Takashi fled the scene in utter disarray—his police hat lost somewhere along the way.

He'd seen videos before of fans tackling celebrities, like Liu Qianmeizi and Han Xue, but he never imagined it would happen to him.

"Are all my fans this crazy?"

Crouched in a dark alley corner, Takashi looked back at the remaining cameraman and female officer, still shaken.

At some point during his flight, only the cameraman and the female officer had kept up.

Gotta say, being a cameraman isn't easy.

Yet he'd managed to run while protecting his camera.

"..." The cameraman didn't answer, silently continuing to film.

The female officer just gave a polite, embarrassed smile.

She said nothing—yet seemed to say everything.

'Well, yeah. Anyone who likes me can't be normal.' Takashi reflected on his on-camera persona and figured it was no surprise that some fans turned out extreme.

The three of them waited for a while, and eventually a few more officers returned—but Superintendent Konoe was still nowhere to be seen.

Takashi later learned via walkie-talkie that the earlier chaos had injured some people, and Konoe had stayed behind to handle the scene while telling them to keep recording.

'Damn it, I'm going to get flamed again.'

Takashi knew what was coming.

Fans misbehave, the celebrity takes the fall.

He didn't even want to imagine what his comment section would look like tonight.

Sure, he had lots of fans—but even more haters and keyboard warriors.

And this happened during a positive energy campaign. What part of this looked "positive"?

Feeling dejected, Takashi still couldn't help but open the comment section—even knowing he'd regret it.

Sure enough, the top comments were pure mockery.

He scrolled for a long while before finally finding one fan comment:

[Gege-sama, I'm willing to fight the whole world for you.]

Takashi nearly passed out.

Why would he want to fight the whole world?

He wasn't some German art student who failed their entrance exam.

He didn't want to be enemies with the world.

(Fan: That's not your decision—we'll do it for you.)

'Trolls. All trolls!'

Takashi swore inwardly and messaged his agent.

[Did you identify the person who attacked me? Was she sent by a rival to smear me?]

He desperately hoped the woman wasn't a real fan.

Ogitsu Yoshiko: [She's your fan.]

Takashi: [I don't believe it! Proof?]

Ogitsu Yoshiko: [Screenshot]

Takashi opened the image—and took a critical hit right off the bat.

Username: [Kitahara Supermarket Me]

Takashi: "..."

Stay calm. Stay calm.

He took a deep breath and scrolled further—and immediately regretted it.

Five minutes ago, she posted:

[Got punched hard in the stomach by Gege today… ow, it hurts, but it felt so good. Gege is so strong.]

—with a photo of her flat belly.

00:35 AM today —

[Finally met Gege in person! I have to make a deep impression.]

11:45 PM yesterday —

[Just thinking about meeting Gege tomorrow… I'm so excited I can't sleep.]

10:41 PM yesterday —

[Watched Gege's Koshien game again. His hands are so big… I want him to choke me hard.]

Takashi turned off his screen, pinched his perfect nose bridge, closed his eyes, and looked pained.

How had she managed to assault him… through the screen?

"Where are we headed next?"

The female officer quickly answered, "Futaba Kindergarten."

"Kindergarten? Kindergarten sounds great."

Surely nothing unexpected could happen there.

Right now, Takashi just wanted to make it through the day in one piece.

…

Even before the car arrived at Futaba Kindergarten, Takashi could already see the school officials waiting at the gate.

He parked nearby, stepped out, and shook hands with them as they exchanged pleasantries and walked into the school.

Takashi didn't need to give lectures to class after class—the principal led him directly to the elementary school auditorium.

He found it packed to the brim.

There were children, adults, reporters with all their equipment—hundreds of people in total.

It felt like he was about to give a speech to run for Prime Minister.

Whoa!

As Takashi opened the auditorium doors and stepped inside, the entire room broke out in excitement.

"Kitahara Takashi! It's really him, live in person!"

"He actually came!"

"He really is as handsome as in the photos! I thought they were edited."

