It was the last day of the “Natsu-Himari” festival in the Shin Kagaku high school, and as such, our last day together as high schoolers. This festival, as is tradition, happens one week after the school year is over, to congratulate and celebrate the achievements of every single student up to that point. You could even say, it’s to properly close the academic year, instead of celebrating the last day of school, and the start of the summer vacation.
The last event for the day was a theatrical play, followed from something I personally somehow was in charge of, despite being the most lethargic person the world has ever seen. Honestly, if I was offered 100 million yen to just stay inside all day for the rest of my life, I’d consider myself blessed. It was a school idol performance, from every single one of the girls from my class, and I was the manager in charge of it.
“Couldn’t she have thought of something else? I really wanted to see Kiyo-chan in a maid outfit…”, I whispered to myself, while preparing the dresses for every girl. And the one who had heard of my rumblings me was none other than one of my two childhood friends, Madoka.
“What are you talking about? Idol dresses are way cuter!”, she exclaimed with glee.
“H-how long have you been standing there… on second thought, forget it, don’t answer my question”. I was sure she was standing there for a while, spying on my reaction for tonight.
“Hee-hee, it’s a secret then! So, is everything primed and ready? Today has to be perfect!”, she said loudly, while also pointing her index finger at me, expecting an affirmative response.
“Aye-aye captain! The boat’s ready to sail! All of your scoundrels are ready to walk the plank!”, I joked, in an American-like pirate accent.
She was the one who wanted to make this idol group a reality, despite being one of the only two votes for it. I remember vividly when she took liberty of standing up next to the student president, and telling her that she would not sit down at her desk unless everyone agreed on doing what she wanted for the festival, even though the voting results clearly indicated a unanimous vote towards a maid café. In the end though, we did as she wanted, and I’m sure it’s because everyone was moved from her strong feelings about it, maybe. She’s truly passionate about it, and there’s no way she’d let it go this easily.
“So, Yuki, do your best… and thanks for standing up to me back then…”, she reminded me.
It was not only because of her unwavering courage, but because me and her best friend also stood up and refused to sit back down. You could call it, a moment of “relentless youth!”, and I’m pretty sure there’s a dead-fish-eyed individual out there cursing my existence and my guts. And I don’t really blame him, I have no idea what overcame me at that moment. But there’s a reason I decided to take action right then and there. To give her a great last parting gift for our graduation, something she always longed for.
I gave her the dresses for the play, and while she was about to leave, she quickly glanced at me and smiled. A sparkly smile that almost everyone would die for, was directly aimed at me, even though I am no one special.
“You’re looking pretty high spirited there, Yu-kun! Something good happen to ya?”, I heard an annoying voice right behind my left ear. If I wasn’t trained to not jump from such a scare, I would have punched her directly in the face.
The smug attitude girl that insinuated a happenstance of great fortune was of course, my best friend and arch nemesis, Yume-chan.
“What are you doing here, you need to be on the stage in like 15 minutes! Shoo, go!”, as I tried to push her away.
She did a twirl and avoided me, resulting in me face planting right to the ground, while she looked at me as if she had just won a sumo wrestling match.
“You know, you could just not be so stuck up… wait, are you still angry because I absolutely obliterated you in Sma-Bra last Saturday? Get over it already!”, she tried to change the subject, to avoid going to the back room.
“Wha-, no! I’m telling you, if you don’t change now, you won’t be able to sing with Madoka! Don’t you understand that”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m just messing with you! I’m on my way. So, Yu-kun, what do you think she will do after this performance? Will she stop chasing this weird dream?”
This was a worry we both had about Madoka. Since middle school, she’s had an unhealthy obsession with idols in general. From learning how to sew, to doing mini performances in the middle of the road, often being mistaken as a beggar, she’s been doing everything to try and become a top idol. She’s been contacting agencies lately, but thankfully most reject her outright or never get back with her…
Sadly, the truth is I do not want her to become an idol. That world seems vibrant and glittery, but in reality, it’s a grim and dark place. No girl should have to go through such turmoil, but they are blinded by that promised dream. The dream of unconditional love and admiration from their fans. Yet, it’s all a bunch of baloney, none of that is true, at all.
