Chapter 6

Sir! Where are you, sir?!

(Oh, this is bad… The snow is coming down much harder.)

(Based on the weather forecast, there’s a chance of a blizzard—a rare occurrence in recent years.)

(If I can’t find him soon, it’ll be a disaster. This is no laughing matter.)

(His life is in danger. And even if not, he still might catch a cold.)

(If he were to get pneumonia, it could be fatal for him as an idol… Oh, I would have no defense to give to the Master or Mistress.)

(To make matters worse, everyone seems to have gone home already in anticipation of the snowstorm…)

(Which means there are no passersby who might have caught a glimpse of him .)

(I–I feel so helpless…)

(No, I cannot give up. Even if all the world abandons him, it is the duty of a butler to stand by his master until the bitter end.)

Sir! If you hear me, please respond! Hello…?

(…? What’s that faint sound? Is it a… ringtone?)

(Could it be…? I’ve been calling him over and over—Is the call going through after all?)

(The sound is coming from over there… The tune is familiar; it’s one of fine’s—one of our songs.)

(Oh, I can hear it! It’s our symphonia!)

(That’s him…!)

Nn, waaaah! Uu… uuuwaaaah!

Waaah! Uuuu, waah…!

…Sir.

Nnngh… Hic, waaah…!

Tori. …Please, don’t cry.

…Y–Yuzuru.

Get away… Don’t look at me—

I’m fine, so! Ghh—I’ll stop crying soon, so you don’t have to worry! Just get outta here!

You don’t look fine, so I’m not going to follow those orders. …You’re going to catch a cold, so at the very least let’s go inside, Tori.

Ugh… Don’t call me by my name! You’re just a slave, so don’t be so arrogant…

I am not a slave.

Ah… Why would you throw your prososal all over like that? It’s all messed up now.

We completed it just before school, so we didn’t get to make a copy of it. Please take better care of it.

Who cares… It’s barely a proposal anyway… It’s just a pile of worthless trash. Just some paper with dreams that’ll never come true written on it.

So then, your proposal didn’t go through? Well, I did expect that to happen, to some extent.

Ngh. Why didn’t you tell me that before… I’m so embarrassed. I walked in there and submitted that with so much confidence… And then Eichi-sama just gave me this forced laugh.

I totally put him on the spot… That was so stupid of me, I’m so embarrassed—

Is that what you truly think? That everything you did was a complete waste, and that it was nothing more than an embarrassment?

I don’t think that at all. The results were rather upsetting—

But I’m sure President-sama put some deep consideration into it. So please don’t get so discouraged.

Even if it didn’t work out this time… You can still try again next time.

What next time… It’s all over. Everything’s completely done for.

Eichi-sama probably hates me. He probably thinks I’m just some stupid kid… I’m an idiot who had some weird misunderstanding and got too full of myself by submitting that proposal.

And if that’s true, there’s no way I can keep going… Eichi-sama is everything to me; I couldn’t live with myself if he hated me.

If that’s the case, then you’ll never be able to beat Trickstar.

……

They never gave up, no matter what came their way. No matter what walls or powerful adversaries stood in their path.

No matter how many defeats, failures, or bitter moments they faced.

I was able to see them from up close at Autumn Live, when I fought alongside them.

Which is why I know they would never end their journey in a place like this, crying pathetically.

And because they are people like that, they’ve reached the position they’re in now—at a height where even we have to gaze upward to see them…

Way up high, shining with a dazzling light.

Don’t you want to be someone like that, sir? A star? I—I think I would, truly.

If you feel the same… then please, take my hand.

Stop crying, stand up, and… let’s go home, where it’s warm.

If you don’t have the energy to walk, then take my hand and let me lead you. Or, if necessary, I’ll carry you.

This is my purpose in life. So please, don’t take that from me, Master.