Chapter 2 There was Light…..

For myself, I had been trying to figure out where I stood with my new companions. Although I was dressed like a typical American student, I clearly did not fit with them because I looked, and spoke, more like the Japanese boys.

Over the course of the next week I was able to get on top of my studies and work out the curriculum for the future. I sat a few informal exams which proved that I was good with their first term work and would not be behind. Aiko buckled down and also was able to show that she did not need to miss a year, much to her relief. As a reward, she was taken to the shops by my mother and was able to pick out a couple of new outfits. Her new friends had told her where she should go and I think my mother learnt some very new things about dressing that day.

My father offered to give me the money for some new clothes but I told him that I was undecided about any changes to my outfits and that I would get back to him later. I was totally unsure of where I should place myself in my new persona. I followed part of the kawaii fashion by wearing loose tops and my longest tee’s. I had made friends with a few of the guys in my classes but had not yet been drawn to any as a close friend. I had, however, become very chatty with the girls, something I had never been famous for back home. There was a group of them who dominated my biology class and it was difficult not to be drawn into their conversation.

These particular girls did not go the whole kawaii route at school, but were more conservatively dressed with the odd kawaii accessory. I became friendly with five of them. Akari, Hanami, Okemia, Masuko and Tamura were all classically doll-like and ‘bouncy’. They told me that I had a great body for dancing and I told them I had done some back home. I didn’t tell them that I was a break-dancer. Okemia was the natural leader of the group and took me under her wing, so to speak.

In my third week, I was with Hikaru and Akito, two guys who seemed to be as isolated as I had felt back home. Maybe I was drawn to them because of this. We were not exactly the Three Musketeers but were spending more time together. At the lunch time, the five girls called us over to sit with them and so began the events that formed who I would become. My pals were delighted to be accepted by the girls as they had thought of themselves as outcasts and that first day taught me something that I had never known. Akari made the comment that all three of us must have been beautiful babies to be named as we were. Akito asked why she said it and we found out that all three of us had unisex names that could be given to both boys and girls. My name literally meant ‘beautiful child’.

I have said that the five girls were ‘bouncy’ and when I looked at my two pals I realised that we all shared similar characteristics. I knew that Hikaru and Akito were as good as me in the fitness department because we had all excelled in our gym classes and were unbeatable when we were together in a volleyball team. There were no mixed gym classes which was, I thought, a shame. The three of us were woeful at soccer or baseball so never got picked for any teams so we often were sent off to do laps of the school sportsground or to do weight lifting to fill up our time.

At lunch, Masako told us that the girls were all enroled in an after-hours gymnastics course and that we should sign on. She said that uniforms were provided and that they were looking to put together a team to compete in the inter-school competitions. She had some forms for us to sign up and we did so with pleasure. She then told us that our first training session would be that day, after school. Before I went to my first afternoon class I found my sister and asked her to tell our mother that I would be late home tonight and would be taking an after-school subject.

When I got to the gym that afternoon I was greeted by the girls and their teacher, Machiko Ryoji. She sized up the three of us lads and made the comment “I see what you mean, Okemia, these could work.” We found out their devilish plan when we went to change into the supplied uniforms. We had been given leotards for girls and I think that the three of us looked stupid when we went back to the floor. If I was blushing as much as my pals we could put the lights out and the girls could work in our glow. However, we were told that we looked the part and to show what we could do. Hikaru said that he had trained on uneven bars before and showed us a simple routine that he could do. I looked on in wonder as he actually looked like a girl as he went through the routine. Akito was warming up and then showed us that he was a good vaulter. When it came to my turn I showed them that I was good at beam work.

The girls were also working out on the various bits of apparatus but the one thing that captured my attention was Tamura and Hanami working on a floor routine. Much of what they were doing was so close to break-dancing moves I knew that I just had to try it. Miss Ryoji saw my interest and asked me if I wanted to try a few of the moves. Before I went home I had almost mastered a forward summersault and Tamura had shown me some moves that you use at the end of each run to make it appear more dance-like. Miss Ryoji said that she would have some more outfits for us by the next week and that she thought that there may be the makings of a team so she would put together a curriculum of training. This would, she said, include Rhythmic Gymnastics as a five girl team. What I didn’t realise, at the time, was that Akito and I were part of her thinking.

Aiko asked me what I had done after school and I told her, and my mother, that it was a special gymnastic class that was geared towards inter-school competition, not saying that it was to be an all-girl team. I was sure that I would not be allowed to compete against other girls and that our team would be outlawed as having three guys in it. What I didn’t reckon with was the power of our first names. When we did get listed with the competition administration there was no question that Miyoko, Hikaru and Akito were anything but girls.

But that was all in the future. After our second training session we were given specific tasks to practise on. I spent time with the beam and started to get some specific training in rhythmic floor work, getting introduced to the ribbon, hoops, rope and ball. When I was shown video of these from past Olympics I was staggered at the grace and beauty of it, but also by the absolute skills of the girls in their movements. It is one thing to throw a ball or a hoop into the air but it’s something else altogether to do a summersault and be in place to catch it when it comes back down, sometimes behind your back! The sheer precision of it got under my skin and I knew I just had to do it myself.

As we progressed we melded into a team unit, staying together at the meal breaks and starting to speak of our dreams and aspirations. I had not thought about what I wanted to do when I graduated and had not even looked at the streams that we would nominate for in our third year. I gathered that there would be plenty of time to think about that and I was sure there would be people on hand to give us guidance. In the meantime I studied hard and made sure that I developed my gymnastic skills to a level way beyond what I had been before we came here.

Getting towards the end of the term we were starting to work on a rhythmic gymnastics routine, just a little at a time. Miss Ryoji told us that it would be into the New Year before we would be good enough to show the world what we could do and to not push our young bodies too far. Our last full session of the term saw us putting on the full display and doing pretty well with it. We had chosen to do it with the ribbons which had small weights on one end and I was sure it looked spectacular. What I didn’t know was that Aiko and her friends had snuck into the gym and were peeking through the gaps in the bleachers. When I got home that evening she hugged me close and told me that I was fantastic but I really needed to let the family know what I was doing.

I had told my parents that all I needed for Christmas was a phone. Actually, the whole team had done the same with their parents and, when we got back together on our first day of the new term, we exchanged numbers and programmed them in. A our first lunch break I told the rest of the team that I had finally told my parents about us and that I was surprised that they took it so calmly. Well, I had not quite told them that I was participating as a girl. Hikaru had already let his parents know what was going on and they had been a little upset but bowed to the inevitable. We were, after all, only pretending to be girls for the sake of the team.

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 2 And it Shines over all…

Akito had hinted to his folks that the team was a little different and our first session of the year brought home just how different it was going to be. Up to now we had all been using issued leotards that the school got cleaned for us. That evening Miss Ryoji presented us all with three sets of leotards.

One set was plain, for practice, one set was a dark blue with spangles that looked like dragon teeth for our individual performances. The other was for our team outfit and was flame red with yellow fire design that would certainly make us stand out. These were to be taken home and looked after. Oh Joy! She pointed out that we lads had a double thickness at the groin to hold us in and the top was padded so that we fitted in with the girls, all of who were starting to bud. She told us that we would be known as the Senri Flames.

Another difference that evening was that Aiko and her friends had spoken to Miss Ryoji, admitting that they had peeked on our last session and had asked her if they could be the start of our cheer squad. So it was quite a crowd there on the first evening. We all changed into our individual outfits and worked on our solo performances while the cheer squad started putting together a routine of their own. As Aiko and I went home, me carrying my bag of new outfits, she said that she was going to push the school to provide the cheer squad with similar outfits in our colours. At home I had to admit that I was, indeed, performing as a team member in an all-girl team and the bag did contain the outfits that I would wear.

My father said that he had thought that I had been hatching some devious plan since we had arrived but that he did not see this coming. I asked him to hold off until he saw us perform towards the end of term. We would be competing in an inter-school competition at the local gymnasium and the parents were to be invited. My mother thought that it was all a merry jape and that it could not do me any harm. Aiko hugged me when we were alone and told me that I was going to knock them out when they saw the performance.

The final term of the year was full on. We needed to study for the end of term exams as well as putting the finishing touches on our performance. One thing that had changed for me was that we now did our rhythmic display to music and this really made me, and the girls, far more fluid in our movements. The final pick for the full team performance was Okemia, Tamura, Hanami, Akito and me. The others still worked with us but we were the five that would be out there with our ribbons. I still needed to work on the beam in a solo as well as doing the whole set of individual floor sets. I had started to incorporate some of my previous skills into the ‘acting’ part of my routine and my ability to ‘freeze’ brought much praise from the team members.

