The Top Idol Next Door Can't Help But Crave My Guilty Pleasure Meals-Chapter 10Volume 1 .3 - Please Continue to Be a Fan of Mine
ROUND 10 – Please Continue to Be a Fan of Mine 3
“…It’s tastier than it used to be.”
Rika put down her chopsticks and fixed her gaze on me.
“Hey, do you remember? The first dish you ever made for me was an omelet.”
“Was it? Honestly, it’s a bit hazy.”
“…I figured. It probably wasn’t anything special for you… But for me, meeting Suzu was a life-changing event.”
Kishibe Rika used to be my neighbor.
By chance, the Kishibe family lived next door to our apartment, and we became friends since we were close in age.
“I mean, I was way more rebellious back in elementary school than now, wasn’t I?”
“Well, I won’t deny that.”
Rika had health issues from birth, namely ‘severe asthma.’
It was so bad that she couldn’t even participate in physical activities or walk to school in a group, always relying on her mom for transportation.
“I was always absent from PE, and I couldn’t go on field trips or to forest school camps either. I got so frustrated wondering, ‘Why can’t I live like everyone else?’ Gradually, I stopped going to school and lashed out at Mom and Dad. I was completely at loss, I just wanted to stop living like that.”
Walking, running, going on trips—what was normal for others was as challenging as competing in the Olympics for Rika back then.
“That day, I was holed up in my room when suddenly the doorbell rang. I ignored it, but it kept ringing over and over. I was about to yell at whoever it was when I opened the door, and Suzu just barged in.”
“Well, no harm intended.”
I started to remember various things.
Until then, I had occasionally overheard conversations among the parents in the neighborhood.
The gist was that Kishibe-san’s only daughter had been cooped up in her room for a long time.
It’s not like I had any grand ambitions to help her escape from being a shut-in or reconnect her with the world.
At first, I was glared at and pushed away, and we couldn’t have a proper conversation.
But as I continued to visit, I was promoted to someone who could be ignored even when I was in the room.
As usual, I was reading manga one Sunday in Rika’s room.
Then I heard a stomach growl from a distance.
Since Rika’s mom had previously told me to ‘make yourself at home’, I borrowed the kitchen and prepared lunch for two.
That’s when I made an omelet for her.
“You gave me the better one that time too.”
“I remember I got scolded later for using the stove without an adult around. But you remember that well.”
“I remember. I always remember. After all, all my classmates were annoyed with me, you know? Some even said, ‘If Kishibe-san doesn’t come to school, we can get seconds on dessert at lunch, so please don’t come.’ During that time, Suzu went out of his way to make food for someone like me and gave it to me. There’s no way I could forget that.”
I didn’t know much about what Rika’s school life was like before she became a shut-in. I never actively asked.
No matter how much others disliked her, it had nothing to do with the relationship between me and Rika.
“Suzu didn’t abandon me. I could keep myself from rotting away because I had those days with Suzu.”
For Rika, maybe that omelet was a paradigm shift.
After that, she started replying one out of three times, and eventually, she started coming over to the Mamori house to play.
By the time we entered junior high school, the frequency of her asthma symptoms showing up had decreased.
Whether it was the medicine working or her immunity increasing with her growth, I’m not sure.
Now she participates in PE classes unless she’s feeling particularly sick, and she can even work in our family’s izakaya.
“Whether it was housework or taking care of your personal needs, I wanted to repay Suzu in some way… Well, I think I’ve been spinning my wheels a little too much, though.”
“Just a little bit.”
“I want to be useful as Suzu Onee-san this time. Suzu never complains or shares his worries, so right now, I’m the only one who can push you forward, even if it’s a nuisance, I’ll ask… Did something happen with Arisu Yuzuki?”
“…That is”
Rika walked around the table and took my hand.
Her eyes were alight with a strong determination.
“…Various things happened, and now Yuzuki is avoiding me.”
“Did Suzu do something bad?”
“I didn’t mean to, but maybe I was just tormenting Yuzuki all along. In the end, I was just ‘meddling.’ “
Wanting her to eat delicious food, not wanting to repeat Dad’s mistakes, and all that stuff I said… It might have all just been my own one-sided struggle.
