Chapter 251: Wait, why is there a murder case even when recording a show?

Uesugi Muneyuki's reaction to Yamaguchi Maho left the Fuji TV side and the 48 Agent Imamura deeply disappointed.

Yamaguchi Maho was not lying; she had perhaps indeed known Uesugi Muneyuki before and had been involved with him, but judging by Uesugi Muneyuki's response, he did not care about this girl at all.

Department Director Abiru's estimation of Yamaguchi Maho in his heart couldn't help but drop several points, but since she had already been invited, letting her serve as a vase and a script-reader would suffice; a large commercial television station still possessed that much cultivation.

She actually managed to latch onto Golden Time with this guy... Agent Imamura was also deeply disappointed.

Yamaguchi Maho was too old; 18 at the audition, 19 as a trainee—for an Idol, she was an out-and-out old vegetable skin. On top of that, she had no talent, was not good at handshakes, and couldn't create buzz; she only had a face that could be considered pretty. She belonged to the category of a tool person brought in to bolster the group's appearance and lure fans in. What management really wanted to push were her teammates like Ogino Yuka, Nishigata Marina, Murayama Yuiri, and Okada Nana—newcomers who were both fresh, capable of handling handshakes, and good at creating buzz.

Since she was only a nodding acquaintance with Uesugi Muneyuki, Yamaguchi had no value. Let her latch on once or twice, then find a way to replace her; this position still had to be given to a potential star within the group. As long as they could connect with Uesugi Muneyuki, the king of traffic, the future would be promising!

Yamaguchi Maho was not yet aware that she had been abandoned by both the television station and the group at this moment. The girl was also quite disappointed by Uesugi Muneyuki's reaction, but she could not show it and could only loudly reply, "Please take care of me."

Just at this moment, Shirakawa Mai arrived.

Because she was serving as the host, Senior Mai stood under the spotlight today with her signature intellectual charm. She had changed into a sharply tailored ivory-white satin suit skirt, the hem falling exactly two inches above her knees. Light gray pantyhose with subtle pearlescent particles created a soft, misty texture under the lens. A pair of beautiful white jade feet stepped into five-centimeter nude suede pointed-toe High-heeled Shoes, and the translucent pearl square buckle at the forefoot supported the arch curve of the pantyhose elegantly and neatly.

Shirakawa Mai's most recognizable white skin and black eyes were like newly bloomed camellias. The National Goddess's temperament today was as clear as glass beads condensed from morning dew. When she saw that Uesugi Muneyuki was already there, Senior Mai's lips naturally curled up to form a natural smiling face, and dimples rippled with her smile: "Hello everyone, I am Shirakawa Mai. I am honored to be here today to participate in the program recording, please take care of me!"

"Please take care of me~"

The Goddess Senior cast an ambiguous look toward Uesugi Muneyuki, and Uesugi Muneyuki also smiled in response; the two didn't even need to speak to instantly understand what the other was thinking.

You're here?

I came because you came.

No choice, it's so hard to refuse recording a program with Senior.

Same here, Junior-kun~

This feeling of being in tune without a word was quite special, so special that Ikeda Erena, who was beside Uesugi Muneyuki, felt that something was particularly wrong but couldn't find any excuse.

The two greeted each other; there was nothing said, yet it seemed as if everything had been said.

"Miyawaki Sakura is here." Soon, the roll call began outside again.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm late!"

Outside the studio, Miyawaki Sakura, wearing her stage costume, looked full of apologies. She walked quickly into the studio. Seeing that Shirakawa Mai and Uesugi Muneyuki were actually both there, the girl was even more terrified and bowed, nearly pressing her little head against the ground.

As the top of the group, Sakura was very busy. Small Idols were fundamentally different from actors; apart from performing in the theater, they basically had no right to refuse any invitation to perform on a program. Small Idols had no right to pick work; only work picked them. The turnover rate of small Idols was extremely fast; every April, during the graduation season, thousands of girls entered this track, and if they weren't careful, they would be optimized.

If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will!

"Hey! Miyawaki, why are you so late?" Sure enough, Sakura's lateness made the Agent feel that he had lost a lot of face, especially since Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai had both arrived. A mere small Idol actually dared to make big shots wait; it was very rude in both reason and emotion, not to mention that this was Japan, a place where seniority was somewhat distorted.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Imamura-san, something happened with the recording at TV Tokyo, we had to reshoot a few shots..." Sakura was so anxious she was about to cry.

Today, when the group was recording a program, for some reason, several members kept making mistakes, leading to a forced reshoot. The program team there had released them almost at the last minute. Although Sakura had arrived at the Odaiba Building at the scheduled time, for the current situation, she was already considered late.

The Agent was so angry he wanted to go up and slap her, or at least scold her severely.

But just as Imamura was still brewing his emotions, Senior Mai greeted Sakura: "Oh oh oh, you're here, Miyawaki? Come over, come over."

"Shirakawa-san! Uesugi-san!" Sakura hurried over to greet them, which also caused the scolding that the Agent had already prepared to exit to get stuck in his throat.

Due to the tight schedule, Sakura was still wearing her stage costume. A fluffy skirt with overlapping light pink and ivory white outlined the girl's moving figure. A ribbon bow was tied at the lace neckline. As the skirt swayed, it revealed white pantyhose covered in sequins—that thin, mist-like translucent fabric wrapped around the girl's slender, tender calves, glowing with a pearlescent luster under the strong background light. The warm tone of her skin was faintly visible at the back of her knees, and the white pantyhose at her ankles were slightly bunched into fine folds. She walked quickly to the two of them with the *patter-patter* sound of her metal-buckled uniform leather shoes.

