to imitate Kitagawa Ryo's tone:

"Ruby doesn't need to participate in any beauty contest, because Ruby is already the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Of course, there is no need for Ruby to sign up for the Toho Cinderella audition, because Ruby has never been a Cinderella who needs a little magic to shine. She has been a princess wearing crystal shoes from the beginning."

After saying these two sentences, the two fell into a long silence.

After a long while, Samejima Abiko, who had been boasted about many times before and had developed a high resistance, finally spoke again:

"...Oh, and then there was Ruby's confident speech on "Hatsushin". It was basically because of this."

"That's really, uh, should I say enviable?"

MEM啾 also came to his senses at this time and smiled awkwardly.

For a seventeen-year-old girl like her who was past the age of believing in fairy tales, just by listening to these words that sounded like coaxing a child, she couldn't help but draw a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment on the floor with her toes.

"So I never worried that Ruby and Ryo would actually have a cold war."

Samejima Abiko spread her hands as a matter of course:

"Ruby is so easy to please."

"How should I put it... like a little kid who has no idea that he is deeply loved."

-------------------------------------

At this moment, Rumi, who was identified by Kitagawa Ryo as the most beautiful girl in the world, the little princess, and the only designated single recommendation, had just finished brushing her teeth and was happily tying her hair in front of the mirror in front of the sink.

The girl had a hairband lightly in her mouth, and her hands were deftly braiding a few strands of long hair behind her head. Her upper body was naturally straight, and her short-sleeved white shirt was slightly lifted up because of the movement and posture of her hands, forming a slight arc in front of her chest, and the swaying hem also revealed a small section of her white and slender waist and abdomen.

"Xiao Qian, you can get ready to go."

After combing her hair, Kitagawa Rumi spoke to Kurokawa Akane who was watching the morning news on TV in the room.

"I see."

Akane Kurokawa picked up the remote control to turn off the TV in the room, then put on her small bag and went to change her shoes first.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Qian, what did you bring in your bag? It's so bulging."

Kitagawa Rumi, who had been resurrected after a night, was looking forward to today's shooting. She no longer looked as sick as when she first arrived yesterday. She asked Kurokawa Akane with full energy.

"These are the books I brought here to read."

Akane Kurokawa opened the bag slightly and showed Kitagawa Rumi several books on acting and psychology inside.

"You're really working hard. I remember Xiao Qian was competing with that Arima Kana for some role recently. Come on, try to beat her and get the role."

"...Well, I'll try my best."

It was clearly a very ordinary conversation and encouragement from a good friend, but perhaps because yesterday's scene was still echoing in her mind, Kurokawa Akane always felt that something was not right about the conversation. After hesitating for a while, she agreed.

Kitagawa Rumi thought that her slight shock was a sign of lack of self-confidence. After all, in the past three years, Kurokawa Akane had never defeated Arima Kana in an audition. Therefore, she moved closer and whispered to comfort and encourage her:

"It's okay, it's okay. I believe Xiao Qian can do it. After all, Xiao Qian's acting skills are absolutely fine. And this is not just my opinion. When I performed in Antigone before, didn't many people praise Xiao Qian?"

As a good friend, she did watch Kurokawa Akane's performance carefully at the time, and was even able to repeat a line from Antigone played by her:

"[I want to bury my brother. Even if I die for it, it is an honorable thing. I obey the sacred law of heaven and commit a crime, but I can be with him. The beloved will accompany the beloved. I will always be pleased with the ghosts in the underworld, which is better than pleasing mortals.] When Xiao Qian performed this part, it was great. Many audiences applauded."

"Woo - Ruby, you still have to shoot a music video today, so hurry up and get out of here, or you'll be late. I saw Abiko and the others next door get up early."

Feeling a little embarrassed by the praise, Kurokawa Akane's face turned red again. She quickly stood up, pushed Kitagawa Rumi's back and walked out, as if she wanted to quickly skip this topic.

"That's true, and Ryo will come to see us today."

Kitagawa Rumi was easily distracted. She touched her lips with the index finger of her right hand, and her rosy red eyes were filled with sparkling longing.

"Didn't Ruby reconcile with Ryo-senpai?"

