Chapter 2: Idol

“LOOK, SNOOKUMS, look at me! ☆ What do you think? Do I look cute?” Tionishia—Tio for short—cheered as she did a twirl in her lacy new costume. It was a classic idol outfit, easy to move in but flashy onstage, custom made to accommodate her six-and-a-half foot height.

“Y-yeah, it looks good,” Kimihito mumbled.

“Hooray! ☆ Thank you!!” Tio squealed, hopping up and down. For a moment, Kimihito was transfixed. Not only was she tall, but her bust was to scale with her height, and her P-cup breasts bounced with her. The idol outfit had been hastily assembled, so it clung a touch too close to her body and outlined every curve and accentuated every…tiny…motion.

Kimihito flushed red, and he finally managed to pull his eyes from Tio’s breasts. They were in the green room of the Tomas Theater near Tokyo. This was the second test case for liminal employment, this time for the job of “idol.” The three girls—Papi, Mero, and Tio—had already changed into their costumes and were awaiting their big stage debut.

Tio giggled with an excitement which grew with every passing minute. “I can’t believe we’re opening for ANM48! ☆ Wake me up, I’m dreaming!” She was clearly a real idol fan. Though her size was an advantage when taking down bad guys with MON, inside that ogre frame was a real girly girl, someone who loved cute things and cheered everyone on with her sunshine attitude.

Zombina had been unenthusiastic about work to the point of stealing the bar’s liquor, but Tio was so excited that she was already dancing before she even got onstage. Despite their shared work as MON agents, they had completely different personalities.

“Yaaay! Boss, Papi’s an idol!” Papi wore the same costume as Tio, though scaled way down. It was hard for Kimihito to believe that they were really the same outfits—they looked totally different on such contrasting body types.

“Papi, don’t forget to smile! ☆ Smiles are the most important tool of the idol trade!” Tio said.

“Got it!” Papi yelled and showed her biggest smile.

Tio and Kimihito both grinned in reply. These two might not be real idols, but their smiles are way brighter than ANM48’s.

“Super cute!” Tio affirmed.

“Yaaay! Boss, Papi’s super cute! Pap pap papeee!” She turned her name into a song and spun around in circles. As she whirled and kicked her legs, the miniskirt of the costume flapped up, and Kimihito almost had a heart attack before he noticed the shorts peeking out from under the hem.

Harpies had wings instead of hands, and their legs looked like birds’ legs with long talons instead of toes. Since it was almost impossible for her to fit sleeves over her wings, she usually didn’t wear them—luckily, the idol outfit was designed sleeveless just for her.

Something important occurred to Kimihito as he watched her spin. “Hey, wait…is this really okay? They’re total amateurs. Can they really put on a performance and open for a pro idol group?”

“Don’t worry about it,” someone replied from behind. Kimihito turned to see a middle-aged man with a monocle, who seemed to appear out of nowhere—the managing director of the Tomas Theater and a man with a truly calming aura. “At our theater we’re just happy to see liminals happy. Liminal comfort is our top priority here—our liminal friends are often forced to live with inconveniences, so we built out facilities to cater especially to their needs. That’s why ANM48 and their associated groups perform here so often. If we can improve prospects for liminal employment, it will be a real feather in our cap.”

Kimihito was surprised by the manager’s enthusiasm for liminal rights—though hadn’t he heard something like this before? “Er, excuse me, sir—”

“Yes?”

“Are you at all affiliated with a bar in the city?”

“Oh, Bar Zetto N? Yes, the manager and I are friends, and I drink there sometimes. Is anything wrong?”

“No, no, not at all, sorry.” In the end, the liminal world was rather small. He wondered if the two men talked about their beliefs and had reached the same conclusions through discussion or if they were part of some larger integration movement he wasn’t aware of. Either way, it was clear that their warm hearts and open minds had led them both to participate in the program despite the short notice. They shared that much at least.

“Anyway, there’s no need to worry about their performance. I saw some of Tionishia’s dancing earlier, and it was excellent. She is more than skilled enough for our stage.”

“Huh?” Kimihito looked over at Tio, wondering where she’d learned and how she’d gotten good enough to earn praise from an industry insider.

“Yeah! I’m gonna be just fine, Snookums.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest, eyes sparkling. “See, I’m a super-huge ANM48 fan! ☆ I’ve practiced all their dances, and I can do their full set perfectly. Just watch!” On cue, she started a bouncy routine, keeping time perfectly even though there wasn’t any music.

The managing director produced a phone from his pocket and started to play a pop song. Though Kimihito couldn’t name the tune, he knew it must have been by ANM48.

