After finishing his work at the LALALAI Theater, Toshirou Kindaichi escorted Kitagawa Ryo to his car. Before leaving, he ruffled Ryo's hair:
"If things get really tough, just come to my place. Anytime is fine."
Unlike his usual tone, Kindaichi's expression was serious, with no hint of joking or teasing.
"You only have one bed at your place, right? I don't want to sleep next to a perpetually drunk forty-year-old man. I'd have nightmares."
"Haha… You're still the same. If you really come, I'll sleep on the floor in the living room."
Kindaichi chuckled, pulling a cigarette from his pocket as he closed the car door for Ryo:
"Come visit often, okay?"
It was unclear whether Ryo even heard that last sentence, as the car started quickly and soon disappeared from Kindaichi's view.
Shaking his head slightly, Kindaichi lit the cigarette in his mouth. A blood-red sun was sinking peacefully into the steel forest of the city. He blew a smoke ring toward the horizon, tucked his hands into his pockets, and slowly walked back into the building.
After knowing Kitagawa Ryo for several years, Kindaichi still didn't feel like he truly understood him. Even now, he couldn't tell how Ryo really felt about his adoptive parents.
But Kindaichi did know his old college friend well.
He remembered the scene years ago when he and Kitagawa Susumu visited the orphanage. The couple had quickly chosen Ryo.
"You like that type? He doesn't even seem like a kid."
At the time, Kitagawa Susumu had just smiled and replied:
"It's not like he's my own child. Whether I like him or not doesn't matter."
"The main thing is that he's smart and sensible… good for old age."
On the way home, Ryo pulled out his personal phone from his bag. Celebrities like him usually had at least two phones—one for work and one for personal use. They also often had secret accounts for browsing the internet.
As soon as he opened his phone, he saw a message from Sarina Tendouji.
Before leaving Miyazaki, Ryo had given Sarina his personal contact information. While this kind of private interaction with fans was technically not allowed, considering Sarina's situation, his manager, Mr. Izaki, had tacitly approved it.
"Ryo."
Like writing a letter, Sarina always liked to start her messages with this single word. Ryo smiled as he scrolled through the screen. Though it was just text, he could almost hear her voice—clear and crisp, the voice of a young girl just beginning to mature.
"Dr. Gorou came by again this afternoon. He seems serious about becoming your fan too. I lent him a bunch of your recordings."
"Even though it's winter now, the weather here is still warm. I feel a bit better, but eating is still hard. It's difficult to swallow, like there's always something stuck in my throat. It's itchy, and I keep wanting to cough, but coughing makes my head throb. Sometimes I even throw up."
"I've been getting more IVs lately. Since my right hand is always hooked up, I've been learning to eat with my left hand. The nurse said she could feed me, but I'm already twelve, so it feels embarrassing. I refused, even though it's slower. I think it might help with digestion."
"But now I need a nurse to help me shower. I have to wear this tube-like waterproof sleeve on my hand because of the IV needle. They said my veins are too thin, so they use this thing, and I can't take it off."
"You haven't had any new shows or movies lately, so I've been reading the scripts you sent me. When I don't understand something, I ask Dr. Goro. By the way, flipping pages with my left hand is much easier than eating with it."
"What did you do today, Ryo?"
The messages were like diary entries—not particularly well-written, even a bit mundane—but Ryo read them carefully and replied earnestly:
"The movie's finished. It's set to release this New Year, so I'll send you a copy of the DVD. I'll also send one to Dr. Gorou since he's in it too. Make sure to pass it on to him and say hello for me."
"Today I went to the LALALAI Theater headquarters and met a lot of new actors around your age… Well, more like trainees."
As he typed, Ryo couldn't help but think of Hoshino Ai.
He suddenly remembered that Ai was about the same age as Sarina, but if you put the two side by side, you'd never guess they were peers.
This thought seemed to cut off his train of thought. Ryo hesitated, unsure what else to say. He typed and deleted several times before finally ending with a lighthearted line:
"In my opinion, they're not necessarily better than you, Sarina."
Ryo let out a deep breath and sank into the soft car seat.
Time to do some self-searching.
