mireiarchive

J-proofer : Royalquintet

E-proofer :Honeyspace

HiMERU: (—Hmm. Seems as if the surveillance camera has malfunctioned. The audio and video have both been interrupted.) 

(As expected, it is difficult to monitor anyone within ES. Naturally, there is no reason for them to not have countermeasures against espionage.)

(Even with the power of the Information Bureau— a privilege from the Vice President, who has the right to install surveillance cameras at his convenience…)

(Well, there must be a limit to it. Then so be it.)

(It was to be expected, too. The other members of Crazy:B, especially that Amagi, didn’t seem to be particularly interested in ALKALOID—) 

(It is quite strange, considering that Amagi's brother is also in that unit.)

(But  I¹ wasn’t doing this for anyone, it was just for my own personal research.) 

(It’s not as if this session was pointless for me— Well, let’s just wrap it up for today.)

(It's such a shame, though. After all, it appears like things just started to get heated up there.)

(The person who visited ALKALOID, shown in the last few seconds of that surveillance video—)

(From a quick observation, he seems to be the dangerous type, the kind of person who would end up destroying everything.)

(Please kindly go rampage and leave wounds all over ALKALOID.)

(Especially that Kazehaya Tatsumi.)

(Aaaargh— Kazehaya Tatsumi, Kazehaya Tatsumi, Kazehaya Tatsumi… The name that HiMERU never wanted to hear in his life ever again. It is disgusting to see his face or even hear his voice.)

(—You're the one who hurt people.)

(Don’t you dare nonchalantly enjoy your life, you damn saint bastard.)

Niki: Ohh~~ Is that HiMERU-kun over there? Yaho yaho~, what a coincidence~♪

HiMERU: —Shiina. 

Niki: Yes, Here is Shiina Niki-kun!

Eeh, hm. Are you really HiMERU-kun? My bad, I’m holdin’ a bunch of stuff, so I can’t really see in front of me, so I'm not really sure~!

HiMERU: —Hm. Why are you carrying that much, Shiina? 

We already have enough eyes on us to worry about, thus HiMERU beseeches you to refrain from showing eccentric behaviour.

Niki: Eh, what the heck does beseech mean? Sounds like a complicated word— big words like that are so confusing!

HiMERU-kun really gives off smart guy vibes~, I really respect you, since I’m just an idiot with no education!

HiMERU: (—Technically, I skipped several grades and have already managed to graduate from university. Well…I won't say that myself, by any means.)

(Your academic background has nothing to do with idol activities— it is not something to show off.)

Niki: Hm~... Huh, are you really HiMERU-kun? Somehow you “smell” kinda different from usual?

HiMERU: —You think so? It’s the same perfume as usual, though. This is quite strange. 

Niki: Hmm? Ahh no, maybe it's just me? Looking closely, you really are HiMERU-kun! Whew, thank goodness!

I almost looked like some kind of weirdo who suddenly talks to strangers~, ahaha~♪

HiMERU: —Shiina, HiMERU thinks it would be best to avoid being noisy in the lobby. 

HiMERU has already said this multiple times, but we are the ones picking a fight with the entirety of ES… We are prone to being estranged.

HiMERU is not telling you to lay low, but HiMERU thinks it wouldn’t be very favorable to unnecessarily sow the seeds of trouble yourself.

In Japanese society, people who stick out too much get punished, so it’s best to not stick out to avoid garnering negative attention.

Niki: That is so true~. People in ES seem so tense recently— they even glare at me with super scary expressions!

Well, it’s not a bother for me, so I’m alright!

Scary looks won't kill anyone~. Eating 3 meals a day is more important!

Fufun. I'm actually thinking of making dishes from these ingredients that I got myself and devouring it all until I'm satisfied, but...

If you have time, how about joining me, HiMERU-kun? Food eaten with someone else is more delicious than food eaten alone!

HiMERU: —HiMERU was wondering what you had so much of. So these are all food ingredients?

It’s not like we’re involved in some kind of siege warfare. You don’t have to bulk-buy months worth of ingredients.

Niki: Actually, this is just a few days worth at most, you see?

Lately, because I have to go along with Rinne-kun and keep being forced to do a lot of concerts, if I don't occasionally buy this much then the stock will run out fast, y'know?

Rinne-kun is a troublesome one, right? Even though it’s such a pain, everyone’s eyes end up on us— I don’t even have the motivation to be an idol.

HiMERU: —Hm. HiMERU heard information about that too; so it was true. HiMERU thought you were just acting the part of an unmotivated character.

From HiMERU’s perspective, your skills as an idol were good enough to be seen as top-notch.

So it is quite hard to believe that someone who has no will to do things is actually capable of shining that much.

Niki: Eeh~. Even HiMERU-kun would say that...?

I'm just a simple cook. It's seriously annoying getting all caught up in this. Can we get this all wrapped up already~?

Since the agency went and said they would fire me, I'd love to just let them do it.

The only thing I would regret is losing the L$ i've earned, because that can be used for food expenses.

HiMERU: —Hm. HiMERU has never thought about ending his idol career. 

Niki: Hee~. I don't really get what's so fun about it… While it's true that being with ES makes it easier to earn money, in this world there are so many other types of job opportunities too.

HiMERU: —Hm. Shiina truly only views idol work as a job, huh.

Niki: Weeell, actually, to put it bluntly, any work is fine as long as it can give me the resources to get food.

To be honest, I don't really get what makes people in ES so tense all the time.

Looking at the people around me, I can see them crying, laughing, running here and there and everywhere— 

It makes me feel like I'm in a different world entirely. Whatever is happening to the idol industry or entertainment industry doesn’t mean anything for us normies, because it has nothing to do with us.

It makes me feel taken aback; it's actually really off-putting.

HiMERU: —Fufu. As you said, the entertainment world has recently had such a bizarre atmosphere. You could say it's almost fictitious in nature.

And if it's a work of fiction, there must be an author writing it. But who is writing our story— and who is reading it?

Notes :

¹ HiMERU refer himself with 俺 (ore) here instead of the usual HiMERU.