CH 24

An otaku can see through their favorite idol

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by Spynine01

“Fuaaaah~”

I was on my way to school as I yawned loudly, rubbing my drowsy eyes in an attempt to keep them awake.

I unintentionally stayed up really late last night.

You see, the exhilaration I felt from shaking hands with Shiori came back to me in the middle of the night, so I listened to all of Synchronicity’s songs once more and reread the blog posts and Twitter feeds of all three members.

All three of them really are good girls.

They’re all trying their best; singing and dancing somewhat clumsily yet always with a smile on their faces in order to cheer up their fans.

Please keep working as hard as you can from now on… If they make it to Budokan one day, then I’d be able to die a happy man.

That being said though, I guess I have been to Budokan before they have… That’s probably a despicable thing to do as a fan.

Well, anyways, the point is that I’m now sleep deprived because of all the otaku-related stuff I did yesterday.

I don’t have any friends who’d want to talk to me, so I can sleep at my desk to my heart’s content.

I guess I’ve proven the usefulness of being a loner once more, huh. I really want to taste defeat once in a while though.

Shedding tears deep in my heart, I sat down on my desk.

By the way, Akane hated me so much yesterday that she wouldn’t look at me at all.

Perhaps she’d run too much yesterday since I noticed that her face was really red.

“―Hey everyone~! Gooood morning~!”

Right after I took my seat, Asamiya-san entered the classroom and smiled at the whole class.

Everyone replied to the idol who had just made her appearance.

“―Morning, Asamiya-san! You’re even more energetic than usual today, aren’t ya!”

“Ehehe, yup~! I made my debut on TV just the other day, and everything’s been going really smoothly!”

“Mm-hmm, you’re always so cheerful and upbeat, it cheers the rest of us up too, Asamiya-san!”

“That’s glad to hear! Mainly ‘cause all I have to offer is my energy and smile!”

There wasn’t any news about Shion today, so the whole class was able to properly greet Asamiya back.

In case you were wondering, this morning I was ranked number one in the daily music hit rankings, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary.

I can hear people in the classroom muttering, “He always gets the top spot, huh…” and “He just can’t achieve anything lower than first place.”

Anyways, now Asamiya-san’s recent debut on TV can be celebrated by everyone, albeit a day belated.

With these thoughts in mind, I pretended to read a reference book as I stole a look at Asamiya-san’s angelic smile.

Even I think that I’m being really creepy right now.

I’m really sorry for being alive…

My feelings of self-loathing were being mitigated by Asamiya-san’s smile as I regained some of my willpower to live. And so, I now… still feel like dying, after all.

Well, when I get home, I’ll have the rest of my meager will to live swept away when I hear my sister’s curt “Welcome home…” when she comes to greet me.

But, hmm… Huh?

Asamiya-san seems a bit off somehow…

I stared intently at Asamiya-san from the side as she was smiling and greeting everyone.

(…I knew it)

There was something bugging me about Asamiya-san, so I took my phone out and started up the Line app.

Then, I sent a message to Rinka.

“Can we meet up at a secluded area during lunch break?”

And, sent―2 seconds later, a “read” indicator was displayed.

As expected of a person from the top caste. She must be constantly monitoring her Line and Instagram.

“I’ll head over as soon as lunch break starts!”

Looks like she can meet up with me today, and what’s more, she can come as soon as the lunch break begins.

I wonder if it’ll be okay?

I was under the assumption that it was fairly important for girls to decide which group or clique they’d be having their lunches with.

“I’ll be waiting at the back of the school building, so feel free to come by whenever you’d like.”

After sending her this message, I patiently awaited our lunch break.

Well, I guess one day shouldn’t hurt her.

She could manage with an excuse like, “I’m not feeling too well, so I’m heading to the infirmary,” or something.

I don’t think she’s capable of lying though…

I tried to be witty and send something like, “See you in the infirmary?” but my sixth sense desperately warned me against doing so for some reason, so I gave up on my idea.

◇◇◇

―It was now lunch break.

I brought my bento and headed to the back of the school building.

There would probably be no one there, so it would be safe even if someone from the top of the school caste, like Rinka, talked to someone from the bottom of the school caste, like me.

When I arrived at the back of the school building, Rimka was already there with her lunch package, looking somewhat red-faced and anxious.

Wow, she’s early. Really early.

Did she run on her way here?

Then, when she noticed me, she smiled happily.

The smile on her face made my heart race a bit.

“Ahaha, Ritsuki. Your necktie is all crooked. Stay still, okay? I’ll fix it for you.”

“Oh? Really…? I-It’s fine, I’ll do it myself.”

“It’s fine! Just leave it to me!”

Rinka walked right up to me and put her hand on my tie.

I tried to conceal my embarrassment as I let Rinka fix my tie.

H-Her body… is so close―We’re so close to each other!

I distracted myself by thinking such trivial thoughts.

She looked at me and smiled, probably because she found my crooked necktie hilarious.

Seeing her show me such a beautiful expression almost made me misunderstand her intentions.