For a long time, Ryo hadn't been fond of the obsessive fan culture. He thought these people were immature, often doing things that were baffling and hard to understand.
But now that he had his own massive fanbase, Ryo felt…
It wasn't so bad.
No matter what he did—even if he just posted a plain photo of a landscape on social media—hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people would express their love and support. In a way, it was like an addictive drug.
Whenever he starred in a movie, fans would buy out entire theaters, even midnight showings. The children's toothpaste he endorsed would sell out overnight, and the hashtag #StillLoveKidsToothpasteAsAnAdult trended. Many office workers woke up to find their toothpaste replaced with the orange-flavored one by their wives or daughters. The brand was thrilled, while the orange-flavored gum next to it saw an unexpected sales drop.
So most of the time, Ryo was willing to do a little self-searching.
Logging into his secret account, he navigated to the tags related to himself. Instead of checking the "Trending" section, he scrolled to "Latest."
Since he hadn't tried to hide his presence, photos of Ryo at the LALALAI Theater headquarters had been taken by reporters and passersby. Most of the discussions revolved around these, and there were also tweets from the trainees he'd met earlier, with comments full of envy.
"Huh?"
As he scrolled, Ryo saw a tweet from what seemed to be an agency's official account:
Ichigo Pro @IchigoProIdolAgency:
"Our brand-new middle school idol group, B-Komachi @B-Komachi-official, is ready to debut! Stay tuned for our highly anticipated debut live! Use the hashtag #B-Komachi and retweet for a chance to win one of three tickets to the event. We look forward to your comments!"
"Time, location, and member info below…"
At first glance, it seemed completely unrelated to Ryo. It was unclear how it ended up in the search results for his tags. Many of his fans were confused, with some even asking if the wrong tag had been used.
"Because our center, Ai-chan, is also a student in Kitagawa Ryo's WorkShop! —1 minute ago," the official reply was pinned at the top of the comments.
With this hook, the comments started pouring in. While Ryo's fanbase wasn't particularly idol-focused, the sheer size of it meant there were still plenty of responses:
"She seems pretty cute. I might check it out if I have time."
"I think one of them modeled for a fashion magazine. Her face looks familiar."
"Just another factory-made idol group. They've already moved on to middle schoolers. What's next? Elementary school idols? LOL."
There were both positive and negative comments, but regardless, it had sparked some discussion. Ryo clicked on the member photos and scrolled to Hoshino Ai's page.
In the introduction section, Ryo noticed that Ai didn't use her full name like the others. It was just a simple "Ai," standing out starkly among the other names.
In the photo, the girl, dressed in a red and pink idol outfit, formed a heart with her hands and flashed her brightest smile at the camera. Her pure white knee-high socks accentuated the lovely curve of her calves, and in the bottom right corner was a golden signature:
Ai.
Ichigo Saitou had ambitiously scheduled B-Komachi's debut live for two days before Christmas, during the busiest and most bustling time of the year.
Ryo had just finished recording a TV program. His most famous role to date was in Home Alone, which coincidentally also began at Christmas. Since then, Ryo had become somewhat of a spokesperson for the holiday, invited every year to record Christmas greetings for radio or TV shows, often accompanied by some nostalgic throwbacks.
This year, it had snowed—lightly, with tiny, delicate snowflakes. Children on the street reached out to catch them, but by the time they landed in their palms, they had already melted into tiny droplets. It felt more like rain than snow.
But with the approaching Christmas and New Year's atmosphere, even this barely-there snow carried a hint of romance. Like clouds in the sky, the ethereal forms of water vapor always seemed to capture people's hearts, becoming vessels for their emotions.
Ryo didn't want to go home right away. Everything in the Kitagawa household now revolved around the unborn child. His manager, Mr. Izaki, understood this and followed quietly behind Ryo, allowing him to indulge in some age-appropriate whims.
Bundled in thick winter clothes, a scarf, and a hat, Ryo wasn't worried about being recognized. He reached out to catch the falling snowflakes like the other kids, his bulky outfit making him look like a clumsy penguin.
He could hear the children around him excitedly discussing Santa Claus: the white-bearded old man in a red hat, riding a sleigh pulled by reindeer, climbing down chimneys to deliver gifts into stockings hung by the bed.
