"As long as it's not Bass!" Yamada Ryo clenched her fist and nodded resolutely.
"You said that, okay? No taking it back!" Sakurakoji Talent's eyes flashed sharply, and his expression instantly turned serious. "If you regret it later, I won't give you another chance."
"Uh... what are you planning to do to me?" Seeing him like this, Yamada Ryo felt a little unnerved.
"Nothing, just some things that'll make you very happy. It's no big deal." Sakurakoji Talent chuckled and reassured her. "Besides, as long as you honestly pay back the money, nothing will happen, right?"
"I see, that's true!" It was as though the fog in Yamada Ryo's mind had been swept away, and she slapped her palm.
Then she looked at him with renewed confidence. "That's exactly it, so you can safely 'lend' me the money! Oh, right, this time I want to borrow thirty thousand... no, fifty thousand yen!"
After thinking for a moment, she changed the three fingers she had raised into five, her expression as resolute as if she were joining the party.
"Sure, sure, fifty thousand, right? Of course." Sakurakoji Talent smiled without offering a single word of advice. Like a lender egging on a gambler, he directly took out five of the largest-denomination bills from his wallet and handed them to her.
"Ooh! This is fifty thousand yen! I haven't seen this much money in ages!" Stars shimmered in Yamada Ryo's eyes as she held up the crisp stack of cash. Her mouth was wide enough to fit an egg, and her face was full of emotion.
Heh, she'd have a hard time later. Watching her reaction, Sakurakoji Talent sneered inwardly.
If she dared not pay him back, she definitely wouldn't get away with it!
It was about time for his appointment with Kogisora Yukina. Sakurakoji Talent glanced at his phone screen, said goodbye to Ichiji Hoshika and the others, and left the noisy Starry.
Image: "Be Bolder for the Premium Illustration," location: "Images/1756298240-100446961-113777106.jpg"
Rather than returning to that supermarket, he went to a small park nearby. This was the place they had agreed to meet.
The pitch-black park was completely empty and quiet. Those naughty children had probably all been dragged home by their parents for a good beating, he viciously guessed to himself.
He had been sitting on the swing for five minutes when the sound of running footsteps approached from afar. Soon, she arrived before him, half-crouching as she panted.
"Sorry! It took some time to go home and change. Have you been waiting long?"
"...No, I only got here five minutes ago." Although he had known beforehand that she was disguising herself, seeing her everyday appearance without the disguise still caught Sakurakoji Talent off guard.
She had removed the glasses that sealed away her beauty, and her formerly dowdy braid had been undone. Her thick hair was instead tied into two neat ponytails. Her upper body was no longer clad in the black shirt convenient for work, but a white jacket brimming with youthful energy. Below, she wore a pink ruffled cake skirt, along with a pair of warm white thigh-high stockings.
The plain girl from before was nowhere to be seen. In her place was a youthful, beautiful, and energetic School Idol.
The contrast was especially startling.
"Shocked?" Kogisora Yukina smiled at him mischievously, then pinched her skirt and spun in a circle.
"Yeah, a little. I didn't expect the difference to be this huge."
He had already known about this look of hers, but the impact of seeing it in person was on an entirely different level.
"It couldn't be helped. There was a reason I did that, actually." Kogisora Yukina sighed and sat down on the swing beside him.
"A reason?" Sakurakoji Talent picked up on it, guessing this was why she had called him here.
"Mm. Look, a lot of the students at Minejo Affiliated come from very well-off families, right?" Kogisora Yukina gently swung back and forth as she confided in him. Then she seemed to realize something. "Come to think of it, should I call you Sakurakoji-san? Or would Sakurakoji Talent be better?"
"Either is fine with me."
"Then how about Sakurakoji-kun? You look about the same age as me."
"That works. Then should I call you Miss Kogisora?"
"Mm... adding 'Miss' feels a little strange. Just Kogisora is fine." Kogisora Yukina continued the earlier topic. "Sakurakoji-kun said you know someone at Houjou, so you should know that too, right?"
"Yeah, I know a little." Thinking of Touma Kazusa's family background, Sakurakoji Talent had to agree with her.