As the music echoed through the green room, Tio shifted her dance slightly to match her movements to the song. She stepped left and right, sweeping her hands in complex patterns. “Hmm hmm hmm~ ♪” she hummed along. It was a complex, strenuous dance, but she barely broke a sweat—her MON work was probably even more strenuous. She was so strong.

“Annnd…there! ☆” She struck the final pose with a wink.

“Wow—amazing!” Kimihito clapped without intending to. Watching her, he’d forgotten that he wasn’t watching a real idol’s performance, but her massive frame made it uniquely striking to watch. Now he understood why the director said she could be a real idol. “You’ll definitely do fine.”

“Hee hee hee. That’s why Ms. Smith picked me for the job! I asked her especially. Papi and I are gonna do our best!” She looked over at Papi, whose eyes shone in admiration of her partner’s dancing.

“Awesooome! Papi wanna do that, too!” Papi did a sharp turn. It wasn’t as precise as Tio’s, but it was clear she’d had some training.

“Wait, Papi, when did you learn to dance?” Kimihito asked.

“Papi’s been practicing!”

“Y-you have? Even though you forget things so fast?”

Papi was a literal birdbrain. She forgot her schedule so often she was constantly double- or triple-booked to see friends. She claimed to remember important stuff, but what she considered important was impossible for anyone but her to know. It wasn’t even clear if she remembered the rules of the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Accord, even though it governed her life.

“Umm, also…Tio said I could go with the flow.”

“Go with the flow?” Watching more closely, he saw that though she was moving in time with the director’s music, her actual moves were different from Tio’s. But she was clearly having a blast, and that was the most important thing for an idol. “So it’s like a game to you,” he commented. It made sense—she struggled with studying but always seemed to remember things she found fun.

It also made plenty of sense that she’d learned the dance through muscle memory. This could be useful when we need her to remember something. If Rachnera, Mero, and I make a dynamic study plan full of dance and movement… He didn’t realize it, but he’d fallen into the thought process of a teacher with a problem student.

“Papi, you’re doing so well! ☆” Tio complimented, clapping her hands to the beat.

Papi, thrilled by the praise, grinned and danced even harder. Her wings beat fast, and she shook her hips double-time. Together, they looked like a dance mom and her daughter backstage at their first recital.

“You seem ready for the conce—wait.” Kimihito stopped short as he realized that three girls were supposed to report to this job.

It wasn’t surprising, though, that the third girl hadn’t appeared. Given the structure of her body, she’d have trouble dancing at all. What’re we gonna do about that? Kimihito wondered.

His thoughts were interrupted by a melodious voice. “Beloved?”

“Yes, Mero?” Kimihito answered.

The mermaid girl rolled closer on her amphibious automatic wheelchair. “Just as we suspected, Mother believes it’s improper for a member of the royal family to become an idol.”

“Ahh,” he said. Mero wasn’t just a mermaid on exchange, she was also underwater royalty. When she’d asked her mother—the Queen—for permission to participate when the project was first announced, she’d been denied. From the cell phone in her hands, Kimihito assumed she’d made a second attempt.

“Unless…”

“Unless?”

“If I can keep my identity secret and prevent anyone from finding out that I am the princess, she will allow me to sing.”

“Really?”

“Ms. Smith explained the pilot program in detail, and Mother insisted that those are the only terms she’ll agree to. Even then, she seemed quite reluctant.”

“I-I see. Good for you for trying, Mero.” She wanted to become part of their world outside the mermaid kingdom, and working a job was an important part of that experience. Even with conditions attached, just getting the chance to participate clearly meant a lot to her.

“So, in conclusion, although I can’t join you onstage, I will still be able to support everyone as a singer.”

“All right, Mero!” Papi shouted, going into overdrive and accelerating to comic speeds. They’d all been hoping for Mero to join; it would’ve been so sad if she’d come this far and not had a chance to participate.

“In that case,” the director said, taking his monocle in hand, “Tionishia and Papi will open with their dance, and then we’ll have Mero sing. We can find a veil somewhere in the prop department to hide her face.”

“Please, sir, that would be wonderful,” Mero said with a smile. She pressed her webbed hands together in delight.

“Very well, we’ll proceed with that as our plan. Since Kimihito-sama is here to observe, we’ve prepared a seat in the wings.”

“Thanks, and sorry for the trouble,” Kimihito replied.

“Not to worry! I’ve got to check in with the crew now, so I’ll take my leave.” With a bow, the director left the green room.

“I’m so relieved—I’ve wanted to work for such a long time, but Mother would never give her approval. It’s a delight to help you on this test case, Beloved.”

