Too Bad the Moon Is Mute (Continued)

"More or less, their relationship is rather complicated."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't want to explain too much. After confirming that the plan was feasible, he ruthlessly and quickly swept Sakayanagi Arisu across the chessboard.

Sakayanagi Arisu's Chess skills are definitely among the best of her age, but she has encountered a truly top-level professional. Since they met, let alone winning once, even maintaining a stalemate has been extremely difficult.

"You can review the situation first, I'll go collect the laundry."

Sakayanagi Arisu, Kitagawa Ryo to Sakayanagi Arisu's focused intently on the Go board, searching for the move that would lead to his downfall, stood up and walked to the balcony to collect the laundry that was drying in the sun.

In a sense, his job as a tutor was very easy. He didn't even need to go to the other party's house. Every week at the appointed time Sakayanagi Arisu would take the initiative to come to his door, usually on a weekend afternoon, while Ichinose Honami would always come in the morning, so the times were just different.

But there shouldn't be any problem with these two meeting, so why think about it?

After bringing in the bedding and clothes that had been airing all day, Kitagawa Ryo sat on the sofa, folding clothes while lost in thought.

"Um?"

After folding the last piece of clothing, Kitagawa Ryo let out a soft "Eh" in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

Sakayanagi Arisu asked casually, her eyes still fixed on the Go board, pushing the pieces to simulate the game she had just played.

"I've lost a piece of clothing."

"Was it blown down by the wind?"

Upon hearing this, Kitagawa Ryo went back to the balcony and looked down, but did not find the missing clothes.

"I didn't see it."

"Was it stolen? I've heard that some really scary fans steal personal items like this."

Considering Kitagawa Ryo's previous identity, Sakayanagi Arisu made her own speculation.

"But probably not many people know my exact address, and if they really were taking it, they shouldn't have only taken that one item."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head and denied it:

"They could indeed be fans, but not my fans."

"Um?"

Confused by Kitagawa Ryo's statement, Sakayanagi Arisu finally raised her head and asked:

"What exactly did you lose? Was it your performance costume?"

With his hands crossed under his chin and leaning slightly forward, Kitagawa Ryo's expression was serious.

"A limited edition idol support outfit, the kind with an autograph."

"..."

"?"

"--"

She seemed to display remarkable composure in an instant; it seems that, in some respects, Sakayanagi possesses the talent of Actor.

This was the first time Sakayanagi Arisu had seen the usually composed Sakayanagi Arisu display such an expression. Kitagawa Ryo watched with interest before continuing his explanation under the other's slightly disdainful gaze:

"It's the idol that Hotaru idols. She has a set like this herself. It was her last wish before going abroad, so she bought a special limited edition autographed set."

"Then why buy it even if it's cold?"

"I didn't buy it, I just won it in a raffle."

Kitagawa Ryo pulled up a photo on his phone of himself, Hotaru, and Ichinose Maki holding glow sticks and taking a selfie before entering the venue. Unlike the other two who were wearing support outfits, Kitagawa Ryo was wearing normal casual clothes.

Sakayanagi Arisu handed the phone to Kitagawa Ryo and said:

"Yes, it's this style. Back then, because I wasn't wearing it, fans suspected I was a rival trying to sabotage the business. It's always such a hassle."

"Hey, hey, don't flip to the next page!"

Noticing that Sakayanagi Arisu's finger had unconsciously slid to the right, Kitagawa Ryo quickly tried to stop him, but it was too late.

"Puff."

Unsurprisingly, laughter erupted.

The next photo shows myself wearing the support outfit I won in a raffle at the event, after being egged on by my sisters.

For Sakayanagi Arisu, seeing Kitagawa Ryo wearing a support shirt with pink and white as the main colors and large, unidentified graffiti on the chest was a rather novel sight.

"Since you already know, I'll help you solve these problems as well."

After his dark past was exposed, Kitagawa Ryo helplessly pursed his lips, stood up and went into the kitchen, fiddling with something in the refrigerator as he spoke.

"What is it?"

"A whole bunch of gifts they sent."

"I later found out she was a friend I knew before, and I guess she deliberately gave me that dress under the guise of a raffle."

Kitagawa Ryo breathed a sigh of relief as he took out seven or eight beautifully packaged gift boxes. He had given Ichinose Honami few days ago, and today he asked Sakayanagi Arisu to take some with him, otherwise he probably wouldn't be able to finish them before they spoiled.

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't immediately pay attention to Kitagawa Ryo's mention of "friends," but instead calmly analyzed the situation:

"If Liang lost this fan-made outfit, then it's likely that it was made by another fanatical fan. Although I don't follow this kind of thing, this idol has been quite a hot topic lately, so it's not surprising that there are some extreme fans."

The girl pointed to the photo and spoke as if to confirm:

"Cold."

"Excuse me, but if I were to ask, how much would I be able to sell this horribly ugly shirt for now?"

"Uh, twenty thousand yen? Maybe a little more."