The lights at the scene were flashing nonstop.

The little kids just kept staring wide-eyed at Takashi, thinking this big brother was really good-looking.

But the adults? They whipped out their phones and started snapping photos like crazy.

Because Japanese phones can't disable the flash during shooting, Takashi felt slightly uncomfortable.

Standing in the back row, Ogitsu Yoshiko considered whether she should hire a South Korean coach for Takashi—he clearly wasn't good at handling being in the spotlight.

"Big sis, look, it's Kitahara-oni!"

In the crowd, Gotoh Futari, who was tightly hugged by Gotou Hitori, excitedly stood up to greet Takashi—but was instantly restrained by her anxiety-ridden sister, held so tightly she couldn't move an inch.

"Sis, I can't breathe."

Gotou Hitori didn't seem to hear, holding her sister even tighter, as if clinging to her would give her a sense of safety.

'I shouldn't have come.'

Gotou Hitori was full of regret now.

When she heard Takashi would be visiting her sister's kindergarten, she figured it would just be little kids, so there shouldn't be a problem—and came along.

She didn't expect this many people to show up.

Had she known, she would've never come.

At this moment, Takashi hadn't noticed Gotoh Futari.

There were just too many people—a whole sea of them—making it hard to spot anyone specific.

Takashi took the script handed to him by the policewoman and calmly walked on stage, talking about the importance of traffic safety with no sign of stage fright.

His clear enunciation and composed demeanor were recorded by the crowd.

The script was long—he spoke for a full fifteen minutes before stepping down. Then came the interactive segment.

"Oniichan! Oniichan! Over here! Over here!"

He had planned to just randomly pick a child to interact with, but when he heard someone calling out to him—and the voice sounded familiar—he turned and saw Gotoh Futari.

His steps changed direction.

'Aaaaah, he's coming, he's coming, he's coming—what do I do?!'

Gotou Hitori watched Takashi walk toward her. Around her, all the cameras turned her way. She tightened her hug on her sister even more.

Gotoh Futari was nearly rolling her eyes from the suffocating grip. She reached her little hand out to Takashi, wordlessly begging: Oniichan, save me.

Takashi walked over quickly, smiling and opening his arms. "Come on, hand her to me."

"Ah—oh."

Gotou Hitori, as if tossing away a ticking time bomb, handed her sister over.

Takashi caught Gotoh Futari steadily and gently patted her on the back.

"Sis, you almost choked me!" Gotoh Futari first complained, then clung to Takashi's neck like a sloth.

"Oniichan, you have no idea how many people have been confessing to me lately—because of you."

Takashi laughed. "Because of me?"

"Yup."

Gotoh Futari nodded her little head with determination.

"Ever since you became famous, our school's been full of your little fangirls."

'Kids in Japan mature this fast? Chasing idols in kindergarten?' Takashi thought, but still patiently asked, "And what does that have to do with me?"

"Well, last time our teacher asked us to each share something amazing we've done."

"Ryu Reina said: I kissed Takashi."

"Since that day, people keep confessing to me—and they're all girls."

Gotoh Futari spoke casually, not realizing that Takashi's smile had faded—and many parents nearby were now casting wary glances at him.

They simply couldn't believe that someone who looked so proper could actually be a lolicon.

On the internet, if you say you like lolis, your group chats might echo: "Same here!"

But in real life, if you so much as lay a finger on a loli, even people in your own group would slap you and spit on you.

"It was her cheek. Just the cheek," Takashi clarified.

He always left a backup for himself. Even in conversations, he had a habit of keeping records.

He showed the parents the photo from that day—Gotoh Futari kissing him on the cheek while he held her in his arms.

Only then did the parents let down their guard.

The parents believed it—but the reporters and paparazzi? They lowered their heads and started typing.

[Shocking! Takashi Is Actually…!!!]

[Revealed: Takashi's True Colors—He Likes Little Girls?!]

[Protect the Children—Beware of Kitahara!]

