Volume 3 - CH 6

Now that things got complicated. I don’t know why, but Saki, who’s awfully obsessed with getting back together with me, ran into Hikari, who was dressed in a maid’s outfit at a man’s house at night. I don’t mind being misunderstood, but Hikari is now an aspiring idol. If she had known that, …… no, even I wouldn’t have recognized her right away. There was no way that Saki, who wouldn’t have known her, could’ve recognized it was Hikari.

“Ah, I know you. Echizen Hikari, right? Is it fine? An idol in a guy’s house.”

Damn, I guess it was no good…… It can’t be helped if it comes to this. My priorities are clear. Even if I go out with Saki, I have to ask her to keep this a secret or else Hikari’s future will be ……!

“Too bad. I’ve already quit being an idol.”

“Huh !?”

Quit being……an idol……? No, wait……it’s supposed to be 10 years from now on, right?,……If that’s the case…….

“……You, come here for a minute.”

I pull Hikari’s hand and head to the hallway. Saki shouldn’t be able to hear our conversation here.

“What do you mean you quit being an idol?”

“To be precise, it means that I canceled my entry into the training school.”

“……That’s. Is it like a condition to return to the past……? Like you can’t be with me if you’re an idol…….”

“It’s got nothing to do with you, senpai. I quit because I didn’t want to do it.”

“How can that be !?”

I know how serious Hikari was about her idol careers. I know how much effort she put into it. When we went out to karaoke, she would sing without caring about the atmosphere around her, and even though she loved to drink, she wouldn’t drink outside the house to protect her image. She kept her distance from me and Paa san when she was around us, and she also restricted herself from hanging out with Midori, who was really a good friend but had a bad reputation. In her spare time, she studied other idols and learned illustration from Paa san in order to create her own special skill. There was no way Hikari would ever say that she wanted to quit being an idol. That should be the case.

“…..I’m going to ask you the other way around. Did you know that I was going to be an Idol before I got accepted to the training school?”

“……No, I don’t think so.”

“That’s about it, for me. I’m embarrassed to tell people about it,, but I’ll be happy if it comes true. That’s the extent of my dream.”

“But…… that’s what dreams are for. If you tell someone about it, it won’t come true……or that’s how serious you were about it,…..!”

“It’d be rude to Paa san, if I say I was serious with this standard. It’s really fine. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I went back in time for taht reason. I can’t do a job that has a expiration date of 10 years or so.”

“But with that 10 years of experience….you can go much further up the ladder. You can get on TV and become an idol known by everyone……”

“The world of idols is not so sweet that you can get by with just going back to the past. I mean, it’ll be ten years from now. I’m not that young enough to try again. I want to have a normal love life, go to college, and have fun with everyone without worrying about what others think of me. That was my dream when I was an idol. I wanted to make that dream come true. I wanted to be a normal girl.”

“…………”

If Hikari has made her decision, I have no right to interfere. She’s free to choose it. ….But still.

“As a fan. I think you can go higher.”

“……Thank you very much. I’ll sign it for you later.”

After confirming Hikari’s situation, I returned to Saki. To Saki, who’s sitting on the sofa and stretching her legs.

“Sorry for making you wait, but you should hurry up and go. I have nothing more to say to you.”

“Don’t say that. I’m sure me and Kouki kun are going to get along fine.  Or are you dating Echizen san?”

“Yeah, that’s right.  I’m in love with him.”

“Come here for a minute !”

The situation has changed again. Hikari is free to fall in love with anyone, but it’s a bad idea for her to go out with me in these circumstances. If the guys at school find out about this, she won’t be able to fall in love freely again. I tried to take Hikari out into the hallway to tell her this, but she stopped halfway. Then she looked up at me with a blushing face.

“……If it’s with you, senpai, it’s okay.”

……That’s. What does it mean? Before I could think about it, I heard the sound of Saki standing up vigorously behind me.

“Well, whatever. I’m not going to give up. To get my happiness.”

Saki put on her jacket and strode to the entrance. Hikari called out to her back.

“I know this too, Aioi Saki senpai. Kouki senpai has become famous and people know about it, right? Senpai cheated and dumped that hero. That has affected your parents’ business to the extent that they may go bankrupt …..in 10 years.”

“…………”

Saki didn’t looked back and didn’t answered. I finally figured out why she asked me to get back together with her. And there was one more thing that became clear.

“You don’t like me, do you?”

“……That kind of thing.”

“Well, I don’t care. I don’t care if you like me or not. I knew you were capable of dating someone you didn’t like.”

“…………”

Saki’s are the kind of people who know about her affair with Daiki and let it pass. I will not feel sorry for them and what I should do will not change.

“Don’t think this is over. I haven’t beaten you yet. I’m going to beat you by sheer force, not by accident.”

I watched her small figure fade away and closed the door.