Chapter 49: Returning Home

Seeing the name on the caller ID, Haruka’s heart tightened.

To Hoshino Haruka, her grandmother was extremely important.

Because Haruka’s mother had died in childbirth, she had been raised by her grandmother for a long time.

After hesitating for who knows how long, just as the ringing was about to automatically disconnect, Haruka took a deep breath, cleared her throat, tried to adjust her mood, and pressed the answer button.

“Hello, Grandma?”

The moment Haruka spoke, she instinctively switched to that iconic, sweet yet obedient genki girl voice.

“Haruka…”

On the other end of the line came a voice that was somewhat weathered but very kind.

“Calling so late, I hope I’m not disturbing your rest?”

“No, not at all! I just finished showering and was about to watch TV. How have you been lately, Grandma?”

Haruka tried to make her tone sound light and natural.

“I’m as sturdy as ever. But you, girl,” Grandma’s voice was filled with deep concern, “I saw the news that you’ve been discharged and started working? Your father called a few days ago and was mumbling… Are you really fully recovered? Is the work tiring?”

“I’ve been fully recovered for a long time! Grandma, just look at the news and you’ll see! I’m in great shape now. I even got praised by the producer at the recording studio today!”

Haruka subconsciously straightened her back and squeezed out a bright smile at the air.

“Mr. Ritsu has been taking good care of me too. Everyone is so nice to me. I’m not tired at all!”

She reported the good news in rapid fire, trying to use this overabundant energy to mask her inner weakness.

There was a two-second silence on the other end.

“Is that so… It’s good that you’re not tired.”

Grandma sighed softly.

“Haruka, if you ever feel overwhelmed, don’t force yourself. If you miss home, come back and visit anytime.”

In an instant, Haruka’s eyes stung without warning.

She bit her lip hard to suppress the sob in her throat.

That sentence just now should have been a very ordinary, polite phrase that most elders would say.

But at that moment, it effortlessly shattered the psychological defenses she had just built.

For some reason, she blurted out involuntarily:

“Grandma… Can I come back to see you this weekend?”

“Eh?”

Grandma was clearly surprised, but then came obvious joy.

“Of course! This weekend? Do you have time?”

“I do.”

Haruka glanced at the schedule in her phone.

“Tomorrow is Saturday, I have no appointments, so I’m free. I’ll take the train in the morning and head back!”

“Good, good! Then Grandma will go buy your favorite wagashi tomorrow and wait for you at home.”

After hanging up, Haruka sat on the bed and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her mind.

She didn’t know if this trip home would go smoothly, or if her closest relative would notice something off about her.

But at this moment, the instinctive craving for family and a safe haven overwhelmed all her fears.

She switched to her contacts and dialed Ritsu’s number.

“Hello?” The phone was answered after only two rings.

“Ritsu, it’s me.”

Haruka cleared her throat.

“I want to visit my grandmother’s house tomorrow.”

There was a pause in the keyboard clicking on the other end.

“Tomorrow is Saturday, and you don’t have any schedule. You can go, but be careful.”

Ritsu’s tone was as calm as ever.

“Don’t forget, you’re the center of attention right after your comeback. All the media and paparazzi in Tokyo are watching you.”

“Don’t worry!”

Haruka patted her chest confidently.

“It’s winter now. With a scarf, mask, and knitted hat, I’ll only have my eyes exposed. Not even you would recognize me, let alone the paparazzi!”

Ritsu gave a soft “mm” on the line, seemingly giving his approval.

But just as Haruka was about to say “Good night, Manager” and hang up, Ritsu suddenly spoke, his tone lacking the usual businesslike coldness:

“Meihe already told me about this afternoon’s situation.”

Haruka’s heart skipped a beat, and her fingers holding the phone tightened slightly.

“I’m sorry, Ritsu. My dancing has regressed too much. I might hold you back…”

“No need to apologize, and don’t put pressure on yourself.”

Ritsu interrupted her.

“I’ve got your back here. Even if you completely forget how to dance and perform terribly, I can still pave the way for you. You just have to stand on stage and be at ease. Get some rest early.”

“…”

Haruka’s brain short-circuited with a buzz.

That line sounded exactly like a script from a late-night “dominant CEO” drama.

It was way too cheesy for her.

“L-Leave me alone! Mind your own business, you annoying old man!”

Almost by the body’s terrifying reflex, Haruka suddenly raised her volume, shouted that into the phone, and then pressed the end button as if shocked.

“Beep… beep…”

Listening to the dial tone, Haruka froze on the bed, feeling her cheeks burning like fire.

‘Wait, what did I just do? Why am I acting like a shy little girl and getting flustered with him?!’

Haruka grabbed a pillow, buried her hot face into it, and twisted wildly on the bed.

“How annoying! Who told him to suddenly be so greasy! If you’re assigning work, just assign it properly. What’s with that flirty, improper tone? What is he trying to do!”

—

The next morning.

Haruka wrapped herself up like a round dumpling.

A thick beige knitted scarf covered most of her face, plus a mask and a low-pulled knitted hat, leaving only her eyes exposed.

The intercity train was empty and quiet.

Besides a few dozing office workers in the carriage, no one noticed the famous idol sitting in the corner.

When the train arrived at the suburban station, Haruka got off, hailed a taxi by the roadside, and gave the driver the address near her grandmother’s house.

As the scenery outside the window gradually changed from high-rise buildings to low Japanese-style houses and quiet streets, Haruka’s feeling of “hesitation towards home” grew stronger.

