CH 57

“Umm, well then! Why don’t we watch the actual dancing in the video!”

The video was then played on the monitor in the dance studio.

Seeing my backyard show up on the monitor made me feel really embarrassed for some reason.

◇◇◇

After watching the video, the three of them were overwhelmed by Eldora’s world-class dancing they had never seen before.

“Woooow! I’ve never seen dancing like this before!”

“It’s so ahead of its time! This will definitely be popular for sure! It’s going to cause a huge boom!”

“T-That was really impressive… It feels a bit more complicated in scope than what idol dancing usually entails―B-But, it has each of our specialty moves! I think we can do this!”

It seems that, although Eldora’s style of dancing had already become widespread in the US, it wasn’t very well-known in Japan.

In other words, Shiorin and the girls will become the first.

Plus, they even have permission from the original creator himself.

In addition, Eldora also arranged the choreography to be less difficult and more “cute” so that even Shiorin and the girls can use them in their performance.

This sort of thing would normally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to formally request…

“His body looked really muscular, so I thought he’d be intimidating and overbearing, but he turned out to be really straightforward and easy to understand.”

“I-I know right. He looked like a street gang member or something… If he fought me seriously, I don’t think I’d stand a chance.”

Akarin and Mihorin stealthily conversed with each other about each of their impressions.

Yep, I’m a bit scared of that part of him too.

Eldora has this “American” sense of distance ingrained in him, so he’s very physical and touchy-feely with others.

If I’m not careful, I might get blown away by his strength.

“So this guy’s your friend, huh, Ritsuki… I-I know I shouldn’t judge people by their looks, but… he isn’t a scary person, right…?”

Shiorin fearfully asked me.

I knew Eldora’s true personality, so I couldn’t help but laugh.

He can be blunt and outspoken at times, but he is at heart a kind, older-brother-like person.

“Don’t worry. He’s just really shy to the point where he can’t show his face. He’s not a bad person.”

When Shiorin and the others saw me smiling as I fabricated a reason for Eldora hiding his face, they all breathed sighs of relief.

She was a beautiful idol who had grown in popularity, so perhaps there was something else that happened in her past that caused her to be scared, aside from the bullying in her office.

It would not be surprising if she had developed a mild fear of men during the especially sensitive times of high school.

On the other hand, Rinka is too unguarded in the way she interacts with me…

I’d rather have at least Shiorin and the others be wary of me because I’m worried for them.

Well, they might be rather unguarded with me because they don’t see me as a man…

“O-Of course I knew that! After all, he’s Ritsuki’s friend! Obviously he’d be a good person!”

“Ah, that’s not true! You were definitely a little scared of him, Akari!”

“Don’t be so prejudiced against others, both of you. We have to trust Ritsuki-san.”

“Weren’t you the most scared among us, Miho…? Even though he’s unexpectedly a good person… Of course we trust you, Ritsuki, after all you’ve done for us! We’re friends, after all!”

The three of them stared at me with sparkling eyes.

Normally, I would have fainted, thinking that I was in heaven.

However, I was genuinely happy that they had forgiven me and trusted me so much while I was helping Shiori and the others practice.

They see me not as a fan, but as a practice partner and a friend. I will never do anything to betray this trust.

I vowed this to myself.

“Alright, everybody, let’s all practice hard!”

““Yeah!””

Shiorin and the others pumped their fists energetically.