And why do I know all that? Well, I’ve seen it first hand, from my sister’s point of view. But I’d rather forget it all, rather than live it all that again through Madoka…
“I don’t know. I hope it’s just a phase and once she goes to college after all this is over. You’ve heard, right? She was accepted into a top university. Mirai U, I think it’s called?”
“Yeah, and in medicine none the less. She’ll be able to put her parent’s clientele to good use. She’s got a bright future ahead of her after all this is over…”, she huffed, and I immediately understood why.
“You’re still moody for not getting in the same college as her? You tried your best you know. You still got accepted in a fairly known college, and in medicine as well! That’s really amazing for anyone!”, I exclaimed, to cheer her a bit, yet she seemed a bit annoyed.
“I… didn’t care about medicine. I just wanted to go along with you and Madoka…”
I of course already knew that. Madoka, Yume and me have been inseparable ever since grade school. We would go everywhere together, play video games together, watch movies together, and a whole bunch more. You could honestly mistake us for siblings the way we stuck together.
“Yeah, I feel you. Yet we are all in the same city and we’re all relatively close to each other. We should be able to meet up on weekends, and worst-case scenario, during the holidays… so don’t say that as if we died or something, stupid!”, I tried consoling her.
“Sure… if you say so Yu-kun. Well, I’m going to change now. Maybe you could pull a lucky-sukebe and sneak a peek?”
“No way, idiot. I’m not a pervert.”
“Ok, ok. No hard feelings for missing your youth though, alrighty?”
“Move on…”
“Okieeee”, she waved her hand at me while she left as well.
Finally, I was alone to check the props and the stage after the theatrical play had ended. Everything had to be perfect, so that no girl would slip and fall, or bump on a prop. And of course, I, as their manager, had to make sure of doing that.
I had been cleaning up on the stage, when a panicked Madoka ran from the backrooms crying and left the room. And shortly after, Yume chasing after her. After seeing that sight, I could not sit idle, and decided to run after them as well.
It took a while, but we finally caught up to her in the roof of the school.
“They all left! No one is here! Why would they do this to us?”, she shouted while trying to hold back her tears.
“What is going on? Madoka, Yume, tell me! Please!”
“All the girls… they left without saying anything…”, said Yume, in a painful voice.
“What? But that way, the performance can’t possibly happen… This doesn’t make any sense! All this at the very last moment…”
Sadly, it made a whole lot of sense. By making an educated guess, it was fairly obvious that when they agreed to going forward with Madoka’s outlandish idea for the school festival, they were just playing along, while scheming such a ploy from the very start. Sadistic as it may sound, I wouldn’t put it beside them.
Madoka had always been bullied for wanting to became an idol. Having her shoes thrown into the river near our school, mean letters in the shoe box, having her desk sketched with offensive words…
Idiot, attention seeker, narcissist, people pleaser, money chaser.
Awful, awful things. And Madoka still persisted through all of that, and her persistence become even bigger. She continued doing what she wanted, in spite of everyone else’s opinion, whether friend or foe. Even when me and Yume tried to dissuade her from following the path she was on, she would just turn the other cheek. There was no way to stop her, but while she was going forth, everyone else tried to bring her down.
Why did it have to be an idol? Why not a singer, a dancer or a celebrity? Why not an internet personality, a talk-show host or an actress. It just had to be an idol, and that’s because of my sister of course.
I’ve been trying to hide it, but there’s no way to, honestly. My sister was the lead idol for a very popular group, called TKB21, short for Tokyo-bu twenty-one. She was kind of like the protagonist of that group that consisted of 20 idols other than her, and she was always center stage. All the attention was on her, it’s as if the other idols were just background dancers. That is how much of an impact she left to anyone seeing her concerts. It was especially prevalent in the early 2000’s, exactly when all of us were in our most impressionable phase of our life. If you were a little girl at that time period, chances are, you’ve probably heard of my sister, and probably looked up to her.