The competition was to take place at the end of March, after we had finished the exams, and it seemed to rush up. The exams were taken in my stride as I was getting excited now about being seen in public. The competition was over three days with us doing our apparatus performance on the first, our individual floor work on the second and the third day was just the afternoon with the rhythmic displays. There were more than a dozen schools that had entered but only six had put in a rhythmic team. At the beginning of that week I found that I had done very well in my exams and then went on to take out the individual beam section. With the floor work I was placed second to a stunningly graceful fourth year girl from another school. The Flames, however, romped home in the Rhythmic Gymnastics competition.

Aiko and her cheerleaders were a different aspect of the event and laid the foundation for more teams bringing their own in following years. My parents were very happy for me and the rest of the team, so much so that my father organised a night out for the whole team and their parents at a local restaurant the following Saturday evening. When I pointed out that the girls’ parents were not aware that their daughters were performing with three guys he just decided, on the spot, that we three had better present ourselves as girls on the night, to save awkward questions. So, that week, our three mothers took three lads (plus Aiko) out to the shops to find us something to wear. Our team members had told us to make sure we went for a full Kawaii outfit and Aiko had been given the basic list of items we would need.

Both Hikaru and Akito had told their parents to keep the secret about us and the girls were all very careful to tell their parents that we were just another three girls. Up until that time we had not socialised out of school; there is not much socialising an twelve year old can do. Aiko and my mother took charge of making me look like a typical Japanese Kawaii fanatic and I was bathed and shaved and powdered and perfumed before being dressed in the full outfit from the skin out. Aiko had chosen an almost Lolita outfit for me with bows, ribbons, satin and lace galore with a long skirt and two inch heels. It was over the top but an effective disguise.

That night out it was eight Kawaii queens that fronted up at the restaurant with our parents and it was a very funny time. We all danced to the live band, ate ourselves silly, and generally had a good time. As the evening wore on I found that I had become used to having skirts swishing around my legs and the more I moved on my short heels, the more fun I had. Towards the end I found myself dancing with Okemia and, in a fit of sudden bravery, I asked her if she would go to the pictures with me. To my surprise she said she would love to and we made a date for the following Saturday evening. Of course, once word got around our group it was decided that it would be all of us going to the pictures. Akari had an older sister who would be our minder for the night.

This led to a dilemma as I had intended that I would be in my normal boy clothes for our date but having the older sister with us meant that we three would have to maintain our girl persona. That led to a quick trip to the shops for the three of us and our mothers to get another outfit as we could not be seen wearing the same thing so close together. Thus my wardrobe began to get loaded with dresses.

With the start of my second year in April we were told, by Miss Ryoji, that we had done so well that we were to get a special mention in an assembly, so that day I needed to appear in an outfit that would pass as either male or female, depending on who I was talking to. So it was colourful leggings, a rainbow top and pixie boots for me that day. Hikaru and Akito had the same problem, only Hikaru and his parents had decided that he would not be androgynous but would go to school from here on as his feminine persona and to hell with it! The assembly was a great boost for us all in the team, our other teachers now taking much more notice of us all and we were starting to be singled out for extra care. This did my grades the world of good.

In this year we developed new routines to a different music track and moved up our team performance to using balls. This is a lot more difficult but we had all been training with them for our individual routines. We all worked hard at it as the team was becoming a solid thing that bound us all together. I had been getting on well with Okemia after our ‘group date’ and we often held hands and hugged. Our kisses were somewhat chaste as neither of us had raging hormones at that time.

One of the things that changed our dynamic that school year was that there was a group from the fourth year music class who had formed a band and were to play for the school at a Saturday evening parents and teachers Christmas social evening at the end of the second term. They asked Miss Ryoji if we could do a routine on stage while they were playing and also wanted our cheer squad as well. She took Okemia, Aiko and me along to one of their practise sessions and we sat and watched as they did their complete set. Miss Ryoji said it was up to us and we said we could do it but we did all need a different outfit to our gym ones as it was mainly J-Pop music and the two girls decided that we had to be true kawaii – very cute!

So then my time became very crowded. I was trying my best with my studies, working hard on the gymnastics and now we needed to develop a dance routine for the band. I found that my dance experience meant that I had a lot of input into our routine and Masuko gave us a lot of pointers for the J-Pop dance moves. We all needed to get measured up and the girls from the domestic science class were given a special project to make our outfits. They were pretty simple – and simply pretty!

The short pleated skirt was mainly white with red flowers appliqued on. The top was a bright yellow tee shirt from the shop, enhanced with more flowers and ribbons. We needed to wear yellow tights and we all needed to buy long red boots with heels. My mother decided that I now needed to look like a pre-teen girl so we went to get me some bras and panties as well as set of false breasts that would complete the body image. She really wanted me to have the most fun I could as her ‘daughter’. The crowning glory was that I had been instructed not to get a haircut and to use the correct products on it. I now had my jet black hair down to my shoulders and needed to put it into a pony tail when I didn’t need to look like a girl. That, I must admit, was becoming less often than last year.

Marianne G 2021

This chapter introduces some Japanese J-Pop groups. They are all real and you can watch videos on… https://theculturetrip.com/asia/japan/articles/the-9-most-unique-j-pop-bands-right-now
Marianne

Chapter 4 And Now is a Spotlight…

One of the common aspects of a J-Pop performance is usually the large number of bodies on stage. The band had two keyboard players, guitar, bass, drums and two singers. There were eight of us and Aiko with her four other cheerleaders so we had to fit the twenty into whatever space we were provided.

This meant that we could not actually do any gymnastic routine but needed to do a lot of bouncing on the spot so that our skirts flared – a very common J-Pop activity. We had added some proper cheerleading moves that Aiko and I could choreograph, mainly lifts and splits. I added a few break dance moves that I could inject into the sequence and taught some of the others to do them as well. Hikaru and Akito were very well adapted to these with their extra strength from being boys. The band really got with it and we were usually watched over by Miss Ryoji and the music teacher. It was not hard to remember the moves and we all had a lot of fun doing it.

The night of the social was a real blast. Aiko and I were dressed with our mothers’ help and then she proceeded to make us up to look the part. She had helped me in this for my girl socialising before but, because we needed to look extra good on stage, all of our mothers had chatted and decided on our look. Thus, when we assembled back stage, it was a huge bunch of very beautiful girls waiting to become extras in the music scene. My hair was split into a pair of pigtails on either side which bounced when I did. When the curtain went up and we got going it became a blur for me as I got into the dance. We did our bounces, our splits, our lifts and, when the three of us stepped out to do a break dance routine we almost brought the house down. The band had to do three songs again before we were allowed to rest and we were all dripping with sweat when we left the stage.

Once we had cooled down and drank a bottle of water each, we were herded out to join our folks and get a chance on some nibbles. Our parents hugged us and my mother whispered “Miyoko, you were born for this, it was wonderful.” I was standing next to my father and Okemias’ parents when I saw someone I had seen before. I went over to him as he was standing alone with a drink in his hand and I said “Excuse me sir, I have spoken to you once before, I think it was on the flight into Tokyo a year or so ago. I am Miyoko Tachabana and I think that you must be Naozumi Yukiyoshi.”

He smiled and told me that not only was I a great dancer but I had a good memory as well. He then went on to comment that I was as gifted in my break dance moves as I was in speaking about them. He said that after our discussion he had explored the movement further but had not seen how it would fit into J-Pop - “Until tonight.” He then asked me about our dance group and I explained that we were the Senri Flames gymnastic team and our cheer squad and that this was our first outing with the band. He was surprised and said that it was a very professional show for the first time. He then said “Were you, or were you not a boy when I last spoke to you?” and I had to tell him some of the story about how I ended up standing here in a short skirt and heels, pointing out my two other friends as having come along the journey as well. “If I had not met you before, I would never have guessed” he said “now, introduce me to your team, I would really like to talk to them.”

I led him over to our family group and, while he chatted, I went and rounded up most of the gang as well as our teacher. I knew that he was a booking agent and he explained that he was here tonight as a friend had told him about the band. He would, he said, talk to them further when they had finished their school year but he had been taken by our dance routine and the effort we had put into it. He wanted to have a meeting with all of us, and our parents, the following Monday at a small hall he could use, with a view to discussing our being on stage with one of his other bands for a big show in Tokyo, towards the middle of the next year. Those girls I had not managed to gather were quickly called and told about it.

Our mother took Aiko and me along to the meeting, my father saying that he would go along with whatever she decided. All of the team and all of the cheer squad were there with at least one parent each. Naozumi went over why he was there at the social and went further into his thinking. He said that we, as a dance group, had something extra to offer because of our gymnastic skills and that he was putting together a show that would play on the two evenings of World Cosplay Summit in Tokyo next August. He said there would be three groups; The Margarines had ten on stage already, as did Chubbiness. He had also signed a group called Honey Popcorn which was just three Japanese girl singers from South Korea and we would need to be backing them. He did say that they were a gentler sound and that we may need to do a slow movement routine. He told us how much we would earn for the two shows and said that we would be taken, by bullet train, to Tokyo for about four rehearsals and would be staying at a good hotel. He said that the transport and accommodation offer also included up to five adults. He took Miss Ryoji aside and she gave him her email address at the school and he said he would send clips from each of the groups and extra ones from Honey Popcorn so we could start to think about a routine before we signed contracts.