What a lovable girl. Uesugi Muneyuki had an impression of Sakura, and this outfit of hers was very much to his taste, so he couldn't help but take a few extra looks: "Coming from another shoot?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm late."

"Haha, it's fine, you aren't late." Uesugi Muneyuki pointed at the clock: "You just didn't come that early. Who dares to say you're late? I'll teach them a lesson for you!"

"Giggle~ That's right, whoever dares to say you're late, I'll teach them a lesson for you too." Senior Mai giggled. Standing with Uesugi Muneyuki and talking to Sakura gave her the illusion of disciplining a daughter. In a pleasant mood, she rarely said a few extra words.

She talked to them again!

Sakura was so excited her face flushed red, and she clamped her legs together.

I reached Mai-sama! I latched onto Uesugi-san!

Even if I die, the ticket price was worth it!

Little did she know, the treatment she received immediately raised her several levels in the eyes of the Agent and Fuji TV.

Abiru Kazuhiko nodded, thinking to himself, as expected, inviting her was the right choice!

Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai both liked her very much!

Agent Imamura also immediately put on a smiling face: "Alright, go and greet everyone, hurry up."

After greeting everyone in the studio, Miyawaki Sakura had to prepare to redo her makeup and read the script without stopping, but before that, she had one more thing to do.

"Yamaguchi." Sakura came to Yamaguchi Maho, signaling that they should talk in private.

"Ah, Senior Miyawaki." In the corner, Yamaguchi Maho honestly bowed and saluted her.

Although Yamaguchi was 3 years older, Sakura had joined the group first, so she was the senior.

"What exactly is going on? Why are you here?" Miyawaki Sakura was a little fan girl in front of Senior Mai, but in front of Yamaguchi, she was a senior with quite a bit of authority: "Was what you said that day true? Did you really once have... with Uesugi-san..."

"I..." Yamaguchi Maho was in a dilemma and could only hang her head.

"You told people? And Fuji TV just gave you a role?"

"…………"

Seeing her junior like this, Sakura, who had been in the Idol circle for several years, naturally understood what was going on.

"Hmph!" With a cold snort, Sakura really couldn't control her emotions and left Yamaguchi Maho behind.

The previous joy disappeared completely. Miyawaki Sakura only felt her heart shrouded in a wave of dark emotions; being hit by the Golden Time pie didn't seem so sweet anymore.

Is this probably reality?

Sakura barely suppressed her intense jealousy and the urge to make Yamaguchi eat leftovers. She took a deep breath to calm her mood, letting the black energy permeating her dull eyes gradually recede, and bloomed again with a professional Idol smile.

Idols sell a persona; Idols cannot show such a terrifying expression.

Taking a step back, even if Yamaguchi used low-class means, she had ultimately managed to let herself latch onto a role as well.

In a way, she might even be her benefactor.

Besides, I've already gotten close to Uesugi-san~

By comparison, that Yamaguchi... Uesugi-san didn't even chat with her.

Hmm? She suddenly understood what kind of relationship Yamaguchi and Uesugi actually had.

Thinking of this, Sakura finally felt much better, and the makeup artist began to redo her makeup.

Must do my best today too!

Sakura looked at the youthful, invincible, sweet, and lively face in the mirror, filled with confidence.

Sakura, fighting!

……………………

Just as Sakura was having her makeup redone, Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai were going over the script with the director.

This was not a Live Broadcast, but a pre-recorded program; it would be edited in post-production after recording, so a two-hour program might take five or six hours to record.

After reading only a little of the script, Uesugi Muneyuki's face was covered in black lines.

As expected of Fuji TV.

The script was interspersed with many questions that invaded privacy and inexplicable variety show gags.

For example, asking if he was a virgin, who his first experience was with, and if he had to choose one woman on set to go to Hakone hot springs for an overnight stay, who would he choose?

For example, asking where his home was, if they could go to his home to reveal the contents of his refrigerator, and by the way, install a hidden camera to see what he ate every day?

And for another example, asking if he had any strange thoughts when examining young, beautiful female corpses?

Senior Mai was laughing like crazy beside him.

Besides this, there were strange interactions, such as giving him a scalpel and asking Uesugi Muneyuki to peel an apple or a pomelo using "Dissection" methods, and having him smell and distinguish between men's foot odor and women's foot odor; if he got it wrong, he would be punished by drinking a cup of glutinous rice lemon tea—the same scent as the foot odor.

Is the director of Fuji TV a weirdo?

Uesugi Muneyuki suspected he had transmigrated to the wrong place.

"Miyano Hiroyuki of the Umbrella Duo is here!"

Just at this moment, another Comedian arrived.

Miyano Hiroyuki, the straight man of the Umbrella Duo, one of the comedy duos from Yoshimoto Kogyo, walked quickly into the studio and greeted everyone.

Because a newcomer had arrived, Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai looked up.

The expressions on the faces of the golden boy and jade girl changed simultaneously.

The man widened his eyes and quickly gave Senior Mai a look: Did you see that?

Senior Mai's eyes were also filled with surprise: Of course I saw it!

There is a Cursed Grudge following behind this guy! A fresh Cursed Grudge!

No, brother?

Uesugi Muneyuki felt a bit numb.

How is it that there's a murder case even while recording a program?

(End of this chapter)