He is an idol and a childhood sweetheart.

Toru Asakura's voice came from the living room.

"I originally wanted to scare you...but I ended up being careless in a place like this."

Immediately afterwards, the lights in the living room suddenly turned on.

Toru Asakura, wearing a summer uniform, appeared in front of Kento Watanabe.

"But no matter what, I must say this line... Welcome back, sage."

"...Really."

Although he wanted to express his dissatisfaction with her behavior of "breaking into private houses", after hearing this slightly belated greeting, Kento Watanabe's expression and tone softened.

This... slightly roundabout concern from his childhood sweetheart filled his heart with warm feelings.

"I am back."

"..."

On the other side, after hearing Kento Watanabe's reply, Toru Asakura was silent for a while. It was not until Kento Watanabe's expression became a little strange that she slowly tilted her head:

"……Gone?"

"what?"

Regarding Toru Asakura's sudden and illogical question, Kento Watanabe couldn't help scratching his head in confusion:

"What... gone?"

"Where's my name?"

Asakura Toru looked directly into Kento Watanabe's eyes and asked:

"Shouldn't it be 'I'm back, Tooru'?"

"...Eh? What...is there any difference?"

Kento Watanabe asked in confusion:

"You are the only one in front of me...even if I don't call you by your name, is it normal?"

"That's what I said..."

Toru Asakura took out his phone with a regretful look on his face and turned off the recording button under Kento Watanabe's speechless expression.

"Without the name, there will be no sense of immersion."

"What did you take my voice for?"

"Hmm... a special sound for a limited product?"

"...I have become quite familiar with these business routines."

If it were Toru Asakura in the past, he would never use such a specific idol product as a metaphor.

Although he always laments the difficulty of his life in the past year and a half, on the other hand, Toru Asakura may have experienced a lot in Pulchra.

Thinking of this, Kento Watanabe couldn't help but asked with a wry smile:

"Learned it at Pulchra?"

"Yeah, after all, I've been recording stuff like this myself..."

Toru Asakura sat back on the sofa in the living room, assuming a lazy sitting posture without any idol baggage.

"It really feels so empty. A person is saying things like 'Welcome back' to Mike, 'You've had a hard day today'... Fortunately, my tone has always been quite bland, so even if I don't have acting skills, I can't Being scolded... So, is this kind of thing really meaningful to fans?"

"Of course there is."

Kento Watanabe also sat next to Toru Asakura, and raised his hand to loosen his tie slightly.

"Having your own fans cheer you up... and even providing wake-up services. It can be said to be a very important benefit for fans."

"Really... It's good if they can be happy."

Asakura Toru nodded while staring at Kento Watanabe's collar.

"Then, would Kento let Higuchi record something like this?"

"It depends on her wishes. Anyway, I will never interfere with her ideas."

Having said this, Kento Watanabe couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly:

"Although I don't think she would want to record this...but if it was Daito Yuko, she would probably be very active."

He could even imagine Daito Yuko switching to "Winter Yu" mode and showing off her superb acting skills in front of the microphone.

On the other side, after hearing the name, Asakura Toru's eyes immediately moved to the other side:

"...I'm talking about the newcomer."

"Do you know her? It seems that Enxiang has mentioned her to you..."

"Well. It's better to say that the two of us were talking about her last night."

".........?"

Have been chatting... Daito Yuko?

Kento Watanabe was very surprised by this.

To Higuchi Enka, Daito Yuuko is probably just a junior whom she has only known for less than a day, and to Asakura Toru, she is an unrelated stranger...

What topics did they find out about Yuko Daito?

Kento Watanabe was a little curious about this, but due to his qualified gentleman's thinking and some past experiences, he did not intend to intervene in the topic between girls indiscriminately——

"It's been a long time since I've been back. There should be nothing in the refrigerator... I'm going to go to the convenience store to buy something to drink. Do you want Toru to come with me?"

"of course."

Asakura Toru agreed without hesitation:

"Where you go, I will go."

"..."

Kento Watanabe, who had heard such words from Toru Asakura countless times, couldn't help showing a nostalgic expression.

