RUSH Project

"This place is massive..."

At the present time, a young male no older than seventeen could be seen walking through the halls of a massive building, one of many that is. From the looks of things, the building he was in was one of many that made up a complex series of other buildings as well.

The male had somewhat pale skin and smooth straight raven-black hair with dark-blue highlights, which went well with his ocean-blue eyes. As for clothing, the best word to describe it was simply casual, nothing too special.

More specifically, he had on a simple white t-shirt underneath an unzipped black and blue hooded jacket. As for what was covering his bottom half, just a simple pair of long black sleek pants and a pair of white running shoes.

This male's name was Tendou, Kakeru Tendou.

As for the place he was currently walking through, it was a place called 346 Productions, a rather well-known talent agency that has produced numerous talented individuals in multiple fields of entertainment, let it be idols or even the movie industry.

And you may be wondering, how did he get here and why?

To put it simply, the agency had reached out to him. He's what you'd call a freelancer, more specifically, he was someone who made music both for fun as well as a side job of sorts. He honestly wasn't sure how many commissions he had completed over the past year.

In any case, that wasn't important right now. The agency had reached out to him most likely after hearing his work, having contacted him through his business contacts where his commissions would usually be sent to.

The message they sent him wasn't too detailed, but it had requested a meeting with him in person here at their company. He wasn't certain as to what they wanted to talk to him about, but since today was a weekend, he might as well hear what they wanted from him.

As Tendou walked through the building, he had a small blue pamphlet of sorts in his hand that he kept glancing down at. The pamphlet was something given to him at the receptionist's desk, along with a guest pass card that he had hanging around his neck right now.

On the pamphlet was a small map showing him where he was supposed to go, and he had to admit, he wasn't a big fan of how small it was. The building being this big was bad enough, but a really small map to go with it? Hell right here.

Just as Tendou turned the corner, he widened his eyes when he saw someone else also appear from around the other side. Reacting quickly, Tendou kicked against the ground as he bounced back, narrowly avoiding a potentially painful collision.

"O-Oh, sorry!"

"Don't worry, I'm also sorry."

Looking up, Tendou saw that the person he almost collided with was a girl his age, followed by another girl right behind her. The person that apologized had long brown hair along with a pair of matching eyes, and the girl behind her had green eyes and a much darker shade of brown hair, pretty much borderline black, that was neatly straightened.

Obviously, none of them had any reason to have a proper conversation so they quickly said their apologies before bowing and going in their own separate directions. Tendou did notice how the girl he almost hit also held a pamphlet as he did, so perhaps they were also called here for some reason.

Whatever the case, it wasn't his business.

"This is the place." Tendou muttered as he now stood in front of a door with a plaque that spelled out 'RUSH Project'. After looking at the pamphlet to make sure, Tendou nodded to himself. "RUSH Project? What does that mean?"

Although a bit confused, Tendou decided to enter the room. Upon entering, he looked around to see that it pretty much looked like a big modern living room with all kinds of expensive furniture and more.

However, what caught his eye instantly were the two other people who were present here in the room. After he entered, the eyes of both individuals turned to face him simultaneously. One was a male around probably twenty or so, and the other was a boy who couldn't be older than twelve.

Starting with the former, Tendou could see he was rather lean but muscular, which could be seen under his thin clothes. The male had smooth spiky red and white hair that was brushed to the right, along with a pair of dull-pink sharp eyes.

As for clothing, he had on a simple dark-grey long-sleeved shirt, a pair of black long formal pants, and a pair of black leather shoes. Overall, the male looked to be very well-groomed and carried a very mature demeanor.

The latter, as stated before, was a boy around twelve years old. With a simple lean physique and fair skin, along with vibrant neat green hair and a pair of captivating yellow eyes that seemed to glow with a brilliant luster.

In regard to clothing, it consisted simply of a white t-shirt, a pair of blue shorts, and white running shoes similar to his own. Overall, the boy was even more simply dressed compared to Tendou, and that was saying something.

"Oh, another person! Hello!" The boy greeted Tendou with a big smile on his face, to which Tendou couldn't help but let a smile also appear on his face. "That makes three of us now! I wonder if there are any other people coming?"

"Not sure, perhaps there are." The other male gave a small smile before standing up, quickly followed by the boy who did the same. Turning to face Tendou, the male gave a polite bow. "A pleasure to meet you, my name is Haruka Akashi."

"And I'm Fudomine Kento!" The boy quickly introduced himself after the older male did, to which the boy then ran up to Tendou before extending a hand up to him. "It's nice to meet you, mister! What's your name?"

"Hehe, I'm Kakeru Tendou. It's a pleasure to meet the both of you." Tendou politely introduced himself before accepting Kento's gesture for a handshake. "If you don't mind me asking, were you two also called here for an interview?"

"Indeed." Akashi nodded before crossing his arms. "I don't recall anything specific in the email though, everything about this interview seemed to be left rather in the dark. It's honestly a bit concerning."

"Hmm, I see..." Tendou nodded in thanks as he held his chin in thought. "Whatever it is, at least it's from a legitimate agency. That should reassure us that it's nothing bad, though that can change depending on what we've been brought here to discuss."

"It's probably about that RUSH Project thing." Kento seemed to suggest as he hopped back onto the couch, resting on his knees as his body faced towards the back of the couch with his arms resting on the couch's top. "That's what the words on the door said, right?"

"I guess that'd make sense." Tendou shrugged after hearing Kento's words. After all, this room was given that label, and they were asked to meet in this room specifically. "We'll know for sure when the meeting starts."

"That'll be in... ten minutes." Akashi added after rolling up his sleeve to look at the watch underneath. "Why don't we get to know each other a bit more before our interviewer or whoever will be speaking with us shows up?"

