love comedy - ( to every good kid, chapter 7 )

[mandytl]

Location: StarFes Stage (First Half)

 

Hajime: Uhm.... when I say "that person", I'm talking about an idol who's been pretty involved with Ra*bits lately.

 

I-I won't be specific with names since I don't want to sound like I'm defaming him.

 

But he belongs to a fairly old agency and sells himself as a "pretty girl" idol. 

 

Tomoya: You basically just said his name out-loud.

 

Mitsuru: Uh, who? An old agency.... ?

 

Nazuna: Those sort of agencies have been around for a long time. They just don't have much presence thanks to the emerging force of companies like Cospro and Yumenosaki having grabbed up the market share. 

 

They used to be major for a while, though. Their name was always the first to come up whenever idol agencies were the topic. 

 

You guys need to start studying your surroundings a bit if you're going to be idols.

 

Tomoya: I agree, but it's not all that relevant right now. Like, when it comes to the person in question... nearly everything about him's been remodeled and presented as "pretty girl", right? 

 

We ended up hanging out a little during the Halloween Party since we're both "cute boy idols". 

 

I always thought he was an upright, respectable person even if I couldn't imitate his work.

 

What'd he do?

 

Hajime: Right. Uhm... he didn't do anything wrong, but it seems he took a liking to me.

 

I don't think he meant any harm by it.

 

He'd text me and call me his successor. We would contact each other often in private and exchange back and forth. 

 

Tomoya: For real.... ? Now that you mention it, he started talking to you when we did that job together.

 

Communicating personal information like that can lead to a lot of trouble later. You need to run stuff like that through your producer.

 

Hajime: Yes... but it was pretty trivial at first. Small things like, "I found a cute kitten walking up the road". 

 

And like I said earlier... I fall pretty quickly for anyone who looks my way. 

 

I guess it's pretty bad that I tend to let my guard up easily, just accepting everything around me. 

 

So when you say I was being careless, I suppose it started around then. I ran into him on my way somewhere and he invited me out for tea. 

 

Not only was he an upperclassman, he was fairly popular and an accomplished idol, so...  

 

I felt like I couldn't refuse and that just going out for tea would be fine, so I followed along casually.

 

Tomoya: Ehh?! I understand being unable to say no, but that's beyond careless! D-Did he end up doing something horrible to you, Hajime?!

 

Hajime: Uhm, no. He didn't. After the two of us had tea I followed the flow of the conversation and we went shopping.

 

He ended up buying me a lot of Western-styled clothing and accessories. 

 

To him it must've seemed like he was showering his adorable underclassman with gifts, but...

 

Everything he bought me was for a lady.

 

By the time I realized that, I was already... it already looked like I was cross-dressing.

 

He coordinated all of it together with a wig and told me while I was trying it on to stay like that and that it'd be fine; that I could just go home and change later -- 

 

I wanted to tell him there wasn't any reason to buy these things for me, that I would pay him back... but in the middle of everything he had some urgent work to attend to.

 

Before I could say anything his manager pulled him into a car and drove off.

 

It really seemed like he was in a hurry. He left me there with only the clothes I was wearing. 

 

Ah, but he gave me a call right after to apologize... so I don't think he meant anything bad by it or wanted me to be miserable.

 

Left so fearfully alone in women's clothing, I was at a complete loss...

 

I was in a panic and had no idea where I was. The thought of being seen in that clothing was so embarrassing that I was about to cry...

 

But Hakaze-senpai called out to me while I was crouched over and close to tears.

 

At first it really seemed like his goal was to his on me, but I realized very quickly...

 

That he was just super worried about me. He even took me home.

 

We passed by some pretty shady shops lined up on the way there... and that must've been when the unfortunate photo was taken for that scandal article.

 

The person who took the photo might've been a pro in the field.

 

I didn't notice them at all. The article shocked me when I had a look. 

 

Nazuna: That was... pretty unlucky to say the least.

 

The thing we should be grateful for here is that Kaoru-chin happened to pass by. What were you going to do if you didn't meet up with anyone you knew, Hajime-chin? 

 

Tomoya: Yeah, yeah. You better watch it, Hajime. You really worry me... 

 

You should've had your smart phone with you. Why didn't you call me or look up where you were on a map?

 

Hajime: Uuu. I was in such a panic at the time...

 

I can't stand wearing girl's clothing so I was busy fretting over whether I had normal clothes to change into in my bag or not. 'Everything'll be okay if I can just change'.

 

I would've thought of something if I could've kept my cool. I knew everything I was fretting over was no big deal.

 

I ended up changing sometime after the photo was taken and Hakaze-senpai said it was okay, actually. 

 

Mitsuru: Nnnhh.... there's somethin' I don't get right now. It must feel pretty good to clear everything up, but so what? What's this gotta do with what's happening right now?

 

The first half of StarFes is gonna start without us. Leave the unrelated stuff for later. We've gotta get ready.

 

Don't you hafta go and dash your way on over to Valkyrie, Nii-chan? 

 

... I'm happy that Hajime-chin talked a lot about himself to us, of course.

 

But having to force yourself to talk about all the stuff you didn't wanna say just made me feel bad for you. 

 

Hajime: Fufu. It's fine. It's just my embarrassing sob story, anyhow. I'm sorry for dragging things out when it has little to do with our situation... it isn't the important point I wanted to bring up.

 

It really felt like that "pretty girl" idol was trying to buy me out...

 

He knew I was going to have a hard time when he left me behind and even wanted to apologize for it.

 

He said I'd receive really good benefits if I went to the agency he's affiliated with.

 

Tomoya: His agency?  Eh? That's pretty serious! Why'd you keep quiet about that, Hajime? 

 

Hajime: Because I flat-out refused, and I thought talking to everyone about this might upset you... that's pretty callous of me, isn't it? I'm sorry.

 

Tomoya: Eh, you refused the offer? Then this isn't much of a sob story at all, is it?

 

Hajime: I did. My unbelievable situation had good results...

 

That "pretty girl idol" must have realized the limitations of doing things alone and so that's why he invited me to be his partner. 

 

An experienced, accomplished idol of many years welcomed me on equal terms.

 

I'd be able to completely save my family's expenses after a little while of ordinary work.

 

Tomoya: Ehh? Why'd you bother saying no, then?

 

Aren't you always trying to earn a ton for your little sibling's sake? Wouldn't your dreams have come true if you'd just accepted his proposal?

 

Hajime: ... would it make you happy if I'd joined that agency, Tomoya-kun?

 

Tomoya: No, uh... 

 

While it's true the students of Yumenosaki are treated as being "independent" from the various agencies out there, actually joining an agency like usual shouldn't pose a real problem.

 

Our unit activities wouldn't really affect much, so... 

 

I think I'd be having some serious mixed feelings if all I had to do to secure a rose-colored future was to put my name down with an agency.