"Konnichiwa, Hanabi desu~. No... Konnichiwa! Hanabi desu~! That's not right either. But it should be happy. We're a happy, young, energetic group, ne?"

I looked up at Nuria and smiled as she tried to figure out what to do. "Just do it naturally," I told her. "Don't put too much effort into it."

Sora sighed. "Kinda hard not to though, right? I mean, we're now officially a group. We're going to be debuting and everything."

"GUYS!" Kotone exclaimed rushing back into the main area of our new lounge/dressing room. "You should see the bathrooms in this place! They're as big as my room at home!"

I looked around. "Where's Aiko-chan?"

Kotone shrugged. "I don't know."

I sighed. "Guys, she's in our group too. We have to look after her like we do each other."

"We don't look after each other," Sora said. 

"Well we should."

"We're new to this group thing, so sorry if we're not acting like a group right now!"

"We have to take some responsibility guys!"

Kotone stood between me and Sora. "I have an idea. Let's all sit around in a circle and talk like civilized people."

"What about Aiko?" I asked.

Nuria raised her hand. "I'll go look for her!" she announced before she ran out of the door to find our missing member. 

I shook my head. "I'm surprised she's a Matsujun fan. She acts too much like Aiba."

"She's just happy," Kotone replied as we sat down on the couch and around the table. A minute later, Nuria came back dragging our new member with her. "I found her!" she exclaimed sitting the two of them next to us.

"Well, we should introduce ourselves," Kotone started. "I am Harada Kotone. Yoroshiku."

Sora cleared . "I'm Park Sora."

"Amanda Bonson."

"Nuria Barreto desu!"

Aiko frowned. "I'm Suzuki Aiko. Hajimemae."

"It's nice to meet you," Kotone said. "Well, now that we all know each other, we should--"

"Excuse me ladies."

We all turned around and saw the same old man that was there at our group announcement. Johnny Kitagawa himself. We all stood up immediately to bow and show him respect. "Relax ladies," he told us. "You can sit down. I wanted to talk with all of you." We sat down again and he sat on the couch in the empty spot next to me. "Now, I know all of you, and you all know me. Congratulations on making it into Johnny's Entertainment and Hanabi. Are you all excited?"

We were quiet for a minute while we thought about that. Sora spoke for us. "Not really," she nearly whispered, but loud enough for us to hear. 

KItagawa-sama smiled slightly. "Well, I know why. It's because you've never been in a group like this before. You're all best friends before Hanabi, but now that you're in a group together you're unsure as to what to do, right? I'm going to ask you all a question that I ask every group that I debut. Now that you are Hanabi, who is Hanabi? Who are it's characters? What makes Hanabi special? I cannot answer this for you. It's your job to answer this question. It's your job to decide what it is that you want Hanabi to be. You don't have to necessarily answer this right away. It's a hard question. But I want you to think about it, to decide among yourselves what you want the answer to be."

"Now," Kitagawa-san continued. "I'm setting your debut in exactly one month from now. Your official group announcement will be tomorrow, so be here early tomorrow morning. I want you all to come here looking beautiful, but most importantly, yourselves. Dress yourselves up in whatever you want. But nothing too risque. Look presentable."

We all nodded. "Hai Kitagawa-sama."

He frowned. "One other thing. Call me Johnny-sama. I prefer it."

We nodded again. "Hai Johnny-sama."

Then he left, and we all sat there in silence as we thought about what he said. "Who is Hanabi?" Sora repeated. "What makes Hanabi so special?"

"Well, we're the first Johnny's female group," Nuria answered. 

"That's not what he was talking about," I spoke up. "We're competing against the likes of AKB48 as well as other Johnny's groups. What makes Hanabi special enough to create the fan base, to make people stop and look at us? To make them go, 'wow'?"

Kotone looked around at us. "Well, I mean, look at us. We're the most diverse Johnny's group. Two of Hanabi's members are foreigners!"

"What about me?" Sora asked. "I'm not exactly a local."

"Okay then, three of Hanabi's members are foreigners!"

"Four," Aiko said. 

"Eh?"

"Four of Hanabi's members are foreigners. I'm for Seattle, America."

Kotone sighed. "Am I the only born Japanese person here?"

"Yeah," I nodded. Everyone laughed. "So, the fact that we're from all over the place could make us special."

"And our personalities are all completely different!" Nuria added. "I'm happy, Sora's crabby--"

"HEY!"

"And we all became friends before Hanabi!"

