The Nonfiction That Only You Know

Chapter 25

Original Author: ひのはら (Hinohara)
Date Submitted to Kakuyomu: 2021/06/19

The fashion magazine RuuM is immensely popular among women.

In these times when the entire magazine industry worries about sales, RuuM enjoys longstanding support from female readers.

All the members of Love Mill are delighted to be featured on the front cover of that magazine.

Each member wears a one-piece dress matching their member color with their hair being arranged in a stylish and mature way.　
At the center of all of them is Rumi, wearing a bright red one-piece dress.

While some fans are excited about the debut of this promising newcomer, the number of fans that hold a negative impression of Rumi is not small.

Their dissatisfaction seems to get worse day by day and Chiho even hears fans ask during handshake events, "Why is Rumi being pushed that much?"

"...Is she going to be okay?"

If they release a new song with Rumi as the center under these circumstances, then she will surely come under the attention of antis.

She has only been a member for a short time, but she might have to shoulder the bashing from the public all by herself.

In between recordings for their new song, Chiho secretly approaches their manager.

"About Rumi..."
"I'm sorry. Even though you have been the center up until now."
"Well, there's not much that can be done about that. Setting that aside... If this continues, isn't Rumi going to get a lot of hate....?"

The manager's cheeks visibly twitch.
Then, he lowers his voice into a whisper as if he's telling her a secret.

"Everyone is thinking the same thing. Why did she suddenly join Love Mill and take the position of center from Minami... but, these are orders from the producer so I can't raise any objections."
"Eh..."

Intuitively, she knows there's something unpleasant behind all this.

The manager must have noticed as well.
The producer is taking advantage of his authority to do whatever he wants under conditions where no one can defy him.

The manager gets a call so he leaves.
The one who comes next to Chiho to replace him is Rumi, the topic of the earlier conversation.

"Are you jealous?"
"Rumi..."
"Please stop pretending to be worried while trying to sabotage me. I'm cuter so I was selected."

Chiho stares hard at her, not having expected her to say something like that.

That's when she notices that compared to their first meeting, Rumi's eyes look murkier.
Eyes that are somewhat hollow and unstable.

"You got overconfident since you're a former child actor and got caught off guard. In this world, diligence is not what's needed to survive. Those who know what needs to be done are the ones who survive."

Chiho remembers something a member once said.
Back when Rumi was an underground idol, there were rumors she slept her way up.

At that time, she brushed it off as slander, but now the unpleasant thought that the rumors might have been true crosses her mind.

She tries to dismiss the idea, but she's afraid that she can't completely deny the possibility.

Has Rumi crossed a line that must never be crossed?

The TV weather forecast predicted snow on Christmas Eve.
A romantic white Christmas.

Even though she had once looked down on it as pointless, when Chiho thinks about being together with Mii on such a day, she can't help but look forward to it.

She has to hide her face, so she can't dress up as fashionably as she would like.

Though she will be spending Christmas with the person she loves...
If she doesn't hide her face, Mii would never be together with her.

During December, she also has to prepare for live broadcast programs for New Year's in addition to Christmas.

That's why it has been a while since she has been to the gym like this.
She is next to her gym friend, Anzu, while doing some light exercises to prepare for hot yoga.

During this time, they engage in conversation and the topic is Mii.

"Oh? So you'll be spending Christmas with Mii? Isn't that huge progress?"
"Just as a friend. After all, she doesn't know that I'm Isuzu Minami."
"So you're in love with this Mii girl after all?"

When Chiho meekly nods, Anzu raises her voice in surprise.
She seems surprised by the change in Chiho, who stubbornly refused to admit it before.

"So you finally admitted it..."
"When did you start noticing?"
"Pretty much the since the beginning? After all, you've been pretty obsessed with this Mii girl... Are you going to confess?"

These feelings keep growing bigger every day and have swelled to the point that she can't hold them with both hands.

Mii's just so adorable and cute that it's out of this world.

Since Chiho is serious about her, she can't bring herself to reveal her feelings so easily.

"...I'm an idol."
"But you love her, don't you?"
"And we're both girls... when she says she loves me, she doesn't mean it in that way."

The one Mii loves is the idol, Isuzu Minami.
Even so, those are not romantic feelings but pure admiration.

There's no way Chiho could tell her how she feels.
She's afraid that if she does, she'll end up destroying their relationship.

"But if you don't tell her... won't it be painful?"

Even Chiho would like to if she could.
She'd like to reveal her true identity and confess all her feelings, but she doesn't have the courage to do that.

Mii enjoys being with her even if she's not Isuzu Minami.
Mii told her she loves who she is on the inside.

Mii is kind and adorable.
Chiho does not want to lose her.
If possible, she'd like to be with her forever...
Chiho begins to succumb to such a childish wish.

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Translator's Notes: An anti is basically a dedicated hater. Short for anti-fan, because they basically engage in the opposite of fan activities.