Noticing that Kitagawa Rumi still did not call Kitagawa Ryo "brother", Kurokawa Akane asked with some confusion:

"Are you still sulking with Liang-senpai? That's why you don't call me brother."

"Xiao Qian, you don't understand. It's because we've made peace that you don't want to call me brother."

Kitagawa Rumi waved her hand casually:

"Of course, when there are many people around and in public, I will still call Liang 'brother'."

"Whoa whoa."

Although she still wasn't very clear about the deeper meaning of the change in the title from 'brother' to 'Liang', Akane Kurokawa lowered her head with a little disappointment, as if she suddenly realized that something she longed for was no longer wanted by others.

It was obvious that she had been using the experiential acting method a few months ago, replacing the dead brother in the play "Antigone" with the image of Kitagawa Ryo, and then she almost perfectly expressed part of Antigone's own emotions.

Although she really wanted her good friend Rumi to reconcile with Kitagawa Ryo, Kurokawa Akane still inevitably felt a little uncomfortable at this time, a sour and uncomfortable feeling.

I was originally still resisting in my heart, but after Magana's "bad boy" remarks yesterday, it somehow became easier to accept and resist.

But this thought was immediately suppressed by Kitagawa Rumi, who turned around with a bright smile on her face.

"But I won't be worse than Xiao Qian!"

"Just watch my performance carefully today."

Her best friend was now smug and confident, with the aura of an idol who wanted to be noticed.

Comparing with yesterday's Kitagawa Rumi, Kurokawa Akane can clearly see that this drastic change is just because of one person.

Kitagawa Rumi was skipping in front, humming the single "The Sun and Sunflowers" for which she was going to shoot the MV today:

"The one with a smile as dazzling as the sun is you."

The relationship between the sun and the sunflower is that when you are with me, I look up and never blink; when you are not with me, I lower my head and see no one.

Chapter 25: Lovely

The end of summer also happens to be the end of the sunflower flowering season. If Kitagawa Rumi and her friends had come a few days later, they would probably only be able to taste ripe sunflower seeds.

On the surface, it was Saito Kyoko who made the contact, but in fact, the shooting team led by Kitagawa Ryo had arrived at the shooting location one step ahead of time. The production team including photographers and assistants, costume and makeup, props artists, etc. had dozens of people in total, all of whom were front-line practitioners in the industry with rich experience.

Although it is the first debut MV, the production budget of most idol groups is actually around 5 million yen. If it is an underground idol produced on an assembly line, it is normal to cut another zero from this number.

But obviously, the budget that Beichuan Liang prepared for his sister was definitely more than that. It would be better to say that he did not consider the budget at the beginning, and all standards were benchmarked against the best in the industry.

Even Hoshino Ai, who only came over to glance at the list of the production team, felt a little jealous of this kind of unlimited support. After knowing that Kitagawa Ryo would go to the shooting site today, she said a little awkwardly that she would not go with them, so as to avoid letting Rumi see her unhappy again.

"So where is Ai going today?"

Kitagawa Ryo, who arrived at the shooting site earlier than ACE and the others, greeted everyone and began chatting with Hoshino Ai, who was still sleeping in her hotel room.

"Walking around Miyazaki? I remember that Ryo's junior named Kana is shooting a tourism promotional video in Miyazaki these two days. I'll just follow her."

"Okay, I'll go tell Kana."

After agreeing, Kitagawa Ryoma immediately sent a message to Arima Kana, who quickly replied saying that there was no problem.

After finishing Hoshino Ai's schedule for today, Kitagawa Ryo, who had just put away his phone, saw the arrival of the ACE trio.

"Good morning, brother."

After seeing Beichuan Liang sitting on the side, Beichuan Rumi rushed to him and greeted him with a smile:

"When did my brother leave yesterday? I thought I would see him still holding my hand and sleeping beside my bed when I woke up in the morning."

"...No, if I have to sit like this all night, Ruby should be considerate of my waist."

Beichuan Liang complained a little helplessly. Although his waist didn't get much rest last night, he really needed some understanding.

"Well - then as compensation, you must watch my performance carefully today, brother."

"Don't worry, I won't even blink."

Beichuan Liang pretended to be exaggerated and stretched out two fingers to support his eyelids. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his sister with a smile.

