Prologue

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A few days after finding Ayane—

I, Tsukino Mizuki, decided to make an appointment with “a certain person” to tell them that Ayane is in Japan.

I could’ve kept Ayane’s whereabouts a secret… but somehow, I felt I couldn’t just leave Kiraboshi Ayane alone like this.

Sure, Ayane now has “Makijima-kun” as her emotional anchor.

She probably has no lingering attachment to the idol world.

But… letting her extraordinary talent as a star go to waste, letting it rot away until it fades completely… that would be nothing but a loss for the entertainment industry.

Even if she’ll never stand on stage as Kiraboshi Ayane again, I believe there’s still a “place” where she can shine.

As someone living in this industry, now that I’ve found her, I can’t just look the other way.

Arriving at my talent agency, I knock on the door of the president’s office.

“Come in~!”

“Excuse me.”

As I enter, I face the president, who’s been waiting for me.

Mayumi Sakaki, president of Sakaki Productions.

She’s the one who reached out to me after I graduated from being an idol, when things didn’t work out with my next agency and I went freelance. A former popular idol herself, she’s now a sharp-witted producer.

“So, Mizuki? What’s this about? Complaining about your pay or something?” she says.

“…Not at all.”

“Hehe, just kidding. We’re paying you plenty as it is, and I’d be in trouble if you asked for more.”

Sakaki-san speaks in her usual bright, teasing tone.

Ugh… Enough of that, I need to get to the point.

“Sakaki-san… I found Kiraboshi Ayane.”

“K-Kiraboshi Ayane!? The Kiraboshi Ayane from Genesistars!?”

“Yes… well, yeah.”

“Spill the details, now!”

Sakaki-san leans in with such excitement she nearly spills the coffee she’s brewing.

“W-Well…”

I tell an overly enthusiastic Sakaki-san everything.

“I see, I see. So she’s all lovey-dovey with some guy now, huh?”

Of course, I mention Makijima-kun too.

“Okay, I get the situation, but why’d you come to me with this, Mizuki?”

“Well…”

“Well?”

“…I don’t know, I just thought there’s still something she could do. Like, maybe, as someone who was just as big an idol as her, you’d know there’s a way for her to break new ground.”

“Hehe… I get it, I get it.”

“What’s with that look?”

“Oh, nothing~”

Sakaki-san flashes an exaggerated, knowing grin in my direction.

“But, you know, at the end of the day, it all comes down to what she wants.”

“What she wants?”

I echo her words, and Sakaki-san nods, pulling a single sheet of paper from her pocket and handing it to me.

“Hey, Mizuki, could you do me a little favor?”

“A favor…?”