Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 9 - Chapter 2.04

  Twenty-four hours with an idol

Even though it was the weekend, I went into town the next morning and found myself, rather uncharacteristically, sitting in a trendy café eating a breakfast meal set. It was nice to get a healthy breakfast for what was basically the price of a cup of coffee.

I hadn’t developed a new, college-student habit of checking out local cafés just because I’d started a new phase in my life, though; I was waiting for someone, and I sipped my coffee, making it last.

“Guess whooo?!”

Fifteen minutes later, two small hands reached around me and covered my eyes from behind.

“I’d know your smell anywhere, Saikawa.”

“…Couldn’t you maybe go from my voice instead?” Looking a little weirded out, Saikawa sat down across from me.

“Did you finish your interview already?”

“Yes, and I talked plenty about the musical.”

The interviewer had been sitting at a table in the back until just a few minutes ago, but they were gone now. Saikawa had had an interview here, which was why I’d found myself waiting in a café bright and early in the morning.

“An early-morning job on a day when you don’t have to go to school? That’s rough.”

“Yeah, my work schedule is packed basically all the way up until tonight.”

So she was as busy as ever, huh? It probably just went to show how much the world loved Saikawa right now. Still…

“I feel about bad about this, but thanks for being my producer for the whole day!”

“Sure. Though I dunno what I’ll actually be able to do.”

After the incident the previous day, we’d decided that I would accompany Saikawa at work. That said, I was more of a manager than a producer, and more gofer-slash-attendant than bodyguard.

“By the way, does Nagisa know about this?”

“Yeah, I told her. She asked me to keep a close eye on you.”

In the meantime, Natsunagi would continue working on Marie’s request.

“That means it’s okay for me to have you all to myself today! Eh-heh-heh!” Saikawa chuckled, flashing me a peace sign. Even if that was just her acting like an idol, she was so cunning and cute that I didn’t mind being fooled.

“All right, should we head out?”

I picked up the receipt, holding out my free hand to Saikawa.

“Oh, for a handshake, I hope you’ll buy one of my CDs!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding…”

After that early interview, we headed to a radio station.

Saikawa was appearing live for just five minutes as a guest on a radio show. She went into it with barely any time to check the script, but she told a few personal stories, and managed to plug the musical and her upcoming new releases.

“Hey, Saikawa. You just got a few laughs with that story about how you messed up trying to cook, but isn’t cooking one of your fortes?”

“Well, yes. But a story about me failing is cuter for my fans, don’t you think? It’s important to make them want to watch over and protect me.”

“The way you brand yourself is kind of amazing… Then that wasn’t a lie, but an act?”

“Uh-huh. Some people might call it an act, but I call it a dream!”

As we talked, we were already on the way to our next destination: a TV station.

Saikawa was appearing on a music program, and she sang some new songs and talked with the emcee and other guests, adding her personal touch to twelve minutes of the half-hour show. When an equipment malfunction stopped one of her songs partway through, she told the studio, “I can sing acapella, too!” easing the tension and showing off just how much of a pro she really was. No wonder the staff loved her so much.

By the time the program ended, it was after lunch, and we ate in the car on the way to her recording session.

This would be her fifth song in six months of consecutive releases. While Saikawa was in the recording booth, they gave her all sorts of instructions and stopped her multiple times for retakes—but even then she never stopped smiling, saying “Sure thing! Let’s go one more time!” I knew Marie was coaching her, and I hoped that Saikawa was seeing results.

When the recording session was over, we got back in the car, and Saikawa started live streaming to her fans right then and there. Smartphone in hand, she chatted and riffed off comments. One of these streams of hers had helped me out just the other day, and Saikawa never failed to provide this sort of fan service.

“All right, see you later! Tomorrow’s live stream should start around nine PM!”

Thirty minutes later, after having talked basically the whole time, Saikawa ended the live stream and put her phone away.

Immediately, she started coughing a little.

“You okay? Here, water…and a cough drop.”

“Thank you. Heh-heh. I guess I tired out my throat a bit.”

Giving me an embarrassed smile, Saikawa drank the water, then popped the cough drop into her mouth.

She’d been on the move since early that morning. It was evening now, but she still wasn’t done for the day; apparently, she had a musical rehearsal starting at nine o’clock that night.

“The opening ceremony for the international expo is coming up, too. I need to get myself fired up for that.”

From what I’d heard, one of Saikawa’s new releases had been adopted as the theme song for an event, and she’d be performing it there. She wasn’t just an idol who represented Japan now; she was spreading her wings on a global stage.

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“It makes me happy to be able to push myself.”

Yeesh. Responding with a comment and a smile like that was cheating.

“So, Saikawa. About your schedule: What’s going on here?”

It was after five o’clock now. There was still quite a while until the musical rehearsal, but her schedule had emptied out.

“Oh, actually, one of my jobs got canceled, so I quickly found something else to fill the slot.”

“You substituted one job with another job?” Feeling a little exasperated, I glanced absentmindedly out the car window, then my breath caught in my throat. I’d seen something.

“Kimizuka? What’s the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing. I just recognize the scenery.”

Not even five minutes later, the car stopped. I got out of the car after Saikawa, who pointed to a particular building. “This is it.”

“What will you be doing here?”

“Volunteering. They asked if I’d sing one of my songs.”

“You accept requests like that, too? That’s really generous of you.”

“Hardly! I do it because my ambition is to dominate the entire population of the world with my smile!” Saikawa threw back her shoulders and gave a deep, villainous laugh, like the world’s kindest demon king.

“Oh, sorry. I haven’t told you what kind of place this is yet. I guess you’d call it a…” But instead of explaining, she hesitated and gave me a puzzled look; I’d started into the building without waiting.

I’d known what this place was all along.

“It’s a children’s home, right?”

“That’s…right. But…how did you know?”

How did I know about this facility? What sort of place was it to me?

In a sentence, well…

“Because this is where I grew up.”