Chapter 111: Another Person from My Memories

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Translator: Soafp

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On the way to the nearby supermarket, the three of us—Yui, Kokoa-san, and I—chatted about all sorts of things.

Before long, though, the conversation naturally returned to the phone call at the ramen shop.

Kokoa-san gave a slight shake of her head.

“Lately, during lessons, I sometimes catch myself thinking… Was everything I worked so hard for just so I could meet a man like that again? Whenever that thought crosses my mind, all my strength just drains away.”

“But you’re not being an idol just for him anymore, right?”

“That’s right! That’s the only thing keeping me going.”

The fact that she could only say she was ” the only thing ” made it obvious.

Kokoa-san was mentally exhausted.

And who could blame her?

Then perhaps…

Couldn’t she replace her lingering feelings for Nagasawa-senpai with something else?

(What matters are the memories themselves.)

She had wanted to see Nagasawa-senpai again because she wanted to reconnect with those memories.

If that was the case, then maybe the person she shared those memories with didn’t necessarily have to be Nagasawa-senpai.

…Of course, unlike what we’d talked about in the park before, making up fake memories wasn’t the answer.

Ah.

I knew someone.

“Kokoa-san, how close were you with Yuna-san?”

“Yu-chan…?”

“Yeah. I was wondering… maybe you don’t really want to see her?”

Perhaps she’d spent all her time with Nagasawa-senpai back then and hadn’t really interacted much with Yuna.

“Oh, no, not at all! I was really close with Yu-chan too. She was way more of a tomboy than I was. I don’t know if she’s still like that now, but back then she was an extreme brother-con!”

Yui narrowed her eyes.

“Wow… so that piece of trash was a sister-con, and his little sister was a brother-con. They really were made for each other.”

“Exactly! One time I jokingly told her, ‘I’m going to be Ko-kun’s bride someday,’ and Yu-chan actually burst into tears.”

“…So Nagasawa-senpai really was your first love.”

“You don’t have to tiptoe around it. Even I think Ko-kun’s a piece of trash now.”

Kokoa-san smiled sadly.

“The truth is… I don’t really know anymore. I definitely didn’t dislike him, and I always thought of him as someone precious from my past. But… is that really enough to call it first love?”

She didn’t seem to be lying.

In other words, it wasn’t because she was an idol that she’d stubbornly denied it.

She genuinely wasn’t sure whether it had been her first love.

“Ah, Ren-sama would know, wouldn’t you? What first love is really like.”

“Why do you think I’d know?”

“Because you’re always surrounded by girls. And you’re dating Secretary-san and Nodo-san, aren’t you?”

“…”

I couldn’t really deny it.

“Well… it’s a cliché, but… I think it’s someone you always want by your side. Someone who naturally makes you smile just by looking at them.”

“Hehe, see? You really do know!”

“I mean, that’s the sort of thing you see in manga and novels all the time.”

The truth was, I didn’t really know either.

Then again…

Did anyone actually know the right answer?

Kokoa-san began counting on her fingers.

“You always want them by your side… Just seeing them makes you smile… And… they don’t cheat on you.”

“So… is the reason you hate cheating so much because of what happened with your mother?”

“Oh, right. I never told you, did I? Yes, that’s exactly why. My mom betrayed my dad. And… this never made the news, but… she even tried to hand me over to the man she was having an affair with.”

“…What?”

Kokoa-san said something so shocking in an almost matter-of-fact tone.

Back then…

She hadn’t even reached middle school yet.

“My dad’s the type who only spends money on things that are truly necessary. He lives very frugally. Mom didn’t like that. The man she was cheating with kept buying her things, so… she gave herself to him. And in the end… she even tried to…”

“So… that man was targeting you too?”

“He wanted to try… having both mother and daughter together.”

No…

That sounded like something out of an erotic manga.

Did people like that actually exist?

…Then again, after everything involving Nagasawa-senpai…

Maybe I couldn’t say it was impossible.

“At first… I didn’t want to be separated from my mom. Even after I found out she was cheating, I couldn’t bring myself to tell my dad.”

How desperate must a child feel after discovering a parent’s affair?

No…

Even an adult wouldn’t know what to do.

If you stayed silent, you’d probably be blamed later for not saying anything.

But if you told the truth, you might feel like you’d destroyed your own family.

“I struggled with it so much. I wondered if… if I wanted to stay with Mom, maybe I’d just have to endure whatever that man wanted to do to me. But… I absolutely didn’t want that. So I told my dad everything.”

“…And that’s what led to the divorce.”

“Yes. Dad was confused at first. He got angry and asked why I’d waited so long to tell him something so important. But afterward… he sincerely apologized for getting angry.”

No matter how you looked at it, that man’s intentions bordered on criminal.

Yet, as far as I remembered, I’d never even heard of him being investigated by the police.

“Didn’t Burn-san report him to the police?”

“He did. But there wasn’t any real evidence… The only thing they had was my testimony. And my mom denied everything. After that, Dad stopped trusting the Japanese police very much.”

“…I see.”

So that was why…

In the “nightmare,” Burn-san had been so unwilling to accept the police’s conclusions.

At last, everything made a little more sense.

It also explained why Kokoa-san hated both her mother…

And infidelity itself…

So intensely.

“But then… don’t you think I’m a terrible man too?”

“Huh? Why would I?”

“Because, just like you said… I’m basically dating both Airi and Nodoka at the same time. Doesn’t that count as cheating too?”

“Oh, Ren-sama! You said something like this the other day too, but it’s completely different!”

Kokoa-san stopped in front of me and pointed a finger at me as though scolding a child.

“Listen carefully! The essence of cheating is betrayal! If you’re secretly dating two people at once, that’s cheating. But Secretary-san and Nodo-san both know about each other, don’t they? So what you’re doing isn’t cheating!”

“I-I see…”

“But! There is one thing you’re definitely wrong about!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“It’s very simple—”

She placed both hands beneath her chin, like a flower bud blooming.

“You refuse to seriously fall in love with me!”

“Yeah… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fix that. Sorry.”

“Why not!? I am a hugely popular idol now! Isn’t it strange not to fall head over heels for me when I’m standing this close!? I am going to become emotionally unstable at this rate!”

There it was.

Her signature line.

Chuckling softly, I said,

“Anyway… thank you. I was trying to comfort you, but somehow you ended up comforting me instead.”

“Oh, it was nothing! So… what were we talking about again?”

“We were talking about Yuna-san.”

“Oh, right! So what about Yu-chan?”

Kokoa-san’s memories weren’t filled with only Nagasawa-senpai.

If the present-day Nagasawa-senpai had tainted those memories…

Then maybe she could look toward someone else who had shared those same days.

That would surely be kinder for Kokoa-san…

And for the idol she had become.

“Would you like to meet Yuna-san?”