I knew it. I just don’t get along with Mizuki-san.
Ever since our Genesistars days, she was always scolding me, even though I was younger. If she hated me, I wish she’d just said so clearly.
“I didn’t come here today to fight with you, Ayane.”
“Says the one who’s been hostile this whole time.”
“That’s because you— …No, let’s stop this pointless arguing.”
Mizuki-san took a sip of water, then turned to face me.
“There are two things I want to tell you.”
Murmuring “First…,” Mizuki-san looked straight at me.
“I want to apologize for what happened two years ago.”
So that’s why she came to see me after all this time…
“An apology… for what?”
Aihara-san, sitting beside me, asked quietly.
Since Aihara-san was here… I couldn’t avoid talking about that incident.
“Aihara-san, you know that Mizuki-san and I quit being idols at the same time, right?”
“Yeah. It was all over the morning news. Kiraboshi Ayane quit for her studies, and Hoshihara Mizuki left to go independent as a singer-songwriter, right?”
“That’s what it looked like on the surface… but.”
“So the truth was different?”
Mizuki-san stayed silent.
Well, of course she wouldn’t explain it herself.
“…Two years ago, Mizuki-san suggested that I transfer to another agency.”
“Transfer?!”
As I revisited those memories, I slowly broke them down and put them into words.
“Mizuki-san wanted to become a solo artist, so she planned to move to another agency—and she encouraged me to do the same.”
“But wouldn’t that be… a betrayal?”
I nodded slightly.
Moving to a different agency after graduating due to popularity or age is normal—but Genesistars back then was at the peak of its popularity.
Mizuki-san and I were at the center of it all, pushing the group to the level of a national idol phenomenon.
“Of course, I couldn’t accept transferring at our peak. Our opinions clashed, and it turned into a fight.”
“A fight…? Between Kiraboshi Ayane and Hoshihara Mizuki?”
Back then, I wasn’t thinking clearly.
Because I trusted Mizuki-san completely as the group’s leader, being invited to leave together hurt more than anything.
To me, the idea of the two of us quitting felt unforgivable.
After that intense argument, we stopped speaking entirely.
And in the end… our actions put a damper on Genesistars’ popularity.
“Not long after, the company found out Mizuki-san had been in contact with another agency. The president told her to graduate—and at the same time, I was told to graduate too.”
“But that’s not your fault, Sasaki-chan…”
“I don’t know where it started, but rumors spread within the group that Mizuki-san retired because of me.”
“Genesistars had ninety members. There were factions inside the group, too. If I had stayed while those rumors circulated, there would’ve been serious conflict with the members close to Mizuki-san.”
“That’s awful…”
“You know how troublesome the world of girls can be, right, Aihara-san?”
“I… do, but still.”
The president didn’t fire me without thinking.
He knew what would happen if I stayed—and chose to let me go.
“So yeah. That’s why I quit being an idol.”
As soon as I finished speaking, Mizuki-san bowed so deeply her forehead nearly touched the table.
“Ayane… I’m sorry.”
Two years had passed since then.
The anger had faded—but my distrust of Mizuki-san remained.
“Even if you apologize now, I can’t forgive you… and I can’t be angry either. I can’t throw my feelings from back then at you anymore.”
“…I know. Even so, I wanted to apologize. That’s why—truly, I’m sorry.”
✳︎✳︎
After the conversation ended, Sasaki-chan stepped away, leaving just me and MIZUKI-san.
MIZUKI-san stared silently at the droplets of water on the table, clearly lost in thought.
“I don’t believe you’re the kind of person who would betray the group! There had to be a reason, right?”
“…………”
“MIZUKI-san!”
“…At our peak, Genesistars shone too brightly because of me and Kiraboshi Ayane. We were holding back the growth of the younger generation.”
“What…?”
MIZUKI-san wiped the moisture from her eyes and looked out the window to her right.
“Many idol groups cling to the popularity of charismatic members, and as a result, the whole group declines. Thinking of Genesistars’ future, I believed a major decision was necessary. That decision was the transfer. But—ultimately, I was wrong.”
Two years after their departure.
To a casual fan like me, Genesistars now felt like they’d fallen from the top to somewhere below the middle.
“It’s selfish, but I’m glad I could apologize to Ayane. You probably don’t even want to see my face anymore, so I’ll take my leave.”
“W-wait! You said there were two things you wanted to say, didn’t you?”
“…Ah. I forgot.”
MIZUKI-san pulled a business card from her hoodie pocket and held it out to me.
“Please give this to Ayane. That’s the second thing. I’ll leave the money here, so you two can relax.”
After handing the payment to the staff, MIZUKI-san bowed and left the café.
Maybe I should’ve stopped her until Sasaki-chan came back… but I didn’t have the strength—or the right—to do that.
“Sorry to keep you waiting… Aihara-san. Where’s Mizuki-san?”
“She… left.”
“…I figured.”
Sasaki-chan’s eyes were red when she returned.
“S-sorry, Sasaki-chan!”
“Why are you apologizing, Aihara-san?”
“I just thought… if Makishima-kun were here instead of me, maybe this wouldn’t have been so painful for you.”
“It felt like something I shouldn’t have been listening to.”
If Makishima-kun had been here, he would’ve protected Sasaki-chan completely.
I’m indecisive and bad at confronting people… all I could do was listen.
“You know, Aihara-san—if it had been Makishima, he probably wouldn’t have understood half of it.”
“He’s a total soccer idiot, only knows idols on a surface level, and worst of all—he’s dense!”
“B-but—”
“I’m glad you were here, Aihara-san. If it’d been just me and Mizuki-san, we would’ve fought again like two years ago.”
“Because you were here, I could finally settle things with her.”
As she spoke, Sasaki-chan took my hand.
“So—thank you, Yuzu-chan.”
Y-Yuzu… chan.
Kiraboshi Ayane… calling me by my name.
“I-I should be the one thanking you… for telling me all of this, Ayane-chan.”
Knowing her secret made me understand Ayane-chan more.
I hope we can become even closer from now on.
“Yuzu-chan! Let’s order already.”
“Yeah!”
As I reached for the menu, something came back to me.
The business card MIZUKI-san had given me, lying on the table.
“Oh, right. MIZUKI-san asked me to give you this.”
“A business card…? Wait, this is—”
✳︎✳︎
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