Chapter 102: The Idol in a Sailor Uniform

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Translator: Soafp

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The following Saturday.

I had come to school because Takagi and I had been assigned to guide visitors around the campus during the open school event.

By now, I had completely gotten used to Takagi’s deeply tanned face.

“Hello, senpais! I’m Kokoa from Jira-chan Syndrome!”

…Standing before us was Kokoa-san in a sailor uniform, as energetic as ever.

Of course, she wasn’t alone.

There were about four middle school students with her, apparently her classmates.

(Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to be acting like she knows me.)

If she had started calling me “Sponsor-sama~” or “Ren-sama~” as usual, I would definitely have been bombarded with questions.

At worst, rumors could spread and turn into a scandal.

As expected, Kokoa-san had a strong sense of professionalism.

Takagi cleared his throat and began the tour.

“Um, I’m Takagi, a first-year student, and I’ll be guiding you around today. This is Fukagawa, also a first-year.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Then let’s get started.”

Since I was only filling in, Takagi handled most of the tour.

My role was limited to occasionally answering questions and keeping an eye on the five students from the back of the group.

Since everyone obediently followed Takagi’s instructions, there was hardly anything for me to do.

(Still, Kokoa-san seems oddly isolated.)

There seemed to be an invisible wall between her and the other four students.

The atmosphere reminded me somewhat of Airi.

But it felt different somehow.

Kokoa-san wasn’t the type to struggle with communication, after all.

As I absentmindedly pondered that, Kokoa-san suddenly spoke to me.

“Hey there, handsome Fukagawa-senpai. What are you thinking about so seriously? Ah, let me guess. It’s about Kokoa, right?”

“…”

…She hit the mark so perfectly that I couldn’t bring myself to admit it.

“Kokoa-san— No…”

Right now, I wasn’t interacting with idol Kokoa as her sponsor.

I was simply a high school student guiding a middle school girl around the school.

Calling her by her first name felt inappropriate.

…Though it wasn’t her real name to begin with.

(Come to think of it, what’s her surname?)

I always called her Kokoa-san, while her manager and Airi called her Miyoko.

So I’d never actually heard her surname.

Ah, right.

Since her father is James Byrne—

“Byrne-san.”

“T-That’s not it!?”

“Then what is it?”

“Eh…? W-Well…”

For some reason, Kokoa-san looked away.

Wait, did I step on a landmine?

Did she have bad memories associated with her surname?

Like Airi did.

“P-Please just call me Kokoa like always! Kokoa is Kokoa!”

She forced an awkward smile.

Something about that bothered me.

As I was thinking that, Takagi widened his eyes.

“Like always?”

“Ah.”

“Oh.”

Why was this guy incapable of reading the room at times like this?

Couldn’t he just let it slide?

Well, to be fair, Kokoa-san and I were the ones who let our guard down.

At that moment, one of her female classmates spoke up.

“Oh? So you know Kamishiro-san. Are you her boyfriend or something?”

“Come on! I told you to call me Kokoa.”

“But you’re Kamishiro-san, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah. I guess Kamishiro-san really does like older guys.”

“Did you inherit that from your mother too? Scary.”

The girls burst into laughter.

It was unmistakably mocking.

Apparently even Takagi sensed the unpleasant atmosphere, because he hurriedly raised his voice.

“Alright, alright, let’s move on! And Fukagawa, don’t go flirting with middle school idols!”

“When did I ever flirt with her?”

“Ehh? If it’s Fukagawa-senpai, maybe I wouldn’t mind being flirted with.”

“Kokoa-san, please don’t make things even more complicated.”

Takagi was probably trying to lighten the mood by joking around.

…Though he was also the one who had started the whole mess.

◇

After that, the tour proceeded without any issues, and the open school event ended successfully.

Takagi stayed behind to clean up, so I tried to help, but—

“No, you’ve done enough. You can head home.”

He turned me down.

“And sorry about saying unnecessary stuff earlier.”

“It’s fine. Kokoa-san doesn’t seem bothered by it. Besides, it started because of our own slip-ups.”

“…So seriously, what’s your relationship with her? I swear I won’t spread any rumors. Just tell me a little.”

“You’d absolutely spread rumors. I don’t trust you.”

“Tch.”