“Hah,” Kimihito laughed, “it’s so Mero, being desperate to work.” Common folk like him tended to dread their jobs, but it made sense that the idle rich would get tired of sitting around.

“Do you think so? I think hard work is its own reward! Especially when it’s for someone’s entertainment, like it is today. That’s the best sort of job.” She gazed at him with innocent joy.

Kimihito couldn’t look her straight in the eye—she was too radiant. Jobs like that weren’t exactly common in the human world, but he didn’t want to spoil her fun by saying so. For the moment, she was right—they were idols, they would make the crowd happy, and everyone would have fun in the process. “I’m glad you got your wish, Mero, even if you can’t show your face.”

“Yes! Did you know that I’m a very confident singer?! Ahh~ ♪ Ahhhh~ ♪” she sang, running through an escalating scale exercise over a wide range to flaunt her skill. Just like the others, she’d been practicing for quite some time. Or maybe… Mermaids were said to entrance sailors with their voices, and as a member of their royal family, Mero might’ve inherited that kind of bewitching singing voice.

“That’s amazing,” Kimihito said. Tio, Papi, and Mero had all worked hard to practice for the performance today. He’d expected to help them on this job, but it didn’t seem like there’d be much left for him to do. Maybe I’ll get to relax and enjoy the show?

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind when he heard a tearing noise, followed by a scream from Tio. He turned to look and discovered that her costume had torn. The tear wasn’t huge, but it exposed the dark skin of her back and the hooks of her bra.

“I-I ruined it,” she said, her eyes welling with tears. Well, she had been bouncing around—especially her breasts—which had put a lot of pressure on the already tight outfit.

“It’ll be fine!” he assured her. “I have a sewing kit with me.”

“Really?” Tears averted. “Snookums, you can fix it?”

“Sure! It’s a clean tear, so it’ll be easy to stitch up.” He pulled a travel sewing kit out of his pocket. Tio had torn her clothes before when they were out together, so it felt appropriate that he was prepared to help her again.

“Th-thank you…” She crouched in front of him so he could reach her back.

Trying his best to ignore the bra strap, he threaded the needle and started to loop stitches through the torn shirt. Quick as a blink, he’d sewn it back up. Guess today I’m the wardrobe department. Maybe he wouldn’t be useful onstage, but there was plenty he could help with backstage.

“Tio!! Don’t cry!! Idols!! Gotta!! Smile!! Yeah?” Papi said, flapping her wings supportively.

“Yeah, Papi-chan…you’re right! I gotta smile!! ☆” Tio’s smile returned on cue.

“Whatever happens, the three of us shall do it together!” Mero chimed in.

Kimihito smiled too as he finished the repairs on Tio’s costume and let the trio’s conversation wash over him, their enthusiasm quelling his near-perpetual anxious stomachache. As far as he was concerned, they were real idols, almost ready for their debut performance.

 

***

 

Papi and Tio were the opening act. They waved as they walked out in front of the packed theater.

“Hiya, everybody! I’m Papi from instant unit ‘Powerful☆Voice’!” Papi shouted.

“And I’m Tio! ☆ Before ANM48’s show we’d like to showcase our songs!” Tio winked at the crowd.

From his special seat in the wings, Kimihito kept an eye on how things were going.

“Who are these girls? New members of ANM48?” someone in the audience asked.

“Nah, we would’ve heard about them if they were.”

“Y’know, that ogre seems familiar…”

From his spot behind the curtains, Kimihito could hear the murmurs of the crowd and their bewilderment at the change in the schedule. The ANM48 fans didn’t seem sure of what to make of Tio and Papi’s instant unit.

“We’re moonlighting! Um, my day job is—I make sure the liminals play nice with each other and live in peace and harmony! ☆” Tio lied with a broad smile on her face.

Well, it’s not a lie per se, it’s just…a seriously whitewashed version of MON’s work violently suppressing criminal liminals. Idols probably weren’t supposed to do stuff like that.

“And, uh…Papi is Papi!” Papi followed with an introduction of her own. “I’m an exchange student? And I came here today ’cos I want the world to know what harpies are like!”

With Papi’s support, Tio started to really get into it. “Yeah!! We both love idols!! Which is why we asked ANM48 if we could have our own idol experience today! Sorry it’s so sudden, but please cheer for us, too!” She was happier onstage than Kimihito had expected.

Nobody likes an opening act, but with Tio and Papi’s adorable looks and attitudes, they could definitely compete with the idols of ANM48. And the fans seemed to agree.

“I think I like the harpy girl, dude.”

“I’m more of an ogre fan. Hard muscles, soft heart!”