“…I don’t think that’s the case.”
Rika doesn’t let go of my hand. On the contrary, her grip gets even stronger.
“No, Rika, you can say that because you don’t know what happens between us.”
“I don’t know. I hardly know anything about Suzu and Arisu Yuzuki’s relationship. But you know, when Arisu Yuzuki was eating the okonomiyaki Suzu made, she was smiling. She was smiling from the bottom of her heart. I’m sure that wasn’t an act. People can’t lie while eating delicious food.”
“…Was Yuzuki happy then?”
Despite the distant attitude she had in the Resource Room during the day, the Yuzuki that comes to my mind is always smiling.
That time, and that time, and that time too.
“Besides, the Suzu who saved me when I was young didn’t care about others’ judgments or whether he was bothering them, right? Did you ever hold back against the rebellious me?”
“That is…”
Why did the young me persistently approach Rika, who was often gloomy and viewed the world as an enemy due to her poor health?
The answer came quickly.
I just didn’t want to leave Rika alone.
If she preferred to be alone, that would have been fine. But I was sure that wasn’t the case for Rika.
The words that come out of the mouth, the attitudes that appear on the surface——they don’t necessarily reflect the truth.
“Hey, how did you see that girl through your eyes, Suzu?”
I reflect on these past few days once again.
Yuzuki is a perfectionist.
Apart from maintaining her figure, she has high standards in her behavior in class, scandal prevention, and other areas beyond singing and dancing.
Being the ideal idol at all times is part of Yuzuki’s identity.
According to Mikami-sensei, Yuzuki made a mistake during the live performance.
Even I, who was new to the scene, felt something was off, so it must have been true.
And since the day of the live performance, Yuzuki has disappeared from my sight.
Even when we meet at school, she interacts with me in her ‘idol mode’, as if our past interactions never happened.
In other words, Yuzuki might think that the cause of the mistake lies within her daily self… that is, within Sasaki Yuzuki.
She may have concluded that she let her guard down while eating junk food or sharing parts of her life with me, leading to the mistake at the live performance.
Therefore, she’s trying to return to her former self by distancing herself from me.
“Yuzuki’s decision isn’t necessarily wrong. If Yuzuki came to that answer on her own, then it’s not my place to interfere… but——”
“Suzu must have realized it by now, right? What you to do.”
” ….. “
The ideal answer would probably be to respect Yuzuki’s wishes and never approach her again.
But unfortunately, I’m neither obedient by nature nor am I just a ‘fan’.
“…I want Yuzuki to eat my cooking again.”
This much I can assert──Yuzuki really loves the food I make.
Whether she’s an idol or not doesn’t matter.
Because on the day she ate the pork bowl, Yuzuki said──
──Happiness
Is it really happiness for Sasaki Yuzuki to push herself to the limit by refraining from what she loves?
To be in idol mode all the time, keeping away from her favorite food──how could that be happiness?
The Yuzuki I know is easily swayed by food, quickly flustered, and her emotions are so transparent they show right on her face.
The forced smile she showed me in the Resource Room was not that of an ideal idol but more like an inorganic robot.
“I want to help Yuzuki. I want her to be happy with my cooking.”
This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.
…Ah, that’s always been the case.
Has Yuzuki ever once honestly accepted my cooking?
Making a show of drinking protein drinks or trying to escape from homemade jiro.
The stronger the rejection, the more it’s the opposite of her true feelings.
While verbally rejecting, in reality, she’s craving the meal.
What’s this, it’s just the usual Yuzuki.
Then I should just do as I always do.
It’s not like me to back down easily after being told ‘no’ once or twice.
“…Rika, thank you. I’m glad you’re my childhood friend and a reliable Onee-san.”
“Right? Look forward to what I’ll do next♪”
Rika tried to wink as if striking a pose but ended up closing both eyes—just blinking.
This lack of finesse is so typical of Rika that it made me burst into laughter.
That’s right. It’s not over yet.
I’m going to do things my way and bring out Yuzuki’s true feelings.
Wait for me, Yuzuki.
I’ll show you. My ultimate meddling.
