Outsider Syndrome | ✓

Rin Ending - "Dearest, Truest"

"It's all right." Ignoring the heaviness in my gut, I smiled. "Your work is demanding and unpredictable. That's nothing new. Besides, I came here prepared to cheer you on at any time. I'll be screaming the loudest from the front row!"

"Aww! I have the best girlfriend!"

"Mr. Rin."

Mrs. Junpei gripped his forearm before he could swoop in for another hug and was already yanking him out the door. Beaming extravagantly, he winked and blew an air kiss.

"I'll meet you in our usual spot afterward. Wait for me! Oh, and make sure to catch every angle of my brilliance! I'll put on the best concert for you, Shii! Just for you, my favourite girl—"

The door slammed after his manager tossed me one final glare.

I had an inkling something was fishy from the moment Rin texted me very shady instructions to sneak me into his dressing room without anyone noticing. Evidently, Mrs. Junpei didn't approve of our rendezvous. Not that she was favourable toward me from the day I officially started going out with Rin.

Nobody was particularly fond of the prospect of the hottest idol in Japan being taken.

"Rin! I love you!"

"Make me your prisoner!"

"No, me! Love me all night long!"

. . .His fans were wild, per usual.

I ignored the suggestive screams that pervaded from the small screen located at the corner of the room and watched the camera follow the thousands upon thousands of fangirls cramped inside the venue. They extended far beyond the building, out into the city streets as well. All hauling colourful signs. Swaying glow sticks. Chanting his name.

The sheer chaos, this uncontrollable love for him, bristled my arms in goosebumps.

I assured myself there was nothing about Rin's fame that could throw me off guard, but after all, it was overwhelming. Possibly because he hadn't changed fundamentally from when we were younger it was easy to forget just how large his magnetic pull had become.

. . .My band with Toru, Sena and Yunoki. Would a future where we reached this level of acclaim ever arrive? In my opinion, no matter how hard we worked, we'd never get this lucky of a break.

Rin's flair was one in a million.

The melancholic sentiments I convinced I'd enshrouded bubbled to the surface of my heart.

What was I getting all disheartened for? Rin had been popular for as long as I could remember. Each year, his charm grew more and more defined, and each year, more and more girls flocked to gush over his literal existence. Him being an idol only made it easier for the female population, far and wide, to ogle his every action, every word.

He was incredibly possessive of me and didn't let other guys so much as glance in my direction (granted, the last time he allowed it I ended up in an awkward reverse harem. . .), yet it was perfectly all right for every girl across the country to glance at, and more than glance at him? Sure it was out of obligation but he could tone down his flirting toward them, couldn't he?

I couldn't recognize myself: giving into my jealousy the way I was. Nevertheless, my insecurities kept piling. Due to the rules of his company, he wasn't allowed to publicize his romantic relationships—date, in general. The idol 'Rin Mizota' was for everyone, after all.

A nobody like me became his girlfriend but I wasn't allowed to call myself that in public. Our daily lives remained vastly separated.

We couldn't have been closer. We were the closest we'd ever been. Yet my Rin was still far, far away.