After dinner, the two washed the dishes together and sat for a while longer before Sakurakoji Talent finally got up to say goodbye.
"Thank you for having me today." After pulling on her knee-high boots, Sakurakoji Talent stood at the door and spoke to Shiina Mahiru.
"Not at all. Please forgive me for any shortcomings in my hospitality." Shiina Mahiru bent slightly in a polite bow.
"Then I'll be going now. If you have any problems later, contact me anytime. And don't cry by yourself in the park again, okay?" Sakurakoji Talent raised her phone and gave it a little shake.
"I wasn't crying..." Shiina Mahiru protested softly, her face flushed. Then she looked up and fixed her gaze seriously on her face.
"Sorry for the trouble today, Sister Ogura."
"I should be the one saying sorry for the trouble." Sakurakoji Talent turned and left, waving behind her without looking back.
"Oh, right, don't forget to send me the time and address for the graduation ceremony. I'll definitely be there." A second before the elevator doors closed, he hurriedly added.
As the elevator doors shut, silence once again settled over the hallway.
Watching the floor numbers gradually descend on the display, Shiina Mahiru pressed both hands to her chest, her feelings tangled.
A familiar loneliness rose within her again. The sensation she should have long grown used to made her ache anew, but when she remembered the last thing he had said, a faint light appeared in her heart once more.
After leaving the apartment where she lived, Sakurakoji Talent called the driver and gave her location.
Then she followed the route she had taken before and returned to the park.
The walk only took a few minutes. She stood at the entrance beneath the newly lit streetlamps and waited for a while before a black sedan smoothly pulled up in front of her.
After she got in, the car started again without needing any instruction and began its return journey.
Sakurakoji Talent took out her phone to check the time and found that it was still early. Though Starry's work hours had already begun, even including the trip home, the night had only just started.
After all, she hadn't arrived that late, nor had she stayed at Shiina Mahiru's home for very long.
Resting her chin in her hand, she fell into thought. It was rare for her not to have work tonight. Wouldn't it be a waste to simply go home and sleep? Time should be put to proper use.
Just as she was considering how to spend the evening, her notification tone rang.
She glanced at it, and the sender's name made her raise an eyebrow. It was Hoshino Ai.
Come to think of it, she hadn't seen her in a while. Half a month had passed since her last visit to the other girl's event, and their relationship was still limited to chatting online. Besides, most of the time, the other girl was the one who contacted her first.
It had to be said that she was a terribly unqualified "fan." If it were someone else, they would probably suggest meeting offline every few days. Who would be as lazy as her?
She entered the chat window, and the message was immediately marked as read.
Tch, what a garbage feature. Sakurakoji Talent clicked her tongue in annoyance.
How had a useless feature that gave people no privacy or time to think survived until now? Sooner or later, she'd force this lousy app out of the market.
After silently cursing it a few times, she looked at the message.
[Mr. Sakurakoji, are you free tonight?]
"Hm?"
What did that mean? Did she want to ask her out?
Though puzzled, she answered honestly. [I am. I happened to take the night off.]
A reply came quickly.
[That's great! I'm free tonight too!]
[Could I trouble you to go shopping with me tonight? I want to buy some things.]
Sakurakoji Talent was a little surprised by Hoshino Ai's message. What a coincidence.
She had just thought it would be a waste for the night to end like this, and the other side had immediately proposed something so perfectly suited to her wishes. It was simply—perfect!
Running two routes in one night barely counted as wasting time. She agreed without hesitation.
[No problem! But I'll need a little time to get ready. Let's pick a time and place to meet.]
[Okay! Then how about an hour from now, in front of Shinjuku Station?]
An hour? That was a little tight, but it should be enough. After calculating how long it would take to return and change clothes, Sakurakoji Talent sent an OK sticker, then received a shy, silly-smiling rabbit sticker in return.
"Ichiyo, we've got work. Speed up!"
"Yes, Young Master."
Twenty minutes later,
After returning to Ten no Yashiro, Sakurakoji Talent went to her room and changed into ordinary men's streetwear. Multitasking had this one drawback: she couldn't run around in two places under the same identity.