She wore the best clothes, sang the best songs given from her agency, and had the most fans in her akushyuu events. She was a once in a decade phenomenon, and everyone who had an interest in j-pop at that period was aware of her existence, even foreigners. She was the zenith of what an idol should be. Even I looked up to her hard-working spirit and combativeness to reach the top and stay there. It was majestic, to say the least.
But all of that is pointless. I wish that I could have stopped her back then from being an idol too, but talking with the present’s information seems petty. It’s better to say she just shouldn’t have been an idol from the start, rather than me stopping her… Yet I am talking from knowing all that now, but back then I was one of her biggest fans.
I remember her smiling all the time. Not once did I see her having as much as a frown. It was always a constant state of happiness around her, and it transferred over to everyone. You could even debate that if happiness personified existed in this world, it had taken the shape of my sister. But that smile was never hers now, was it? It was always for her fans, for our parents, for me… and the list goes on. A sickening altruistic view of life, blinded by her profession, the idol life. She could never be “for one person”, she was “everyone’s idol”, as her motto would make you believe. And I’m starting to notice that for Madoka too, and even though I desperately want to cheer her on, there is no way I could do that and also keep my conscience safe.
So why? Why did I feel the need at that moment to throw away the past and all my memories and go help her? In fact, … Why did I do it?
“Madoka, Yume, follow me. I have a plan, leave it all up to me.”, I said without a hesitant feeling in my body. It’s as if I was consumed by that feeling, which I can’t really express into words. Something otherworldly, and it belonged exclusively to Madoka. I would protect her, even if it cost my life. Those kinds of thoughts crossed my mind.
“Yuki, what do you mean? There is no way to convince everyone to come now, is there? Just give up… It was not meant to be, was it… Ha-ha, I’m such an idiot for even believing that in the first place”, she said, while Yume handed her over her handkerchief to dry her tears.
“I’m telling you; I have a plan. You’ll have to trust me on that. Yet I do have one single condition if it all works out, ok?”
“Anything! Truly anything if you can find a way to mend it all!”
“Well not all, but I can certainly fix it for us three…”, I shut my mouth abruptly, as to not give her any more clues about what I had planned, but from the corner of my eye, I could see Yume grinning from ear to ear, understanding what I would try to pull off.
So, remember when I stood up along with Yume to protect Madoka during the voting process? The only way to convince everyone to go along was to give them an ultimatum, either they all try and do it, or I’d blackmail them for everything they did to Madoka. Of course, that was just a way to instill fear into them, because I needed concrete evidence, which I didn’t have back then… at least not enough for it to not get completely dismissed by the teachers. But in my gamble, I also got the student class president on my side, who was against any harassment inside the school premises.
That means I’m the second in command in my classroom, and I can directly talk to our principal, must an emergency occur. Oh, and would you look at that! Emergency time indeed!
And what about my classmates? Do I go to the extreme and publish all that blackmail? Well, I could, but Madoka would be in the crossfire there, so that’s a no-go. But we don’t really need them now, do we?
“What are you waiting for, let’s rush to the principal’s office!”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“O-ok, follow me Madoka!”, said Yume, firmly grasping Madoka’s hand, and starting to sprint through the hallways of our school.
It felt as if time was slowing down, to help us not miss our concert, at a moment when even seconds mattered. Seconds that would ultimately be crucial, as I got to the principal’s office in just a few of those. I must have sprinted so fast that I lost both of them, but I didn’t hesitate to knock on the door with such force, that someone could mistake me for a hooligan.
“Excuse me! Kurosawa-sensei! Are you here? Please, open the door, there is something really urgent I’d like to talk to you about! Plea- “, I abruptly stopped shouting, as the door opened wide, and the principal looked pissed off at me.