Now that was a good deal and the general consensus was that we could do it. All of the other girls were in raptures at being in the show with two of their favourite groups, both very kawaii based. I had not been able to find the time, with all of my activities, to watch pop shows so was not acquainted with any of the groups so Okemia spoke to Masuko, who was very much into the music, who asked her mother if she would allow a girls get-together to watch some of her videos. That evening we gathered at her home and crammed into their lounge area to watch the groups we would be meeting. The Margarines were good, if a little stilted at times, and Chubbiness was just that – chubby and a lot of fun. It was good to see the video telling girls not to worry if they were a little overweight, just go with it and believe in yourself. On top of that they were very active and so cute!

Honey Popcorn had not made it big yet and there was just the one video she had with them and I was immediately captivated. These were not kids bouncing around, no; these were beautiful young women who could really dance. I started to think about a routine we could develop that would suit their stage look as I watched. We would need them to learn some moves from us as well as our needing to fit with them but I hoped they would embrace the concept.

The final term of my second year was even more hectic than the first year. As well as studying hard for the exams I was now doing two sessions a week with the gymnastics. Our success last year had created a desire among the girls to be in our evening class. The first term had been strange for us as we went through our own routines, Miss Ryoji being sidelined trying to sort out which of the thirty or so girls who had signed on would be good enough to continue. Over the course of the first two terms it had dwindled to ten who had the ability, and the desire, to continue. We knew that we were building a second Flames team as we would be moving into our third year in April and some of us found ourselves acting as teaching assistants to help things along.

In February the band was asked to perform in a local dance hall and we were, again, asked to provide a backing group. This time we took the more rhythmic members of the first years and about half of our original gym group to make up a smaller group, some of our number needing to spend more time on study. Aiko and the cheer squad were not around much this year as they were all now into their third year and working towards whatever career had been laid out for them. With Aiko it was following our father into the finance sector. The dance worked out well in the end and the new girls were well on their way to becoming well rounded dancers as well as gymnasts, something that added to their gym work. I did a couple of solo moves but did have a lot of input into the routine.

For the inter-school gymnastic competition I dropped the beam as we had one of our new girls who proved to be much better, and prettier, than me. I did solo floor routines and was, once more, chosen to be part of the rhythmic team. My two pals, Akito and Hikaru, had dropped out to go their own ways. Akito had signed onto a drama and film-making course while Hikaru had started on hormones so could not compete anyway. That left six of us to train for the team routine so that we had enough to cover any problems. This year we were the defending champions so there was a great deal of face to be lost if we went down.

Once again I did well enough in my exams to get a big hug from both my parents. Aiko did extra well in her maths and our father was more than proud of us. When the competition came around we had a bigger group on hand this time. Aiko and the cheer squad had spent a couple of evenings catching up with their moves and had added a couple of the new girls. Our original team now only did floor and rhythmic and all the other apparatus events had one or more of the new girls taking part. My replacement took out the beam and one of the others took the uneven bars. We filled the three places with the floor routines, I came second to Okemia; and we again took out the rhythmic team prize with our ball routine.

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 5 That Shines On Me…

After the prize giving, I was chatting to my team members when Naozumi came up to us to congratulate us on our performance. He had another man with him who he introduced as a spotter for the national gymnastics team.

This man had been watching us with an eye out for members of a national Olympics squad. If we had known that we would have been too spooked to perform! He did say that there were a couple of entrants he had seen who would be contacted to go to a training camp but declined, at that time, to name anyone. Naozumi told us that he had come to Osaka to see our display and was captivated by our grace and movement. He also said that we would be contacted to go to Tokyo before we started our third year so that we could meet the group and talk about the dance routine and get something started before we went for the rehearsals. We told him that he needed to let us know how many he wanted for the show as some of the team were going to be doing other things in the next school year.

Before the first term of my third year started I was given an appointment to see a vocational guidance officer with the aim to see what I would be best doing for the rest of my time here. She shook me to my core when she addressed me as Miss Tachabana and I asked if she had mistaken me for my sister. She laughed and told me that I was more miss than mister these days and my studies had proved it. Although I had done well in the science subjects, I had done better in biology, languages and history.

“You exhibit the classic career path for girls, Miyoko. If I had nothing else to work with I would point you at an arts stream with history as your main subject. However, we have your other accomplishments to add to your file and it points you in a very definite direction. You have excelled at the gymnastics, bringing much honour to the school. You have also been seen to be a good teacher of dance and performance. On top of that you have appeared on stage and, I am told, will likely be performing in Tokyo in a few months.”

I just sat there, wide-eyed, as she went on. “I have a report from Machiko Ryoji that is glowing in its content. She tells me that she wants you to be one of her assistants for the coming year. The success of the Flames has created a monster and she has sixty students who have signed up to try for the team in the next term. With that in mind I suggest that for the rest of your time here you should work towards a teaching certificate and take the arts stream, concentrating on dance, dance history and choreography. The alternative is to train as a physical education teacher, concentrating on gymnastics; the choice is yours. Discuss this with your family and friends and get back to me before the start of the term. I can tell you that your friends Okemia, Tamura and Masuko will all be going down that arts path so you will not be alone. I was at the recent concert and saw you all on stage and I can tell you that I was impressed. I am also instructed to tell you, on behalf of the school, that if you want to go down the path to true womanhood we will do all in our power to help. A lot of the staff are behind you as we all think that you are destined for something good.”

That evening we had a family chat and I told them what had been said. On the career side everyone said that I should go for the dance side. On the gender question my mother said that I hardly had any true male clothes in my room, Aiko said that I was more fashionable than she was and my father said that I had done so much while I had been dressing as a girl he thought that going the extra distance would probably be for the best. “Beside” he said “you have been dressing and acting like one for most of this last year. I don’t think you could go back to the way you were and you are the right age to start hormone treatment.”

That evening marked the true turning point. I was going to study dance and I was going to transition. Before we went to bed Aiko left us for a few minutes and as I was going to my room she told me that she had left some items on my bed that I would need in future. When I went in I saw several nighties in bright colours and cute pictures on them. When I was ready for bed I put one on and put all of my scratchy old pyjamas by the door to go out to a charity shop. I was now going for girlhood, twenty-four seven. Before I went to sleep I thought about the decision and realised that I never really had that much masculinity to start with. Even before I left home some of my classmates were talking about sex and bragging about how much juice they had produced when jerking off. I was coming up to fourteen and still had never even had a wet dream.

The following day I went back to the school and gave the vocational guidance officer our decision. She said that she was happy for me and told me to come back in the week before term started to meet with Miss Ryoji, now to be my mentor. She also gave me a list of doctors who would be able to take me along the feminine path. My mother rang around and we found one who could see me in a couple of days. We went in and spent a long time filling out the forms with my mother signing them. When I did get to see the doctor he was surprised that I already looked so feminine. He was certain that I must have been taking hormones already and when I said I hadn’t he said that the bloodwork would prove it one way or the other. I was examined, X-Rayed and measured and when he had finished I was allowed to redress. Actually, I was wearing a dress that day anyway.

He said that the results would be available in a few days but his initial examination showed that I had extreme arrested puberty and he thought they would show a hormone imbalance. We then went shopping for underwear and nightwear as a girl can’t have enough of those. This was followed by shoes and a visit to a beauty parlour where I had the full treatment, including pierced ears. My first steps on the new path were certainly different.

My mother and the new me were sitting in the shopping centre in Mino City having lunch when Okemia saw us and came over. She told me I looked fabulous and gave me a kiss and a hug. We chatted about the year to come and she said that she had also been asked to help out with the gymnastics class so we made a date to go and see Miss Ryoji together.

When we did that we found out that there would now be four evening classes a week to start with. Monday and Wednesday for half the class and Tuesday and Thursday for the other half. We were told to call Miss Ryoji by Machiko when we were not teaching and that our first job would be to weed out the unsuitable candidates while she would be working with the second years and those from our year who wanted to continue with apparatus work. It was down to us to nurture the next award-winning Flames Team and we would get credits towards our finals, dependant on how well we did.

When I went back to see the doctor he apologised for his instant diagnosis, which he admitted was quite wrong. The test proved I had never taken hormones but did prove that I really didn’t need to as my testosterone levels were so low already. I left with a couple of sore buttocks from injections and a prescription for hormone tablets in my bag.

On our first day back at school it was certainly different. I gave up the jeans or leggings and went with a skirt and top and my pixie boots. I now sported a ribbon in my hair and several items of jewellery. We had fewer classes but those we did have were longer duration. We had studied plant and animal biology before but now moved into human biology with a concentration on muscular development. We dropped physics and chemistry and gained psychology. We continued with geography and added the specialist subjects of dance history and choreography; the ‘light and movement’ as our instructor put it.

