Aishiteru, Takah!

Chapter 23

Shinoda, Taka and I were heading to the management office that houses an idol girl group where Mina was one of the members. We have to move quickly, as many fans of bands in Japan are asking for official clarification. The day before, just as Taka and I were walking out of the police station, Shinoda had already made an appointment to meet Mina and her manager.

***

Mina looked cynically at me who had just entered the last one into a room. "It seems, your assistant has no interest whatsoever here, Taka-ssi," he said scathingly.

Shinoda looked at the girl quite sharply before saying, "Rinai-san must be here because of something Mina-ssi. I hope you can understand it."

We all sat and waited for a while until someone who was delivering drinks came out of this room.

"Well, my arrival this time is related to Taka's arrest yesterday. The one who made the report to the police was you, right, Mina-ssi?" ask Shinoda.

"That's me, that's me" he replied.

I cheered in my heart at the girl's courage.

"Why did you do that before you knew the truth?" ask Shinoda again.

"I am a law-abiding citizen. I should have reported something suspicious if it happened before my eyes."

"But the steps you take are harming us. Italic reporting has spread everywhere and our recording schedule in South Korea has been postponed for an undetermined time." Shinoda still spoke in a soft tone.

"I'm sorry, but if you're in this situation, you're just going to have a clarification. And all the preaching will stop by itself."

Shinoda breathed a long breath. "It doesn't matter if I mention you as the one who reported this to the police, Mina-ssi?"

"Please, Shinoda-san. And I will answer the exact same reason as what I told you," he said with a smile.

I should have been relieved by the girl's words. But somehow a strange feeling arose. A feeling that usually arises, if there will be a big thing happening.

***

As expected. Many journalists have asked who reported it to the police and whether the report was made to vilify the name of their band.

Shinoda patiently answered questions from reporters one by one and asked everyone not to rashly report things that could lead public opinion before Mina held a clarification.

A few questions were also addressed to Taka who smoothly explained everything, including the name of the flu medicine that was the problem.

The press conference closed with many thanks from Shinoda and the band members.

***

Taka and I were enjoying our coffee when the door was knocked from the outside.

"Hurry to see Mina's press conference!" exclamation Toru. His wife looked pale next to the man.

Taka quickly picked up his phone and started to open the internet. Instantly we both were dumbfounded.

" ..., 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙖-𝙨𝙖𝙣 𝙠𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙠𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡. 𝘿𝙞𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙝𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙙𝙞 𝙨𝙖𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣-𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮𝙖 𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙞 𝙧𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙠𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙣.

𝘿𝙞𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙞 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙖𝙨𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙩. 𝘿𝙞𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙠 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙢 𝙙𝙞 𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙪 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙩, 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙣𝙮𝙖. 𝙆𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙠𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙣𝙮𝙖, 𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙠 𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙞 𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙪. 𝘿𝙞𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙨𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙠 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙠𝙪𝙩𝙞 𝙠𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙪𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮𝙖. 𝘿𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙞, 𝙙𝙞𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙟𝙖. 𝙎𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙞 𝙗𝙪𝙠𝙩𝙞 𝙨𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙖𝙝 𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖*𝙨𝙚𝙥𝙨𝙞 𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙖 𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙖𝙣.

𝙎𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙝 𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙪𝙧𝙪𝙠. 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙠𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖. 𝙎𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙗𝙖 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙠 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙜𝙪𝙣𝙜𝙟𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖 𝙞𝙩𝙪, 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙣 𝙞𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙠 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙝-𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙝. 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙠𝙚𝙨𝙖𝙡, 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙮𝙖 𝙮𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙙𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙝 𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙝𝙠𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙖."

I was silent and felt that the atmosphere in this room was filled with tension. Taka's face was already completely red and his hands clenched tightly.