LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 21 – The Black Star, Kamiki Hikaru
Kamiki Hikaru is a new college student in the faculty of science. It had been two years since he left Lala Lai troop, a theatrical troupe in Tokyo. He had been living peacefully in college until the last few days, when he felt something was off.
"Hm... I wonder if there are people following me around?" As someone who has been active in theater. Hikaru became very sensitive to people's gazes. It had been a long time since he had been to the theater, so there was very little sense of what he was feeling for the last few days because of the fans.
Even so, it was not surprising that he felt strange about what was happening to him. He thought that maybe the feeling would disappear if he ignored it for a few days. However, that did not happen.
In other words, someone was intentionally observing him. He didn't think there was anyone with the hobby of watching people for a long time like this. He also doubted if it was a stalker or something like that. He knew people like that well, while the person observing him seemed more professional. He also suspected that several people were watching him.
Because of this, Hikaru acted immediately without a second thought. Although he did not understand the reason why those people were watching him. He felt uncomfortable without knowing who was behind the people who were observing him like this.
‘I wonder if I have made enemies at some point.' Hikaru thought like that while he started to try to unravel people who were watching him.
Hikaru always had been blessed with a nice, soft face that most people liked, and his easygoing and likable demeanor made people always let their guard down when they were talking to him.
Of course, it wasn’t that easy to get to know the people who were watching him. But if people were around him on his side, it would be much easier. First, he establishes a pattern for his daily life. To make it easier for him to pinpoint the person who watches and follows him.
It was like on Monday he would go to a convenience store with a fixed time and when the cashier was his acquaintance. So he could question if there is anyone on the spot that is most likely being used by someone who is monitoring someone. Of course, he asked for several spots, and he did it in many ways.
when he went to the supermarket.
When he went, he brought food from the food stall.
When he brought stationery for his college.
Slowly, Hikaru makes data from those… It may be a tedious and long journey, but to be honest, he always thought that at some point they would leave him alone. He was someone from the showbiz world since a child after all. This kind of thing was normal in that world.
But to his surprise... The people watching him were pretty resilient, as they had been watching him for months, and Hikaru himself already knew of at least three people who were pretty sure had been watching him. He thought there were still a few people left, but that didn't really matter.
After finding these three people, the next job became much easier. There were a few things he could suspect, such as whether they were journalists, police, paparazzi, or perhaps private detectives.
Then, after knowing what some of them look like, everything becomes easier. Hikaru has relationships with people in the showbiz world. It didn't take long for him to find out where they were from.
They came from private investigators from a company named Hayashi. He needed a bit of a long investigation to know a possibility their clients were. He didn’t find anything interesting, until he found out a possibility of a Strawberry Production using these private investigator companies.
It was a name that Hikaru actually found hard to believe was here. However, at the same time, the name of this company was the most suspicious. This was the company Ai was in.
Ai was a girl he had a relationship in the past and even had children. So if there was a company that wanted to watch him this much. Strawberry Production is most likely the suspect, it was just something that felt out of place in Hikaru’s mind.
Whoever it was who put him on the watchlist...
Hikaru knew very well that Ai wasn’t that kind of person. No, to be honest, Hikaru knew that Ai wouldn’t let anyone know about him as her father's child. So there was no way the president would know about him. In the end, Hikaru needs to investigate more… until he knows the person who used the private investigators is actually the wife of the president, Saitou Miyako.
When Hikaru knew about this… He couldn’t believe it…
In Hikaru’s mind… The judgment of people like Miyako was that a girl who marries someone with connections, then hopes to one day marry a handsome actor. He doesn't think Miyako is the one who can know about him unless Ai tells Miyako herself. But just like before, he doubts Ai will tell anyone about him. Which means Miyako knew about him herself, but from her profile… Hikaru doubts she is smart enough.
It was such a contrast what was happening with his own judgment that he found this quite disturbing.
"Hm… I don’t like this. She’s outside my understanding. Wait… I wonder how to make her out of the picture…" Hikaru doesn’t feel good about this revelation. It would be much easier if the person was someone he could read. But this Miyako was so far from his judgment that he found her quite bothersome.
"I think she is also watching Ryusuke… Huh… I can’t use him again. I think it’s time to cut him too. But how am I going to deal with this?"
Even though Hikaru rarely did acting again, he was still in the showbiz environment, with a focus on doing backstage jobs. He had his own hobby and pursuit after all. While he was thinking about how to deal with Miyako or maybe Strawberry Production itself.
Hikaru met a certain young idol who had kind eyes like Ai had. To be honest, Hikaru always wondered why he could see those bright stars in people's pupils. Most people don't see it like him, and always told him those people who had bright stars were someone who had captivating eyes.
And that young idol had those eyes, but not as bright as Ai though. Even so, it still burns his emotions. It makes Hikaru remember his past, especially what happened to Himekawa Airi.
"Ah, wait… This is perhaps more interesting. Since I could have taken two stars in one plan…" Hikaru said to himself and couldn’t stop smiling for a long time. He finally found something interesting again.
