Chapter 79: The Beginning of an Idol

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Translator: Soafp

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The next day.

To work on our summer homework together, we headed to Kokoa-san’s apartment.

My room was obviously too cramped, and having an idol spend long hours at a male sponsor’s house also felt questionable in a lot of ways.

…Though, to be fair, a male sponsor constantly visiting an idol’s apartment was probably just as questionable.

“Ren-samaaa~”

The moment we stepped out of the elevator, Kokoa-san was already waving both hands wildly, like she was trying to call out to someone far away.

Did this girl greet every guest this dramatically?

And apparently, the “-sama” thing had completely become permanent now…

“When I heard you were going to do my homework for me, Ren-sama, I was deeply moved!”

“I never said I’d do it for you. I said I’d help.”

“I’m joking, joking~. But I really was surprised! I never imagined Ren-sama was still a high school student.”

“Please keep that a secret. In this industry, people tend to look down on you because of your age.”

“Of course! There’s no woman more tight-lipped than Kokoa!”

People who say things like that are usually the least trustworthy.

“Come on in! You’re all the very first repeat visitors to ever come to my house twice!”

Apparently her manager had visited once, been completely horrified, and never returned.

Well, after seeing that mountain of garbage, anyone would probably never want to step foot in here again.

But the moment we entered the apartment, we all widened our eyes in shock.

Naturally, Nodoka was the first to shout.

“H-Hey, it’s only been a few days! How did it get messy again already!?”

That’s right.

In only three days, Kokoa-san’s apartment had become a disaster again.

Of course, it wasn’t on the same level as before.

Still, clothes were scattered everywhere, and empty convenience store lunch containers littered the room.

“Ah, well…”

Kokoa-san laughed awkwardly and scratched her head.

Maybe she was embarrassed herself.

Part of it was probably because she was busy, but at this point, it felt more like a personality trait.

“Why don’t you clean up as you go!? At the very least, put your laundry in the basket properly!”

“I-I’ve just been busy…”

“Throwing trash into the trash can and putting laundry in the basket takes less than ten seconds! Stop making excuses!!”

“Yes, sorry…”

Switching fully into housewife mode, Nodoka immediately started cleaning up the clothes and garbage.

…She looked exactly like a mother barging into the messy room of a child who had just started living alone.

Still, the amount itself wasn’t that bad, so everything was cleaned up quickly.

“Do you understand now, Kokoa-san!? Idols have to stay clean even where nobody can see them!”

“Y-Yes… I’m sorry… I’ll work harder…”

“Nodoka, that’s enough. Kokoa-san’s eyes are dead.”

“Huh?”

Kokoa-san stared blankly ahead, repeating, “I’m sorry… I’ll work harder…” over and over like some kind of spell.

“M-Maybe I went a little too far?”

“No, I think it was good medicine for her.”

“R-Really?”

She probably just couldn’t motivate herself to clean because nobody ever saw the place.

To save Kokoa-san, we’d have to get even closer to her.

There would probably be more opportunities like this where we visited her apartment.

…Though becoming close friends with an active idol already felt like a pretty difficult mission.

“By the way, Kokoa-san. There’s something I’ve been curious about.”

“Yes?”

“This might be a slightly rude question, but… do you not live with your father?”

Actually, I’d been wondering since the last time we came here.

There wasn’t the slightest sign that anyone besides Kokoa-san lived in this apartment.

“Ah… actually, I live alone.”

“Huh? Really?”

Living alone as a high schooler was hard enough.

But as a middle schooler?

“Yes. After my parents divorced, my dad wanted to take me to Ireland with him. But honestly, I was born and raised in Japan, so I didn’t really know anything about Ireland or the language… and more than anything, there was someone in Japan I wanted to see again.”

“Someone you wanted to see?”

“Yes. So I kept begging my dad over and over until he finally let me stay in Japan by myself.”

Apparently, Kokoa-san’s father worked in Ireland.

I didn’t know the details, but perhaps he accepted his daughter’s wish after seeing how hurt she’d been by the divorce.

Still, if that was the case…

“Could the reason you became an idol have something to do with that person you want to see?”

“Yes! Actually, I’ve never even told my manager this story before, so it’s a secret, okay?”

Kokoa-san giggled and placed a finger against her lips.

“I see. So that’s what it is.”

Airi nodded knowingly.

“So basically, the person you want to see is Miyoko-san’s crush?”

“E-Ehh!? T-That’s private information too important for me to tell everyone!!”

