Chapter 471

Just as several small idols were secretly scheming, YKC48 also had undercurrents surging.

Miyawaki Sakura reluctantly completed all her theater performances; it was clear that although Little Cherry Blossom had given her all, her mind was no longer on this, even though Little Cherry Blossom had accumulated higher fame and secured many endorsements in recent years by riding the coattails of Uesugi Muneyuki and Shirakawa Mai, the cost was that she was no longer liked by these core idol otaku.

The core concept of the 48 series is "idols you can meet," a famous large female idol group crafted by Kansai Yoshimoto Kogyo and Yoshimoto Grand Theater as a benchmark; its idea is to make idols less lofty, to truly become idols who can be approached and touched, hence the so-called grand theater and handshake events, allowing idol otaku and idol fans to personally feel the idols' growth through close contact and face-to-face handshakes.

However, this actually formed the so-called "idol paradox": in the idol otaku's concept, idols should diligently perform in theaters and hold handshake events, steadily accompanying their growth, but in reality, no girl becomes an idol to spend a lifetime doing theater and holding hands with fat idol otaku; their goal is to topple this wall, relying on their idol status to break out of the underground, reach the surface, participate in various TV programs, gain greater exposure, and ultimately become entertainers who can appear on TV for normal performing arts activities.

Logically, when idols break free from their shackles and finally move from underground to above ground, idol otaku and idol fans should be happy, right?

In reality, most people are not happy at all; they want idols to grow, but not in this way; they want idols to become famous, but not too famous, because that means idols will no longer come to theater performances or continue handshake events.

Generally speaking, once they reach this point, idol otaku and idol fans will gradually leave, seeking the next unknown, diligent little idol to push, and after idols become famous, they will also grow cold toward their past history of making otaku smile and letting otaku touch their hands in theaters, striving to downplay it, namely the so-called "mutual dislike upon meeting."

This is the idol paradox.

This is just like many welfare girls and internet celebrities who started out relying on various borderline, flirtatious, and top-spender customizations to accumulate their first fortune, but once they went ashore, made money, and turned into formal cosplayers, the first thing they wanted to cut off was precisely this earliest batch of fans, and when these fans found their words no longer received the streamer's attention, even their former captain could not be looked upon differently, they too would turn to seek the next small streamer.

After Little Cherry Blossom finished her performance, the operations suddenly called out to her.

"Sakura, do you have any more activities coming up?" Imazaki's Manager asked, frowning.

"Ah, yes, there's a promotional recording for Fuji TV next." When Imazaki asked, Little Cherry Blossom seemed a bit nervous, she immediately said: "Although it's tomorrow, it's Mai-sama who will take me up, so I need to prepare tonight."

"Oh, then go ahead." Imazaki's Manager frowned, he glanced suspiciously at Miyawaki Sakura, thought for a while, and still gestured for her to leave.

Little Cherry Blossom nodded, her face pure and innocent as she quickly left, leaving only Imazaki, whose face remained unpleasant in the original spot.

He returned to the office two days later and discovered that a file had been leaked from operations.

Non-public event·reception, internal report on labor provision and financial calculation.

This is a document that looks completely legal on the surface but actually has significant internal problems; since it involves idols' participation in events and reception plans, this document was taken out for his use, but after the lecture ended, Imazaki keenly discovered that a photocopy was missing from the file.

This should have been read and then destroyed internally by operations.

Imazaki immediately began to suspect someone inside was up to no good; the few operations staff, personnel, and the female idols involved at this time…… but the problem here is that there are simply too many people inside 48! How to investigate? Making a big fuss would essentially mean publicly announcing internal problems, ghosts?

Miyawaki Sakura is also one of the suspects, but she obviously has other matters; Imazaki's Manager thought, thinking Little Cherry Blossom now has limitless vitality and brilliance in external activities, her mind is no longer in the group internally, and moreover, she has Fuji TV's designation behind her, what use would she have for this document?

After thinking, Imazaki's Manager indicated you have nothing to do, hurry up and go.

Miyawaki Sakura didn't think much, bowed, and quickly left.

However, shortly after Little Cherry Blossom left the YKC48 theater, she immediately turned the car toward another place, a large comprehensive office building, where after changing clothes she also changed into a wig and OL-style trench coat, sunglasses, and makeup, exiting from another exit.

A certain underground parking lot in Tokyo, late at night.

The air was filled with gasoline, dust, and a cold, damp feeling; the fluorescent tubes overhead had several broken ones, flickering on and off, making this vast concrete space feel even more gloomy. An inconspicuous black Toyota Prius was quietly parked in a corner, engine not off, the windshield wipers rhythmically scraping away the thin mist condensed on the glass.

Miyawaki Sakura walked briskly, the sound of her high heels striking the ground especially sharp in the silence, each sound like a blow to her heart; she wore a large wind collar, the collar standing up, nearly covering half her face, a duckbill cap pressed low, but the face revealed under the brim was pallid to a frightening degree. She tightly gripped a kraft paper document bag in her hand, her joints whitening from force.

She quickly scanned the surroundings, confirmed no one else was there, then opened the Prius's rear door and slipped inside.

The car interior was warm, but the sealed-off silence felt even more suffocating. Sitting in the driver's seat was a man in a well-fitted suit, with a stern demeanor——Tōya Kinoshita, Inspector of the Planning Division, Police Agency Security Bureau, he did not turn his head, merely looking at Miyawaki Sakura through the rearview mirror, his eyes sharp as a hawk's.

"The items?" His voice was steady, without a trace of extra emotion, as if conducting a routine handover.

