Chapter 143: The Twelfth Participant

「「Bufuuu!」」

As soon as I stepped into the bedroom, Shima-san and Masaki-chan spurted out at once.

I was wearing a short navy blue suit and a worn-out shirt.

A bright red tie and round glasses.

I was standing hunched over more than usual.

This is the style of the new manager of the Modero project, Fumijima the Pheasant style. (*Note: Kiji Otoko)

「You don’t have to laugh so much…」

「U-uh, s-sorry. B-but, no way, I can’t stop laughing, ku, fufu… Bufu~…」

「No way, you know, that’s, pupupu… No, it’s not right, it’s not right」

It took the two of them five minutes to calm down somehow. During that time, they held their mouths and trembled.

「Phew… I thought I was going to die」

「My stomach muscles hurt, Fumio-kun」

Rubbing the corners of their tear-stained eyes with their fingers, they somehow regained their composure. Well… I wonder if I’m dressed that badly.

In contrast to my lame outfits, Shima-san and Masaki-chan are both dressed in stylish outfits styled by Kurosawa-san.

「The two of you… Yeah, I think it looks good on you」

Shima-san is wearing a pair of loose-fitting pants and an open-shoulder top, which is popular this year.

The color of the mint green pants and the dusky orange top is well matched, and looks very fashionable.

Masaki-chan, on the other hand, looks like an innocent summer girl. (except for her breasts) She is wearing a white dress with a pale yellow flower pattern and sandals of the same pattern. She looked good with a straw hat.

「Somehow, I’m embarrassed. This kind of advanced fashion doesn’t suit me, right?」

「That’s not true. Natsumi, you’re tall, so that kind of thing looks really good on you」

「I-is that so?」

Shima-san’s embarrassed expression, scratching her head, is a bit cute.

Anyway, the day of the death game has finally arrived.

First, me, Kurosawa-san, Shima-san, and Masaki-chan visit the First Beauty Agency.

Shima-san and Masaki-chan are my models.

I ask the president to transfer them together with Misuzu.

On the other side of the line, President Kurashima and Manager Kiyoka Yamauchi will probably appear.

The plan is that when they are about to sign the contract, they all suddenly lose consciousness and find themselves sitting around a round table in a death game arena.

The remaining two targets, Akira Mizuki and Kirihito Hikami, are to be abducted by Freesia and Torture respectively by the end of the day.

And the names written on the door of the private room given to each participant of the death game are as follows for eleven people.

Fumijima the Pheasant man

MISUZU

NATSUMI

MASAKEY

Itsuki Kurashima

Kiyoka Yamauchi

Akira Mizuki

Kirihito Hikami

Ryoko Terashima

Chihiro Kaneko

Kyoko

The models of Modero Project have their stage names written in the alphabet as a hobby of the president, and Shima-san and Masaki-chan have been adapted to this form for the time being.

And Kyoko is Kyoko.

It seems to be the name of a girl’s band when they perform on stage, but it’s terribly lame. Kyoko nowadays… It even has a Showa-era feel to it.

So, this time, she is not participating as a sweet lolita, but as a rocker in her original style.

Initially, I had cast Shiratori-san as a “Survivor of the Last Round who Makes Meaningful Remarks”, but she turned me down with all her might.

I tried to persuade her, but she insisted that she was busy. There was no way I could win her over with words, and in the end I was so screwed over that I couldn’t even speak.

Lili said it would be too much trouble to rewrite the scenario now, and to my dismay, when I called Kyoko to bed, I asked her “How?” She said, “I really like death games and stuff like that! I want to play it! I want to do it!” So, she was casted as a substitute for Shiratori-san. I’m a little worried, but….

「Well, let’s get moving」

「Yes」

「Okay」

After calling out to them, I activated and went to the First Beauty building in Tokyo. I connected the door to an alley behind the building.

Incidentally, Kurosawa-san has already moved to Tokyo because she had a photo shoot in the morning.

So, when we came out of the door, Kurosawa-san was waiting for us.

「Misuzu-senpai, good evening! I’m NATSUMI, the new model!」

「I’m MASAKEY! Senpai!」

「Hey! Stop it, both of you!」

Kurosawa-san raises her voice in protest.

To tell the truth, Kurosawa-san is not very good at being teased, though she teases others.

Of course, Masaki-chan knows that.

The four of us went straight to the main building of the First Beauty Agency.

When we opened the front door, we were already greeted by the receptionist. Before we could even open our mouths, the receptionist smiled and said, “Please take the elevator to the fourth floor”.

When we arrived at the fourth floor, the manager, Kiyoka Yamauchi, was waiting as before.

「I’ve been waiting for you」

As she said this, she saw Shima-san and Masaki-chan and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

「Fumijima-san, who are they?」

「T-t-they are the model that I’m in charge of…」

When I told her that, she nodded her head with a questioning look and led me to the reception room.

After Yamauchi-san left the reception room and we could no longer hear her footsteps, we hurriedly went out into the corridor and summon “the door” on top of the reception room door.

