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Tokui Eriko was not happy. That was an understatement; she was, in fact, extremely unhappy and disgruntled with the current state of affairs. Looking at her computer, she saw the news headlines.
Aqours wins sixth Love Live!
Tokyo Dome: Aqours is the winner of the sixth Love Live!
All of the news agencies were reporting on Aqours victory at the sixth Love Live. Previously, no idol group that had won the Love Live had received this much news attention. There was no way such a shitty group won the Love Live and got this much attention, she thought. Tokui Eriko was the leader of the idol group Strawberry Moon, the winner of the fourth Love Live; she had graduated from high school, so she wasn’t able to compete in the sixth Love Live. When she won the Love Live after months of arduous training, she stood on the stage, smiling at the audience; however, the news agencies and newspapers didn’t give her much of a glance. They either ignored her or printed Strawberry Moon’s victory on an obscure corner of their paper where most people wouldn’t even have seen or paid much attention to it. Crumbling a poster of the fifth Love Live in her hands, which advertised itself using her group, she was determined to ruin Aqours. Nine or none? I’ll make you none.
“Hello Aqours!” Eriko shouted at the idol group that was strolling the streets of Tokyo.
Aqours cast her a brief glance. “Hello; who are you, zura?”
“Ah, my apologies if you didn’t recognize me; I’m Tokui Eriko, leader of Strawberry Moon, the victors of the fourth Love Live. I was wondering if I could walk around with you nine for the rest of the day and congratulate you all on your victory.”
“Sure!” For the rest of the day, they walked the streets of Tokyo, sometimes stopping at a stall to have some food, talking about their experiences as school idols, nine of them unaware that the other one was a backstabbing liar.
On the trip, she gave Yoshiko a slight push, and she also tripped her a few times when she deemed it necessary. Whenever she interfered with their trip by messing with Yoshiko, she would always make sure that Yoshiko fell into the hands of an adult man; she had an assistant that she had brainwashed into joining her to take photos whenever that happened. After a few hours, they parted ways and bid each other goodbye, and Eriko went to her residence. She picked up the phone to call an acquaintance. “Haru? Do you have the photos ready?”
“Yes, I do; I’ll send them to you momentarily.” Eriko smiled as she received an email with the pictures of Yoshiko in the arms of random men; even though they were out of context, there would still be enough idiots who’d believe her story. She logged onto her throwaway accounts for many of the most popular social media platforms in Japan and internationally and posted the pictures with the title “Aqours Member Tsushima Yoshiko with Adult Men at Night in Tokyo.”
When she woke up the next morning, the images circulated the internet as she planned, which turned Yoshiko’s life into a living hell.
Yoshiko entered Numazu High School with the members of Aqours who were still in high school. She bid goodbye to Hanamaru, Ruby, Chika, and You, walking alone with Riko; she said that the classrooms of the four people she and Riko had just walked away from were in different directions, though the couple just wanted to spend some time together without any other people. However, many students noticed them and congregated in a crowd, and a few of them had the gall to throw around some insults.
“Hey, Tsushima!” one of them shouted, “go back to whoring yourself to the perverted old man who pays you to fuck him every week!”
“Watch what you’re saying to my girlfriend, you little piece of shit! I’ll throw your ass into the concrete if you continue!” Riko shouted in response.
“Why would you defend a girl who probably gets destroyed in bed by a bunch of child lovers all the time for a dime?” Another girl taunted, clearly invested in destroying Yoshiko.
Riko began walking over to the crowd of girls to deliver her opinion with some good old physical contact, furious that anyone would insult her girlfriend in such a manner, but the crowd stopped her with a barrage of eggs, perfectly aimed at Yoshiko. They threw the eggs, and they shattered on the chuunibyou’s clothes; her uniform, previously clean in expectation of school, was now decorated with circular blobs of yellow and flowing white, ruining its image. As a result of the endless assault, Yoshiko broke down into tears; this reminded her of the times she had been shunned by the rest of her classmates for her fallen angel persona. She curled up into a fetal position in a futile attempt to thwart the effects of the eggs that were raining down on her. “Riri … please get me out of here,” she whimpered, tugging on her girlfriend’s sleeve.
