Chapter 5

Now then, shall we get going?

It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for: the second half of Star Festival.

I believe we’re either in fourth or fifth place, so our turn should be next.

Yes. More accurately, we’re in fourth place, so we’ll be performing fourth from the end of the program.

So as you said, our turn will be right after this one.

Fufu. Well, I suppose these rankings were as one could expect; we had planned to take things easy…

And we’ve been making various preparations in the event that Trickstar didn’t win.

We had to run around contacting countless people.

There’s less than a week until SS; it would have been disastrous if we’d had to make such a drastic change to our plans at the last minute.

But it looks as if our apprehensions were unfounded. Trickstar took the victory in the first half by a landslide. They’re incredible.

Fufufu, Star Fes is a send-off party for Trickstar, after all.

All of the advertising and arrangements were made so that Trickstar would stand out and flourish.

Even so—Had they been careless, they would have faced instant death and lost everything… They deserve to be commended for continuing their fight without fear or fleeing.

Amazing! We’ve witnessed something impressive; let’s give them a round of applause~ ♪

You sure are happy, Wataru… He was meant to be nothing more than a failed apprentice, but Hokuto truly blossomed into an unparalleled genius. He’s become a main character upon this stage, in both name and reality.

I’m sure it makes you emotional. It’s all right if you cry, you know ♪

A fine joke indeed! I would never be so careless as to shed a tear not written in the script! That’s the true spirit of an actor… ☆

But this is the way of idols. It’s a precious thing to cry naturally, without being staged… Those tears can’t be calculated, and so they can never become a product to sell.

We must provide a product to our paying customers, yes? So we should make arrangements to ensure they get what they want.

It’s how you build trust.

…Hm?

……

What’s wrong, Tori? You look upset. Did you really want to defeat Trickstar after all?

Are you still unsatisfied if you can’t stand at the top, no matter your circumstances?

No, I’m fine. Trickstar was really incredible today. They were almost scary… And the results reflected that, I think.

But that’s not it. Umm, Prez… are these costumes, um…?

Oh, have you noticed? Surprise~ ♪

Fufu, we used the designs you attached to your proposal as a basis for our Star Fes costumes.

The sketches were fairly rough, and I had to adjust some of the details to make it more practical.

So they’re not exact reproductions, but they’re still recognizable as the ones you gave in your proposal, right?

The design was quite well drawn up… Our personal designer gave their praise ♪

Oh, I had my little sister help me. She really likes fashion and stuff.

Haha… Now that you mention it, she’s always wearing a new, very elaborate outfit every time I see her.

I’ve been wondering where she buys them—Or are they perhaps custom-made?

Y–yeah, but… um, why’d you go with this costume? Didn’t you reject the proposal I submitted?

That’s true. But there were some parts I was able to use, so I did.

And Wataru berated me over it, too… So I reflected on it, and I ended up changing my mind—well, only slightly.

The original proposal was, to be blunt, far from permissible. Nowhere near it, in fact.

The revisions you showed me today were a bit better, but… still not something we could really use.

However, you came up with that proposal on your own, without me telling you to do so… I believe you ought to be commended for your initiative and budding independence.

In reality, in the world of adults, there’s almost no such thing as participation trophies—

But today is Christmas, and we’re supposed to have fun. And so, I made an exception ♪

For that reason, I tried to realize your plans, even if only through details such as the costume design.

This is a little Christmas present from me to you. I hope you like it.

Eichi-sama…

Despite your proposal being off the mark, you actually did quite well on it.

You don’t know about our past, so it’s useless to ask you to look at the big picture. Too many things were kept from you.

So I apologize that I judged you too harshly. I sincerely regret it.

I go on and on about looking at things fairly and whatnot…

But I may have taken it too personally. I think it touched a dark place inside of me, and I lashed out.

Perhaps I simply took out my frustration on you. You don’t know anything; you’re still so innocent and young… So I’m sorry, Tori. I really am a cruel person.