On Monday after school we were given name badges and Machiko addressed the gathered students, telling them that we would be evaluating them for a few weeks and that there was no loss of face if they realised that they were not suited for what they had signed up for. So Miss Miyoko and Miss Okemia, with Tamura and Masuko as their assistants, split the group into two smaller groups and started their first teaching class. On Tuesday afternoon we had the same procedure with the rest of the new students. We were all regarded with a little awe, being twice interschool champions, but soon got them working hard to make the grade. By the end of the third week the two groups had dwindled to around fourteen or fifteen each. All those who left had done so voluntarily.

This allowed us to pull the sessions back to two a week that allowed everyone more time on their studies. Machiko was able to work with the second years, many of whom had been in the competition, as well as just supervising the others doing individual training, following the manuals. Naozumi had been true to his word and had sent us clips of Honey Popcorn to look at and I started to look at our new girls to see if any had that look and attitude that would allow them to be on stage. The group that had performed before was now split and there was just the four of us third years and two of the second years who would be available. We needed to find about four from the first year who could fit and who wanted to do it. Okemia made me laugh when she graded all the possibles’ by a kawaii scale but it did work.

We ended up getting the gym for Wednesday so we could work on a dance routine and the first time we met I explained why we were there to the newcomers and told them that they would need parental agreement before we went further. All of them came back with signed forms and a big smile on their faces. We looked at the clips we had been sent on a computer and started putting together dance moves. In June we got a message that the members of Honey Popcorn wanted to come to Osaka to give their own approval of us for the performance.

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 6 And Illuminates my World…

Naozumi came down with the three singers and they stayed at a hotel near the school. We had arranged for them to come after school on the Wednesday and we were all quivering with excitement by the time they arrived. I had gone to the school entrance to guide them to the gym and I must say that they were all more beautiful in the flesh.

Yua, Moko and Miko were exquisite but very friendly and, by the time we got to the gym we were chatting freely about their clips. We had set up the computer with speakers so we could show our performance to them. We had worked out moves for each of the songs we had been sent and they watched while we went through them. At the end Miko asked who had choreographed the steps and all the girls looked at me. She came over and gave me a hug which would have sent me back to the doctor for a testosterone shot if I had less of the new hormones in my system.

Naozumi pulled a video camera out of his bag and the three girls joined us and we went through the songs again, this time with them singing along and copying our moves. There was discussion about some points and we made changes, practised those sections and then went through the songs again. I was really carried away with the whole experience; it was so unlike what we had done with the band as they stood still as we moved around them. This time we were a shifting sea of movement and I realised that I was imagining it from above, which sharpened my senses to what we achieved. At the end of the evening the three left with Naozumi as they were going back to Tokyo in the morning. Naozumi told us that he would send the video clip to us before the end of the week.

As they were leaving, Miko gave me sketches of the outfits they wanted us to wear at the concert. They were all based on the dresses they wore on the Bibi video and there was ten different outfits. Four of them she put marks on the pages and told us that these would be worn by us four older girls and the rest could be made to suit the sizes of the other six, leaving it up to us which dancer got what outfit. I saw, straight away, that the four outfits matched the main ones from their videos so it looked like the four of us would be very close to them in the performance.

Before we closed up for the night we had a group meeting and congratulated our other girls on their performance and allowed them to choose the outfit they wanted. With names on the sketches we took them into the sewing class the next day and spoke to the teacher about getting them made. The shoes in the sketches were all Mary Janes with a short heel which made dancing easier and we all had our own already. On Friday evening I saw that I had a message from Naozumi and it had the video clip attached. It was of our final run through and I was not too hopeful at what it would look like but, when I showed it to my family they all wanted to hug me to bits. I forwarded it to all of the other girls and also to Machiko.

The term followed the usual course and we all had lots to do. The exams were a lot more complicated and involved a lot more thinking. I imagined that a University or College would be similar but it was a lot of fun starting something so ‘adult’, having just become a teen. By the end of term we had got the gymnastic team together and working on their routines. We had a number of very good first years that just needed to perfect their apparatus work and that, I knew, would take most of the next two terms. I was starting to feel that we may have a chance at the competition again. We four kept in shape with our own practise and often needed to demonstrate moves so we could fill in if need be. Well, I couldn’t now I was on hormones.

The dance group were all now resplendent in their outfits and we became smooth as silk with the performance. I did pretty well on my exam results and, four days after term ended, the ten of us, Machiko and four mothers were pulling our bags along the bullet train platform, heading to Tokyo. It was a quick trip and the remnant of boy in me was awestruck at going so fast on the ground. We were met at the other end and taken to our hotel. It was just a ‘budget’ one but was still pretty swish. We were dressed in our stage outfits and taken to the practise hall where we met up with the three girls again. They had arranged it so that we would have the whole performance recorded for us.

They had decided which of us would be closest to them during the performance. As I expected, we four older girls were closest with the others spread around behind us. The three were in the stage gear as well so we all took our places. This time they had radio mics and the music was pre-recorded backing track. It was everything that we would have on the night except the crowd. We worked through the songs that they would sing, in order, and it all went well, our previous session making the difference. We worked through the set a second time and the trio decided that we were good to go. Miko had a wicked grin on her face as we sat around having a drink. She told us that we couldn’t be here at the Cosplay Summit without attending the stadium and that she had organised costumes for us. The kicker was that there would be a competition during the day and we all had been entered into a dance competition. She said that we would do one of our performances with the trio miming to one of their songs. They would be so heavily in costume no-one would know it was them. As there were thirteen of us we were entered as ‘The Coven’ and the three singers would be three different versions of the Scarlet Witch.

On the Friday we were decked out in our cosplay outfits and it was a very diverse range of characters. Okemia became Harley Quinn and I ended up as Raven. Tamura was a glorious Elf and Masuko became a very fetching Yennefer. When the three singers showed themselves I thought that they may be a little too exotic to show themselves in public and I wondered if the sight would give me erotic dreams in the future. We worked through our entire set in these costumes while it was being filmed, this time by several cameras. Moko told me that they had the idea that one, or more of these could be spliced into the videos of our previous rehearsals for a clip to go out on YouTube.

After we had been changed back to normal girls, Naozumi took us all out for dinner and we all had a good feast, joined by the girls from ‘The Margarines’. He told me that we would all be going to the ‘Chubbies’ café, in costume, on Saturday lunchtime before we went to the Summit. He told me that the girls from Chubbiness all worked there from time to time. Saturday morning we were all kitted up in our costumes and make-up. I felt different, more alive than I had been. I was truly being drawn into the world of Kawaii and CosPlay and the very essence of being a Japanese teen girl. The rest of our team were all very bouncy this morning and having the time of their lives. We went to Chubbies and tried the delicious chocolate donuts, and then it was off to the Summit where we wandered the exhibits and wondered at the other teens in their costumes. It was like every Halloween you have ever experienced, all in one place at one time.

When the dance competition was announced we went and watched the other teams perform. I could see that they were pretty good but they were no match for us when we went up and moved to a Honey Popcorn number. We got such a response that the organisers asked if we could do it again and we did another routine to one of the other songs. It was hard to keep my concentration as I danced close to three, very sexy, witches who all had wicked grins on their faces. None of us could stop smiling and Machiko smiled even more when Miko told her that our prize money would be donated to the school because it was our work that achieved the success.

After that we had the task of removing every vestige of our characters and redressing in our stage outfits. Once again we were all made up and I know that I felt very adult and way more girlie than I normally was. We had done all the work and now it was time to put it out there. We were all very quiet in the bus to the stage entrance and the three girls told us that they always felt nervous themselves before a live concert as the audience would let you know if they were not happy. We waited in the wings with The Margarines while Chubbiness did their set. They were sooooo cuuute! I loved one of the songs about eating donuts which had the line ‘Soft and Squishy, I’ll love you forever.”

The Margarines were next and they put on a very polished performance. One thing about these shows was that it was impossible to tell if the girls were actually singing or if they were miming. Our act was live singing to a pre-recorded backing track so I knew that we all had to be right on our marks. When the others came off there was a short interval before we were on stage and we all took advantage to have some sips of water and psyche ourselves up to be out there in front of what looked about fifty thousand fans. The three girls told us that we didn’t need to worry as we had it nailed, gave us all a hug and then we were on stage waiting for the curtain to go up. I had never been so ready for anything in my life!

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 7 As Well as All Around Me…

As the intro music came up and the curtains lifted I was almost pushed back by a wall of noise. The backing track was lifted into the red zone and the singers’ microphones must have been pushed to the wall to overcome it.

