“We do apologize for calling you in on such short notice,” President Masato began

20 Pages·2016·0.1 MB·English

“We do apologize for calling you in on such short notice,” President Masato began, “But we
needed to get the ball rolling much sooner than we anticipated.” Aoi nodded nervously while
hiding her fidgeting hands. She couldn’t recall the last time that she needed to come in for a
meeting; much less during the Studio’s brief vacation time before getting back to work for their
next show.
“It’s fine…but…what is it you need from me?”
“Have you heard of a light novel series called Sister Chef?” Director Seiichi asked, looking
confident as Aoi’s anxiety lifted some. “We’ve been approached to oversee the series as a whole.
Not that there’s any doubt we can do it.”
“But there are some things that we need to address before we start. Specifically with you.” Yuka
started, causing Aoi to let out a little shriek. The Studio team chuckled some, Aoi blushing in
embarrassment before the room settled down. “It’s nothing bad Miyamori. I think all of us here
agree that parts of Third Aerial Girl Squad wouldn’t have succeeded if it wasn’t for you.”
“T-Thank you…”
“That’s why for our next series, we are putting you as Production Supervisor. It is a bit more
work but you also have a lot of say in what the product will look like.” Masato’s snaggletooth
grin beamed across his face, giving Aoi a chance to relax. Although it took a few extra seconds
for his words to register.
“WHAT? T-That’s way too much for a third year newbie to handle!”
“Miyamori, there has to be a point where you have to stop being so damn humble.” Aoi snapped
to attention as Yuka barked. “We all came to the same agreement after discussing it with your
peers and the others in the animation department. There’s no one better suited for the job.”
“Unless you can say someone like Tarou is mentally prepared to handle this,” Seiichi chuckled
as Aoi clutched her blouse. She knew full well there’d be no point arguing this if the entire
Studio conceded that she was best for the job. “If it’s any consolation, I heard from Koutarou
that if you can pull it off that you’ll be a shoe-in for Executive Producer.”
“Me? An…executive producer?” Aoi shuddered at the prospect. Only three years in the anime
industry and she was being fielded for such a high position.
“We do have to work you into it though. This brings us back to our original point.” Masato spoke
once again, going over the details of the show. Aoi dug out a notepad from her purse, fervently
taking notes over everything that was discussed in this meeting. With a larger responsibility
being a step below the production manager, the situation wasn’t any easier with the following
statement. “As opposed to the 13 episode arcs we’ve had these past two seasons, we’re aiming
for a 26 episode run for the Fall.”
“26? Oh man. I can see what you called me during the vacation.” Aoi mumbled aloud,
calculating dates and deadlines in her head and on her notepad. “When do we begin working on
this?”
“Ideally tomorrow. I’ve already got a few storyboard and sketches compiled for our first
session.” Seiichi patted his drafts, as thick as two reams of paper. “Also I need you to call
Yasuhara and Diesel to come too. We’re going to need their help.”
“Yeah…I’ve never worked with a light novel series before. We have a lot to create from the
ground up,” Aoi mulled, lost in her thoughts as small anxieties nipped at the back of her brain.
She was able to shrug them off, remembering how the five of them made a low budget anime in
high school from nothing. This process shouldn’t be that much more difficult. At least she hoped
not.
As much as it annoyed Ema and Midori to be called during some much needed down time, it was
pivotal that the lead setting and character designers were present as they needed to build their
world from the ground up. The most they had were character pictures and some buildings on the
covers of the various light novels; the two girls studying them diligently while Aoi was stuck in
the corner taking notes. All was going smoothly considering they were in direct communication
with the author too. The only request was that everything looked realistic. No massive
exaggerations or cutting corners as it was a show meant to focus on the joys of cooking.
Not that anyone was complaining at this point since their work gave them an excuse to find a
new restaurant to eat out at. With the hopes of using it as inspiration for their main setting, the
group set off into the busy streets with a clear goal in mind. Ema and Midori insisted they stop
again and again to get pictures and notes of what would work while Seiichi and Shimeji worked
out storyboard. Aoi didn’t mind getting out of the studio but it was slightly irritating how they
wanted to get down every little detail they could.
“Are we...ulp…done here?” Aoi asked, trying to pass the time with gyoza dumplings while they
scribbled out ideas and concepts for the show. “This is like the seventh place we’ve been to.”
“Oi-chan, a lot is riding on this.” Ema flashed her sketches, all with amazing precision as she
was in the zone. “We have a lot more freedom than we did with Exodus! or Aerial Girls so we
have to make sure our vision is thorough.”
“Not to mention you have to think of your own future too.” Midori snapped a few pictures,
comparing them to restaurant aesthetics and architecture material she brought with her. “You are
close to being nominated for Executive Producer. Isn’t that something you’d want?”
“Yeah…but…” Aoi trailed off, popping two more dumplings in her mouth as her friends
slammed their work material on the table; causing the dishes and drinks to clatter.
“Don’t give us any more of that ‘I don’t know what I want to do’ in anime crap!"
“Midori-chan is right! You’re clearly suited for production.” Aoi let out a hard gulp. It was rare
to be lectured by Ema as a stern scowl leered at her. "If it wasn't for you, we'd have crumbled
during Exodus!. I don't think anyone else at Musashino Animation could have fixed the problems
with the finale. Or even with some of the hiccups that we experienced during this last season.
You did more than you realized."

