vstars Chapter 44 Passing Through Inertia
Chapter 44 Passing Through Inertia
On the night the selection process ended, Shirama, Kobayashi, and Shiori moved into the dormitory prepared for the second-generation students. Shiori's suitcase hadn't even been opened yet, making it a seamless transition.
A month later, the other second-generation members moved in one after another, mainly members from the regional groups. As rising stars of Nogizaka46 who had already made a name for themselves, they did enjoy some of the benefits left by their seniors—at least at the beginning, Rihito didn't dare to openly provide each member with a private apartment, but once the second generation arrived, they all moved into a large apartment building. The scale of this move quite startled many girls who had just arrived in Tokyo.
Mai Shiraishi's room was on the third floor, next to Shiori Kubo's. Compared to the taciturn Kobayashi, she and this girl from the Tohoku region became very close very quickly. This was partly due to their shared interests, and partly due to the management's encouragement. In any case, their relationship was now completely different from before.
When the knocking came, Shirama was sitting cross-legged on the bed flipping through a magazine. She assumed it was Terada Ranze returning the hairdryer, so without looking up, she called out, "The door's unlocked."
The door opened, and instead of the usual entrance, it was Hashimoto Nanami's face that peeked in.
"Excuse me." Nanamin's voice was as steady as ever, but it startled everyone in the room. Shirama quickly stuffed the magazine under her pillow and jumped off the bed. "Eh? Nanamin, what brings you here?"
Nana smiled but didn't answer immediately. She pushed open the door, slowly scanned the room with her eyes, and then walked slowly to Bai Ma.
"Come see how you're doing. You look great, much better than the place I used to rent." She said, sitting down on the only chair in the room and placing the paper bag she was carrying on the table. "A freshly baked Baumkuchen from Ginza, enjoy."
Bai Ma opened the bag, glanced at it, and smiled: "You still remember?"
"Of course I remember." After not seeing her for many days, Nana Min's voice had become a bit languid, which suddenly sounded a little grating to Bai Ma's ears, but she didn't show it. She just smiled and nodded. "Thank you, I will eat it with love."
After exchanging pleasantries, the two looked at each other and were both speechless. Although Nana Min didn't say anything and Shirama didn't ask, it was almost self-evident what had happened to this poor Hokkaido girl who had suddenly moved into one of Japan's wealthiest neighborhoods and was carrying expensive, high-end desserts that required long queues to buy when visiting friends.
The atmosphere froze for a moment before Nana Min spoke first. Looking at Bai Ma's somewhat stiff expression, she said apologetically:
"I'm sorry, I took advantage of you before."
Shirama's lips twitched slightly. The other person's words finally resolved a question that had been bothering her for a long time—why Kubo Rito reacted so strangely after hearing her name. Sure enough, there was something she didn't know. She had orchestrated all of this ever since she learned that she and Kubo Rito had crossed paths. Kubo Rito was obviously aware of this as well. Only she had been acting as a go-between between the two of them without realizing it, foolishly thinking that she was speaking up for a friend.
"You...knew each other before?"
"No... how should I put it?" Nanamin pondered for a moment, still unsure how to explain everything to her. Fortunately, Shirama didn't seem too eager to know, and seeing her predicament, she considerately refrained from asking further and initiated a conversation about another topic:
"So, is the company president good to you?"
As the two were talking, a soft clicking sound came from outside the door. Nana frowned, walked to the door, but found no one there.
"It's probably just the wind. Only the residents live in this building, so it's fine."
Bai Ma said nonchalantly.
Since the hostess had said so, Nana Min didn't think much of it. She closed the door, walked back to her side, lowered her eyes, and her slender fingers unconsciously traced the edge of the paper bag containing the Baumkuchen. After several seconds, she chuckled softly.
"What do you mean by 'good'? If Mai-sama is referring to money, then he certainly hasn't treated me badly."
"Of course not, money..." Bai Ma was about to retort instinctively, but then she realized that even she couldn't convince herself with that statement, so she could only smile awkwardly and change her tune: "Of course money is important, but Nanamin, you're not that kind of person, right?"