After checking herself in the mirror and confirming there were no problems, she took the elevator downstairs again under Aoyama Nanami's complicated gaze.
The car was parked directly outside and had not left, since there was no longer enough time to take public transportation.
Cars flowed through the nighttime streets, and even driving didn't make things much faster. Fortunately, after hurrying all the way, she still arrived near the meeting spot a few minutes before the agreed time.
After getting out, she jogged toward the sign beneath the station. From a hundred meters away, she spotted her target.
There was no helping it. A person wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses at night was simply too easy to recognize.
Actually, she wanted to say that Hoshino Ai didn't need to worry so much. As a small Underground Idol, she wasn't famous enough yet for that to be necessary. But wouldn't saying that hurt her too much?
"Sorry, I'm late!" Sakurakoji Talent hurried over to her, breathing slightly heavily.
Hearing her voice, Hoshino Ai looked up. Once she saw her, the anxious conflict in her heart instantly brightened, and a radiant smile bloomed across her face.
"Not at all! It isn't even the agreed time yet, and I only just arrived too!"
"Good evening, Mr. Sakurakoji!"
"Oh, good evening." Sakurakoji Talent returned her smile and said against her conscience, "Miss Hoshino, you look cute today too!"
"Really?!"
Hoshino Ai happily looked herself over again, spinning and bouncing in place with boundless energy. She was clearly delighted by the compliment, yet still found it hard to believe.
"Of course."
Of course—it was a lie. Sakurakoji Talent's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.
The outfit was ordinary, even somewhat unfashionable. It couldn't compare to the idol uniforms she wore onstage at all. And with a baseball cap and sunglasses at night, even the trendiest outfit would have been hidden anyway.
It was obvious that this girl's private fashion sense was truly terrible—or perhaps she simply didn't care about such things.
"So, what does Miss Hoshino want to buy today?" she asked, getting to the main purpose of the evening.
The other girl had only said that she wanted her to accompany her shopping tonight. She hadn't said what she wanted to buy.
"Ah, well..." Hoshino Ai looked a little embarrassed, continually kneading her hands behind her back. "Could you follow me first?"
Image: "Come to Me," Location: "Images/1755441011-100446961-113736020.jpg"
"Is this the place?" Sakurakoji Talent asked.
"This is the place." Hoshino Ai's tone was certain, her expression resolute.
"..." Sakurakoji Talent looked at the Shinjuku building in front of her—or, more precisely, the branch of a certain famous chain store inside it—and didn't know what to say.
The Uniqlo sign above them was so conspicuous that it gave her a strange sense of having crossed into another lifetime.
This was truly her first time coming here in this life. After all, she was no longer poor. These days, she either bought clothes from high-end flagship stores in major shopping centers or simply designed them herself and had someone make them.
She had thought Hoshino Ai was cautiously leading her somewhere hard to speak about. And this was it?
"So you came to buy clothes. There was no need to be so awkward about it."
"Because I feel embarrassed," Hoshino Ai said with a pout, her delicate brows knitting together as though saying, You just don't understand.
"Uniqlo is great, okay? It's cost-effective, the designs are trendy, and the materials are practical and comfortable against the skin! Isn't it amazing?"
"Mm-hm, I think so too." Sakurakoji Talent was amused by her reaction. "Then you could have just told me directly."
"That wouldn't do!" Hoshino Ai explained seriously. "People generally think idols wear fashionable brands and eat at high-end restaurants, but Underground Idol salaries can't afford those things at all."
"If fans found out that idols also wore inexpensive clothes and finished boxed meal sets, a lot of them would feel disillusioned."
"I was afraid Mr. Sakurakoji would be the same and become disillusioned too."
"But I know now anyway, so doesn't that make it meaningless?" Sakurakoji Talent helplessly exposed her self-deception.
"A-at least I put it off for a while and gave myself some mental preparation!" Hoshino Ai froze for a moment, then stubbornly tried to convince herself.
"So you called me out today because you wanted me to help you choose some clothes?" she guessed at Hoshino Ai's purpose.