"No problems here."

"Oh, me first!" Kento grinned as he raised his hand, to which Akashi gave a simple nod. After they all sat down properly on the couches, Kento coughed into a closed fist. "I'll introduce myself again. I am Fudomine Kento, twelve years old! I love dancing and my dream is to become a professional dancer!"

"Mm, nice. I guess we'll follow that format." Akashi smiled before nodding. "Haruka Akashi, twenty years old. While I don't think I have any grand dream of sorts, I have done theatre work in the past, even played a few small roles in movies."

"Eh~! That's cool!"

"I agree." Tendou nodded in agreement with Kento's words. Even if the roles Akashi played were small, being able to be in a movie, let alone more than one, was still really cool. "It's my turn then. Kakeru Tendou, sixteen years old. I'm currently a freelance music artist, I just publish songs online and also do commission work."

"That's impressive for someone your age." Akashi nodded with an impressed look on his face. "What kind of music do you make?"

"All kinds really. Rock, pop, electronic, all different kinds of genres." Tendou replied simply, though he then reached into his pocket before taking out his phone. "Here, this is my channel. Started around a year ago now."

"Let's see here..." Akashi muttered as both he and Kento leaned in to look at the screen. After looking for a moment, Akashi's eyes seemed to widen a bit. "Oh, you have more than three million followers. That's incredible for only a year."

"Eh?! This is you?!" Kento seemed to react the most as he looked up at Tendou with a face full of excitement. "I listen to your songs all the time! In fact, I pretty much always only use your songs whenever I practice my dancing! They're incredible!"

"Thanks a lot."

"I see that you're all getting along well, that's very great to see." Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded as they turned to see an older male walking in through the front door. "I apologize if I kept you all waiting."

The male looked to be in his mid-thirties or so, wearing a fancy black suit while holding a folder under his right arm. The man had black hair that was slicked back, along with a thick strand still in front of his forehead.

"Not at all, it's still not the stated time yet either." Tendou took the initiative to respond as all three of them stood up before walking over. Each of them gave the man a polite bow. "I'd like to ask what it is we were brought here for."

"I'll get to that soon, but allow me to introduce myself." The man cleared his throat before continuing. "My name is Inui Koga, a representative, and scout here at 346 Productions. Presently, I am the producer for the RUSH Project. A pleasure to meet you all. You can already guess that I'm well aware of who the three of you are, so introductions won't be necessary."

"Mm, then how will this meeting go?"

"I'd like everyone to take a seat, we'll start the discussion immediately."

Hearing this, the three males nodded before sitting back down on the couch. Koga pulled a chair over for himself before taking a seat in front of the three, to which he then quickly began talking without delay.

"We have called you three here to 346 Productions to offer an opportunity." Koga spoke, immediately gaining their curiosity as they gave each other glances. "As you know, we're a talent agency that mainly focuses on producing idols as well as movies. As for why we've called you three, we'd like you to become idols of this company."

None of them responded immediately, instead looking at each other in surprise as they processed what they just heard. Although they knew the nature of what this company does, they hadn't expected an outright invitation to become units.

Then again, Koga did say that he was a scout for 346 Productions, so perhaps they could've figured it out if they connected the dots. In any case, it was still pretty surprising having such an offer given to them just like that.

"Each of you possesses your own unique qualities, both in talents as well as character." Koga continued before they could say anything. "Kento, you are a shining and energetic spirit. Tendou is a calm, cool, and collected youth. As for Akashi, a mature and reliable pillar of strength. It's the three of you that we want to truly create the RUSH Project."

His descriptions did seem to match their characters, Kento was obviously quite bubbly and bright while the other two also did appear to represent the qualities just described about them.

"Before we make any decisions, what exactly is this RUSH Project?" Akashi spoke up as the other two gave Koga curious looks, they too shared the same question in their minds. "I assume it's an idol unit of sorts?"

"That's correct. The RUSH Project is one of two projects that 346 Productions is currently putting into action, the other being the Cinderella Project. One male and one female idol unit projects. Rising, Unity, Star, and Hope. Those are the words that were abbreviated, thus the name RUSH Project."

"Woah, that sounds really cool..." Kento muttered with stars seemingly forming in his eyes. While he was visibly excited, Tendou and Akashi had thoughtful expressions on their faces. "I'm all for it! Sign me up!"

"Wonderful. What about you two?" Koga looked relieved when he received Kento's answer. He then turned to look at both Tendou and Akashi, said males glancing at each other after being addressed. "I know it's a hard decision, but please do consider accepting."

"I personally don't have any issues." Tendou spoke up after a bit of silence. "But, will it affect our usual schedules at all? I mean, I can definitely make some room, but if it completely throws off my usual schedule then I may not be able to."

"Don't worry at all about that!" Koga seemed to assure Tendou. "You're still going through high school, and our schedules are made to ensure you can still comfortably do so. You'll also have plenty of time to do your own personal things."

"If that's the case, then I accept."

"I'll accept it too then." Akashi also gave his agreement after Tendou. "I'm not that busy at all recently, so I'm more than fine with it."

"Fantastic!" Koga seemed quite happy with this as he gave a firm nod of his head. "I was honestly worried we'd have to try and find others. However, since you three already agreed, that won't be necessary. You don't know just how much trouble you've saved me..."

The three could only sweatdrop when they saw Koga giving a deep sigh of relief. They didn't know how difficult a scout's job here at 346 Productions is, but it must be pretty difficult. Especially if you're also a producer for an upcoming idol unit project.

Koga then stood up, the other three doing the same before Koga gave them each a deep bow.

"I look forward to working with you three!"

Hearing this, they all replied simultaneously. "We'll be in your care."