Track 3

"I-I'm so nervous. What with this being a TV station and all."

"You'll be fine, Chief. We're not going to be on camera anyway."

"Don't say that. Nayuki and the Chief should be on screen too. I'm sponsoring this show, so they won't get mad."

"...Hah, what a fool. Can I go home now?"

"Kuguri, if you leave now, the trust in HAMA Tours will decrease by 38.9%."

"Not my problem," muttered someone’s voice.

"Chihiro, what's wrong? You're spacing out."

A voice suddenly spoke right near me, startling me.

It was Tao who'd called out.

When I looked up, the Ev3ns members were there, along with Chiefy and Nayuuki.

We were in a green room at HAMA's local TV station, about to go on a show.

"...Did something happen? Natsuyaki-kun."

Nayuuki stared into my eyes and asked.

I hurriedly replied, "Noooothing!"

"Really?"

Raitin looked concerned.

"Chihiro's absentmindedness this week is 89.9% compared to usual..."

Kinyari started saying, so—

"I'm gonna go grab a drink real quick~!"

I quickly escaped the green room.

Even if they’re worried about me, I can't tell them the reason right now.

I walked down the hallway, letting out a long sigh.

There should be a catering corner for performers somewhere around here, right?

Just then, someone called out from behind me.

"...Chii!?"

Huh? Who's that?

That's what my fans call me. But at a TV station... even a local one?

Puzzled, I turned around and my eyes widened.

A friendly, charming face with a slightly stocky build. I remembered laughing and saying, "You've got dancer's muscles, you can totally do this!"

"Nitarin?"

When I said that nostalgic nickname, the person's face lit up with a smile and he rushed over.

He grabbed my hands, looking on the verge of tears.

Something welled up inside me too, and I bit my lip.

"Chii, you remembered me."

"...Of course I remember."

I couldn't find the words beyond that.

This person was Nita-kun, who'd fought alongside me on the '13Choose!'.

He was a teammate in the group where I'd volunteered as leader. He'd lacked dance experience, got scolded by the trainer, and ran off crying.

I'd chased after him to encourage him, and brought Nita-kun back—

The show twisted that entire sequence into drama content, painting me as the villain. And on top of that, Nita-kun got eliminated soon after, and we'd lost touch completely.

"Chihiro?"

At that moment, a familiar voice called out to me.

I turned around to find Tao standing there with a plastic bottle in hand.

Nita-kun released my hands as if just now realizing he'd been holding them.

"Tao, what's up?"

"You were taking forever, so I came to check on you... but..."

Tao's gaze flickered briefly to Nita-kun.

"Um, this is someone I was with on that audition show before..."

When I introduced Nita-kun, Tao's eyes showed just a hint of concern. I'd told Tao about my bad memories from '13Choose!', after all. Still, being Ev3ns' voice of reason, Tao quickly greeted him.

"I'm Tao Kinouchi. Nice to meet you."

"I'll chat for a bit and then come back."

"...Mm, okay."

Tao's face looked like he was asking me, "Are you really okay?", but at my words, he headed back to the green room.

"...Chii, you're in a group now, right? Ev3ns. I saw the videos."

Nita-kun said he still loved my dancing.

Knowing he'd been watching made my chest feel warm.

"What about you, Nitarin?"

When I asked, Nita-kun explained that after the audition, a small agency picked him up. A food review he did went mini-viral, and now he works as a talent primarily on local station variety shows.

"That's amazing!"

The words burst out, and he laughed, saying "It's all thanks to you, Chii", which made my eyes widen.

"During the audition, no matter how hard things got, I'd remember you always smiling and facing forward... it kept me going."

He said that even after '13Choose!' ended, I remained his leader. A hot lump surged up inside my chest.

“…I’ve always wanted to apologize,” he said.

”For what happened. It’s my fault that you ended up getting evil edited.”

“N-no, that wasn’t your fault!” I rushed to say.

“Honestly, the show was probably gonna do that somewhere down the line anyway!”

A clear-cut villain.

A made-for-TV bad guy that was only there to stir up drama.

That was the role they wanted me to play.

But then Nita-kun said, “Hey…” like he’d finally made up his mind about something.

"The NDA for '13Choose!' had a ridiculously long term with heavy penalties, so I couldn't say anything. But the contract's about to expire, right?"

Nita-kun continued,

"So I'm thinking of posting on dazzle or something. About how you actually helped me back then, but the show maliciously edited it."

I heard my heart thud, loud and heavy.

During the 13Choose! audition period.

All the abuse people hurled at me on social media.

The despair of having invisible malice stabbing straight through me.

