My Third Life Is in the Future World! After Being Betrayed and Losing His Memory, the Former Hero Begins Sweet School Days in a World with a 1:50 Male-to-Female Ratio - 41

Chapter 41: Side Story: After the Concert

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“We’ve got a concert reservation!”

The manager’s words echoed through the waiting room. A shiver ran through all 64 of us in SEKK, myself included. It had been a long time since our last concert.

Even though we had been increasing our exposure through TV and CDs, chances to actually interact with men were almost nonexistent. At the very least, if it was a concert, it meant that someone among the 64 of us had caught a man’s interest enough for him to make an inquiry.

“When is the concert?”

Aiko Konno shouted with bloodshot eyes and the manager replied cheerfully.

“Can you believe it? It’s tomorrow! Amazing job, right?”

Amazing didn’t even begin to cover it. I had thought the manager was useless until now, but being able to land a concert—maybe she was actually competent. This time, like a beast, Aino Shizuru shouted.

“What about a handshake event! Did you secure the handshake event option?”

Shizuru Aino. She was extremely rich—the daughter of the president of a listed restaurant chain, and her mother ran several restaurants too. She had invested one million wen into the handshake event option. 

Yes, just by shaking her hand, a man would receive one million wen. With that kind of incentive, maybe a man would be moved. But realistically, handshake events were something only GOD11-level idols could manage. For reference, GOD11 members invested at least 300,000 wen for handshake events. For me, that was impossible.

“Of course we got it! And the lucky one is… Yoko Hoshino-san. Congratulations!”

“Eh? Me? Really me? But I only put in 5,000 wen for the handshake event because I don’t have any money!”

Shizuru glared with a terrifying expression.

“Manager, are you sure there isn’t some kind of mistake? Yoko only invested 5,000 wen!”

“This doesn’t make sense! For someone like Shizuru-san, who put in one million, it’s understandable, but a man agreeing to shake hands for just 5,000 wen?”

“But it can’t be helped. It’s what the customer requested. Hoshino, you don’t have much money left, do you? If you don’t add more contract money, you’ll only be able to stay here for about a week more. Well, at least you get to shake a man’s hand before you leave, isn’t that nice?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

The reaction around me was terrifying… I could hear groans of “Gnnnnnn…” filled with resentment. It might have been my imagination, but I thought I saw a girl crying tears of blood.

“Hmph, some old man must have applied out of charity. Otherwise, 5,000 wen makes no sense.”

“But maybe a not-yet-dried-up 60-year-old geezer might think 5,000 wen is worth it.”

“No way. A man under 60 with vitality wouldn’t settle for a 5,000-wen handshake.”

“Well, whatever. It’s our first concert in two years, let’s give it our all!”

What kind of boy would shake my hand for 5,000 wen? I hope he’s young at least.

◆◆◆

After finishing preparations, we were ready to welcome the rare male guest. We jumped out to the music.

No way! He is clearly a young boy!

“‘I love you, I’ll come to see you—’ ×64”

“No way… A boy this young actually came to see us”

“Impossible. If it’s a handshake with him, I’d pay a million”

I could understand the commotion around me. He looked like a school student. A boy like that, coming to watch our stage…That was realistically speaking impossible.

“A handshake with him for just 5,000 wen… That’s less believable than buying a luxury condo for 1 wen”

“No way… He’s watching without touching anything except his drink? Okay, let’s do our best”

Everyone was fired up, more motivated than usual.

“Oh no, I can’t take my eyes off him!”

“Impossible…That boy is super cute…”

“I want to keep watching him…”

“It’s already ending…”

Being seen, maybe even acknowledged, by a young boy, of course everyone was excited. But… The end was near.

“Encore! Encore!”

“Thank you for the encore! I, Shizuru Aino, will sing my solo… Pink Mermaid!”

“Damn it. An encore from a boy doesn’t happen, like ever. I missed my chance”

“Shizuru-chan, that’s unfair!”

“Thank you for listening! Now, for the second song, Shizuru Aino will—”

“Shizuru-chan! Enough with the jokes! Stop! From here, I, Reiko Honda, will sing! Pink Banana— Wait! No! Everyone together, let’s sing the Song of Love! Everyone, gather up!”

““““““Yeees!””””””

In the end, that cute young boy called for encores ten times.

◆◆◆

Backstage.

After the concert, I, Shizuru Aino, was still excited. The other members were the same.

