Blo… what?

"It's not necessary, but it would be great to come up with a name related to our image," I said.

Everyone stayed silent, thinking of a name for the group.

"Let's call it Traditional," I suggested first.

"Only one word?" Sanae wondered.

"Many names of bands, groups, and companies are only one word."

She looked at the ground, thoughtful. "What do you girls think?"

"I don't like the word," Astra answered.

"Me neither," Aki added.

"Sounds old," Umi said.

"Fine," I sighed. "What about Tradidolional?"

Everyone stared at me, their gazes ranging between confused and worried.

"Forget it, let's keep thinking."

Astra promptly raised her hand.

"You don't need to do that," I said.

"Sorry," she giggled. "What about Samurais?"

"Not a bad band name and it pays tribute to a traditional Japan, but I don't think it fits our group."

"You're right."

Moments later, Aki suggested, "Stars; because we will be stars traveling through space, which has stars."

"Oh!" Astra uttered in surprise. "I like it."

"Me too," Sanae added.

"It needs something more," Umi said. "It's not even related to Japan."

I didn't expect that feedback from her.

"I agree," Risa replied.

"And what could that be?" Aki wondered.

"What do I know? Blend it with another word or whatever," Umi answered. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Something like Blostars."

We all stared at her in silence. Confused, she opened her eyes.

"What?"

"Where does the 'blo' come from?" I asked.

"From 'blossom'. It came to my mind just now because it was popular in Japan centuries ago."

"Oh!" everyone uttered in awe.

I continued, "It sounds cute, blends perfectly with 'stars', and pays tribute to a traditional Japan. What does everyone think?"

They all approved it.

"Awesome. That settles it; we are Blostars, a Japanese idol group that pays tribute to a traditional Japan while proving to people that only living beings can make living beings truly happy."

Everyone clapped.

"And that's it for today. We'll meet here next week after you're done with school. Make sure to enjoy it."

Astra and Umi stood up and left the room, whilst Aki stayed and approached me instead.

"You said you're a student at Saitama, right?" she asked.

I nodded.

"You'll pause your studies too?"

"Most of my lectures will be paused, yes. Except for Business Administration, which I'll still have to attend to."

"Interesting. Let's eat lunch together at the cafeteria this week, shall we?"

Her smile and smell made my heartbeat rise.

Why am I thinking of her smell?!

"S-Sure."

"Wonderful. See you tomorrow, then!"

As she walked out of the room, Sanae glared at her. Sanae realized I noticed it and looked away from me. Risa giggled at her side.

I hope it's not what I'm thinking.

I left the building after saying goodbye to Sanae and Risa. Without much to do, I headed to my apartment and sat at my computer. I wirelessly connected my glasses to it and opened my favorite role-playing game.

My vision darkened and I zoned out for a brief moment. I stopped feeling what I was feeling in real life and started to feel warmer. I had gone through the linking process many times, yet it still felt weird; it was like being forced to sleep.

I opened my eyes and I was standing next to a fireplace in the living room of my in-game house. The entire game was medieval-themed, so my house was too.

Not even ten seconds after I opened the game, a visit request from Tomokazu appeared in front of my eyes as I checked my guild's bulletin board; I accepted it. A few seconds later, he knocked on the front door and walked in.

I never understood why he made his character look exactly like him. It was a game where you could be whoever and whatever you wanted. For example, my character was a female thief, while I was a male and far from being a thief in real life.

"Hey," I greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Kaito."

It took me weeks to convince him to call me by my name instead of my nickname. Mainly because I didn't want to call him Overlord.

"Do you need something?" I asked.

"I wanted to ask you about your idol business. How is it doing?"

"It's doing great. We had our first meeting today and decided on a name for the group."

"Can you tell me what it is?"

"I don't know. You spend all day in forums, I don't want you to tell everyone before I can at least get it registered."

"Come on, you don't trust your friend?"