Miyawaki Sakura did not speak, but silently passed the heavy document bag from the seat gap, her fingers slightly trembling, and at the moment her fingers touched his when taking the document, she quickly retracted as if shocked by electricity.

Kinoshita turned on the interior light, pulled out the document, and flipped through it quickly. His gaze swept over those "temporary personnel expenses," "reception and social expenses," "gift expenses," and "attendee list," his face showing no expression, but deep in his eyes flashed a faint, hardly noticeable gleam of satisfaction. He read quickly, obviously very clear about what he was looking for.

A few minutes later, he carefully placed the document back into the bag and set it on the front passenger seat.

"Very good." He finally spoke again, his voice still without warmth, but these two words alone already constituted a high evaluation: "This 'non-public activity expense report' is more valuable than we anticipated. Thank you, Sakura-chan."

Upon hearing the words "thank you for your hard work," Miyawaki Sakura pressed her lips even tighter.

This was not her wish; what hardship could there be to speak of?

These people, truly pressing hard…… but if it weren't for my own youth and ignorance when I first came to Tokyo, how could I have become like this?

I barely managed to secure a beautiful future, idol activities also saw significant progress, seeing everything improve, but…… these people, simply relentless ghosts.

"You seem, not too willing?" The yellow-haired, dark-skinned, slender-built yet full of streamlined muscles Inspector Tōya Kinoshita said coldly, through the rearview mirror he precisely caught that fleeting flash of resistance and fear on her face, his tone suddenly turned cold, carrying an undeniable warning tone: "I have no unwillingness." Miyawaki Sakura lowered her head, quite dejected: "After all…… I…… have also spent a long time on this, these, are they enough?"

"These documents are indeed good, but…… do not create any unnecessary illusions, Miyawaki." His voice lowered slightly, yet became more oppressive: "This does not mean your mission is over; on the contrary, those people in YKC are far more cunning and dangerous than you imagine."

He slightly turned his head, letting her see more clearly the cold warning in his eyes.

"Your current situation is more dangerous. Once they begin internal investigation, anyone could become a suspect. Including you." Kinoshita's words were like a cold carving knife: "Remember, you got to where you are today because who gave you a second chance, who has been protecting you so you can ignore the various unspoken rules in the entertainment industry, also remember, we public security can give you this opportunity, and equally can take it back. If you, due to foolish sympathy or fear, take a wrong step, even attempt to reveal even a trace to anyone……"

"Your current situation is even more dangerous. Once they start an internal investigation, anyone could become a suspect. Including you." Kino's words were like a cold chisel: "Remember, you got to where you are today because who gave you a second chance, and who has been protecting you so you can ignore the various unspoken rules in the entertainment industry. Also remember, we in Public Security can give you this opportunity, and we can just as easily take it back. If you take a wrong step due to foolish sympathy or fear, or even try to reveal the slightest bit to anyone..."

"……then what you lose will far exceed your current idol status. Your life will be countless times more tragic than the darkest moment of your underground idol days. Understood?"

Miyawaki Sakura's body trembled imperceptibly. She lowered her head, the cap brim completely covering her expression, only her tightly gripped clothing hem, already whitened from squeezing, exposed her inner turmoil. After a few seconds, a sound so weak it was almost inaudible squeezed out from her throat: "……Yes, I understood."

"Very good, get out, old rule, go separate ways." Inspector Tōya Kinoshita withdrew his gaze, tone returning to the calm of official business, as if that icy threat had never existed: "Stay calm, as usual. If there are new instructions, I will contact you again."

"Oh! Wait!" Just as Miyawaki Sakura was preparing to get out of the car, Inspector Kinoshita suddenly called out to her: "It seems, you are liked by Uesugi Muneyuki, right? Uesugi Chief seems…… to look at you especially differently, another person who had a relationship with him, Yamaguchi, never received such treatment…… did you previously have a similar relationship with him? …… No, you didn't, strange……"

"Eh?!" Miyawaki Sakura heard Inspector Kinoshita's question, her heart instantly turned cold half over, she trembled wanting to deny, but denial seemed meaningless, because the organization couldn't possibly not understand her experiences these years, and the girl felt that when this person she saw as a divine envoy said these words, there was hesitation, Uesugi Muneyuki obviously held an extremely high position in his eyes: "Well, well, Uesugi-san, he indeed likes me…… I, I also don't know."

Mai-sama had hinted at setting her up with Uesugi Muneyuki, but Little Cherry Blossom was still hesitating, Uesugi-san already had many women around him and even a legitimate fiancée, I, Little Cherry Blossom, am a super beautiful girl, first ride a donkey to find a horse, not rushing to bet everything.

"Oh, then you better make him like you more, make him more infatuated with you, this is my advice, also the organization's advice." Inspector Tōya Kinoshita said meaningfully: "The water in this matter…… is deep, you better show us more value, this document alone is far from enough."

"Oh, then you had better make him like you more, make him more infatuated with you—that is my advice, and also the organization's advice." Kino-shita Tō Police Inspector spoke meaningfully: "The water in this matter... is very deep. You had better demonstrate more value to us; this document is still far from enough."

Miyawaki Sakura pushed open the car door like escaping, the cold air rushed in instantly, yet she felt it was much better than the suffocating warmth inside the car, she did not look back, quickly walked toward the parking lot exit, her figure swiftly disappearing into the dim light and concrete pillars.

The black Prius, after she left, remained still for a moment, then smoothly drove off, as if it had never appeared.

The black Pruis remained quietly stopped for a moment after she left, then drove off smoothly, as if it had never appeared.

Chapter End