"Pfft, there's no need to be so exaggerated."

Amused by Beichuan Liang's action, Beichuan Rumi also laughed cheerfully and waved at him:

"Then I'm going to go put on makeup and change clothes. Come to think of it, I have two sets of costumes for today's performance, but I think they both look good."

"That's because we have to shoot the plot part and the song and dance part of the MV separately. Come on, Ruby."

Beichuan Liang blinked his left eye at his sister, then reached out and patted her head encouragingly:

"I'll always be watching you."

“Hmmmm…Hmmmm!”

-------------------------------------

After Kitagawa Rumi happily floated to the dressing room like a butterfly, producer Kaburagi Katsuya quietly came to Kitagawa Ryo and said slowly:

“It’s different again.”

"What's different?"

"It's a bit mysterious, probably similar to aura."

Kaburagi Katsuya took out a cigarette case from his pocket, but because he was at the shooting site, he hesitated for a while and did not take out the lighter. He just held an unlit cigarette in his mouth, stared at Kitagawa Rumi in the distance and said:

"When Ruby was shooting the MVs for the three songs before, her style was not like this. Let's put it this way, because the gloomy atmosphere she showed in front of the camera was too eye-catching, we even considered whether to use "Mermaid Princess" as the debut single, which was more suitable for her style at the time."

“But Samejima and MEM-chu are not good at this kind of performance, and considering the final overall style of the group, they finally chose “The Sun and Sunflowers”.”

"The song 'Sun and Sunflower' is more adaptable to various styles. It can handle the style of innocent summer love, but it can also be made into a song of unrequited love, similar to the feeling of 'summer is over'."

"Regarding the filming and production of the MV, we have also drawn up several plans in sequence."

Beichuan Liang nodded in agreement and replied with a smile:

"After all, how a music video is shot depends on the actual situation on the day, so just decide on the style and framework in advance."

"Well, but it looks like today's shooting style will be the first type of bright and lively style."

Kaburagi Katsuya raised his eyebrows at Kitagawa Ryo, with a hint of mischief in his smile:

"That kid still likes you so much. Her expression just now is completely different from the previous few days."

Although he knew that the word "like" in Kaburagi Katsuya's words did not have any special meaning, Beichuan Ryo still suddenly remembered the long kiss yesterday, and unconsciously felt a little strange in his heart. After a long while, he hesitated and replied:

“Yes….”

The two chatted for a while, and Kitagawa Rumi, who had already put on makeup and changed her clothes, trotted over again and turned around in front of Kitagawa Ryo. There was a sunflower pattern on the hem of her pure white skirt:

"Brother, how do you like this dress?"

"nice."

Beichuan Liang smiled and reached out to help straighten her collar:

"After changing clothes and waiting for the shooting to start, it's best not to run around like this. After all, we are in the garden. If you get too much dust on your body, it will easily cause trouble for the costume designer and makeup artist."

"I know—alright."

Kitagawa Rumi was in a good mood after receiving the praise. She pouted a little proudly, and her lips, which were painted with lipstick, looked tender and tempting.

Because it was necessary to avoid as much as possible the sense of disharmony in the age difference of the ACE trio appearing on the screen at the same time, the makeup artist designed a look for Kitagawa Rumi that deliberately highlighted a sense of maturity, slightly suppressing her childishness. Now she looks like a junior high school student of thirteen or fourteen years old.

She smiled coquettishly at Beichuan Liang, making him gradually realize the reality that was happening.

Ruby is slowly growing from a child into a beautiful...cute girl.

Chapter 26: I Will Be Brave

While Kitagawa Rumi's MV shooting was proceeding in an orderly manner, on the other side of Miyazaki Prefecture, Hoshino Ai also successfully met up with Arima Kana.

Because she has been in the L哴ALALAI troupe for the past two years, Hoshino Ai is more familiar with Kurokawa Akane, like Kitagawa Rumi, of these two juniors of Kitagawa Ryo. On the contrary, she has only met Arima Kana, the 'second Kitagawa Ryo' who has been touted by the industry.

However, due to his close relationship with Kitagawa Ryo, the relationship between the two of them was not too awkward or unfamiliar.

"Then please take good care of me today, Kana - I think it's okay for you to call me that."