Image: "School Idol," location: "Images/1756298266-100446961-113777106.jpg"
Volume One: The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies — My Friends Are Few, and the Evening's Events
"Right? So if I dressed too casually in everyday life, who knows what people would say behind my back. Not to mention working an inconspicuous part-time job outside school." Her swings gradually became wider. "And look, even though it wasn't my choice, I was selected as the Affiliated Miss. That makes things even worse."
"People's words really can be terrifying." Sakurakoji Talent understood. Not to mention anyone else—both he and his mother had been maliciously slandered because of their appearances, and some of the people involved had even been Relatives.
Though they had both ignored it with strong hearts, that did not mean everyone could simply laugh it off as if nothing had happened.
"Seriously, if my friend hadn't signed me up without asking, I never would have wanted to enter a beauty contest like that. And then I unexpectedly won first place. Being watched by everyone feels awful." Kogisora Yukina sighed, exhaustion showing on her face as she spoke of the pressure she had long kept inside.
"Unexpectedly? With your looks, Kogisora, wasn't the result obvious the moment you entered?"
"Although I appreciate the compliment... you're the one person I don't want to hear that from, Sakurakoji-kun." Kogisora Yukina looked at him with an indescribable expression, as if she had been choked up. "How do you even maintain yourself normally? To keep an appearance like this, aside from natural talent, must take quite a bit of effort, right?"
As girls of the new generation, makeup and styling were practically required courses for them. Naturally, she could tell how much extra effort went into such things.
"Well, I guess so. Because of my family's profession, I was exposed to these things from an early age and know more about them. Once it became part of my everyday routine, it stopped feeling difficult." Sakurakoji Talent openly admitted it with a shrug.
"If you went to our school and dressed up just a little, there probably wouldn't have been any beauty contest for me to win, right?"
"Is that a compliment or a jab?"
"Hehe~ That depends on how you take it!" Kogisora Yukina covered her mouth and laughed, answering playfully.
"Anyway, I understand. If this is what you called me here to talk about, then like I said before, I definitely won't tell anyone. You can rest assured." He reassured her again, pressing a hand to his chest in promise.
"And even if I told that acquaintance of mine, she isn't the type to care about other people's business. You really don't need to worry."
"Mm, it's great that you understood so quickly!" Seeing that her purpose had been exposed, Kogisora Yukina stopped hiding it. "By the way, it's amazing that you saw through my disguise. I thought it was pretty hard to recognize me."
"I didn't think it was that hard, though maybe it's because I'm more familiar with makeup."
"Mm, that must be it. Until today, none of my friends at school had been able to see through my disguise... You're the first." Her eyes suddenly became moist, making her look delicate and pitiful, before she brought up another topic.
"Um, there's still some time before my curfew. Do you have time afterward, Sakurakoji-kun?"
"I do. I live alone right now, so there's no curfew at home."
"Eh~ Sakurakoji-kun lives alone? That's so nice~" Kogisora Yukina sounded a little envious. "Living by yourself must be relaxing, right? No parents telling you what to do all the time, and you're free, right?"
"There are upsides to both. Are things not good in the Kogisora Family?"
"No. Other than the curfew, my parents are pretty open-minded, I think. My father's an office worker, and my mother is a full-time housewife. They worked hard to send both my younger brother and me to private school, so we're probably an ordinary middle-class family?" She shook her head.
"But because of that, my allowance is a little... So if I want to buy something, I can only earn the money through part-time work."
"I see. So that's how it is."
"Mm. Though lately, my younger brother might be going through puberty. Things have gotten a little tense between him and our parents."
"That sounds pretty nice, though. It feels like a warm, happy family." Sakurakoji Talent smiled as he swung, imagining what her family was like.
"Haha, what about you, Sakurakoji-kun? What are your family members like?" She neither confirmed nor denied it. It seemed she was aware of it herself and felt a certain amount of pride in it.
"Well, my parents work in New York, so I used to live there with them. But two months ago, my younger sister and I returned to Tokyo."
"Eh? Then you're a returnee? That sounds amazing!" Kogisora Yukina blinked her lively eyes and covered her mouth with both Hands in surprise.
"And you have a younger sister too... Wait, if that's the case, don't you live with your sister?"
"You could say we do, since we see each other every day or two, but we don't live in the same house." Even Sakurakoji Talent found it difficult to explain the complicated details.
"That sounds a bit complicated. Would it be better if I didn't ask?"
"It's not really something I can't talk about, but please do that." Sakurakoji Talent lowered his head as he asked.
