Epilogue 3

HiMERU: —I see now.

That is your philosophy, isn’t it? Which is why you rejected HiMERU’s attempt to return to solo work.

Rinne: Bingo. Just what do you think would happen if you went back to being a goody-two-shoes idol like before?

If you fell back in line, all pure and well-behaved and certainly with zero intention of ever going against the system ES created?

HiMERU: —Then HiMERU would have nowhere to go, surely.

From the perspective of those who love Crazy:B and view it as a beacon of hope for outcasts like those who gather here, it would appear as though HiMERU betrayed his comrades.

We are supposed to be the voice of their malcontent.

They would view HiMERU as a coquette trying to become the kept dog of ES, the organization they hate so much.

At the same time, there is little opportunity at ES for a solo idol to survive.

There is individual work, yes, but not so much that will recognize and provide work to a solo artist.

At the very least, HiMERU could not hope to achieve the same reception, fame, and recompense as he did in the past.

To add insult to injury, Crazy:B has also garnered such a bad reputation that our job opportunities have all but dried up.

Everyone keeps their distance from HiMERU because he is associated with Crazy:B.

There is no chance whatsoever to return to the way things were before... HiMERU cannot return to the past. No matter how much he wants to.

Rinne: Well, you never know unless you try. But as much as I love me a risky gamble, I figured this was a bad bet.

Most likely you’d just lose it all for nothing in return.

In the end, it’d just remind you of everything you lose, and you’d get yourself hurt for no good reason.

HiMERU: ......

Rinne: That is why I stopped you. It’s payback, right? I was drowning in despair and hopelessness, desperate to run away, and you guys stopped me.^[1]

...You got somethin’ to say about that? Huh, HiMERU?

HiMERU: —No.

It only feels... a bit lonely. Like—so it’s true... he can never return to the past.

To all those sad times, the painful times, but also, and not least, the happy times.

Rinne: Yup. No matter how much you wish for it, the past is the past.

So how’s about you look to the future instead—stop thinking so damn much and look at what’s around you.

HiMERU: ......

Rinne: The people here prolly don’t know a thing about who you were back then. But there is the possibility that they know who we are right now.

And if they don’t, we’ll just shout out our names while we sing and dance. They’ll know us if we have to tattoo ourselves onto ‘em with our stingers—

We’re here. And you can be, too.

You can keep living, you can think whatever you damn well please.

If the whole rest of the world won’t say it, then we will! With every fiber of our being!

When they’re rejected, when they’re told they’re wrong, we’ll be the ones to say they were right!

Because these are the people who saved me! They loved me and supported me and told me I was worth a damn. Me, a dumbass piece of shit!

I don’t even remember the name or face anymore. But it was an idol I saw the first time I ever came to the city—when I tell ya the exhilaration and joy I felt when they thanked me!

Thanks for being alive, they said! Thanks for seeing me, thanks for smiling!

I’d been told I was wrong so many times I could barely even breathe, and they saved me with some generic line that coulda been aimed at anyone!

So I’mma say that same thing, to all the people out there who are just like me way back when!

Even if they hate me, even if they reject me, I’ll give them mouth-to-mouth and keep ‘em breathing by force! Gyahahahahaha ☆

Out of everyone who survived this way, there’s gotta be one or two of them who will love and appreciate us!

And they’ll come together, form a union, and build a hive!

Just like this club! We’re gonna build hives just like this one all over the world, HiMERU! As Crazy:B!

We can live there and play around until death do us part, in a world where no one will deny us for being alive...!

“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

HiMERU: (Fufu. As always, he selfishly says his piece with no regard for anything else.)

(What a child. Even though he’s the oldest among us.)

(You’re irritating, you know that? However—)

—What you are trying to say makes enough sense, but the way you phrase it is problematic. Don’t just “play around;” please take your job seriously.

For HiMERU, there is no greater happiness than to work and live as the idol called HiMERU.

There is no pleasure in playing mahjong, or idle banter, or even drinking alcohol—though HiMERU has no experience with that, anyway.

Nevertheless, this indecent, dirty place is far from the ideal HiMERU envisioned—

It’s unpleasant, what with all these irritating insects buzzing around. Still...

So long as “HiMERU” can stand on stage and perform, then the present situation is a desirable one.

Happy—even enjoyable, one could say.

HiMERU: So, Amagi... at this moment, HiMERU has no reason to deny your words or reject your requests.

“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Yuuta: (Right... no matter how badly we want it, we can’t turn back time.)

(We can only accept the present as it is and look for a better future. Like HiMERU-san, and like Crazy:B.)

(It doesn’t matter how much we grieve the loss and whine over it like little babies—we can never return to our mother’s belly.)

(We can insist that we’re “two in one,” that we’re the strongest individual as 2wink, but we can’t actually go back to a time before we were separated.)

(Aoi Yuuta and Aoi Hinata are two different people leading two different lives. They haven’t been “the same” for a very, very long time. I know that, but...)

Hinata: Onii-chan, Onii-chan.

Yuuta: ...What is it, baby brother? Onii-chan’s thinking pretty hard right now. We’re in the middle of the live, so if it’s not anything serious, just hang on ‘til we’re done.

Hinata: Sure, but look over there.

Yuuta: Over the—

Gyeh?!

(...What?! No way, you’re kidding me! Wh–why?)

(—That really is Dad in the audience.)

(The same dad who hurt us so long ago by saying he couldn’t tell us apart—and that we were disgusting for it.)