The Waste of A Wish | Chapter 38
Hello people, Cut here. Sorry for the looong time without any update. I just really got busy and a lot of things happened. Here’s the chapter (that I hope you guys are waiting for) I hope you enjoy it! Douzo~
CHOSEN BY THE STAGE
“I WILL COME to pick you up later so don’t worry. I will be waiting in front of your building. The reporters are not allowed to get inside so it will be alright. Just wait for me and don’t try to go anywhere.”
That was the instruction of Fumie’s father after dropping the girl to her school. It is as he expected. Media people has come flocking outside NHG just to have a glimpse and by any chance get to interview the girl who stood as the Top Idol at the night of the Jyuuni Seiza concert.
All the available news sites are filled with headlines about what happened to the idol concert of the year. The Top Idol for two consecutive years, Saito Asuka, collapsed while preparing for her performance. She was immediately sent to the hospital to get treatment and it was found out that her high fever was caused by gastric ulcer. This led the team behind the concert to pick someone to replace Asuka on the stage.
“It is better to have someone perform and then explain the situation after the performance than to send the people away with worry after the absence of the Top Idol.” That was the explanation of the Chairman of the National Idol Board who faced the media to represent the whole committee of the concert.
The whole nation is worried about Asuka but after knowing that she is already receiving proper treatment and medication, they already had their hearts rest assured and just waiting for the return of everyone’s favorite idol. Asuka has already sent a hand-written letter to her fans to tell them that she is already doing fine and is very sorry that she wasn’t able to perform at the stage where everyone worked hard to put her on. She promised that she will take good care of herself in the future to be able to perform for them once she is out of the hospital.
But Asuka’s absence wasn’t the only thing that topped the news. The Cinderella girl that was given her spot that night blew up all search engines and general idol forums. Shingyoji Fumie, who just lost her way to her boyfriend that fateful night, is now facing the biggest change in her life.
There were positive comments about her, saying that she was really stunning and a sure fit as an idol. Her aura blew people’s mind away and she caught everyone’s eyes that night. It was as if she was performing alone on that stage without the new idol group from Kojima Haruna’s agency. Her presence was just that big.
Unbelievably, her dancing and singing that night were flawless. Her facial expression was top-notch as if she rehearsed the song before the performance. For a ponkotsu like her, it was a miracle that she managed to remember the steps once she stepped on the stage. She was really, really nervous and her mind was blank but as soon as she stepped on the stage, everything just changed as if she’s familiar of standing to a big stage like that.
But since Fumie’s performance was flawless, a lot of people started thinking that everything is scripted starting from Asuka’s sickness. They think that it is just the way of the National Idol Board to make noise since the war has just resumed. She has also made a lot of antis in just one night. She received the stage of the Top Idol just like that. It’s not only Asuka’s fans but the fans of the other idols didn’t like that she received that place without any effort.
Now that Fumie has stepped not just under an ordinary spotlight but to a very bright one, the whole country is after her. She knows that they are all digging information about her. She can’t just get out in public especially with her boyfriend, Fuyu.
“I don’t think this will do anything good for Fumie-tan and the King.”
Maki let out a deep sigh which somehow made the atmosphere heavier. She, Miyu and Yuma were also watching the concert that time but they were on a different place to give Fumie and Fuyu a time for a proper date. But, if they only knew that Fumie would lose her way towards Fuyu, they should’ve just went with them and kept her on their sight.
“Fumie, what are your plans now?” Miyu asked to her best friend, her face is a complete picture of worry. “Have you talked to Fuyu-senpai? You said you were taken home by your manager, right?”
The girl, whose face is almost everywhere, turned to Miyu while massaging her temple. She still hasn’t gotten enough sleep since the event that turned her life upside down.
“My phone broke during the concert. My dad will pick up a new phone for me today. I tried to talk contact him through the neuro-linker but it turns out that he hasn’t gotten a new one since Yurina-chan destroyed his linker.” Fumie rubbed her face with her palms. “I wanted to see him but I couldn’t get out of the house due to Kato-san’s advice. My mum also noticed that there were strange people going around our area so yeah…”
“If you want we can go and meet him during the break. We will go with you.” Maki suggested which her friends agreed with. Actually, she’s also worried about Fuyu since he isn’t answering calls or even replying to her messages. They didn’t even know if Fuyu came to school since the gate was being flocked by the press people.
“I want to see him right now.”
The three were surprised to hear that straight from Fumie’s mouth. They all turned to her only to see her distressed, flustered face. “I want to see him right now. I don’t think I can wait anymore.”
