"Stop following me," Ai said, noticing Hiko trailing behind her since school. The more she saw him, the more annoyed she became.
Seeing him also stirred up memories of a young girl without parents, taken in by a nun and eventually becoming one herself.
It overlapped uncomfortably with her own recent decision to become an idol after being persuaded by Ichigo.
The more she thought about it, the more agitated she became. She had finally met someone who made her feel at ease, yet in the end, he seemed no different from the others.
"Sigh… that's why I didn't want to tell you that story in the first place. But you insisted," Hiko said helplessly.
He hadn't planned to adapt the story at all. But against her persistence—and his own curiosity about her reaction, he gave in.
In the end, he had only reaped what he sowed.
"Even if I hadn't asked you, you would've come up with that story anyway," Ai thought bitterly, unconsciously grouping him with the people from her past and labeling him as malicious.
From then on, no matter what Hiko said, she only heard excuses.
"I already told you, it has an original work. I only knew a little about it and tried to adapt it," Hiko replied, still helpless.
But he knew it was impossible to explain things clearly now.
Once doubt takes root, it grows. And once prejudice settles in, it is almost impossible to shake.
"Then why won't you say who wrote the original? Why adapt it? And why adapt it like this?" Ai pressed him, firing off questions in rapid succession.
Hiko answered at once: "The original author is named Akasaka. In his story, the setting was abandonment by parents, not simply—"
"Enough! Stop talking! I don't want to see you again! Go away!"
The word "abandonment" struck Ai like a blade. It brought back the pain of being cast aside by her mother, unwanted, unloved. To hear someone use it as story material only fueled her anger, and before she knew it, she shouted.
The moment her voice left her, regret came crashing down.
She had only just begun to open up to him, only just felt what it was like to have someone care about her. But then the thought returned, perhaps Hiko was just like the others. So she bit back the urge to apologize, turned her head away, and refused to look at him.
Hiko's heart sank.
She had cut him off mid-sentence, refusing to listen, her words, "I don't want to see you again" piercing deeper than she could imagine.
For a moment, he felt like turning away for good, never speaking to her again.
But reason pulled him back.
"I know you're angry right now and overthinking things. You can't hear me out," Hiko said steadily.
"No matter what I say, even if it's right, even if it's true, you'll instinctively reject it, and twist every word with suspicion."
"That's why I wanted to wait until you calmed down to explain. But what you just said... Since you don't want to see me, then I won't follow you anymore."
He stopped walking, his gaze fixed silently on Ai's back.
Ai didn't reply. She only pressed forward toward the practice room.
It still failed, Hiko thought with a heavy heart. So what is her impression of me now?
Even so, he didn't go home. Instead, he sought out Maeda Daiko, instructing her to call him immediately if Ai left. After that, he went straight to Ichigo's office.
'I messed up again…' Ai thought to herself, her face downcast. 'I said the worst thing you can say to a friend. I must've broken Hiko-kun's heart. Tomorrow, he'll probably ignore me, just like everyone else did… and I'll be alone again.'
She had heard his final words, the sincerity in them, and felt their bond shatter. But she couldn't bring herself to say, "I don't dislike you."
At that moment, Watanabe Akane, a fellow member of the idol group, noticed Ai's gloomy expression. Yesterday she had shone brightly even while gasping for breath during practice. Now she looked pale.
"Ai, are you not feeling well today? You look very pale," Akane asked.
"No."
Ai quickly put on a bright smile and replied cheerfully, "I just ran a bit on the way here, so I'm a little tired, that's all. I'm fine, thank you."
She adjusted her mood in an instant, pushing aside thoughts of Hiko, choosing instead to focus on practice.
Meanwhile, Hiko entered Ichigo's office. Ichigo sat at his desk for once, not in the practice room.
"This is rare. You're not out watching practice today?" Hiko asked as he walked in.
"Who's spreading rumors again?" Ichigo muttered, suspecting the company grapevine.
"But isn't it true you're rarely in the office?"
Hiko had been to the company many times, and only now had he seen Ichigo actually at his desk. Normally, he was always in the practice room.
"I'm coordinating and inspecting the company. You always come after school, by then, I've already finished most things, so I go to check on their practice," Ichigo explained defensively.
"Anyway, what do you want this time?"
He knew Hiko never came without reason. In the past, he had admired Hiko's talent and tried to recruit him, but Hiko had always refused.
"I just wanted to ask if Ai's arrangements are settled. Let me see," Hiko asked directly.
"Oh, that. The idol group B Komachi has just been formed, so I plan to add her as the center," Ichigo said.
"And the manager? Who's handling her?"
"I intended to manage her myself, but given my position, I've assigned Miyako instead," Ichigo replied, a touch of regret in his voice.
"It wouldn't make much difference if you managed her, would it?" Hiko countered.
He knew that ever since Miyako married Ichigo, she'd taken a back seat in company affairs, only helping out when things piled up. To have her manage a newly joined Ai felt… off.
"I'm Ai's guardian in name, and Miyako is my wife. What's so inappropriate about that?" Ichigo asked, puzzled. Normally, Hiko wouldn't miss such an obvious fact. "You seem different today. What's wrong?"
"What problem?" Hiko blinked, not understanding.
Ichigo studied him closely. "Don't tell me, you got your test scores back today and failed?"
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