[ES!!] Fuyume Hanamura – Idol Story 2
You can see Fuyume Hanamura’s profile on the Wiki.
Season: Spring
Location: Inside ES, Simple Studio
2nd year of ES’s establishment…1
…………
…………
(What do I do…)
(The newcomer model… Hanamura-san, I think? The work staff told me, “Takamine-kun, as the senior here, give this kid some pointers about the job”…)
(And now it’s been twenty minutes of silence since the staff asked that from me.)
…………
(I-I have to teach them what to do, just like I was told to… Even though I’m not good at that sorta thing, I am still the senior here…)
(But it’s just way too impossible for me. I can barely stand the thought.)
(This kid is giving off a huge “don’t talk to me” vibe… Like, they’ve just been mumbling to themselves here and there while on their phone…)
(And sometimes they take selfies and post them somewhere, probably social media… I think?)
(It’s like they’re making their own world.)
(It’s way too scaryy~… I don’t wannaa~… I don’t wanna approach them~…)
(And anyway… This kid heard the staff say that they’re entrusting me to guide them, so they should be aware of it too.)
(So shouldn’t they be the one to approach me and say, “Please guide me, Senpai!” or something? Isn’t that common etiquette?)
……Ah.
…!? W-What? What’s wrong…?
…They’re calling.
(Huh, what? Are they the kind that can hear voices you’re not supposed to hear? Like, someone who hallucinates voices coming from above?)2
It looks like it’s Yume’s turn.
(Ah— It’s true. The staff are calling for them. The photo shoot’s about to start.)
(What am I gonna do… I didn’t guide them at all.)
(But from what I’ve heard, this kid is a famous non-professional model…? Like, a cos…player, or something? So…)3
(I don’t really have to give them pointers like some arrogant know-it-all for things to go okay, right?)
(They know how to do this job, right? I mean, they seem to have way too much confidence in themselves, so…?)
Fu-fu-fu. Yume will do Yume’s absolute best, you’ll see.
Today’s another day where Yume will gladly invite everyone into Yume’s world of dreams.4
Location: Drink Stand
Sob, sob… sob, sob sob…
(What do I do now…)
(This kid had way too much confidence and pretty much nothing else~…)
(They don’t know how a modeling job works at all, or actually, it’s more like… they tried to get through this whole shoot with the way they’d do things in their non-professional modeling days…)
(And I don’t know what set them off, but they just kept snapping at one of the staff members throughout the entire session. The moment I thought they went quiet, they suddenly start cursing like hell at the person, practically denying everything the person stands for, even their humanity—)
(On top of all that, they then went on to complain about the lighting’s position, the outfits, and everything else…)
(And instead wore an outfit they brought, demanding the staff to take a good picture of them in the cutest angle…)
(Since it was just argument after argument, the photo shoot had to be put to a stop… Then when they realized that their point of view won’t do, they started crying.)
(I was told to motivate them by persuading them somehow, but — is that even supposed to be my job…? Isn’t that more of a manager’s role or something?)
(Actually, no— If I had taught them how to do this job from the very start, this whole mess probably wouldn’t have happened.)
(I’m also at fault here, so maybe I do have to do something, but…)
Midori-sama.
Huh? Um, what is i—… Wait, “Midori-sama”?5
Yume saw you, right there in a magazine. Yume thought, “so beautiful”, “just like a prince”. Fufu.
So, it’s “Midori-sama”. Because of oujisama — A prince.6 Fufufu.
Of course, Yume’s prince is one person and one person only, so you aren’t qualified to be called that—
But there’s no sin to being beautiful, so. Fufufu.
(Whaat~…? What does that meaaan~…? I dunno what they’re saying at all, are all young kids like this nowadays…?)
(Hey, wait a second— I thought they were sobbing with their face covered, but they actually seem to be doing just fine? Were they fake crying…?)
Melon soda, ume kelp tea, roasted coffee.
…? Huh? What’s that, an incantation?
What else… There was more in the drink Esu said he found at the end of his adventure…
I-If you mix all those things together, you won’t be able to bear the taste of the drink, y’know?
Yume can drink it. Yume will drink it. Yume wants to experience Esu’s tale first-hand.
Time to drink. Gulp, gulp…
……— ……
…………
Ahh, see, it really did end up tasting awful… You can’t drink something like that. Just the way it looked was bad enough.
Here, you can spit it out in this paper cup.
Huh, what? I don’t get how we got to an apology…?
Yume did it again. Yume acted selfish. Because of that, this job isn’t going well, and even Midori-sama got scolded.
That’s why, sorry.
