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With the Christmas Eve party ending, I reached home without any incidents. And while I was waiting for my smartphone to ring at any moment, the evening surprisingly ended uneventfully as I went to sleep.

“Come to think about it, there probably aren’t many people who’d listen to the radio that late during Christmas Eve.”

People generally spend their Christmas Eve with their family and lovers, so more probably tune in to the TV than the radio. And I don’t know if it was just Shirose being considerate, but if that was only broadcasted on that one station, even fewer should have heard it.

“But I’ll have to contact her to confirm that.”

I called her at 5 in the morning as a minor act of harassment, but she picked it up without a hitch. I can tell that she didn’t wake up from the call, she definitely stayed up all night. I’m sure she was on a high making a new song. That’s the kind of person Shirose is.

“What?”
“I demand an explanation for yesterday’s incident.”
“I just sent it in. The end.”
“Don’t end it there!”

That’s barely an explanation. I want to know why exactly you did that. Thanks to what you did, my embarrassment was exposed when I wanted to keep it a secret. Exposed to the whole nation, to boot. You could have at least chosen a local station.

“Kotone, did you tune in to the radio after I messaged you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then it’s only natural you don’t know. Their program for that time slot is about uncovering hidden talents. So I sent your recording in, along with a few words.”
“So you told them that it’s Unknown’s song?”
“I negotiated to keep the artist anonymous.”
“You can’t call that just sending it in.”

What do you mean negotiate? No matter how you cut it, you actively did everything to get me in. As for the uncovering hidden talents part, I get it. After all, it’s not like I ever debuted as a singer. I’m just an amateur who happened to sing with Sherry.

“Shirose, what exactly do you want from me?”
“Two things. I want you to join EXIST and perform as a solo artist as well.”
“Now you’re being greedy.”
“It’s the right amount of greedy.”

If it was the old me, Shirose would have probably just focused on supporting Isami. However, with me being Kotone now, there must have been something that changed within her. Still, I don’t think she had this kind of mindset back when I performed with Isami and the gang. It must have been due to Sherry.

“To be frank, Kataribe asked me if I knew some new singers who have a strong impact.”
“Why did you introduce me specifically?”
“You have plenty of impact. And it was right before your commission for a song, so it was perfect time-wise. I’ve warned Kataribe to never rebroadcast the song as well.”
“It should be fine if it’s him. So the radio host was Kataribe, huh. That explains why he sounded so familiar.”

During our high school days, his dream was to be a voice actor, but he eventually felt like being a voice actor didn’t suit him best, so he advertised himself to a radio station. He started from the bottom, so it’s hard to believe he’s put in charge of a radio program now. I wonder if the others are having a good life as well?

“By the way, he absolutely loves Unknown. He doesn’t know it’s you.”
“You didn’t tell him?”
“The only people who know Unknown’s identity are me and those who have met you in person. The others don’t know. I promise to keep it a secret until you make your debut.”

I was pretty sure that Shirose had already told everyone about it. Still, Isami and the others probably ruined it. The moment the fools started a fight over me on TV likely made some of the others suspicious. The sharper ones are probably investigating now.

“Why’s that?”
“I just don’t want to interfere with your life too much. For Kotone, we’re people of your past. I don’t think it’s good to butt in.”
“I don’t want to hear hypocrisy from you, oi. Tell me the truth.”

I’m not letting you say that you haven’t intervened after all you’ve already done. Shirose might think she’s saying something meaningful, yet to me, it’s pure nonsense. However, the fact that she verbalized it suggests she has some self-awareness, even though she isn’t acting very considerate at the moment.

“It’s so I can brag about being in the know to the others after you debut. That’s all.”
“You plan on starting a civil war, huh?”

I don’t want to see or even get involved in a Rogues’ Den civil war ever again. But while I think that, with me being the reason for it, I’m definitely going to get dragged into it. Just imagining it is disheartening already. Mostly because the twelve families might get involved.

“I’ll say this now, but the feedback for the song was really good. There were even requests for interviews arriving at their station. All of them were turned down, though.”
“I guess I should thank Kataribe for that.”
“I’m absolutely sure that it’ll make the morning news. The mystery is a part of Unknown’s charm, after all.”
“Another uproar, huh. Is the song going to be broadcast on television?”
“I didn’t give permission for that. The condition was that the song will be broadcast only once. If it ever gets broadcast again, it’ll be when you decide to make an official debut and I’m going to make it big. Like, really big.”

Okay, I’ve decided to never make a debut. The fact that Shirose wants to produce for me gives nothing but bad vibes. To begin with, the moment the rogues’ den gets involved spells certain doom for me, so to hell I’d agree.

“Can we do it after you graduate high school?”
“Don’t be so excited about planning my future. Also, go to sleep soon. Your thought process is getting weird.”
“True. Well, see you at the cafe. Good night.”

She actually cut the call. In this regard, Shirose is more manageable than the idiots. Still, she left with a damn bombshell at the end. So she’s coming to the cafe, huh. If yesterday’s broadcast really does reach the news, the people who might come by are…

“It’ll be chaos.”

As reclusive as she is, I really don’t get why she’s so assertive in situations like these. Because of the long chat, I had a late start in my daily routine, but it shouldn’t be an issue. It’s midwinter and the wind is painfully cold, but my body will warm up during the run. As for my bodyguards, they’re not my problem.