Aoi said nothing else, choosing to mindlessly snack on a rice cracker platter left for them as her
friends went back to work. There was honestly nothing more for her as she lazily grazed, keeping
herself busy with scheduling notes and a lengthy to-do list. This was the pattern for the day, the
two animators would gather and compare notes and Aoi would order anything she could off the
appetizer menu within the Studio's budget. There was some sort of niggling worry in her mind
but it was soon pushed away when her phone buzzed with several additions to her payload.
Letting out a sigh, annoyed with the extra work, Aoi scanned the menu in hopes there was
something that she could afford.

"You're really going to eat now Oi-chan?" Ema asked, putting her pencil down for the first time
in a while, "We're supposed to meet up with Shizuka-chan and Misa-chan for drinks this
evening."

"Yeah but I have to head back to the Studio when we're done. Seiichi-san and I have to handle a
few extra meetings tonight." Aoi huffed, ordering a bowl of beef udon with extra edamame.
"Double the episodes mean double the workload. I think you two would agree with that." They
nodded, finishing their surveying work as Aoi went to town on her dinner. The way she sucked
down thick noodles and broth, Aoi was finally getting something of substance compared to the
various light meals she had throughout the afternoon. Ema was astonished with the way she
stuffed her face, jotting a few sketches down in her book for future reference. She said nothing as
these bits of gorging provided good reference for the later parts of the series. Barely taking the
time to taste it all, Aoi rushed to bring the two back in order to sit in on the second production
meeting for the day.

Presenting her scheduling notes and various points of note before the main work on episode one
began, Aoi was determined to show that she had what it took to be in a position a Production
Supervisor. Granted things would have gone smoother if she didn't have to stifle feelings of
gassy build up in her sister. Ugh, shouldn't have had all that ramen She thought, grease playing
hell on her body. Luckily, the rest of the production session finished without a hitch as everyone
there, including the original author, were thoroughly impressed by her flow. Aoi knew that there
was enough time to wrap up her notes and meet the others at the pub for a round of drinks as
promised. That was until the series' author wanted to treat everyone out to sushi and drinks on
her own tab. She was in no position to refuse as she was dragged along to the celebration of a
brand new show for Musashino. The icing on the cake was how the group was able to convince
the restaurant owners that it was all part of a new hit anime, garnering them free eats; allowing
Aoi to eat to her heart's content. While others were eager to sample fatty tunas and sauce covered
unagi Aoi was happy with a fancy sirloin steak with fried rice.

I can easily work off the weight when the series production begins. Besides, nothing wrong with
going out a little.
From there, work did continue on as normal for the budding producer and her staff. Every
morning she'd help guide the team through announcements with Yuka before getting to her own
tasks for the day. As the supervisor, there wasn't too much different from when she was working
as an episode producer. The only major difference of course was overlooking everyone's
progress to ensure that the schedule was kept no matter the cost. As well as mentoring some of
the new hires that was pushed in. The job seemed natural to Aoi as the only downside that she
saw was how she was more glued to the production desks than in previous seasons. No field
work with Midori, no meetings with Seiichi, and no drifting through the streets to see Misato
with a new set of key frames. It was bona fide office work and she hated it. Getting fidgety from
doing nothing but answering emails and working her calls, Aoi was growing complacent and
slightly sedentary. No one dared to mention how her clothes seem to be snug as she stretched her
legs on the way to the vending machine or during her meals of fried chicken with the President.

"Anyone noticed how Miyamori looks a bit like Honda," Tarou mentioned during the key phase
of the OP.

"How so?"

