.........

...Sena-senpai? Were you even listening to me?

Huh? Oh, were you talking to me?

Who else would I be talking to? There's no one else here! Besides, weren't you the one who started the conversation~?

But it's not like you and I are close enough to talk about things like this in the first place, To-mo-ya-kun.

If you need an agony aunt to pour your heart out to, you should be going to Hibiki or Nazunyan.

I happen to be extremely busy picking out a delicious beverage in order to appease even a smidgeon of my irritation.

Idols can take any of these drinks for free, right?

Oh, yes. That sounds right. You can drink as much as you want free of charge, but as a result none of the drinks here are particularly good.

Yeah, I can see that, huh. Talk about cheaping out with the drink bar...

Everything looks packed with sugar and atrocious for your health. So you're telling me there's not one drink here that's good for beauty?

Ahaha. If that's the kind of drink you're after, you'd be better off heading to the café inside the main building.

Mm... But then I'd have to pay using L$, wouldn't I? If I were to do that, there would be a record that I've been loitering around here instead of heading back to Italy.

That said, I feel like it would be a total waste to pay with yen.

Ahaha, Hajime said something similar before. That guy will do every conceivable thing he can think of to make something cheaper by even a single cent. If anything, I've got a lot of respect for that side of him.

Oh, Hajime Shino from Ra*bits... He's in the same unit as you, so you're close?

I do envy you. Just about everyone in my unit can be ridiculously cheeky to me, would you believe?

Especially lately, we've been butting heads a lot, and the atmosphere always feels prickly. I'm fairly jealous of Nazunyan's lot—everything seems to be so calm and peaceful all the time.

Is there a knack to it? No, it could just simply be a matter of personalities...

Unlike the brats in my unit, from what I can see, Hajime-kun and the others seem to be obedient, well-behaved kids, right?

F-From the sound of things, you don't have any trouble remembering who Hajime is. Even though it seems like you completely forgot who I am.

That kid's famous lately, isn't he? What with being marketed as a duo along with that prominent something-or-other from the same agency.

Oh, you mean Bishoujo-senpai... So that person is famous overseas too?

Not sure if I'd call them "famous"... More like, they stand out pretty noticeably, and not always in a good way. Rather like me. So you could say they left an impression on me.

Oh wow... For some reason, I'm kinda jealous.

Mn? Of what?

I was just thinking there's nothing about me that would stand out in such a way that I'd get people talking about me like that.

When you're surrounded by colorful people while you're plain and average and ordinary, that can actually become a quirk in itself, I guess.

But I really wish there was something unique about me, something that only I can bring to the table... I wish I had some sort of merit or skill to be praised for, or make others envious.

When you say the name Tomoya Mashiro, you immediately think of this! Something like that that others could look up to and even try to imitate...

It seems like my quirk is just being "ordinary," but it's not like anyone's out there like, "Man, I wish I was as ordinary as him!"

Hajime, Mitsuru, and everyone else are evolving at an exponential rate and really making an impact, so I guess I'm sorta panicking and worrying about myself a whole lot.

Our agency also seems to be at a loss for how to promote me...

They took advantage of the rumor that I'm good at magic and asked me to do some magic tricks on some TV show.

They figured that if I can pull off something impressive and things end up going well, that could become my thing.

So like, even though it was all based on a big misunderstanding, I felt kinda flattered that they had high expectations for me.

Besides, back when Nii~chan was about to make his official return to the group, I was kinda aggressive towards them and kicked up a bit of a fuss, so I don't really wanna go against our agency's wishes right now if I can help it⁠—

So I just went ahead and accepted the invitation to appear on that TV show without really thinking it through. And now I seriously regret it.

There's no way I can master any seriously impressive magic in such a short amount of time.

For the record, I did suck it up and beg Hibiki-senpai to give me some guidance. And I'm using whatever free time I have to practice as hard as I can, like I'm doing right now. But I just don't seem to be improving.

I feel like I'm going needlessly out of my way, and I'm just wasting my own time⁠—

.........

Oh, sorry! I've been rambling about something that has nothing to do with you, Sena-senpai.

No, it's fine. It's one way for me to kill time.

And precisely because it has nothing to do with me, I don't feel so much as an iota of stress listening to you go on. You're talking about a world a million miles away from me.

Besides. I don't exactly dislike hard-working kids such as yourself.

If anything, now I'm itching to lend a hand. Lately I haven't been able to lend any support to Yuu-kun nor Kasa-kun, so I'm kind of frustrated⁠—

I'm kind of warming to idea of becoming your kind-hearted, beloved "Onii~chan," To-mo-ya-kun...⁠♪

Y-You're not my big brother though, Sena-senpai?! Not under any circumstances!

Ohhh god—the way you got all excited just now is giving me the same stench as the Masked Pervert!