On the other side of the door, I have already constructed a room that looks exactly like the reception room we just entered. We waited for the president’s visit in the fake reception room.

After a while…

「Sorry to keep you waiting!」

President Kurashima and Kiyoka Yamauchi came in, opening the door roughly.

As usual, he was a pushy old man.

He looked at Shima-san and Masaki-chan, and then at me.

（…Don’t intimidate me every time, really)

「Who are they?」

「Y-yes, when Misuzu-san and I moved to the new company, I would like you to take in some of the most promising girls from among my models too…」

The president’s face instantly turned sullen.

「Well, you say that, but there’s a certain sense of integrity in the industry…」

This is laughable. With that in mind, I put on a flattering expression.

「Please do something about that…」

「But you know what… The little girl over there seems to be in demand by enthusiasts… I wonder if that girl… I don’t know」

「For enthusiasts…」

Masaki-chan’s smile twitches, and Shima-san exaggerates her voice.

「Occhan! Occhan! Don’t you think we are suitable for variety? I’ll do my best. Please do something it」 (*Occhan : it’s a bit cute and friendly way to call a middle age )

「Occhan…」

Seeing President Kurashima’s face twisted in displeasure, Kurosawa-san interrupted.

「President, please do something for them. These girls are my adorable juniors. As a condition of my contract, please include a contract with them」

Then, President Kurashima looked at Yamauchi-san and let out a big sigh.

「Misuzu-kun… Well, now that you mention it, I guess we have no choice」

「Thank you very much!」

「Yamauchi-san, the contract, please」

When President Kurashima said so, Yamauchi-san brought two copies of the saddle-stitched contract in front of Kurosawa-san.

「Here is the contract. One copy is for us and the other is for you, so please sign and seal both copies and don’t forget to put your seal on the other」

「Okay, Misuzu-kun. Please sign and seal them」

「Sign it… now?」

「Yeah, it’s not a draft, it’s official. We can’t offer you any more terms than that. I want you to decide here and sign the contract」

He has no intention of letting other people negotiate with him.

This is a terrible thing to do to a minor. If they don’t have the consent of their guardians, they could just revoke the contract. But he seems to have some know-how about that.

And as soon as Kurosawa-san picked up the contract…

「Misuzu-chan! No! Don’t sign anything!」

The door opened with a loud bang, and a woman ran into the room shouting loudly.

Everyone’s gaze is drawn to her at once.

Her hair is shoulder-length and tousled.

A round face with freckles on the tip of her nose.

A woman in a girly orange dress.

The person who jumped into the room was Yasuko Kinuta.

Or called Ponpoko-san.

She had a desperate look on her face that didn’t match her gentle round face, and snatched the contract out of Kurosawa-san’s hand and crushed it.

「Kinuta! What are you doing!?」

The president shouted and glared at her, and she looked frightened for a moment.

But the next moment, she opens her eyes and screams desperately.

「Misuzu-chan told me today that she was going to sign a contract with First Beauty, and I couldn’t stay put any longer! I, I, I know! I know that the president has already tied up a number of unpopular models with contracts and destroyed them!」

The president gritted his teeth, looked back at Yamauchi-san, and raised his voice.

「What were the guards doing? Hey! Yamauchi-kun, call the police! Get this idiot out of here!」

「Go ahead, call the police or whatever! But what I’ve heard from those models! I’ll tell them everything!」

On the other side of President Kurashima and Ponpoko-san, Yamauchi-san is tapping her phone repeatedly.

The phone is disconnected. There’s no way it’ll work. Not in this room.

I whisper softly to Kurosawa-san.

「Did you talk to her?」

「Sorry… She asked me to go to lunch with her and I can’t say no… But I didn’t expect this to happen」

As we whispered to each other, I heard Lili’s voice in my ear.

「If anyone else comes, we’re in trouble, Devi, so let’s get started, Devi」

「Okay」

I gave a small nod and activated .

Immediately, something like purple smoke covered everyone’s face.

「W-what the hell is this?」

At the same time President Kurashima shouted, everyone fell asleep at the same time.

Kurosawa-san, Shima-san, and Masaki-chan. Those who were sitting were slumped down. Yamauchi-san, the president, and Ponpoko-san, who had been standing, collapsed as if they were sitting on the floor.

I’m the only one still awake.

「Well… What do we do now? about Ponpoko-san」

I asked, and Lili appeared in the air.

「Ponpoko is that raccoon-faced, right, Devi? Well, it can’t be helped, Devi. She could just jump in and join us, Devi. Fortunately, there was room for Ryoko, Devi. There’s enough room for all of us, Devi」

「Well, it’s certainly better than sending her home and having her make a fuss. But she seems like a nice person, so I hope she doesn’t get into too much trouble…」

「I will try my best, Devi」

Lili’s indifferent reply made me feel a little uneasy.

「Then, order everyone to move to the death game arena, Devi」

「Okay」

I call out the door leading to the death game arena and tell everyone sleeping here to move.

Then they walked slowly, as if they were sleepwalking.