A house with a blue roof
June 7, 2024 at 11:54 AM
Packing things took place in an endlessly drawn-out discussion. The main question was «what to take and in what quantity». Kana packed paper and other art supplies, completely unaware of what good could come out of people who had never seriously taken up drawing, while Mem-Cho downloaded guides on «how to learn to draw in five minutes».
— «Let’s say we have enough paper for 60 different drawings. But several thousand people could come! And what are we going to tell them?» — Arima asked rhetorically. — «Oh, sorry, we only have a couple dozen pictures?»
— «Well, yeah, what’s wrong with that?» — Mem-Cho looked up from her phone and glanced at her friend. — «Whoever gets it in time will buy it. This is an exclusive offer, after all, the idols who continue the work of the disbanded group are taking their first steps in drawing!»
Mem probably already pictured the success of this idea in her head, waving her hands.
«And how did I even agree to this?» Kana wasn’t feeling very happy after trying to break her idea down into a more detailed plan than «Let’s…!» and realizing that they couldn’t draw or create a decent amount of pictures to sell. How much would they bring? How much would fans buy? Would fans even buy? And would anyone even come to them? «Maybe Ruby liked our first performance, but that doesn’t mean it was successful.»
— «By the way, besides drawings, we can also make jewelry! Ooh, I would love to do it every single day!»
«Ruby comes again with her idea. Does she even realize we’re not a manufacturing plant and won’t be able to make enough of it?!»
— «Do you even realize that we might not have enough time? And we can’t even guess how much and what we need to do to be successful.»
Sighing, she expected to have to explain to her young colleague how time worked in their world.
— «Not everyone has to buy what we offer!»
«Non-innocence pours out of her like rain pours out of clouds during hurricanes on tropical islands…»
— «Don’t worry so much about this», — Miyako joined the conversation. — «If the fans like your work, next time we’ll just order goods from different companies.»
— «Besides, they don’t need to know that we didn’t make them! We just need a couple of photos for social media, that’s all», — Mem-Cho said.
Aquamarine sat at the table, only managing to write down the ideas that came to his sister’s mind, as well as the items that needed to be bought before they went out of town. Only two hours from Tokyo, but they weren’t planning on returning within these two weeks.
— «So you also need beads?»
— «And along with them, thin threads», — he added these two items to his list. Ruby thought for a moment after hearing his voice.
— «Um, I was thinking more about bigger beads.»
Kana couldn't stop being amazed by her friend's determination, and asked with surprise in her voice:
— «Do you seriously want to do everything at once?»
— «Why not? Making a few hundred bracelets shouldn't be hard!»
Hearing such a statement, the four people present in the room simultaneously sighed, calculating how many nights they would spend doing this.
***
Two days later, having loaded small suitcases into the luggage compartment of the bus, the group settled in the back row so as not to give away their plans to the all — seeing eye of the Internet ahead of time. Before that, Aqua carefully went through the list he had compiled and rewritten many times, each time dividing it into smaller and smaller blocks, so that it would be easier to control what was happening. After all, there are things that would not be so critical to forget. But control has never hurt anyone. — «So, are you ready to spend two weeks away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy the beauty of this world to your heart's content?» — Saito was already preparing for an amazing vacation, although they would have to work for the festival, it would not be as tiring as the daily routine in front of the monitor. — «Of course we are!» — «With pleasure!» — «We will swim to our heart's content!» The guys' answers were heard. For them, this would be a great opportunity to spend time together. Aqua smiled at their exclamations, secretly rejoicing for his sister's successful life and a good group. After all, bad relationships within idol groups are not uncommon… And what luck it was for them to gather such members who could certainly call themselves best friends.***
Having spent only an hour and a half on the road, having whispered about life to their heart's content, the group got off the bus, waiting for directions regarding the route. The Internet here was so-so, but it did load something, and now Saito was checking the map so that they could find the booked house. Having determined the route, they went up the mountain, passing other houses decorated in the same style: the houses themselves had a blue roof, which was unusual, but made them stand out from other villages, flowers were also planted in shades to create a beautiful composition, trees with white flowers created an illustration of clouds against the bright blue sky. Sometimes bushes with berries slipped through the gardens, some even managed to ripen during this time. I wonder if they can be eaten? Having seen the right number on the house, Miyako also noticed a person standing on the threshold of the house. This was probably the owner, waiting for the group to hand over the keys and tell them everything. He also noticed the assembled company and greeted them: — «Good afternoon! You are Miyako Saito-san, right?» — «Good afternoon. Yes, I am Miyako Saito.» Opening the gate, he let the group into the garden. — «My name is Sieg Hatake, nice to meet you», — he said good-naturedly. — «Let me show you the house.» — «Nice to meet you.» The man led them to the porch of the house, showed them how to open the lock. Then he gave them a short tour of the house itself. — «The second floor has bedrooms, enough space for eight people, and there is a small living room with a TV.» The beds in the rooms were ordinary, not traditional futons, which are used in villages, covered with a bedspread, also in blue shades. In the living room there was a beige sofa, several chairs and a large long table. «Which is just right for their beadwork» — Aqua noted. The first floor was more like mini-living rooms, they didn't have a full-fledged bed, only a small sofa in each of the three rooms, which could easily be turned into personal workshops, one large room combined with a kitchen, in which it was supposed to receive guests and food. — «The store is located down the slope, walk for about 15 minutes, until you run into a white building, more like a small castle in shape, you will immediately distinguish them, they are completely different from these houses, then just turn left, and there will be several shops, choose any.» — «Thank you very much», — said Miyako, taking the keys from his hands. — «I live in a house nearby, number 