Chapter 2

Ohh. Crazy:B is getting pretty popular, huh. We’re in the same agency, so they come up in conversation a lot.

During the summer they were total pests though. But it’s like everyone’s forgotten about that now—They keep fawning all over them.

I guess the VP is just really good at putting out fires and sweeping away the ashes. It was surprising how out of sight, out of mind it was.

In this industry, only the winners can win~ Well, that’s basically how all of adult society is. It’s chock full of bad guys—I don’t think anyone would argue against that.

Even if you’re a good kid and are always on your best behavior, it doesn’t guarantee your success—That’s how it’s set up. Kinda depressing, but that’s reality.

Then, should we—

No way, you shouldn’t have to force yourself to be bad boys if it doesn’t suit you. I’m pretty tired of it, myself. Pretending to be bad isn’t any fun… It’ll just wear you down.

So it’s better to just earnestly keep at it.

That kinda honest work fits me better. I dunno about the rest of UNDEAD, but that’s how it is for me at least.

And besides, it’s usually pretty hard to succeed when you’ve got a disposition like Crazy:B.

They only succeeded by taking risky gambles, winning, and repeating that over and over again.

But they were walking a dangerous tightrope where a single loss would put them back at square one. If you have someone you want to protect, you shouldn’t live your life like that.

What’s so wrong about working an honest job at a nine-to-five with a steady monthly income?

Sure, people would be impressed if you got rich quick by striking it big at a casino.

But making enough to do whatever you want and keep you afloat for the rest of your life? The odds of that are slim to none. Crazy:B was lucky, but not just anyone can be Crazy:B.

But anyone can be an idol. If someone loves you, you’re already their idol, right?

……

And if you can become that kind of idol, you can advocate for a system where anyone can at least make a living—

So I appreciate what Tenshouin-kun, or should I say ES, are trying to do, and I support them.

If this SS is going to further stabilize and develop ES, then I want to do whatever I can to help that.

I bet the others think the same way too.

That’s why, even though everyone thinks that this year’s SS is really strange, we’re all cooperating instead of trying to resist it.

Wouldn’t anyone be happy to see the group or organization they’re part of grow into something better?

Yeah, that’s true. But if people are being sacrificed—There’s no justice in that.

Yeah. It looks like there’s a lot of units who can’t stomach that. And there are plenty of people who don’t like that Tenshouin-kun’s the one in charge, either.

But ES is definitely improving the standing of us idols, and we’re getting a stable income out of it.

There are so many people who were saved by the structure of the organization we call ES.

As long as that’s true, ES will still be its own kind of justice. And when one type of justice butts heads with another, the one that wins will become the true justice.

I guess that’s where we’re at right now—justice and justice pitted against each other. And that’s what SS is: a war. Probably.

We’ve been fighting a war for a long time, huh. First at Yumenosaki, now at ES.

Ever since the dawn of man, we’ve been doing that kinda thing, no matter the time, place, or method.

But fortunately, humans keep evolving as we gain more and more experience. Right now, we’ve got a war called SS here on our homeland—

But unlike the wars we had in the past with all those bullets whizzing by, there are almost no casualties, and no blood is spilled. Instead, we entertain people with song and dance, and we even make them happy.

It’s a pretty peaceful war, even if that sounds like a contradiction in itself.

If that’s the kinda war we’re fighting, I’ll fill out the ranks. Or it’s more like, I didn’t do anything at all during the War in Yumenosaki—I thought it had nothing to do with me. So this time, I want to do my part.

There’s not much I can do. But if I’d just done something back then—

Maybe I could have protected Rei-kun and Koga-kun and them, or Kanata-kun and Souma-kun and… And maybe none of them would have gotten hurt. And maybe that was never possible, but maybe I could’ve prevented some of their wounds, or even heal them.

I don’t want to grow old with regrets like that, that I could have done something.

I may have been forced into this war, but I want to try and do something instead of running around or crying and acting like a victim.

All I can do right now is wander aimlessly through this desert.

But I’ll at least do that with all I’ve got. Do whatever I can, right? Even if I’m just being led around by the nose, even if I look back on this one day and regret it.

I just don’t want to sit by and do nothing anymore.

……