I Drink Every Night With a Lookalike of a Popular Idol on the Riverbank
Sitting next to Nanase on the riverbank. The physical distance between us was the same as always: two cans of chuhai.
That night, we were sitting on the riverbank as usual, chatting about nothing in particular. The sounds of insects and passing cars could be heard in the distance, like background music.
“You know… don’t we always drink this?”
I looked at the can in my hand and said what had just occurred to me.
Lemon flavor. 7% alcohol content. We always choose the same thing, like Kin-taro candy.
“Hmm. Lemon flavor, 7% alcohol. It’s like our uniform now, isn’t it?”
Nanase-san said that and gently tapped her can against mine. It was a toast.
“Have you tried any other flavors?”
“Yes.”
She smiled a little mischievously.
“Grapefruit flavor. It was… different from what I expected… It tasted too healthy.”
“You’re just saying it was ‘not delicious’ in a polite way!”
Nanase stared at me seriously for a moment, then added, “It was disgusting.”
“Disgusting… I tried the cola flavor once, but I regretted it after one sip. It was too sweet and just didn’t feel right.”
“Yeah. In the end, you always come back to this. It’s like coming home. This is where you feel safe, Yousuke.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. This 7% lemon flavor is your spiritual home.”
Nanase said something grand as if it were obvious.
“A lemon orchard… So, is a lemon orchard your heart’s home too, Nanase?”
“Yeah. Lemons grow… What kind of tree does a lemon grow on?”
“Curious?”
“I’m curious about the tree.”
At Nanase’s request, I searched for a photo of a lemon tree, and a common image of lemons hanging from a tree came up.
“Here it is.”
“Hmm, it’s pretty ordinary.”
“Well… if you think about it being a citrus fruit, that makes sense.”
“Haha… you’re right.”
I watched Nanase-san smile with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the mysterious logo on the T-shirt she was wearing.
It was a large arrangement of letters in black Gothic type on a white background.
“By the way, what does that T-shirt say?”
When I asked that, Nanase looked down at her chest and looked puzzled.
“Huh? I don’t know… It’s just some English stuff.”
“You don’t know what it says?”
“Yeah. That’s how it is with casual clothes. The best choice is something that doesn’t stand out, that no one remembers, something that doesn’t matter.”
Something that doesn’t matter, huh. But it’s so distinctive that it catches my attention.
I leaned forward slightly and read the words on the T-shirt.
“Um… ‘ONION IS THE BEST FRIEND OF LIFE’…?”
“O-no-on, izu, za, besuto furendo, obu, raifu…?”
Nanase repeated my words awkwardly.
“Onions are the best friends of life…?”
“Well… maybe it’s deep…”
Nanase nodded seriously and continued.
“Like, it’s always there in our cooking, right? In curry, meat and potatoes, hamburgers… Onions are always there, aren’t they?”
“That’s true… There are quite a few dishes that wouldn’t be possible without onions. They’re the best friend…”
“Right? They may not be the main character, but they’re an indispensable supporting role. They’re the best friend. Think of your favorite dish. They’re definitely there.”
“Hmm… pizza? No, I don’t think so…”
“Hmm, anything else?”
“Um… gyoza?”
“No, that’s not in there either.”
“Ah, there it is! Fried rice!”
“No, it’s not in there either.”
“Tonkatsu…?”
“Katsudon would have worked. Yousuke, did you do that on purpose?”
“I just listed the things I like.”
“Haha… You’re a natural comedian. You even got the onions.”
“I got the onions!?”
“Yeah. Such an important friend. They’re essential for miso soup.”
“The onions?”
“The onion.”
Nanase nodded as if to say, “Of course.”
We faced each other with serious expressions, but couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
We laughed until our sides hurt. There was no reason. It was just that the situation of seriously discussing the importance of onions was too funny to bear.
“Haa… I laughed. …Well, from now on, I’ll try to live my life without forgetting to be grateful for onions.”
Nanase wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes as she laughed, then laughed again.
◆
It was a few days later.
On my way home from work, I was playing with my smartphone on the train and casually browsing a news site.
“Sad News: Super Beautiful Idol Yunagi Nagi’s Casual Clothes Are Too Tacky lol”
Such a malicious headline caught my eye.
Yunagi Nagi, whom Narumi was crazy about. And Nanase, who was said to be her doppelganger, the real idol.
Out of curiosity, I opened the article on the summary site.
There was a photo posted there.
A self-portrait photo that seemed to have been uploaded to social media. And the T-shirt she was wearing.
On a white background, in large black Gothic letters, a string of alphabetical letters was written.
“ONION IS THE BEST FRIEND OF LIFE”
“…Ah!”
I couldn’t help but let out a gasp.
There was no doubt about it. It was the exact same T-shirt that Nanase had worn the other day. The one with the onion on it.
In the photo, Yunagi looked uncomfortable and troubled.
(I see…)
I closed my smartphone screen and nodded to myself in understanding.
(Nanase-san, being so faithful to the details… and since it’s a brand worn by an active idol, it must be a stylish one. That’s amazing…)
She had researched even the slightly unstylish T-shirt that the real Yunagi Nagi wears in private and was wearing it herself. I couldn’t help but laugh at her actions, which seemed like she was completely trying to mimic her.
Maiasa