They all pushed me!

And Seiko Watanabe also re-read all the lyrics of "Dissonance".

[I will never say YES again, and I will never remain silent again. I hate this.]

[It would be strange if no one refuted anything.]

[If you just flatter, what's the point of living?]

as well as……

Saito Ichigo pressed his finger hard on the next line of lyrics:

[If you want to deceive others again, kill me first]

He just felt that Hoshino Ai seemed to have gone from one extreme to another.

She actually wanted to use countless lies to cover up her true thoughts layer by layer.

But now she wanted to dig out all those deepest things, bloody, to prove her feelings.

She seemed scared.

I am afraid that I will become the child in the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".

…as if she was afraid that person wouldn’t believe her.

It is a misfortune to want to be loved but not be loved, and it is also a misfortune to want to love but not know how to love.

Chapter 5: This is my secret (k)

A week later, B Komachi's new single "Dissonance" was released, and it reached the second place on the Japan Oricon Weekly Chart at an astonishing speed in the first week. This also became the best initial movement (first week sales) performance of a single by B Komachi in more than three years since its establishment.

“The reason is actually very simple.”

Hoshino Ai took off her slippers deftly, sat cross-legged on the sofa, and picked up the Strawberry Bunny doll that was placed aside.

"In fact, idols are not all about selling sexual fantasies and sex, right? For many people in the youth group, or in other words, the [middle school] stage?"

"Compared to pure sexual fantasies, sometimes I actually prefer rebellious things like fighting against the whole world, opposing authority, and being unique. Sexual fantasies are just a category of zhong ni fantasies."

“Freshness is very important, and the piece itself is of good quality.”

Beichuan Liang nodded thoughtfully and asked with some doubt:

"So where did Love learn these things?"

"Why does it sound like Liang doesn't believe I can say such a very-cultured thing?"

Hoshino Ai gave Beichuan Liang a coquettish look, rested her chin on the head of the bunny doll in her arms, and played with the bunny's long ears with both hands:

“That’s what I learned in the theater.”

"At first I thought that the fan groups who come to see idols and the audience groups who come to see dramas would be very different, but when Liang was the lead actor, I could see many young audiences in the audience, and everyone was fascinated by Liang's performance."

"From that time on, I realized that the performers on the stage are projections of the audience, and they are used to projecting their likes, dislikes and emotions onto the stage."

Hoshino Ai raised the rabbit doll to cover her face:

"Besides, the drama entertainment industry and the idol entertainment industry are essentially the same thing. Regardless of whether the acting is good or bad, packaging and promotion are what are important. Even if a person is a rare genius, if he is not good at management and promotion, no one may be interested in him. Of course, if the packaging is perfect, even if the acting is average, at least he can become a topic of conversation for a short time."

"I know that. After Liang became famous, many other theater troupes also launched various child stars as selling points. Some of them took advantage of Liang's popularity and became a little famous. The success of these few people led to the craze of more people."

At this point, Hoshino Ai held the rabbit's right hand and danced it up and down in the air:

“But now it’s all gone.”

Then, she flashed half of her face from behind the rabbit:

"Just like when some people say "I love you" on stage with a smile, their fans will feel happy, and when some people make a heart shape with a cold face on stage, their fans will also feel happy, because in the eyes of their fans, these are all moves to please the audience. In the final analysis, this is the role of personality."

After finishing these words, Hoshino Aicai took the rabbit doll back into his arms and stretched out his hand towards Kitagawa Ryo with a smile:

"This is the end of the current super popular beautiful girl idol Hoshino Ai's small class. Remember to pay the tuition after listening."

"…Is ice cream okay?"

"Please give me an orange bear, thank you!"

"No, Ruby took the last one."

"Then Strawberry Bunny?"

“There is even less of this.”

"Doesn't that leave only one option?"

"Is it possible that there is more than just this brand of ice cream? You haven't finished the pile of ice cream you had last time."

Beichuan Liang went to the kitchen and took out a box of Haagen-Dazs from the refrigerator:

"Here, your favorite Haagen-Dazs."

"It feels... not as good as—"

Hoshino Ai showed a slightly disgusted expression.

"I remember you fighting for [Haagen-Dazs freedom] before."

“Because I knew such a brand at that time.”

After saying this, Hoshino Ai paused, but still did not say the next sentence.

When filling out the idol profile form for fans, for "Favorite Food", there was only one brand I could name.

She still remembers her profile, which now seems quite ridiculous.

As for my favorite clothing brand, just like with food, I only filled in the only one I knew, Uniqlo.

My favorite book to read is not really anything I’ve read, so I can only write “secret”.

Where did I want to go the most? At that time, the only places I knew were my home, which was already a vague memory, and the orphanage surrounded by high walls, so I filled it with [secret] again.

I remember that Gao Feng and the others laughed and asked me whether it was confidentiality, and that it would not be a big deal if some problems with the naming were disclosed to others.

Why is it a secret? Because I don’t know it myself.

Shaking her head and throwing away all the past thoughts, Hoshino Ai said with a smile:

"But if I were to choose now, I would definitely choose Strawberry Bunny and Orange Bear!"

"Because it was the endorsement advertisement shot by yourself?"

"Hehe~ A secret."

Hoshino Ai put her finger on her lips and winked at Kitagawa Ryo.

She didn't want to lie anymore, but she also knew that many things couldn't be said directly.

Her sincere words to her friend did help her regain the favor of B Komachi Nakatane Takamine and Watanabe Seiko, but this does not mean that true love is an invincible weapon.

It was probably at this time that Hoshino Ai truly understood the meaning of the secret.

