LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 13_ Hide the Past
“Karin, you’re smart, you’re strong, I believe in you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Dad?”
“I’m just showing my support for you. I’ve seen what you can do first-hand. I’ll do anything I can, as a father.”
“What are you trying to say? I already know that I’m capable. And you? You think you can support me? I don’t need a piece of shit like you to help me.”
“Karin… I know we haven’t gotten along the best… but I really do want t—”
“You’re just using me like you used Mom. You think that if you say some kind words to me then I’ll help you out of this hole you dug yourself.”
“No… that’s really not wh—”
“I’ve been eating nothing but trash for the last few years. I didn’t say anything because I thought you were working hard, but you never cared about us. When Mom was dying, you didn’t even come to see us once. I hope you had fun out playing with other women.”
“T-that was a mistake… I’m sorry…”
“I find it disgusting that you come talk to me now after you drowned yourself in debt. When I’m successful, I’ll make sure that you only eat shit for the rest of your life, no matter what you do.”
***
The girls looked at me awkwardly.
“U-um… so you’re still here, Mizutaka-kun.”
They were all sitting around, fidgeting.
“Usually, we only give Gold VIP tickets to other girls… We kind of need to get changed… so could you wait outside?”
What poor design.
I didn’t really mind waiting outside. It was pretty difficult trying to keep up this sociable facade around all these different girls. I just wanted to have a talk with Karin-san before I left, so it wasn’t like I was too interested in doing anything else with them.
• ───────────────── •
Taking a seat in the hallways, I saw a large number of men walking around. I guess they were all leaving after the meet-and-greet, or maybe they were going somewhere else, I didn’t really care.
I was thirsty so I decided to get some water from the vending machine. Normally, I’d refrain from spending money like this, but the ten-thousand dollars from the dating show was enough for me to splurge a little—it was a lot more than I had expected. I guess I was like the ‘guest star’ of some sort, I wonder if the director was happy with my performance.
As I reached down to grab my water, I felt someone pulling on my hair.
“Mizutaka-kun… how dare you ignore my texts…!”
“Ah… I was busy, you know?”
“No one ignores me! Not when I’m texting them!”
She was quite arrogant, it seemed.
What a pain, but I guess I should use this opportunity.
Turning around, I pulled her into a more secluded part of the building.
…
“W-what are you doing?!”
She was wearing a large beanie, sunglasses and a mask. It was almost comical how much she acted like a celebrity—well, I guess she was one.
There wasn’t anyone nearby which was what I wanted.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”
“Ah! Why were you acting so stuck-up during the show…” it looked that now that we were alone, she was a little less confident.
“Was I acting stuck-up?”
“You were clearly checking me out! How come you didn’t ask me out at the end… I’ve never felt so humiliated before!”
“Well, maybe you just weren’t my type.”
She furrowed her eyebrows.
Ah, she was angry.
“I’m one of the most popular junior actors at the moment! There’s no way a nobody like you could just ignore me!”
I pushed her against the wall.
“If that’s the case, go on a date with me then.”
…
Her face went bright red.
It seemed that even someone as confident as her couldn’t keep her composure in a situation like this.
As I leaned in closer, I noticed her hands shaking. She looked down at the ground, trying to break our eye contact.
I was taking a pretty big risk here.
However, if I didn’t do something big, she’d likely just forget about me soon enough.
I was getting pretty desperate at this point.
“…fine… I’ll prove to you that I’m the cutest girl that you’ve ever met.”
Well, thankfully that worked as hoped.
“I’ll see. This Monday afternoon at the city centre then.”
Before she could say anything else, I turned around and made my way back toward the rehearsal room.
…
The Oyama-Maezda Production Company… I wonder what their reason was for supporting the Ideal Human Project. Based on what I thought in the past, I couldn’t see any benefits for them. It wasn’t the like project was creating brilliant child actors or performers—not the right type of actors at least.
If anything, the children from the project were the complete opposite of what a production company would want.
If that was the case, why did they support it…
I guess I’d take this chance to find any clues.
This might be the first clue on how to get rid of that man.
…
“Mizutaka-kun, you can come in now. We’ve finished changing.”
“Ah, alright then.”
Making my way inside, the girls were sitting around the place, eating, drinking and lounging around. I wasn’t really sure what I was even meant to do here.
I walked over to Karin-san.
“Ah, Riku-kun, did you talk to Kaede-chan?”
“How did you know?”
“Of course I did. I knew that she was here, and knowing you, you wouldn’t just pass this opportunity. Was it hard to find her?”
“She came to me.”
“Aha, as expected from you. Tell me, Riku-kun, who really are you?”
“What do you mean.”
“Playing the fool again. It’s fine, I’ll figure it out eventually.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Still, even though she was smart, she wasn’t going to be able to learn about my past.
Not unless I let her.
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