"Tadaima modorimashita~" the brunet happily greeted Ringo and Ryuya right after entering the office with the other 3 bandmates.

"Ara~ if it isn't Reiji and the others, you all have returned earlier than expected," Ringo said with a surprise look.

"Well, we actually have some free time so we can return to the agency to meet our soon to be kouhais," Reiji explained cheerfully.

"More like we were back here just to grab some stuff before we head to our next destination for our next tour," the cyan haired boy corrected. "Are you that excited to meet the newbies before finishing off what we should be doing for the week?"

Reiji chuckled nervously.

"Arere~ was I too obvious, Ai-ai?" Reiji innocently asked. Ai just glared at him without replying.

"There's no need to rush and meet them just yet. After all, we will have to hold an audition at the end of the week," Ryuya explained. "Just focus on your tour. This is the time for you all to shine. Don't let that opportunity slip off from your grasp."

"Roger that, senpai!" Reiji saluted playfully.

"Let's get on back to our tour," Ranmaru called out to Reiji.

"We have no time to waste," Camus added as he walked out of the room. Ai followed after that.

Yuuka's POV

It was our second day of lesson in Saotome academy and apparently, most of us aren't prepared for Tokiya's lessons as he is as strict as heck! But it's scheduled after our current lesson here with Natsuki-senpai. Apparently, we are having a cooking lesson in the academy's kitchen which doesn't even relate to becoming an idol...

"Alright, everyone! Please get yourselves into pairs by picking the sticks here in the container! The ones with the same colours at the end will be a pair!" Natsuki announced cheerfully as he placed the container in front of him.

All of us took turns and pick a stick. And guess what? I ended up with a certain someone that is enough to make me explode in anger.

"To think that I ended up being a pair as this loser..." Miyako muttered under her breath while I just smiled at her, trying my very best to hide my wrath. Forget about her, I'll just try my best to make sure that the lesson goes on smoothly.

"Today, we are going to learn how to make piyo-chan cookies!" Natsuki introduced with a grin.

I can see that Daisuke was flabbergasted by what Natsuki-senpai just said to us while Sai and Akako let out a huge gasp. As for Eugene, he looked confident that he could win this thing with his eyes closed.

And so, Natsuki-senpai wrote the instructions on the board while we prepare the utensils and ingredients on the benches. As I was placing each utensil in orderly fashion, Miyako just had to place the ingredients on the spot itself. Does she have a grudge against us? Against me, I bet.

"Excuse me, Miyako-san. But this space here was supposed to be for the utensils," I told her as politely as possible. I don't want to hit a wrong nerve and ended up being bitched by her.

"You are not ordering me around now! I do whatever I want and that's that," Miyako stated as she placed a packet of flour infront of me. "I don't plan to work together in this lesson so don't you even talk to me!"

Sigh...will this ever work? I don't plan to make enemies right now. All I want is to get this done without any problem.

Right after Natsuki-senpai done his writing, he told us that he will also be making the piyo-chan cookies himself so that he could share with us. Once he clapped his hands, we all start working. We are fortunate enough that we were given a step by step instruction on the piece of paper. Despite being inexperienced, with instructions to follow will be enough!

First off, I started to weigh the amount of flour required and during that time, I saw Miyako, who was currently staring at the piyo-chan shapped cookie cutters. Hm...I wonder if she is a fan of piyo-chan?

"Miyako, could you pass me the eggs?"

No reply from that girl.

"Miyako."

Still no reply.

"Miyako, do you like piyo-chan to the extend that you'd ignore me?"

"W-what are you saying?! Baka! I don't like them! I'm just-" Miyako excused but failed miserably. Finally got her weakness.

"Oh...I see," I remarked with a smirk as I took one of the cookie cutters away from her, while she had to stare at it moving away from her.

I decided to tease her a little by moving the cookie cutter infront of her eyes and to what I expected, her eyes are following the motion. Fufufu...now I can be certain that things aregoing to work smoothly.

Before I could even order her around, Natsuki-senpai approached our table with his usual goofy grin.

"Hi, girls! I see that the two of you are quite slow compared to the other pairs. If this goes on, I'm not sure if you could finish it before the lesson ends," Natsuki-senpai told us but I could sense that he's going to scold us if we were to dilly-dallying like this again. After that, he walked away to the next table.

Since Natsuki-senpai looks this relaxed...doesn't that means he is baking his cookies in the oven already?! I'm still in the middle of making the dough to rest...and I have yet to preheat the oven.... That's it! I have had it enough.

"Look here. If you don't work, I'm going to tell the others about your little secret!" I taunted which worked like miracles.

"Alright already! But I am going to use the cookie cutters on the dough you made eons ago. I don't knoe how to do the rest," Miyako exclaimed but slowly her voice softened in embarrassment.

"As long as you do something during this lesson, I don't even care," I told her as I stretched the dough out with the rolling pin. "Done, here's your job!"

I handed the dough to her and Miyako just stared at the dough while holding the cookie cutters. She clumsily pressed the cookie cutter onto the dough and her attempt was rather poor....

"I know that you never bake before but you should be able to do this properly, at the least," I told her as I showed her an example. "This is also my first time."

After that, Miyako did the cutting by herself while I preheat the oven to the temperature as described. Next, we put the batch of 'raw cookies' into the oven for 30 minutes or so. With only 5 minutes left before class ends, our cookies are done baking.

"Alright, looks like everyone has done baking their cookies! Let's have a taste of their own work," Natsuki-senpai announced as we all clasped our hands together, saying 'itadakimasu'.

