Reflected Smile

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Oh, it seemed that I couldn’t help but make a weird face at his comment. Not a mistake I’d make in idol mode, but my casual mode might have been a little too unguarded. I carefully adjusted my expression to be calmer.

“I apologize, but what do you mean?”

“I…”

The person before me fidgeted with the clothes as they looked around. Finally, after a few minutes of movement, they finally continued to speak.

“You see, my family is a little traditional and I was raised as a girl.”

Traditional? I’d heard of such things in the past. I never expected such practices to still be a thing in the current day though. Maybe they were from a rich family? I heard that some wealthy families still held strongly to ancient traditions, even if a little outdated.

“Wow, your family must be pretty rich then?”

“No, we only own two houses and three cars.”

“Are you, a little sheltered perhaps? Two houses are already a lot.”

“I didn’t know. Truth is that I snuck out.”

“Wow, please do tell me more. I want to know more about you.”

“I—”

The bus interrupted the words and we both waved at the bus driver to signal that we weren’t getting on. With that interruption over, I looked back at the person before realizing I never did get their name.

“Before we continue, may I get your name?”

“My name? It is Shuichi.”

“Please call me Mia. Nice to meet you.”

“Mia, is it? You wouldn’t be the same Mia that…”

“Probably just a coincidence, don’t you think? Do you really think that the Mia you are thinking of would be walking around in public with shopping bags?”

Shuichi glanced over at the bags, obviously noting the contents before looking back at me. He shook his head before responding, “You are right. There is no way that the Mia I am thinking would do such a thing.” He looked at the bags again before continuing, “At least, not if she wanted to maintain her public image. Good thing you aren’t trying to maintain your public image.”

Wait, did he realize? I thought that any fans of mine would still be stuck watching the concert, but maybe there were fans that did not go? There was no way that could happen, right? I needed to remain confident in myself and talk my way out. If this got out, it could really ruin my image.

“Wait, there is no way that Mia could be here. She has a concert right now, you know.”

He looked towards the avenue for a moment before turning back to me.

“Did I ever say that the Mia I was thinking of happened to have a concert right now? And wouldn’t you know best what her schedule is?”

He tricked me! After a successful three-year career, someone actually discovered the truth. Was this why my manager told me not to go out? This was my manager’s fault too for taking away my disguises though. What could I do to mend the situation? Money? No, that wouldn’t work on someone who made more money than me.

“What do you want? It can’t be money.”

“Nothing. If there is something I want, it would be for a certain singer to realize that they may not be as obscure as they seem to believe.”

“No way, no way. Nobody ever asks me for an autograph or anything when I walk around. Not that I am a certain singer, of course. I just happen to look very similar.”

So, it was probably a little too late to salvage things, but as if I’d openly admit to it! I’d deflect like a seasoned politician if that is what it took! My luck really sucks, doesn’t it? Yep, his face said it all—he didn’t believe me even the slightest bit. If belief was water, I’d be in a desert right now.

“Do you even read your own bio?”

“Huh?”

What was that about my bio? Oh, maybe he is talking about when the manager asked me what I what kind of idol I wanted to be. Wait, is he talking about that thing where idols put up what they like on a website? I never did look since I didn’t care if it had nothing to do with singing, but now I was a little curious.

“I thought so. Give me a minute to pull it up… Here. Take a look.”

I looked at the screen shoved into my face and I was maybe a little appalled. Okay, more than a little. What the heck was I looking at? Who the heck actually lists their age as forever 18? Hobbies include eating strawberry cake? Actually, that wasn’t even the weird part.

Who puts ‘Taking walks while pretending to be a lookalike’ as a hobby? Whose bio was this? Oh, mine? Well, that at least explained why people always seemed to believe me so easily. They totally didn’t! I also totally never said, “If you see me walking around, feel free to talk to me and pretend to be convinced that I am a lookalike, but no photos or videos, okay?” Seriously, who puts that in their bio?

“What is this? What the heck is this? How long has this been out there?”

“The bio? It was launched before you became public, I believe. The changes to your bio happened about a month after though.”

“Gahck!”

You are telling me that all this time, I’ve been tricked into thinking that nobody realized it was me when they were all just pretending? And a month after I first went public… That was right after my first outing, wasn’t it?

“Just so you know, glaring at me with tears in your eyes won’t change anything. I’d bet that you snuck out and got caught by your management just before the bio change.”

“Well, you know… I just happened to want a little image change, is all.”

“I’m glad you no longer need to hide it from me.”

Wait, what was he… Ah! He got me! I was so caught up in the flow of things that I accidentally admitted it! I knew that he already knew, but I had my pride as an idol, you know. I had my pride… as an idol that was really good at pretending to just be a lookalike.

“Fine, I’ll admit it, but in exchange, you are dating me. It is final.”

“Why would dating you be an exchange for admitting to being an idol?”

“We are meeting here tomorrow, okay? You don’t have any problems with that, right?”

“Uh… You do realize that this is my only set of clothes as a man, right?”

“I don’t care. Come as a woman or a man, but just come.”

With a huff, I walked away. A minute later, I ran back to grab my bags and hop on the bus. It was the heat of the moment, okay? I normally would have remembered that there was no point in running off. That knowing smile he had pissed me off so much though. Who waits at a bus stop and hands over bags while saying, “Here you go, you forgot this”?

Oh, I got a notification? My manager must have sent me a message. Wait, who is “The boyfriend you forgot to get the number from”? No, I mustn’t delude myself. I know exactly who, but when did he have time to add himself to my phone? And how did he get past my unlock screen? Oh, “You forgot to mention the time, so I will await at the destination starting at 11:12.” Just who is he? He is right that I forgot, but that time was… exactly the earliest I’d get there. Creepy.

Even so, I’m sure that I’d enjoy our date all the same. As I looked out the window, I could see a smile reflected back at me.