World's Greatest Idol Debut

Chapter One

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Ritsu's eyelids fluttered as he sat up and stretched. He reached over and slapped the bedside table until the alarm turned off.

"Huh? It's 6:00. Why am I up so early? I don't have any..." He bolted upright, all drowsiness gone. "Ahhhh! I almost forgot! The auditions are today!"

Ritus leaped out of bed and threw on his clothes. He bolted into the kitchen where he heated some leftovers for breakfast.

"I have two hours to get to the agency. There'll probably be quite a few people, so it's best to get there at least an hour in advance. Which means I have one hour to eat and go!" Ritsu stuffed the leftovers into his house and gathered his things.

"Ugh! These boxes are so annoying!" He kicked them out of the way and ran for the door. I know you wanted to move to Tokyo, but be more organized, me!

Sprinting, Ritsu navigated the roads of Tokyo to get to the station. He made it just in time for the 6:15 train.

"Haaaa...." He let out a breath as the train doors closed behind him. All of the seats were taken, so Ritsu stood by the door. The agency's about 25 minutes away, so I should get there with plenty of time. He stared out the window as the scenery rushed by. I'm so excited!

One hour and 45 minutes later, the agency opened its doors to the eager line of people. Due to his early arrival, Ritsu was only eighth in line. He filed in with the rest of the crowd, and got a front-row seat in front of the stage he was led to.

He heard snippets of conversation all around him as the others found there seats. He filled out a sheet with his name and other information about him. He wrote, checked off boxes, and signed his name at the end. He handed it off to a woman in a crisp business suit. The hall was filled with people's excited voices, but they all fell silent when the lights darkened.

"Welcome, everyone, to Marukawa Talent Agency!" Kanade Mino walked onto the stage. He was one of Marukawa's idols, and was known for always being cheerful and smiling.

His announcement was met with a lot of cheering and applause, along with a couple shouts of "give me your babies!" Mino simply met this with another smile, and continued his speech.

"As you all probably know, this is the Marukawa Idol Contest. Marukawa agency is letting ordinary people across Tokyo enter their doors. Those ordinary people are you. Today, you'll all be facing the auditions. Various judges shall appraise your singing and dancing ability to see if you have what it takes to become an idol. The select few who make it through shall be given a chance to debut with Marukawa in their contest program. The different idols and idol groups will battle it out to see who racks up the most love from fans, and the winner shall earn the rights to become a full-time idol with Marukawa!"

The crowd began cheering and yelling once again. Mina laughed.

"Settle down, settle down. People will be called up in order. When you are called, please head over to the door on the side of the stage.  Your first audition will be held in there. Good luck!"

Kanade Mino waved as he walked off. The cheers from the crowd were growing loser by the minute.

"Alright, then. Can I have numbers one through four come up on stage?" A woman held a mic and began to call people in groups of four for the audition.

It's starting! Ritsu could feel his heartbeat quicken. I'll be in the next group!

A mere five minutes later, the first four came out of the room. They all looked rather disappointed in themselves. What on earth happened in there? Thought Ritsu.

"Can numbers five through eight please come up?"

That's me! Ritsu took a deep breath as he entered the room. There were four chairs set up for the four contestants to sit on. They were placed across from four old men, some of the managers of Marukawa.

"Please, sit down." One of the men gestured towards the four chairs. Ritsu and the others hurried over and sat.

"Now tell me, why do you want to become an idol?" The men turned towards number four, a young girl with blonde pigtails.

"Well I really like to sing and dance and it would be so cool if I could sing as a job and I just adore being the center of attention and—"

"Alright, I think I get it." The men turned to number five. "What about you?"

It was another girl, but her hair was brown. "Well, I want to be the kind of person that people look up to and idolize, so I can—"

"I think I understand you as well." They turned towards number seven, but ended up cutting him off as well. Finally, they turned to Ritsu. "And you?"

He took a deep breath. "I just love it. All of it."

The four men stared him down as if he were a valuable diamond. "Oh, I see."

They each wrote some things down on a piece of paper. The man on the very left pulled out his phone. "I want all of you to harmonize with this sound."

A low tone rang out. The four contestants opened their mouths and did their best to harmonize.

"Ahhhhh...." Ritsu's voice was a little bit louder than the others, so he turned down the volume a bit. He watched nervously as the men wrote some more stuff on the paper.

"Alright, you can stop now." The man tapped his phone and turned off the noise. You all can head on back out."

The group of four all exited and went back to sit down. I hope I didn't mess up, thought Ritsu. He flopped down in his chair and waited for everyone else to finish.

"Alright everyone, we have the results!" Kanade Mino was back on the stage with a single piece of paper in his hands. The crowd cheered enthusiastically.

"The people moving foreward are..." Mino started to read names off the paper. Ritsu listened intently for his name to be called. As more and more names were called, he grew more and more worried. He was about ready to explode when...

"And the final person moving on is...Ritsu Onodera!"

Yes! Ritsu couldn't stop himself from grinning like a madman. I'm through!

He could hear cries of jubilation and moans of disappointment all around him as the people eliminated started to exit the stadium.

"Alright, you all are the lucky ones moving on!" Mino adressed the sixty or so people left in the stadium. "You will receive an email soon containing details about your assignment and when you can come in to rehearse. But until then, good luck!"

Mino walked off the stage, smiling as he went. Ritsu could barely stop himself from doing the same as he walked to the train station. I can't believe I did it! My career as a solo idol is going to begin!

After checking and re-checking his email for three days, Ritsu finally received a message from Marukawa Talent Agency. Excited, he read it aloud.

"Dear Ritsu Onodera, congratulations on making it through. Your first rehearsal will be on the 19th at exactly 7:45. There will be someone at the entrance to greet you. Sincerely, Marukawa Agency."

Ritsu ran over to his calendar and marked the date. He ran back to his computer and read the email over once more to ensure that he had everything correct. On his second read-through, he noticed something.

"P.S. Your unit partner will be Takano Masamune."

Wait a second. The gears in his head started to turn. But I was going to be a solo idol. That's what I put right. The more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him. I'm going to be in an idol group with another guy. His jaw dropped.

"Nooooooooooooo!"