She took out her phone and dialed her grandmother.

“Hello, Grandma! I’ve gotten into a taxi. I’ll be there in about ten minutes!”

“Good, good. Grandma will be waiting for you at the intersection ahead.”

After hanging up, Haruka had just put her phone back in her pocket when she met the taxi driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror.

The driver was a young man around twenty-five or twenty-six.

At that moment, his hands on the steering wheel were slightly tense, and his eyes held an incredulous excitement.

“Um… excuse me,” the driver swallowed, his voice a bit shaky, “may I ask, are you Miss Hoshino Haruka?”

Haruka’s heart jumped, and she instinctively covered her scarf.

“No, no! You’ve mistaken me for someone else! I just sound a little like her, haha…”

“It’s really Haruka, isn’t it?”

The driver wasn’t fooled by her poor acting; his tone became even more certain.

“I’m an old fan of yours. I’ve been listening to your songs since your second year after debut. I would never mistake your voice.”

Seeing that she was completely caught, Haruka sighed helplessly.

She pulled her scarf down slightly and raised an index finger to her lips in a shushing gesture.

“You still recognized me… but please keep it a secret, okay?”

“Absolutely secret! I swear!”

The driver was so excited he almost jumped in his seat, but he quickly controlled himself and didn’t make any over-the-top moves.

He just looked at her through the rearview mirror with extremely sincere, even teary eyes.

“Haruka, it’s really good to see you safely discharged. When the news of the car accident came out, I thought I’d never hear you sing again… Thank you for getting through it. Please stay healthy and keep singing!”

Those words were simple and heartfelt—the most sincere wish from an ordinary fan.

But to Haruka’s ears, they felt like a massive stone crushing her chest.

The more genuine the affection, the more she felt like a despicable thief who had stolen someone else’s life.

“…Thank you. I will.”

She forced a smile and guiltily turned to look out the window.

Throughout the ride, the driver was restrained and only chatted a bit about everyday topics.

Ten minutes later, the taxi stopped at the intersection.

Haruka paid the fare and waved goodbye to the driver.

At a nearby street sign, a kind-looking elderly woman in a thick cotton jacket stood with a slightly stooped figure, watching this way.

“Grandma!” Haruka gathered herself and trotted over.

“Oh my, don’t run, careful not to slip.”

Grandma smiled as she caught the rushing Haruka, looking her up and down.

“You’ve lost so much weight, your face is so pointy… You must have had a hard time in the hospital, didn’t you?”

“No, not at all. The hospital food was actually pretty good.”

Haruka linked her arm with her grandmother’s, and the two walked side by side toward the old house in her memory.

Along the way, like any caring elder, Grandma asked about everything in detail.

Is work tiring?

Do you eat on time?

Does the injury from the accident still hurt on cloudy days?

To avoid being caught, Haruka mostly just nodded repeatedly, using “Mm-hmm,” “It’s fine,” “It doesn’t hurt,” and other all-purpose phrases to muddle through.

As they walked, they passed an old candy shop with its rolling shutter pulled down.

Grandma stopped.

“Speaking of which, Haruka.”

Grandma pointed to a small alley next to the candy shop, her smile turning nostalgic.

“Do you remember the summer when you were nine? You found a stray orange cat in this alley and insisted on secretly keeping it in the backyard, even naming it ‘Little Orange.’ Later, I found out, and you cried and begged me not to chase it away.”

A cold sweat broke out on Haruka’s back.

Her mind raced.

Although some memory fragments remained in her body, most were related to her recent idol life.

She couldn’t access this kind of “ancient version” of childhood memories.

But facing such specific nostalgia, directly saying “I forgot” would be too suspicious.

‘As long as I follow Grandma’s lead and act nostalgic, it’ll be fine, right?’

“Ah… of course I remember!”

Haruka immediately put on an expression of sudden realization, curving her lips into a nostalgic smile.

“Little Orange was so mischievous back then. I always saved my snacks to feed it. Grandma’s angry face was pretty scary at the time, haha…”

Grandma looked at her quietly, a complex light flickering in her eyes that was hard to detect.

But she said nothing, only patted Haruka’s hand with a smile.

“Yes, time really flies.”

Haruka breathed a sigh of relief inside, thinking she had handled it perfectly.

The two returned to the old house, full of traces of time.

The heater was on inside, making it very warm.

Grandma told Haruka to take off her heavy coat and rest on the living room sofa.

“Sit and warm up for a while. I’ll make you some tea. Your favorite gyokuro, right?”

“Mm, thank you, Grandma!”

Haruka sat on the sofa.

Though her body was warm, she felt an inexplicable oppression in the atmosphere of the room.

That uneasy feeling of “about to be judged” amplified in the silence.

A few minutes later, Grandma came out of the kitchen carrying a wooden tray.

On the tray were two cups of steaming clear tea.

Grandma placed one cup in front of Haruka, and then, instead of bustling off to the kitchen as Haruka had imagined, she pulled up a chair and sat down directly across from Haruka with a low table between them.

The old woman said nothing, just quietly watched the girl in front of her with eyes that, though clouded, seemed to see through all the falsehoods in the world.

Haruka felt a bit creeped out.

Instinctively, she straightened her back and picked up the teacup to hide her awkwardness.

“G-Grandma? Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have a flower on my face?”

Grandma lowered her gaze, looking at the leaves floating in her cup.

After a moment, she raised her head, her voice as calm as a still lake:

“You’re not really Haruka, are you?”