Chapter 62: 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?

“Well you see…” He was unsure of how to explain himself in this tight situation. His ability to be confident in himself was one thing, but lying was definitely not his strong suit. “I was just-”

“I asked him to do that.” Chiana jumped in to save him. “He knows my sister pretty well it seems. So I felt it was easier on him to call us both by first name.”

“Right, that’s why.” He followed her lead.

“Well, I guess if that’s what Chiana wants.” It made sense, but now she felt a little bit miffed that he had another girl he called that way. Technically two since her sister was a part of that. After all the work she did when they first met, she felt like it was made less special with his new supposed friend. “Anyway, I came here because I was wondering if a beach barbecue was a good idea to you.”

This day seemed to be shaping up to be an all-day event for the students of their school. While it was very much appreciated that Ishi’s mother made sandwiches for them, it was only good for lunch. However, grilling some meat seemed like it would be a lot of fun, plus they’d have yummy food for the evening.

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“Sounds like a good idea with me.” For once, he was glad that he wasn’t forced to come up with something for everyone. “Plus my parents have a friend who lives close to the beach. They have a grill we can borrow.”

“Wow, that’s great.” As they were talking, other people had come out of the ocean to come up and see how the plan was going to be worked with. “Now all that’s left to handle the food.”

“Chiana, do you still have the rest of my money that I left with you?” Before leaping into the water and ruining his paper cash, he had entrusted it to the one person who wasn’t going to go swimming.

“Yep, got it right here.” She produced it from the only place a girl could keep a money clip when only wearing a bikini. Her purse. There was still a lot remaining after his short stop with Youna and Ryugi.

“Perfect, then you can use the rest of it to purchase whatever other supplies we’ll need.”

“What!?” Rinse was in utter shock hearing that he was willing to sacrifice so much for this. Ishi was never the type to want to join a social gathering, so what changed? Meanwhile, the rest of the students had come up to Chiana to marvel at their budget and were already planning on what they’d pick up at the market.

“Now, Otoya.” He spoke more in a commanding voice. “You better help me grab that grill we’re going to use.” After he said that, the boys already began walking away to reach his new destination. Ishi chose specifically that boy for more reasons than him being his best friend. There was also the whole deal with these idols that he knew for certain would cause others to complain if he asked them for help. Whining was the last thing he wanted when taking a trip to a family friend’s house.

“W-wait.” She stopped him, confused about his actions. “Why are you doing all this? I thought you didn’t care about hanging out?”

“Heh.” He chuckled in response to her question. “Well, this time I want to do it.” That was his only answer before leaving the girl. The moment their conversation ended, she was swarmed by the many people around them, asking her to join them in going to the market.

“Of course I’ll join.” She accepted to help buy some things and came with the others as she separated from Ishi. As much as she was always glad to be a joy for everyone else to be around, it was getting a little tiresome. At this point, her idolhood fame should’ve worn down a little by now. But the real reason she wanted to have a bit of a smaller crowd with her was that it got in the way of hanging out with Ishi.

It was just like before at the karaoke bar. They were enjoying themselves before they ran into the others and decided to have a party out in the main area. She didn’t see him at all after that except for a glimpse of him being with Youna of all people.

They reached the store and began to section off the duties of what to buy so they didn’t forget anything important. As some of the others ran off to pick up lighter fluid and charcoal, there were still people surrounding her. Yet even with all the chatter among them as they grabbed meat, veggies, snacks, and drinks, she was lost in that memory.

When did that girl even get there? Obviously she came when she learned that he was there. It was impossible for her to actually go to the karaoke bar on her own unless someone like Ishi or Rinse wasn’t there. Laying her eyes on that girl, she felt for the first time in what seemed like forever a certain emotion. Envy.

She wanted so badly to be Youna in that moment. To be sitting right there all alone with Ishi and have no one bothering them...

“What do you think is better?” A question broke her from the trance. It was some boy asking her which bag of chips she preferred. The left was a bag of classic American potato chips. The other happened to be her favorite, a bag of really spicy shrimp chips.

“Oh, that one.” She pointed out the one on the right. What was she even thinking about? Why should she want to talk with him all alone? There were plenty of people around her that wanted to share in a chat. They’d certainly be a lot nicer than him. Definitely a lot less rude.

Rinse tried to shake the thought from her head. She shouldn’t care about small things like that. Her life was already good as it was. It would be selfish to ask for more. “Now everyone, let’s make this the best beach day ever!” Her words of motivation caused everyone to cheer in excitement.

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