The first week seemed to be going really well for everyone. We did various singing and dancing drills with our partners one at a time and everyone just seemed to be having fun. At the end of the first week though, about twenty of the hundred girls that were there day one were gone. Thankfully, Kotone and Sora were still there.

We soon developed who are favorites were to watch. Sora had a beautiful voice that once she got over her nerves she could really shine. One thing I learned about Sora right away, though, was that she was not the kind that liked people touching her. Everytime Kamilla would greet her coming through the door every afternoon, she would hug Sora and kiss her once on each cheek. "It's a French thing," Kamilla said when I asked her about it. As soon as Kamilla was away though, Sora would squirm and head to the bathroom to wash her face.

"Am I the only one who finds that really funny?" Kotone asked. 

Another big favorite was a girl named Akamatsu Oburi. Not only was she really pretty and tall, but she could rap. She was good at Sakurap and could make up her own awesome raps on the spot, and everyone loved it right away!

Another one of my favorites was a girl named Jen Perez from the US, and how she was paired with a girl twice her age, Shimoyama Misaki. They both got along great and produced a great show, but everyone found it kind of strange how they paired up the two. Jen had this excited and happy energy about her that made everyone want to be happy with her. Misaki was quiet and didn't really have a lot to say. It was an odd pairing. 

Along with having Sora as our new friend to hang out with, Nuria Barreto also became quick friends with me and Kotone. She traveled all the way from Portugal to audition with JE, and she was so excited when she got in that she danced for at least an hour. She was a naturally happy person, and her Japanese was also really good considering how she had never been to Japan prior to this. Her English was good too but still had that European accent that probably wouldn't go away anytime soon.

By week two, we had a group. Me, Kotone, the forever happy Nuria, and the every freaking out Sora. 

And we all had one thing in common: we all loved Arashi! We all had different biases of course, but it made us closer. Nuria went on about how much she loved her Matsujun and how she even shared the same birthday with him ("That's how he became my favorite at first," she explained. "When I found out his birthday, I just burst out laughing! He's so hot and y, ne?"). Sora liked Sakurai Sho but wasn't as big an Arashi fan as the rest of us ("He's the one that caught my attention when I first saw them," she said.). Kotone loved Nino, and I mean that literally ("He's just so honest and doesn't hesitate to say what's on his mind. He's also really cute when he's embarrassed and he's really cocky too! He's a good looking guy!" Everyone laughed.). And my favorite was torn between Ohno and Aiba because Aiba always made me smile but I had more in common with Ohno.

By the end of week two, at least twenty-five more girls were gone from the group that started. That was almost half. But I was still in, and so were my friends. It didn't take long for the rumor to reach everybody that a new group would be forming, and it would consist of at least five girls from our group. Everyone began to freak out.

"Wouldn't it be awesome if we all made it into the same group?" Kotone asked us all after practice one day. 

"It would be amazing!" I told her. "But there's fifty girls. Would we have a chance?"

"Yeah we would," Sora answered. "We're pretty good, and Ikeda-san keeps looking at us in particular whenever we perform."

"You just wanna be away from Kamilla-chan!" Nuria laughed.

"LIES!" Sora exclaimed. "She's a good person! I really like her, but the blue hair just creeps me out."

"You're just not very open to other people's tastes," I commented. "She's beautiful!"

"Urasai," she glared at me. Once she said that, it meant 'don't even think about continuing to argue with me.'

Another good part about Kotone was that her little sister was the same age as Brian and even went to the same preschool as him, so we would walk together to pick them up and then we'd go our own seperate ways. "Nee-chan!" Brian exclaimed running towards me when he saw me. I caught him easily and swung him around a little as I picked him up. 

"Itouto-san!" I told him. "How was your day?"

"Good!" Brian said. "Miki-chan gave me an origami flower today!"

Miki-chan was Harada Miki, Kotone's sister. She was literally a miniature version of her older sister. "Buraian-san made me a origami ladybug!" she told us proudly holding it up.

"Ah! Kawaii!" Kotone said looking at it. "You like ladybugs, huh?"

"Hai!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if these two ended up married," I joked.

Kotone laughed. "I wouldn't either! Hey, we gotta go, but we'll see you tomorrow, okay? Don't be late! There's a rumor going around that the new group is being formed tomorrow!"

"I won't!" I waved. "Sayonara!" I looked down at my brother as he looked up at me smiling. "C'mon little man, let's go home."

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chapter four is up!! tell me what you all think! by now, all the applicants have been featured. what do you guys think so far?? let me know~ ^^