rubestie

Season: Spring of ES! timeline

Location: Soundproof lesson room

Characters: Jin, Akiomi

*TW: mentions of death/murder

akiomi

Akiomi: Uhm. Was the one behind this project that big-shot in the magazine industry?

I was under the impression he was planning to go into retirement, but it seems he’s still energetic despite his age.

Jin: Yup. We’ve talked a couple times now and he is in great health.

He did make me worry though, since he was talking about this being his “final wish~” and stuff.

…As for the magazine industry, I think a former successful model like yourself would be more knowledgeable than me.

Does this project smell fishy to you? I’m getting some real suspicious vibes all over the place.

Akiomi: I wonder. I’m a traitor who turned my back to the magazine and modeling world, remember…

Even if there is a dark side to this, there’s no one in the industry kind enough to tell you about it.

Rather, I’m terrified that my feud with the industry is going to cause trouble for today’s young models.

That they’ll be turned away because they’re from Yumenosaki, or because they’re affiliated with me.

People might think just because they’re my students that they would behave as I did.

That’s why I try to avoid interacting too much with the currently active models in this school.

…Is that too self-conscious of me?

Jin: Nope. People tend to unnecessarily hold on to grudges more often than you’d think, after all.

Even after I’ve retired, I still sometimes get people trying to harass me, you see.

Akiomi: Right, like that cursed video someone sent you recently. What ended up being the deal with that again?

Jin: You tell me… It kinda gave me the creeps so I didn’t think too much about it. I asked Hasumi to burn the video for me.

Akiomi: Hm. That old rival of yours who appeared in the video, what was their name again?

Did you try to reach out to them? They are still alive… right?

Jin: What do you mean rival… There’s no way I could work up the guts to reach out to someone like that, is there.

If it had turned out they weren’t involved in making the video, I’d feel bad for reopening their old wounds. And if they were in fact behind the video, I wouldn’t even want to talk.

…But you know. Their name was in the list of retired idols proposed as participants for Project-Saga.

Their career consisted of being used for profit by the rotten entertainment industry, and they became known as the “eternal runner-up” after I debuted.

But up until that point they actually made quite the name for themselves.

Akiomi: Huh. Then maybe you two will be able to reunite after all this time with this project.

Jin: I’d rather not… I wouldn’t even know how to face them after all this time. It’s not like we have any good memories to look back on together.

Akiomi: Even then, that person was the super idol Jin Sagami’s rival after all.

If you were to reunite after all this time, or even face off against each other again, there might be a lot of people excited to see it.

As a former fan myself, I’d love to see it. It would be somewhat nostalgic.

Jin: Well the whole project is made for the purpose of giving middle-aged people a nostalgic feeling. It’s stupid.

Though I bet the old guys would rejoice if we did the whole “showdown between old rivals~” cliche.

But there’s no telling how many retired idols will want to join this low-budget project without a finished schedule.

I laughed when I saw the list, actually. It felt like the person in charge had some “Super Idols ✰ All Stars” in mind and just wrote down every name he could think of.

It felt like some poor intern had been forced into writing the list, rather than the big-shot in charge doing it himself.

Even Hidaka-san, who still hasn’t retired, and that Akehoshi, who obviously can’t participate, were written down on the list.

They probably copied everything off some idol yearbook from way back when.

Akiomi: Wha, is that person still alive today?

If you were to get on stage alongside the great Hidaka-senpai and Akehoshi-senpai, then it would truly be a dreamlike All Stars showdown.

akiomi+jin

Jin: No, that person is already dead. He was killed by the entertainment industry. Or rather, we all let him die.

We all strangled him to death, the man who was the most beloved idol of all.

…It would be wrong to try and make that into a beautiful story, or forget it and treat it as something that never happened.

As long as innocent people like him are sacrificed and killed, it’s just hypocritical of the entertainment industry to preach about love, dreams, and hope.

It’s so warped, it almost makes me laugh.

Akiomi: However. Throwing away all the hard work of our predecessors just because of one single tragedy is also…

Wouldn’t that be true hypocrisy, a true folly?

Jin: Being an idol is a fraud, honestly. An honest salaryman is more praiseworthy; at least that line of work contributes to society.

Akiomi: Why are you being so edgy right now. Well, I guess there’s no helping it… Are you gonna be okay like this, “Sagami-senpai”?

Jin: I don’t know. I just need to act cool until this project is over with. That would be enough to fulfill my duty so I could move on without feeling guilty.

Akiomi: Ahaha. Thank you for your service then, …So you truly have no intention of making a real comeback as an idol?

Jin: There’s a reason why I retired in the first place. And I doubt anyone even wants me to come back at this point. This whole thing is really weird. I’m gonna be so mad if there’s actually some conspiracy going on behind the scenes…

Akiomi: H~m. If you’re that worried, maybe it would be best if I also did some investigating.

Even if I’m on bad terms with the magazine industry, I still have more connections with active members of the entertainment industry than you do, after all…

If I dug around, I might be able to unearth some new information.

Jin: N~... I doubt it’s something that grandiose, though. Just in case, you could check it out whenever you have free time.

I want to avoid creating trouble for the students if possible, after all.

A~ah… Why did things come to this, it’s getting really annoying now.

Akiomi: Don’t be like that. You’re cast as the main character of the story for the first time in a long time. Enjoy it to the fullest. I’ll be watching over you joyfully as well.

akiomi+jin