“Big girls are pretty cool.”

Even if it was purely based on attraction so far, Powerful☆Voice was clearly making an impact! ANM48 fans tended to be liminal supporters, at least. And on a personal level, their introductions had gone incredibly smoothly, and they’d made a strong case for themselves. Papi smiled without a hint of nerves, and Tio’s smile radiated peace to everyone watching. They both owned the stage.

“Okay, let’s all play together!” called Papi.

Tio ran with it. “Yeah! This is our first song! ☆”

The backing track started, and their concert began. Kimihito didn’t know the genre, but he was pretty sure these were the vibrant pop chords of an ANM48 song. He didn’t know the melody, but the lyrics were familiar. It might’ve even been a special arrangement just for Powerful☆Voice’s show.

Tio’s dance was as perfect as before. Papi’s dance had some vague movements, as she followed Tio and copied her on the fly. They kept close enough time that Papi’s delay wasn’t obvious, but the fact she never looked at the crowd was its own tell. It was still an impressive display of reflexes that she could keep up so smoothly.

They may have been amateurs, but they danced like they’d been idols for years. They even breathed in unison. Whether Papi was following Tio or Tio was adjusting her movements to accommodate Papi, it didn’t matter. They’d clearly worked hard on this, and their practice had made them a great team.

The song continued, and the fans’ excitement built as they watched the girls dance. Colored lights swept across the stage to highlight their moves. From Kimihito’s limited view in the wings, he had to imagine how beautiful it must’ve looked from the audience. They’d have those perfect smiles—he couldn’t see them from his vantage point since they faced the crowd—and they’d be better synced up from the intended angle. He thought back to the rehearsal in the green room with a twinge of embarrassment. I already got to see that, though—when it was for my eyes only. He tried to push the thought aside and focus.

At that moment, the roar of the crowd hit an overwhelming volume.

“Huff…huff…thank you! ☆” Tio shouted, out of breath.

“Hee hee! What’d you think?” Papi waved frantically, covered in sweat.

Despite being in excellent physical shape, both of them were panting hard. It might’ve been the heat of the stage lights or maybe just the sheer amount of energy they’d put into their dance.

Idols are amazing… Kimihito marveled. Whenever he’d caught them on TV in the past, he’d totally missed how much effort so many people had to put in to make a single performance a success. Here and now, watching a live show from the wings, he felt like he was starting to get it. His respect for the girls of ANM48 rose in turn.

“Let’s do the next song!” Papi shouted. She hopped in the air, wings wide, and the music carried over into a new, unfamiliar track and a new, unfamiliar dance routine.

The dance was vigorous, skirts flapping every turn. Even though he knew they were wearing shorts underneath, it was hard to ignore the glimpses of Tio and Papi’s thighs he kept seeing. No, no, stop it. He shook his head to banish the lecherous thoughts. Idols were supposed to be pure and innocent! Just because they were dancing wildly didn’t mean he should be staring at their legs.

“Amazing, aren’t they?” came a voice from nearby.

“Director!” Kimihito turned to see the director had joined him in the wings at some point.

He nodded in open admiration as he watched the girls dance. “You’ll need to be careful, Kurusu-sama, they’re about to unleash a powerful move.”

“A powerful move?” Kimihito turned back to the stage, not sure what to expect.

“Here we go! ☆” Tio shouted and raised her right arm straight out to the side, holding it parallel to the ground.

Papi hopped onto it and perched with her bird-like legs.

“Wh-what are they doing?” Kimihito gasped, forgetting he was supposed to be quiet. It looked like the setup to a gymnastic or cheerleading display.

Tio was amazing, able to support Papi’s entire body with just the one arm, but Papi also showed incredible balance in how she perched there so confidently. Kimihito was suddenly scared they’d fall, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Here we go! ☆” Tio shouted.

“Yeah!” Papi replied.

Tio launched her arm straight up in the air, tossing Papi above her.

“Whoa!” Kimihito and the audience cried out as one, filling the theater with astonished noise.

 

***

 

At first, it seemed like Tio simply threw Papi in a random direction, but the truth was slightly different. She actually used her incredible strength to launch Papi into the air, allowing her to take off. Birds need a running start to fly, and harpies are the same: they need some momentum to get lift. The Tomas Theater didn’t have enough space on its stage for her to hit flying speed normally, so Tio stepped in to help. Kind of like a catapult, Kimihito concluded.

Powerful☆Voice used their special move to let Papi fly over the audience.

She didn’t understand the aerodynamics or thermodynamics or whatever, just that she needed to move fast and Tio had an incredible throwing arm. This move took advantage of both their skills and personalities, and gave them an exciting edge over other performers.