I sighed. "Blostars."

"Cute name, I like it. I hope the girls are cute as well because you haven't sent me their pictures after I asked for them last week."

"And I told you I won't. You'll see them when we make some advertising or if you meet them. Maybe you've already seen two of them."

"What do you mean?"

"They study at Saitama. One is studying Design and the other one Music Production."

"Interesting. Fine, I'll wait patiently."

"Good decision. Is that everything you came for?"

He nodded and I sighed.

"You could've sent a message."

"I prefer talking face to face."

"Sure. It's not related to you ogling my chest repeatedly."

"Not at all. I shall leave. Talk to you soon."

"Bye."

A visual effect of fire-like waves circled him and he promptly vanished from my house.

This chat reminded me that I haven't told my parents. I should, now that it's practically guaranteed.

My glasses recognized my command to exit the game. Again, my vision darkened and I went through the unlinking process. Once back in real life, it took me a few seconds to get used to it. Even though companies had improved the process over the years, it was far from pleasant.

I called my mom with my glasses and she answered right away. A hologram of her projected from my glasses onto the floor.

"Darling! How are you? You haven't called in weeks, you had me worried."

"Calm down, Mom. It's only been three weeks. I'm good. Actually, I'm great."

She gasped. "Did you find me a daughter-in-law?"

"No, I didn't. Before I tell you; how are you and Dad? And how's Takuya doing with his independence?"

"Don't remind me about it, your Dad and I are distraught. Fortunately, it seems he's doing well. He calls almost every day to ask us how to do things."

"He's still a kid, after all."

"I know! I can't understand why he wanted to leave us this soon. Are we bad parents? Darling, tell me the truth, we can handle it."

"No, you aren't bad parents. He just wanted some personal space. I was only one year older than him when I left."

She inhaled and let out a deep breath. "I'll take your word. You still worrying about him makes me happy."

"Of course, he's my little brother."

"Then why didn't you ask about your big sister?"

She got me there.

"Because she's already established in the world. She has an apartment, a high rank at her job, and, more importantly, she's old."

"Kaito!" she yelled.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm joking."

Kind of.

"She'll kill you if you say that in front of her."

"That's what makes it funny."

She sighed. "She told us not long ago that her company might get closed this week."

"Wait, really?"

She nodded. "It's not certain yet, so we are all hopeful it won't."

"I hope that too."

After a moment of silence, she smiled. "Enough chatter about us. What did you want to tell me?"

"That I finally started my Business project."

She gasped. "Finally?! Does that mean that you opened a business?!"

"Not yet. Everything is ready, but I need to get it registered this week."

She squealed. "I have to tell your father! Wait, no. I'll keep it a secret."

"Why?"

"Come home next weekend for dinner and surprise everyone! Your father, Takuya, and Aya."

She always wants to give surprises. Even for the smallest things.

"Sure. I'll pass by on Sunday evening."

"Excellent! See you that day, then!"

"Wait, I haven't told you what the business is about—"

"Don't tell me! I want to find out along with everyone else."

I smirked. "Okay. See you on Sunday."

Beaming, she ended the call and her hologram disappeared. I took off my glasses and put them on my desk. I leaned against the backrest of the chair and stared at the ceiling.

What's going on with my life? I met two girls with a dramatic backstory and they basically gave me the final project I needed. Then we found the rest of the members; three cute, talented girls. Though only Astra wants to be an idol. Aki and Umi are using it as a medium to reach their real goal.

I stood up and jumped into my bed. Laying on my back, I stared at the ceiling again.

About Aki… I don't want to assume anything, but I hope she's not hitting on me. And I also hope that Sanae's glare wasn't one of jealousy. I know it's almost impossible not to, but I don't want to mix work with my personal life; it'll make things harder.

Without realizing it, I fell asleep. I woke up later in the evening and ended my day with dinner, playing games as usual, and making sure I worked on the project and business documents.