Chapter 06

"Miyu…"
I look at her crouching self behind the stage screen, she is crying, her voice was loud enough for me to hear, who's standing in front of her pitiful situation, yet not loud enough to beat Maekawa-san's cheerful voices at the stage as she tries to make the event keep going.

"Miyu… you okay? Come on, sit here."
Who am I kidding, of course she's not okay, that man came again and proposed her in front of the audiences. I couldn't even image her feeling right now.

But I am sure, that he's in pain.
She sits at the chair I offered, and accepts my handkerchief.

"Producer…"
"Don't cry, it's okay… Miyu…"
"Why… why he must be there…"
"I don't know, but don't think about that too much."

"Come on, Miyu, cheer up, lots of idols getting a random proposal like that, the people are used to it," she silent despite hearing my consolidation.
"It's not a big deal, I promise."

"Producer…" she finally look at me after all the tears she had fallen, I could see her red eyes.
"Come on, its okay, it'll be okay, come on, can u stand?" I tried to raise her up.
She is able to stand despite her wobbly feet, but the moment she lost her balance, I reach to her, I hug her to make her feel better.

"It's okay, Miyu, it's okay, I'll do something about it," I rub her back to make her calm.

"Um… sorry to bother you two…" Tada-san suddenly approaches us.
"Ah, erm, it's okay, it's okay!" I pushes our body when realizing her presence,
"Well, it's not my business though, but can Mifune-san back to stage? So we could move on to the mini live again?"

"Ah, well, yes, wait a moment, I need to do something."
"If you mean that man, he's already taken care of by the security, it's always like that," Tada-san said that with her cheerful expression.
"I see, that's good then, how is it Miyu?"

"Producer…"
"Can you manage? I think it's the final show for today."
"I… I can…" she nods as I saw her bittersweet smile and she's walking back to the stage along with Tada-san.

I kept waiting at the backstage until it ends, peeking through the sides to check any suspicious person, namely her ex-husband, but I guess the security did their job well.
I gather all of her belongings from the backstage in the meantime so I can take her back directly after the event.

"Producer… I've done…" she walks out from the bath with my cobalt towel wrapping her body, yes, she's staying here in my place for tonight.
"Ah, yes, I'll take a shower now," I took my spare one and enters the bathroom.

Miyu said that she wanted to stay at my place for the night, yes after the event was done, we're directly off the scene, I didn't know why we're in rush though, but Miyu begs me to leave the plaza immediately.
I guess she's still afraid that how if that man still around, and so, I took her out. Even though her dorm is nearer, but she asked me to let her here.

I took a shower in a flash, I'm not a woman, real men wash themselves quickly, well actually no, I just want to be with her as soon as possible.
When I open the bathroom door, I saw her ironing my dried laundry.

"A…aaahhh, hey, you don't need to do that, Miyu…" I said to her, but her right hand still moving at my trousers.
"It's okay, Producer… come on, you need to be tidy!" she sulks as she sprays the perfume.
"I'm tidy you know! It just happen to piled up today," I sits near her as she giggles.

"Hey, you're so good at this, Miyu," I praises him as I see my pile of ironed clothes getting higher.
"I think you really suits as a wife." I said that after she pulled the plug.

"I wonder about that, Producer…"
"Eh?"
"I'm not sure… if I'm a good wife," she sits beside me.

"If I'm good, I wonder why he cheated on me back then… and I did the same thing as well…"
"Miyu… but, he came back to you now right?"
"…." She silent.
"You will back to him?"
"No… I think…"

"Then… how about with me?"
"Eh… Producer…"
"Last time, you asked me to marry you…"

"Aaaah, forget that!" she throw a cushion to me.
"Ahahaha, sorry, I just remembered it."
"It's not… that…" she covers her mouth with another cushion before she throw it to me as well.

"But isn't that fine? Miyu," I pulled her arm and she falls on me.
"If we together like that… it's okay… right?"

"Ah, but… for now…"
"Yes, you're still an idol now, so I guess I should wait until you're ready," I said that as I covers her with my arms.

"You really sure… being with me…"
"Yes, Miyu."

We sleep together in one futon, it's cramped but it makes us warm, I kept reassure her that I'll always be with her no matter what happened, and protected her.
I must do it, especially to make her safe from that man.

I guess I should talk to him to solve the problem once and for all, I didn't hope for him to come of course, it's better if he's just stay away from Miyu from now.
But if he does come, I must say it.

"Ah, I see, yes, it's okay, thank you…"
I cut off the phone this afternoon, another potential contract for Miyu is off the hook, it's been several days since her live at the plaza, and this is my sixth call for her rejection.

Yes, I found it kind of difficult to seek the new job for her aside from the one that she became regulars.
Well, there's no point in thinking about that, I just need to find more and better job for her, I thought that as I see Miyu reviews the place featured today.

"Hey Producer, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Ah, Director, yes, what is it?" he took me slightly away from the scene, the shoot is on break.

