Sweeping Love

I overheard the director talking to someone.

“…tell the Golden Girl that she should be harsher in the first few episodes…”

Golden Girl?

• ───────────────── •

The assistant director gestured for me to enter the tacky elevator-thing that was supposed to lead me straight onto the stage. I wasn’t sure what I was going to see on the other side, but I braced myself for anything, just in case. Staring at the large metal door, I waited for it to open and lead me into a new world—to provide me the first clue to the truth of what happened during my childhood.

“Mizutaka-kun, it’s your cue.”

“Ah.”

I made my way into the elevator. As the door closed behind me, I could hear the subtle theme tune in the distance. As it went down, my ears were filled with the sound of the audience clapping in unison. It was a long few seconds, but I finally reached the bottom.

Standing in front of me, the host smiled and laughed. Bright lights were flashing all over the place, like some sort of disco. Looking up, I saw the thirty girls, each standing behind their respective lecterns. However, unbeknownst to me, the girl in the middle was behind a much larger, elevated golden stand.

「Let’s introduce our first-ever participant!」

There was a blaring round of applause.

The host was certainly quite enthusiastic. His voice quite overtly echoed through my ears, being blasted from the speakers and his microphone.

Walking down the walkway, I stood a few metres in front of all the girls. They were positioned in such a way that each of them could easily see me, and I could easily see them. There was nothing especially spectacular aside from the apathetic expressions of the girl behind the golden lectern. Looking around, it was pretty clear that she was the most attractive one here, although that might’ve just been just from the way that the show portrayed her.

Standing up a few centimetres above everyone else and with a bright pastel-orange light right on her, it was clear that she was supposed to extrude a certain aura.

「Welcome to Swee—ping Love, the show where we help teenagers bring love into their youth! I’m your host, Kikuchi Fuoga; however, you can also call me Cupid-sama. Before we begin, let me introduce the Golden Girl for this season!」

There was a short tune before the lights dimmed. Shining in the darkness, a white light illuminated the Golden Girl.

「Currently studying in the country’s most prestigious acting school, she appeared as the lead role in the extremely popular teen drama Summer Tomorrow. She is the most prominent upcoming star in the theatrical company Brave and was voted to be the most popular teen actor in The Youth’s Magazine. She has recently been offered a place by Maeda Junpei as…」

Maeda Junpei… one of the associates of the Oyama-Maezda Production Company—one of the companies that were listed in the private documents of the Ideal Human Project.

I wasn’t too interested in the Golden Girl at first, but it looks like she might just be the next step I need to get closer to one of the companies behind the Ideal Human Project.

「…she is one of the cutest girls you’ll ever see. A girl that any man would be overjoyed to make their girlfriend, Miyazaki Kaede!」

Weird wording, but I guess I get the point.

The host looked over at me.

「Now, let’s have our bachelor here introduce himself! Ah, but before that, let’s have our Initial Impressions!」

—Mrrw.

—Mrrw. —Mrrw.

Some bright numbers appeared on the big screen—27/30.

Ah, looks like three girls have already registered their disinterest.

「Three girls have pressed their buttons! Would any of you like to explain why you’ve made that decision?」

One of the girls raised their hand.

「Yes, Sasaki-chan?」

“U-um… well, he looks like the type of boy who’d be manipulative. My parents always told me to trust my eyes, and I’m not sure, but I just get that vibe from him…”

That observation is a lot more accurate than I expected—was it luck? Or maybe she genuinely has a very keen intuition? Sasaki Yui, I guess I’ll remember that name.

「Interesting deduction? Are you sure you want to back out this early? Well, you’ve already pressed the button. Let’s see if you regret it~. Anyone else have a comment?」

Another girl raised her hand.

“I don’t like boys who don’t smile. He hasn’t smiled a single time since he came on.”

「That’s a decent point. Maybe he’s just had a bad day? Maybe it’s nerves? I guess we’ll find out later!」

There was a short moment of silence.

「Let’s move on to introductions. Mizutaka-kun, was it? Give us a short introduction of yourself.」

“Uh… my name is Mizutaka Riku. I’m a second-year at Yokosuka High School. Er… I was a national-level football player in Australia and spent most of my time training when I used to live there. I guess I hope to live a more normal life here in Japan. People always think I’m the type to play around, but my heart doesn’t have space for so many girls. If you’re the one for me, I promise to cherish you forever.”

It was good that I prepared something earlier. Lies are a human’s greatest tool to protect themselves—well, that was something moulded into my brain during my childhood. The fact that I was a national-level football player was a complete fabrication. Although, it wasn’t one that I couldn’t back up—I was formally registered as that, after all.

There was another moment of silence before the rising sound of applause.

「Mizutaka-kun, you said you used to play football at a national level. What caused you to stop? Was it an injury?」

“I guess I just wanted to live a normal life.”

「Interesting. Well, I’ve got a football over here! If you don’t mind, would you like to demonstrate some of your skills?」

“Um, I guess that’ll be fine.”

I wasn’t a real football player, but that wasn’t to say that I couldn’t play football.

The host passed me the ball, and I caught it on the top of my feet, doing a few juggles near the ground. The audience was silent as I tapped the ball with my feet. Raising my legs a little, I did a few around-the-worlds in a row, along with some other difficult-looking tricks. It was probably good enough to convince them.

With that, I kicked the ball back to the host, who caught it in his hands.

「That’s very impressive! It’s no surprise that you played at a national level. I play with a Sunday club, and none of us could even fathom doing something like what you did. It’s a shame that you stopped playing, but it’s not a bad choice if it’s what you wanted.」

—Mrrw

—26/30

Guess she wasn’t a football fan. Oh well.

Miyazaki Kaede was the only person who I really cared about—she’ll be important. I guess I should think about how to charm her.