"Oh come on, she's packing on the po-OW!" Erika slammed him in the gut, a scowl on her face
warning not to finish that statement. Aoi was oblivious to the context, only assuming Tarou said
something ill-timed once again to invoke Erika's wrath. Chewing aimlessly on a candy bar, the
first of the season's problems began as a stuttering new producer approached her. Cowering in
fear, the younger girl clutched her key frames for episode one as Aoi took them. However,
before the new girl had a chance to walk away, Aoi let out a gasp of shock.

"Wait, don't go anywhere. These margins are all off. Not to mention the line quality is sub par."
Her body jiggled as she flipped the frames over again and again, thicker arms grinding against
her chest and torso. "Who did you get to draw these out?"

"Umm...well..." She did everything in her power to avoid eye-contact with Aoi. "There was...an
animator I went to college with. I figured I'd give him a shot. He needs the experience...and..."

"All well and good but you can't give him the key frames for our first episode!" Raising her
voice slightly before calming down. They were ahead of schedule and it didn't require drama at
this point. "Can you ask him to redo these? There's no way I can hand them over to Ema."

"But he said that they were perfect the first time an-" She didn't get a chance to complete her
sentence as Aoi stood up, looking more annoyed than she was several seconds ago.

"I don't draw and I can tell these are off. Isn't that saying something?" The newbie nodded,
speechless and scared. "I'll take care of this. You work on coordinating between Video and Film
that we're going to be off by at least one day at the maximum...depending on her workload." Aoi
left her coworkers to rush the hastily draw key frames to Misato as the excitement of racing
through Tokyo came back to her. Laughing merrily, she coasted around corners as she came to
her colleague's apartment.
Fortune was on her side tonight as Misato's queue was limited at the moment, surprised that
Musashino wanted to push out an anime so quickly. Granted she was equally shocked with how
messy the key frames she was given were (this kid went to college? I'd ask for my money back if
I were him) but Aoi knew that they were in no better hands than hers. A quick call back to the
production desk to confirm that everything was adjusted accordingly and the crisis was over. The
only problem that remained was dinner as most of her meals that day consisted of candy bars and
sodas.

"I mean...a KFC meal shouldn't be too bad. So long as I watch the sodium." Aoi nodded,
swerving the car into a ten-minute parking space. Filling up on three chicken box meals, she ate
on the drive back to the Studio to drop the car off; hoping that they wouldn't mind a lingering
smell of poultry and buttery biscuits. It was ages since she had fast food, electing to make meals
even during the busiest of episode work in the past. Tonight was different as it was a last minute
deal and a one-time-only event.

That was until two days later when Misato called her. Aoi assumed that meant the frames were
completed but instead a rush of apologies and grumbles echoed through the receiver. It took the
artist several minutes of swearing and apologies before the truth was revealed: what was thought
to be a no-so-empty ink canister had toppled over three pages of manuscript, causing her to fall
behind an extra day. Not the biggest mistake in the world but it meant more trouble for Aoi once
again as she and her Episode 1 Producer had to work around everyone else's schedule to
accommodate. The extra padding that she had worked so hard to build up to account for these
situations was slowly being chipped away. Not helping the fact was how her diet began to slip up
once again with a few cheeseburgers for lunch mixed with a Seiichi sized portion of President
Masato's chicken platter. Aoi ate every last bite and then some, so wholly focused on the task at
hand that she didn't think about how much she was packing away. There wasn't a moment she
could waste on thinking of her calorie intake with such a big project looming over her.

"Thank you so much for taking this on," Aoi sighed in relief. It took Misato less than a full day
to repair the damaged key frames. Clutching the package close to her swollen chest, she could
once again breathe easy. "I hope we didn't have you working too much. We don't want you to get
sick with 25 more episodes to work on." She let off an uneasy smile on a softer face. Misato said
nothing initially, serving her friend tea while watching her pulling down on the fringes of her
skirt again and again.

"It was no problem. Like I told you, not the worst thing you've given me." The freelancer's gaze
was set on Aoi as a whole. Her blue jacket was a lot snugger around the arms than it was last
year not to mention how she struggled to get the tail end of her dress over a budding mount of
blubber. "Is everything okay?"

"Huh? Yeah! We lost a little wiggle room because of this whole ordeal but it's part of the
learning process." She missed the point of the question wholly as she went back to the tug-of-war
with her clothing; muttering something under her breath about shrinking in the laundry. "But
now we can get back on track."

"That's great. You know, you work hard like Honda did but you may be picking up some of his
other habits."

"Hmm? How so?"

