CH 8

"No way, really ......?"

||  "It's true. I didn't know such a coincidence existed."

I wonder if I can just put this away as a coincidence. But I can't think of any other way to put it. At any rate, I gulped and held my breath. It didn't matter if she could hear me or not.

"Um,...... Um, thank you for the license. ......"

||  "Fufufu. I already heard you."

"Well, yes, I did. Hahaha ......."

I'm used to making phone calls - I should be.

It seems like it's been a long time since I've been this flustered. What I misunderstood was that I was used to the phone calls themselves, but that it depended on the person I was talking to. I didn't understand the most important part.

When I cooled down and listened, I realized that her voice was indeed the one I knew so well. It was Momoka Aimi's voice that I had been dying to hear. Why, of all people, in this way?

||  "I'm glad to hear that you are well."

I could imagine her face smiling gently. The face of a calm woman on that day. It was already a month ago. I knew that, but I realized once again how quickly time moves.

"If you say so, I'm glad to see that Momo-chan is doing well too."

||  "Yes, I am. Thanks to you."

The sound of her voice was brighter than that day. Even if it wasn't quite as lively as before, I didn't even recognize Momo-chan after exchanging a few words. But her voice over the phone is nice, too.

The air conditioner is cooling down, but the heat on my body doesn't seem to be going away. The sweat has gone away, but it's still hot. It was not a pleasant experience.

"Um, ......, is this a private number?"

||  "Yes, it is. It's my private phone number."

"Is that okay?　From a position standpoint."

I ask a simple question.

Even though she is on a break, it is absolutely taboo for an active idol to reveal her phone number. In any way.

I don't think Momo-chan is the type of person who would really want to hear from you to thank her or anything like that. What would be the benefit of picking up the phone and leaving contact information?

||  "--It wouldn't be good if they find out."

"Then why?"

||  "Because I wanted to do this."

A gulp escaped my throat. It was the second time.

There is no man who would not be thrilled to hear Aimi Momoka say such a thing from her mouth, who was out of reach. It was as if she was telling me that she wanted to talk to me. No, I'm sure it's not like that. Maybe this girl is just feeling guilty that she got me into this.

"Because I got you into this?"

||  "--Yes. That's why I wanted to apologize again."

Sure enough. No, on the contrary, there is nothing else. I'm ashamed of myself for thinking such a strange thing. It was absolutely impossible.

"No, you don't have to go that far. It didn't affect me after all."

||  "......But still, it didn't make me feel better. I really was out of my mind."

Momo-chan said, her voice strained.

||  "I'm not an idol, and I don't deserve to get ordinary people, even my fans, involved just because I want to quit. I really hate myself."

That's right. I couldn't say that.

But it is true that I felt a little relieved. Because I understood that my actions themselves were out of line.

Looking at it this way, Aimi Momoka's personality is probably not suited for idols in the first place. If anything, she has a sensibility that is as close as possible to that of a normal person. The fact that I am able to talk to her in this way is proof of that.

"--But I like Momo-chan like that. I think she's the cutest girl in the Japanese entertainment industry."

||  "Cute is such a ...... thing to say."

I guess she's used to being told these words. I'm sure there were probably guys who came on to her. I'm not lying.

For an idol otaku, their own idol are always the cutest. I don't even want to admit any objections. There are boring wrestling battles going on on the message boards, but I don't even want to look at them because they are really boring.

"But really, you're quitting?"

||  "...... Yes. There's no place for me to go back to."

"That's ...... not true!"

Before I knew it, the fire in my body was gone. My back is resting on the sofa I bought secondhand, but my butt hurts. Maybe it's time for a change.

The summer sun is shining into the room as much as it can. It is so hot that it diminishes the effect of the air conditioner.

The hot smartphone touches my cheek. I felt as if my consciousness was telling me that it was not Momoka Aimi I was talking to. It was just my imagination.

"Have you heard the new song?"

||  "......that's..."

I stuttered. She was thinking the same thing I was.

--Momoka Aimi is not suited for that song. That's how I, as a fan, feel. I'm sure she feels it even more than I do. I think she feels something different.

||  "I don't think I would fit in with that techno-pop. That's why I thought it was a roundabout way of expressing myself."

"Expression?"

||  "It means that there is no more room for me in that group."

That's a line I heard in some drama.

That being said, I felt uncomfortable with her statement. For someone who says she wants to quit being an idol, she seems to be expressing a sense of victimhood.

Is that conscious?　...... No, it doesn't sound like that's the case from what I've heard about her wanting to quit so far. Or - does she really not want to quit?

||  "Haha...... this makes it sound like I'm not ready."

"No?" I was about to say, but swallowed. If I let this be a word, what can I say? I had a feeling there was no turning back now.

She wanted to quit, and it was up to the fans to accept that. You can't let her feelings become a one-way street. I have to treat her as a fan. I told her so and cleared my throat. As if to cut the conversation short.

"Anyway, I'm going to give my all to Momo-chan. I'll give it my all."

||  "Thank you for ....... You're very kind. Cheerleader."

"Of course I am."

I never thought I'd see the day when Momo-chan would tell me I'm being kind. Really, you never know what's going to happen in this world.

She doesn't know me, and I only know her on the surface. If she sees me living as Araki Goro, I'm sure she won't be able to say anything like that.

He is a pathetic old man who has no choice but to live in limbo because Momo-chan quit, without thinking. He's even trying to stay single.

"How is your rest period going?　Are you enjoying it?"

||  "...... Yes. I feel like I'm free of everything."

"Haha. That's great."

I wish I could take six months off from work too. It's not a bad idea to call it a Momoka Aimi Retirement Heartbreak Trip and stay at home all the time.

||  "I stopped by that convenience store early in the morning and happened to find it. I'm glad it was during a time when no one was around."

"I see. I'm really grateful."

Maybe she wanted to avoid being seen because she was on vacation. That may be so. Even idols are human beings once they step off the stage. Of course they want to keep their private life private. Thanks to you, she didn't lose it.

||  "Um, Araki-san?"

"Yes, yes."

Momo-chan called my name. It was so unexpected that my heart skipped a beat. My heart was beating so fast that it hurt.

Thinking about it, it was a series of miracles. I was the one who was suspected to be in love with the girl I was idolizing, I had a chance encounter with her, and she was the one who picked up my license. It's too good to be true.

There is no way I could have set all this up. This mysterious daily life started from her own arbitrary decision.

||  "Aimi Momoka is my stage name.

"Yes, yes. I know."

Momoka is a very rare surname. Aimi seems to be common, but I thought it must be her stage name, and she herself had openly stated it.

||  "It's unfair, isn't it, now that I know Araki-san's name?"

"Heh?"

||  "I'll tell you my real name, too--"

That was abrupt. Why would she go to such lengths with me? Not to say that she was obsessed with me, but what would be the point of telling me?

I thought so, but my throat remained closed.

"My name is Miina Yamamoto."

It's a very pretty name, no doubt.

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