Next Door - Epilogue 4

[shivalries]

Season: Summer

Translated by iridesenescence


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[Next Door stage]

Tsumugi: "♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪"

"Alright, everyo~ne! This might be a little sudden, but please take a close look at our outfits!"



Sora: "Bo~unce, bo~unce! Take a look~ This is the outfit~ ♪"

"It's full of jewels and dreams, so it's all sparkly and pretty! HaHiHuHeHo~ ☆"

Tsumugi: "Yes, it looks great on you, Sora-kun. ♪ Natsume-kun, you look adorable too!"

Natsume: "I'm wearing such a stylish outfit, and yet your only reaction is that I'm 'adorable'? Something's wrong with you."

"You aren't complimenting a child all dressed up in formal wear, you know. Why does it kiiind of feel like you're making fun of me?"

Tsumugi: "Oh no, I would never! I was being totally sincere~!"

"These outfits are really beautiful and suit us perfectly, don't they? To tell you the truth, they're actually the product of a certain project!"

"And that project's name is 'Next Door'!"

"Since some of you are mainly here to see Knights, I'll give a quick explanation. To put it simply, 'Next Door' is an outfit-designing contest!"

"The main announcements were targeted at idol-training schools all across Japan, but the general public was also able to participate online!"

"By the way, the phrase 'next door' basically means 'in the neighborhood'!"

"People in the neighborhood will use the materials in their neighborhood to create outfits for us idols! That's how the project's concept goes~ ♪"

Natsume: "Yeah. Its aim is to bring us closer to our audience. Or at least that's what I assume—I'm not sure of the details, since I only joined in halfway."

(Muttering) ... Though initially, I wasn't told about anything, and almost didn't even get called here.

Tsumugi: (Whispering) I'm really sorry about that.

But when the call for entries was first sent out, I wasn't sure whether each of our problems would be properly settled.

Sora: HaHa~ ♪ But even so, Sora would have wanted you to tell us~ It's not like we can use telepathy, you know~?

Tsumugi: Yes. That's something I'll work on next, I promise. This time, I swear I'll turn over a new leaf.

Sora: "HiHi~ ♪ Since the materials are something you can find in the neighborhood... Sora thinks these things that look like jewels were probably made from pieces of glass bottles~"

Natsume: "Yeah, and this shade of green is produced from a dye that uses easily-obtained wild grasses as its base."

"With a little genius, even the everyday items around you can be fashioned into splendid, beautiful outfits like these. ♪ "

Tsumugi: "Right, that's the kind of thing we hoped to see after putting out advertisements~ Although Switch is already familiar with using chemicals and the like in our performances..."

"There were loads of eccentric ideas that even we could never have come up with! We learned a whole lot. ♪ "

"Your innovative creations and warm support have inspired us—we'll be sure to shine even brighter from now on!"

"We'll keep walking together alongside all of our fans—hopefully, while staying as your friendly neighborhood idols."

Sora: "Yep! Let's all smile and find happiness together. ♪ "

Tsumugi: (Whispering) ...So you see, that's the sort of simple—or you could even call it plain—project that this was meant to be.

We professional idols will sing and dance in the outfits that our fans or idol-hopefuls have thought up for us.

People who participate would obviously want their designs to be chosen, and to create a fitting design, they would read up on us, and maybe even grow interested... At least, that was what I was hoping for.

Besides, we can give the chosen designer the satisfaction of winning while we get a new outfit for cheap.

Having participants actually make their outfit would be quite tough on them, so we only required the submission of a design.

And since participants were limited to "things found in the neighborhood", it meant we could gather the materials for the outfits cheaply.

On top of that, we could look at the other submitted designs for an idea of the latest trends and make all sorts of fresh, new discoveries.

Natsume: And by opening applications to the idol-training schools across Japan, we've formed connections with them too.

Overall, it just feels stingy—as if we really don't have a cent to spare.

Tsumugi: That's actually what most work is like, you know. Things are generally low-risk and low-return; we can't constantly be gambling like Crazy:B.

It's true that if you're lucky, you could win big by taking a gamble...

But for our agency to stay active and alive, it's best for us to plod along steadily.

Building things up over time is important, Natsume-kun. ...Your conquest of Yumenosaki relies on a similar concept, doesn't it?

Instead of hastily reaching for the returns before you right now, you're planning for what lies further ahead and investing in the future.

Natsume: Wow, what a conclusion you've jumped to. ...Well, I guess what you said isn't wrong.

Our NewDi is a rising star with no veterans to its name. Our greatest weapon right now is our youth—that is to say, our future.

All humans will die eventually. They fall sick, wear themselves out, grow old, and die.

Old geezers will slowly weaken and fade away, and children will be the ones to rule the next era, no matter how insignificant they may seem right now.

Sora: Yes! That's the law of nature, isn't it?

Sora gets it now~ So that's why Master is trying to get hold of Yumenosaki Academy.

You want to gather up all the idol eggs that will one day be the main force of the idol industry—

Which means that one day, what you've obtained will be the idol industry itself.

Natsume: Exactly. You're as brilliant as ever, Sora.

...Well, I highly doubt things will go exactly as planned. This isn't a game, after all.

But I figured that the world of children would be overlooked by the bunch over at ES, since they're too fixated on their "adult world" turf wars.

Luckily for me, my fantastic position as the Five Eccentrics' descendant still allows me to meddle with that children's world.

For better or worse, the Five Eccentrics are still well known, so this name carries considerable power.

In the same way that lightning, which used to strike fear into peoples' hearts, was transformed into the electricity that is now part of society's foundations—I intend to have this name serve as a thread in the weaving of our future.

But of course, none of this is happening anytime soon.

And if we were to lose this place we require to survive, before the eggs we obtained can hatch, that would truly be a tragic state of affairs.

Tsumugi: Yes, it really would. That's precisely why I've been working so hard to ensure we don't lose that place.

I could more or less tell what you were intending to do, so I've been negotiating with idol-training schools besides Yumenosaki to help lay the foundations.

This "Next Door" was meant to be part of that too.

Natsume: Yeah, you did mention that the call for entries was sent out to idol-training schools all across Japan.

While I'm glad you understood my intentions even without me saying a word, it feels like you're reading my mind, which is sort of creepy in itself.

Sora: HuHu~ Master and Senpai always have a psychic connection. ♪

But please... let Sora join the two of you, okay? Rather than leaving Sora all on his own, trying his best to guess what's going on—

Sora wants us to become true allies whose hearts are really connected.

Master and Senpai have already proven that it can be done, even if you don't have superpowers. ♪

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