“Don’t worry. I’ll save you, Yocchan.” Riko gave one last glare to the unfriendly crowd of girls before catching one of the eggs in midair. She threw the egg at the leader’s face, hitting her right on the forehead. “Come on, let’s leave.” Escorting Yoshiko away from the hostile mob, she bitterly swore revenge on the leader.
When Yoshiko’s school day ended, and she reached her home after a long run, she was distraught at her classmates’ negative opinion of her, reminding her of many past experiences she had had before.
“You’re gross,” a girl with a long ponytail said. Her hair was darker than a black hole, and her complexion showed utter disgust. She pushed Yoshiko onto the ground, causing the girl to fall into a puddle of mud. “I can’t believe I wasted a few minutes of my time on someone as lowly as you.”
“But why? What’s wrong with me?” Yoshiko asked, desperate for answers; she practically pleaded. Tears welled up in her eyes as she sat on the ground, dejected; one half of a letter was in her left hand, while the other half was in her right.
“You know perfectly well what your problem is, you specimen of filth, otherwise known as Tsushima Yoshiko.” The other girl spat on her, clearly wishing to leave. Before Yoshiko’s troubles were over, the other girl took her umbrella and jabbed it into Yoshiko, her assault not abating.
“Please, Eriko-san … don’t leave me here.”
“You display such arrogance; you think you’re worthy to call me by my given name?”
Yoshiko cried harder than she had ever before. Worthless, she thought, everyone in this world is against you, no matter what you do. She began falling into another depression, which was even worse than the one she had suffered when Eriko rejected her. Pulling open a cabinet door, she took out a razor that she’d hidden in there for many years; she’d use it whenever she fell into a particularly menacing depressive episode.
Slashing herself repeatedly, she reminded herself of her supposed failures and isolation. Every new mark on her body represented a shortcoming or rejection that she’d dealt with. As she fell back into her self-harming habits, she didn’t see the excessive amount of blood that she was losing. Reflecting on her life experience while crying tears of pain, she harmed herself beyond what she had planned; she lost too much and died as a result. Her body lay in her room, surrounded by a pool of her own blood, dark red and dried, stuck on the floor. Her death had been ruled a suicide; she had killed herself due to an online rumor that too many people had fallen into the trap of believing.
At her funeral, Aqours and her family were distraught; learning about the circumstances, they all placed fault on themselves for not doing more to try to prevent Yoshiko’s terrible circumstances and reaction. Riko, in particular, placed heavy blame on herself. If only I consoled her more, if only I gave those girls more of a beating, if only I spent more time with her … she might be standing with us today, laughing and having a merry time, enjoying our younger years. Instead, she rests inside a coffin … I’m truly sorry, Yocchan.
While she continuously suffered from survivor's guilt, she remembered some of the times Yoshiko had asked her to spend time together, and she rejected her.
“Riri, let’s go to the arcade today!”
“Not now, Yocchan, I have tests to study for.”
“Riri, can we take a walk around the park and have some ice cream?”
“I’m sorry Yocchan, I have to practice piano.”
“Little demon Riri, would you like to play video games together at my domain?”
“I have homework to do, Yocchan.”
She sobbed even harder, regretful over the time that she could’ve spent with Yoshiko that she wasn’t able to because of her own decisions. If only I had one more year, one more month, one more week, one more day, one more hour … If only you knew how deep my feelings reached for you, Yocchan. If you can hear me, wherever you are, please forgive me, what I’d give for your body to spring back, vibrant and vivid, Yocchan.
Eriko sipped tea in her room, reading the headlines that still talked about Aqours but in a completely different light.
Yoshiko Tsushima, a member of Aqours, commits suicide over a rumor
Suicide: A member of the sixth winner of the Love Live commits suicide after scandalous allegations.
“Absolutely perfect, I hit two birds with one stone.”