nazunyan427

Parallel World - “Cuteness is Unjust” Chapter 9

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Location: Tomoya’s Dorm Room

Nazuna:

A couple of things had been bugging me all day, so I ended up contacting a couple of reliable sources to ask them what they knew during my lectures—

Hajime:

Y-You should really pay attention during classes, Nii~chan.

Nazuna:

I normally take my classes pretty seriously… But to be frank, now’s just not the time to be focusing on that.

Anyway, I asked a bunch of guys who have insider knowledge about the industry, but none of them have heard anything about what Bishojo-senpai said, even as a passing rumor.

Tomoya:

S-So the whole thing is completely made up?

Nazuna:

I’m not sure. But even if it is completely made up, why would Bishojo-senpai lie about that?

So, back when I was at Yumenosaki, I’d often go information-gathering as part of the broadcasting committee.

Tomoya:

The broadcasting committee was basically like an organization for all of the conspiracies floating around, wasn’t it?

Nazuna:

Yeah. And what I came to know back then, was that if you can’t find any information about something, it means one of two things: that whatever it is, is total B.S., or conversely, that makes it more likely to be true.

Extreme measures have been put in place to cover-up whatever’s going on precisely because they don’t want anyone else to know about it. And so, no matter how hard they search, no one can find a thing.

It’s because there’s nothing there, that ironically means something is going on. I can’t really explain it well.

Mitsuru:

Ya mean like when a weapon should absolutely have fingerprints, but there’s nothin’ there at all, and that’s what makes it suspicious?

Nazuna:

Oh, yeah. Like that. That’s an unusual thing for you to say, Mitsuru-chin.

Mitsuru:

A staff member said that to me on-set back when I was on this cop drama.

They were like, uh… there to make sure that everything was bein’ portrayed as realistically as possible.

Hajime:

You keep on building up experience after experience, Mitsuru-kun… I feel like you’re going to end up leaving me behind.

Mitsuru:

Don’t worry! If ya end up fallin’ behind, I’ll just grab ya by the hand and pull ya forward with me!

Hajime:

I don’t want to end up holding you back by mistake… This is probably part of what Ideia-sama was trying to say too.

Hehe. I feel like we just keep coming back to the same thing.

Aren’t we actually better off just focusing on cuteness? Are we really going to end up at a plateau if we don’t explore all sorts of different directions?

No… Are we really so cute that we can say with absolute confidence that that’s our ultimate appeal?

I’m really starting to doubt everything… Should we really be so focused on sticking to cuteness?

Maybe everything Ideia-sama said was something that only I never realized. Maybe everyone else has the same collective opinion after all.

Tomoya:

So Bishojo-senpai is suggesting that we’re not even that cute at all, and we need to stop forcing ourselves to act that way? And just change direction already? Wouldn’t that be just finding fault with us based on a personal opinion?

Hajime:

But if someone as influential as Ideia-sama said that, then—

Tomoya:

Are you really sure that every single thing someone says is correct just because they’re an influential figure?

Hajime:

B-But! Tomoya-kun! I’ve looked up to this person for so long…!

Tomoya:

Ah, ah~ah~! I’m sorry! Don’t cry, Hajime! I didn’t mean to make it seem like I was ganging up on you!

Hajime:

I’m not crying! I’m not some little kid! Don’t make fun of me!

Tomoya:

I-I wasn’t making fun of you, but you always were a crybaby.

Nazuna:

Ah~ Well, we’re all a little bit emotionally distressed at the moment… And I’m sure Hajime-chin is still in shock right now.

But we all need to calm down. You said it yourself, Tomo-chin; now’s not the time to be squabbling amongst ourselves.

All that talk about a utopia for female idols is still up in the air, but one thing's for certain—Bishojo-senpai is standing between us and our agency.

And our agency has caved in to pressure from that senpai and is making us give up on our cuteness.

So right now, we need to seriously think about our future and whether we'll be able to forcibly change direction like that.

Hajime:

But what would that even entail…? Being told to give up on cuteness is such a vague order, and I can’t even predict what would happen as a result.

Nazuna:

Well, we’ll find out pretty soon. Probably. Whether we like it or not.

All we know is that from tomorrow onwards, things can’t stay the same as they were yesterday.

I suppose we seriously need to brace ourselves for that. Not even I can predict how all of this is going to play out.

Tomoya:

Nii~chan, if not even you have any idea despite all of your experience, then the rest of us definitely don’t have a clue…

Mitsuru:

Yeah… I feel so lost ‘cause I have no idea what’s goin’ on.

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