―Hold on. I can actually feel Rinka’s breath really close to my neck. I can also hear her huffing and puffing, making sounds like, “Haah… Haah.”

It’s probably because she actually did run all the way here, huh.

Rimka re-knotted my tie and gave it a final light tug around my neck.

“Alright, that should do it―”

As Rinka began to mutter, someone suddenly came running towards us.

That someone―a girl, then suddenly prostrated herself before us.

“―I’m so very sorry! I beg you, please find it in your heart to let it go!”

She repeated her mysterious apology over and over, not caring that her uniform and her long bangs would get dirty on the ground.

Surprised, Rinka suddenly grabbed the tie around my neck.

“Ritsuki… So you really do like having girls prostrate themselves before you… Y-You’re a sadist, aren’t you…?”

Rinka’s eyes had a glint in them, as if she were expecting something from me.

You know, I’m pretty sure she’s apologizing to you instead of me, based on where she’s facing.

Also, I know this girl.

To ask her why she was doing all this, I called out to the girl, an employee from the bookstore I regularly visit.

“Hasumi… What on earth are you―”

“I-If it’s money you want, I can give you my money! If you just want a gofer or henchman, then I’ll do it! S-So, please, I beg you, let Suda-kun off!”

“―Huh?”

Rinka and I looked at each other, both trying to assess the current situation objectively.

Rinka, who is at the top of the school’s caste, is grabbing me, who is at the bottom of the school case, by my neck.

This… totally looked like a case of bullying

Rather, this was something that I’d missed.

The fact that no one comes here means that loners like Hasumi, who had a hard time staying in the classroom, would come out here instead.

I’d always hardened my resolve as I ate all by myself in the classroom, but Hasumi would always eat in places like this…

“D-Do you want my lewds?! So that I won’t be able to tattle on you?! If I send you my lewds, will you let go of Suda-kun?!”

Hasumi looked really panicked and her eyes were swimming about as she said some ridiculous things to us. I had to calm her down.

Also, why does she seem to be really knowledgeable about how bullies operate?

“―Calm down, Hasumi. This is definitely not what you’re thinking.”

“Y-Your lewds?! I want those…!”

“Wait, Rinka-san?! Keep your lust under control!”

I was the only one who was still thinking rationally there.

◇◇◇

“S-So… You’re really not being bullied by Rinka-san, Suda-kun…?”

After I somehow managed to clear up her misunderstanding, Hasumi had a look of surprise on her face.

Rinka’s eyes seemed to be burning with righteousness as she assertively reiterated the truth once more to Hasumi.

“Of course! Intimidating the weak is truly a despicable thing to do!”

“What? Rinka-san…? Have you forgotten our first encounter? You and your friends intimidated me a whole lot, you know?! You took my glasses away, you know?!”

I retorted at Rinka, who seemed to have altered her memories in a way that’s convenient to her.

“But wow! So you’re Hasumi-chan, huh~! Your face is really cute! Come on, raise your bangs so I can get a good look at it~. Ehehe, do you have Line? Let’s have our lunch together right now.”

“Hiih?! D-Do you want me to grovel on the ground and eat like a dog?”

“Come on now, Rinka; don’t be too aggressive. You too, Hasumi; you’re being overly frightened of her here.”

Then, I continued speaking while explaining the situation to Hasumi.

“―I called Rinka here because I had something I wanted to talk about with her.”

“Alright, I’ve prepared myself. Ritsuki, my answer is yes.”

“I haven’t even said anything though…”

Rinka gave her agreement before I could even start talking to her.

Is she just not interested? Is she SOLDIER:1st or something?

(TLN: Google it. Apparently it’s a character from Final Fantasy.)

“What I wanted to talk about is―”

“Y-Yeah!”

Rinka took a step back and replied to me with a mysterious nervousness in her voice.

Or rather, what’s up with this weird atmosphere and her taking a step away from me?

Why did she leave a bit of distance between us even though we could’ve just talked closer to each other?

Why is she staring straight at me with an expectant look in her eyes?

For some reason, Hasumi’s face turned pale, and she watched me and Rinka while clasping her hands together as if in prayer.

Why does she look so worried even though she knows I’m not being bullied?

Not knowing the answers to any of those questions, I began to talk about what I was really here for.

“―I wanted to talk about one of my classmates, Asamiya-san. Rinka, do you know Asamiya-san?”

For some reason, as soon as those words left my mouth, Rinka looked somewhat disappointed, and Hasumi looked somewhat relieved.

“Nope, I don’t know her. Are you interested in that girl, Ritsuki?”

Rinka spoke with a pretty sullen tone.

Of course, Hasumi knew about her, so she explained to Rinka about Asamiya-san.

“Asamiya-san is the leader of an idol group called ‘Synchronicity’. She’s always smiling and full of energy.”

I nodded at Hasumi’s explanation.

“Ah, however―”

I then added.

“Asamiya-san wasn’t smiling this morning.”

Author’s note:

Also, I can’t wait to see the other band members make an appearance~.