“Thanks for today, Yuzu-chan.”
“Yeah! See you again, Ayane-chan.”
By the time I parted ways with Yuzu-chan at the station in front of the university, it was already evening. I transferred to the subway and headed back to my apartment.
“Still… this business card…”
Back in my room, I pulled the card Mizuki-san had left from my bag.
The name printed on it—【Sakaki Production / Sakaki Mayumi】.
The moment I saw that name at the café, chills ran all over my body.
I opened the photo stored on my phone.
Next to my awkward, nervous smile from back when I was still in elementary school, a woman was smiling coolly as she removed her mask.
That woman was Sakaki Mayumi herself.
Sakaki-san was the person who gave elementary-school me the dream of becoming an idol.
A former top idol who once dominated the scene as the center of the five-member idol group “Peace Lovers.”
She had charisma, a mature charm—and I was completely captivated by her.
Before entering high school, when I passed the audition for GenesisStars’ third generation, I even debuted with the same chestnut-colored berry-short haircut as Sakaki Mayumi, just to emulate her.
And now, that very Sakaki Mayumi was reaching out to me—through Mizuki-san—with her business card…
I was so happy I could cry, yet at the same time, I couldn’t shake the bad feeling.
I’d known about Sakaki Production for a long time, and even back when I was Kiraboshi Ayane, I’d thought about joining her agency after retiring to broaden my career.
That’s why I immediately understood what this card meant.
“This has to be… an offer to return to the entertainment world, right?”
With a conflicted expression, I opened the call screen on my phone.
I could get closer… to my idol.
Working together with Sakaki-san sounded like a dream.
It was also the path that Kiraboshi Ayane—back in her active days—had always dreamed of, and longed for.
“Which means… that’s what I—Sasaki Ayane—want—”
Buzz.
The phone vibrated in my hand.
The screen lit up with 【Incoming Call: Makishima♡】, restoring light to my clouded eyes.
“M-Makishima?”
“Oh, Sasaki… um, have you been doing okay?”
“Y-yeah… I’ve been fine.”
Ever since that kiss incident, and with Makishima busy with practice, we hadn’t met at all, making our conversation awkward on both sides.
“I ate six pancakes again today.”
“Th-that’s way too energetic! Especially your stomach!”
Makishima sounded unusually cheerful, as if he were trying to pretend that kiss never happened.
“Hey, about tomorrow’s Emperor’s Cup match…”
“Yeah.”
“I—I really want to tell you something properly.”
“Mm.”
“Even if I don’t score, or if I don’t even get to play… there’s something I really want to say.”
“Don’t get all negative on me.”
“S-sorry.”
Even though his ability to make Team A had been acknowledged, Makishima still lacked confidence, so I gave him a verbal push.
“Then let’s make a promise, like before.”
“A promise?”
“You know, like the first time we met.”
“…Ah, yeah. We did.”
The promise we made by the riverbank the first day we met.
Back then too, Makishima was feeling down, and I forced him into a promise while giving him a pep talk.
“I’ll go watch your match tomorrow, so you have to score! If you don’t, punishment game!”
“The punishment is… I have to do whatever you say, right?”
“Correct.”
“Alright… I get it.”
After responding, Makishima suddenly fell silent.
“H-huh? Makishima?”
“But in return…”
I thought the call had dropped for a second.
“If I score, let’s go home together.”
“O-okay… but what do you mean by ‘go home together’?”
“T-to my place… obviously.”
“Huh?!”
“A-anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
The call ended abruptly.
I dropped my phone and stared up at the ceiling.
“Makishima…”
My gaze fell to the business card in my hand.
What was I even hesitating over?
The place where I want to shine the most right now isn’t the entertainment world.
I came here to part ways with my former self as an idol and to become the most important person to my first love—Makishima Yuutaro.
I came here by my own choice.
I slid Sakaki-san’s business card into the middle of my photo book and tossed it into the closet.
I’m sorry, Sakaki-san, but this is my closure as the now-gone Kiraboshi Ayane.
“I am Sasaki Ayane—”
And the place where Sasaki Ayane—the me of now—wants to be the most isn’t the Budokan, or the National Stadium.
It’s right beside Makishima Yuutaro.
✳︎✳︎
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