Chapter 1

Come one, come all! A sea of people to witness an old year’s end, and a new year’s arrival… ☆

Reach deeeep into the past, and voilà! I bring you the wonderfully ancient traditional art of monkey dancing, accompanied by modern music pleasant to the modern ear!

The past and present intersect and bleed into one for your utmost enjoyment!

Now, enjoy a fusion of nostalgia and modernity in this unprecedented street performance!

…Okay! That should be enough practice, good boy, good good good boy ♪

You keep up with me so well, Mr. Monkey, gooood boy! Here’s a banana for you!

Ohhh, do you not like bananas? It’s no good to be so picky! Shouldn’t you eat everything you can so you’re not performing on an empty stomach?

Really, you ought to take in sooome calories before the show.

Bananas are an ideal food because their nutrients can be absorbed efficiently and give you an instant boost of energy.

Even the members of the track and field club eat them before competitions, since they’re a sweet and delicious blessing from our earth.

(...Nn~ He still won’t eat it.)

(Mr. Monkey does his tricks properly, so it’s not exactly a problem, and it’s not necessary to be friends with him.)

(But it feels pretty lonely when he’s so unsociable and cold. Even though he’s just a monkey and it’s just a temporary relationship, we’re still working together as companions.)

(But I’ve gotta say, Mr. Monkey here reminds me of someone… Now who could that be?)

…Nn? Ohhh, Anzu-san! Fancy meeting you here! Birds of a feather flock together!

I guess kindred spirits will naturally come together, even without going out of their ways to meet ♪

Ahhh, there’s no reason to be so modest and bow!

It’s not something many people do overseas, so it’s a bit startling to see since I’m not used to it anymore. And besides, aren’t we friends?

Hahaha! How superficially polite! So we’re just “idol” and “producer” here, huh? Just making our positions crystal clear?

Well aaactually, we’re childhood friends… But it’s not fair if you set me apart from the rest and give me special treatment. Everyone else will start to complain.

Is this a good amount of distance for you?

But more importantly, Anzu-san, you’re looking a little pale… What’s wrong?

If your health is declining again or if something is worrying you, just talk it out with Mama!¹

There’s nothing shameful about asking for help during your times of need.

Hm? Yeah, I don’t want to keep digging up the past like I’m your real Mama either, but…

We can’t erase the fact that you were hospitalized, Anzu-san, and I can’t just pretend it never happened.

It may hurt to hear it, but I’ll keep bringing it up anyway.

Because every time I do, you’ll remember all the helplessness and frustration you felt back then, and that way, maybe it’ll never happen again.

That’s what it means to regret something, Anzu-san.

There are some things you can forget, and some things you can’t. Of course, you shouldn’t just harp on it forever, y’know?

You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, and this season is the time for purification, when everyone is having parties to wash away the mistakes of this past year…

I hope that you’ll keep moving forward, improving yourself based on those regrets of the past.

But fiiirst, do your best at SS at the end of the year. I’ll be cheering you on, Anzu-san.

…Hm?

Hahaha! Ahahahaha ♪

Forgive me! I see, I see… You dropped your wallet somewhere? So thaaat’s why you were looking so gloomy?

That cracks me up! Ahhh—your wallet, right? What a shame, huh?

And here I thought you’d become totally reliable, Anzu-san! But it looks like that carelessness of yours hasn’t changed a bit.

It was an unexpectedly minor problem, and I ended up laughing because I was sooo relieved to see you’re still the same as you were so long ago…

No no, sorry, sorry, I’m not trying to make fun of youuu!

Hahaha, Anzu-san, you’ve aaalways been a little airheaded…

Like that time when you thought I hid your stuffed animal somewhere up high and started hitting me over and over, but you were hugging it in your arms the whole time.

And when I pointed it out, like did just now… you turned aaall red and start squealing, just like Mr. Monkey there ♪

Since long ago you’ve always been looking off somewhere far away… so you have a bad habit of not being able to see what’s riiight in front of you.

Oh, you don’t remember that? I see, well, there are so many of those dumb moments; of cooourse you can’t remember them all!

Your brain would explode!

Okay, back on topic! I get what’s going on now! Mama will take care of it. What a stroke of good luck for you to have met me here!

For starters, I can go with an easy solution and lend you some money…

You don’t like that kind of thing, Anzu-san? Quite the stickler about those things, aren’t you?

All right, then we’ll do it like this. As you can see, I’m doing a monkey dancing street performance here as MaM. Help me out, Anzu-san.

As my producer. If you produce me well enough, I’ll pay you handsomely.

I won’t be lending you money as a friend; I’ll be compensating you for your work.

Of course, if you have urgent business to attend to, I’ll force my wallet on you… But if you have the time, I’d like it if you can help with my job.

It’s the end of the year—I don’t want to carry all of my worries, obligations, and debts into the new year…

Let’s take care of this problem, and then we can ring in the new year with a clear mind ♪