We went into our first number and the sound did not diminish one jot. When we got to the end of the set and the curtains closed I was almost in a trance with the flashing lights and intensity of it all. The three girls came and enveloped us all in hugs. Still the noise from the audience kept going, now added to by a stamping of feet and a rising chant of “Honey Popcorn, we love you.” The stage manager and the girls had a quick conference and then turned to us, saying “You ready to do it again?” We all said yes so Miko said “We will go outside the curtain and make sure that they want us back. We will introduce ourselves and then introduce you so be in your positions when the curtain rises. Miyoko, I want you to stand in front and step through the rising curtain when I say, OK?”

They went through the curtain and onto the front of the stage, calling for a little quiet. Yua asked if they wanted to hear it all again and there was a roar. She then asked “All of it?” and there was another roar. The girls then introduced themselves and then Moko said “A big welcome to the greatest dance team we have ever met, the Senri Flames Dance Team from Osaka, led by their wonderful young choreographer, Miyoko Tachabana” as the curtain started to rise up, the intro music started and I stepped out into a spotlight that, for a few seconds, shone only on me. We did the entire set again and, at the end of it, the girls had us lined up across the stage, waving at the crowd. What was weird was hearing some screaming “Miyoko, we love you” among the screams for the singers.

That finished, we went back to the hotel after gathering up Machiko and the four mothers. Only then did I learn that they had all been filming us on their phones and streaming it back to all the families in Osaka. Machiko told me that she had streamed it back to the assembled teachers who had got together for a Saturday evening social. She then assured me that we had brought much honour to the school and to expect there would be a special assembly at the beginning of the term.

On the bus Miko was on her phone and, as we pulled up at the hotel, she asked for quiet and told us that the Summit organisers had asked for us to do our whole show, in CosPlay costumes, on Sunday afternoon and they were putting some money up for us to do it. Well, today was a whole lot of fun so we said we would do it. She then said that we would be staying at the Summit as there would be several stalls who wanted to talk to us and so we would do the Sunday show still dressed that way. The organisers had thought that it would be a fitting end to the Summit. Machiko and the mothers were straight on to their phones to Osaka to let them organise another social as they would be seeing the CosPlay costumes for the first time.

I could hardly sleep for the excitement of it all but did get enough to be up for breakfast on time. It was a very happy group of dancers that morning. There were six of us that had danced with the band in Osaka but the four youngest had been thrown into the heat of performing for the first time and had done well. Their mothers, all four mothers being from the youngest members, were all bubbling with excitement themselves. The rest of us got more hugs that morning than I had received my whole life! Mid-morning we were taken back to the practise room where we were returned to our characters. I was very happy at being Raven as she was a strong girl. Well, all the anime girl characters are either strong or else totally sexy.

Speaking of sexy, Yua, Moko and Miko turned up looking like every mens’ dream, the make-up turned up to the max. They then got our make-up girls to lift ours as well so it was a group of absolute babes who went to the Summit that afternoon. They do say that performance is all in the impression you make, and I think we must have made a good impression that day.

This time there was no miming; just the backing track and we nailed the entire set again to a smaller, but just as vocal crowd in the main hall. We were then set free to wander the Summit, well, free is one word for it. We were all surrounded by fans wanting selfies and slowly went from stall to stall where there were more pictures and we were given small, and not so small, bags of samples. I wouldn’t have to buy a souvenir for my sister now. Finally we were gathered up by Naozumi and a few of his helpers and taken off for a meal. He was very jovial tonight as I think we had been successful. That evening we did the show in our costumes and it was just as big a crowd as last night and we had to run through the set twice once again.

The following morning I packed and put all of my gifts into the biggest bag I had been given. I would have to look through it all when I got home. At breakfast I was asked, by Machiko, if I could round up our other three senior girls and meet her in the hotel lounge after we had eaten. When I did so she sat us down and was very serious. “Girls,” she said “since we got here I have been told that your dance performance has created a storm of interest. At least three other groups have been in touch with Naozumi and also the Honey Popcorn management, asking if you would put together a routine for them or else just going on stage with them. We have taken details but have told them all that you do need to work on your school classes and that you are nowhere near old enough to become professional dancers.”

She then said “I have been told that you can keep the CosPlay costumes and the group have promised me that if we can organise it, they will come to Osaka to join you on stage for our Christmas Social evening, as long as we do it in the costumes. My mind is already running through the halls we could use as it could turn out to be the best attended social we have ever had. My contacts at the school have told me that the video clip of you on Saturday afternoon has gone viral and the singers are absolutely amazed at how their career has taken off from this weekend.”

She then laughed and said “I have been told that there will be a welcoming committee waiting for us when the train reaches Osaka and I am sure that there would be press and maybe TV there. Please do not answer any questions that seem too private. Refer any persistent reporter to me or one of the school representatives. The head has requested that I attend a meeting on Tuesday and I am sure that the events of the last couple of days will be all we talk about. I do wonder at what we may have unleashed but I have to lay down the law right now. The next two terms are for getting the Flames Gymnastic Team up to winning the trophy again and I am relying on you girls now to do it.”

She gave us all a hug and told us that she had experienced the most fun she ever had and thanked us for being the catalyst in the events. We then went to tell the rest of our group to pack their costumes as they would be taking them home and to make sure they kept them in good order as they may need them again. We all went to repack, this time putting the costumes in our bags. Yua, Moko and Miko were in the hotel foyer when we assembled to leave, coming with us on the bus to the station. They were tired but bubbly and I guessed that they had not had much sleep them -selves last night. They all gave everyone a hug before we went to get on the train and assured us that we would be on stage with them again, some time.

On the way home I was sitting with Okemia, well, we were cuddling a bit, and she said “You know, that day we asked you three guys to sit with us at lunch has to be one of the greatest turning points of my life. For a bunch of thirteen year olds we have had an amazing time so far. I’ve got gymnastic trophies on my dresser that will stay with me for life and the four of us have been given a dream run through school, certain to come out of it with a lot of credit if we can keep it up. On top of that I have you as a friend, perhaps one day as a lover. I so want to give you a big kiss now but we had better stay good until we get alone again.” I kissed her hair and told her that I would find it hard waiting. She then told me that when we go to the pictures again she wanted me to dress in the Raven outfit “Because I have always thought Raven was the best but I didn’t truly love her until I saw her dancing next to me.”

As the train drew into Osaka station there was a big crowd waiting for us. Someone had made a banner that proclaimed ‘The Senri Flames Dance Group – the greatest!’ and I wondered at this as we did not actually exist in that form until we were called that in Tokyo. As we got off the train we were mobbed by our school friends, fans we had never seen before, and the media. There was a lot of flashing of cameras and I was momentarily blinded when a TV crew turned their lights on. All in all it looked, and felt, like a madhouse but that, so I found out in the years to come; is the price of fame.

Marianne G 2021

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

Chapter 9 And Back’s to the Wall…

It is said that nothing happens in a vacuum. So the opposite should be that if you don’t have a vacuum everything happens. It was certainly the case with our second term. The sewing classes were hard at work producing outfits like ours that could be sold in the school shop to pay for the materials they used during the year.

The communications classes had a team filming our practise sessions and taking interviews with all of us to put in a documentary they were producing. Even the art classes had their part by producing posters. On the night of the social we had a stall selling the costumes and the communications guys had set up several camera positions to film the entire show. They had linked into the sound system and added their own mics to record the sound. It would be interesting to see the result and they were all getting real-time experience.

The social night was a resounding success, inside the venue. The audience was happy, the school was happy, the singers were happy and our band and dance group were over the moon. We got a bit of press out of it that was completely positive. There was also, unfortunately, a group of devout zealots outside the venue with placards saying ‘Keep the Harlots out of Osaka’ and the like.

It seemed that they were not happy with our singers, especially the very sexy Scarlet Witch costumes but also their history before the singing. Funnily enough, all of these zealots had heard of, or seen, them as actresses in porn movies and didn’t want them leading the young of Osaka down the wrong path! It was something that none of the rest of us had even known about and, as far as the school was concerned, whatever they had done before was well behind them now they were friends of the school. That history may be the reason they were so sexy on stage and why most of the adult males in the audience would have been sporting woodies. I was learning, very early in my life, that sex sells.

After we had finished our set we all mingled with the audience, the girls surrounded by a lot of male teachers and many fathers who wanted selfies. The rest of us were busy chatting to our siblings and other fans in the school. Aiko had put on her own Scarlet Witch costume so was getting a bit of attention herself so I went over and joined her, creating a bit of a crowd which increased when the three singers, all in the Scarlet garb, joined us and the cameras went crazy for a while. I think my mother must have used up her whole memory and I had to smile when I saw my father try to stand up, only to sit back down quickly and pour a glass of water, trying to look uninterested.