"Is that right?" Nanamin looked up, her gaze falling on a dotted point on the ceiling. "I'm a little unsure now too."
As Bai Ma listened, the expression on her face slowly changed from a half-smile to an indescribable tenderness. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found that she had no idea what to say.
Nana Min glanced at her, then suddenly leaned closer, lowered her voice, and said with a hint of mischief, "Hey, Mai-sama, you don't actually believe that, do you?"
"Huh?" Shiramasa was startled and turned to look at her smug face after her prank succeeded. Only then did she realize that she had been tricked. She was furious and grabbed a pillow to throw at her, but the other girl caught it easily.
"Hashimoto Nanami!" The Gunma beauty, now transformed into a black stone, grew increasingly agitated. With a roar, she pinned the Hokkaido fairy beneath her. Nanami, already frail, was no match for her after the previous night's excessive assault. In just a few moments, she was subdued and rendered immobile.
"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore." Nanamin quickly wiped the gloating pout from her face and hugged Baima's slender waist, begging for mercy. "Mai-sama, don't worry, he treats me very well, in every sense of the word. I'm sure this is the life I want, really."
Bai Ma paused slightly, looked at her, and suddenly sighed, reaching out to pinch her much smoother cheeks.
"That's true. You've been much more mature than me since we met, so it's not my place to worry about you. But the president isn't an ordinary person, so you should know that yourself."
"Yes." Nanamin nodded heavily, deeply moved. Whether it was the advanced memories in her mind or their interactions in reality, Mai had always been that kind, gentle, and caring woman. It was worth all the care she had given Mai.
She paused, then looked directly into Shiramasa's eyes and said, word by word, "Maisama, just be a good idol. I'll support you from behind."
The heater in the room was still humming, and the night outside the window was completely dark, with a few scattered stars twinkling in the sky. Bai Ma lowered her head and remained silent for a long time, then turned around and hugged Nana Min, patting her back. Everything was understood without words.
After everything was cleared up, the little misunderstanding between Shiro and Nanamin disappeared. The two spent some more time being affectionate, and knowing that the second generation members had been working very hard, Nanamin didn't stay any longer and said goodbye.
As Nana Min turned the corner of the corridor, she was about to press the down button for the elevator when a scene caught her eye out of the corner of her eye, which made her stop in her tracks.
At the other end of the corridor, near the stairwell, a girl in black pajamas was squatting on the steps, hugging her knees. She was barefoot, with a pair of fluffy bunny slippers lying crookedly beside her. Her long black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, covering most of her face, leaving only her round eyes visible.
It was her, Shiori Kubo.
Nana narrowed her eyes and recognized her. She was her former junior, a third-generation member of Nogizaka46. However, she didn't have many memories of her. After all, she had only been a third-generation member for a short time before she announced her graduation and left the group. She didn't know anything about what happened after that. She could only learn a little from Rito.
"Good evening."
Xu Xian didn't seem particularly surprised to see an unfamiliar face in the staff dormitory, and calmly waved to her.
Nana Min didn't speak, but just nodded at her. Li Ren had vaguely revealed some information about Xu Xian's identity, but she hadn't listened carefully at the time, and now she couldn't recall it for a while, so she decided to say less to avoid making mistakes.
However, she didn't expect that her deliberate avoidance wouldn't be so easily thwarted. Xu Xian dusted herself off, stood up from the steps, and swayed over to her, asking, "Did my brother come with you?"
"Huh?" Nana Min's mouth gaped open as she looked at her in shock.
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Let's rewind a few hours, to when the sun hadn't completely sunk below the horizon.
In the president's office of the Nogizaka46 company building, Rito Kubo leaned back in his chair, flipping through a newly printed proposal page by page. The sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows gradually changed from orange-red to deep blue, and the desk lamp on his desk automatically turned on, reflecting his focused profile in the glass.
"Knock knock knock".
The knocking was slow and deliberate, indicating that the visitor was not in a hurry.
"Please come in." Li Ren didn't even look up, continuing to flip through the documents in his hand.