"Haha, I understand. Ah, it seems like we're getting off track..." Realizing that the topic had gradually drifted away, she hurriedly corrected herself. "That's not what I wanted to say. Um, if you have time, would you like to go sing karaoke together afterward? My treat!"
"Karaoke?" Sakurakoji Talent looked over at her. So in the end, they really were going there?
"Mm! Whenever I want to relax, I go there! Have you been before, Sakurakoji-kun?" At the mention of it, she became full of energy again, rocking the rusty swing until it squeaked.
"I have, but not often. I don't have many friends, so I usually don't get many chances to go out with people."
"...I feel like you just said something really heartbreaking." Kogisora Yukina stopped moving, her expression complicated as she looked at him.
"If that's the case, then come with me today! Let's go!"
She sprang up from the swing, clasped her hands behind her back, and eagerly walked ahead. Sakurakoji Talent stood and followed behind her.
"To Mariko's Room"
"Make a phone call"
"I kept pretending I was out having fun with men"
"But that girl, too"
"Seemed to be"
"Quite busy"
"..."
Kogisora Yukina held a microphone as she swayed around the private room, moving from one end to the other. Her face overflowed with a radiant smile, and her bright, beautiful singing filled the entire room.
Sakurakoji Talent sat on the sofa, dryly holding a tambourine as he beat out encouragement for her, his expression numb. It had already been an hour, and she had not put down the microphone even once! The moment they entered, she had queued up more than a dozen songs, leaving him no chance to get a word in.
Having such a beautiful girl sing exclusively for him was certainly nice, but could they at least get a fruit platter first before he slowly enjoyed the performance?
Finally, after this song ended, Kogisora Yukina contentedly paused her performance. Facing the sofa, she gave a modest bow and said, "Thank you very much for listening!"
Sakurakoji Talent hurriedly shook the cheering prop in his hand and shouted a couple of cheers at the top of his lungs, leaving her deeply satisfied and a little embarrassed.
"Kogisora, you really do love singing. You actually sang nonstop for an hour—I'm kind of impressed." Sakurakoji Talent looked at her admiringly and spoke sincerely.
"Were you surprised?" Kogisora Yukina replied with a giggle.
"A little."
She sat down on the other side of the sofa, took a sip of juice, and explained, "Actually, I come here alone to sing once a week. Is that strange?"
"No, I think it's a pretty ordinary, normal hobby. Though other people might not be able to sing as much as you." Seeing her drink, Sakurakoji Talent felt a little thirsty too and picked up a drink for a sip.
"I haven't told anyone else about this hobby either, so if possible, please keep it secret along with the part-time job..."
"I understand. Though I don't think either of those things is a big deal." Sakurakoji Talent set down his glass and nodded. "But you really do like singing."
"Mm! Singing is my favorite! I could sing all day without a problem. Sometimes I even leave my mother and younger brother stunned!" She leaned forward with her lovely upper body, and her expression looked less excited than exhilarated.
"I think that might be a bit too... Never mind. As long as you like it." Sakurakoji Talent was awed by her enthusiasm. He had not expected that one hour had merely been her warm-up.
"What should we do next? Do you want to sing with me, Sakurakoji-kun?" She picked up another microphone and offered it to him.
"Since I'm here for once, I'll give it a try." Sakurakoji Talent accepted it, then picked up the song-selection tablet. "Hmm, this one."
"Which one, which one?" Kogisora Yukina leaned closer, her arm brushing against his. The natural fragrance of her hair and body entered his nose, briefly drawing away some of his attention.
"Heh, this one? I know it too. Shall we sing together?" Kogisora Yukina asked expectantly.
"Okay." Sakurakoji Talent agreed, though he had reason to suspect that she simply wanted to sing it.
The screen on the wall in front of them lit up with the MV and song title: Glass Prosperity
Singer: Ogata Rina
Soon, their voices rang out together.
"We can no longer go back to being friends"
"Yet with every passing second, I'm quietly drawn to you"
"You, beneath the sunlight"
"Are like a breeze carrying dreams"
"..."
"Am I in your heart...?"
"I want to ask... but I can't"
"More than that glass-like pretense of strength"
"I want the courage to hold you close"
"..."
They did not sing for long. Because of Kogisora Yukina's curfew, after singing one or two duets, they left the karaoke place.