“Don’t you have a concert to coordinate? Are you sure you really have time to run around in the school? What if you bumped into someone and hurt them huh? You should be ash- “
“Please lecture me later! I’ll take responsibility! But now I need your permission for something”, and that is it, my big shot, my moment of youth, my most selfless, altruistic moment!
“I WENT INTO THE GIRLS ROOM WHILE THEY WERE CHANGING, AND THEY LEFT OUT OF FEAR OF ME BEING A PERVERT. THE ONLY ONE LEFT IS MADOKA, DO PLEASE LET HER DO A SOLO CONCEEEERT!”, I screamed on top of my lungs, while bowing down to his shoes.
I’m just fortunate that not one else happened to be passing through the corridor at that time, but I’m pretty sure that my yelps sounded throughout the whole country.
“Humph! Disgusting behavior! And during the festival nonetheless! I can’t really penalize you since you’ve already graduated, but I will lecture you later for your disrespectful behavior!”
“So, what is it sir, will you please allow Madoka to go ahead and do it?”
The time of truth has arrived. Please principal, sympathize with her just this once. Please, let your apathy somewhere else, just for this day! For her!
“What are you still standing here for, kid?”
“H-huh? What do you mean sir?”
“Even with only one participant left, the show can go on, can’t it? Take responsibility and see it to an end! Go now!”
I could see it in his eyes, but he probably understood the position I was in right there, and why I took that risk. Any sane person would have tried to apprehend me, and call the police for sexual harassment, yet he not only tried to play along, but also granted my wish.
He slammed his door shut, and right behind it, I saw Madoka with a really weird grin on her face, and Yume with her usual smug resting face, as if to tell me “If you had the balls to enter the girl’s room, you’d have done that anyways.”.
“W-what are you staring at me for, both of you? The concert should be starting any minute now! Madoka, rush to the stage! Yume, control the lights and the sound mixer! I will control the mic and assist with Madoka’s lyrics in the backstage! I’ll also move the props! Now go!”
All three of us were filled with determination. We’d show them! We’d show them what we were made off! We’d make the best concert ever!
Everything was ready to go. The tests were all clear. Mic is good, music is good, lights are good. It was time for Madoka to shine on that stage, for her to realize her dream once and for all.
The whole theatre room blacked out, and the spotlight was on Madoka, who was on center stage. And what we saw was nothing like we anticipated. The room was starting to fill up, little by little, by people with colored light-sticks to cheer Madoka on. Many were put off by the fact that it was just a single idol, but no one seemed willing to leave. Instead, they all sat down, and the room was filled to the brim. It was a magical feeling, that despite all the trials we had been through, support was starting to pour in…
Madoka had a smile on her face, such a bright smile, which if you went to close to her, you could probably get blinded by. And of course, everyone noticed it. And while everyone was looking intently at her, she started to talk.
“Everyone! Thank you for coming! This is my first official concert ever! I’m so happy to be here to sing for all of you! Let’s utau-you!”
She completely forgot the most crucial part of a start of an idol concert! That girl! She completely skipped over self-introduction! I made a sign from the back stage to focus for a second on what I was telling her, and only then did she understand what she had done.
“Oh, uh haha. You probably have no idea who I am, do you? Oops, I just jumped straight into the action!”
Everyone started laughing at the awkwardness that she exuded, but it was kind of charming. Like a little kid too excited to eat his ice cream, that he forgets to pay. She was that pure and innocent at that moment, a perfect idol right in front of us. She proceeded with a simple self-intro and left it at that.
“Well then, let’s start!”
Yume pushed the program for the lights, for the first song. She stopped any lights that would shine on anyone that wasn’t the center stage, so all the attention was Madoka’s.