The door was gently pushed open and then gently closed. The person stood in the doorway, not immediately approaching, seemingly hesitating about something. Rito finally looked up, saw the person's face clearly, and revealed a kind smile.
"Oh, it's Hori. What's up?"
The newcomer was Hori Miona, a second-generation trainee who had just been recruited. Today, she wasn't wearing the uniform she wore during training; instead, she had changed into her own clothes—a denim suit with a basic white T-shirt underneath. It was a very simple outfit, but it suited her well, given her transparent figure. The only thing to worry about was that the temperature in Tokyo was hovering in the single digits, and it felt like she might catch a cold if she went out.
"President, I heard the center position for the second-generation member fan meeting has already been decided, is that right?"
As expected of Nogizaka46's notorious troublemaker, Hooligan's very first words almost made Rito lose his temper. Fortunately, he wasn't new to her, and with all the mental preparation he'd done beforehand, he managed to suppress the urge to curse and gave her a disgruntled glare.
"Hey, Hori Miona, is this something you should be asking? Focus on your practice and don't believe everything you hear!"
Although Rito's tone was a bit harsh, Hori was naturally thick-skinned. To put it nicely, she was insensitive; to put it bluntly, she was shameless. She just swayed around there without batting an eye, and anyone who didn't know better would think she had arrived home.
Glancing at her, Rito really couldn't do anything about it, so he patted her shoulder and said helplessly, "Stop wandering around. If you don't want to walk, find a place to sit down. Don't fly around like a fly."
Hori stuck out his tongue, seemingly taking his words to heart. He dragged a stool over and huffed and puffed as he sat down next to him.
After a brief silence, perhaps finding the documents in Rito's hand uninteresting, she shifted her body, about to speak, but Rito reacted faster, reaching out to pinch her lips.
"Shut up, I told you to speak!"
"Uh-huh--"
Completely speechless, Hori rolled her eyes and could only manage a grunt of "I know." Rito smirked before releasing her and continuing her work.
"Hmph, stingy president."
Hori cursed under her breath, though she only dared to think it to herself. She was incredibly bored because she was under a gag order, but she didn't want to leave so dejectedly. Her eyes lit up, and she quickly came up with a new idea. As she moved around, she suddenly rested her chin on Rito's shoulder.
"President, I'm exhausted from practice, let me lean on you for a bit." Her breath brushed against the back of his neck, and her still somewhat childish voice carried a hint of allure. Rito ignored her and continued flipping through the proposal, which emboldened Houli even more. She leaned against his back like a sloth. At first, it might have just been playful, but after about twenty minutes, her breathing gradually calmed down—she had actually fallen asleep.
Rito turned to look at her, both amused and exasperated, then stood up and carried her to the sofa. He took a blanket from the closet, covered her with it, and then knelt on the carpet, quietly watching her.
As she slept, Hou Li lost her sharp edge, revealing only the clean and soft face of a seventeen-year-old girl. He reached out and gently brushed away the stray hairs from her forehead, his gaze softening. The girl was a rose with thorns, and Rito had always known this. What he needed to do now was to pull out the thorns one by one, even if it meant bleeding profusely.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Rito glanced at his watch, then went to the door. Standing outside was Shuishui. These past few days, he'd been getting off work late, so she'd been hitching a ride home with him every day. Shuishui saw Rito and was about to greet him happily when her gaze suddenly sharpened, passing over his shoulder and landing on the sofa in the distance—Hou Li had been startled awake by the door opening and was sitting up sleepily, her clothes slightly disheveled, her collarbone partially exposed.
"She's... a second-generation member?" Sleepy's voice turned cold. "I think I've seen her before."
Houli looked up and recognized the center position from Nogizaka46's first three singles. She quickly straightened her clothes, ran to the door, bowed respectfully, and greeted them:
"Nagahama-san, I am Hori Miona, a second-generation member."
"It's you." Shui Shui glanced at her with a half-smile, took a step forward, tucked the exposed bra strap back into her short sleeve, and then patted her shoulder.
"The president's office isn't a place to sleep, Hori Miona. Didn't your manager teach you that?"