I’m still searching for editors!
And some company,
And Money!!
(It’s set at the same time as the previous chapter, but from Miroku/Shiju’s POV)
21. Miroku is not a Singer.
After Onee left, Yoichi and Fumi stayed back in the office for the sake of business arrangements. Yoichi, who was busy even while he was only the Director, surely had a lot to talk about what to do from now on.
When Miroku left the office, Shiju unexpectedly invited him out, saying「Shall we go out for a drink?」. Of course, Miroku had no objections, and the two of them went into the hideout-like bar behind the office.
It might have been the fault of the early hour, but in the shop with jazz flowing silently, there was not a sight of customers.
When they sat on the counter, seeing the tacos the Master brought out for hors d’ouvres, the two drank Corona Beer1.
When they lightly squeezed the lime, the bubbles rose up with a fizz.
「Cheers for now.」
「For now.」
Tapping their bottles together with a clank, the two silently drank for the time being. Miroku gazed at Shiju’s masculine profile. Stroking his stubble, what was he thinking of while drinking the Corona, with eyes that seemed to look somewhere far away now the distance?
「Shiju-san, I"ve also come here many times.」
「Hm? Ahh, I see. With the Director?」
「No, with my elder sister for a part-time job. The two of us some sometimes did a part-time job playing the piano.」
「Piano…… You really are a Prince」
「Please stop it……the Prince on a white horse and such……」
「Haha, my bad. But isn’t being a Prince nice? Girls like Princes, you know.」
「Really? Young girls and such?」
「That’s right. Girls around 23 and such2」
Miroku, with a flushed expression in the eyes tried counterattacking Shiju, who was laughing with a grin, with a「Shut up beast!」, but unfortunately his weapons were too weak.
Seeing Miroku having such an appearance, Shiju felt a little of his strength leave him. He wouldn’t say that he thought he had saved him. It was his pride as someone elder.
「Possibly, I wonder if the fragments of the dream I had forsaken have returned」
「A Dancer…… was it?」
「After forsaking it, in despair I became a Host, lost everything, and then became like this…… It’s strange, isn’t it? 」
「But then, in the end you haven’t forsaken it, have you?」
Shiju looked at Miroku with a surprised face. He, who was always aloof, had an unthinkable expression on his face.
「For that body, weren’t you doing training to some extent even while you were a Host? Even while teaching me you spoke as if it was『Something you always did』, it was a training that considered the burden that comes with age. That’s why this time, Onee-san called you out.」
Miroku was a mystery. Though Onee had told the three to work together in an unnatural manner, it wasn’t as if a meritocrat of that stature hadn’t seen the past of the members.
Even Onee, said 「Former Host-like」, about Shiju. Those words couldn’t be more accurate.
「Onee-san wants the current Shiju-san and Yoichi-san. And I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence.」
Miroku stared into Shiju’s eyes.
「I’ll work hard to make sure I don’t drag Shiju-san down. I don’t know a thing about s...o...b..z though……」
「If that’s the case, isn’t Yoichi the Ossan there?」
「That’s, well, he’s the Director though……」
「It’s not that, Ossan was a part of Shinies in the past, right?」
「Eeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?」
The Shinies Office, brought out Idol groups ranging from boys to young men one after another, and were biggest among the biggest companies.
Be it SHOW-WA-STEP, Todoro or Shounen-Dan3, it was an office that brought out national Idols.
Yoichi had worked there.
「If you look it up on the net, you’ll know to that extent. Well, anyhow, he isn’t an amateur.」
「Even though he was trembling so much on the stage at the performance……」
「That’s because he must have been scared, I too was scared. Because I’d already left it once.」
「Ah, I’m sorry……」
「No, it’s fine. Anyhow, we were saved by you singing.」
Miroku felt a little uneasy. “Wasn’t it as if they were omake4-like existences?”He felt.
「About my singing, you’re mistaken.」
「I’m surely not mistaken. Yoichi-san said it too, it’s a part of singing.」
「No, that’s why, you’re mistaken about the part about singing. Did you hear what Onee-san said? 『Handsome ossans becoming Idols is interesting』, didn’t he say that?」
「Ahh, what about that?」
「That’s why, we aren’t gonna be singers. Aren’t we gonna be Idols? 『Us』?」
「Huh? Idol?」
「Yes, Idol.」
「A Debut at this age?」
「That’s right. Well, Yoichi-san is re-debuting though. Furthermore, Onee-san is an Idol-producer, isn’t he?」
Shiju took out his smartphone and made a quick call.
「Oi, come quick. The bar behind. Huh? It’s fine, so come now!!」
Five minutes after that, Shiju explained the story from now, in chronological order to Yoichi, who had a flushed face for some reason. [T/N – we all know why ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ]
Yoichi’s crimson face, gradually turned deathly pale, and he began quivering.
「…………I’ll try confirming tomorrow.」
Seeing the two limp ossans, Miroku let out a slight sigh, thinking, "what in the world happened?"
T/N –
1. Google-sama says it’s a Mexican beer brand….hmm, makes sense. . In case you forgot, Fumi is 23. On a side note, Fumi can also be written as 二三(Fu Mi) which is the kanji for 23.
3. The names were kept as is in romaji, but here’s the translation for them
SHOW-WA-STEP : Name as is from the raws (Yes, it was in English)
Todoro(轟)- You might know this as the kanji for Todoroki Shōto from My hero academia, but it means ‘Roaring’. It’s most commonly used in names though.
Shounen-Dan(少年団) – It quite literally means Boys Group/Band
4. You remember those extra 2-3 pages of a manga volume with those extra shorts? That’s a kind of omake. Think of it like extras or something.