Hansel and Gretel - A Gathering of Witches 5

Subaru: A fan letter for Shinonon...?

Hajime: Uh huh. The contents of the letter are addressed to me too, so there's no doubt about it.

Ritsu: Hummm... Anyway, it's good that we found it in the nick of time.

From a legal standpoint, it's seriously bad to let handmade cookies in, but I guess one of the office staff at ES turned a blind eye to it...

"There were a lot of packages, so that's why it slipped by." That kinda thing.

Arashi: It's that letter's lucky day, isn't it. If not for Ritsu-chan's plan for this honestly suspicious witches' gathering, that fan letter of yours wouldn't have reached you.

So like, what's it say?

Hajime: Let's see... It looks like it's from a grade schooler who saw me on TV. He empathized with me, so he sent me a letter.

It reads: "As a girly-looking boy, it really cheers me up to see you, Hajime-chan. My classmates make fun of me for looking like a girl—"

It's from a child who has girlish looks and likes making sweets in his spare time...

It seems like that’s why he’s being told all sorts of things by everyone around him.

Arashi: Oooh, I see...

And the one who saved him from all that is you, huh?

Hajime: Mmm, but it feels silly to say that I saved him. I'm not a messiah or anything — I think I just caught his eye.

After all, I've recently been getting popular because of my girlish looks.

Maybe that's how the child who sent this letter empathized with me?

Subaru: Ooh, I saw that on TV earlier! It was a show where Shinonon wore frilly, Western-style clothes! He was sooo cute, like a little doll!

Hajime: Oh my gosh, you saw!? That's so embarrassing...

Subaru: Huh? No it's not, it really suited you!

Hajime: Ahh, my face is so hot... How I looked isn’t the problem here, it's that you saw me working in the first place that's embarrassing me...

A-Anyway, on this show, I showed how I liked to do housework.

I said that I liked finding sweets that'd pair perfectly with black tea.

So that's why the child who sent the letter made sweets for me, too - he must've thought I'd be delighted to get them. That's what I think.

Ritsu: Ah, yeaaaah... He saw footage of you doing housework as a bishoujo idol¹, and that’s how he began to admire you.

Arashi: Making a pretty girl do housework, huh... That feels like quite the stereotype, though.

Anyway - he made a gift just for you, so? You're going to write him a reply, aren't you?

Hajime: Yes, of course.

Except... That's what I'm kind of worried about.

Arashi: Hm?

Hajime: I've been appearing as a "bishoujo idol" on TV lately, but... That's not really what I’m like.

I'll feel like I'm deceiving him if I leave that out of my reply —

On the other hand, if I'm honest with him, then I feel like he'll become disenchanted... That's why I'm hesitating.

Arashi: ...I see.

Subaru: Mmmm, I don't think it's a bad thing though?

Shinonon, you agreed to do this kinda "bishoujo idol" work, right?

You weren’t trying to trick or hurt anyone with that job, so I don’t think you’d be doing anything wrong, at least. We're idols, after all.

Hajime: Akehoshi-senpai...

Subaru: Even if we don't know where the light of the stars come from, they save us - they heal us. Right now, you're a light for that fan, Shinonon.

That's why you've gotta show off that sparkling part of you. That's what's most important as an idol, isn't it?

Arashi: Ufufu. Subaru-chan, you really are a sparkling idol, aren't you.

Subaru: Huh? Whaddya mean?

Ritsu: It’s a sin to be so clueless.

Cocky and without a speck of doom and gloom — it sure takes some kind of talent to be that, huh, Nacchan?

Arashi: Ufufu. That's just how he always is though, right?

Of course, I’m aware you’ve gone through a lot, yourself.

But even still, you have the power to move forward even after all that’s happened. It makes me jealous, seriously...♪

Subaru: Uh, are you dishing out compliments? Or are you throwing shade?

Arashi: We're complimenting you, naturally? That radiance is just waaay too dazzling for us, that’s all.

Subaru: Ehhhh~? For some reason, I'm not getting that. It feels like there's some hidden meaning~?

Hajime: Fufu. I respect those things about you too, Akehoshi-senpai.

Making everything around me shine, just like you — that's the kind of person I'd like to be, but I'm not confident enough yet.

Would it be easier if I could simply stay as the way fans wish to see me — as a good boy...?

...Well, I do know that would be too convenient, though.

The good boy side of me... The bad boy side of me... Both of them make up "me".

But I haven't been able to show my true self off enough to make that clear to others. Not yet.

That's why I'd like to think a little longer on how to reply.

This boy confessed his true feelings to me. That's why I'd like to reply to him with a satisfying answer, in my own words.

Subaru: I got it - that's your way of confronting this.

Alright! Then feel free to think it over until you're satisfied!

My view of an idol isn't correct in every way, after all. You should find your own answer that suits you! ☆

Hajime: Yes, I'll keep thinking over it as much as possible, and figure out what I truly want to say.

That would be the most faithful way I could live — as it suits me best.