"I really feel like I'm home now."

While he was still

Asakura Toru has always been this clingy person since he was a junior high school student.

Although there was a gap between the two of them for a year and a half after that, and she also changed from an ignorant elementary school student to a popular top idol today, but even after experiencing so much... she finally It's still the Toru Asakura that he knows well.

"Speaking of which...the uniform suits you very well."

Kento Watanabe said:

"It's more suitable than when I was a freshman in high school."

"...Thank you, I'm very happy."

Although there was no obvious change in his tone and voice, the smile on Toru Asakura's face became brighter and brighter.

However, not long after, this happy smile immediately turned into a guilty sneer——

"It's just that I heard Enka say... your grades last semester seemed a bit dangerous?"

"Uh...this..."

"Attendance also appears to be low."

"Well……"

"You even almost had to repeat a grade?"

"Ugh..."

"We can't go on like this in the new semester, do you hear me? Even if your grades can't be improved right away, you must at least ensure your attendance. Don't tell me you're too busy at work. Agents and producers exist to coordinate these things. Let me communicate well."

"Eh……"

At this time, Toru Asakura once again felt from Kento Watanabe the...slightly annoying sense of responsibility that had not changed since childhood.

As expected, he was still the Kento Watanabe he was most familiar with.

"I finally feel like I'm home."

It’s been a year and a half.

Welcome home.

Chapter 36: Because the smiling face under the mask still looks good

Although Toru Asakura was very happy to be able to go to a convenience store with Kento Watanabe after a long time, her expression inevitably added a hint of guilt after seeing him put beer and cigarettes into the shopping bag.

At least before she left Watanabe Office, Kento had not gotten into the habit of smoking and drinking.

So, who is the culprit who made him contract these bad habits...

"...Sure enough, you still care about this?"

Kento Watanabe on the other side also noticed the slightly gloomy gaze coming from under the brim of his peaked hat.

He suddenly remembered the experience of "arresting" Enxiang with his cigarette case and ashtray on the first day he came to see him.

It seems that they really care about their smoking...

"Don't worry. Under Enxiang's strict supervision, I can only smoke a maximum of two cigarettes a day, and I can only drink one can of alcohol a day... Well, considering my future social life, I can't stop drinking. It’s probably unlikely, but quitting smoking should still be no problem.”

"..."

"Okay, you don't have to think that these are all your fault. After all, I already knew the harm of these bad habits before I got into them. No matter how you look at it, it's me who is at fault knowingly."

In order to reassure Toru Asakura, Kento Watanabe said to her again:

"And my smoking addiction is not too severe. When you come back in a year and a half, I might have quit... If you can't quit, you can also watch me with Enxiang. I will definitely Submit to your control.”

"...it's better to leave it to Higuchi to manage wise men. I can't do it."

Toru Asakura shook his head.

"But...if you haven't quit by then, I might also try what it feels like to smoke."

"……………………I will definitely quit!"

Toru Asakura's words scared Watanabe Kento into a cold sweat.

Compared to Higuchi Enka's high-pressure control, Asakura Toru's "self-destruction threat" was much scarier to him.

No matter what, he didn't want to see Asakura Toru embark on this harmful and useless path like him——

"Promise me, Tooru, you will never have any curiosity, and you will never touch it!"

Kento Watanabe advised earnestly:

"You are still young, the further away from such harmful things, the better!"

"Well, I know."

Toru Asakura nodded, then looked directly at Kento Watanabe and said:

"...So, you should be able to understand why Enxiang and I are so concerned about you smoking, right?"

"I, I know...so I'm controlling it well now."

Kento Watanabe said firmly:

"But no matter what, you must not develop this bad habit! Even if you don't talk about health problems, you must not touch this kind of thing in your career!"

"...But actually, there are quite a few people in our office who smoke."

Toru Asakura said with an innocent face:

“There was even a kid a year younger than me.”

".........Isn't it?"

Kento Watanabe couldn't help but be a little surprised after hearing this.

"The producer of your agency...didn't you intervene?"

"That person is basically only responsible for arranging work for his artists, and all life matters are basically left to the manager."