The theater was awash with oohs and ahhs.

“Whee!” Papi cheered as she flew overhead, skirt flapping in the wind. She could tell their move had gotten people excited! She was excited, too! It seemed like their work experience was a huge success.

Wait—wait a minute! It turned out there was a bit of a problem with the whole flying idea. Which way’s the stage again? As a diurnal subspecies of harpy, her eyes didn’t work in the dark, and the dazzling spotlights that washed randomly over the crowd didn’t help. Between disorienting darkness and blinding colors, she had lost all sense of direction.

The final issue was…

“Wah!” Papi shrieked as the brilliantly lit stage came into view. The floor lights were at an angle that would keep them out of the eyes of the concertgoers—but unfortunately pointed them directly at her eyes. She couldn’t help but close them, and every time she managed to open them again, she saw another confusing blast of color. There was absolutely no way to know where to go.

Neither Tio nor anyone in the crowd had flown before, so they couldn’t understand how upsetting the lights were. Their cheers continued as Papi struggled above them.

The song ended.

She had to return to the stage—now—but she still couldn’t find it. As she searched for another landmark to orient herself…a noise rang out!

It was a strange, whistling sound—an artificial bird call. It was so clear and high that it soared over the rest of the theater to reach her. Moments later, she heard it again. Someone was calling for her. A homing whistle.

Kimihito.

“Bossssss!!” she cried and dove towards the noise. Her eyes still stung, and she barely knew which direction she was flying, but she understood by instinct: Kimihito was calling her.

“Guh?!” he shouted.

“Waaaah!!” she wailed.

The sound of a collision rang out through the theater. Papi landed hard, but she didn’t crash into the walls or the crowd, and now, someone was supporting her.

“Nggh—Boss?” she murmured.

“Are you all right, Papi?” he asked. Kimihito had been waiting for her in the wings, but now he was laid out underneath her on the floor, having taken the full, brutal impact of her dive-bomb. He didn’t seem worried, though. He wrapped his arms around her.

Tio, still on stage, shouted, “A-and that’s it for us, ‘Powerful☆Voice!’” She was shaken too, but the show had to go on. The audience didn’t seem fazed by Papi’s dramatic exit, so it was on Tio to finish their act.

“Thanks, Boss!” Papi wrapped her wings around Kimihito in return.

“No worries. It looked like you were having trouble landing, that’s all,” he said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

“Heh heh heh… Guess I screwed up a little! We didn’t practice the flying onstage, is why.”

“But you got through okay in the end, didn’t you?”

“Yeah! ’Cause of your whistle, Boss!” Papi grinned. Even if she hadn’t slowed down enough to avoid him, she’d made it back safe, which was enough for both of them.

“It was really smart of you to understand that.”

“Huh? Understand what?” Papi asked. “I just heard you and followed the noise!”

“Ah…hmm. So was it a harpy instinct?” Birds communicate with chirps, tweets, and whistles—if that worked for Papi too, it was worth practicing for other emergencies. For now, though… “Uh, could you please stand up?” he asked. He’d put his arms around her when she flew in, but she’d made herself comfortable as they talked, sitting with her butt on his stomach.

“Wah! Sorry ’bout that, Boss!” She rolled aside. Of course, as a bird-like liminal, she weighed much less than a human woman her size—but she still wasn’t exactly light.

A normal man might’ve been seriously injured in that collision—but Kimihito was used to being constricted, kicked, bound, and drowned without any lingering damage. Considering the violent communication style most of the girls used, he’d adapted to this sort of treatment.

“Papi! Are you okay?” Tio rushed over as soon as she formally ended their set and left the stage. The harpy in question had moved clear of Kimihito and was scratching her head with one blue wing. “Yep…thanks to the boss!”

“Snookums, you’re amazing! ☆”

Kimihito was abashed. “It was nothing…hah.”

“Boss is awesome!! He always helps Papi when there’s trouble!!” Papi chirped.

“And he can sew! I’m so jealous~!” Tio said, lifting Papi with one arm and helping Kimihito to his feet with the other; she was both as strong and as gentle as ever.

“Boss, didja see Papi’s dance? Pap pap papeee!”

“Did I do okay as an idol, do you think? ☆” Tio wondered aloud.

Despite their contrasting bodies and how quickly they’d formed their unit, they’d been perfectly in sync, just like they hoped. “You were both amazing. I couldn’t tear my eyes away,” Kimihito said.

“Yeah!”

“Yay! ☆”

Even their response was in unison.