Fumie stood up and dashed towards the door. Her friends tried to stop her, giving her warnings that classes are about to start but it seemed like she wasn’t able to hear anything. They could feel how worried she is for her boyfriend.
She managed to get out but she was then seen walking backwards with the teacher intimidating her to go back inside. Fumie had no other choice but to return to the class but the teacher isn’t over with her yet.
“Are you going to leave the class after bringing such uproar to the school?” Instead of greeting the class, the teacher started throwing cold, insensitive words to Fumie. “This school is for the elites and the VIPs to have their privacy from the eyes of the public but here you are bringing a horde of press people in front of the school? There are even paparazzi roaming around and we couldn’t care less about this alarming situation.”
He shook his head in disappointment before booting his desk computer. He immediately went to open the automatic attendance checker software and then gave out a thwarting sigh.
“You better get out and talk to the media, Shingyoji-san. Don’t disturb other people’s privacy. I don’t know what kind of publicity stunt you are into but let this school be at rest.”
“W-Wait, Sensei! That was uncalled—“
Maki wasn’t able to finish her rant when Miyu pulled her and Fumie back to their seats. “It’s okay, girls. Calm down. Let’s just wait for our break to meet Fuyu-senpai.” she whispered to them. Having an experience with ‘scandals’, Miyu knows that the best way to deal with it is to be silent for the mean time. Doing unnecessary movements might make everything worse.
Fumie had no choice but to get back to her seat. She expected that Fuyu would come to her to check her out but it seems like Fuyu was also as surprised as her. Who wouldn’t be? He might be thinking that she invited her to the concert just to see her perform—a brutal way of dumping him.
Her head hung in frustration as she released a vexed sigh.
“Hoshi…”
“WHAT on earth happened at that night?”The Chairman of the National Idol Board is up from his seat. All the producers, managers, teachers and high ranked staff members are present in the council room. They all couldn’t look at the angry chairperson who isn’t able to take his seat out of the happening controversy.
“Kojima-san.”
Haruna jerked to her seat after hearing her name being called. She met the stare of the chairperson and she knew right away that he is not in the best mood.
“Saito Asuka-san is in your label’s care, am I right?” The chairman asked.
“Yes, Sir.”
“Are you starving your idols? Just look at what happened to her. She got a really severe gastric ulcer and the main cause was she wasn’t eating properly. I thought Saito-san got into the best company after she was allegedly maltreated in her last label.”
“It wasn’t like that, Sir!”
Everybody turned to Hori who was sitting beside Haruna that time. His whole body is shivering but he has to protect the name of their company and their head producer.
“Talk.” The head of the council ordered.
Though stammering, Hori managed to explain their side; on how hard it was for Asuka to manage her time to the point of not being able to go to school for the past months. He also explained that Asuka still has this trauma from her last agency resulting into mild anorexia. He and his company are giving their best to lift the trauma from the little girl.
After his explanation, the chairman went back to his seat and released a vexed sigh.
“The situation is out of our hand now.” He started. “I know you were all in a pinch that night seeing that whatever move you do would be an issue. I think we just have to do something to make the best story out of this situation.”
The huge panel behind the chairman suddenly turned on in just one press of a button. On the screen were pictures of the Top Idol, Saito Asuka and the Cinderella Idol, Shingyoji Fumie. Just looking at how things are going, Haruna already felt that everything will go against her plan for Fumie.
“As you all know, the rift between the countries involved in the war became more severe after the kidnappings that are happening. I hate to admit it but this controversy could be considered a miracle for us.” The chairman bit his lower lip due to the crippling guilt that he’s been trying to swallow. “Everyone’s attention is already in this story. We could use it to divert everyone’s attention from the war.”
B-But Chairman,” Haruna raised her hand. “Shingyoji-san didn’t pass the idol program of our agency which means she didn’t get absorbed. Who would manage her if ever she agrees to continue being an idol?”
The chairman leaned back to his seat. “We have no choice but to let her current agency handle her.”
Anna-sensei’s face brightened up right after hearing that news. Togasaki only gawked at her.
“This might be risky but this would be another interesting side of the story. I also found out that Shingyoji-san’s father was an ex-military official. I believe a lot of families will look at her as an inspiration especially during this time.”
“So, all we need to do now is to convince her to continue being an idol, am I right?” Everyone turned to Anna-sensei. Togasaki couldn’t keep his poker face anymore.
“There’s no need to convince her.” The chairman answered which made everyone baffled. “The stage has already chosen her.”
LUNCH will soon be over but Fuyu has never moved from his seat. Right after he received a message from Maki that Fumie wants to see him at lunch he didn’t bother to drop by at the cafeteria but went straight to the meeting point which is the library.