"Producer, I think, we should put this program on hiatus?"
"Eh, hiatus? Why?" I asks him in disbelief.
"I don't think it would be good for her, for Miyu-chan," he said.
"Why? Is there something happened?"

"I don't want to be the bad guy here, but here, you don't know about the craze now? I mean, about her reputation?"
"Um, the one that she's the third at election? No?
"Not that, that's old stuff, I mean do you peek at the social media lately?"
"Nope… I can't use it…" I said that as he shows me Twitter on his phone.

I saw her name, Mifune Miyu, at the fifth trending topic on Twitter, but what bothers me more is the fourth topic listed.

Mifune Scandal.

"You get it now? Producer?" he asks me as he taps the hashtag, and it directly shows me with the Tweets from people.

[ Miyu-chan is not a pure one, can you believe it lol ]
[ Have you ever know, a wife as an idol ]
[ I thought she is single being an idol, but this one counted as single too right? ]
[ YOUR IDOL HAD SEX WITH A MAN LOLOLOLOL ]
[ She never told her fans about that, right? I really feel betrayed now ]
[ Miyu MILF-une lolol ]
[ If she ever became a wife, that means someone already fucked her right? I wonder if we can fuck her too ]
[ Handshake event turned into handjob event lol ]
[ Die you bitch! ]

I couldn't believe my eyes, there are too much painful words for her that I couldn't take it all, just, why?

"You know it right? Producer, right now her reputation is fallen, and it's on a bad way, if the people keep talking about this, the scandal would be bigger," the director said to me.
"But… but… why they…"

"It seems the people from the live started it, I was there too though, and yes I even surprised when that man said 'wife again' stuff."
"Eh…"
"Pretty much people knows that she's a divorced woman now, and her name is ruined thanks to that fact."

"Then, you're stopping the program…"
"Not stopping, but on hiatus, I honestly didn't care who she is, but her program got good ratings, means money for me, but if I keep showing her on tv, the people would keep aware of her, and then keep talking about that scandal."

"I… see…"
"I am sorry, Producer, I hope you could tell that to her."

"Why… like this…"
I show her the Twitter topic in my phone, yes, she had one account but she barely manages it, which means she knows nothing about this.

"I am sorry… Miyu…" I apologizes for my incompetence as she cries.
Yes, I could see it clearly, not just on twitter, but since we arrived at 346 Production, almost all eyes are on us, I could see some people whispers to each other while looking at us, and it makes me rushed to our office so I could hide her.

Now I know why lately I cannot struck a deal for her, it's because of this thing, I even thought that the Director from usual program thought that Miyu is a not good idol again so they scrapped her, but I don't want to think badly, at least I hope for that.
Right now Miyu just doing her midnight radio program, her only job for now, yes, even some of her regular shows terminated her contracts unanimously.

"Producer… what… should I do…"
"I, don't know… Miyu…"

"For now, let's hope that this will ends soon, I'll keep working as your Producer to make it better, I promise!" I tried to calm her down.
Yet honestly, I don't know what to do, but maybe first I should talk this to the superiors at 346 Production.

Nishi-san just gave me a vague answer, that I should resolve this on our own. I could see his pitiful look to me as he said that.
But, the matter only just got worse from that day.

Two days later, Miyu lost her radio program as well, with that, she's really a jobless idol now.

Not just that, even though when training with her units, yes I could see their teamwork and choreography are good, but day by day, I could see they seems getting colder to Miyu.
Yes I know they did not mean harm, but it irritates me when Miyu seems not considered part of the unit.

But I think I understand it pretty well.

When Miyu are going back to her dorm earlier without me, I overheard some other idols talking.
Miyu's scandal not just affecting her, but other idols from 346 as well.

Like how her scandal created suspicions towards other idols that they are doing the same thing as her, like getting into scandal when they are supposed to be not, like a secret person, even producers.
Yes, even producers, I met my senior earlier and he said that lately he's answering to them on Twitter, like the questions "did you have a special relationship with xxxxx-san?" and so on.
He's getting irritated as well, but even though he felt that, I could feel his condolences as well.

Damn! Is there really nothing I can do?
I open my Twitter account, and I write everything to say that Miyu is not that kind of girl.

But it was useless, I stopped at some point upon realizing that my follower is even less than the planet in solar system.

Until Miyu doesn't come to anything again, like lesson and so on, I contacted her phone, but she said that she's wanted to be alone for now.
And I did that, I just reminded her to keep eat regularly and so on, while I work my bone to give her jobs again, even until three days I didn't get any.

We became distant.

"What is this? Nishi-san?"
"Just open it," he give me a white envelope on the table.

"Wha… what does it mean…"
"As you can see, Producer…"
"It's not possible! Why I don't know about this?" I shouted in disbelief, only to see him looking at his window.

