It also didn't delay Ai's life, killing two birds with one stone.
It was a pity that things had turned out this way. It might delay Ai for a month, but thankfully it wouldn't be for long.
Ichigo thought gloomily.
Hiko didn't speak again. He used his mind to open the system store and check the works inside.
[Gokurakujoudo (includes full dance and song sheet music) Price: 10 million popularity]
[Kawaiku Naritai (song sheet music) Price: 1 million popularity]
[Thousand-Layered Routine (song sheet music) Price: 1 million popularity]
[Idol (song sheet music, lyrics revised edition) Price: 1 million popularity]
'…They're all so expensive…'
Hiko looked at the familiar songs, wondering when he would be able to gather enough to buy these items.
But if he could buy one of them and perform it, he could easily buy the rest later.
He hadn't paid much attention to music in his previous life, but he had heard these few songs and knew very well that any one of them could make the entire website revolve around it, with covers piling up.
After seeing the music sold in the system store, Hiko casually searched for the names of these songs in his browser.
But he couldn't find any corresponding songs.
It was a pity that he had been just an ordinary person before transmigrating.
He could only recognize a song when he heard it, but he couldn't sing it.
Knowledge is truly appreciated when it's needed.
Hiko felt very regretful.
Since his rebirth, realizing the scarcity of his knowledge, he had been looking for books to read, learning more, and filling his meager understanding.
The school Ai attended was not far from the orphanage.
Hiko felt the car stop, came back to his senses, got out, and walked with the two of them.
Ichigo saw that Hiko had been absent-minded just now, seemingly deep in thought. "Ai and I can handle the transfer procedures. You can stay in the car and rest."
"It'd be boring alone in the car. I'll come down and walk."
Since today was Sunday, Hiko didn't see any students on the playground.
The three of them still moved together.
"Speaking of which, how long did you originally plan for Ai to debut?"
Hiko thought that Ai hadn't received professional training yet, and her dance stamina was not enough to support a performance while maintaining a smile.
"To debut as an Idol, of course, the sooner the better."
Ichigo glanced at Ai. "However, considering Ai's physical fitness and singing ability, she will debut after a few months of training."
"That's so rushed? Ai still needs to go to school and train. Where will she find so much time?"
Hiko had originally thought that she would train for one or two years to build up her physical fitness and singing ability before debuting.
"You don't understand. Fans feel comforted watching their Idol gradually grow, and their support will be even greater."
Ichigo explained to the two of them.
"People's hearts are too sinister, aren't they?"
Hiko had never thought that such an imperfect debut could also become a point of support; it clearly went against common sense.
"Actually, you're overthinking it.
Although it's only a few months of training, it's enough to handle a performance."
Ichigo added, "And during this period, it can also temper the Idol's mentality, allowing them to gradually get used to performing on stage without being nervous.
Otherwise, if a super large venue is arranged, even if the training is excellent, if a major mistake occurs on stage, that's when it's truly over."
"Not everyone can step onto the stage from the beginning without stage fright. And furthermore, the large stages you imagine, generally speaking, developing from small to large stages is the normal development path."
As Ichigo spoke, he thought of Ai's precious time being wasted and couldn't help but sigh.
Hiko felt that Ichigo's words made sense, but upon deeper thought, he felt something was off. "You're saying this because you can only provide small venues, aren't you?"
"Uh…"
Ichigo was speechless.
He wanted to refute, but couldn't find an example to directly shut Hiko down.
Instead, the other party could easily find many examples to counter him.
"Let's hurry up and get the procedures done. Otherwise, if it gets late, we'll have to wait until tomorrow."
Ichigo walked quickly forward, escaping the situation where he was about to be heavily criticized by Hiko.
"He ran away again. Let's catch up quickly."
Hiko jogged to catch up. "Uncle is right, if we keep strolling, we might not finish the procedures today."
Ai also had no choice but to run to keep up with them.
In the end, Ichigo still found a friend to help, and only then was Ai's school transfer completed on Sunday.
Monday.
Hiko arrived at school early, sat in the last row by the window, and placed a book in front of him.
Last night, Ichigo had sent him home, while Ai stayed at Miyako's home.
Therefore, the two went to school separately.
Hiko didn't know when Hoshino Ai would arrive, so he thought of coming early to see if he could meet her.
However, he didn't see her in the classroom.
Time passed by minute by minute, and Hiko kept looking towards the corridor, feeling as if days were years.
He looked eagerly, but Ai still didn't appear.
"Just now, I saw a beautiful girl not wearing a school uniform in the teacher's office."
A boy in front of Hiko's seat came into the classroom and started discussing with the boy at the next desk.
"Not wearing our school uniform? Could she be a transfer student?"
"Possibly. It's been so long since school started, and I've been to the office so many times, but I've never seen her."
"Really? Then will she be in our class?"
The boy, hearing about a suspected beautiful transfer student, looked expectantly at the empty desk behind him.
Just then, the class bell rang, and a middle-aged woman, who looked to be in her forties, walked in holding a book with "National Language" written on its cover.
She placed the book on the podium, greeted the students, and then said, "…Today, we have a transfer student in our class. Please welcome her…"
"Please come in."
Ai walked in from the entrance in front of the podium.
Hiko saw that she was wearing a dark gray jacket today, with the zipper not fully pulled up, revealing a white shirt underneath, and a plain black skirt.
"Introduce yourself."
The teacher saw Ai walk in, took a piece of chalk from the lectern, and handed it to her.
Ai reached out and took the chalk, walked to the blackboard, and first drew a heart. Then she wrote her name "Hoshino Ai"[1] inside the heart.
Only then did she turn around, smiling, and introduce herself: "Hello everyone, my name is Hoshino Ai. Please take care of me from now on."
Seeing that Ai had finished speaking, the teacher said, "Hoshino-san, please find a seat."
Ai nodded and scanned the seats in the classroom from the podium.
Seeing a familiar face, she walked directly to the empty seat next to that person and sat down.
The girl pulled out the chair and sat down.
"Please take care of me from now on."
[1] 星野 アイ