On the other side of the curtains, the audience was still cheering. Despite Papi’s rough landing, the show was a resounding success.

“Our next performer—” the director’s voice announced over the speakers. Flushed and smiling, Tio and Papi looked back at the stage.

It was now covered in a diaphanous blue curtain that made the whole stage look like it had been plunged underwater. Through it, Mero’s silhouette could be seen—from the front, she was a vaguely humanoid seated shape in a veil, though in the wings they had a full view of her as she prepared to sing.

“We have a special treat for you tonight: a concert by a mermaid songstress. Known only by the initial M, she is unable to reveal her face, but she wanted to share her song so desperately that she found a way to sing out from beyond the deep.”

The spotlights all turned matching blue, and the crowd thrummed with anticipation. Nobody told them what to do, but the change in the stage’s presentation cued them in, and the feeling in the room shifted on its own. Kimihito peered at the onlookers curiously. So this is how idol concerts work.

Mero wore the same outfit as Tio and Papi, but because she wouldn’t be dancing, her version featured a much longer skirt. The director had prepared the costumes specially for each of them, and Mero seemed happy that she got to match with the other girls. Even though the crowd wouldn’t be able to see her, and Kimihito was the only one who’d get to appreciate them as a set, it must have made her feel like a proper part of the group.

“Please drink in the song of our mysterious songstress M before you enjoy ANM48’s concert,” the director said to intense applause.

Mero waved her hand behind the veil, perfectly poised, perhaps accustomed to this kind of attention from attending events as a princess. She noticed Kimihito watching and gave him his own private wave with a charming, regal smile.

For some reason, it made him feel awkward. He should be used to her smiling at him, but after the director’s introduction, he couldn’t help but see her as a “mysterious songstress” instead of her usual self.

“Mero…so pretty,” Papi murmured.

Kimihito was thinking the exact same thing. She didn’t need to show her face; her presence itself conveyed dignity and status. Considering her personality, he wasn’t surprised that she could project that through the veil.

The song started.

Mero closed her eyes and clasped her hands against her chest. The anticipatory feeling was washed away as the gentle music reached the crowd. The lights began to shimmer and move like rippling waves.

She raised her voice in song. It was a ballad; slow and gentle, but full of passionate feeling. It spoke of unrequited love, brokenhearted despair, and longing. A sea change from the up-tempo pop track Tio and Papi had danced to. Her beautiful voice engulfed the crowd, mesmerizing them like a fairy-tale mermaid captivating sailors.

The blue lights swayed from side to side. Just as the crowd was transfixed by the mysterious songstress M, so too were Papi, Tio, and Kimihito as they waited in the wings.

Mero cast a glance at them. Thank goodness, she thought, I’ve been able to help my beloved. She was used to being overruled by her mother—forced to stand aside and watch as Miia, Centorea, and the others assisted Kimihito in ways she couldn’t. Being part of human society and having the full exchange student experience was important to her, but not nearly as important as supporting Kimihito, who’d gone out of his way to support her, too. Finally getting that chance meant the world to her.

Oh my goodness, I must concentrate! It wouldn’t count as a work experience if she didn’t do the work! She returned her focus to her song.

Just after the soprano section, she hit a snag. Is my voice…breaking? She tilted her head. Perhaps it was too minor for anyone else to notice, but she’d gone off-key for a bar or two. Was her throat sore? She’d been sure to do vocal exercises before the show.

From when she was very young, just a small fry, she’d been tutored in the skills expected of a princess. Vocal lessons had been part of that, including the kind of singing that could entrance the listener. After that extensive training, she could detect even minuscule changes in her voice.

Without pausing the performance, she desperately searched for the cause of her vocal issues. She went through the list of potential causes until she suddenly realized: My gills are…drying out…?

Mero had spent most of her life underwater where, of course, she used her gills to breathe. She could breathe perfectly well on land, too—provided her gills remained moist. Now that they were drying out, she was worried. It hurt a little to breathe. This was why her voice had cracked.

What’s going on? She could usually breathe without any trouble while she did her daily tasks on land. Some dryness wasn’t a problem. On stage, though, she was putting a lot of stress on her voice. Now it wasn’t just the performance at risk—if she kept singing like this, she could do lasting damage.

That wouldn’t do! She couldn’t disrupt her precious performance. She would disappoint Tio and Papi, and ANM48, and the crowd, and the director—and above all, Kimihito, her personal audience of one.

But why was it happening? Why here, why now? Normally her gills would never dry out this fast, even if she was breathing heavily on land. It couldn’t be—

She raised her eyes to the spotlights illuminating her. Of course. Even professional idols could overheat under the intense heat of stage lighting. An inexperienced, aquatic creature like Mero would dry out much faster. The rough, sore skin and crackling gills were getting to her, and fast.