"Well yo-" Misato's response was cut short as a loud buzzing rattled Aoi's purse.

"I'm sorry, can you give me a second?" Misato nodded as Aoi excused herself out the front door
to take the call.

I can tell her when she gets back I suppose. The shrill scream from Aoi's plump lips said
otherwise as Misato threw the door open as did several of her neighbors.

"W-W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY LOST THE OP-ED KEY FRAMES!?" All color from
the chubby girl's face flushed out as she stood there, speechless and trembling. Faltering for
another moment, Aoi's composure came back to her as she frantically tried to ease the tension on
the other end. Misato watched in confusion, wondering how someone under Aoi's management
made such a careless mistake all while worrying for her friend's health. The scene went on for
another minute with an attempt to have the young producer trace the exchange of the frames
back to their origin. Luck was not on her side as Aoi hung up, sweat rolling down her jelly rolls.
"Ugh...Misato, I'm sorry but I have to handle this. Can we continue our conversation some other
time?"

"Yeah sure but call me later. Okay?" Aoi nodded while running down to the company car. She
prayed that the police wouldn't ticket her for speeding (even if the Studio would pay for the
infraction) as any delay would put her one step further from finding the missing package.

When she got back to Musashino, the search was still on as Tarou and Erika were aiding the
newbie to track down the OP-ED frames. Aoi didn't have time for the myriad of apologies the
new girl had to offer. There really was no time for that since if the frames couldn't be found, they
would need to be redrawn and the animation schedule was already being stretched thin enough.
The night dragged on as desks were excavated and transportation hubs called, all in hopes of
finding the missing pieces. By some bizarre happenstance of a miracle, Erika asked if the frames
may have been at the girl's home since sometimes their work was brought to their apartments
with them. The newbie producer mulled on the thought for a moment before coming to some
bizarre epiphany; hurrying to her home with the promise of being back 'in a few'. Another hour
passed before she returned, clearly out of breath with the package in hand. A proud smile on her
face irked all three senior producers as Aoi took hold of the frames, promising to copy and
deliver them that evening while allowing everyone else to go home. After sending Misato a
message to update her on what had happened, Aoi sighed happily. The storm had passed and not
much damage had occurred to the production. However, a low, painful grumble from her gut
interrupted her peaceful Zen.

"Guess I haven't eaten since I was with Misato earlier," Flipping her phone back open, Aoi
searched through her directory before placing a call. "Maro's Pizza? It's not too late for you all to
deliver, is it? Good! Can I get one grrrroooaannn I mean two Meat Deluxe pizzas...oh and some
of those garlic knots. Drink? I guess a Coke. Yep. Musashino Studios. Thanks!" Aoi grazed on
the overloaded pizza slices throughout the night; careful not to splatter grease or bacon bits onto
her work. The deadline for these OP-ED had to be met for tomorrow as well as prep for the
weekly update meeting. Nothing else seemed to matter to her but completing all of her tasks
before crashing in the break room for a few hours of sleep. I'm glad I got the two pizzas.
Probably shouldn't tell anyone how I ate both of them in four hours.

Finishing out the week before her day off on Sunday, Aoi was able to keep all damages to a
minimum even if her body reeked of garlic while not bothering to change clothes. No one
bothered to ask why, the implications clear though some were surprised with how big the grease
stains on her skirt were. Aoi could sense that there was some of her dinner lingering on her but
there was no time to dawdle as she had a full day ahead of her. The update meeting with the
higher-ups went smoothly while the OP-ED work was taken to its next phases with animation
and coloring. The only thing she didn't want to go through was a sit down with the newbie
producer as her track record was less than stellar at this point. It was by-far, easier than all the
other days that had come so far. By the time she got home, Aoi had to resist the urge to collapse
on her bed and snooze until Monday. Switching over to a tank top and pajama pants was when
Aoi finally took a good look at her body.

"Ughh...I look so bloated." She pressed a hand to her sizable gut, feeling it sink in slightly as her
belly button peeked out from under her shirt. "I guess I shouldn't have finished off the garlic
knots before sleeping. Or have had five burgers for lunch today." Everything was tight and
uncomfortable as her body would not stop quivering about. Lugging her body to her couch, Aoi
cracked open a beer while idly channel surfing in hopes there was something to ease her stress.
All the while, continuously rubbing her spare tire. She couldn't take her mind off her growth
spurt; too afraid to step on the scale to see what the actual damage was.