Madoka started to dance and sing. It was weirdly perfect. And I don’t mean to exaggerate when I say that it was perfect. Her dancing moves were rehearsed hundred – no thousand – of times, and the flow of her movement resembled the one of a professional idol. And her voice wasn’t half bad, despite having never done a singing class in her life. And she didn’t eat up any lyrics either, you could listen to her forever.
But most impressive of all, was her smile. Her smile almost seemed divine, and it was not exclusively for one person. It was meant for everyone, but it was different from the smile that my sister had. She was also happy. It was a dream come true for her. A moment she had been waiting for all of her youth. It was the ultimate moment of what she had been working for.
She danced and sang for a whole hour. You could see her getting progressively more tired, but not once did she falter. It was awe inspiring. My assistance there was minute, as her execution was in the most literal way, perfect.
It was finally time for the last song. And even though everything was going on without as much as problem in sight, I couldn’t help but notice that her smile was almost gone. A hint of melancholy could be felt, as she knew that it was the finale of the show, and if she couldn’t go pro, the end of her dream.
The last song was not the kind of cheery song you’d expect from such a bubbly individual. It was sorrowful, a song of unrequited love. Not an idol song at all, and everyone noticed. Instead of being confused, they were moved. The words from that song had meaning for her, and it could be felt from the way she sang it.
She was clutching on the mic. She stopped dancing and instead stood still in front of everyone as she sang that song. It felt more like a confession. Nobody knew who it was aimed towards, not even Yume, but I understood her.
What she was confessing her love to, was that moment. Her being there. Her doing what she loved the most. And that she would pursue it endlessly, no matter how many obstacles would appear in her way. She was determined, but also sad that this moment right then and there would have to come to an end after this song.
A dream worth of her life. I slightly envied her, as I felt myself was lost… I only wanted to live in the present.
And then it happened. The song was over. It almost felt like we were suddenly taken away from Madoka’s world and forced back into the real world, with no choice of our own.
Yume shut off the spotlight and opened the rooms lights. It was really the end, of that song and the event. But Madoka was not ready to let her moment go to waste!
“Everyone, thank you so much for coming here today! I know it was supposed to have a lot more idols here, but I hope that I was enough for all of you, tee-hee!”
And then, she said something that reminded me of a memory I wanted to forget. No, a memory that I almost forgot, but could not possibly do it. A memory far pushed into my head, that I thought it was fake.
“I am everyone’s idol! I hope you will cheer me on, as I will be trying to go pro! Goodbye everyone, and hopefully see you again!”
I am everyone’s idol… My sister’s catchphrase. She would always say it at the end of her performances. I always hated it, because I wanted my sister all for myself, because I loved and admired her more than anyone in the whole entire world.
But it didn’t seem like an attack towards me. It was just a nod to a person that Madoka deeply admired and strived to be like.
And just like that she came backstage, took her microphone off, and…
She threw herself on me. A sweet hug, but I could feel her shivering. No wonder, all that stress, excitement, sadness, anxiety… All of those feelings were pouring out at that moment, but she managed to whisper something during that really delicate moment.
“Yuki… thank you for everything. You and Yume truly are the best, you know that?”
“T-thanks…”, I blushed. I am just happy that she didn’t her turn her head towards me, or I’d be too embarrassed to face her.
And then she loosened her grips, wiped her sweat and looked straight at me, making the same declaration she made a few seconds earlier.
“I will try and become a pro idol. I get that you won’t want me to, because of your sister, but allow me to just pursue my dream. If I fail, you’ll totally be able to tell me in my face, I told you so!”
She was so serious. More serious than she had ever been about all of that idol shtick. She must have found herself on that stage… I was kind of jealous, as a person with no true aspirations to speak of.
“Alright, but you did promise you’d do something for me if everything went according to plan, right?”
“Sure! As long as it’s not to stop trying, ha-ha”
“I’ll be there to help you, as a manager, a fan, a friend, anything. Anything bad that may happen, I’ll be there. Only then will I accept you trying to follow that path.”