10, if you have any questions — you have my number, you can call. Enjoy your vacation!» — «Thank you very much for the tour!» — the guys said in chorus. After saying goodbye to Hatake-san, the company began to settle into the rooms and unpack their things. Ruby chose Mem-Cho as her roommate, Kana, not showing her happiness, settled in with Aqua. The latter did not take many things that would need to be taken out, and therefore went to Saito to discuss the plan for these weeks. — «In fact, no one forbids them to come without merch at all, we’ll just collect less money and that’s it. Considering the small amount of materials, the bracelets won’t take more than two days, and the drawings can be displayed as an exclusive», — she explained, arranging the things on the shelf. — «Don’t forget, our main goal here is to relax, and the main thing for the festival is dancing and singing. There will be no use from the bracelets if the group doesn’t sing anything.» — «Well, I understand. Then I should let them distribute their time», — Aqua nodded in response and went to gather the girls to remind them of the adventure they signed up for. And there was no need to gather them: they had already settled in one room, cheerfully discussing the upcoming vacation. — «Oh, brother! Are you coming to the beach with us?! Oh, please!» — «Ruby, maybe you could wait at least one day? We just got here», — he put his palm on his forehead, already forced to cool down his younger sister's ardor. — «Aqua came here to discuss girl secrets with us?» — Mem-Cho asked with a smirk. — «Is that what he's interested in? Or is this a chance for you to learn how to behave with a girlfriend?» — Kana picked up on her, teasing the only guy in their company. His cheeks finally turned a little red, and, coughing, he changed the subject. — «I came here to remind you of the need to properly manage your time, so that we don't do anything a couple of hours before departure or, God forbid, before the festival begins.» — «Oh, you're such a bore as always! Of course we'll do everything, we'll have time for everything!» — Ruby, puffing out her cheeks, answered him. — «There's nothing complicated about it at all, we'll arrange everything!» — «Of course», — Kana also said. Sighing, Aqua left the three to discuss their plans for the future.***
The garden near the house was wonderful, it was looked after with love and for many years, and the person taking care of it was obviously a professional. Growing bushes, flower beds, sunsets — a great place for an artist. But… Drawing turned out to be not so easy. And a couple of articles from the Internet will not replace many years of experience, which, of course, there was none. — «I don't understand how to draw with these watercolors paints! I really like to draw, but why is it so hard», — Ruby was whining about her failures. — «What did you expected, Ruby?!» — exclaimed Arima. They had already ruined several sheets. Watercolors turned out to be difficult for beginners: the paints flowed and mixed due to the volume of water added, the desired shades did not work out, and the picture at the end turned out… in a slightly different style, and not in the one they wanted. They liked pencils more, with them you can at least get the expected shades as a result of mixing colors, and the area of the paint depends solely on the movements of your hand: if it twitched, it's your own fault. In the evenings, before the sun went down, they would sit down and try to draw several pictures to have something to choose from for the festival. First, they would sketch the flowers, although, I must admit, the guides found by Mem-Cho were very helpful here: first, mark the position of the petals with ovals and circles, indicate the position with lines, then give them a more realistic shape and apply color after color from light to dark. The sketches turned out well, the pencils produced an acceptable result, but the watercolors… Well, if you show them, then only in about twenty years, when they become popular, can this be designated as «the group’s first steps in drawing.» Maybe someone will like them. Maybe. Making bracelets was the easiest thing to do — string the beads in the right order, and that’s it. During the routine work, the girls discussed possible movements for new dances, looked for rhymes for words. — «Why don’t you draw sketches for several types of bracelets, so as not to come up with different combinations for each? That way, you can distribute the materials.» Aquamarine's idea was immediately adopted, and a couple of sheets of paper were covered with bracelets. Connecting randomly chosen, matching sticks and «just liked» details was an interesting activity, but next time Kana was ordered to count everything, at least so as not to buy so many extra beads that they would not be used at all simply because they were not put to use. Costume ideas came to mind almost immediately, they mainly consisted of a lot of decorations (necessarily with sparkles and flowers), and there would be no problems with clothes — if desired, they can even be found in a store, instead of ordering tailoring, which, most likely, will not be done in time due to deadlines, and paying extra for urgency… Well, they will clearly decide not here and not now. They worked on the dances during the day, turning on the air conditioner, when the sun was so hot that it was impossible to be outside. — «What if we switch places here, increasing the distance, then we can add the hand movement that Kana suggested?» — Mem-Cho was thinking about which movements would be best for the verse, their current arrangement only contributed to the fact that they would collide and fall. — «Then we need to add another element to return to the original position, we have already agreed on it!» — Arima added. — «It turned out to be very easy to come up with actions for the verse, but how can we now connect it with the main text?» — «Maybe take elements from old dances? Or spy on someone?» — «Who do you want to find suitable movements from?» — «Yes, we will find someone. This needs to be done differently», — Mem said, — «you need to sing with your eyes closed, and then the dance will be born in your heart itself.» — «We have already tried your idea, it hasn't been born yet», — Ruby said with a hint of sarcasm. — «What do you suggest doing then?» — «Maybe we can find dances for Valentine's Day?» — «What?» — the blondes said in unison, not expecting such a proposal from Arima. — «What? We can take the movements from there, if they suddenly fall into our rhythm.» — «Seriously? Do you think we'll find something there?» — «You just suggested spying on someone's dance!» — «I was just kidding! And anyway, I was talking about the old B-Komachi dances!» Listening to their arguments, Aqua involuntarily sighed. Perhaps he should find them some dancing courses, if such exist, maybe their imagination will develop and it won't cause such problems.
