Volume 6 - CH 26

Fake Idol’s not Accepted

[[Hey, good afternoon. StarChild.]]

“Hello, Tatsuyuki-san.”

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When I answered the call on my smartphone, it was Touno Tatsuyuki-san, the younger brother of Miko-san, the person who scouted me.

I am StarChild, an idol who has garnered a lot of attention from the public recently.

Before I realized, the mature appearance of StarChild which is unsuited to my real age has become the target of admiration of many people.

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[[I talked with Hideyori today you see. I arrange for you to meet him this Sunday. He sure looked happy to be able to meet you too.]]

“T, Thank you very much! Tatsuyuki-san!”

[[So, I think that maybe this is the time for you to tell him about yourself right?”

“Eh? What do you mean……..?”

[[About the fake idol.]]

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In reality, I am not someone worth admiring.

After all, I……..

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[[I’m talking about your Gift, of course.]]

“B, But……”

[[It will be fine. Hideyori is not someone that would start sneering at StarChild-,……..you for something like that.]]

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Tatsuyuki-san said with confidence.

[[Besides, I will be there with you!]] He reassured me.

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[[Come on, just let him see you for who you are. You don’t want him to only see you as StarChild but your real self too right?]]

“Th, That’s true but…….”

[[Then you should be honest here. The name and appearance of StarChild are not truly you after all.]]

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Tatsuyuki-san’s words stabbed into my heart.

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[[Hosokawa Seiko-chan. That’s your real name. ………..you need to let Hideyori know that you are his one and only sister.]]

“……..I understand.”

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I’m still nervous to see him but if Tatsuyuki-san is willing to push me this far then I think I will trust his words.

After finishing my call with Tatsuyuki-san, I was in deep thought.

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Onii-chan, you must be a wonderful person right?

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Will Onii-chan be happy to see me I wonder?

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Will he tell me that I’m cute?

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When I met him as StarChild, it felt like a dream come true.

Sasaki-san and Juumonji-san were so close to you that I want to be included in your circle too.

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Will he accept me as Hosokawa Seiko……….?

When I try imagining him rejecting me it feels so scary like the world is turning upside down…….

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“Onii-chan….., I……, I’ve been looking for you……all this time………”

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—I want to see my brother.

I shut my eyes and prayed.

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The dream I had that day was a record of a girl’s long and distant memories.

A very sad and unrewarded life filled with misfortunes.

A prologue of the tale of a broken girl that only leads to the [Chain of Sadness].

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My name is Hosokawa Seiko.

My family only consists of my grandmother and mother.

It’s a family of three.

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But even though I call her mother, she’s not my birth parent.

It would be more accurate to call her my aunt and it seems that my real mother has already passed away.

Still, I’d never seen her face so for me, my aunt was my mother.

I don’t have a father either.

Mom is a single mother and I was practically raised by my grandmother.

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“I want to be on TV! I want to be an Idol!”

“Do you now? If Seiko tries your best then I’m sure you can become an idol who can sing and dance like that too.”

“Really!?”

“If you do your best then anything is possible.”

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From the TV screen.

My childhood dream was born.

When I was little, Mom and Grandma used to smile at me as they cheered me on.

And I kept up practicing dancing and singing.

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But when I reached my third year in elementary school, Mom started to be dismissive of my dream.

[Seiko-chan, your mother only wants you to see the reality] Grandma said.

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“What reality…….?”

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I was watching a singing program on TV.

I mean, even if it’s a show on TV, it’s still something that came out of someone’s real ability.

I know that they are not like the anime characters.

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These are idols and singers.

I’m looking at real people right now.

That’s why I couldn’t understand what she said.

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“I’m going to become an idol, a cute girl!”

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I often asked my friend, Yume-chan, [How do I become an Idol?]

She probably heard this question from me more than a hundred times already.

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“But, I think it will be impossible for you, Seiko-chan.”

“Eh……? W, Why…….?”

“I mean, your eyes are scary.”

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My eyes are scary, that’s what she pointed out to me.

[[People with scary eyes can’t become an idol you know]] Such an obvious thing has been right in front of me.

I stand in front of a mirror. My eyes are slightly slanted inward and they look intimidating.

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“Because my face is like this, I can’t become an idol?”

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But, there are a lot of people who are not cute and some who you can call ugly who still became idols.

Even if my eyes are a little scary I should be fine right?

I thought.

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“They’re irritating and lame! An ugly idol would just be miserable, that’s what my dad said.”

“……….”

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Ahh…..

My face is not cute.

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My eyes are scary.

I wonder why I was born with such scary eyes……?

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“Ohh, you’re so cute Yume!”

“Thank you! Onii-chan!”

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My friend gets along well with her brother.

Yume-chan has an older brother that always calls her cute.

I’m jealous.

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Yume-chan is actually cute and she has her father, mother, and brother who always praise her so.

She really has everything.

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I on the other hand…….

Neither mom nor grandma has ever called me [Cute]……

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[Seiko-chan, your mother only wants you to see the reality]

What grandma said back then……

She was saying that it’s impossible with my face.

They both know that I can’t become an idol looking like this…….

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The boys in my class always say that Yume-chan is [Cute] and that they [Love] her.

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But they had never said something like that to me.

I can only remember them saying that I’m [Ordinary] and [Plain] behind my back.

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“………I see. So it’s impossible huh.”

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No one will think that I’m cute.

It’s what it is.

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…….if I have a nice older brother like Yume-chan’s will he call me cute?

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Just one person.

Anyone is fine.

I want someone to praise me.

That would be enough to make my heart race.

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I started to hate myself in the mirror.

But what I truly hate is my face that’s being reflected there.

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If I was a man, I might be called cool or wild.

But as a woman, there’s nothing good about this kind of face at all.

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I hate looking like this……

I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.

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“Grandma, why do my eyes look so scary?”

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When I came home, mom was away at work.

That’s why I always talk to my grandmother about my face.

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“……it’s genetic. Seiko looks like your father after all.”

“My father……?

“Yes. Your real father. The husband of your mom’s little sister, your real mother. It’s a shame, if you looked like my daughter instead then you might have been able to become an idol.”

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Genetic?

My real father?

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“Seiko, it can’t be helped.”

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What can’t be helped?

Do I have no choice but to give up my dream……?

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“Genetic? I looked like this because of some genes…….? no………I hate it……..I want to become an idol……., I want to sing……. I want to be noticed……..”

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I weep in front of the mirror.

My real father and mother have never done anything for me but why do they get to ruin my dream with their stupid genes!?

A face like this……

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[[Let me hear your wish. I shall bestow upon you a power of god. Name your Gift.]]

I felt a voice reverberate in my brain.