It wasn’t that I wanted to hide it from Takagi.

But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out how to explain my relationship with Kokoa-san.

…A sponsor and idol who frequently met in private sounded suspicious no matter how you put it.

“You really are popular, aren’t you? Got any tricks?”

“Not really.”

“Then at least tell me how you got close to Kokoa-san.”

I couldn’t exactly answer, “Money.”

“It wasn’t anything special. We just happened to meet at the beach.”

That wasn’t a lie.

At the beach during a trip, I’d dreamed of Kokoa-san being struck by lightning.

That’s where everything had started.

“You just happened to meet at the beach!? Who believes that!?”

“It happened.”

“Damn it! Why don’t those kinds of coincidences ever happen to me!? All I do is work my a*s off! The world is way too unfair!”

Takagi roared in frustration.

“And who did you even go to the beach with!? Don’t tell me you went alone!”

“Of course not. With Nodoka and Airi.”

“Of course not!? What do you mean, of course not!? Damn it!! You got to see them in cute swimsuits too, didn’t you!?”

I said nothing.

I’d actually even seen them in micro bikinis.

Chuckling quietly, I said,

“Well, I’m heading home. I wonder what fun things I’ll do with those two today.”

“You’re bragging until the very end!? Fine then! Go build a happy family with the three of you!”

“Thanks for the warm wishes.”

With my bag in hand, I left the school building.

Honestly, there weren’t many guys as good-hearted as Takagi.

I hoped he’d find a great girlfriend someday.

Thinking that, I was passing through the school gate when—

“Waah!”

Someone suddenly jumped out in front of me.

My shoulders jerked in surprise.

“K-Kokoa-san. Why are you here?”

“Because there’s someone I wanted to see.”

“Ah, Ko-kun?”

“Of course not! Ren-sama!”

“…Sorry, but could you not add ‘-sama’ while we’re at school?”

Kokoa-san already stood out because of her red hair.

And now she was a rising idol as well.

Only now did I start worrying that those middle school girls might post strange rumors on social media.

“Then… Ren-senpai?”

Why is she so determined to use my first name?

Well, I didn’t really mind.

“By the way, I’m surprised. Are you planning to enroll in this school?”

“Honestly, I wasn’t at first. It’s not impossible to commute here by train, but it’s a bit far, right?”

“That’s true.”

I’d always believed that schools were better when they were closer to home.

The biggest reason I’d chosen this school was because it had a strong photography club for Yuzuki’s sake.

The second reason was the distance.

“But I changed my mind! That’s why I’m thinking of taking the entrance exam here.”

“Because the school has the person you’ve been wanting to see—your first love?”

“It’s not because of Ko-kun! A-And he’s not my first love!”

Her face turned bright red.

That wasn’t very convincing.

“I’m applying because you senpais are here!”

“Huh? Why?”

“Geez, you’re so dense at times like this.”

Kokoa-san gave a bitter smile and lowered her gaze, lightly nudging the air near her feet with the tip of her shoe.

“You saw it earlier, right? I don’t have any friends at school.”

“Well… you certainly didn’t seem very close to them.”

“Before, Aya-chan and the others treated me like a friend. But that’s not the case anymore.”

The more I listened, the more I realized that Kokoa-san’s life wasn’t exactly smooth sailing either.

She’d been bullied in elementary school because of her unusual hair color.

And now, for reasons I still didn’t fully understand, something related to her surname was causing people at school to keep their distance.

(Does the surname Kamishiro have something to do with it?)

It was probably her mother’s surname after the divorce.

Since Byrne-san had custody of Kokoa-san, perhaps her mother had been responsible for the divorce.

Did her classmates know whatever circumstances were involved?

“Senpai, I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

Kokoa-san looked up and stared straight at me.

“Something happened between you and Ko-kun, didn’t it? And not something minor.”

“Well… that’s true.”

“Please tell me. What happened between you and Ko-kun? I want to understand the Ko-kun who has changed so much.”

I hadn’t expected her to ask first.

Though, in a way, it made sense.

She’d wanted to see him for so long, only to find him like that.

“…Before I answer, can I ask something? What do you think about cheating?”

“The worst.”

Kokoa-san frowned and continued.

“If I had to choose, I’d rather share a room with a murderer than breathe the same air as someone who cheats.”