"Mm. I think your taste is much better than mine, and you usually dress very elegantly." Hoshino Ai nodded, then pulled Sakurakoji Talent into the brightly lit store. "Come on, follow me."
A few minutes later,
"Mr. Sakurakoji, what do you think of this hat?" Hoshino Ai picked up a brownish-gray folding hat, placed it on her head, and eagerly asked for Sakurakoji Talent's opinion.
"..."
"Mr. Sakurakoji, I think these pants are pretty trendy and cool too. What do you think?" She picked up a pair of ripped jeans and held them in front of her legs.
"..."
"Mr. Sakurakoji, the model looks so good in this knit sweater. I want to buy one too!" Hoshino Ai pointed at the revealing top worn by the model in the poster, whose bust was probably a G cup.
"..."
"Mr. Sakurakoji, don't you think long socks with leather shoes look nice too? It feels like there's a strange contrast to it." She pointed toward the shoe section, resting a finger on her chin as she pondered.
"..."
"Mr. Sakurakoji..."
"..."
"Alright, that's enough." Sakurakoji Talent grabbed the still-excited Hoshino Ai, who wanted to try everything. Her expression was extremely serious as she stared at her with a gaze that brooked no argument. "Miss Hoshino, from now on, you listen to all my suggestions for every outfit. Okay?"
She truly couldn't take it anymore. She knew Hoshino Ai's fashion sense probably wasn't very good, but she had never imagined that in such a short time, the girl could produce so many bizarre ideas. How had she bought clothes before this?
If she kept choosing like this, Sakurakoji Talent didn't dare imagine how much attention they would attract once they went out. If word got around, her lifelong reputation in the design world would be ruined in a single night!
"O-okay." Stunned by her imposing manner, Hoshino Ai immediately behaved herself and could only nod in agreement.
"Good." Sakurakoji Talent nodded, walking along the shelves while sweeping her gaze across the goods on both sides. After making a circuit, she continuously pulled various clothes, pants, hats, shoes, Backpacks, and other accessories from the racks.
"These pieces are one outfit, and this is another. I'll hold the rest for you first. Go try these on."
Holding a pile of clothes and Backpacks, Hoshino Ai was half-forcibly pushed into the fitting room.
"Whew." After shutting her inside, Sakurakoji Talent let out a long breath. She had never expected that when shopping with a woman, the first issue to consider wouldn't be stamina, but the massive difference in their aesthetic tastes.
Several sales clerks nearby exchanged looks and smiled knowingly. They saw this kind of scene dozens of times almost every day.
But weren't these two unusually good-looking? Were they artists from somewhere?
Because their appearances were so outstanding, they had drawn the attention of most of the staff the moment they entered the store. Amid the crowd, they were like people with their own spotlight effect—impossible to miss.
Five minutes later, the fitting room curtain slowly opened. Hoshino Ai stepped out with slightly flushed cheeks, looking at her in a daze as she asked tentatively, "How is it? Does it look strange?"
She wore a brown cashmere trench coat over a knit base layer, paired with black fitted straight-leg pants. On her feet were knee-high boots matching the color of the coat, a chain bag hung from her shoulder, and oversized sunglasses covered her face. Compared to her suspicious outfit from before, her entire aura had undergone a qualitative transformation, as though she had instantly become a darling of street fashion.
Before Sakurakoji Talent could comment, loud exclamations rose from nearby.
"It's wonderful! Miss, this outfit suits you perfectly!" A female sales clerk, drawn in by the aura Hoshino Ai gave off, couldn't help praising her.
"Your boyfriend has excellent taste too! These distinctive pieces have been coordinated so harmoniously that I want to buy a set like it myself!"
"Are you two out on a date today? You two really look wonderful together!"
"N-no, he isn't my boyfriend..." Hoshino Ai hurriedly waved her hands, trying to explain the misunderstanding.
"I understand, I understand!" The clerk wore an expression that saw through everything and paid no attention to her explanation at all.
"..."
"I think it's fine. Try on the other sets too." Knowing that explaining was useless, Sakurakoji Talent could only urge her to continue.
Before you continue