Oshi no Ko - What If, Gorou's Edition

Melancholy

The "pots" for school gardening were built long before my enrollment in middle school I used to attend. They had the idea of "what if we make huge tubs attached to the granite railings in front of each classroom, so students can grow plants and care for them as an extracurricular activity?", but ultimately those supposed flowerbeds were never actually used for their original intended purpose and left empty. No soil were ever used to fill up the tubs to mask an attempt at actually making them into what they were meant to be, nor were they remade into makeshift shitty school benches so at least we could have more places to sit on. Littering was a no-no, of course, so any trash accidentally fell into them were picked up immediately, lest the whole student body suffer the wrath of our supervisors.

That day was a normal Monday... It was recess, and as usual, I was with no one else. I got used to it long ago. After all... what do people usually say? "Being alone is different from actually feeling lonely"? Yeah, something along those lines. I sat on an unoccupied spot on the railing. The width of the thing was big enough so I didn't have to be careful in teetering my butt in fear of falling into the "pot". In my hand was the textbook for the upcoming Math lesson and so were my eyes glued to them, but my mind wasn't in it.

I was, at the same time, amazed and appalled by the fact that my fame as an idol was hidden rather well in plain sight. My fellow schoolmates weren't exactly so destitute they couldn't afford to follow the hottest news about the entertainment industry and what usually came along with them. In fact, I spied with my little eyes a few of them dangling keychains with my face on their backpacks. My heart were swirled with both flatter and somber whenever I saw those things. It was screaming to say "Hey, I'm right here!" to those people. But maybe staying unnoticed like this was for the better...

"Hoshino... nee...?"

The sound of my name reverberated through the air halted my languid train of thoughts.

"It's you, right...?"

His eyes flickered past me and mine he.

The school bell rang and my fellow whippersnappers hurried back to their classrooms like flocks of fledgling feathers back to the safety of their parents' nests when the daylight was starting to fade out on the horizon. But for us, those mere seconds felt like they stood still. Our eyes locked on like magnets.

That blondy... We just stared at each other. Our faces wore the bashful smiles of two kids who never thought they would have met again in places other than that drama workshop. The sunlight reflected from the brilliant strands on his head suddenly didn't seem so harsh, but so soft and gentle...

...

President whistled.

"Goddamn~!!!!! THIS TASTES GOOD!!!" - the man blurted out his praise for my cooking after just one bite. Miyako-san bonked her husband with her spoon.

"Ichigo-san. Please be mindful of what comes out of your mouth! The Hoshino children could pick those language up!"

President looked like he wanted to argue that my two little treasures were still too young to understand anything, but one icy glare of Miss First Lady was what it took for the trap to be kept shut. Sitting across from the couple was Sensei, playing with Ruby and Aqua. Somehow my babies really liked to fiddle with his glasses, not to mention the keychain the girl named Sarina gave him. A fun thought flashed through my mind. The current B-Komachi of ours would undoubtedly graduate from the idol business one day, but I wondered if we could make a comeback tour, with my two angels as secret newcomers making their debut, setting the stage for the next generation of our namesake. I could entertain the thought and smile all day just thinking about it...

"But really! Ai! I didn't know you could cook so well!" - President continued to slather me with praises.

"Thank you~!" - I waved my hand towards our caregiver. - "Compliments to the Head Chef though~"