rubestie

Season: Winter

Writer: Akira

Characters: Ibara, Madara

<At the same time. The large hospital near ES where J was taken after collapsing.>

Ibara: I just received a reply from Suou-shi. It seems he is heading here immediately with Oukawa-shi.

I was having trouble reaching Oukawa-shi. As you predicted, however, it seems he was being taken care of at Suou-shi’s home-

ibara+madara

Madara: …

Ibara: Mikejima-shi? Are you listening? Hello, he~llo?

Madara: Aah… right, sorry about that.

I should have been the one to make arrangements at the hospital and reach out to the people involved in the project, but you took care of it for me. You've been really helpful, thank you for that.

Ibara: Oh, I was simply doing what I do best.

You lot tend to forget all about those common-sense tasks, so as long as I am there to fill that gap, you will appreciate me - I’ll be sought after.

It’s all just part of my sales pitch.

Besides. Even though I haven’t added my name to the credits, I am acting as the producer for “[MaM]’s Chronicle of Parenting Struggles”.

As the one responsible, I will take care of what needs to be done. Unlike the people you are used to at Yumenosaki Academy, I never leave everything to the idols on-set.

But wow, I was really surprised back then. To think that J-san would collapse after the shoot finished.

Madara: In hindsight, it was bound to happen. I wasn’t careful enough.

J is still a child, he hasn’t grown to the point where he can work nonstop like this.

Even though he learned the basics of being an idol at the Maizuru House, he was fundamentally no different from any ordinary kid living a normal life.

As a performer, he was still a complete beginner. And we forced that child to do heavy labor that would be tough even for adults. Twice a week, we would shoot episodes for that weird program.

It looked like he was just having fun messing with adults, but the amount of work must have taken a huge toll on both his body and his mind.

It’s only natural that he would reach his limit and collapse like this.

No. We should have predicted this. How stupid of us, of me.

J… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.

Once again I’ve ended up hurting the one I promised to protect.

Ibara: Now, now, don’t be so pessimistic. According to the doctors, J is just ill with a common cold, right?

However, since it appears J-san’s consciousness is still rather muddy, they decided to have him stay admitted to the hospital for a couple more days…

At the very least, there should be no danger to his life.

Madara: Sigh, even though I knew there was a cold going around recently… I neglected to make any precautions, and didn’t even realize when he caught a cold.

I’m disqualified to be his guardian.

Ibara: N~... I wonder about that.

ibara

(I can’t help but feel like there is something fishy here. Is this really just a normal cold?)

(Since the common cold is going around currently, what if the doctors just went with the most likely explanation they could think of without actually being sure?)

(It is a doctor’s job to make a diagnosis, after all. They can’t very well get away with saying that they don’t know what is wrong. They may have tried to cover for themselves by picking a common diagnosis.)

(I only caught a quick glimpse of J-san as he was carried to the hospital, but more than a cold, it seemed as if he was-)

(H~m, what could it have been? This slight feeling of unease, the uncanniness of the situation.)

(They do say truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.)

(For all these hardships to fall onto this “family” at this impeccable timing - that is really something you would expect from a drama series.)

Either way, we can’t keep being depressed. Let’s do whatever is possible for us to help.

Of course, now that our main character J-san has collapsed, we can’t very well keep filming for “[MaM]’s Chronicle of Parenting Struggles”.

It has grown to become a popular program with a cult-like following, so it really is a shame. We created this show as a means to an end, however, so there is no reason to dwell too much on it.

What do you want to do? Should we cancel the show? Or should we go on hiatus until J-san is able to return?

Personally, I don’t mind either one. Whichever you choose, we will have to make an official announcement stating that intent for all the viewers who are looking forward to the show.

Now that Oukawa-shi has left and J-san has collapsed, the best course of action would be for our last surviving regular, Mikejima-shi, to personally make that announcement.

If the agency announces it without any of the regulars present, the fans might not accept it, after all.

Madara: That’s true… Of course, I’ll cooperate wherever necessary.

Rather than simply posting the announcement on social media, it would be better if we posted a short video titled “Important Notice” to let the fans know it’s real.

It still hasn’t been long since we posted the special episode announcing Kohaku-san’s retirement, so it might be weird for us to post another one this soon though.

Ibara: On the contrary, this could be positive for us. This should make the fans create a fuss over the entire ordeal, which will create an even bigger focus on our show than before.

Talents who can gather attention like this are rather hard to come by, you know.

In the beginning, this was our motivation behind incorporating Crazy:B into CosPro as well. Those guys have a valuable talent for creating controversies.

And lately, they’ve become more or less normal idols, and I strangely find myself missing the excitement.

They are probably catering to the wishes of their fans, but I personally don’t find it very interesting.

In that sense, I was expecting greater things of you two.

Madara: What you’re looking for in idols would be more apt in a terrorist organization, I think… So this time you wanted us to charge in with bombs instead of Crazy:B?

Ibara: Your wording makes me sound horrible. I merely want to revitalize this stagnating industry.

If everyone is a goody-two-shoes then things will be boring, no?

Madara: Well, I agree with you on that point. Though, putting us and Crazy:B aside, we probably shouldn’t have forced that kind of role onto J-san, who is still a child.

It’s probably too late at this point, but I’ve reflected on it. What occurred this time is all my fault. I’d like to emphasize that when we make our apology to the fans of the show.

Kohaku-san and J did nothing wrong. Everything bad that happened came from me.

If we phrase it like that, then we can avoid casting dark shadows over Kohaku-san and J’s futures. At the very least, we can keep it to a minimum.

All the bad things are mine to carry, as MaM.

madara