"She gave it to me yesterday, didn't she said that to you?"
"No… she didn't…"
Well, apparently she's already said the same for her fans too," he said.
"Eh? Really?" I pulled my phone from my pocket to check her Twitter account, yes, she wrote it more than 24 hours ago, why the hell I didn't notice this! Damn it!

She wrote it in several posts, there are lots of replies, but most of them are not in a good way like what I ever saw.
Yes, at her Tweets, and the letter, she said the same thing.

Miyu, she resigned herself from 346 Production.
She is no longer an idol.

It can't be, why she didn't told me about this? Yes I know she rarely replied me as well but this is going too far!
I excuses myself from Nishi-san's office and dashed towards the dorm, I don't care, I don't even thinking about going there by bike.

Upon arriving, I don't see the usual dorm lady, I don't care, but I do found her at Miyu's room, how?
Yes, I saw Miyu's door was open, and I found the dorm lady there, packing Miyu's stuff.

"Ah, it's you…"
"Where's Miyu?" I asks her in a gasping note.
"She's gone…" the dorm lady answers me in a cold note.

"Gone? Where!"
"She's not here!"
"Tell me where, please…"

She approaches me and landed a slap on my cheek, it's painful, but it's more painful knowing Miyu left me without even saying anything.

"Even if I told you where, what would you do?"
"I… I'll bring her back here!"
"Wrong answer!" she landed another slap at my face.

"She doesn't want to be here anymore, deal with it!"
"But…"
"She did told me to not tell you anything, it means she doesn't want to see you again? Am I right?"
"…." I cannot answer to that.

Is this really the end, for us, for her career, for everything we've been through?

"Leave now, I must send her stuff soon after this." She asks me to leave her while she's putting Miyu's clothes in a box.
"I have promised her."
"What?" she turns her head to me.
"I have promised… to Miyu…"

"I promised her, to be always by her side… to keep together with her…"
"That's bullshit"
"No, I did promised her, if she does not want to come back here, then… I'll stay there with her."

"Meh, stupid boy, she doesn't even want to see you!"
"Eh…"
"You not knowing about her leave, it means she doesn't care about you."

"No, that's a lie!" I shouted to her.
"Do not raise your voice to me! Then, if you do meet her, what will you do if she rejected you?"
"I…"

"You don't even have an answer to that, right? Then it's useless to meet her," she said that as she back to what she's been doing.
"I… I just want to see her…"
"…."

I turned my back, walking out from the room, outside the room, I saw several other idols looking at me, probably caused by the ruckus I made.

"Wait a minute…"
I look behind me, my eyes pointed at a piece of paper the dorm lady offer me.

"What… is this?"
"She is crying when she left, I saw it," she said to me as she puts the paper in my suit pocket.

"Be there for her," she said that and back to work, I look at the paper she gave me.

This is, Miyu's address, it's different from what I know from her ID card since she changed into local address, it seems, this one is even further from here.
Thank you, I said to her as I rushed from there, passing all the other idols' gazes pointing towards me, all I could do just run, to my bike.

If I leave now, I should be able to reach there next morning. But it would be dangerous to go now, it's far enough by train, it should be further by bike.
But I don't care, I must go, now.

"An inn… eh…"
After roughly 15 hours of riding, I arrives at the written address, yes, this is it, she is here.

It's a long ride, but to meet her, it's a small price. My watch pointed at 7.15, I guess it's not the time for check in yet.
But heck, I didn't come here for that. I thought that as I parked my Yamaha beside the door.

"Good morning!"
I could hear a familiar voice as I open the front door, yes, there's no mistaking it, even though she wears a kimono and arranging the Petunias near the entrance.

"Miyu…" I look at her in relief as she look at me.
"Miyu… I… I'm sorry…" I cannot find the words to start, but it does not matter, since she ran away inside as I said that.

Without even removing my shoes, I chase her, she cannot run much with that outfit, and yes.
I grabbed her hand, but her reaction is as expected, she screams and struggles to escape from me.

"Let me go! Producer!" She slapped me with her other hand, making me release my hold.
"Miyu…"
"Please… leave…"

"I… I'm sorry… Miyu…"
"Go away! I don't want to see you again!" she screams as she cries, those words, I've never imagined that it would come from her lips.

But I can't just leave, I… I have promised her, right? That I'll always be with her no matter what.
Yet, if she wishes for that, then…

"I… I will stay by your side… right? Miyu? I promised you right?"
"I… no… I don't want… you again… Producer…"

"Please leave producer... we… are not together again…"
"Miyu… I… I can't…"
"Goodbye… Producer," She said that as she runs away from me again.

I cannot believe that, and I don't want that, I run towards her and grabbed her hand again, only to make her even angrier.

"Miyu… please…"
"LET ME GO!"
"Miyu!"

Suddenly my vision blurred, and in an instant I am unable to see anything clearly.
I fell to the wooden floor, I could see Miyu in front of my face as I heard her faint voice screaming my name, but I can't see and hear well.

All I could see just her blur figure, and another person standing near her before its completely dark.