Chapter 1

—Thanks for meeting with me.

Oh, of course.

Fufu. It’s been a while since I was last interviewed, so I’m a bit nervous. I hope you’ll forgive me if I stumble over my words or behave strangely.

No, you’re incredibly dignified.

Thank you. You probably know this, but I’m employed as a teacher at a high school called Yumenosaki Academy.

I’m used to meeting with both students and their parents.

I am worried that I’ll end up speaking more as a teacher than an idol and model, actually… At this point, I’m basically your average person, both in name and substance.

You’re too modest. Now, Kunugi-sensei—

Please, call me Kunugi-san. If you call me sensei, I’ll start thinking we’re actually having a parent-teacher conference about your child’s future.

I’ll keep that in mind. However, Kunugi-san, it seems you’ve been performing with a group of students under the name “Ba-barrier,” so I would say you’re still active.

I think there are fans who are attracted to your more mature character—or rather, the way you act as a mentor to those children.

Is that so? In that case, should I act more like a mentor figure for this interview?

Do whatever you like. …All right, now that we’ve broken the ice—

First off, for those who don’t know about you, Kunugi-san, would you mind giving a brief overview of yourself?

Sure, that would be necessary. I didn’t see much success while I was active, so I’d imagine the majority of people aren’t familiar with me.

Honestly, I’ve even been wondering why I was asked to be interviewed in the first place, especially after all this time.

You’re still too modest. Back when you were working full-time as a gravure model, at least, I remember you were so popular that people thought you were the best thing since sliced bread in the modeling world.

Well, that’s true enough.

My modeling career was pretty smooth sailing, to the point that my young, naive self got full of himself and thought he could do anything he wanted.

You were even known as the Sparkling Prince of the modeling world. Then after all of your success, you decided to enroll in Yumenosaki Academy and become an idol, correct?

Yes. You know me pretty well.

It’s only natural to do your research before heading into an interview.

Fufu, I’m sure it was much more difficult to research my idol career than it was my modeling career.

Of course, this isn’t self-deprecation. Back then, I was sinking in many, many ways.

This time, I am actually wanting to inquire about your time as a model.

I heard as much. It’s been over a decade since then, though, and there aren’t many people who have kept working as models.

It’s a similar case for idols, but it’s hard to continue working in this field for a long time.

Both now and in the past, youth is valued in this country. As people age, their appearance changes.

It’s fine if you can find a second career path such as an idol or an actor, but few people have such good fortune.

I see. Only a select few geniuses can continue to shine indefinitely in their careers, and no one ever pays any notice to the countless people who lost the game and fell to the wayside.

The fickle and adulterous pigs of the world don’t care what scraps they’re fed. They forget so easily, and then they pretend as if it never even happened.

……

Ah, forgive me. I got a little carried away.

It’s fine. I’m somewhat of a boring person, and I often put my students to sleep when I’m teaching…

So it would help me out if you can make up for what I lack.

No, that was rude of me. Let’s return to the topic at hand.

Very well. …So you’d like to hear about when I was a model, yes?

I feel like I’d just be bragging endlessly about myself, though. Wouldn’t that be painful to listen to?

Oh, by all means, brag as much as you like. That’s the whole purpose of this interview, even.

I think you’d only get backlash from publicizing a thing like that. Of course, it’s not as if “Kunugi Akiomi” is a name that would suffer from being stained or damaged.

But in any case, I wouldn’t want to stir up controversy when I’m always so self-righteous in front of my students—

So how about I focus on the mistakes I made in the past, hm?

Young people wouldn’t enjoy listening to an old man’s tales of heroism, but they might be interested in his blooper reel.

Then by all means.

All right. It looks like your interests lie in that area, as well.

Now where to begin…

When I think about your failures during that time, one thing always comes to mind: that dreadful department store’s—

Ah… The incident that forced me to suspend my modeling work for a time.

I can’t change anything at this point, but I’d like to talk about the truth behind that incident.

For privacy reasons, I can’t reveal the names of the people involved, though.

I’ll give them aliases: A-kun, B-kun, and C-kun.

So—this is the story of what happened to me and three beautiful, adorable child models.