An Idol Game

Chapter 4.5 (Part 2)

Before we found ourselves in a miserable state, Rio and I were nothing but smiles, one, we were graduating so there was some excitement in that alongside the stress of studies, but there was another thing... big sis was planning on getting married!

At first, we were horrified since she was still an active idol, but after she told us that she was willing to retire from being an idol after one more concert, it gave us some relief.

Her relationship wasn't kept from us or anything, but her then-boyfriend Manabu always kept her at arm's length and made a lot of precautions when they flirted, so the sudden announcement was a bit of a heart-stopper.

Nevertheless, we were all very happy since we thought they would never make it that far from how bizarre their relationship was.

For one, dates were a no-no, Manabu rightfully stated dating her would be difficult so going out was never an option and secondly, Manabu was only allowed to see her during concerts as staff or through calls or mail, meaning outside of a safe environment the two weren't allowed to meet or even communicate. Those were the two rules they strictly followed, so it was no wonder everyone thought they wouldn't get engaged. They were basically a modern-day Romeo and Juliet where rather than being separated by warring families, the two were instead separated by social constructs.

It was also around this time that Rio began to have a skewed view of the idol world, not necessarily hatred, but a strong dislike for the rigidness of the norms. He wanted his sister to be happy and pitied her for being chained up due to her occupation, yet couldn't do anything about it because... how could he? It was him against millions of fans, he would have just gotten eaten alive if he tried to step outside the norms.

Still, despite how complicated the matter of an idol getting engaged was, everyone still supported them and was looking forward to the wedding.

However, after one concert big sis met a man who changed the course of her life, leading to one full of suffering and torment.

I wasn't there when they met, but judging from how much it ate at Rio during school I could only imagine the tension that they felt.

Curious, I decided to ask him what happened during lunchtime on the roof.

"So what happened last night? You seem really distracted."

"Yeah, I can't get that guy out of my head. He seemed shifty."

"That guy?"

"Shuu Takamura, you heard of him?"

Who hadn't?

I nodded and basically gave a breakdown of Shuu Takamura's achievements throughout his career which got the point across and probably saved him the breath to explain.

"Good, you're up to speed then. You see, he asked sis to join his idol group."

"No way! What did big sis say?"

"She refused, of course, she's retiring soon so she had no incentive. But..."

"But?"

"Something about that guy just didn't feel right."

I didn't understand what was so concerning at the time, but I would go on to learn at that time that Shuu Takamura was not one to let a person go just because they said no. In his eyes, if he couldn't have someone, then nobody should.

A week later, that very idea became a reality when all of a sudden, big sis was struck by a sudden wave of negativity that led to her needing to take a break from idol activities.

For a long time, sis was clean from any form of drama or controversies. Yet, somehow a hit piece exposing her relationship managed to surface onto the entire world. From what was published, it seemed as though they stalked her all the way to the studio where she and Manabu were spending some time together alone.