“Hmmm… so it’s your first love.”

“I-I-I said it’s private!!”

Kokoa-san’s face turned bright red as she wildly flailed both arms.

Yeah… that was obviously a direct hit.

Nodoka grinned mischievously.

“Ehh, what’s this? You became an idol just to search for the boy you first fell in love with? That’s so innocent!”

“I-I said no comment…”

“But out of all the options in the world, why become an idol?”

“Well, I remember his face, but his name is kind of fuzzy. He used to live next door to me.”

“Ohh, so he was your childhood friend?”

“I-I mean, maybe? We got along for about half a year in elementary school, so I think it counts?”

Did it really?

Not that I had much room to talk considering Yuzuki and me, but I always thought childhood friends were people who grew up together for years.

Still, there wasn’t exactly a strict definition, so I let it slide.

Nodoka’s eyes sparkled.

“That’s so romantic! Like, if you become famous enough, the person you like might find you again—it’s totally like a manga!”

“I-I never said I liked him!”

“So then, what kind of person was he? Any special features?”

“Hmmm… not really. He honestly looked pretty average. The only things I remember are that he was older than me and his nickname was ‘Ko-kun.’”

There were way too many names that could start with “Ko.”

Kouta, Kousuke, and plenty of others came to mind immediately.

And considering she still hadn’t found him after searching this long, becoming an idol was probably her last resort.

(Still, that’s a pretty unexpected reason.)

Honestly, I’d assumed she became an idol either because she vaguely admired them or because she wanted money.

I never imagined it was because of romantic feelings.

Nodoka kept pressing her with questions.

“What exactly made you fall for him!?”

“I-I told you it wasn’t like that!”

This was honestly the first time I’d ever seen Kokoa-san this embarrassed.

I wondered how her fans would react if they saw this side of her.

At the same time, watching Nodoka aggressively dive into romance talk reminded me she really was just a girl her age.

“Then why did you want to see him again so badly?”

“T-That’s because… actually, when I was in elementary school, I used to get bullied sometimes.”

“Huh? B-Bullied…?”

“Ah, it wasn’t anything super serious! Looking back, I think I just stood out too much, so people disliked me for it. But back then, it still hurt…”

“And that person helped you?”

“Yes! He just happened to pass by and yelled at them once. But at the time, nobody else tried to help me. So just that alone really saved me.”

Nowadays, her striking appearance and naturally red hair were strengths that made her stand out as an idol.

But as a child, those same traits probably isolated her instead.

Maybe even now, she still struggled to make friends at school for similar reasons.

I smiled lightly.

“I hope you get to reunite with him someday.”

“Yes! Thank you very much!”

“But if you do reunite with him, what happens after that? Once you accomplish your goal, would you retire from being an idol?”

“Eh? W-Well…”

I wasn’t trying to make her quit or anything.

My real goal was simply to stop Kokoa-san from dying from drug abuse.

Honestly, part of me even wondered whether quitting the idol industry entirely might let her avoid that future altogether.

“Hmmm… maybe that was my original reason. But now, I genuinely enjoy being an idol. So I’ll probably keep doing it!”

Kokoa-san smiled brightly.

Well, it would definitely be a waste to quit now that her career was finally starting to take off.

“I see. Well then, should we start the homework?”

“Yes! By the way, Ren-sama, are you good at studying?”

“I’m decent enough. At the very least, I’m not bad at it.”

“Ooh~ what rank are you?”

“I placed third this semester.”

Not only Kokoa-san, but even Nodoka stared at me wide-eyed.

Only Airi looked completely unsurprised.

…Which was strange, because I didn’t remember ever telling her or showing her my report card.

“I thought I was pretty smart too since I’m twentieth place, but Ren-sama’s way above me!”

“Twentieth? With idol work too, when do you even have time to study?”

“During the school term, after self-training, I study about an hour every night before bed! But since summer vacation started, work suddenly increased a lot… honestly, lately I haven’t been able to study much at all. So when Ren-sama offered to help with homework, it really saved me!”

The more I listened, the more sorry I felt for her.

Judging from the convenience store trash earlier, she was probably surviving mostly on convenience store meals too.

If days this harsh kept piling up, the stress alone might someday push her toward drugs.

I couldn’t shake that feeling.

“Hmmm…”

Airi crossed her arms and rested one hand on her chin.

“Miyoko-san, have you ever thought that when things get super busy, it’d be nice to have a maid around?”