The real secret is always kept in the deepest part of your heart, but if you tell the other person it is a secret like this.

In fact, it means to let the other party guess.

But now is not the time to reveal the answer.

That night, Hoshino Ai once again took out the personal profile from that year.

I don't know what kind of mood she was in, but she started filling it out again.

[Favorite food: Orange Bear and Strawberry Bunny]

[Where I want to go most: I want to go to Miyazaki Prefecture again]

[Favorite book: The Tale of Genji]

[Favorite clothing brand: All the ones he gave me]

Finally, Hoshino Ai added a question that was not on the original questionnaire.

【Favorite person】

Hoshino Ai turned the pen in her hand and was reluctant to write. In the end, even she felt that she was being pretentious, as it was clear that the previous questions had already pointed to this answer.

Secret (for now).

She finally wrote this down, then smiled to herself, put down her pen and prepared to wash up and go to bed.

The evening breeze blew gently in from the window, closing the girl's mind gently.

-------------------------------------

Another three years passed.

"From today on, Ruby is an elementary school student!"

Kitagawa Ryo personally put on the red schoolbag unique to elementary school students for his sister. This schoolbag is shockproof, collision-proof, durable, and can be used as a survival tool in a variety of dangerous situations. It has almost become a hidden urban legend in recent years. Even Kitagawa Ryo himself had heard in his previous life that his neighbors rushed to buy this kind of schoolbag when they traveled to Japan.

"Brother, how is it?"

Kitagawa Rumi, who is already seven years old, has grown her hair a lot longer, so every morning Kitagawa Ryo has another task of helping her braid her hair. However, Kitagawa Ryo still feels a sense of accomplishment when he sees his sister with a beautiful ponytail and dressed like a doll jumping in front of him with her schoolbag on her back.

"Ruby is the cutest girl in the world."

Kitagawa Ryo, who just celebrated his fifteenth birthday, is much taller than he was three years ago, and is growing rapidly like a giant tube. He half-knelt in front of Kitagawa Rumi, touched his sister's head, and did not hesitate to praise her.

But Kitagawa Rumi still seemed unsatisfied. She moved closer to Kitagawa Ryo's arms, tilted her head slightly and raised her right cheek, as if she wanted a kiss.

But before she could start to act coquettishly, the phone rang from Beichuan Liang's shirt pocket.

"——Sorry, sorry, I've been so busy these past two days that I almost forgot that today is Ruby's first day in elementary school."

"You haven't set off yet?"

It was a very familiar voice. Beichuan Liang replied with a smile:

"That can't be helped. After all, Ai is now a popular idol in real life, and her schedule is packed every day."

"Ryo is just insulting me by saying that, and you missed the beautiful girl."

"Yes, yes, she is an active and very popular beautiful girl idol."

[How can a woman who is almost 20 years old still be a beautiful girl?]

Kitagawa Rumi muttered this in her heart.

The sudden rise of Hoshino Ai and B Komachi in the past three years has become one of the hottest topics in the idol circle. Unlike traditional idols, they changed their positioning starting from the song "Dissonance". Their successive singles such as "Silent Majority" and "Black Sheep" all share the same style of rebellion, anti-authority, and emphasis on their own uniqueness, which caused quite a stir among young people.

The number of followers on Twitter for Hoshino Ai recently exceeded 1.2 million. Under the operation of Berry Pro Agency, B Komachi has not only successfully carried out nationwide tours, but is also said to be preparing for a performance at the Tokyo Dome. Her business is booming.

However, the only thing that made Kitagawa Rumi feel slightly comforted was that as Hoshino Ai became more and more popular and Kitagawa Ryo grew from a child to a teenager, the contact between them inevitably became less.

Scenes like him freely entering and leaving Beichuan Liang's house and rolling around on the sofa eating ice cream are basically never seen again.

In the eyes of many audiences outside the circle, Kitagawa Ryo and Hoshino Ai only met during their time in the LALALAI troupe, and now they are just ordinary friends.

Most of the viewers who became fans of Hoshino Ai later didn't even know that their idol had once been a drama actor. They were simply attracted to Hoshino Ai as an "idol".

"Love sister."

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo handing the phone to her, Kitagawa Rumi quickly gathered her thoughts and called her sweetly as always.

"Yeah, I'll work hard in school."

"I'm also practicing dancing, but my style is different from Ai's. I still want to be a traditional idol."

"I will watch Sister Ai's performance, but it's getting late now, so I'll hang up first, ok."

After a few words, she ended the call with Hoshino Ai. Kitagawa Rumi didn't even give her brother and Hoshino Ai a chance to say another word. She just hung up the phone.

"Brother, can you pick me up from school today?"

"I'm afraid it won't work today, but I've talked to Abiko's father. You're both in a primary school now, and your two families don't live far from each other, so he can just pick you up and bring you back together."

"How about being able to go home after school with your best friends?"

Kitagawa Rumi's mouth twitched slightly:

"Of course—happy."

She now really regrets that casual finger she pointed at him. Although the two of them did become good friends afterwards, Kitagawa Rumi always had the feeling that I became friends with you because of your cat (crossed out) brother.

Ever since she found Kitagawa Ryo, a perfect male protagonist who can also serve as a hand model, foot model and other models, Samejima Abiko has been thinking about him for no reason.

I feel like if this continues, Kitagawa Rumi won't be surprised if the other party asks her something like "Can you let your brother be a nude model for me?"

While thinking about being on guard against her little painter friend, Kitagawa Rumi obediently went out and got into Mr. Izaki's car.