"We're multi-talented too," Aiko said. "I can play the drums and sing."

"We have to choose group positions too," Nuria said. 

"Something like that would be chosen by Johnny-sama, don't you think?" Sora asked.

We shrugged. 

"Tomorrow's our press conference," I said. "We should all be calm and ourselves. I think that's what Hanabi should be. We should just be ourselves: normal teenage girls, not girls who think they can sing and who wear short skirts to gain attention."

"We'll be respected more if we're ourselves," Aiko added. "I know I wouldn't want to wear a short skirt."

"I just wouldn't want to wear one every single day like a lot of girl groups out there."

"So..." Kotone said. "I guess we'll see each other tomorrow."

Everyone nodded. "We'll see each other tomorrow."

--

"I can't believe that we're officially a group," Kotone said as we walked towards the preschool. "Mama couldn't believe it either! She's so excited for me."

"I haven't told my mom yet," I admitted. "She's been so busy lately. And I don't know how to tell her. I'm afraid she'll be upset."

Kotone frowned. "You have to tell her."

"I know."

"TONIGHT."

"I don't know about--"

"Amanda-chan the press conference is tomorrow! You have to tell her tonight!"

I laughed. "Having trouble with my name there are you?"

"I'm not good with English names, okay?" Kotone laughed with me. "You should get a Japanese name."

I looked at her. "My name is not that hard to pronounce! It's easily written with the katakana characters."

"Just a suggestion. Would you want a Japanese name?"

"Maybe. I don't know. What would my name be?"

"I don't know! We'll find something."

As we approached the preschool, our siblings saw us and ran towards us. "Nee-chan!" Brian cried running into my arms. "Guess what! We learned origami today, and I made you a tentou mushi!"

"Tentou mushi?" I asked. Brian then showed me his red and black origami piece. "Oh a ladybug! Brian it's cute! Thank you!"

Kotone looked at it. "You like ladybugs?"

"Nee-chan loves ladybugs!" Brian answered for me. 

I looked up at my friend, who had an amused look on her face. "What?"

"Nothing," she answered. "Koharu-chan."

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny."

"What? You're an Aiba fan, right? You love ladybugs, so I'm gonna call you Koharu-chan now."

"Oyasumi Kotone-chan," I said taking Brian's hand and walking away.

"Oyasumi Koharu-chan!" Kotone called after me.

I knew that I had to tell Mom about me being in Hanabi. If we were a group, that would mean that soon I'd be a lot busier than usual, and that could potentially lead to me not being able to take care of my brother after school. I had to tell her reguardless because she watches the news.

"Hey Mom," I said after supper. "I have something to tell you."

"What's that?" Mom asked taking a sip of her tea.

"Johnny's put me into a group." After a minute of silence, I went on. "We're debuting soon, and our press conference is tomorrow."

"You're in a group?" Mom asked surprised. "I thought you said that they would never put you in a group."

"I didn't think that they would."

"What changed?"

"They like me. A lot. Everyone said that I'm a really good singer, and they put me in a group. I'm in the group with Kotone, remember her? And Sora and Nuria, and a new girl named Aiko from Seattle."

"So it's a group of foreigners?" Mom scuffed. "It's like they're setting you girls up to fail."

I suddenly got defensive. "We are not going to fail."

"What's the group called?"

"Hanabi. It means fireworks. Our press conference is tomorrow morning at ten."

"I'm not gonna tell you what to do," Mom told me. "But what about school? And Brian? You promised me."

"They're still going to let us go to school, and I can still look after Brian." When Mom didn't say anything, I stood up with my empty plate and headed for the kitchen. "Everything's going to be fine, Mom."

"Is this really what you want to do with your life?" Mom asked. "To become an idol? To sing and dance and act and be busy with something all the time? To be overworked to the point where you're functioning on only two hours of sleep?"

"Yeah," I answered. "This is something I want to do. It may not be for everyone, but it's something that I want to do. Are you going to support me?"

"I don't know Amanda," Mom said. 

I had to work all night to hide how upset I was.

--

The next morning, I felt like I was shaking as I got dressed. It took two hours for me to get ready because I was so nervous. I decided to let my hair down over my shoulders and let it be straight, and I put on one of my favorite dresses that I had. The dress was purple that went down to my knees and wrapped around and tied in the front. It was the first dress that I had bought with my own money in Tokyo, and I loved it and felt so proud while I wore because I knew that the only reason I had it was because I had the money to buy it. I had the choice to get either the dress or a Hey! Say! Jump! cd, and I chose the dress and prayed that the group never found out about it.