"Man, you've really let yourself go, haven't you?" Mimuji mused while waltzing around atop of
the coffee table. "It's only been a few weeks since you started and you're already a mess. I bet
you're not sleeping well either, huh?"

"Come on, lay off her will you?" Roro added, sitting next to his goth-lolita companion as he
gave Aoi a look of pity. "She's been overworked several times over. Not to mention with all the
mistakes this week, it's natural something like this would happen."

"Are you saying you want her to get fat? It's not healthy you know!"

"I didn't say that. All I'm saying is weight gain is expected through these tough times.
Remember when she was studying for her finals in college before graduating. She put on
about 5 kg before the end of that week." Mimuji nodded as Roro tried to dance with his friend,
failing miserably through the whole process.

"I suppose that's true. She has a lot more riding on this production."

"Executive Producer is nothing to sneeze at that's for sure." The two figments of Aoi's
imagination stopped their dancing before crawling up to her sides, sinking into the girth of her
hips while continuing to play off one another. "If everything goes smoothly, then Aoi won't get
any bigger."

"You're probably right. Though could you imagine her filling up this couch!" Mimuji laughed at
her own joke, Roro huffing some while Aoi struggled to stay awake. Her conscience knew what
it was talking about; she needed to shape up lest her trim waistline ship out.

"It's...okay...I'll work off...the....zzzzz...." Aoi slumped over, out for the count while dreaming of
a smooth production run for the remaining 30 weeks they had to go.
---------------------------------

"Hurrp Everything looks good on my hulp end Misato! Thank you again for all your hard work!"

"Any time Aoi. Hell, the numbers coming in and the buzz on the web are clear signs you're
doing Sister Chef justice." Misato paused. Aoi could tell there was hesitation over the phone as
she waited. A few more seconds passed before the conversation resumed. "But..."

"But?!"

"It's not a bad but. It's just...I haven't seen you in about a month; most of the work being done by
your desk animators. Are you holding up fine?"

"Phheww...oh man Misato you hurrrlp made me worry there."

"I have reason to be concerned. You sound like garbage, as if you're carrying an extra weight on
your shoulders. " Aoi tensed up some while glad that Misato couldn't see her sweat bullets. A fart
squeaked out her ass, blushing in embarrassment. "Not to mention you keep belching on the
phone."

"I hic just ate lunch that's why. I gotta go now though. I'll call you later Misato!" Aoi hung up as
quickly as she could, leaning back in her desk chair while letting another gust of gas. The last
thing she wanted was to worry Misato considering her accusations were right. Aoi's was carrying
extra weight and not the metaphorical kind. Sister Chef was already hitting episode 10 and
everyone was working their part to ensure that the anime continued to succeed. Aoi, however,
pushed herself day in and out to keep everything on track from the pre-season hiccups. Her stress
eating followed her from pre-season too as not a day went by without her making a quick run to
get burgers. At least once every three days she asked President Masato for his famous fried
chicken. Even during dinner on her one night off, it was pizza and wings. I don't want to think of
Misato would react if she saw me like this.

Still, it was hard for her not to think about how fat she had become. Her black dress was one of
the few things that still fit considering the width of her body. Even then, it was hiked up to the
bottom sag of her gut; unable to drop down to her thick, knocked-in knees. It was nothing short
of a miracle on how Aoi could fit in her clothes every day, much less her chair as dollops of fat
pooled through the arms and back sides of it.

"I can...work it all off...after we finish."
"Ummm...Oi-chan?" A soft voice made her snap to attention, letting out a bellowing belch in
response. Ema didn't seem to mind as she let out a soft little chuckle. "Still a bit gassy I see. You
should cut back on all that soda."

"It helps me get through the day. Though, did you need something?"

"Zuka-chan wanted me to confirm that you're still on for Saturday. You did miss last month's get
together." Aoi let out a nervous chuckle, her thick chins bouncing around from each laugh. "I
know you had to go to that debut event for the anime but we all missed you."

"Don't worry! Now that we recovered from those stumbles, we're golden." Aoi struggled to stand
up in confidence, her jelly arms wobbling in futility as she made a vain attempt to get vertical.
"I'll stand up later. Point is, there's nothing stopping me from our girl's night out!"

The events of the week that followed would forever be known in the animation world as Hell's
Fury.