After that, our exams were almost an anti-climax and Aiko and I did well again. Christmas break was very different this year as the entire dance team, plus Aiko and a bunch of other girls, had been asked to sing at different venues around the Mino City. We split into four groups and did hospitals, aged care homes, shopping centres and the like. This was something new for us but was a great experience and helped the school promote itself in a good light. Of course, we did some of the places in costume so Raven was out and about a fair bit.

The last term of our school year meant that we had to get the gymnastic team into top shape. We left the dance classes to Tamura and Masuko to supervise as we did not have anything to work on. They decided that they would take the group down a new path and picked a Jazz/swing piece of music and developed a complete set of steps for that. I dropped in when I could and helped out with the presentation but basically left them to it.

The gymnastic work was mainly just that now, working hard to perfect the moves and to keep up the strength while not getting any injuries. It did allow me to spend more time making sure my own studies were kept up to scratch. I did very well at the exams this year and had built up an enviable stack of credits for my gym and dance work so I would be going into my fourth year on a high. At fifteen now, and having been on hormones for a full year, I was developing a very shapely body while the last vestige of my manhood had shrunk to a nub. My hair was now almost to my waist and I was getting regular visits to a salon, with Aiko, for the works, my mother making sure that her two girls looked beautiful. I certainly felt beautiful these days, an odd feeling for a boy but just right for me.

The competition went well for us again. Our new boy gymnasts were all placed on the apparatus and we took out the individual floor routines, as well as the team one again. It was very close, though, and I could see the effort that the other schools were now putting into it. This was the last year that Okemia and I taught the gymnastic class as we now had a couple of very good second years who would take over from us. It had done wonders for our grades, though, and had cemented us into the school fabric.

In March we all dressed up in our costumes and attended the Osaka Anime Street Festa. It was a lot of fun and we were once again the centre of attention, now apparently local heroes. This year Aiko was starting fifth year and working towards her entry to the University of Economics where she would be studying Business Management. I was up for my fourth year and the normal lessons would be a load in themselves. I would have the dance team to get some new routines sorted and we would have a new dance teacher. I decided that we would include the boys as much as we could this year as they had done very well dancing with the band at the social.

On the first day of the new school year I met the new dance teacher. She was a little older than I would expect and was more versed in the ballet, tap and ballroom dances. This, I thought, could work well but it all depended on the students that would be starting with us. She expressed a surprise at my age but seemed friendly enough.

As I had expected we had a lot of students wanting to do dance training and it took a couple of weeks to sort it out. Those that wanted to work with me on modern and J-Pop were told that they needed to do gym as well and, if they didn’t, they could work with traditional. The new teacher, Miss Kikuo, followed our lead and said that any girls wanting to do ballet should do basic gymnastics as well. This sorted them out and we met with Machiko to co-ordinate our classes. She had a huge influx herself and the school had employed another gym teacher to help her out.

Okemia and I worked out an equitable sharing of the rehearsal room with Miss Kikuo and we would be using it two evenings a week with her having it for three. She also got to use it in the final period of several days as it had been decided that traditional dance would be part of the arts stream from this year on. She looked like she was thinking that our side of it was mere child’s play until Tamura and Masuko showed her the dance they had developed for the jazz/swing track and she had a good look at the video that the communications guys had produced from the December social.

It was a wrench for her to accept J-Pop dance as all she had seen before was the occasional clip on TV. She watched our routines with Honey Popcorn twice through before she admitted that the steps and moves were as good as she had seen. With the air now clear and the students sorted into their preferred dances we began the year trying to get them moving as one. As usual, we had lost several of our second and third years so it was almost a complete group of new dancers and it was almost all term before we got into any routines. Of the ten that danced in December we still had the four of us and just two others so we had the basics for a team, just needing four more if we did a ten person routine.

During the term I spent some time in hospital to have my penis tucked into a fold so that I could present as a girl better and they also went over my whole body with a laser hair removal tool so that I came back home hairless, nutless and now, apparently dickless. I was able to keep up with my normal classes remotely and was just a week or so away from the dance school. I could now wear my skirts and dresses with a lot more confidence and when I put on jeans I was now as smooth as Aiko down there.

Okemia and I were now considered old enough to go out with each other by ourselves and we saw a lot of movies and did a lot of cuddling in the back row. Oddly, she was more loving when we saw an anime movie dressed in our costumes. She really did love Raven more than Miyoko but I didn’t mind as it was one and the same for me. If it made her happy then I was happy as well. There was never a suggestion that I would dress in any other costume so I was destined to be Raven for her.

She did tell me that she would pull back from the dance instruction next year as her parents wanted her to take on extra lessons in direction and production because they wanted her to work more in the movie world. It made me sad but I kissed her and told her she would be fantastic at whatever she does.

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 10 You Have to be Strong…

Just before the end of the term I had a text from Naozumi asking if I could come to Tokyo for a meeting or two, in regard to my choreographic work. One Monday I was back on the bullet train, with Aiko and my mother who were not missing out this time. With me now at fifteen and my sister sixteen, my mother intended to hit the shops with us and spend some of the money I had earned last year.

It also coincided with the Summit again so we had our costumes in our bags, just in case. Naozumi had sent someone to meet us at the station and we were taken to the hotel I had stayed in before. The first meeting was the following morning and he would send transport for us, so Monday afternoon we explored the shopping district. Our mother was thinking that we could hit a few of the US chains that were open in Tokyo but the two of us had just one place we wanted to go – the Harajuku district which was kawaii central, especially the shops there. We both ended up with three outfits each that just screamed high fashion kawaii and one outfit that was pure Lolita cute that my mother loved because it reminded her of the clothes her mother had worn in the fifties USA. She loved the look so much she bought a couple of outfits for herself. I didn’t tell her that she may look like a cast member from the ‘Stepford Wives’ but she did look cute and it took years off her.

The meeting next morning was in his office, and Naozumi had made sure that we all had comfortable seats and a hot drink in front of us before he started. He told my mother that I was a child prodigy, whatever that was, and that I was already in great demand from various singing groups who wanted me to choreograph dance moves for them. He said that he had told everyone that I was not available until I had finished my schooling, unless they could fit themselves around me. He explained that the show at the Summit was being organised by another promoter this year and smiled when he said that they would have to be really good to beat last year.

He was glad my mother had joined us because he wanted me to sign with a manager who would be able to make everything fit together and that I would need one to be the link between me and the customers when I started working professionally. I asked if the customers could wait a couple of years and he said, seriously, that the talent I had already shown was going to be in demand when I was ready and that after my first few jobs I would not have to worry about looking for work ever again. I thought that was nice of him but was finding it hard to get my head around.

Aiko asked, with her financial head on, what sort of money I would be likely to earn once I was established and he quoted a number that made us all sit up. We talked around his suggestions and came to an agreement that we would see the manager. That appointment was made for Wednesday morning. Thursday he wanted me to meet up with Honey Popcorn again, rather the new look group. Miko had moved on and there were three new girls, all Japanese, joining them.

What he wanted was for us to put together a dance team and a routine to fit the new videos they wanted to put out in October. He said that he had already spoken to my school and they had agreed to let us use the rehearsal room if the group went to Osaka for a couple of weeks. He said that he had already organised a studio in Osaka where we could record the video and that there would probably be three or four completely new songs which he would email me the files as soon as they had been recorded. He mentioned a figure that made my head spin until I realised that it was to be split between us all that worked on it.

I immediately started to think about patterns of five and realised that it could be fun. That done he took us to lunch and we met up with some of the people that we had seen on TV. What knocked me for six was that they had all seen the dance videos and already knew my name, a couple expressing the thought that I should be at least five years older than I actually was. A few gave me their business cards and told me to get in touch when I started working professionally.

The afternoon we spent visiting the Sanrio Puroland or Hello Kittyland, which was a lot of fun and we came back to the hotel quite late and full of food. Wednesday morning we saw the manager, who also handled the Honey Popcorn and a few other groups, and we signed with him on the basis that from now on he would be taking a cut of my earnings. Thursday we met up with Yua and Moko and the new girls, Nako, Ruka and Sara. The new ones were just as lovely as the others and just as friendly. It was mainly a get-to-know-you meeting but we did talk about some moves the new girls had used before and they gave me an idea of the new songs.
In the afternoon we did a few parks and shrines and then rested up. Friday we just wandered the huge shops, not buying much but trying a lot on. Naozumi had given us three tickets for the Summit so Saturday morning we got into our outfits and the Scarlet Witch and Raven were once more created. We talked our mother into wearing one of her Lolita outfits and then we were off to see the Summit.

Aiko had some idea of what to expect but our mother was bowled over by the lights, the sounds and the characters that she saw wandering about. We wandered the stalls and a few of them remembered me as the Raven from last year and they had some photos which I signed for them, one or two gave us sample bags and even our mother was told how good she looked as our older sister and given samples. We snacked for lunch and watched the afternoon show, went for another meal and then took our seats in the show venue. To say it was a different show was not too far from the truth. Two of the acts were fairly well known but looked bored to me. The third act was something else again and not one I would come back to see. It was called Deadlift Lolita. How can I describe it? A very large, muscular, hairy Australian wrestler called Ladybeard in a bra and short skirt, singing and dancing along with a Japanese wrestler of indeterminate gender and a dance group of total wierdo’s. We were not amused.

