My new Neighbor's an Idol!?

Pretend to Care-oke

"All right then, where are we going to first?" Ishi asked. This prompted the other three to just blankly stare at the boy. "Come on, just because this was my idea doesn't mean I have to do all the work." He sighed, social gatherings like this weren't his deal, so there was no way any of them should've expected him to handle their business.

"I'm only here because you asked." Said Chinae. "It's not like I want to be here, so I don't care what we do." She had a disinterested look on her face. Were this a real date, then he would be feeling the pressure of trying to keep her entertained. How unfair, seeing as they only just met up here.

"Then I'll be the one to suggest a plan for us." Otoya taking the reins on this date already made Ishi regret ever agreeing to joining them. Especially given the place he took them all to. "We'd like a room for four please."

"How many times do I need to say that just because she's an idol we don't have to hear her sing." Of course the boy had brought them to a karaoke bar. It was a popular hangout location for people their age, and there were tons of other students they recognized also enjoying their weekend here.

"It's not because of her." His friend replied. "I love singing at the karaoke bar, but you never want to come. So I'm taking advantage of this rare opportunity." Apparently Rinse wasn't the only person people were curious to hear sing. As someone with a rather negative outlook on life, a lot of other students were very interested in hearing what his singing voice might sound like. Was it wonderful? Ugly? Somewhere in the middle? Those thoughts began to more heavily invade their minds after the girl tried to get him to sing that one day.

"I bet under that tough exterior of yours, you're probably real embarrassed to sing in front of people." Chiane teased. He believed that she didn't care about having to sing. Either because they both knew she was talented, or that she could simply refuse. "So I can't wait until they make you sweat."

"Ain't happening." He responded. The boy could easily just not take the mic. Though that would certainly make for a boring date if half the daters didn't participate. That's what Otoya gets for coming up with a stupid idea like this.

"I'd like to hear you sing." Rinse spoke up as they came to their room. "Even if you're really bad, it'd be nice if you went and tried to have fun with the rest of us."

"Would you like to hear me sing, Rinse?" Otoya took the attention as he set up the machine.

"That'd be nice too." She responded, a lot less enthusiastic compared to her hope of listening to Ishi's singing voice. "Why don't you go ahead first?"

Ishi took note of her demeanor. He felt a little bad that she was in this position, since it was mainly his own fault. He was the one that put her up as an offer without her permission. While she was annoyed that he would do that, she still accepted to help him keep his end of the bargain up anyway. That was just the type of person she was. A bit stereotypical, but this girl was an idol all right.

She did want to spread cheer and happiness for others around her. That's how she was ever since transferring to their school. But that wasn't why she came here in the first place. No, that girl wanted to experience life among them, find out what it was like to live a so-called normal life. Too bad that it's hard to have that when everyone around you continues to be a reminder of your status.

"Yo, you've been staring at Hattori for a while now, don't you think?" Chinae snapped him back into reality. That was strange, he thought. Normally the boy wasn't one to go so deep into thought about someone else. This was bothersome, it seemed that Rinse really was having an effect on him somehow. "Last time I checked, you're on a date with me."