Chapter 8 Nose to the grindstone…

It was total mayhem for a while, the lights, flashes, screams and pushing was not only dangerous, but frightening to us children. Luckily the adults from the school had been able to take control and it was better when our own families could comfort us. . It took the combined might of the schoolteachers that had come along to maintain some sense of decorum and Machiko was put out in front to answer questions.

My mother and Aiko got to me and wrapped me in hugs and kisses. It felt like I had returned from a war or something. The other dancers were similarly being mobbed by their parents and siblings and we were able to start moving along the platform while Machiko kept the media happy. A lot of the fans I had never seen before seemed to be younger and I realised that they must be the first years or had not started in the high school yet. The adults asked them nicely if they could give us room and that they would have a chance to meet us at another time but that we were all tired from our weekend experience.

When we got clear, Aiko told me that someone at the Summit had put a video of our Saturday afternoon competition spot on YouTube and it had gone viral among the kawaii followers, anime followers and J-Pop followers, with close to a million hits already. This was why there had been such a crush on the platform. I told that her that she should wait for the Honey Popcorn videos that are sure to be released in the following months. When we got home I put my bag in my bedroom and took the bag of goodies out to the lounge. I told them that I had been very busy and they wouldn’t allow us kids loose in the shops but here was a bit of stuff I had been given at the Summit stalls that I had not even had a chance to look at, yet.

When we got it all out we had a great time going through the make-up, masks, comics and even clothing that I had been given. There was a Raven Tee shirt that fitted Aiko and I said she should wear it as I had the full costume in my bag. She insisted that I change into it and we stood side by side while our mother took pictures of us, sending one to our father at work, as well as to her family in America. I wondered what they would think of that!

We stayed as Raven and her side-kick for the rest of the day as Aiko sent pictures to all her friends. Our father came home from work and insisted that he would take us out for a meal. I agreed, even though I had been eating out for the last four days and was hoping for something simple at home. It was not a good move as he took us to a popular local restaurant and I was approached by a lot of the kids there who wanted selfies and autographs. He apologised for his lack of thought and I told him it was all right and things may quieten down within a few days.

The next day the local paper had a picture of Machiko at the station with the caption “Leader of School Dance Group” and another picture of us on stage that they must have got from their Tokyo office. The story was almost right but they described me as a ‘Teenage Wonder Girl Choreographer’. When my mother cut the story out of the paper I discovered that she had been keeping a scrapbook of our successes, from the first gymnastic competition and up to the present day. I was amazed at just how much had been in the paper with my name in it. No wonder the school was being so kind to me.

Just before school started the new term I got a text on my phone telling me that I should wear my Raven outfit on the first day as we would have a special assembly and the school had made the day ‘Character Day’ and was telling everyone that it was all right to come in costume. Aiko, now becoming quite a buxom teenager, wanted to go as a Scarlet Witch and we went to the anime shop to get her one. Of course, once we got there they wanted me to dress as Raven so they could take pictures to put in the window. It was getting so that it was hard going anywhere without seeing pictures of me as Raven, I was thinking that it was almost my alter-ego.

The first day of our second term was an absolute hoot! Almost half of the school turned up in costume and it looked like an anime convention. Even some of the teachers got into the spirit of things and we had so many Scarlet Witches among the fifth years I think that most of the guys spent the day with woodies. At the assembly the ten of us were introduced to the school as ambassadors of Osaka and we all blushed prettily. Miss Ryoji was presented with a certificate from the administration that denoted her as a teacher extraordinaire and she came over to us and hugged us all before giving a short speech where she said that nothing could happen without gifted and hardworking students.

Needless to say, nothing much got done that day as every class I went to wanted to hear about my exploits and I heard later that it was the same for the rest of the team. In the afternoon I was summoned to a meeting in the head office where several of my arts teachers joined Machiko, me, Okemia, Tamura and Masuko. The discussion was about our future for the rest of our third year. We were asked if we would be completing our schooling now that fame had brushed us and we all said that it was just an experience and that we were all committed to finishing our studies. The big thing that came out of it was that the school would support a dance team as well as a gymnastic team and that our dance history teacher would be in overall charge. We were allocated a good sized room and a mirror wall with rail was promised so that they could start ballet as well as more modern moves.

It was a really new move for the school and what was even more surprising was that, for the rest of the school year, the four of us would be the main teachers if we had any students signing on. The next school year would see an accredited dance teacher in charge. We were allocated the last period of Wednesday and Friday as well as a period after school on the same days, depending on interest. It was more work for us but would figure very strongly in our credits. Of course, we all agreed.

By the end of the third week the room was prepared, along with another that was set up as a changing room. A flyer had gone out asking for interested students to learn dance and we had about a hundred sign up. We weeded them out quickly by telling them that they would be required to also sign up for gymnastics as it was a needed regime to be a good dancer. This brought it down to about twenty who turned up for the first lesson. We took the easy way out and started to teach them the moves we had already perfected to find those with two left feet.

Those who were already taking gymnastics did well and those that had not taken gymnastics before got a rude awakening when confronted with even the warm-up exercises. This gave us a committed group of around ten girls and a couple of boys who were also doing well in the boys gym lessons. We also had the other six of our team who came along and mentored the new students as well.

So the third term progressed with the four of us now spending almost every evening of the week at the school, either teaching gymnastics or dance. We were all now fairly experienced with looking after other students and giving advice and encouragement and even though we were just fourteen, we were being respected by our teachers and even treated as we were part of their number.

The second term is a long one but I found it to be uplifting and fun. The gymnastic team was really coming together and we had a very good crop of new floor girls. The team we had chosen for the rhythmic competition was quite large, some specialising in ribbons and ropes with others in hoops and balls. We would put up a good showing next time. What was amazing for me was that Aiko was now training a whole new cheer squad of first years and it was good to watch her develop into a caring and fearless young lady. I could see that Machiko also had her eye on her and would, I was sure, give her a good report for her tertiary studies.

Towards the middle of November we were contacted by Honey Popcorn to ask about the upcoming social night. Over the course of the last few months they had released videos that had been edited from our five live performances and they had all been well received. I had a collection on my computer that I would play whenever I started to wonder if all the work was worth it. The December date was set, the venue booked and we made the arrangement for them to come to Osaka a few days early so we could brush up on the act. Actually, our whole dance group had already got together and it voted that the four of us older ones just had to be out front but the other six stepped back to allow the best six of our class to get a chance on stage. That was what we were really aiming at, after all. The school band that we had danced with before would be opening for us so the entire team left over worked up the performance with them so no-one would miss out.

So we worked with almost a whole new team and, by the time Honey Popcorn arrived, you couldn’t tell the difference. We did have to get the six to get their new costumes but that was not an issue as they were very happy to do so. When the singers arrived they were amazed at our new rooms and also when they were introduced to the new members of the team. It all jelled with our first rehearsal and we were all happy that the show would go down well. We would be doing the entire set from Tokyo, in our anime costumes, and the school had booked a large reception venue with the staff, students and parents getting in free but any others needing to pay. It was going to be a big show and we were all looking forward to it.

Marianne G 2021