“That boy was amazing! It’s the first time singing felt so much fun…”

“Yeah, amazing! I’m scared people will call me delusional, but I seriously feel like he actually likes SEKK64.”

“Totally! If all 64 of us asked him to be our partner… I feel like he might actually accept. It’s scary!”

“I think his face will pop up every time I try to sleep for a while—maybe for life.”

“I get it! Even when I relieve myself, I’ll only be able to picture him now.”

“I’m so frustrated! If I had known a boy like that would come, I’d have invested a hundred million into the handshake event!”

“Same here! I don’t have Shizuru-san’s kind of money, but I’d throw in my entire savings too!”

“But isn’t he different? He chose Yoko-chan’s 5,000 wen. If he wanted money, he would’ve picked Shizuru’s 3 million.”

To lose to 5,000 even after putting in 3 million…

“You’re right. It makes no sense. Of all people, he picked the lowest amount, Yoko.”

“No way! Could he really… Have genuinely fallen for Yoko?”

“No way, no way. This isn’t a manga or drama.”

“Exactly. In real life, there’s no such thing as a man who doesn’t hate women!”

“But still, he came alone without parents or sisters. Doesn’t that make him pretty high rank? Maybe B-rank or higher?”

“Oh no, that’s super VIP! How many B-rank men are there in Japan?”

“I’ve heard fewer than 10. Maybe even just a single digit.”

“Then… A B-rank or higher man fell for Yoko? Is that what this means?”

Normally, that was unthinkable.

“I don’t know! That kind of fairytale? It’s totally impossible. If it happened, it’d be a miracle.”

“…Hey, it’s been over five minutes, and Yoko hasn’t come back.”

“No way. Even the money-hungry old guys left within three minutes.”

“Yeah, even with your 3 million, Shizuru-san, it only lasted three minutes.”

“Well, in the end he told me if I squeezed any longer he’d sue me.”

I gave him 3 million, so he could’ve let me have a little more!

“But isn’t it too late? What if something criminal is happening? This is bad.”

“In that case, we have no choice… Let’s check the monitor.”

In this era, places where men and women could be alone were always monitored unless it was a designated facility. Of course, peeking before there was a legal issue was illegal for men’s protection, but if there was a threat of sexual crime, it was a different matter entirely.

Everyone agreed.

“Necessary evil, necessary evil…”

“No way… He’s smiling and talking with Yoko.”

“Shh! Keep it down, or the manager will hear us.”

“W-what the hell? The boy is holding her hand. With both hands!”

“What is this godlike behavior?”

“Why is he holding Yoko’s hand so firmly? Could he really… Actually like her? Is that what this means? I’m so jealous!”

“He’s been holding on for five minutes straight! Impossible!”

“It’s like a drama—like a B-rank Prince. I’m jealous!”

“What, he’s still there? Unbelievable. For 5,000 wen? For that kind of god-tier treatment? I’d pay a million!”

“I’d run straight to the bank and withdraw ten million in cash!”

“What are you girls doing? This is a crime, a crime!”

Oh no, the manager caught us.

“We were just…We were just making sure Yoko didn’t do anything weird!”

“As the manager, it’s my duty to make sure you girls don’t do anything weird! Huh? But the handshake event is still going?”

“““““Yes.”””””

“Strange. The camera doesn’t pick up much sound. We can’t watch too closely, but… Let’s at least keep an eye on them?”

“Yes, that’s a necessary evil.”

“True, we’d be in trouble if something happened…”

“At this level, he might not just be B-rank. He could be close to A-rank.”

“Alright, enough. Stop. I get it, they’re getting along, but from here on, you can’t watch.”

“Come on, just a little more.”

“Do you want to be criminals under the Male Privacy Protection Law?”

“Ugh, true. We’d get caught.”

“No choice then.”

It wasn’t just me, Shizuru Aino. Everyone was looking enviously. That was far too enviable.

The manager reached to switch it off, but—

“Wait! No way… Is this real?!”

『If you’d like… Want to go to the LR now?』

『Eh… Are you serious?』

『Ah, sorry, that was—』

『I want to! Of course I want to! You’re not joking, right? You’ll really take me to the LR?』

『Of course.』

『Then let’s go right away! Come on, come on, come on!』

『Yeah… Okay.』

“LR…?”

Including the manager, all of us members—myself included—were so shocked we froze in place.

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