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PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Parallel World - “The Bad Kid Survival Strategy” Chapter 15

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

Location: Tomoya’s dorm room

Tomoya:

…Nii~chan.

Nazuna:

Hm? What’s wrong, Tomo-chin? If there’s anything you want to vent about, feel free to let it all out~?

Tomoya:

No, it’s not that I want to vent. But I wanted to ask you: why did you become an idol, Nii~chan?

Nazuna:

Oh? Why do you ask all of a sudden?

Tomoya:

I guess I just want to know. I want to compare it with my own reasons.

Nazuna:

Hmm~ I’ve already talked about this in a magazine interview, but it’s basically just how my life took its course.

I’ve always loved to sing ever since I was little, so I joined a church choir.

Plus, it’s not like I had any other exceptional abilities… Might be rich of me to say right now, but I figured that I’d be able to make it somehow.

Everyone around me would say things like, "you have such a pretty face."

Tomoya:

I really do think you’re stunningly pretty. If I were to borrow an expression from a novel I read a long time ago, I’d describe you as “having features as beautiful as a maiden.”

Nazuna:

I’m gonna flare up at you if you describe me like that right now, Tomo-chin.

But let me ask you instead, why did you decide to become an idol?

If you’re not particularly attached to the industry and really starting to suffer from how grueling it is, then I still believe that there’s always the choice of calling it quits.

Never mind your fans lamenting the loss it’d be or how it’d look in the eyes of society. Screw all of that.

The most important thing for all three of you is how you feel in your heart, and how you want to live your life.

Tomoya:

I don’t feel like I want to give up. If anything, I feel like things are finally starting to get interesting.

The reason I became an idol was partly out of being a fanboy who hopped on the bandwagon.

I’ve always had a complex about being too ordinary, and I really admired idols for being such exceptional people who shine so brightly.

I figured that if I became an idol, I’d become someone extraordinary; someone worthy of admiration.

But what I didn’t realize at all was that when you’re in an extraordinary position, you risk getting a taste of an extraordinary level of suffering. Just like what we're facing right now.

I totally had no idea.

Nazuna:

Do you regret becoming an idol?

Tomoya:

I’d be lying if I said I had no regrets whatsoever.

But the reality is that life isn’t just all rainbows and butterflies. No matter which path I chose, I’d probably have both good and bad experiences.

So if the path of choosing to be either ordinary or extraordinary leads to the same result, I at least want to be the kind of person I admire.

I want to be someone I can be proud of. And so long as I’m someone I’m proud of, I feel like I can bounce back on my feet no matter what happens.

Nazuna:

If we go ahead with this plan in question, we’ll have to play dirty. There’s a chance you might become someone you won’t be proud of.

Tomoya:

Mitsuru seemed concerned about that too. But I’ve been doubting this myself—are we really as pure as everyone says we are?

Ever since Bishojo-senpai asked us “Are you really and truly that cute?”—

—It really made me think. I wondered if that was really the case. Are we really the cute, angelically pure idols that the world tells us we are?

Ever since what happened at Yumenosaki’s S2 became known, everyone’s always been so considerate of us that we never even questioned it.

We just accepted it. Everyone made a fuss over us, telling us how cute we are; what good kids we are.

And in no time at all, I was convinced that the way everyone describes Ra*bits is the “real us.”

In a way, it was kind of like being brainwashed. If someone tells you the same thing over and over again, you eventually start to believe it.

Nazuna:

For what it’s worth, you guys are the cutest and best kids in the entire world from my point of view.

Tomoya:

Thank you, Nii~chan.

I feel the same way about you. Ever since we met you, and the moment you reached out to offer us your hand back when we were at a complete loss—

You’ve been someone so beautiful and precious to us—someone we admire more than anyone else.

Nazuna:

Cut that out~ Don’t say things like that… You’re gonna make me cry…

Tomoya:

Please do cry. It’ll be revenge for the time I broke down and bawled my eyes out in front of you before Poppin’ Party.

Nazuna:

Back then, you were feeling seriously unstable about having been made Leader of Ra*bits.

But now you seem perfectly calm to me. You really have grown too, Tomo-chin.

Tomoya:

I may not be making progress as fast as Mitsuru and Hajime, nor is my growth as noticeable as theirs...

But if you say so, Nii~chan, then it has to be true. I’ve grown too. And as crazy as this situation is, at least I’m not feeling at such a loss that I’m going to break down and cry.

I’m actually really happy about that. I'm proud of how far I’ve come.

I used to hate how ordinary I was. But now that I’ve dove into the world of idols, I’m surrounded by so many astonishing people that I could never begin to compare myself to.

Once again, I don’t stand out at all, and I’m back to being an ordinary kid.

But I don’t hate this position half as much as I did in the past. Both my friends and fans still acknowledge me, despite me not possessing any exceptional qualities. They still cheer me on and tell me how much they love me.

Maybe that’s all I ever wanted, ever since I was younger.

I just wanted to be acknowledged by someone. I wanted to be recognized, seen, and loved.

And that’s why I decided to become an idol.

I did my best to work hard and grow, acted cutely so that everyone would love me, and tried to be the best kid I could possibly be. Maybe even more than necessary.

And it was all for the sake of being loved by other people.

That’s me, Mashiro Tomoya.

Nazuna:

Yeah. And I’m Nito Nazuna. Nice to meet you.

Tomoya:

Let’s make this relationship a good one.

Heh, what was that “nice to meet you” for?

Nazuna:

It felt like that sort of moment.

Tomoya:

What? Haha…

Anyway, that’s the reason that I don’t want to give up on being an idol. It doesn’t matter how we do it; I just want us to be loved; to be valued and cherished by everyone.

I want to do something about this situation where our work has all dried up and we can’t be active as idols.

I want to do everything in my power to fix it. At least, that’s my official declaration.

Nazuna:

You don’t even have to declare it, all of us already know~

But thanks, Tomo-chin. You do your best to put on a brave face and be the best kid you can be, but I’m so glad that you’re willing to be open and honest about feeling like any kid your age would in front of me.

That… makes me so happy.

It’s like, right now… I feel so alive—like, I’m really living.

Tomoya:

Then let’s make sure that we keep on making our life worth living.

First of all, we’ve gotta do something about the enemy right in front of us—Bishojo-senpai.

Let’s go take our life back. Let’s ward off this invader who’s trying to knock us down, and defend our world to the very end.

NEXT CHAPTER

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Translation by:

Ara @. nazunyan427

Proofreader:

Sophie @.ra_bits_daisuki