He was waiting in anxiety and seeing that the clock will soon strike 1PM made his insides hurt. It wasn’t because of the hunger. In fact he doesn’t feel hungry at all but it’s the pain brought by all the negative feelings and thoughts he is suppressing inside.
Fuyu stood up from his seat. He could feel it that there’s no point of waiting. He has to go back to his class or else people would talk ill about them again and the one who would look bad would be Fumie. He has to do well at the very least. He has to protect her from further malicious comments.
He was about to go out when Maki, Miyu and Yuma suddenly popped up by the door. The three were all chasing for their breaths. They ran all the way from the second year tower straight to the library.
“King! It’s an emergency!” Maki shouted before putting her phone up in front of Fuyu’s face.
“W-What is it?” Fuyu looked at the phone and read what’s on the screen. “The Cinderella Idol’s Showroom?” Fuyu’s eyes widened when he realized what that is about. “F-Fumie!?”
“We were on our way to meet you, Senpai when the principal of the school suddenly came to meet Fumie-san. He came to our classroom himself.” Yuma immediately went to pull chairs for the two girls who seemed like they ran for their lives.
Fuyu followed them while holding Maki’s phone, still a bit shocked.
“A silver-haired guy was with the principal. At just one look I figured out who he was.” Miyu stated.
“K-Kato-san?” Fuyu’s fists balled. What is the real motive of that guy, seriously?
“The principal talked about how many complaints he has been receiving since morning from other students, their parents and talent agencies.” Miyu continued with her explanation. “It was him who contacted Fumie’s manager and asked him to just let the public hear about Fumie’s side of the story so the paparazzi would stop lurking around. Now they are going to do a Showroom broadcast to present Fumie to the public.”
“But why would he do that?” Fuyu growled. “They should’ve consulted it to Fumie’s parents first. They shouldn’t pressure Fumie like this!”
“That’s right, Senpai!” Even the cute Yuma is being seen with an angry expression today. “Fumie-san’s manager signaled us to go to you and tell you about the happenings but the principal, double quote, invited us to his office to eat lunch with our homeroom teacher. We told him that we are going to eat at the cafeteria but they insisted that we should eat with them. We ended up being confined at the office with our scary homeroom teacher.”
“H-How did you guys escape?” Fuyu examined his friends one more time and saw they have dirt all over their uniforms. “D-Did you jump from the window?”
“We did jump from the window.” Fuyu got more shocked with that answer from Miyu. “It’s crazy but we really went that extreme just to get to you.”
Maki raised her thumb up. “I shared them my zombie power that’s why they are not dead yet.”
“For the sake of this story we all know that we the window was only in first floor. It would be pathetic if we died on that jump!” Yuma shook his head.
“Do you know where they brought Fumie?” Fuyu asked.
“We lost track of her since we were basically kidnapped. But that Kato guy mouthed that we should go and trust him but I don’t know, Fuyu-senpai! I don’t know if we should really believe him!”
“I understand you, Mi—“
Fuyu lost his voice when he heard Kato’s voice coming not only from Maki’s phone but it is being broadcasted at the whole school. The guy is heard to be testing the sound level. Yuma immediately turned on the monitor in the library only to access Showroom.
Kato is being showed fixing the angle of his phone camera. It gives a feeling that it was an impromptu broadcast. There were no special equipment being used.
Just the sight of Kato Kenta made the comment section of the Showroom explode. The chairman of the National Idol Council was not wrong about his statement regarding Fumie’s handler. Everyone is being hit with a surprise after another. First was the abrupt broadcast and now the reveal of Fumie’s manager.
Kato stepped backwards only to reveal Fumie standing behind him. The girl couldn’t even look straight at the camera for three seconds. Her manager stood beside her and as if on cue, Kato greeted the audience and took ninety-degree bow. Fumie followed after him.
“As you all know, what happened last weekend took the whole country by surprise. Who would’ve thought that this is how things would turn out? Standing here beside me is the girl who served as the substitute of the Top Idol, Saito Asuka-san, who fell ill that night. It was never our intention to steal the spotlight that night and we never wished for Saito-san to be sick.”
“Coming from you…” Haruna bit her lower lip in dismay. She’s already back at her office and is watching the broadcast alongside with the whole idol world.
“Don’t you think we should go and interrupt the broadcast!?” Yuma asked while jogging into place. He couldn’t help but to be worried about the next things that are going to happen.