After I managed to put on a little bit of makeup and found my shoes and a necklace, I went downstairs to head to my new workplace. Mom was downstairs getting ready for work when I came down. "You look nice," she said when she saw me. 

"Thanks."

"Hungry?"

"Not really."

"Eat something. I have donuts here on the table. Take some to your friends too."

I nodded and got a paper plate and piled five frosted donuts on top. Mom came over to me and took my hand gently. "Look at me please." I did so and looked right at her. Mom smiled. "You look beautiful," she said. "And I want you to know that I"m very proud of you."

I smiled back. "Thank you."

"I'm going to try and make it to your press conference this morning, so ask if they could save a seat for me."

This surprised me. I didn't really think that Mom would want to come. It made me happy though, and I nodded. "I will."

Mom gently kissed my forehead. "Now, I don't want you to be late. You should get going."

I nodded again. "I'll see you later Mom."

"Make a great first impression!"

Before I put on my coat and my shoes, I looked back at my mother and saw how beautiful she really was in her business skirt and jacket. "Hey Mom, I have a question."

"What's that?"

"Would you be too terribly upset if I chose to go by a stage name rather than Amanda?"

"Like what kind of stage name?"

"Koharu. Kotone started calling me that yesterday because she found out I like ladybugs."

"It's cute, and it fits you."

I smiled nervously. "Thanks."

When I got to J-Storm, I felt like I was shaking as I walked into Hanabi's lounge. "Wow, you look sick," Kotone commented taking the plate of donuts from me. "Drink some water."

"Thanks," I said taking her water bottle. I looked around the empty lounge. "Are you the only one here?"

"No," Kotone answered. "Aiko-chan went to go find a vending machine, and Nuria followed Sora-chan to the bathroom. Sora-chan was freaking out about her hair. She couldn't decide if she wanted it up or down."

"You look nice," I told her looking at my friend in her white dress and red plaid shirt over it. "You should let your hair down though."

Kotone frowned. "For me, having my hair in braids like this is considered having it down."

"Nuria, would you stop following me?!" Sora nearly yelled walking into the lounge with Nuria on her tail.

"Mou! I was just trying to help!" Nuria exclaimed. "You're the one who couldn't decide what to do with your hair!"

I looked at the two girls and nearly laughed. They looked really nice. Nuria had on a white long-sleeved lace dress with knee-high brown boots, and she was her usual happy self. Sora had on a black coat dress that went to the middle of her thigh, and she looked really nervous as she tried to figure out her hair. "Leave it down," I told her. "It's curled, so it's prettier."

Sora frowned. "Thanks."

"I got canned peach tea if anyone wants any," Aiko announced walking in and setting the cans next to the plate of donuts. She had on a light green dress with purple flowers on it and had on a dark blue sweater over it. As soon as everyone saw the food, they launched towards it and grabbed some. "God, I'm starving," Sora said taking a donut.

"Me too!" Nuria said. "I had cereal earlier, but I wasn't sure if it'd be able to hold me over."

"This tea is really good!" I told Aiko. "And you got this out of a vending machine? How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it," Aiko said. "It wasn't my money I used." She leaned over and whispered to me. "I took some out of Sora's purse when she wasn't looking." The fact that she spoke English as she said that was what made me laugh and smile. Finally, a friend to speak English with.

"Look at these beautiful ladies!" Johnny Kitagawa announced walking in to see us. I wanted to laugh as he saw us stuffing donuts and tea in our mouths, but I was unable to because I was eating a donut. "Now, let me tell you girls how this conference is going to go. You're going to walk onstage, bow, say your group name, then you're going to sit down and introduce yourselves one by one. Just say your profile and anything else you'd like to say, then I'll do the rest of the talking, and if the press asks any questions then feel free to answer them. Any questions?"

"When's lunch?" Kotone asked. I stabbed her gently with my elbow as we started laughing. I knew now why Mom gave me the donuts. We were all suddenly in a better mood. After Johnny left, we finished eating and waited for us to be called onstage. "What order do we go in?"

"No idea," Aiko answered. "By age maybe?"

"I don't wanna go out first!" Sora groaned. 

"I have it!" Kotone said. "We'll go by who our favorite Arashi member is!"

Sora stared at her. "Seriously?"

"Well do you have a better idea fashionista?"

I sighed. "Let's just go by age. It'll be easier."

