Walking on the streets of Akihabara at night, even Mogami Kazuto himself didn't understand why there was an extra girl carrying a guitar next to him compared to before.

The girl who was walking beside Mogami Kazuto at this moment, maintaining a safe social distance, was none other than Aimi Terashima.

Because standing still and chatting would look stupid, the two of them unknowingly ended up chatting while walking. They had to go to the station anyway.

Although Mogami Kazuto still hasn't figured out why he can chat with a teenage girl, it doesn't matter if he can hear some interesting stories about the live.

"Speaking of which, uncle hangs out in Akihabara every night, so he doesn't have to go to work during the day?"

"For some reasons, I no longer need to go to the company."

"Hey... isn't that just a vagrant?"

A lovely nineteen-year-old girl who doesn't hold back at all when she talks.

Terashima Aimi almost instantly understood what the so-called "reason" was, but it seemed to be slightly different from what Mogami Kazuto wanted to say.

Anyway, there is no difference in the results.

"Please call me a freelancer."

"This is what people who don't work call themselves, and most of the handsome men who don't want to work will eventually put their sinful hands into women's wallets and use their bodies and sweet words to defraud women of money.

When a woman runs out of money, she will be kicked away and look for the next target."

"Why are you so skilled?"

"It has nothing to do with you, uncle."

"…………how about you?"

"I work in convenience stores and coffee shops during the day, and I sing in live houses at night, and I can get commissions from the tickets."

"So... so diligent."

"Hmph!"

Next to them, on the streets of Akihabara, standing at the door of a cafe, was a girl wearing a maid outfit with very little fabric and fluffy electric cat ears on her head. She trembled and posed in a cute pose and looked at the two of them.

Hand over the flyer.

"Meow...Master, eldest lady, please take a look at meow."

Mogami Kazuto was caught off guard by being stuffed with a flyer. He looked up at the luxuriously decorated maid cafe next to him, and then looked at the cat-eared maid who handed him the flyer.

Turning around to look at Terashima Aimi, he hesitated to speak.

"It's not this kind of cafe!" Terashima Aimi said first.

…

After walking some distance and returning to the entrance of the game center where they met yesterday, Terashima Aimi's steps became slower and her eyes were fixed on the five-pointed star doll poster posted on the glass display window.

During this time, she was unable to go to a singing residency and lost a financial income. It would be better not to spend extra money for the time being.

She is nineteen years old and is no longer a child. Terashima Aimi understood this simple truth very early.

Children can cry to get what they want, thereby draining adults.

No matter what happens, I try to solve it by crying.

But when you cry, you can't get anything.

At dawn after wiping away tears, the sun will still rise the next day.

However, even so, she has always been alone, and sometimes she wants to be like a child.

"Hey, uncle."

Terashima Aimi pointed at the game center with her thumb and said slowly: "Would you like to go in and play?"

"…………"

Although he would often play arcade battle games like this when he was a child, swinging the joystick randomly and pressing buttons in a haphazard manner, Mogami Kazuto is now a complete novice. He neither understands the move list nor the character's skills.

.

In the arcade screen, Mogami Kazuto controls a white-haired boy wearing a pure black student uniform and ordinary black glasses. He seems to be able to summon a stand-in character to fight.

With the knowledge of the original owner, Mogami Kazuto can understand the IP of this game, but it does not mean that he can play it.

I thought that Aimi Terajima, who was an expert in catching dolls, would kill him instantly without mercy, but in fact it seemed not to be the case.

The girl's left hand is holding the joystick, and the uppermost joint of her ring finger is wrapped with a band-aid with a cartoon pattern. Her right hand is pressing the buttons randomly, her expression focused.

"Damn it! Uncle, you are pretty good at it. It's really incredible that a beginner can push me to this point."

She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Mogami Kazuto was speechless. Could it be that...this guy is actually very weak?

Mogami Kazuto came up with this idea, and immediately controlled the character to get closer. Terashima Aimi seemed a little panicked, and the character kept jumping on the spot. Although he kept throwing punches, he was completely out of reach of Mogami Kazuto's character.

According to the previous feeling, Mogami Kazuto casually operated and played a small skill, hit, repeat, hit, repeat.

Then, Terashima Aimi lost.

"Huh... after a fierce battle, I will admit that you can be regarded as my opponent."

The word "k.o" appeared on the arcade screen, and Terashima Aimi pretended to stand up, turning her back to Mogami Kazuto.

Mogami Kazuto realized it.

This guy is an idiot.

"I said, you shouldn't be crying, right?"

The nineteen-year-old girl was obviously silent for a while. When she spoke again, her tone was already cold as before.

"Don't say stupid things, I'm going home."

"Whoa whoa……"

What an inexplicable guy.

Terashima Aimi put the guitar aside on her back and turned around to walk towards the door of the game center. Mogami Kazuto shrugged and also stood up and left.

"Aren't you going to catch the doll today?"

"I'm not in the mood, and don't follow me."

Mogami Kazuto was left speechless. It was obviously her who asked him if he wanted to play, and then she dragged him into the game center without any explanation. Do all the girls in the island country have this kind of talkative temper?

Shaking his head helplessly, Mogami Kazuto deliberately slowed down and waited until he felt that Terashima Aimi was almost gone before walking out of the game center.

As a result, she stood at the door of the game center, motionless.

Then what is the meaning of what I just did?!

Terashima Aimi stood quietly at the door of the game center, looking up at the screen on the tall building opposite.

Mogami Kazuto followed her line of sight and knew that it was a popular idol girl group. Walking on the streets of Akihabara, you could see their advertisements everywhere.

Standing on the stage, they will always show their smiling faces to others. Smiling is the bounden duty of idols.

People who cannot smile cannot stand on the stage.

"Now, let me tell you a truth about this world."

Mogami Kazuto behind him looked at her profile, not sure who she was talking to.

"The so-called idols, under that shining stage, there are thousands of corpses piled up, standing on the corpses smiling, singing, and dancing.

Everyone under their feet was trying hard to become an idol. They fell and were knocked down. Before they could stand up, they were crushed by more people, unable to move.

After all, that’s what idols are like.”

Are you envious or simply complaining?

Her face was as expressionless as ever, and Mogami Kazuto couldn't see through the nineteen-year-old girl's thoughts.

"Terashima, do you want to become an idol?"

"How come, my dream has always been music.

However, I am still a little jealous, maybe, because I can let my singing be heard by more people.

What would it be like to stand on a big stage? I really want to know.”

"Aren't they piles of corpses?"

Terashima Aimi was suddenly amused by Mogami Kazuto's words, and burst out laughing. This was the first time Mogami Kazuto saw her smile.

After noticing Mogami Kazuto's gaze, Terajima Amy immediately put away her smile, not wanting him to see her smile.

"That's true, but even so, even if I knock down everyone, I still want to stand on the stage and firmly believe that I can bring more smiles to the audience than the people I knock down.

Only those with such self-confidence and unyielding spirit can be called idols."

Perhaps, the "stage with corpses" the girl said was not a derogatory term.

But after fully understanding what a cruel job being an idol is, I sincerely admire those who bring laughter to the audience.

"My songs alone cannot make the audience look at me. No matter how hard I work on stage, no one will look at me."
To be continued...