Night Club - Epilogue 4

[bakemonoremy]

Location: Night Club Interior

Hinata: Aah, so I wasn’t mistaken. You know, Onii-chan, you’re gaping at Dad almost like he’s a murderer.

Yuuta: ...That’s because I hate him. I loathe his guts. So much that I wish he’d bite his tongue and drop dead right this second.

Hinata: Mhm.

Yuuta: What on earth is that guy doing in a seedy nightlife district like this? Treating himself to some drinks for working himself ragged or something?

Hinata: Oh, I don’t think so. You won't like me saying this, Onii-chan, but I think the family resemblance between you two is showing…

He’s probably worried about us, just like how you were worried about me, Onii-chan.

We’ve been really active all over the place lately, and have become celebrities, too.

If people like us are spotted in a shady club within this kinda "nightlife district", of course there’ll be talk.

Hearing rumors like that could worry just about anyone. That is, if the person in question loves us even a little bit, parent or not.



Yuuta: ……....

Hinata: I figured it’d make you mad, Onii-chan, or at least put you in a bad mood, so I never told you, but…

He’s always been like that, you know. Whenever 2wink becomes the talk of the town, he’d text me a few words over the phone.

And whenever worrying rumours about us pop up on the 'net or anything, he’ll give me a call.

Like when Crazy:B went on that rampage during summer break, for example, he asked me if we were doing okay.

He said he cares about us, and that he wants to help us out if anything happens. ...Though you're probably thinking that any good parent should lend their help before something goes down.

But he did help us out, y'know. In his own way.

Or did you really think that I'd managed to sustain our idol activities on my own this whole time, when I'm the same age as you?

When we’re both still at an age where we need a guardian's approval for everything?

Yuuta: ...That man is not our guardian. We’ve left that house to live in Starmony Dormitory and we have our own income, so at this point he’s nothing but a stranger with zero relation to us.

No. That person became a stranger to us the very instant he spoke to us like we were monsters.

Hinata: Mhm. That’s why I won’t ask you to forgive him.

He may as well be a complete stranger to us, since he lost any right to be our parent through his callous statements.

But you know… In that case, I wanna at least face him the way I would a stranger.

If we hated that person more than necessary, held him in contempt, and spoke of him as if he was less than a stranger — less than a human; a monster…

Then we'd be just the same as him, who talked about us as if we were repulsive monsters. No, we really would become monsters who won’t even treat humans as humans.

I don’t wanna become like that, and I don’t want you to turn into that kind of creature either, Onii-chan.

Which is why, as a stranger to him, and as an idol — I’ll treat him like he’s a guest who's just come to watch our performances, and I’ll tell him:

“Thank you.”

And then, I’ll spread love as an idol by singing and dancing to the best of my ability. Maybe I can’t offer the love of a boyfriend or husband, or a family member...

But at the very least I won’t play favorites amongst fans, or withhold love from certain people — I won’t discriminate.

After all, isn’t that the very thing we hate the most?



Hinata: The love of those who “love everyone” isn’t any weaker, or insufficient, compared to people who love only one single person.

Even love that’s directed at “everyone” has the power to save people. I know this for a fact, and I believe in it.

“♪ ~ ♪ ~ ♪”

Yuuta: (...What the hell.)

(Talk about arrogant. You’re always, always like this, huh.)

(Talking like you’re an adult who knows the right answer, and I’m just a kid who doesn't know a thing. Even though we were born on the same day, and were supposed to have been growing at the same pace.)

(You've taken up the role of my guardian, just because you’re the older brother and the leader.)

(You know, I've wanted to share the burden you’re carrying, even just a little.)

(That’s why I’d always ask to do things together with you… Saying that we should carry the burden together, no matter what it might be — and we made that work.)

(And I thought that just by doing that, everything was going well. I convinced myself of it.)

(But was I just like a kid who innocently says, “Lemme help, too~!” to you?)

(Was everything I offered just the useless ideas of your cute little protegé, who doesn’t even realize his own powerlessness?)