He is an idol and a childhood sweetheart.

Finally, after a long period of thinking, Higuchi Enka found her answer at the end of the fork in the road that was dwindling away from Toru Asakura.

"I'm going to help the wise man."

After entering such a message on his mobile phone, Higuchi Enka stood up and walked towards the door.

And just as she was about to leave home after changing her clothes for going out, she finally received a reply from Toru Asakura——

【come on. 】

"...Isn't that natural?"

Although she had always been watching from a distance behind the two of them, it was precisely because of this that she understood what they needed each other most after they were separated.

"After all, the three of us are childhood sweethearts."

After putting the phone back in his pocket, Higuchi Enka walked towards the door without hesitation and strode forward.

Chapter 20: The desperate move forward by the immatures

More than 40 minutes later, Higuchi Enka finally arrived at the office.

However, as soon as she saw Kento Watanabe's appearance, her originally calm expression instantly became serious——

"What's wrong with your feet?"

"There were a few blisters, it's nothing."

Kento Watanabe, who was sitting on the sofa, tried to make his tone and expression look more relaxed:

"After all, I've traveled a lot in the past three weeks, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"...Have you ever considered taking a break for some time?"

"I'll take a good rest in a week."

Kento Watanabe shook his head:

"This is the last week. Even if it's just messing around, I want to stick to it."

"at last……"

Higuchi Enka couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this word.

"What if you didn't recruit an artist within this week?"

"I'll probably seek help from others."

Having said this, a feeble wry smile appeared on the corner of Kento Watanabe's mouth.

"No matter what, it's time to be more mature and compromise with reality."

"...It's completely different from what I said before."

Higuchi Enka first glanced at Kento Watanabe's bitter and tired look, and then said:

"These three weeks must have been very hard, right?"

"Ah...it's really hard."

Kento Watanabe let out a long sigh.

"Without this

I was so angry that I might have just given up last week.In fact, it’s not too late for me to give up now..."

"..."

Even so, he still left himself stubborn for this week.

What exactly he is chasing and pursuing, I am afraid only Asakura, who has worked hard with him, will understand.

But what happens next is different——

"Actually, I have been thinking about it for the past three weeks."

"...Thinking about what?"

"About what happened between the three of us."

"?"

Kento Watanabe, who has been doing his best to conduct talent scouting activities in the past three weeks, naturally has no way of knowing what kind of thinking Higuchi Enka has been going through during this time.

However, Higuchi Enka's serious tone and her eyes that never looked away still made Watanabe Kento understand how important what she was going to say next was.

"Actually... I have always envied Asakura."

Higuchi Enka said these words in a calm tone, which shocked Kento Watanabe.

"Always know what you want most, and you will act for it without hesitation. You will never care about other people's eyes, but you will always walk in front of others unconsciously."

"Obviously we grew up together, but she always finds her own goals before me... and she always makes up her mind earlier than me."

"Although I always acted like I was 'indifferent', I understand that I just gave up the pursuit because I realized that I was too far behind."

"Varied……"

Kento Watanabe's expression became extremely shocked.

In his opinion, compared to the always lacking Toru Asakura, Higuchi Enka is obviously the one who makes people feel more mature. However, in her own opinion, it is the complete opposite...

"You're saying...does Higuchi have some decisions that he hasn't been able to make yet?"

"Well, there are, and there are a lot of them."

Higuchi Enka nodded.

"It's just that as for the specific content...it's not convenient to tell you right now. In short, I have always been envious of Asakura until you two separated."

"Until we separated...that means you no longer envy her, right?"

"Ah. After all, for me now, I already have a chance to catch up with her."

Higuchi Enka said in a calm but powerful voice:

"And the first thing I have to do is come to help you."

"Help me...does this have anything to do with the decision you failed to make before?"

"kindness."

"Is helping me...important to you?"

"kindness."

"Is that so..."

Watanabe Kento stared at Higuchi Enka's face carefully for a while, then nodded and said:

"In this case, it would be too unreasonable for me to stop you."

"Were you planning to stop me before?"

"After all, it's really hard. If possible, I can bear this pain alone."

"That's why I decided to help you."

As always, Higuchi Enka used her extremely plain tone to express an aura that was hard to refuse.

To this, Kento Watanabe could only respond obediently as usual:

"If you feel tired...you can go back and rest at any time."

"Of course, I don't have the masochistic endurance of some people."

Higuchi Enka deliberately squinted his eyes and glanced at Watanabe Kento's feet.

"But...if things get worse, I will forcibly terminate your activities."

"I see."

Kento Watanabe raised his hands and said:

"If it really gets worse, even I will still know how to retreat."

"If you really understood, then you should have sought help from Mr. Murakami or others much earlier."

Higuchi Enka can be said to be dismissive of Watanabe Kento's statement.

"Honestly admit it, you are a guy who doesn't care about your body at all. Although you can still do random things based on your youth, you will definitely collapse if you continue to let it go."

"Okay, what a mature statement!"

Kento Watanabe, who was suddenly scolded severely, couldn't help but be stunned.

"This is not like a line that a high school student could say..."

"It should be said that even high school students understand it, but a 22-year-old person still doesn't understand it."

Higuchi Enka crossed her arms and said in a cold tone:

"Do you think he is a junior high school student, Mr.?"

"Uh... I will pay more attention in the future..."

Kento Watanabe, who was said to be unable to raise his head, could only nod his head.

"The next week is really the last week. After this week passes, no matter what the result is, I will start to take good care of my body!"

"...You'd better keep your word."

As he spoke, Higuchi Enka glanced at the clock on the wall.

"So, when are we going to leave?"

"Now, but before we go, I'll give you this."

"……what?"

"Sunscreen and umbrella."

Kento Watanabe said:

"Your skin is so good, it would be a waste if you get sunburned and tanned."

"...he is quite careful in this regard."

Higuchi Enka murmured as she took the sunscreen offered by Kento Watanabe.

"There's no need for an umbrella. It would look very informal if I stood next to you with an umbrella."

"but--"

"I told you, I'm here to help you. I won't do anything that might lower your success rate."

"………………I see."

When Kento Watanabe heard this, he couldn't help but smile:

"Thank you, Higuchi. It's so nice to have a childhood sweetheart like you by my side."

"!"

After hearing these words, Higuchi Enka quickly turned around, and after being silent for several seconds, he replied in a hurried tone:

"...Stop talking nonsense and get going!"

"kindness."

The concern and support from his childhood sweetheart cheered up Kento Watanabe, who was already feeling discouraged.

Even if his failure is unavoidable... at least, he doesn't have everything.

As if strength was suddenly injected into his sore legs, Kento Watanabe straightened his back again and patted his cheek vigorously.

"Let's go!"

The final week of desperate marches begins here.

Chapter 21: The source of luck

The addition of Enka Higuchi has indeed improved Kento Watanabe's talent scouting work.

The girls who originally looked down upon Kento Watanabe would all stop and turn their attention to her when they saw Higuchi Enka standing next to him.