C34

Chapter 34: What Must Be Faced

Sunday.

Inside a photography studio in Tokyo, the sound of camera shutters echoed.

"Kokona-chan, let's try smiling just a little more."

"Yes..."

At the cameraman's instruction, Kokona relaxed the corners of her mouth.

Yet, no matter how many times she tried over, her expression remained somewhat stiff.

Yamada: "A bit more naturally... There, right that moment."

The shutter clicked.

However, upon checking the captured photograph, the cameraman tilted his head.

"...Hmm."

Something was off.

Kokona, who would normally change her expression immediately upon receiving directions, couldn't quite get into it today.

"Let's go one more time."

"Yes."

Kokona nodded and turned back toward the camera.

Still, the result didn't change.

After shooting a few frames, the cameraman pulled his eyes away from the viewfinder.

"...Hmm, somehow it just doesn't feel right today."

A little ways away, Misaki Uehara, Kokona's manager, was watching Kokona's state.

She was making a smile for the shoot.

Yet, it looked somewhat forced.

Kokona, who would normally switch her expression the moment a camera was pointed at her, was completely failing to get into the groove today.

Misaki watched for a while, then eventually called out to the cameraman.

"Excuse me. Could we take a short break for a moment?"

"Ah, of course."

The cameraman nodded, looking troubled.

"I was kind of hesitating on how to shoot this anyway, so let's take a quick rest."

"Thank you."

Misaki walked over to where Kokona was.

"Kokona, let's head to the dressing room."

"...Yes."

Kokona gave a small nod and followed behind Misaki out of the studio.

◇

Entering the dressing room, Misaki took a plastic bottle from the refrigerator and handed it to Kokona.

"Here. Go ahead and drink."

"...Thank you."

Confirming that Kokona took it, Misaki seated herself in the chair opposite.

Kokona sat with the plastic bottle resting on her lap, keeping her head bowed in silence.

Misaki silently watched Kokona's face for a while.

Before long, lowering the tone of her voice slightly, Misaki spoke to her quietly.

"I was a little concerned during our meeting the other day, too... Did something happen?"

"...Nothing happened."

Kokona gave a small shake of her head.

Misaki watched her and let out a sigh.

"That doesn't look like a face that says 'nothing happened,' you know?"

Kokona didn't answer.

"Is it something you can't even tell me?"

Even so, Kokona answered nothing at all.

Misaki lowered her brows, looking slightly troubled, and scratched the back of her head.

"Am I really that unreliable?"

Kokona raised her face.

"I mean to be a dependable older sister figure, you know—"

Kokona remained silent for a while.

"...It's not like that."

Misaki observed Kokona's demeanor and softened her expression just a fraction.

"I see. Still, is it something you can't talk to me about?"

Kokona stared at the plastic bottle on her lap.

Stopping herself from speaking over and over, as if holding it back deep inside her chest, she fell silent for a while.

...Eventually, as if having made up her mind, she slowly opened her mouth.

"...At school, something happened."

Misaki said nothing, waiting for Kokona's words.

"I... along with my friends, did something terrible."

At those words, a faint smile vanished from Misaki's face.

"Terrible?"

"...I, gave a fake confession to a boy..."

Kokona cut her words off there once.

"After that... in front of our classmates, we hurt him terribly."

The lightness slowly drained from Misaki's expression.

"...And, did you apologize to that boy?"

"...Not yet."

"Why?"

"I don't know his contact info..."

Keeping her head bowed, Kokona clenched her fingertips together.

"I thought... I'd apologize properly when he comes to school."

"When he comes to school?"

Misaki's voice grew slightly lower.

"...Yes."

"That boy... isn't coming to school?"

"...Yes."

"Until then, you didn't do anything?"

Kokona couldn't answer.

Misaki stared at Kokona for a while.

"Kokona."

"...Yes."

"Did you really want to apologize to that boy?"

Kokona raised her face.

"...I do."

"Then why were you waiting?"

At that question, Kokona's gaze wavered.

Yet, seeing Kokona drop her head without being able to answer anything, Misaki couldn't continue her words immediately either.

While only the sound of the air conditioner flowed through the dressing room, Misaki let out a small sigh after a short while.

"...Kokona."

"...Yes."

"Isn't that a little different?"

Kokona slowly raised her face.

"You thought you wanted to apologize, right?"

"...Yes."

"Then why wait for him to come to school?"

"..."

"If you don't know his contact info, you can consult a teacher. You can ask a friend. You can consult me, too."

Misaki looked straight at Kokona.

"It's not that there's no way—isn't it just that you didn't try to look for one?"

"..."

Kokona couldn't say a thing.

"You know that what you did was wrong, right?"

"...Yes."

"Then you have to think all the way through to how you're going to apologize."

Misaki's voice was stern.

Yet, it wasn't reproachful.

"I'll apologize if he comes to school. I'll apologize if he shows up right in front of me. That won't do."

"..."

"He's someone you hurt, so you have to make the first move yourself."

Kokona squeezed her fingers tightly together in her lap.

Misaki watched Kokona like that for a while.

"...Could it be,"

Kokona raised her face.

"Were you thinking about your modeling work?"

"..."

"Like, thinking it might cause trouble for us, or something?"

Kokona's gaze wavered.

"..."

To Misaki's words, Kokona remained bowed for a while.

Eventually, as though a tightly wound tension had slightly unspooled, Kokona slowly opened her mouth.

"...Thinking about work, about my friends, about school... when I started thinking about all kinds of things..."

Kokona stopped her words there.

Misaki said nothing right away, staring at Kokona's face.

In those unfinished words, she felt the sheer magnitude of what Kokona had been carrying.

Misaki let out a single breath.

Then, slowly continuing her words:

"...But you know, Kokona, that boy must be suffering. There's no guarantee he'll forgive you just because you apologized."

"...Yes."

"Even so, you meant to apologize, didn't you?"

"...Yes."

Hearing Kokona's reply, Misaki let out a small breath.

"Then all the more reason."

Kokona raised her face.

"I suppose it's inevitable to think about how things will turn out. Things involving your friends and your work aren't matters you can neatly compartmentalize, after all."

Misaki paused there once.

"Even so, you mustn't put off thinking about how the boy you hurt is doing right now."

To Misaki's words, Kokona answered nothing.

The sound of the air conditioner quietly flowed through the dressing room, and a heavy silence fell between the two. Eventually, as if shattering that silence, Misaki's smartphone resting on the desk vibrated; checking the screen, she quietly stood up from her chair.

"Yes, Uehara here."

Listening to the person on the other end of the call, Misaki nodded small times.

Yet, the more she listened, the more her expression grew tense little by little. Before long, her brows knitted together, and her gaze wavered restlessly.

"...Yes."

Replying shortly, she dropped her gaze as if pondering something.

After a while, Misaki let out a small breath.

"...Understood. I'll check on it."

Even after finishing the call, Misaki stood in that spot for a while, gripping her smartphone.

Eventually, she slowly turned back toward Kokona.

"...Kokona."

"...Yes."

"It seems a video from school was sent to the agency."

"...A video?"

"Yeah. The content looks like it could become quite an issue, so they want us to check it."

Kokona's expression froze.

"...I understand."

Misaki watched Kokona like that and let out a short breath.

"We'll have them cancel today's shoot."

"..."

"I'll go tell the staff."

Saying that, Misaki gripped her smartphone tighter.

"Kokona, wait here."

"...Yes."

After Misaki left, only Kokona remained in the dressing room.

Unable to keep up with reality starting to move so abruptly, Kokona couldn't organize her thoughts, simply continuing to sit right there in place.