Ah, yeah, well— It’s true that all of it was your faul— I mean, um, I’m also sorry for not teaching you anything, even though I was supposed to…
I failed you as a senior, didn’t I…
It’s fine. Yume believes that, when there’s something Yume can’t stand — then no matter what Midori-sama could’ve said, Yume would’ve felt irritated and ignored Midori-sama.
Yume has always been like this. Always selfish. That’s the only part about Yume that’s like a princess.
But, still. Sorry. The staff member Yume was clashing with is the same person who came to one of Yume’s photography sessions before and acted very arrogant.
They handed out their business card and acted like they were the professional one… It was just the worst; the moment they started leading the place, the atmosphere became awful.
Even though a photography session is Yume’s very own world…
That frustrated and sickened Yume so much, Yume could never forget it. When Yume saw that person’s face again, Yume exploded.
Yume couldn’t stand the thought of being projected in that person’s eyes, being interpreted however they like in their head, as if Yume is their plaything… That’s why, um, sorry.
The truth is, Yume never wanted to trouble Midori-sama.
Yume wanted to get along with you… Yume wanted to talk to you, but it felt embarrassing and nerve-wracking… Yume didn’t know what to do.
Midori-sama looked like he was in a bad mood the whole time… And a very clearly “don’t talk to me” vibe.
(Ahh—)
(Huh, I see… This kid felt the same way as I did… Yeah, of course they’d feel nervous on their first real professional job.)
(And I was just like that on my first day at the job, too, so how did I ever think otherwise…)
(Nah, in fact, that’s probably exactly why I was entrusted with this role — ‘Cause they thought I’d understand how this kid feels.)
(I really am just hopeless. I never, ever grow.)
Hanamura-san.
Yes.
If you feel a little calmer after drinking something, how about we go and apologize to the staff together?
Don’t wanna apologize.
Uwah—… Yeah, I get it. Alright, if you want, I could ask if they could remove the staff member you said you hate from this job.
We have the right to make those sort of requests, at least. We don’t have to do a job that we don’t want to do.
…………
But if we don’t do our job properly, then the other people that Hanamura-san doesn’t hate will be troubled, too.
We’ll be hated by everyone, y’know? We’ll be seen as people they “don’t ever want to work with”.
Don’t wanna be hated.
Then let’s make sure to apologize. After we’re done with that, let’s do our job the best that we can.
I know I’m late to this, but I’ll even teach you how to do this job. I’ll properly guide you through it — I’m the senior here, after all.
Honestly, it’s a pain, though… I mean, I’m nobody special enough to act like a know-it-all mentor for others, not to mention that I’m not good at talking.
Mm… Yume is also not good at it. Yume is just speaking normally, but everyone always looks confused. Strange.
Oh, you’ve been talking normally this whole time…? You really are just making your very own world, huh…
(—Wait, crap, I said it out loud. Hanamura-san might get angry. They were probably pampered back in their non-professional world… They seem to loathe being rejected.)
Fufufu. Thank you, Midori-sama.
(Huh? Eh…? Their reaction is surprisingly okay…? I really just don’t get this kid, huh…?)
You know, Yume wants to show off Yume’s world to everyone.
And, you recognized that “that” world exists.
That’s why Yume’s happy. So, thank you.
Fufufufu. Yume kiiind of feels motivated now, so~ Yume will mend Yume’s ways and work as hard as possible. Yume will make sure this job is a success.
U-Um, sure… I’m glad to know you feel motivated now.
I’ll also reflect on myself today and work hard, okay?
Let’s work together to finish this job, Hanamura-san.
You should say “Yume”, not “Hanamura-san”. That has been irritating Yume this whole time. Yume doesn’t have any motivation anymore.
Ehhh…?
Translation Notes
- ↑ At the start of the second year of ES’s establishment, Midori is a third year in Yumenosaki, which means he’s 17 years old here (and turns 18 on his birthday).
- ↑ Originally, Midori says “If I were to put it in older terms, a denpa-kei?” More on denpa-kei here. As Midori states in the Japanese text, it’s a pretty old-fashioned term.
- ↑ Midori says cosplayer in hiragana instead of katakana (the correct way to spell cosplayer), implying he isn’t very familiar with the term.
- ↑ “Yume” means dream, so it’s a wordplay of Fuyume’s nickname and the word “dream”.
- ↑ Midori has been called “Midori-sama” by another kid too, in Stella Maris, birthplace of stars Chapter 5 & 6.
- ↑ “Ouji” means prince, and “-sama” is a polite honorific attached to the word. In fairytales, you typically see the prince referred to as oujisama.
- ↑ Fuyume says ohimesama for “princess”, which matches with oujisama (prince). In fairytales, you typically see the princess referred to as ohimesama.