Fuyu just shook his head, surprising the three juniors. “No, we shouldn’t go. If we go now and interrupt it, it will be a bigger issue. Fumie will be put into more trouble if I suddenly just go there and present myself to the people.”
“We are very sorry for what happened to Saito-san but at the same time, I can’t deny that I am a bit happy to see Shingyoji-san perform on that stage. She didn’t manage to pass the idol-course she underwent to and it was really hard for her to accept that her dreams won’t be fulfilled anymore. But, that miraculous night gave her that one chance to step on stage. I’m very thankful that I somehow managed to see someone who trusted me after everything I got involved with had her shining moment on that fateful night. Again, I hope you all understand the situation Shingyoji-san got into.”
Kato took another bow. The comments sympathizing Kato flooded the comment section. There are still people who recognize his talent for discovering idols.
“After the idol course, I and Shingyoji-san have already parted ways since I don’t have the budget to push her to debut as an idol. We really thank all those fans of her that were supporting her throughout the whole process. I know you, guys, were happier than me after seeing her on that stage. We have checked your messages on her little fansite and we are so glad to see that you are all happy for her.”
Fumie vowed her head even lower. She didn’t know that her fans left messages for her since all she was thinking that time was about her and Fuyu. She felt a little ashamed that she didn’t even bother to open her fansite and respond to her fans. They may not be a lot but they have been supporting her for some time now.
“As one door of opportunity closed, another one opened for us. We know it very well that it was a chance that will never come again. But, due to circumstances, Shingyoji-san has decided not to pursue being an idol anymore…”
The whole world was shocked to that statement. Fuyu and the others couldn’t even talk and were just looking at each other, asking if they are hearing it straight from Kato Kenta with those stares. Even Haruna was dumbfounded and couldn’t decipher what’s going on Kato’s mind. Is he really going to give up that golden chance? He isn’t the type who lets go of opportunities.
Fumie was also surprised. She jerked a little on her place after hearing that. She didn’t make much movement to avoid getting attention but she was really surprised. Kato told her to just stand beside him and he will do all the talking. She didn’t know that he will drop something like this.
“It was an unforgettable evening and we couldn’t ask for more. I hope that you all remember Shingyoji-san not as someone who ‘stole’ the spotlight but as the perfect substitute for the rightful owner of the stage who wasn’t able to perform that n—“
Kato was already wrapping up the broadcast but there was a sudden flood of complaints. He stopped with his talking and started reading up the comments silently. Curious, Fumie rose her head to see what made Kato stopped and she marveled at how fast the comments appear and disappear.
“Is that all? Is this what this broadcast is for!???”
“You went all your way to present her and then say that you’re not going to push her debut?”
“IT’S A WASTE!!! Give her a chance to debut!!!! Don’t waste the chance!!!”
“Make her an official idol!!! Let Fumie-chan and Ashuu have their showdown once Ashuu recovers!”
“Are you telling us that the girl who performed the Top Idol’s song flawlessly will not debut!? Don’t be crazy, Kato Kenta!!!”
“W-Wait, everyone… I don’t think we deserve this kind of support… Shingyoji-san is just—“
Kato turned to Fumie who was looking really worried. There is a loud call from the people, a demand for her to be an idol.
“I-I don’t have the power to push her to debut.” Kato stammered and then continued reading the voice of the people. Majority of them are pushing Fumie to be an idol, telling them that they will be there to support her if she proves herself worthy of it.
Kato took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Everyone fell quiet but fingers don’t stay still. They are still typing messages even though they could see that Kato isn’t reading it.
After some while, Kato opened his eyes, looking as if he as arrived into a conclusion. He gave Fumie a nod, trying to tell her to just trust whatever he came up with.
“Three thousand people.”
That line left everything baffled. That pause he made after saying that line pushed the hearts of the viewers to the verge of explosion.
“I am going to organize a handshake event for Shingyoji-san. The time and place, I will announce it online. Now, if three thousand people came to meet and support Shingyoji-san then I would give my utmost best to push her to debut.”
“Crazy! Is he really asking for three thousand people?”
“Even those girls who properly made a debut couldn’t even gather more than a hundred people at their first handshake event...”
“And now he is asking for not just a thousand but three thousand people.”
“He doesn’t really want her to debut.”
“He’s crazy!”
“Lol. But if they manage to collect three thousand people then wouldn’t that mean that the girl is really powerful?”
“If that amount of people came to meet her I just don’t know if she won’t be moved and be convinced to pursue. www
“LOLOL! EXCITING! I’M GOING!”
“That’s it!” Kato exclaimed with a smile on his face. “I will entrust Shingyoji-san’s fate in your hands.”
-TBC-
