Epilogue 4

Nagisa: ......

Hiyori: Jun-kuuuun... help meeee... Nagisa-kun’s been crushing my hand and won’t let go.

Jun: Haha. That’s fine, isn’t it? Makes you look all friendly and stuff.

Hiyori: We don’t just look friendly, we are friends! We love each other!

Ibara: Indeed. You were all acting so suspiciously that I actually started to worry, and so I thought it best for you all to reconnect before the final battle.

Hiyori: Reconnect? Why would I need to reconnect? First of all, we never stopped being connected!

Which means that doubting us was cruel! And that means Ibara’s to blame for everything!

Ibara: I’m not sure I did even a single thing wrong this entire time, actually...?

Jun: Deadass? So while everybody else was off-kilter and losing their shit, you were the only one actually doing his job ♪

Thanks to that, we apparently avoided breaking down halfway and we get to have a “happily ever after” or something.

And it’s all thanks to Ibara~ You really come in clutch at the last minute, don’t you?

Ibara: Hmph. I was only pushed around the whole time; I may not have done anything wrong, but I also did nothing particularly good, either. Praising me only causes confusion.

The ones deserving of praise are all those on the White Team. even despite their consecutive defeats, they managed to carry out their work without losing their composure.

Jun: Well, I don’t think anyone was all that interested in the whole “team victory” thing anyway?

And since the commanding unit took all the responsibility for everything, that just let them do whatever they wanted for their performance.

Hiyori: Yes yes, it all worked out in the end!

The units who performed in the second half are one thing, but the ones in the first half really shone brightly by pulling out all the stops!

Even lesser known units were able to gain a lot of fans, I’m sure.

The voting nonsense means the loss wasn’t really a loss, and even if we had lost, it wouldn’t have been our fault anyway, right?

So this year’s SS was all gains and no losses for everyone involved ♪

Ibara: ...Just how much of this was pre-planned?

Hiyori: Don’t ask me that. The one who came up with the whole thing was Nagisa-kun.

Actually, I want to ask the same thing: when did this all begin? Where did this plan begin and end?

What part of it was real, and what was made-up? What were you even trying to do?

I thought holding hands with you would let me see into your mind, but realistically speaking, that’s simply not going to happen. So now I’m swallowing my pride and asking outright.

Nagisa: ...It started at the abandoned temple.

...The place where Father spent His final years.

...When I first read through the journal that was there, I too believed Subaru-kun’s father was alive.

...That is how completely the Priest had “become” him.

Jun: “Become,” huh. I guess it’s not inaccurate to say?

Nagisa: ...However, it was Gatekeeper who opened my eyes with a message he had left behind. Apparently, he had trespassed on the grounds before me.

...Perhaps he was anticipating the possibility that the Priest would return to the temple, but he had kept his message deliberately vague.

...I deciphered it nonetheless and deliberated it for a long while.

...Until I arrived at the truth.

...That truth was so hideous and repulsive that I had to look away.

Hiyori: I guess your beloved father and “that Akehoshi” both met their tragic ends at the hands of the Priest, then?

Nagisa: ...There is no proof of it. I must stress that. I only made a deduction.

...I believe Father, who had been passing the final years of his life with dignity, must have been driven mad by a ghost from his past.

...And Subaru-kun’s father was also put down as a result of the Priest’s jealousy.

...He wanted to become someone, and to be loved by the person he loved. It’s a common enough desire, and acting on it the Priest destroyed everything I ever loved.

...He robbed both of Them of their happiness and corrupted the idol industry.

...And this time, my most loathed enemy—the Priest wanted to steal away even the happiness I had gained anew.

...By presiding over the upper echelons of ES and playing the puppet master who manipulates everything from the shadows.

...And by warping and defiling SS, which Father started.

...He attempted to degrade me, everything I now cherish, and the very concept of idols.

...I would not let that happen.

...But, no matter how unforgivable he may be, he must be punished by the law; that is what the rational part of my mind reminded me.

...Even if the “enemy” were an indomitable villain high above the law, one must pursue the path of reason.

...Even if the Priest could not be quelled by legitimate means, I had no need to stray from that path and sink to his level.

...Yet I ignored that voice of reason within me.

...And I attacked the Priest entirely out of my own anger and desire for vengeance.

...That is not something which can be forgiven.

Jun: Haha. You got all serious, Nagi-senpai. So is that why you’ve looked so down?

There are bad guys in the world that the law can’t reckon with. Guys like us just have to hope karma will catch up to them.

We all know this isn’t some manga and wishes like that don’t come true—but we can’t stop wanting a miracle to happen.

I know you did the right thing. Actually, I respect you for it~ You made an impossible dream come true.

Hiyori: Yes yes! You mustn’t be too serious, okay?

But still, that’s what I love about you. Right, Ibara? ♪

Ibara: Can I ask that you not seek my agreement in this particular area? Adam’s public face is strictly that of a professional relationship!

Jun: Your “public face,” huh.

Ibara: As if any of you would believe that we only have a work relationship at this point! Do you have some complaints about that?! GODDAMN!

Jun: That’s my line... I feel like you’ve been saying it even more than me lately.