From their eager tones, it was clear they were looking forward to the arrival of that sleigh.
Ryo cupped his hands and blew into them for warmth, then headed toward the destination on his ticket. The ticket had been bought by Toshirou Kindaichi, who said there was no need to rush—there were plenty of seats left.
The scene before him confirmed this.
Four girls stood in a row, handing out flyers to passersby:
"We're the idol group B-Komachi! Our debut live is in thirty minutes. Please come support us if you can!"
"Have a great day!"
Given Ichigo Pro's limited resources and B-Komachi being a completely new group, they had opted to start as underground idols.
Ryo deliberately avoided Hoshino Ai, who was standing on the right, and entered the venue from the left. He handed his pre-purchased ticket to the usher and stepped into the prepared hall.
Lights, sound system, stage—though the audience was sparse, the equipment was decent, and the live performance should have good audiovisual quality.
All in all, it was a fairly ordinary idol debut live, the kind that happened every day in Tokyo.
The idol fans nearby seemed to share this sentiment. Their ages ranged from high school students to office workers. Among idol fans, there were always some who enjoyed fresh debut groups, perhaps for the thrill of nurturing their growth.
Watching them work hard to climb to bigger stages felt like fulfilling their own dreams.
Idols, after all, were in the business of selling dreams.
Hiding behind Mr. Izaki's broad back, Ryo quietly waited for the live to begin.
"We are—B-Komachi!"
As the four girls on stage gathered and enthusiastically announced their group name, the audience responded by waving their glow sticks.
Next was the self-introduction segment.
But Ryo wasn't looking at the stage. Instead, he frowned as he noticed someone in the crowd.
Over the years in the entertainment industry, Ryo had interacted with many popular idol groups, including those that had risen from underground to perform at Budokan. Thanks to his child status, he'd heard plenty of private complaints from them.
One that stuck with him was:
"When we first debuted, after every underground live, it felt like my nose was going to die. There were too many people, and the air got so stuffy after a while."
"And when we cleaned up after the live, you'd be surprised at the kind of trash we'd find. Plastic bottles, cigarette butts, disposable glow sticks—those were expected. But we'd also find tissues with… questionable stains. Ugh."
The idols on stage couldn't see the audience clearly. Most of the time, all they could see were the glow sticks. This was why so many fan chants and gestures had developed—it was the fans' way of responding to the idols.
Ryo nudged Mr. Izaki and gestured toward the man. Understanding immediately, Izaki slipped through the dark venue and delivered a swift kick to the man's groin before quickly retreating.
The man, who had been staring intently at the girls' fluttering skirts, suddenly doubled over in pain, his eyes bulging. But with the loud music, only a few people nearby noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"N-nothing…"
Flustered, the man pulled his hand out of his pants and, unable to find the culprit, staggered away, clutching his lower body and muttering curses.
On stage, the performance continued. For debut idols, even if there was only one audience member, they had to keep going.
"Hey, don't you think that center girl is kind of… strange?"
During a break between songs, Ryo overheard two idol fans whispering.
"Her singing and dancing are just average, but I can't take my eyes off her."
"Yeah, it's Ai-chan, right? Her eyes are so beautiful. When she winks, it feels like my heart's being squeezed."
All the discussions Ryo could hear were about Hoshino Ai.
He turned his attention back to Ai. After watching her performance, he finally understood the star quality she possessed.
The first session of LALALAI's WorkShop had undoubtedly failed to attract enough truly talented newcomers.
If that was the case…
B-Komachi's debut live came to an end. If the group became popular, this might be remembered as the start of something great, crowned with titles like "The Dawn of a Dynasty." But for most people now, it was just another ordinary live in their idol fandom, a memory that might not last a week.
But Hoshino Ai was satisfied. After packing up, she bid farewell to her teammates and the staff.
As she emerged from the underground venue, Ai instinctively looked up.
It was almost midnight, and the children on the streets had been taken home.
The snow had grown heavier, now thick enough to be caught in one's palm and slowly piling up in places.
"Miss Hoshino Ai."
Ai, who had been stretching, turned to see someone addressing her.
"Would you like to take on another job, aside from being an idol?"