With a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, Sakayanagi Arisu asked with a smile:

"... May I ask about its workmanship?"

"Material: Ordinary Cloth fabric"

"What is the sensation?"

"It's alright, not too tedious."

"Is there anything special about this horribly ugly pattern?"

"It was hand-drawn by Shizuku herself."

Is it guaranteed to be authentic?

"That's what the promotional image says."

"So what exactly is depicted in this painting?"

Sakayanagi Arisu zoomed in on a section of the photo using two fingers, but the result was still a blurry pixel.

"It's a monster, a curtain monster!"

Kitagawa Ryo smiled as if he had thought of something amusing:

"She used to be afraid, afraid of being watched, afraid of communicating with people, and even when she slept alone, she was afraid of the curtains being blown by the wind, thinking they were some kind of monster."

"But the fans definitely won't be able to tell. In the end, they don't care what she draws, as long as she drew it herself."

"... So it seems you two are indeed good friends when it comes to making money."

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head helplessly. Although her family was well-off, the 20,000 yen support outfit still shocked her spending habits. But when she thought about the "Drama Fever" that the person in front of her had created in the past two years, it seemed acceptable.

I heard that freshmen at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School are overjoyed to receive 100,000 points, equivalent to 100,000 yen, in their first month. If you convert that to cash, it seems like that's barely enough to buy five support outfits.

Therefore, if Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School were to actually admit the children of those big conglomerates or geniuses like Ryo, the students would probably quickly lose their motivation to go to school, because let alone 100,000 points, even 20 million points wouldn't be a distant number for them.

From this perspective, it seems there's a loophole in the rules.

We need to come up with a better solution.

Kitagawa Ryo hadn't expected Sakayanagi Arisu to think of so many things from a support outfit in an instant. He opened the box on his own, took out the pastries inside, and arranged them on a plate. It was almost dinner time, so he would just have this to tide him over.

Half a minute later, Sakayanagi Arisu, who had come to her senses and was sitting properly in the chair, tentatively picked up a small dessert with her right hand:

"It looks pretty good."

"Actually, the taste is not bad. If you want a main dish, there's also sushi."

"Is it also handmade?"

"That's what the note in the box said; after all, it's a token of affection, so I didn't want to throw it away."

Sakayanagi Arisu silently looked at the various exquisite sweets laid out in front of her, and said somewhat awkwardly:

"It seems that Ryo and this person have a really good relationship."

"It's just her one-sided behavior; otherwise, I wouldn't need to cook at all."

"Buckwheat noodles, apple pie, sushi, and whatever else—you can have everything from main courses to desserts in one go."

Ignoring Sakayanagi Arisu's somewhat resentful gaze, Kitagawa Ryo seemed to remember something, stood up, and asked:

There's still coffee in the kitchen, would you like some?

Sakayanagi Arisu choked on a macaron, her purple eyes filled with great confusion.

"Have idols now reached the point where they can hand-grind coffee for their fans?"

"... I bought this at the convenience store downstairs."

Kitagawa Ryo took out a tea set from the cupboard. He didn't really like coffee, but considering the guests, he still prepared some.

While Kitagawa Ryo had only taken a sip or two of his coffee, Sakayanagi Arisu had already leisurely finished his entire cup, although Kitagawa Ryo always felt that the combination of dessert and bitter coffee was a bit strange.

"It really is delicious."

Girls are made of sugar, spices, and other wonderful things.

Even Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but smile gently as she experienced the baptism of happiness called "sweetness."

"If it really was handmade by the other party as Ryo said, then it's truly amazing, a skill to be proud of."

Sakayanagi Arisu was lavish in her praise.

At least it was something she felt she couldn't do.

Because of concerns about her health, she has rarely even entered a kitchen since she was a child, let alone cooked or prepared a meal for others.

From this perspective, the idol named [Shizuku] is already better than her.

"Um."

Kitagawa Ryo savored the food casually, knowing full well the reason behind Sakura Airi's actions.

The same smile that Sakayanagi Arisu was also seen on Sakura Airi, but that's all in the past now.

It seems Sakura is also working hard in ways she herself is unaware of.

They really learned it quite well.

He took a big bite of the dessert in his hand.

"It seems that Ryo and Airi get along quite well."

The gentle old man bent down and greeted the two children in the corridor with kindness.

"Don't worry, I will make sure Sakura can perform on stage as scheduled."

The boy's back was ramrod straight, and his bow was clean and crisp, impeccable.

He turned to the timid girl hiding behind him and said softly:

"If you can recite your memorized lines perfectly today, I'll make you a super delicious dessert tonight, and you can choose any kind you like."

"Is that okay?"

Sakura Airi woke up abruptly from her sleep, propping herself up with sleepy eyes.

I had a dream that I cherish very much.

Is it because I finally have some free time tomorrow to go to Azabu Middle School?

The time displayed on my phone was 2 a. m., but it was still pitch black outside the window.

"Fraud..."