Monday started up normal until an emergency call was patched through from the local dub
company they had used. The actress they had hired for Episode 14's new rival had called sick
with strep throat. The recasting meeting went on forever as Aoi's heart rate wouldn't calm down
no matter how hard she tried. With the meeting pushing into its third hour, and more work piling
up on her desk, Aoi had the idea to call Shizuka to see if she could handle it. The dub company
didn't seem to mind and Seiichi seemed happy to work with Zuka again. Crisis averted but Aoi
had missed lunch as the sun set to the evening sky. A couple of Five Guys burgers should calm
my nerves.

Technically a half-day behind, Aoi vowed to get through her workload so that she could look
forward to a much needed day off that weekend. The paperwork was as easy as one could ask for
and she was about to get a start on Tuesday's assignments when the phone rang. This time
though, Video was in a frenzy over the music for Episode 17. The ADR company they used had
pushed a new software for capturing audio and was not synchronizing properly. With no way to
fix it, Aoi had to wait on hold and transferred several times with ADR before they patched it
through the network. All of this was handled and it wasn't even lunch time yet. Some donuts
would be nice right now.

The week was halfway over and the pile-up continued to hit Aoi. She hadn't gotten the chance to
put her purse down when the newbie producer came to her in a frenzied state. The key frame
animator for Episode 25 had caught the flu as would be bedridden for a week. Aoi wondered
why she didn't go through their standard animator back-ups. To her horror, the newbie had gone
through all possible contacts. No one was available for a whole week. I can't ask Misato...I'm
sure I can make it work. Aoi felt her eye twitch as she put finding a new key animator on her
increasingly growing "to-do" pile.

Aoi had a pleasant and peaceful Thursday morning. Coffee in hand, she was reviewing the
collected frames for Episode 18 before handing it over to Film and Editing. Taking another swig
of her coffee, Aoi nearly did a spit take; luckily avoiding the frames but staining her blouse. W-
W-what? D-Did I misread that part? He's cooking for her and not the event? Aoi felt her hand
shaking, nerves on fire as she failed to get the cup to her lips. C-Crap, why is this a love story
AND a cooking story at the same time... Filling her cup with an excess of sugar and cream, she
knew another meeting with Maitake would be needed.

Friday had come finally. Tomorrow was a well-needed day of rest and drinks with the girls. All
Aoi had to do was get through today with no hiccups. All of the wrinkles had been smoothed
over these past few days yet fate had one more little surprise for Musashino Animation. Around
10:00 a.m., the fire alarms went off as everyone evacuated. Apparently a small electrical fire was
in the kitchen as a fire team was on their way. Aoi resisted the urge to curl up in a ball then and
there since the Filming for Episode 20 was slated for today. They'd be working later than
planned as she huffed I wonder if McDonald's is still serving breakfast. I could go for one...or
five breakfast bagels.

---------------------------------

"GLUG...GLUG...GLUG...GLUG...AAAAHHHH! That hic hit the spot..." Aoi sighed, nearly
collapsing her weight onto the bar table. Three frothy, cold beers were just the thing to help ease
her stress levels back to 0. Her friends said nothing as she wiped down her frog-like chin as trails
of beer were cascading down into her cleavage. "Whoops...made a biiiit of a mess."

Shizuka chuckled as she helped clear the table some. "Never thought I'd see the day you knock
back three of these Oi-chan." Having been filled in by the others on the kind of week Aoi
experienced, she didn't mind the less than graceful behavior of her friend. They all wanted to
encourage her relaxation. Despite that, there was a glaring issue they had to address before they
got to donuts. "Listen Oi-chan, there was something I needed to talk with you about."

"It ishn't hic about dat hic voice rolllll...ish it?"

"Oh no no!" Shizuka blushed. "And thank you again arranging me to get it. Well...um..." Ema,
Misa, and Midori did their best to avoid eye contact with Shizuka. They had to say something
but no one was willing to come forward with the bad news. The drunken butterball thought
nothing of it as she elected to sample some of the steak fries the pub was promoting. A loud
'ahem' snapped her attention to Midori.

"Oi-chan-senpai...it goes without saying that you're doing an awesome job with Sister Chef. No
one could handle it any better than you." A goofy grin spread across Aoi's flushed face. "That
doesn't mean there isn't a big issue that we need to bring up." The color was slowly draining
from Aoi's cheeks, sobering rapidly. Midori cursed her choice of words before smoothing things
out with the unnerved producer. "Just...Aoi, have you looked at yourself lately?"

"Myshelf?" Rummaging through her purse, she found her compact mirror as she closely
examined her face. "Ish it da hic bags? I pwomiss hic to get plenty hic of schweep..."

"You can't be that oblivious. We're talking about this!" Misa chose to be as blunt as possible,