For just a split second, I thought—

If Nita-kun tells the truth…

But.

"...You don't need to do that. You’re getting a lot of work right now, Nitarin. You’ve gotta protect that.”

Nita-kun started to say "But," and I squeezed his hands tight.

"I'm serious. I love where I am now. And I want you to keep thriving where you are too."

Our eyes met, and I laughed, "It's all in the past anyway!"

Nita-kun's body had been tense, but the tension slowly drained away.

I realized Nita-kun had been scared too.

"...You really haven't changed, Chii. I respect that."

"And you're out there giving stellar food reviews, right~?"

"Haha, I'll do my best on today's show."

After some light banter, Nita-kun said as if just remembering.

"Oh yeah, I ran into Komu the other day."

In that instant, my heart jumped again.

"Huh, forreal? How's he doing?"

My own voice, responding cheerfully, sounded distant, as if it was coming from far away.

"I got called to a Tokyo studio and caught him there briefly. He's full of celebrity vibes!"

"You're a celeb too, Nitarin."

"I’m definitely not on his level," came his amused response.

"Komu's gotten taller, which freaked me out. He still smiled and talked to me normally, though. At least that part hasn't changed.”

“Huh, I see”. It’s strange how I'm speaking but nothing's really registering.

"Komu asked if I was in touch with you, Chii. About whether I knew your contact info. You two were close, right?"

I was surprised that Komu-kun, with the mighty 13's agency, would care about someone like me. Maybe it's because I never replied to his DMs?

"I do have his contact info. Maybe... I'll message him sometime."

I'm not ready yet, so I don't know if I'll actually reach out, but I say it to reassure Nita-kun.

Nita-kun smiled, saying he thinks Komu would be happy.

"Ahh, but one thing bugs me."

Right then, Nita-kun's voice dropped as he muttered.

"Remember the director from the audition? While I was talking to Komu, he suddenly showed up."

I flinched internally.

When asked if I remembered, I thought, "How could I ever forget?"

The one who pushed me into the whole GAL persona.

“Wasn’t that director super cold to people like us? The ones who ranked low at the start?”

“…Was he?”

I pretended not to remember much.

But I realized Nita-kun had been treated coldly like me too.

"Maybe he was already kissing up to Komu, knowing he'd be a star. Apparently they're still friendly. They went drinking together that day."

"...Huh."

I don't care. I don't want to hear about any of this.

While thinking that, a corner of my mind recalled something. Come to think of it, when I first met Komu-kun, he said the director was nice to him.

"Well, Komu made his debut, basically became the face of 13's, and now they're selling like crazy. Still stings like hell though~."

"Ahaha."

I didn't agree. But honestly, my feelings wouldn’t settle.

Nita-kun had no way of knowing, but that director had told me my votes were manipulated, and that's why I lost.

Does Komu-kun know about the vote manipulation?

The thought crossed my mind, but I immediately figured, "There's no way he knows."

If he knew, he wouldn't have stayed friendly with that director.

After promising to keep in touch, I parted ways with Nita-kun and returned to the green room.

"Chihiro, you met up with an acquaintance?"

Raitin asked with a big smile. He must've heard from Tao.

To Raitin, meeting someone you know equals something good happening.

I envied that brightness. My actual feelings were complicated.

I was really happy that Nita-kun had been thinking about me, but...

When I sat next to Tao, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Nita-kun and I were pretty close. We were just reminiscing."

"I see."

He didn't push for more.

This is what makes him such a good guy. I really feel safe around Tao.

"More importantly, are you going to be okay for the TV recording…?"

I asked a bit worriedly, since Tao's past TV appearance had traumatized him.

"I'm surprised too, but I don't feel any pressure at all. Maybe I got used to it from being on your livestreams so much."

Tao shrugged. I was relieved he seemed fine.

As I breathed a sigh of relief, I said, "I hope your brother... watches it," and Tao muttered something truly horrifying, "Who knows. Apparently this show has a 0.1% viewership rating..."

"Weeeh. Guess Ev3ns has gotta get way more popular than this to make it onto national TV,” I said.

If, hypothetically, we were 13's members... would Tao's brother have found him sooner?

Would Dad have found me too?

I let myself think about it.

—...That surname.

I recalled the unusual surname written on that paper.

It felt familiar somehow, but I had no proof of anything.

When I glanced up, Tao was smiling and tilting his head, "Hm?"

His eyes were as clear as could be.

"It's nothing," I said, while a part of me wished—someday...

—Someday… Come find me, Dad.

When you do, smile at me.

Hold out your hand.

Don’t betray me this time.

Please, God, 

I’m begging you.