Miyako and I bit onto our cookies and somewhat, a disgusted look was painted on both of our faces. It tasted horrible than I could ever imagine. Our first attempt is actually a failure....I wonder what did we do? I was sure that I followed the recipe properly...

"It tastes bad isn't it?" Natsuki-senpai asked all of us. We just remained silent but I could see that Eugene's confidence decreased after that. Was it really expected afterall?

"The quality of the flour is poor. That's what made the cookies tasted average," Eugene stated while staring at the cookies he made.

"You are wrong, Eugene-kun. You can't rely too much on the flour," Natsuki-senpai told him. "And that means you are still inexperienced."

"Everyone here are still inexperienced and unsure of what lies ahead of their future. I was also one of you guys few years ago," he continued. But all of us are still confused at what he was trying to tell us. "Being thrown into somewhere unfamiliar and are being forced to cope within a short amount of time is hard but you all will get a hang of it soon."

He's trying to comfort us from our worries. Despite being an airhead like what others have said, he's actually really caring for others.

"But after what I have said, I bet all of you are hungry by now. So, eat up some of my cookies and get energised for your next lesson later on!" Natsuki offered as he took his batch of cookies from the oven. The aroma of the cookies is enough to make a person drool.

Each and every of us took a piece of the cookie from Natsuki but I could see that Hotaru was staring at the cookie intendly, as if there is poison seeping out from it.

"Alright, do eat! I've still got some more batch in the oven!" Natsuki beamed as he went to check the oven.

The rest of us took a bite of the cookie all except for Hotaru.

"Kuuuuu!!! This is super good!" Daisuke remarked but right after that, he fainted.

"Oy, is it that delicious that you had to faint?" Eugene asked as he shook his partner's shoulder in attempt to wake him up. Instead, Eugene just fell onto the floor.

"I think I just saw an angel telling me to go there..." Sai spoke but her words trailed off as she fell onto the floor.

Everyone fainted except for Hotaru as she is the only one who hadn't taste the cookie. By the time Natsuki took out the new fresh batch, I already lost my consciousness.

GAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

That horrible shout must have been from Sai.... She actually woke up from my beauty sleep. Eh? Why was I sleeping?

"I'm glad that you guys managed to wake up," Hotaru stated monotonously.

"I thought that I was dead for a second!" Sai exclaimed in horror.

"What happened? I remember we had some cookies a while ago," I began. Hotaru just let out a sigh.

"That senpai made the cookies without looking at the instructions properly. And somehow made it inedible," Hotaru explained. "The guys there are having a hangover after a bite from that cookie. I am glad that you guys need not suffer." She then points to the other side of the curtain. (Infirmaries usually have curtains to separate the beds, not sure how to describe it)

I see.... That was what it was about, huh? But what did he put in actually?

"And he gave us each of these," Hotaru told me as she showed me a card with cute piyo chan designs on it.

On the card, it was filled with handwritings that might be Natsuki-senpai's. It is about tips on having better health with food and also some information to attain optimum health by eating fruits as snacks. That is rather unexpected, despite the fact that we passed out from his food....

Akako's POV

After waking up from a horrible nightmare, we made our way to our next lesson with Tokiya-senpai. Honestly, I'm not sure if I could survive Tokiya-senpai's preaching.

"Today, we are going to practice your vocals and as usual, get together in pairs," Tokiya instructed. "I will show you guys some examples of what you all will be doing."

He then stood in the middle of the room as we made way for him. He took a deep breath and started vocalizing. I could hear his vibrato as he vocalize. And soon after that, he started doing some portamento. His voice gliding from one note to another beautifully and gracefully like a dancing swan. I'm glad that I revised last night and without it, I wouldn't know what is he doing.

"Before those examples, please do the scale exercises to warm up your voice," he stated.

With that we started our practice.

Timeskip...

"Looks like you all improved a little," Tokiya-senpai remarked. "I guess it was worthed the time that I rescheduled your lessons."

"Does that means more classes?" Yukino asked shyly.

"Yes. Until the day of your auditions," Tokiya-senpai stated, making the whole lot of us sighed.

With that, our lesson ended without any problem.

Timeskip...

"I am so tired!!" I heard Sai complained as she fell onto Yuuka's soft bed.

"I heard that there's going to be a sports lesson tomorrow!" Yuuka beamed as she took out her sports attire. Sai gave a look of disgust as she is never physically fit despite looking skinny.

"But thinking back what we just learnt, it gives me that feeling of aspiration!" I told my friends. "It's like the hope to become an idol is getting stronger!"

"I don't understand how today's lesson made your ideals like that," Hotaru told me while staring into space.

"Well, somehow I understand it," I bluntly stated without any thought.

I wonder how things will go tomorrow morning. And it was only the second day of our lesson....

##############################################
Meanwhile...

Syo: Natsuki!! You shouldn't be putting the candidates to sleep with your cooking during your lesson!

Natsuki: Eh? What do you mean?

Syo: *facepalms*

Natsuki: Ah...that's because they really loved my baking just now and lost their consciousness in order to meet the cookie fairies. *stares at the cookies with his goofy smile*

Syo: More like you intend to murder them with your weird cookies!

Ai: *picks up one of the cookies and eats it*

Syo: Ai! No-

Ai: Hm...brown sugar, vanilla essence, choco chip, durian, tabasco sauce, natto...what a weird combination of ingredients.

Natsuki: Uwaaaa~ Ai-chan sugoiii! You knew what I used in my cookies, ne~?

Syo: How did you even make your gentle-tasting desserts back in the Cafe last time?!

Natsuki: Eh? I made it the way I did.

Syo: If I was there on time to prevent them from touching your cookies, they needn't have to experience that traumatising moment...