Chapter 124

“I can tell. She’s got her public face on.” I remembered what happened during the field trip. When I went along with a guy trying to hit on her. “I don’t think fireworks are the only show those two guys want.” “Please don’t put it crudely like that,” I said. I had overheard a popular guy mention once before how he did something similar. Apparently, they’d take the girls over behind the shrines or by the river. I took a deep breath and strode over to Fushimi. “Fushi-Fushimi. Sorry to make you wait.” I fumbled it. “Oh, Ryou. Where have you been?” She looked the same as always. Not particularly worried or scared. “Oh, Fushimi, is that your boyfriend?” the fashionable man with glasses said jokingly. He looked to be in his forties. Fushimi shrank, and her face turned red. “S-something like that.” Are we? Is being childhood friends that similar? “Takashiro, please. What if they’re not there yet?” The chubby man helped her out. “Oh, then I’ve messed up. Sorry, us oldsters always jump to conclusions when we see a young couple.” Takashiro, the fashionable guy, apologized. I figured Fushimi knew them, since he knew her name. Then I realized Himeji wasn’t with us. She was observing from afar. “Ryou, the plump man over here is my teacher at the Thespian Academy—Mr. Hashimoto.” Takashiro and Hashimoto. Got it. “Nice to meet you.” I bowed. “Sorry to get in the way of you two enjoying the festival, mister boyfriend,” Takashiro said. “S-something like that,” Fushimi replied, neither denying nor confirming it, shrinking even more and getting redder. Come to think of it, Mr. Matsuda also asked about my relationship with Himeji. I should probably clear up the misunderstanding now. “I’m Takamori. We’re not really a couple. We’re childhood friends.” Fushimi’s smile vanished. Her eyes were empty, like a doll’s. I didn’t know what was going on, but Mr. Hashimoto promptly explained: “I wanted to introduce Takashiro to her. It didn’t have to be today, but since I heard he was around, I thought why not.” “You can have one, too, mister childhood friend.” He gave me his business card. “Thank you.” I took a look at it. Souichirou Takashiro, representative of the Cast Stadium Office. “Since you were giving me suspicious looks.” …He noticed. “Mr. Hashimoto just told me about him. He says he’s the president of a company that manages models, extras, and other celebrities,” Fushimi explained about Cast Stadium Office, after noticing I looked confused. So…a talent agency? That’s when I realized he had a similar air about him to Mr. Matsuda’s. He appeared, how should I put it? Otherworldly? It seemed like they were already done talking, or perhaps they never intended to talk too long—they left and walked over to the stalls for some beers right away. Himeji came back, and she glanced in the direction where the other two had been. She probably hid after realizing she knew them. “Oh, Ai! Where have you been? Why weren’t you answering my texts? You too, Ryou.” “Sorry. I had it on silent, so I didn’t notice.” Didn’t you say you were in contact with them? You never told them where we were? “My phone’s dead. Sorry.” “Geez.” She groaned. Fushimi got a text from Mana saying she was with Torigoe, so we met up with them. The five of us watched the latter half of the fireworks from the sidewalk.