My new Neighbor's an Idol!?

Double Life

Quietly, Ishi swam back to the shore after his jump with Youna. As was expected for him, the leap wasn't that big of a deal in terms of risk or danger. Still, at least it went by a lot smoother than last time.

Carefully, he stepped foot back onto dry land as Chiana arrived from the top of the peak to greet him.

"Wow Ishi, that was wonderful!" She greeted him with the usually glam and cheer that was expected from an idol. "You were so brave."

"It's just me, so you're safe for now." He responded.

"Finally." In an instant, her tone reverted back to the usual Chinae attitude everyone was used to."But I can't relax for too long, might get caught." While in this outfit, there was hardly a moment for her to catch her breath. People always wanted to talk with an idol, even if she was nowhere near the level of fame as someone like Rinse. "That was cool what you did there for your class rep."

"Guess that makes someone else appreciative of some of the things I do around here." His ability to accept praise still needed a lot of work in terms of humility. Since it didn't occur often, he wasn't sure on what people would've wanted to hear out of him. Even with Youna, he still kept himself rather cool on the matter. "But what about you? How are you holding up?"

"I've done this plenty of times before, so don't worry about me." Of course, it was much easier to hide her true identity in the confines of the idol agency. The producer already knew who she really was, so he was kind about ensuring that her work wouldn't get found out by the wrong people. In public though, she was always at risk of someone getting a little too close. That happened once with a fan that got a bit too handsy and nearly pulled off her wig. She snapped so hard at him that it garnered her with a little bit of a reputation with a certain subsection of idol fans.

"Guess that explains why you thought I was weird for wanting Rinse to dislike me for a time." He kind of guessed that after learning of her true career. "I don't know why there's so many boys who want to be stepped all over. That's hardly what I'd want in a girl."

"Speaking of, what kind of girls are you into?" She asked. It was a random question Ishi never thought she would care about coming from him. The sound between them became a bit quiet, only filled by the ebbs and flows from the ocean waves as she pondered her motives.

"I'm going to find me a nice and quiet girl when I get into college. That'll be the person I want to marry." He gave the same answer to her, as he did with Rinse. "And why are you asking?"

"Hehe." Her chuckle slowly turned into a light giggled as she responded to him. "Because, Chiana wants to know what kind of girl she can be to make you the most happy!" In a near instant, Chinae returned to her idol persona. This girl was really good at this disguise and flipping the switch between her real and fake self. It was almost like there was little actual difference between who they really were. Now the boy could see why people were fooled so easily.

"It's nice to see you chatting up with Ishi." The real reason for her change was the arrival of someone else. Rinse had come up behind him, which was something he didn't even notice happening as he was talking. That was a lot closer than he would've liked to allow for Chinae, so they got lucky this time.

"You should know that I'm not a shy person." He spoke. "Besides, I didn't feel like swimming, and Chiana can't swim. So it was bound to happen." A rarity from Ishi, he had made a big mistake without realizing it.

"Hmm? When did you start calling her by her first name?" The boy grit his teeth upon hearing her notice the way he talked. Since he decided to call Chiane by her first name, he had gotten used to the idea doing so casually even when she was in disguise. Rinse had gotten to know him far too well now, so she understood that he very rarely called someone by name like that. "I... Didn't realize that you two were friends now." When did something like that even happen, she wondered. Had they been meeting in private without her noticing?