Thus, life at Midori's house was already approaching the six-month mark. In that time, the sheer volume of special training menus I'd completed was enough to make one weep. And bearing fruit from those efforts, I—Miki—had reached a point where, no matter how you looked at me, I appeared to be nothing but a perfectly flawless girl.

"Mikii—, I'm going to serve~!" "OK, Midori—" Pock. Pock. Under the blue sky, yellow balls fly back and forth.

Yes. Today, I've come to a tennis school with Midori. Of course, Midori's house has three tennis courts, but because the coach here is supposedly handsome or something, the two of us often come here on weekends.

On days we play tennis, before we know it, a crowd of boys gathers around the court to spectate. Of course, they're probably here for the sight of us in our tennis wear... And they line up, packed closely together on the other side of the chain-link fence. Moreover, most of them are what you'd call camera boys, equipped with telephoto lenses. I've gotten used to that kind of thing lately, and I suppose this too is, well, all thanks to Midori-san.

Click, click, click. With every serve and rally, the sound of shutters going off echoes like crazy. I've even heard a rumor that photos of us are secretly being sold within the school, and I've actually met a male student who said he bought one for a thousand yen a piece. Hmm, isn't this a violation of portrait rights?

"Mikiiii—here it comes~!" I was too late to notice the high back volley Midori hit, and what I saw through the fence was...

"Hmm? Th-that's!" Yes. That persistent man who had once kept pestering me to join show business. Wh-what on earth is he doing here? The moment my eyes met squarely with his— Trip—

"Kyaa!" Perhaps because I'd looked away, my feet got tangled and I took a spectacular tumble.

"Miki~, are you okay?" "Oww... It's all that guy's fault." "What guy?" "Urgh... ow ow ow... Midori~ for now, let's just call it a day." "Yes, you're right. Let's do that."

* * *

While we were showering at the clubhouse, we talked about that man. "Hmm. So something like that happened? But that person really was from a talent agency, wasn't he?" "That's what his business card said, but I don't know if it's genuine. Besides, that guy's totally creepy!" "Do you remember what agency it was?" "Hmm, let me think... it was something like ○△☆☆ Production, maybe..."

"Chance!" Sparkle☆ "Huh? Midori, did you say something?" "No, nothing at all."

At that moment, I failed to notice that Midori's eyes had gleamed brilliantly yet again. "Miki. I just remembered I have something to do, so could you go on ahead home?" "Sure. Then I'll head home now." "Ufufu. See you later!"