“Yuki… why are you doing all this for me? I don’t really get it…”
I was prepared to tell her. Tell her how I truly felt, when I felt something cold on my neck. Once again, if I wasn’t trained to not react abruptly, I’d have dropkicked whoever pull such a stunt. And of course, the mood was gone.
“Hey there love birds, we made history out there, right? That was amazing, I can’t believe we actually managed to pull off such a stunt!”, she said with a trembling voice, while holding a bag with soda cans inside. The chilly thing I felt on my neck was one of those cans, freezing cold.
“We totally did! It felt so good to have the spotlight all to myself, but at the same time it also felt a bit lonely… Well, all things ended perfectly at the end, a bit different to what I had envisioned. But thanks, both of you! You’re the best!”
Another one of those brilliant smiles was in front of me. It almost felt liberating, like everything I had done was not in vain.
“Well, I still have to face the consequences with the teach… but I guess it was worth it?”, I hesitantly said.
“Oh, don’t worry Yu-kun, I’m sure he’ll just say a few things like ‘You shouldn’t have done this young man! Didn’t you consider how any of the girls felt? Shameful, truly!’, and leave it at that.”
“Yeah, easy for you to say, when I’ll be the only one getting chewed on!”
“Both of you stop it! Yuu-kun… sorry I had to create all of this trouble for you.”
“What are you talking about Madoka? I did this all out of my own volition, you didn’t force me to do anything.”, I exclaimed, looking directly at Madoka. I was, without a doubt speaking my mind out loud, however embarrassing it could sound.
“Oh, is that so…”, Madoka got a bit flustered at me saying.
“Uh-hum! I’m still right here you know, both of you! Well then, want to chill out at the usual spot? These sodas aren’t going to drink themselves”
“Yeah, sounds like a plan, I really need to blow off some steam. You too Madoka, I bet you’re exhausted after all that dancing.”
“Yup! Let’s go immediately after cleaning up.”
And so, we cleaned up the props, reset the settings on the sound mixers and the lights, and promptly left, as if nothing had ever happened.
When we left the theatre room, we noticed that the whole school was deserted, and we were the only ones left behind. It does make sense, since it was the last event of the day, but I expected an after-party of shorts to be in line, but nope, nothing else was planned. Walking through the empty halls felt surreal, as if all of those memories we had made there were plastic, made-up.
We weren’t in much of a hurry, so we took our time to absorb in the vibe that the school was exuding. Nostalgic as it may have been, we didn’t feel sad nor happy, but a weird in between feeling, bitter sweet that everything was coming to an end. We went up the staircase and was greeted with the locked door to the roof. Yume did her lockpicking tricks, using a cash card that her father had given her for ‘Emergency situations’. Most of those funds though, have magically disappeared in the form of video games.
With a swift flick of her wrist, we heard a metallic clank echo from the door. I pulled inwards, and a chilly gust of wind flew into my face. It was a completely different feeling from the usual breeze in the middle of the school day. It felt… new. Like something was different from the monotonous routine we had to live every day.
“So, here we are once again. But this time we didn’t really have our bento boxes to bring with us, so these cans would have to suffice”, said Yume, looking off in the distance.
I was lost at that moment, as if nothing up to that point had even happened. I went near the guarding rails, and stood on them, overlooking our village. It was empty, as always, with a few trees here and there, small residential houses, and we knew every and each one’s. On the corner of my eye, I saw Madoka and Yume get close to me, and stand by my sides.
“So… that’s it I guess, we’re officially unleashed upon the world of the adults.”, I said jokingly.
“Again, with that chuuni talk? Aren’t you embarrassed to talk like that at your age. If I were you, I’d try to come off a little more like an adult, you know?”
“Yeah yeah, Yume. Like there’s a correct way to adult. If there is though, I’d really like to know, because I feel like we are thrown in the deep right now.”
That was a fear of mine that I had yet to face. What now? Although everything up to that point was stressful, our youth had just come to a sudden halt, and it’d have to resume without each other’s company. I felt kind of lonely just thinking about it, but that’s exactly why I wanted this day to feel special.
