From One Dorky Crew to Another

"I'm Kasumi Toyama! I like stars!"

"I'm Kousuke Seto! I like nature!"

Kasumi could feel some astronomically sparkling and heart-pounding vibes from these people her idol senpai Aya had introduced to the Girls Band Party at CiRCLE. Among her band Poppin'Party, only Tae and Arisa knew about the Mekakushi Dan, but still, the lack of knowledge became part of the fun in the end.

For example, this nature lover named Kousuke Seto. A lot of her other friends and not just Arisa were looking at him strange when he said that the little girl named Mary Kozakura was his wife, but past that, he was quite a friendly guy who attended to everyone's requests. Marina even jokingly offered him a job at CiRCLE, and he took it seriously, much to everyone's laughter!

As for Mary, she looked quite fluffy! Many of the Girls Band Party lined up to rub their faces into her hair, and Seto looked worried, but Mary insisted that she was fine, looking cute with her determination! Though Seto still went to her side.

With that, Kasumi turned to another friendly-looking guy, one who was using a sketchbook.

"Hello, I'm Kasumi Toyama!" she greeted. "I'm the vocalist and a guitarist of Poppin'Party!"

"Oh, I'm Haruka Kokonose!" the guy replied. "I handle graphic design and programming stuff for the Mekakushi Dan! This here's my wife Takane!"

"Yo," went the apparently laidback and twintailed girl who looked like a slimmer and raven-haired Arisa. "I handle more programming and computer stuff than this guy does."

"Wow!" Kasumi went, sparkling as usual, but... "You don't do music?"

"Ah, we do, but mostly as support," Takane blushed. "Sorry for the disappointment."

"Hey, it's still awesome to work support!" Kasumi rebutted with a smile. "Just look at Marina and CiRCLE!"

"Yeah, she's right, Takane!" Haruka agreed, adding to the brightness and making Takane blush even redder.

"Uh, thanks..." Takane mumbled, sinking back into her seat.

"Besides, aren't you working on a VTuber career too?" Haruka blinked and beamed. "You'll also have to make music there eventually, right?"

And then Takane was glaring at Haruka.

"Ooh, a VTuber?" Kasumi couldn't help asking with excitement. "I don't get what that is, but that sounds really fun!"

"Don't bug her about it, Kasumi."

When Kasumi heard that last sentence, she turned to find Arisa Ichigaya, arms crossed. The rest of Poppin'Party were also peeking from behind her.

At that, Takane sighed. Then she stood up to slap the back of Haruka's head, causing her husband to apologize meekly.

The sight of the making-up that followed made Poppin'Party squee, Arisa included, and then they went into some chiller chatting.

---

"Five more yet to come, making this...thirty?" asked an eyebagged guy. "How?"

"I still have no idea," Misaki answered, knowing what that "How?" meant there.

Misaki Okusawa had read some stuff about Mekakushi Dan and its oddities, but they were more about the music – which also used a mix of rock and electronic elements like RAISE A SUILEN did – than on the staff hierarchy and the personal lives beneath it. Eleven members were no surprise in the face of thirty, but the surprise was in how much of a presence they had in person.