NOVEL NEXT Chapter 05 – Our Gift 01
It’s been a few months since Ai returned to work, and B-Komachi’s popularity boost has yet to come.
"My salary this month is barely 200.000 yen..." Looking intently at the paper in her hand, Ai raised an eyebrow in mild displeasure.
"Ugh, our company’s pay is so low… C’mon, we placed third in the oricon with our single last time! Aren’t you guys taking too much?" She complained to Miyako, who sat in her seat while working on her laptop.
"We’re just a small company, so you should already know that we don’t get much out of it. Why is it bothering you now?" Miyako replied to Ai’s complaint without even looking at her and focused on her laptop.
"I realized that the world is all about money."
"Ah. That’s not a good thing to realize."
"You see. I want these kids to go to a good school. Do extracurricular activities and give them as many opportunities and options as possible. In order for that to happen, I need to sell more and make a bunch of money. If things stay like this, I won’t be able to make them happy." Ai said those words while she leaned against the sofa and lifted Ruby into the air. Ruby herself acted like a child and smiled happily when her mother did that.
"Oh… Do you like it high, Ruby?" Ai asked the question at Ruby. It had been a long time since Ai was able to distinguish the twins.
"Gahaha…"
I looked at two of them on their sides. After working for months, their condition didn’t improve, and her reputation still hasn't been boosted. Their group didn’t get any commercial gigs, and there are no movie job offers either…
I could feel she slowly became gloomier each day. I think soon it will be her lesson time. She walked toward the fridge and took an expensive ice cream and ate those to lift her mood.
"Wait.. first you should stop buying and eating expensive ice cream… Have you ever heard about budgeting?" This time it was Miyako's turn to lecture Ai, who was slowly eating the ice cream.
After finishing eating those, Ai gave the twins Miyako’s hand as she left to take her lesson. Seeing our mother leave with a gloomy face makes Ruby a bit talkative.
"Wait, isn’t an idol’s salary like one million yen per month?" Ruby asked me a stupid question.
"Of course not... Only top idols have that kind of salary." I answer her question while doing something I have been doing to this day.
"It’s not!? Ah… You need more like this." Ruby was surprised with my answer before she showed more of those famous otaku dances.
"I don’t know if you are interested in this dance." She commented as I followed her dance, as I learn and train those otaku dances.
"Well, there may be a time when I need this to encourage and support our mom." I replied to her comment. She opened her mouth a little, as she was impressed with my answer.
"That’s true. That’s such a good mindset!" Ruby had a happy looking smile on her face after hearing my reply.
"It would be perfect if our Ai got more job offers…" Ruby said as she changed her attention to Miyako and actually screamed at her.
"Hey manager! Why won’t our Ai get more job offers!? Shitty management! Hit up some more people, would you?"
Our poor Miyako looked at her with a bit of a tired face.
"Even if you say that…"
Miyako has already gotten used to the two of us talking like this.
"Idol groups are basically a bunch of people. We sell as a group, and we’ve always been fighting to win a single job offer. But competing against lone individuals as a group is quite difficult, you know." Miyako explained the reality of the Idol group.
"Even though Ai is amazing, that's only within the Idol category. In the entertainment world, you need something that will make you stand out alone. Or else… People couldn’t get a job on their own and had to take on part-time jobs at expensive restaurants in Roppongi or even end up as hostesses in Minato." Miyako gave us another example of the reality of the Idol Group.
"I didn’t know that…" Ruby, for the first time in her life, experiences the reality of the Idol Group she has loved since her previous life.
"The world sure is a scary place…" I can only agree with Ruby. In the end, I was the only college student who had just a little experience in the real world.
It was nearing night when Ai came back from her lesson, and it was easy for me to see how different she was. Her usual star-shaped pupil eyes, which are always bright, became gloomier, especially today.
I mean the first time I saw her performance on television. I swore that I could see her unusual pupil eyes were so bright that day. It felt like they filled her eyes and were shining brightly.
But now, It’s just barely there…
If I'm not mistaken, in the near future, Ai will have a minilive and also a promotional event with two members from B-Komachi.
I could say that she looked a little sad, and it got worse after she saw people criticizing her on Twitter. At first, I thought it would be best to follow the story of the manga, but it's still different when you see that stuff in real life.
I can’t help myself from wanting to ease her burden immediately. Rather than doing it later, even though I know it would be effective to follow the manga.
And it looks like I’m not the only one who thinks like that, as someone looked at me with a face full of worries.
"What do you think happened to our mother?" Ruby posed the question to me.
"I think there must be a lot of things weighing on her mind. I think the best thing we could do is support her." I replied to her question, but I doubt she will be satisfied with that answer.
"She will have a show in the near future. How about we go there and support Ai in person." When I said that, Ruby’s eyes sparkled like an excited child’s. Wait, she’s still a baby; of course she would be excited like that.
Well, I think even though she's grown up. She will still behave like this. She’s still an Idol fan after all.
"Ah… How about we give her something to get her energized?" In the end, I gave her another idea. I don’t know how Ai will react, but I’m pretty sure she will like it.
