The next day, I hurried to the company, and as soon as I arrived, the place I headed to was
"What are you saying? Do you think it makes sense that you lost track of him for a whole day!? And to us professionals!?"
the area where the employees tailing Kamiki Hikaru were.
At my words, the employees bowed their heads as if they had nothing to say, and the moment I saw them just apologizing,
"...Please tell me how you lost him."
"Understood."
Since I knew my team's skills better than anyone, I calmed my excitement first and decided to hear the detailed explanation.
"It was an instant. No, as if he knew, right after Yume gave the order to monitor him leisurely, he shook us off right in front of our eyes."
"To be honest, he didn't seem to have noticed us."
"Literally, we were right there, but it was like he disappeared in front of us."
"Of course, the next day, that is, now, we're monitoring him again."
"I see..."
After hearing the explanation, I could make one guess.
What if, to progress this story, Kamiki's existence wasn't shown to us for an instant?
She said she couldn't interfere with me anymore, but she never said once that she couldn't interfere with other people.
But I soon erased that thought from my mind. Because
since that 'girl' clearly described herself as just a reader, interfering any further in our world should have been impossible.
In the end, my thought was
"It seems Kamiki Hikaru has also used his acting talent in this way."
"Yes, to be honest, from what we felt while monitoring, he didn't seem like an ordinary person at all."
Seeing the employee speaking as if affirming my words, I nodded and
"I understand. Sorry for suddenly coming by."
I apologized sincerely, and actually, while my position in the team was higher, in terms of age, I was the youngest in our team, and I always used polite speech with all the team members, so they also used honorifics with me.
At my apology, another employee smiled, waving his hand, and
"Ahaha, no, not at all. We're the ones who are sorry. We'll strengthen the surveillance so this doesn't happen again. And we always watch Ai-chan on TV too. She's grown up a lot."
"Yes, she's an adult now."
"Huhu, you must be happy, Yume. You're her guardian, right?"
"That's right. Anyway, I'll be going for now."
"Yes, understood. Oh, and..."
Right before leaving, the employee told me some information, and
"Do you know that B-Komachi, which Ai-chan belongs to, is going to have a dome performance?"
"A dome...?"
At the word 'dome', the thought that flashed through my mind was
"...Thank you. That's good information."
"Not at all. Most of the information that comes to us is stuff we should pass on to the executives anyway."
"Then, I'll take my leave."
The thought that flashed through my mind was that right after the dome performance,
'Hoshino Ai' is murdered.
"I guess I need to start preparing on this side too."
According to the employee's information, the dome performance is in a week, and the day Ai is murdered is probably the day of the dome performance. I need to start preparing now.
With the thought that I might genuinely have to deal with a person, I moved my steps to where the Director was.
*************
Third-person Hoshino Ai
Hoshino Ai had been seriously pondering something lately. The reason she started worrying was
when she accidentally overheard the children's conversation. The content of that conversation was
"Honestly, I tried not to think about it as much as possible... but who exactly is our father? Ah... just thinking about it makes me gloomy."
"Huh? Are you an idiot? You were gloomy over something that trivial?"
At Aqua's words, Ruby spoke confidently as if it were obvious, and her eyes were
"Obviously, it's a virgin birth. There was never a man from the start."
dead.
Seeing that, Hoshino Ai felt a cold sweat dripping for some reason, and as she watched her children reaching some strange conclusion, the thought that this might be dangerous swirled in her mind.
Honestly, the moment she heard those words, Ai was filled with the desire to go to the children and say
'Your father is actually Yume★' but at the very least, Ai wanted to tell Yume first, not the children.
And that opportunity came not long after.
The trigger of the dome performance.
*******
First-person Hoshino Yume
After finishing the conversation with Director Kuma and returning home, I saw Saito and Miyako gathered at our house, and with them preparing for a party, a small party was held at our home.
"This alcohol is really delicious!!! Here!! It's celebration alcohol for our new home! Drink up, drink!!"
Saito, with Aqua next to him, seemed to have drunk a lot, his face reddened.
"Wow~ I want some too!"
"No way."
"No."
Miyako and I stopped Ai from trying to drink directly from the bottle.
Since Ai wasn't 20 yet, Miyako and I tried to stop her for now.
"Ai, you turn 20 next week. Just wait a little longer. I'll buy you suitable alcohol then."
"Then will Yume drink with me too?"
"Sure."
Originally, I really like the act of drinking alcohol. In this life, I just have a body that doesn't get drunk easily, but if I drink, I tend to have a lot of hard liquor.