One especially shameless reporter even wrote:

[Illegitimate Child?! Popular Star Appears at Charity Event With Girlfriend and Daughter!]

The photo used was a snapshot of Gotou Hitori passing Gotoh Futari to Takashi.

And honestly?

The angle really did make it look convincing.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys! I swear, I'll send you all cease-and-desist letters!" Takashi knew trouble was brewing the moment he saw their fingers flying.

He rushed over and wanted to send out a letter to each one on the spot.

The paparazzi didn't even acknowledge him, continuing to work without pause.

'What is happening anymore…'

Ogitsu Yoshiko watched the whole day's filming and felt a headache coming on.

Good news: Takashi was about to go viral again.

Bad news: It would be infamous.

Same "One-Day Commissioner" campaign—how had he turned it into such a circus?

…

"Next time something like this comes up, don't call me," Takashi grumbled that evening over dinner, sitting with the policewoman, Ogitsu Yoshiko, Gotoh Futari, and Gotou Hitori.

The cameraman and a few officers sat at a different table.

"I didn't think you'd stir up so much nonsense either," Ogitsu replied.

As a seasoned industry professional, even she had no idea where to start on PR damage control for Takashi.

Because honestly, there was too much to fix.

So much it felt like the tangled mess of electric wires in India—no clear starting point.

Managing Takashi felt a thousand times harder than handling Sakurajima Mai.

Gotou Hitori just sat in a daze, watching Takashi banter with his manager. She still couldn't believe she was sitting at the same table as Takashi.

Of course, she was only here thanks to her extroverted little sister, Gotoh Futari.

When Takashi's group was about to leave, Gotoh Futari dragged her sister over—and just like that, she ended up having dinner with her idol.

Really, if it weren't for Futari, with Hitori's level of social anxiety—she couldn't even speak clearly to strangers—she never would've managed this.

Even now, despite Takashi being right in front of her, Gotou Hitori didn't have the courage to ask him for a signature.

After dinner, the group took a police car to send the Gotou sisters home.

Probably because it was her first time in a police car, Gotoh Futari looked around with curiosity, even poking her head out the window from time to time—only to be yanked back by Gotou Hitori.

Just as the car was about to enter a residential area, Gotoh Futari suddenly shouted, "Stop the car!"

Everyone was startled. Even Gotou Hitori turned to her sister in confusion.

"Big sister police officer! Please stop the car!" Gotoh Futari pleaded anxiously, reaching for the door like she was about to jump out.

The policewoman quickly hit the brakes.

"What's wrong?" Takashi asked.

"My friend's being bullied by those bad kids again—I have to help her!"

Takashi and the policewoman exchanged glances and immediately got out of the car.

"Where?" Takashi asked.

"Over there!"

Gotoh Futari pointed to a park they had just passed.

Takashi dashed in that direction, followed closely by the cameraman.

'What the heck is his actual job?'

The policewoman was stunned by how fast the cameraman could run—with a full camera rig.

When Takashi arrived at the park, he saw it was half-abandoned: overgrown weeds, old equipment.

Under the slide, a group of boys surrounded a girl, pouring something on her head while laughing and clapping.

Takashi rushed over and shoved one of the boys to the ground, then took off his uniform jacket and wrapped it around the drenched girl.

The girl's whole body was soaked, her hair stuck to her face, head bowed so her features weren't clearly visible.

"Who the hell are you?!"

The boy Takashi had pushed got up angrily—then froze when he saw the police uniform.

But a second later, he shouted, "Help! A cop hit a kid! A cop hit a kid!"

The other kids also began yelling in unison—none of them afraid of the badge.

"You little brat, shut it!"

Takashi raised his hand and slapped the boy.

The policewoman didn't even have time to stop him.

Takashi hit hard—the kid spun like a top before falling over.

The boy stared at the Japanese officer in disbelief. He couldn't understand.

Why would this man dare to hit him?

He was just a kid!

___

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