Chapter 8: Idol
"The title of this song is *Idol*."
Hikaru Hoshino sat in the company's meeting room with his legs crossed, waving a hand dismissively. The President sat opposite him, his expression solemn as he studied the musical score Hikaru had just finished writing.
Thanks to his talent for photographic memory, Hikaru remembered all the entertainment works from his past life. After some careful investigation, he discovered that most of these works did not exist in this world. The reason was simple: *Oshi no Ko* was a manga, so there couldn't be any real-world copyright conflicts. All works appearing in the manga were original creations by Akasaka-sensei—much like *Tokyo Blade*, which felt familiar but was a brand-new work.
This setting...
It was practically begging him to start plagiarizing immediately.
Hikaru lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
However, he was clearly not the type to reject such an opportunity, nor did his faint sense of morality make him feel ashamed of "borrowing" the work. Use every tool at your disposal, in both past and present lives—that was his life creed.
He was a complete pragmatist.
Across from him, the President held the score and began to hum softly.
"The melody... is very good," he admitted reluctantly after a moment.
"Even compared to Mr. Himura, it shouldn't fall short."
"And these are the lyrics."
With a straight face, Hikaru handed over another sheet of paper.
A moment later, the President's brow furrowed.
"Are you serious with these lyrics?"
"You want Ai to sing something like this at the Dome? Do you think her career as an idol has been too smooth-sailing?!"
As the President spoke, his temper flared.
"What do you mean by 'a career built on a pile of lies'?"
"If she sings lyrics like these, Ai will be set on fire by public backlash!!"
"Wait, let me see."
While the President was still fuming, Ai swiftly snatched the paper from his hand.
She read every word until the end, her beautiful brow furrowing deeper and deeper.
"President, I want to sing this song."
Finally, Ai flashed a perfect smile and spoke to Ichigo Saitou.
"Don't be childish; the Dome is not a place for jokes."
The President remained stern, but Ai continued to stare at him with that smile, causing his rigid face to visibly soften.
"I like the lyrics of this song. Just looking at these words, I feel a desire to sing them out loud."
Ai rarely showed such a serious expression; her tone even carried a hint of hesitation.
"President, you might not understand that feeling..."
"That sense of resonance... this song was practically made for me."
Ichigo Saitou dropped his stern look and let out a long sigh.
"The pitch he wrote is too high. Even with your talent, it will be hard to hit those notes."
"If I can't reach them, we can lower the key. There's always a solution."
"This is just a demo. We'd need professional arrangers this afternoon. There's almost no time left to practice."
"Even with only one rehearsal, I'm confident I can achieve a perfect result."
"But Ai..." The President sighed again, staring intently into her eyes. "You have to realize that B-Komachi isn't your solo act. Do you think you alone can carry a perfect performance? Do you think you alone can completely captivate the fans?"
Hikaru Hoshino curled his lip in disdain, thinking, *Isn't that exactly how it is?* For two years now, Ai's market value had skyrocketed. Today, B-Komachi was essentially supported by her alone. As for it being a "girl group," didn't the other members know the truth too?
The so-called group was merely an accessory to Ai.
Of course, Hikaru wouldn't blurt that out regardless of the setting; he just watched silently as the President continued his animated performance.
Ichigo Saitou passionately tried to lecture Ai, but after a while, he realized she wasn't listening to a word. Finally, he dropped his arms and sat back down.
"My point is, the other members of B-Komachi might not agree to this song. Those lines specifically written for them... they won't be easy to accept."
"We were just accessories from the start, B-tier supporting roles to make that star shine."
"Ai, don't you think it's cruel to make them sing those words themselves?"
Lyrics like those would drag the group's long-standing internal conflicts into the light of reality. Jealousy and resentment—sentiments common in girl groups—were not meant to be put on display. Even the President, who clearly favored Ai, wouldn't rashly pierce the "harmonious and friendly" lie of B-Komachi's members.
"Takamine, Nino, Watanabe..." Ai murmured the surnames of the founding members, looking a bit lost.
Ai knew the members of B-Komachi were drifting apart. She just didn't want to face that reality. It was likely her fault—she was the reason the relationships had turned cold. If possible, Ai wanted to go back to the beginning, back to when everyone could joke and play together.
*Maybe I should give up. I should be the one to protect everyone in B-Komachi.*
Just as Ai was about to put on her smile and say "No," Hikaru Hoshino cut in and spoke to the President:
"Then, why not let the other members of the group decide? Since you're worried they won't accept it, why not ask them directly?"
"You!" The President was exasperated. In all his years, he had never met someone so stubborn and impervious to reason.
But in the end, he accepted the proposal. Taking the score and lyrics, he headed downstairs, with Miyako following closely as his assistant.
Ai walked over to the window alone, gazing at the heavy traffic below. A strange heaviness settled in her heart.
The lyrics she had only glimpsed for a few moments felt as if they were carved into her soul now, impossible to shake off.
The song *Idol*—from beginning to end, it undoubtedly depicted Ai Hoshino herself.
*"What did you eat today? What's your favorite book?"*
As she looked at the lyrics, she suddenly remembered when she first returned to the stage. The President had asked her to do a livestream to help recover B-Komachi's popularity.
She felt like the questions in the lyrics had been asked by viewers during that very stream.
*"Never having been loved, nor having loved anyone."*
How aptly it described her life. A single sentence summarized Ai Hoshino's entire existence.
Ai Hoshino came from a single-parent home, living with her mother. Her mother treated her poorly, often using Ai to vent her frustrations—kicking and hitting her, making her eat rice mixed with sand. Later, her mother was imprisoned for theft, and Ai was sent to an orphanage.
But Ai didn't resent her mother. Even after such rough treatment, she spent every moment in the orphanage hoping her mother would come to take her home after being released.
She anticipated that love from her mother with a devotion that was almost prayerful.
"But Mama didn't come to get me even after her sentence was up."
"I have no memories of loving others or being loved."
"Someone like that definitely couldn't be an idol."
On that afternoon long ago, that was exactly how Ai had rejected the President's invitation to become an idol.
"Hoshino" in Japanese is pronounced similarly to "hoshii," which means "to want" or "to desire." Therefore, Ai Hoshino's full name could be interpreted as "Desiring Love," "Wanting to be Loved," or "Wanting to possess Love."
Ultimately, her entire life was an attempt to compensate for the deficiencies of her childhood. She craved love every moment, yet never received true love; she craved to love every moment, hoping that the lie of "I love you" would one day become reality.
The first half of the song *Idol* depicted the sparkling Ai Hoshino as an idol; the second half was the exact opposite—the lying Ai Hoshino who craved to be loved.
The real her.
She understood that version of herself.
But the final few lines of the song gave her a sense of unprecedented dread, as if they no longer described her at all.
*"These words are absolutely not a lie."*
*"I love you all."*
"Do I... really have the right to say words like that?"
"You will."
Hikaru Hoshino's voice sounded from behind her.
"Even if you don't have the right now, sooner or later..."
"You will say them."