Back at the hotel we decided that we had done the Summit for this year and Sunday did a few more gardens and tourist spots. Monday morning we were back on the train to Osaka and sorting out our life before school started again. Few a couple of weeks it was the normal lessons and sessions and I started attending some of the traditional lessons to see how Miss Kikuo worked.

With the ballet class I saw immediately where it fitted with the gymnastics and she saw me watching intently and asked me if I would like to try a few moves. She found me some ballet flats and put me through a few basic moves which I did easily as they were so close to the floor exercise moves. From then on I was signed on for ballet lessons and I had to get the correct outfit with a tutu and my own shoes. It made my dance history teacher very happy that I was doing a traditional course and he pushed more ballet history and great dancers into my curriculum. I found that I got the same thoughts watching large groups of ballet dancers as I got with J-Pop, the vision of the movement from above.

Once I got the files from Naozumi we started working out moves for the group. He sent the message that the stage group would be ten in total so we only needed to add five of us to make it work. We chose five of our new dancers who had shown great promise and worked with them, the four of us and one of the old team making up numbers by pretending to be the singers. We ended up with a simple routine for each song that the singers would not have too much trouble with and the communications class did a video of us with the five of us miming to the soundtracks. All we needed now was some idea of the costumes needed. I sent a DVD off to Naozumi and got an email back that he, and the girls, loved it and that they didn’t need to come down as we could do the video clip ourselves – only joking!

They sent us down pictures of the outfits our group would be wearing, actually three sets of outfits as they intended to do the whole set three times so that the various outfits could be spliced in, a very common practice. When they did come to Osaka we were all ready to work on the performance and they had put some time in working from our video so it didn’t take long to get something moving. Both Miss Kikuo and Machiko came along to watch us work and we also had the guys making another documentary. The sewing classes had come up trumps with the outfits again so, when we went to the studio, we were as ready as we could be. Our own video guys were wrapped to be in a proper studio working alongside professionals and their teacher was happy that they were getting the experience. Like everything, it’s one thing to read about it but another to actually do it.

It took another week to film the full set, from several angles and with three different outfit changes and then doing it twice more with the outfits mixed up. I made the suggestion that they should have an overhead camera as the moves would look good from that angle as well and when they saw the result they kept one there. Okemia came along a few days as part of her new move towards direction and even Miss Kikuo was there one whole day and told me that she had revised all of her thinking about J-Pop as it was as hard as anything else to get it to look easy,

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 11 Even When You’re Weak…

The long term finally came to an end and we prepared for Christmas. The school social was a much quieter affair this time around and they had booked a normal band. Okemia and her parents had gone away for a few days and didn’t attend and Aiko and I ended up dancing with several boys from the fifth year that she had made friends with and I had a good time.

We had a big group of singers now and split into six smaller ones to cover the singing at the shops, aged care homes and hospitals. I think that the school will keep the tradition going well after I have moved on. The final term was hard with the exams but I sailed through them and the gymnastic team was beaten in the rhythmic section, much to the horror of everyone. I could see that the other school had employed an ex-competition winner at national level so we either had to move up a notch or accept our new place in things. I think there was much discussion between the administrators before they decided that we should be happy the way we worked but there was the usual advice; ‘Maybe you should try harder!’

The other thing that made the school year end well was that the new Honey Popcorn videos had hit the social media with a bang. The post production editing had been perfect and they were a riot of colour and movement from beginning to end and the overhead shots fitted beautifully. The girls had sent us a dozen framed and autographed pictures with a thank you to the Senri Flames written on them as well. It was enough for one each plus one that the school hung in the foyer and one we hung in the rehearsal room. The fact that the ten of us shared the payment went down well.

Aiko had now graduated and would be going to the Osaka University of Economics next term in the next prefecture from us so it was an easy train trip for her. I started my last year at this school feeling a bit sad as Okemia was not my girlfriend any more. She had started going out with one of the boys in her new stream and my Raven costume stayed in my closet. I was now sixteen and the hormones were working very nicely and my new body was starting to be noticed by the boys. I bit the bullet and started to go out with Tadashi, one of our dancers, and found myself really feeling like a girl. He was kind and a little in awe of me but he kissed well and we cuddled a lot in the pictures. He made me feel weak at the knees when he caressed my body and kissed my breasts but we did not go any further until later in the year when I gave him the oral relief he wanted. He then moved on to another girl, leaving me devastated.

The school year was busy for the dance team. In the first term we had a call from my manager that he had a ten girl group who needed to have a new video made and had decided that they would do it here, in Osaka. They sent us clips they had already made and we worked out a routine for them with ten of our dancers. They came and stayed and we spent a week taking them through the routine, made much easier by each one having one of our dancers to give pointers. In the end they spent a week in the studio recording the video and then wanted us to join them in a take. It was a rush to put ten outfits together that were close to theirs but we did spend a day with our ten dancers doubling the size of the group and working as twins to each member. That video was the one that went viral and we had some more income to be split and another signed photo each for the collection.

The long term saw another two groups come our way using a similar method. The Osaka studio was getting quite a reputation and our photo collection was growing. With both of the groups there were five singers and we rotated our dancers so that as many as possible got their names out there.
I was walking through the normal exams and my ballet was coming along well. I soon realised that I did not have the grace to be a solo artist but did quite well in the corps. The ballet class put on a display at the Christmas social with an act from Swan Lake and I thought it was lovely, although it had been hard work. Miss Kikuo was thanked for her input.

My last term was full-on with exams but we did have time for another group to work with. These were all very girly and their costumes were usually long flowing dresses and one of the tracks that they sent to us included an instrumental piece in the middle that sounded almost like ballet music. I conferred with Miss Kikuo and she agreed to help with this one. We ended up with ten of our dancers and five of the ballet class. Our ten worked with the moves for the majority of the songs we had been given and the ballet girls were given a crash course in J-Pop to work on just the one song. It took two weeks in the rehearsal room with the group to sort everything out and ten days in the studio but we ended up with a set of normal J-Pop videos plus one that went absolutely viral as soon as it hit the screens.

I had worked out simple moves for the bulk of the track with a lot of spinning that made the skirts swirl. We recorded the whole song a couple of times that way and then everyone was changed into ballet dresses with skirts that would extend horizontally with a good spin and we recorded it again. I had the five singers in red outfits and the rest of the dancers in white and the centre, instrumental section, had them all swirling haphazardly but coming together in the last ten seconds with the red dresses in the middle and the fifteen in white surrounding them, our five ballet girls closest. From above it became a depiction of the national flag. The post production was again spot-on and we had our first national number one hit and I was well on my way to a professional career as a choreographer.

After the exams the school put on a party for all the dancers and their families as a big thank you for our work over the last few years. It was quite an evening and I danced a lot and shed a few tears with my friends. The four of us were going to the University of Arts next term, Tamura and Masuko with me in the dance stream and Okemia in the direction stream. I knew that there were enough younger dancers coming along who would take over and a couple had shown real flair with choreography, but without my sense of movement, yet. The school gave me a framed citation to thank me for my input into the school and I cried a bit when I held it.

The University was only different in that I needed to go further each day and it had a much bigger studio and rehearsal rooms on site. They already knew of me and my orientation day was taken up with interviews with some high powered lecturers. They were prepared to let me do my thing with groups, even to the point of recording them on site and putting them up in the university accommodation. This university had a lot of very well-known alumni and they were determined that I would join their ranks.

So I became immersed in learning more about dance, being exposed to several different styles as well as getting more J-Pop groups going through our system. Tamura and Masuko became assistant choreographers and we put together a group of another fifteen dancers that had come in from other schools but had all been eager to join us. We worked on a wide range of dances, presenting them at University evening shows and, in the first term, had four J-Pop groups with us.

We did record them in the university studio but all wanted the main one in Osaka to do the videos for release. One of our new dancers was a lovely girl called Mitsuki Tachabana and we looked like sisters, although I was certain we could not be. I did ask my father about it and he told me that there were a lot of Tachabanas in Japan and it was quite likely we shared common ancestors. She and I got on like a house on fire and she blended well with us so we promoted her to an assistant as well.

I had been given a big office to share with my three friends and we soon had a line of signed photos on our wall. The university couldn’t do enough for us as we forged ahead creating new works and producing the backing for hit songs. Then the world caved in with the virus and we had the rug pulled out from under us in many ways. It was hard times at first but, if there is one thing you can do while social distancing it is modern dance. We put together a regime of cleanliness and attention to detail and the first year of the pandemic had us producing some of our most avant-garde works, sadly just to video. Halfway through the year I turned eighteen and we had a small party at home. Aiko was doing much of her university work on remote zoom so was home quite a bit. My father still went into his work but he took a lot of care when travelling. Mother just enjoyed us being around.