Whatever am I going to do? She looked around desperately for a solution. If she’d thought ahead, she could’ve asked for the stage to be misted, but she hadn’t gotten the go-ahead from her mother until just before the show. There was nothing in sight that could help her.

Despite her predicament, she continued to sing—but soon she would reach the chorus, which included the highest notes in the song. With her gills already so dry, she wouldn’t be able to hit those high notes.

Water, something wet—anything! She checked the wings over again, eyes darting side to side, and—

Kimihito was gone. What?! Her eyes opened wide. Why would he disappear in the middle of my song?

Then it clicked into place. When Papi had completed her little flying escapade, she had crashed into him, hard. He hadn’t seemed hurt at the time, but in the interim he must have noticed an injury and gone for first aid. There was nothing she could do about that, but—

Her expression fell, and tears pricked at her eyes. She’d always been able to depend on Kimihito when things were hard. He might seem lackadaisical, but he was so reliable in a pinch—for some reason she’d assumed this would be the same, that whatever happened, he’d be there to look after her.

How strange. I always said I would be happy to be his mistress, even if he had a wife…but now…

Everyone knew how much she loved tragic love stories, how she dreamed of living one herself, one-sided and doomed. Yet here she was, in trouble, expecting Kimihito to be by her side.

The chorus was close. She lifted her voice an octave and then even higher in a dramatic key change, but as she did, she realized… I can’t do this.

If her singing was going to come out as unseemly cracking and destroy her voice in the process, she would simply refuse to sing. She would stay behind the curtain and declare that the show was over. But just as she made her decision and let her voice trail off, something happened.

It started to rain.

“Wha?!”

“What’s this?!”

The bewildered shouts of the audience came through the curtain. The rain was restricted to the stage, of course, and the curtain kept them from getting wet, but they were still shocked at the sudden indoor storm. Rain wasn’t meant to fall on an indoor stage, after all. Mero herself was stunned for a moment, but as the chords leading up to the final chorus played, she raised her voice to coast on the melody.

There was no cracking or faltering; clear as fresh water she sang through the lines. Thanks to the sudden rain, her gills were damp, and she could breathe freely again. It felt like a blessing from heaven was sparkling down from somewhere in the ceiling.

Of course, what looked like a theater effect was really the fire sprinklers spraying down. The dramatic effect might have looked like part of the show, but it was something much simpler.

As the song came to an end, the sprinklers stopped, and Mero breathed a sigh of relief. But there was a touch of confusion there, too. “What was that?” she wondered aloud as she switched off her microphone.

How had the sprinklers turned on? Where was Kimihito?

“Oh, Beloved,” Mero whispered, putting the pieces together. She laid her hands over her heart. He’d been watching over her the entire time. Her sadness evaporated as pure joy swept through her.

 

***

 

“Waaah! Snookums, my costume ripped again!” Tio cried.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I’ll handle it. Where’s the tear?” Kimihito asked.

“Right over my chest!”

“Huh?!” Kimihito seared red.

They were back in the green room, and Tio was once again clinging to him in tears. This time, the costume had split along the center buttons, right between her breasts. Thanks to their height disparity, when her massive breasts were unleashed, they just narrowly missed a violent impact with his face.

He took a second to compose himself, then took out the sewing kit and assessed the damage. “All right…you’ll be returning this to the theater soon, won’t you? Wouldn’t it make sense to leave fixing this to the professionals?”

“Oh, no! ☆ They prepared these outfits specially for us, so they said we can keep them.”

Of course, it’s not like a human idol could use a costume tailored to fit Tio.

“Isn’t that great, Papi? ☆” Tio asked.

“Hooray! Boss can see my Papi dance whenever he wants!” Papi shouted.

“Yeah! Maybe when we get home you could show the rest of the girls your dance, too,” he said.

“Yaaay! Get ready for, err… How did it go again?” She tried to repeat the steps, but it seemed she’d already forgotten. All she could manage was spinning around and around.

She’ll get dizzy if she keeps at it… Kimihito was worried, but for the moment, his hands were tied, or maybe laced, as he mended Tio’s frilly costume. He couldn’t split his focus between them. He wove the needle in and out almost as fast as a sewing machine while trying not to look too closely at the bust looming over his face. “Okay, Tio, I’m done. The stitches aren’t that secure, though, so at some point you’ll need proper repairs to prevent another tear.”

“Really?” Tio asked. “Would you be able to handle those too, Snookums?”

“Of course.”