We all quickly got in line. It went Sora, me, Aiko, Nuria, and Kotone. We quickly finished eating and drinking, and a few minutes later, Johnny-sama came and got us and led us down the long hallway to a pair of large double doors. After a minute, the doors opened, and we followed Johnny onto a small stage where the press was all gathered around and taking pictures. The bright lights and the flashes were starting to make my head spin. 

"Konnichiwa minna-san," Johnny-sama started. "I would like to thank everyone for coming out today. As you are all aware, we are here to introduce a new group from Johnny's Entertainment, our first female group." He looked at us, and that was our cue.

"Konnichiwa," the five of us said together. "Hanabi desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" We bowed low for everyone, and I could feel the cameras all staring at us. It was a little uncomfortable at first. We were all seated at a long white table with microphones, and we sat in the same order that we stood. We were all really nervous.

"Konnichiwa," Sora started when Johnny motioned to her to start. "My name is Park Sora. I was born in 1993 on November 19th, so I am turning eighteen years old this year. I am from Busan, South Korea, and I am 48 kilograms and 167 centimeters. I have a mother and a father who run a cafe in Korea. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." She looked at me, and I could see her hands under the table. They were shaking.

I cleared my voice. "Konnichiwa," I said into the microphone. "My name is Bonson Koharu. I was born on June 27th, 1994 in Los Angeles, America, and I moved to Japan about two years ago. I am 45 kilograms and 162 centimeters and I'm seventeen years old. I have a mother and a younger brother. I'm very grateful to Kitagawa-sama for accepting me into the company. Arigatou to yoroshiku onegaishimasu." I looked over at Kotone, and I saw her smiling over at me. And you thought I was crazy, she mouthed to me. 

Aiko went next. "Konnichiwa, my name is Suzuki Aiko, and I was born on July 7th, 1994 in Seattle, America. I am 160 centimeters and 45 kilograms. I have a mother, a father, and an older sister. I was accepted into Johnny's Entertainment after Kitagawa-sama saw me singing on YouTube and he asked me to audition. I'm happy to be here, and thank you and yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

I looked over at Nuria, who smiled immediately once it was her turn. Happy go Nuria, I thought. "Hello!" she greeted everyone. "My name is Nuria Barreto and I am from Lisbon, Portugal. I was born on August 30th, 1994 so I am almost seventeen years old. I'm 162 centimeters and 55 kilograms. I'm an only child and my parents are from Africa, but I've always been very interested in Japan, and I'm very happy to be here. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

It was finally Kotone's turn. I saw her take a deep breath before she started talking into the microphone. "Konnichiwa, my name is Harada Kotone and I'm from Osaka. I was born on November 17th, 1994 and I'm seventeen years old. I'm about 155 centimeters and 41 kilograms. I have my mother and father and four younger siblings, so I'm from a large family. I would like to forever express my gratitude to Kitagawa-sama, and yoroshiku onegaishimasu." Kotone looked over at me and I smiled and nodded at her. 

After that, then a whole bunch of questions were asked, mostly at Kitagawa-sama. Not a lot of questions were asked at us, which I was actually pretty happy about. "Is there any idea as to what Hanabi's first song is going to be?" one reporter asked.

"We're thinking of having them do a cover," Kitagawa-sama answered. "We're thinking of having their first song be a song originally off of Arashi's 'Beautiful World' album. The song is called 'Negai', and there will be two other songs on the single including the karaoke, and then we'll start on their first album."

The five of us looked at each other. An Arashi cover? We were not expecting that at all.

The conference lasted another ten minutes before we stood up and bowed one last time. As I straightened up, I searched the crowd for any sign of Mom. I could find the other parents fairly easy because most of them were the only foreigners in the room. Then I noticed an empty seat next to Nuria's parents, and my heart sunk.

Mom hadn't shown up.

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what a long chapter!!!!! woah.... 

but at least it's done, right? ^.^ I hope you all liked it!!!!

chapter six is up!!! tell me what you guys think! do you like it, do you hate it? am I portraying your characters okay or do you have criticism? what do you all think?!

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x369/aibasgirl2013/L_g0019965878.jpg Amanda

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x369/aibasgirl2013/72816_m3.jpg Sora

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x369/aibasgirl2013/6719646213_a7179e44d4_large.jpg Nuria

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x369/aibasgirl2013/tumblr_lwlyr7pqKX1qjvtopo1_400.jpg Kotone

http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x369/aibasgirl2013/230545_200767389966548_100000998659350_541101_6910445_n.jpg Aiko