Chapter 246 - When Underground Gigs and Pillow Business Intersect
Since Rio's house still hasn't finished repairs, she's still staying at my apartment.
Feeling-wise, it's close to a self-proclaimed live-in girlfriend.
She cooks dinner together with Ayako-chan, and when I take a bath, she washes my back and licks it.
In her own words, "Think of me as a talking loofah and work me to the bone."
Naturally, she changes clothes right next to me too...
"What? Staring so much. Is a high school girl changing that interesting?"
Seeming to notice my gaze, Rio flashed a provocative smile and did a twirl on the spot.
Her skirt fluttered up, and her light blue panties peeked out for a moment.
A scene before heading to school that's practically become a daily routine now.
But today, there's one thing different from usual.
Instead of her thick blazer, Rio is wearing a short-sleeved shirt.
"No... I was just thinking you've switched to summer clothes."
"It's the seasonal uniform change starting today."
Since she'd been in winter clothes ever since we met, it feels kind of fresh.
Looking at her bra faintly visible through her white shirt, I can't help but recall my bittersweet school days.
A refreshing morning, learning of early summer's arrival through a high school girl's see-through bra.
...What's so refreshing about that? You're really getting the hang of that criminal mindset now, aren't you?
As I repeated such self-commentary in my head, my phone buzzed.
I quickly glanced at the screen.
It seems it's not a mail but an incoming call.
"...Again?"
Grumbling about how many times this makes it, I answered the phone.
It's probably about that matter again, anyway.
For the past week or so, I've been receiving persistent temptations from a certain person.
Incidentally, not in a romantic direction, but in a direction lacking chivalry.
"Hello."
"Yeah, it's me. Come on, just show your face this time. All you gotta do is put on a little act. I'll pay you three million."
The other party is a yakuza I know—Takashi Gondo.
Apparently, bringing a celebrity adds prestige, so he keeps inviting me with, "Wanna come to our party?"
Of course, getting involved with an anti-social group, and if I take the money, it'd be income the tax office can't track—it'd be an underground gig in every sense.
Oh wait, I hear "underground gig" means getting paid without going through an agency, so if I'm unaffiliated, wouldn't any gig I do not be an underground gig?
...Well, that kind of nitpicking doesn't matter. The fact that I'm a celebrity buddying up with yakuza is already a scandal worthy of being kicked out of the entertainment world.
Maybe I should cut ties with this guy after all.
He was a no-good bastard from the start, so this is probably the time to call it quits... As I was thinking such dry thoughts, Gondo spoke in a wet tone.
"I've arranged with an agency to have an idol pour drinks for us. What do you think? Getting interested, aren't you?"
"You told me that before."
"The president over there says he doesn't care what happens to her. Says the real deal is fine too. Look, here's the pillow idol-chan."
As he spoke, Gondo sent me a photo.
It was a provocative image of a girl with a bob haircut on all fours in a bikini.
Is she a gravure idol?
...How scandalous.
The firmness of her skin is extraordinary, and she retains a guilt-inducing innocence.
She looks far from eighteen—could she even be under sixteen?
"This girl's pretty young, right?"
"Like you guessed, she's only fourteen. A real JC. Not a JK, so she's out of my range, but you like this kind of thing, don't you, boss?"
"W-Well, seeing a body that's all ready for pregnancy even though she hasn't even finished compulsory education gives me a certain restless feeling, but I have reason. I'm not depraved enough to sink my teeth into a middle school girl...!"
"The fact that you can so fluently describe it from that creepy old man perspective means you've got a talent for indecent acts, boss."
"Shut up! I'm self-conscious about it too!"
And he says the president over there said he could do whatever he wants, but is the girl herself okay with this? Isn't this a case of a bad agency tricking her?
When I asked,
"Huh? The brat herself is crying and refusing, but who cares about that?"
A reply truly befitting a gangster came back.
"You're forcibly bringing a girl who doesn't want this to a yakuza party...!?"
"This brat's agency borrowed money from some bad places. After being squeezed dry to the bone, she was sold to our group. Most of their talent are forced into pillow business. This one's still a middle schooler, so she's apparently inexperienced with that stuff, but it's just a matter of time, right? Since she's gonna get screwed by some greasy producer sooner or later anyway, wouldn't it be human kindness for you to kindly take care of her first time before that happens, boss?"
"Don't be ridiculous... I've lost respect for you, Gondo! I already had no respect for you, but I've lost even more!"
"Getting mad at me won't save this brat. After all, even her parents have given permission for the pillow business."
"What do you mean?"
"That president guy is her father. This girl belongs to the entertainment agency her father runs. What kind of nerve does a parent who sells their own child have, I wonder."
"...Huh?"
"This girl's father doesn't have a commendable history. He's a guy who used to make a modest living producing risqué DVDs of junior idols. He ate by exploiting children's bodies. But you know, things got strict with child pornography and all that, right? It was obvious he couldn't make a living that way forever. So he apparently jumped into the bubble-era group idol business. He switched his talent to normal singing-and-dancing idols, and there was a pretty good period for a while, but... as expected, the bubble burst. Major groups had a string of scandals, and the image got tarnished. Now groups that used to call themselves idols are calling themselves dance units, right? There's no way a minor agency's obscure idols can survive."
"How do you know so much? Are you an idol otaku?"
"Come on, yakuza and the entertainment world are inseparable, right? We and show business are bound by a long-standing connection. Anyway, the incompetent president got buried in debt, and finally ended up having to debut even his own daughter as an idol. In the daytime world as a gravure idol, and in the nighttime world as a pillow idol."
What a horrible story.
With something like this... I have no choice but to go save her.
"Don't think about doing anything stupid. It's not as simple as you solving it with violence and calling it done. This is a money problem. Unless you deal with the father's debt, she can't live a decent life anyway."
"I'll save that girl from both her father and the yakuza. Tell me, where are that father and daughter now?"
"I don't know either. I hear the father's been driving her around in his car for days. Probably worried she'd run away before the main event."
"...So she's being confined by her father."
"That's right. Anyway, it's certain she'll show up at the party venue, so if you wanna play hero, isn't your only option to lie in wait there?"
I can't imagine Gondo, who understands my power firsthand, telling a pointless lie. This story is probably true.
A girl about to be sold by her own parents really exists.
His purpose in deliberately telling me this is—
"You want to make a deal with me, Gondo. If I want to save a pitiful girl, I have no choice but to attend a yakuza gathering. Then you get a boost in status as the member who brought a TV celebrity. In return, you'll make arrangements to help save the girl. That's about the gist of it, isn't it?"
"Bingo. Not a bad deal for either of us, right? You get to play hero comfortably, and I can improve my standing."
"It pisses me off, but I'll work with you this time. But if this turns out to be staged, I'll go on a rampage."
"I wanna live a long life, boss. I wouldn't trick you. So, deal's done, yeah? I'll pick you up by car Saturday evening, so keep your schedule open. All you gotta do is put on some kind of performance when we get to the venue. After that's done, let's start the rescue operation for the poor JC."
With that, the call ended.
...Though there were unavoidable circumstances, it seems I've ended up having to do business with the underworld.