“Aww! ☆” Tio gave him a warm smile. “It’s a date! I’ll make lunch as a thank-you, and we can have a picnic.”

“That’d be, uh… It’s not that big a deal.”

“Hm? Why not?”

“It might be—” He thought back to a similar occasion when he’d been caught up in Tio’s healing aura. She’d made him feel so relaxed he couldn’t bring himself to leave…couldn’t even bring himself to want to. It made future invitations dangerously tempting. “—too much.”

“Awww!”

“Beloved?” came a voice from behind him.

“Ah, Mero,” Kimihito answered.

Mero, in her automatic wheelchair, had returned from drying her hair. “Thank you for assisting with the performance. The sprinklers were a lifesaver.”

“Your gills had dried out, right?”

“So you did realize.”

“Yeah, your voice sounded kinda off. Since I knew the spotlight could be really hot, I thought that might be the issue.”

“‘Elementary,’ my beloved! Your powers of observation are amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” She pressed her hands together with a smile.

He had detected the change in Mero’s voice and asked the director where the control panel for the sprinkler system was. He could have set them off manually by lighting a fire under the sensor, but that would have soaked the audience, so he went directly to the switchboard and activated just the sprinklers over the stage.

“I must admit, though, I’m surprised how easily you detected such a small change in my voice,” she said, looking a bit shy.

“Huh?” He tilted his head in confusion. “Well, I guess I’m always listening to your voice, so of course I’d notice when it changes, Mero.”

Mero was speechless. She hid her face in her hands and started to cough, painful and dry.

“M-Mero?! Are you all right?! Are your gills too dry?!” Kimihito checked her over in concern.

“N-no, I’m quite fine, just surprised that you’d be such a tease,” she said through her hands.

He tilted his head so far it seemed like it’d do a full rotation, unable to understand what she was talking about. He’d become so used to the forwardness of Miia and some of the other girls that Mero’s restrained shows of affection didn’t quite register with him.

“Ahem. Not to worry. Thank you again for all your help, Beloved. Your intervention meant I could do my job well.”

“Yeah.” He looked around the room. “Mero, Tio, Papi—you all did a great job!” They’d managed to work as idols for a day with no issues.

Papi was still spinning, though she was tilting and stumbling from dizziness, and Tio was worried enough about the repairs to her outfit that she was holding her chest in check, a breast cupped in each hand. Sure, there’d been problems, but the show had gone on.

“Anyway.” Kimihito looked back at Mero. “If it’s okay to say, you and your family don’t have any trouble with money, so did you really need to do the work program?”

“It was an important life experience! Besides…” She trailed off.

“Besides?”

Mero opened her mouth to continue, then thought better of it and covered it with both hands. “Nothing.”

“Huh?” Kimihito wasn’t used to her clamming up like this, and he was stunned for a moment. He was about to continue the interrogation, when—

“Um, Boss!” Papi chirped, until she was interrupted in turn. “Papi and everyone are—”

“Papi!” Mero said. “ANM48 are starting their concert soon. The director prepared seats, shall we go and watch?”

“Yeah? Yeah, yeah? Let’s do it!”

“Hey, wait!” While Kimihito was still gathering his wits, Mero and Papi had changed the topic. Now that I think about it, Miia and Rachnera had some secret plan for their money, too…

Their determination to earn money from these jobs, and the fact that they were clearly keeping something hidden from them—those two facts were clearly connected. What were the girls scheming? They could be splitting the cost of something between them. Although given the varied body types of each of the girls, it was hard to imagine an item they’d be able to share.

“Papi, let’s change our clothes before we head out,” Tio said.

“Right!” Papi agreed. She grabbed the hem of her dress with her clawed wings.

That slammed the emergency brake on Kimihito’s train of thought. “Whoa! Papi, wait! You can’t take that off here!” He fumbled to stop her.

“Huh? Why not?”

“Because I’m here!” he shouted, fleeing the room before she could continue.

Many liminals had different morals and levels of shame than humans, Papi included, and didn’t realize the discomfort they could cause by changing clothes in front of others—particularly others of another sex.

“Waaah! Mero, Papi’s wings are caught!” She shouted from beyond the door.

“Oh, goodness, whatever shall we do with you, Papi? Let me fix that,” came Mero’s voice.

“Remember to take good care of your outfit! ☆ If you’re not careful, it’ll rip like mine did,” Tio said.

It sounded pretty lively in there.

Kimihito could do nothing but wait, face red hot, until they were done changing. He’d been so distracted by the whole situation that he’d completely forgotten about the mystery of what everyone intended to buy with their pay. It seemed answers would have to wait for another day.