“U-Uhhmnh!” Akksy yelped, once again ridiculously loudly. She also very casually sidled around behind me as if I were a human shield. “Yesterday! Show! It was great! Really good! Awesome!”
Oh, Akksy was watching? I guess she wouldn’t miss it, come to think of it. And considering how borderline incomprehensible her words were, I assumed she was trying to talk to Yuna and Rinka now, not me.
“O-Oh. Thank you?” said Rinka.
“Makina put on an incredible show too, of course, but the two of you were just—ahh, your synergy was just perfect! If you ever put on a show with just the two of you, I swear I’ll line up at nine p.m. the day before just to make sure I get in and see Your Holinesses perform again!!!”
“‘H-Holinesses’?!” yelped Yuna.
“Line up where...?” asked Rinka.
“I will, of course, get a banner custom-made and recruit volunteers to hold it up during the show! I seriously considered getting one for this show, but seeing as it was your first ever performance, I knew there was a chance that too much support could actually be counterproductive and just put more pressure on you than ever...or so I thought, but even though I spent ages agonizing over it, having now witnessed your moment of glory with my own two unworthy eyes, I’ve realized that I was entirely wrong, all my fears were groundless, and the fact that I ever had them in the first place means that I am, in fact, worth less than a pile of garbage!”
Akksy’s faltering mumblings had done a complete about-face and morphed into a seemingly endless motormouthed ramble to end all rambles about how amazing Yuna and Rinka were. I didn’t actually catch the better part of what she’d said, to be totally honest, and since this was Yuna and Rinka’s first time meeting her, I knew they were probably having an even harder time following any of it. The looks they were giving me had some serious Really, who is she? energy, that’s for sure!
“H-Hey, Akksy? Let’s just take a second to calm down, okay? Come on, deep breaths!” I said.
“Wuh?! Ah, right. Haaah... Pheeew...”
Akksy took a deep breath. Silence fell. That seemed like the best chance I’d get, so I decided to take my shot.
“So, umm, this is Akane Hishimochi! She’s a third year, and we just became friends a few—”
“Yes, that’s right! Friends! We’re friends among friends! Downright besties!” Akksy said as she hugged me from behind.
Wha—?!
“Hmm...”
“Friends, huh...?”
Two very suspicious stares turned my way once more. Wait...did I just get myself suspected of funny business all over again?!
“It’s pretty rare for her to call someone a nickname, isn’t it?” said Yuna.
“True,” Rinka agreed. “She’s been calling us by our real names for the whole past year—ever since we met, practically.”
“I-It’s not that weird, is it?! N-No way, right...?” I stammered. But even as I made the claim, I looked back and tried to come up with some nicknames I’d called people...and only came up with Miki, which didn’t even count because that was actually just her first name, and it had never even felt like a formal nickname to begin with.
“Looks like we’ve got even more reason than usual to ask what’s going on between you two,” said Yuna.
“I mean, I dunno if ‘going on’ is the phrase I would use...”
“It’s a little late to try to keep it hidden, wouldn’t you say?” said Rinka.
“I-I’m not, really! It’s just that, umm, Akksy’s the president of the Sacrosanct fan club, so we ended up—”
“What?” Yuna and Rinka said in perfect unison, freezing up on the spot. Akksy’s shoulders jolted conspicuously as well.
Oh. Did I just mess up again somehow...?
“The Sacrosanct fan club?” Yuna repeated.
“Its president?” said Rinka.
Their stares turned to Akksy next. The look in their eyes had shifted, suspicion changing into extremely intense caution!
“Ah, I, umm, well,” Akksy babbled. She was obviously terrified, and was actually shivering.
O-Oh, duh! Sure, those two have more or less reached an acceptance of the whole Sacrosanct thing, but that doesn’t mean they’re one hundred percent okay with everything that the fan club that worships them does on account of it!
It all made sense now. No wonder Akksy had gone from flying on cloud nine to plunging into the depths of hell over the course of a single sentence! And unfortunately, I couldn’t just sit back and watch her suffer...!
“H-Hey, guys?” I said. “Sure, she’s the president of the fan club, but, umm, I’m pretty sure she’s only doing it because she genuinely admires the two of you, and, umm...”
“Miss President...?” said Rinka.
“Y-Yesh?!” Akksy squeaked.
Th-They’re ignoring me...! And that glance they both just shot me felt like a Be quiet for a minute, Yotsuba sort of look for sure!
“The thing is, we’ve heard a story or two about how you’ve been spreading pictures of us all around the school,” said Yuna.
“I-I, umm...”
Oh, yikes! The look in her eyes has gone from “caution” to “outright hostility”!
I’d actually heard those rumors as well. Before I actually met one of them—that being Koganezaki—I’d been under the impression that the fan-club people were doing some pretty terrible stuff when it came to Yuna and Rinka’s privacy. Nowadays I had confidence that Koganezaki would be there to keep things in check and made sure nobody crossed any really nasty lines, but considering that Yuna and Rinka were the subjects of those theoretical privacy invasions—and also that they barely knew Koganezaki or Akksy at all—I really couldn’t blame them for reacting like this.
“I-I’m... I’m...” said Akksy. “I’m sooo sorrryyyyyyyyy!!!”
She’s groveling! Full-blown, face-pressed-to-the-ground groveling! Sure, I’ve done that my fair share of times too (or it sure feels like it, anyway), but wow, watching someone else do it is...well, it sure is something!
Silence.
Ahhh?! And Yuna and Rinka aren’t reacting at all! It must be because they’re already used to seeing people (read: me) grovel before them—it’s lost its impact with repetition! I’m so sorry, Akksy! It’s all my fault for blowing through my grovel-stock so carelessly!
“Desire’s like a stress ball,” Akksy muttered.
“What?” said Yuna.
“The more you try to squeeze it down, the harder it pushes back against you, until finally, bang! It bursts all over you...and then there’s just no fixing it anymore. And that means that some kids would end up going crazy for sure, more or less,” she carried on, still speaking in a quiet, almost inaudible murmur.