Episode 87 – new school year

It is April and college has started, but I have almost finished taking most of my credits, so I only go to college two days a week.

On the other hand, what was increasing was the number of jobs.

“Excuse me.”

Today I was scheduled to be a guest on a radio broadcast.
The location was where I had done radio with Mirei before, but today it was not with Mirei’s radio but with Nozaki Haruka san, a composer in the same profession.

She has been on a lot of TV appearances because of her good looks and she is also popular on the radio.
Come to think of it, she was on TV when I was featured on TV before.

“Oh, you’re here again today, Nagishiro sensei!”
“Long time no see, Miki san. It’s been a while.”

This 00 broadcasting station is like a home ground for me, and all the people are very friendly to me.
I sometimes get nervous about radio, which is something I am not used to, but just by coming here I can relax a little.

“Nozaki sensei hasn’t been here yet, has she?”
“Well~! That person is always the type to have a meeting beforehand!”

Before a radio program, there is a meeting.
The meeting is to confirm the direction of the radio program, to confirm the flow of the program after being given a script, and to confirm the content of the new corner that is sometimes established.

Normally, this is done by the producer, the broadcaster who writes the radio script, and the performers, but apparently Nozaki sensei has already had a meeting with them.

“Excuse me”

I visit a small conference room with linoleum flooring.

Then, apart from the producer and broadcaster I was close to, there was another person.
And she’s an acquaintance of mine.

“Kasugai……san?”
“Ah, hello. …… !! Nagishiro kun. ……”

Kasugai san bows many times

She is dressed so tightly in a calm-colored cutter shirt and a tight skirt underneath that she floats around in this company.
Her hair had been cut off, and her appearance had changed dramatically since the last time I saw her at a live concert.

I mean, the last time we met was at a concert…….

“Why is Kasugai san here?”

I didn’t want to be talked down to myself, so I asked about her, and the producer, Manabe san, explained to me about her.

“She’s here as a sort of training program.”
“Training?”

When I looked at Kasugai san, I saw that she was lying on her face in embarrassment.
Combined with her small stature, she looks like a squirrel, but she is not.

“What training?”

I simply asked, and this time Kasugai san answered in a quieter voice.

“Well, ……, I’m actually interested in being a broadcaster. ……”
“Eh!?”

When I showed my surprised face, the producer and broadcaster present laughed.
Kasugai san’s face blushed even more.

“Oh, sorry. ……”
“No, no! It’s fine. I’m not that kind of character after all. ……”
“No, that’s not what I meant!”
“Yes, that’s enough~”

That’s where the producer waits.

“I’ve got a meeting now, so you two can talk about that after the radio show.”
“Ah, sorry”
“S-Sorry…:”

When we both apologized, the broadcaster said, “Huh, you guys are so close.”

Kasugai san was not the only one who blushed even more at this.

“But I never expected to see Kasugai san in such a place.”

The time was past eight o’clock at night. I had just finished a radio recording and came to a family restaurant for dinner with Kasugai san.
It was a family restaurant, but it was the usual Saize.

By the way, I am eating squid-ink spaghetti, and Kasugai san is chomping down on a small mouthful of doria.

“Um, well, I’m sorry. ……”
“Why are you apologizing?!”
“I-I’m sorry. ……!”

I guess “apologize” exists in Kasugai san’s action commands, not “fight” or “run away” at the very beginning.
But it doesn’t seem to work for me. ……

“So you’re thinking of becoming a broadcaster and you’re studying there now, is that correct?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right!”

Kasugai san shakes her head like a hamster.
Thanks to this, her hair is disheveled up and down, but she probably doesn’t notice.

“No, really, I didn’t expect to see Kasugai san there. I was so surprised.”
“I-I’m sorry. ……”
“If you’re going to apologize for making me suprised, then everyone who sets up a surprise should apologize. ……”

By the way, the thing I dislike the most about surprises is the sleeping surprise.
The reason is that I have actually experienced it many times. Mainly to Kotoha, Azusa, and especially Azusa.
They never apologize, though.

“Come to think of it, what made you decide to become a broadcaster?”

So, back to where we started. That’s what I wanted to hear the most.

“Umm, oh, not much, no trigger or anything like that. ……”
“So why did you become a broadcaster? Do you listen to the radio a lot?”
“No, not much of that either. …… Oh, but I did listen to the radio show that Nagishiro kun was doing before!!”
“Well, even if you say it so cheerfully, ……”

And that’s the one that I don’t have very good memories of, isn’t it? Mainly the one where Mirei asked me a lot of questions, right? Did she hear that one? ……

Without digging too deeply into that story, let’s get back to it.

“Then why did you decide to become a broadcaster?”
“It’s ……”

then, Kasugai san turned her head down.
It was as if there was something she did not want to say.

“Well, I guess it’s not a problem”

I don’t want to pry too hard and make her hate me, so I muddle through my tea while drinking a Coke.

But Kasugai san was not satisfied with herself.

“M-Maybe because of that show. ……”

She began to speak slowly.
Some of the intonation was out of sync, but that was probably because she had the courage to begin speaking.

“Was that gig at ……, possibly on February 14?”
“Yes! Yes, it was.”

Valentine’s Day Live. For those who attended that concert, it will be impossible to forget that day.
For me, it was even more so.

“But live? What does live have to do with radio ……?”

Maybe it would be a reason like, “I wanted to get close to that famous person over there.”
But I had a feeling that Kasugai san would not be the kind of person who would want to work for such a reason.
First of all, she would not have become a broadcaster if she only wanted to get close to them.

Wondering, Kasugai san starts talking again. This time in a voice with heat.

“You were standing on stage at that time, weren’t you, Nagishiro kun?”
“What, me? Well, well…”
“I think that’s how it all started.”

I am not sure what the story is, but Kasugai san continues

“When I saw Nagishiro kun standing on stage that day, …… I felt some kind of frustration.”
“frustrated?”
“Yes. I felt frustrated when I saw Nagishiro kun shining even though I didn’t make any effort.”

“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Kasugai san laughs to herself.

“I learned that there were people who were college students just like me, but who were taking on so many challenges, and who were getting results and becoming famous. And because it was someone close to me,…… I became even more frustrated and impatient. ……”

The fact that someone in the same situation as herself is more active than she is is proof that she, too, has that much opportunity to shine.
That is why Kasugai san regretted not having done anything about it.

“So I decided I had to make a change. So I decided to try my hand at something I’ve always been interested in.”
“That’s great. ……”

Her energy is very different from mine.
Whereas I was just writing songs because I liked them, she made her own decisions and started working on her own.

“Well, I’m just starting out though. ……!”

Kasugai san broke into a smile.
It was a very impressive smile, different from the lowly Kasugai san I had seen in the past.

“I’ll help you, too..!!!”

So, wanting to help in any way I could, I was saying these things out loud.

“Eh….!!”
“Ah”

And regret after saying it.
What a mess and embarrassing thing to say.

“But, umm, but I don’t think I can be of much help !!, so don’t say that, but, um, anyway, I want you to talk to me about anything!”
“Fufu….I’m sure you’ll be able to find a way to help. Thank you, Nagishiro kun.”

It was still my bad to end up with a comedic ending. ……