I clutched my soda can to relieve a bit of my discomfort of having to say goodbye to my best friends, even though I didn’t want to. I was forced by the reality of the situation, and I knew there was no way out. As I mustered the strength to say something, Madoka cut me off immediately.
“We definitely won’t stop being friends after all this is over, right? Of course, we’ll live far away from each other, but we can always meet up! When Yuki gets his driver’s license, he can always come pick us up! And we could go to the movies, and to the arcades, and to the mall for shopping… I don’t want to stop having fun with you two.”
It was gut wrenching. Madoka has suffered all of those hardships, and we were the only thing she had resembling a normal school life. I hated that I had to be separated from her and Yume, but it was so that we could live a better life later on.
“Yeah, I promise to you that we’ll always be best friends! We have each other’s number, so we can keep on chatting even if we are far away. There’s nothing stopping us you know”, I tried to alleviate the hard aura that was surrounding us.
“And I can still keep on crushing you two at Sma-Bra you know? Yu-kun still hasn’t managed to beat me one time. We can hop on internet calls and speak for hours!”
Even though it felt like we were promising each other that we’d always be there for each other, it felt like each of us was coping with the decision that we’d have to move forward. Not one of us was wanted to be separated.
“Well then, come over here you two!”, Madoka run towards both of us, and hugged us.
It was a warm hug, but she was clenching hard at us. Showing her affection towards us, but also not wanting to let us go. Like a dog that had to be taken away, she was incredibly tender but also heartbroken. With every one of her hugs, you could psychologize her feelings.
“I love you guys so much… Thank you for making my school life amazing. Let’s try our best to live a good life, alrighty?”
We both nodded as we hugged her back. This group hug felt like a different world, one that not one of us wanted to leave. But due time, we let go and continued looking to the horizon. It was time to leave the roof, but I had to make sure for one last thing.
“Madoka, do you still plan to become an idol after all of this? After what happened today… I know you had fun, but is it really something you want to pursue?”
“Yeah, I haven’t changed my mind, I’ll try to become an idol. It’s my dream after all. B-but don’t worry! I will go to university in the meantime, until I find a good agency, and not something random just to get into things.”, she reassured me.
“Well then, me and Yume have been talking, and we wanted to propose to you an ultimatum. It’s your choice.”
“Alright, I’ll listen to what you two have to say.”
“If you find an agency you like, I want you to tell us before enrolling. If you get accepted, I want to be able to work at the agency to be able to keep a close eye on you, as I’ve already told you. Yume also wants to help as well, one way or another, so she’d rather be there as well. That way we will be able to help you with your dream, even if we are far away. Maybe we be some kind of social media managers? What do you say about that? I don’t want you going into that world on your own…”
“And Madoka, I’ll always be here to protect you. Both me and Yu-kun want you to succeed, but not by making sacrifices all the time. We want to help.”
“If you don’t accept those conditions, I want you to stop trying to become an idol… I don’t want for you to get what my sis-”
“I accept your conditions! That would make the world’s happiest idol if you two are there for me!”
I did not expect such a response. Maybe I considered she’d think of that as controlling, but instead, she took it as comradery. I was thankful for that.
“But I do have a condition of my own as well! I want to become everyone’s idol! The best idol that has ever passed from Japan. No, not only Japan, the world!”
And as she uttered those words, I had no time to reply as fireworks began bursting right behind her. I guess our classmates had put on a fireworks show to end off the school year with a bang. It almost seemed as if Madoka was on a stage, and we were audience, looking at her. That was exactly the aura she was oozing at that moment, and there was no way to deny her aspirations. In a moment of hesitation, I looked at Yume, and we nodded at each other in agreement, and then faced to Madoka and screamed.
“Do your best, Madoka!”
And so, our youthful endeavors came to an end, and we had graduated into adulthood.