Chapter Text
Ryuu had never considered himself overweight. Growing up the son of a fisherman, he had had decent experiences sailing the waves, and thus had built up a healthy amount of muscles.
That’s why, when the recruiter, a man in his 30s, told him he needed to lose 5kg in a week if he wanted to pass the audition, he got quite a shock.
“But I’m not fat,” he blurted out.
“Yes, I can see that,” said the recruiter, “but you’re still way heavier than what this industry prefers. We don’t need a hunk.”
Ryuu winced.
“B-But 5 kg in a week is a little…”
“Not to worry, I have a very effective weight loss method for you.”
The ‘very effective weight loss method’, as touted by the recruiter, was a suspicious herbal tea box labeled “weight loss tea”, and an insane diet.
Ryuu’s instructed to drink a cup of that tea three times a day, and have a grape for breakfast, a piece of tofu for lunch, and a whole tomato for dinner.
“No one can survive with this kinda diet!” He exclaimed in horror.
The recruiter crossed his arms and addressed him with a cold voice. “Either accept this, or you can forget about becoming an idol.”
Ryuu flinched. He thought of his little brothers’ innocent faces, of his father’s aching back as they waited for him to bring money home, and agreed.
Since he’s staying at an apartment in the town for the audition, the recruiter offered to move in to supervise him during his diet.
It went pretty easy during the first couple of days. The herbal tea turned out to be something that made him urinated a lot, and even though those itsy bits of food left him wanting more, apart from feeling tired and shaky in his limbs, he was mostly fine. The recruiter weighed him once a day, and he’d already dropped 0.7kg by the end of the second day.
But from the third day forward, problems began to pose itself. First, he felt… slowed down, like he’s experiencing the world in slow motion. The recruited would ask him something and it’d take a few seconds to respond (and those seconds got longer by the days). He thought of food, of nothing but food, all day long. He’s encouraged to exercise to burn up more calorie, but his hunger and thirst made him dazed and limp, so he spent the better part of a day sitting or lying on the couch, thinking of the next bits of food he could ingest (thank goodness he quit his part-time job for this audition). His skin dried up and began to flake off, and he had to wet his lips constantly because it was just so dry.
At the sixth day, his recruiter had to bring the cup of tea to his lips himself, since Ryuu got no energy for such a task anymore.
“Say…,” he said in between gulps, “is doing this… really necessary for a singer?”
The recruited replied with a bitter tone, “It doesn’t. It’s harmful, I know. But this is what the public wants, so it’s what we have to do.”
Ryuu thought he might’ve cried when he finished the tea.
Ryuu passed that round of audition.
The recruiter sent him another diet, this time to accumulate him for normal food again, and to make sure he kept his current weight.
“I’ve high hopes for you, Tsunashi-kun. When you become an idol, be sure to put up some good words for me for the higher-ups, ‘kay?” He said and laughed out loud.
“As long as you don’t put me on another diet again,” Ryuu smiled weakly.
“Ahahahaha!”
That man didn’t know Ryuu was only half-joking.
“…and that’s how I passed the audition to become a piece of Trigger. Crazy, right?!” Ryuu slurred.
Then he face-planted to the table and began snoozing.
Idolish7, Trigger, Re:Vale, and Zool sat around the table full of food and beverages for Ryuu’s birthday in complete silence.
“He’s passed out.” Tenn sighed as he poked his groupmate.
“Has Tsunashi-san ever… uhm…” Sougo glanced at the two Trigger members with a question.
Gaku shook. “Nah, this is the first time we hear about it.”
“I see…”
Everyone turned to the birthday man, each with a thought of their own.
“Well…” Anesagi said while placing a blanket over Ryuu’s shoulder, “At least he can eat as much as he wants now.”
Everybody knew that sentence was a white lie.
Because, after all, “this is what the public wants.”