At my words, Saito said,
"Ah~ that's right, that's right. Sorry, sorry. More than that, the drama Ai is starring in has great ratings...! B-Komachi's schedule is packed too!!!"
"And finally, next week is the dome!! Kuhahahahaha!!!"
"Let's leave Aqua alone for now."
Perhaps because the alcohol smell was strong, Aqua even turned his head away, and after pulling Aqua from Saito's arms where he was being held and sitting him next to me, Aqua let out a sigh as if saved.
"Director seems to be in a good mood."
"The Director's dream was to take an idol he raised to the dome. Well, that's not just the Director's dream, but the dream of all Ichigo Production employees."
"Is the dome that amazing?"
Ai, who doesn't really understand the meaning of the dome, asked in a tone like 'What's the big deal?', and
"Ai, listen well. The dome is different in meaning from other places. Without a professional company in between, you can't even get that spot, and there's a strict screening for whether the artist has the skill to handle a large audience and the track record to perform at the dome."
Of course, to some extent, large companies can apply pressure. The company I belong to is also one that can apply such pressure, but since this dome appearance was earned through Ai's own strength, I didn't do anything.
"It's a venue that requires long-term effort from the staff, a place that can't be solved with money, you could say."
I took the alcohol Miyako handed me and drank, then
"So, in other words, the dome is a special stage that only a select few artists can ascend to. You could say it's a place that's the dream for idols like you, Ai."
"Aha~★"
After finishing the explanation, when I checked Ai's face,
'You still won't show your true feelings, huh.'
From what I've seen after watching her for a long time, Ai's face just seemed to be pretending to be happy.
"Oh, right, Ai. I'm saying this now, but since it's an important period, avoid scandals. Don't even think about meeting the children's father. Of course, Yume will stop you."
"Of course."
**
First-person Hoshino Ai
"Since it's an important period, avoid scandals. Don't even think about meeting the children's father. Of course, Yume will stop you."
Hearing that, I looked at Yume, and Yume's expression showed a face that said he would definitely deal with the twins' father if he found him.
Ahah★ Someone who thinks this much for me is probably only Yume in the whole world.
"Of course."
At Saito's words, a lie naturally came out of my mouth.
But what can I do? I'm a liar.
A liar who says things appropriate to the situation before I even think.
Even I don't know what's my true heart or what's a lie.
"Mama~"
"Yes, yes, good girl, good girl."
Patting Ruby's head as she approached me,
'I've never been good at loving something except Yume since long ago, but honestly, I never thought someone like me could be an idol.'
After setting Ruby aside for a moment, I headed straight to the only person I love.
I've never said 'I love you' even once to Ruby and Aqua, but
at least to Yume, I couldn't stop saying this 'I love you'.
"Yume~"
"Yes, yes."
Yume seemed to be in a good mood for some reason, maybe because he had alcohol, and even that seemed cute to me. Thanks to that, I could act cute all day in Yume's arms...
The thought that arose in my chest was starting to scare me a little: what if when I say 'I love you' to the children, they realize it's a lie?
Since I've never loved anyone other than Yume,
so I lie again today. Believing that the lie will become true.
Even if the price comes someday.
Meanwhile, the story Yume had told always swirled in my mind, and
before I knew it, the time for my dome performance approached.
*********
First-person Hoshino Yume
Today, the day of Ai's dome performance finally arrived. Honestly, I was anxious. This unknown anxiety felt like it was consuming my entire body.
So, since yesterday, I hadn't slept a wink and stayed by Ai's side the whole time.
But at the very least, since the place Ai lives now is not the 'original' house but a standalone house I bought directly, not an apartment, I had the vain belief that no one would come this far, but
this unknown anxiety kept squeezing me, and this feeling was
'very similar to when I forgot about Dr. Goro's death.'
That's right. When Dr. Goro's death was erased from my mind, I felt similar to now. But this time, since there's clearly no interference, the memory of Ai's accident remained, and
as I headed to the bathroom to collect myself for a moment,
the doorbell started ringing as if someone had arrived, and just as I thought it might be Saito or Miyako....
"Ai, don't open the door!!!!!"
Realizing that Saito and Miyako were supposed to wait at the company, I hurriedly ran to the entrance and shouted. But
"Huh? Why, Yume?"
Ai had already opened the door, and there stood a man in a black hoodie holding a bouquet of flowers. The man looked at Ai and me, then
"Ai... congratulations on the dome performance. Are the twin children doing well?"
with those words, he pulled out a hidden knife and rushed to stab Ai, and I.......
"Ai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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