In the second term of my second year we took the subject of the virus on board and produced a dance called ‘Masks’. In it we had all the dancers, in a line, standing apart, with their backs to the camera. When they turned they all had masks on with lips painted on them. We were all in this shot with a fixed camera. As the dance progressed we took turns on the camera and there were plenty of shot changes as the image on the masks changed, getting more and more animal like. Then there was a segment where we moved around on hands and legs, the masks now all depicting snarling creatures. There was fighting and clawing, in a stylised way with the dancers falling, one by one, and their masks now showing a skeleton jaw.

The final shot was a single dancer, Mitsuki, who had a mask that had a big grin painted on it with red tipped fangs and in the very last seconds we zoomed in and she closed her eyes to show evil red eyes painted on her eyelids. It took a lot of work and a lot of time but we all had a lot of fun doing it while trying to remain socially distant. It was very hard not to hug each other when we viewed the final cut. One of our boy dancers, a strapping lad called Benjiro, had played keyboard with a band so we added a soundtrack with him on synthesiser and conforming the music to the dance, rather than the other way round.

We sent it to the lecturer for evaluation and immediately got an email saying that we all had an ‘A’ and that he wanted to release it for public viewing through one of our alumni in the TV industry. He asked us what the name was that we wanted to be known as and we had a group discussion. One of the dancers put up the suggestion that it should be ‘The Tachabanas’, seeing that it was my choreography. In the end we said that the dance troupe was to be ‘The Osaka Bananas’.

Marianne G 2021

Chapter 12 And then You Will Rise…

To say the video was a hit was an understatement. The ‘Osaka Bananas’ were written on a lot of lists for when public shows would be opening again. Once we got out from the virus we all had secure futures for a while to come.

As such, we registered the name as a company with the four of us, plus my sister as CFO, as directors. It was a calculated risk but we certainly didn’t want others to latch on to the name. The university took some of our earlier works and we rejigged them and added the name up front and a list of performers at the end. Before long we all had very busy Facebook sites devoted to our dance. I had not realised there were so many dancers out there. When it became clear that we were the producers of so many J-Pop dance sequences we were more popular and then some bright person saw that the core of the group were three of the Senri Flames with a number one hit to their name.

We all still needed to attend to our normal classes, much of which was done by zoom but we knew we had to come up with another opus for our final year which would be classed as our degree thesis addendum for all of us. It is one thing to be trying to write a thesis alone but it is a different atmosphere when there are nearly twenty of you with the same result in mind. In the end we decided on another virus dance which we workshopped first and then called it ‘Fatal Attraction’.

Once again it was a lot of stopping and starting to get it right. Like ‘Masks’ it would be very difficult to do live, but not impossible. We had about an equal number of boys and girls and the dance would include everyone. It started with us all moving into view, one at a time, and doing individual moves, looking around with a look of wonder in our eyes. Of course we were all masked. As the group grew in number we started to dance in small groups. The last one to appear was Benjiro, made up to look extra handsome with bulging muscles. The group then started to dance around him, the boys being wary and the girls being very girlish. Then one girl goes to him and they hug first and then dance together for a few seconds. When they part he falls to the ground. The girl goes to another of the boys for comforting and, after some more dance, she falls too. The boy then rushes around madly with fear in his face, stopping a few of the others to remonstrate with them, before falling himself. And so it continued until there were just two, who clung to each other before sinking out of camera shot.

Once again, we added the music afterwards to suit the movement and then edited in the name and credits. That, added to our exam results and our written thesis, was enough for all of us to get our degree, the four of us with honours. The graduation ceremony was on zoom and there was no party afterwards except in our houses. We would have to wait until the world was back to normal before we could get together for a drink.

I suppose that everyone who finishes school feels the same. Here I was, a moderately pretty girl of twenty with a future to look forward to but, at the moment, unable to get moving on it. I was one of five directors of our dance group and we employed, loosely said, fifteen other dancers that we were responsible for. We no longer had the refuge of the University to hide away in so something had to be done. I called my manager and he told me that he had about twenty projects on the books waiting for restrictions to ease and that we would be run off our feet then. I told him that I would see about setting up a place in Osaka that we could use and that I would get back to him.

Aiko had graduated the year before and had been working with my father while also looking after our company books. I called a family conference one weekend and we talked around my problem. I needed a place with rehearsal rooms, a film studio, offices and the rest of normal business. My father said he would use his trade contracts to see if one could be found and Aiko told him how much we could afford, saving some back for equipment. One thing that was already in our favour was a small, but regular, income from video royalties and the two university videos had been sold to a large TV organisation who would on-sell them across the globe. We had been given a very good deal on them so our bank balance was not something to scoff at.

After a couple of weeks he had found us a place in the Taisho prefecture, near the docks. It was an old warehouse that had been converted into studios for a budding film company that had not survived the virus onslaught. We would have two sound stages and a big rehearsal, storage room plus offices. A lot of the heavier equipment had been left behind and he had been told that the lights and cameras were in storage and could be available if we made an offer. I texted the rest of the group to meet me there on the following morning, so that we could discuss the situation.

Aiko and I had the keys and when everyone else turned up we all had a good look around. After we had inspected everything I asked if there were any comments and most said it would be perfect for our needs. I told them that we, that is, the company, could afford to be here for a year as Aiko had negotiated a good deal. I then said that we could also buy the film company lights, cameras and other stuff at a fraction of the normal price so all we needed was the work and to get paid. The country was now on the tail end of the second, or was it third, wave of the virus and the vaccines were starting to be rolled out so the suggestion was that we hold off for six months before taking it on in the New Year, when things would be a bit easier.

This was something that Aiko had already raised with the owners and they were happy as long as we had given the commitment to move in. So that is what we did. The other dancers were all still living at home except Mitsuki, who was in a hostel. She came to live with us and we set up another bed in my room for her. Over the next six months I spoke to, and then met with, my manager and some of the people who wanted the projects done. I was often accompanied by Aiko and Mitsuki and every- one thought that we were three sisters, with two of us twins. We were able to schedule the easier projects first that we could start on as soon as we were in our studio so, once we moved in, we were off and running.

When we did buy the film studio equipment it included all of the sound recording units as well as the lights and cameras. We just had to add our musical instruments and Benjiro came up with those as he had a lot of stuff from his band days. We needed to fit a mirror wall in the rehearsal room but that was easy. From the day we moved in to the day we started serious work was about two weeks of shifting, erecting, painting and sweeping. With the twenty of us getting behind it we had the place looking like a proper dance studio and recording studio and were ready to accept work.

The first few projects were straight forward dance routines for J-Pop bands that were still out there but there had not been a lot of new product. Once we had fulfilled a couple of these the work flooded in. With travel on the bullet train being possible with social distancing and our having everything except accommodation in-house, we became the flavour of the month for J-Pop groups and their new videos. Our dancers were all pretty good cameramen already and, with the state of the art gear that we had scored, we could do quality output. “Osaka Banana’ became a byword in the industry and we all were earning good money.

As restrictions eased there were queries about us performing ‘Masks’ and ‘Fatal Attraction’ on stage but we were all well beyond that now. We had developed into cameramen, lighting guys and recording experts who danced occasionally. We did put it around that we would take on the choreography if another dance group wanted to do them and this was taken up by one of the national outfits who said that it would fit with some of their other modern dance pieces.

The four of us were then in a hotel in Tokyo for three weeks while we worked through the difficulties of doing them live. We did, in the end, get them sorted and the opening night saw us being called on the stage at the end of the performance to receive our bouquets. After that there were a few more serious enquiries and this led me to where I am now.

Masuko and Tamura are now co-managers of ‘Osaka Banana’ and looking after the business. I am in an airport lounge, waiting to board a flight to America. With me are fifty ballet dancers as well as Aiko and Mitsuki. We are about to head off to tour the USA with a set of four new, modern ballets, all choreographed by Mitsuki and me and led by the redoubtable Miss Kikuo, no longer a teacher in the school but a touring manager for the lot of us. I now have a number of acclaimed dances under my belt and our wall in the ‘Bananas’ office is lined with signed photos. I think that I may have done the right thing by moving away from Detroit. Who knows what I would have done there, certainly not the path I had gone down since putting on that first leotard to work on the beam.

I do wonder at what my older brother would think when we meet again as I have changed somewhat. At least I won’t have to see his now ex-wife as she had run off with another guy. On top of all that, Benjiro will be waiting for me when I get back and we will need to talk seriously about a wedding day, but only when I am able to receive him as his wife. When I think of everything that has happened to me since I last saw my brother, I think that it is enough to make your head spin.

The end

Marianne G 2021.