But Ryumonbuchi Toka genuinely didn't understand. "That's your reason for being with Kageyama Sora? Don't you think you're being too irresponsible toward yourself?"
Was she being too irresponsible? Amae Koromo thought about it, then suddenly felt that she didn't need to take responsibility for her existence in this world—or anything else—just because of so-called social ethics.
Besides, she was clearly happy. How did that make her someone who needed to be held responsible?
But she couldn't quite put her thoughts into words. She suddenly leaned closer, her warm breath brushing Toka's burning earlobe. "Tell me, why should we let 'responsibility' put a limit on this kind of happiness?"
The words were like a red-hot brand, instantly searing a forbidden image into Toka's mind.
She imagined two people kissing along the collarbone. She saw Kageyama Sora's long, slender fingers brushing over the snow-white nape of Amae Koromo's neck, their silhouettes entwined beneath the moonlight, the flush on Koromo's earlobes spreading down her swanlike neck to her collarbones.
"Enough!" She stumbled backward, not even sure whether she was telling Amae Koromo to stop or telling the images in her own mind to stop.
Amae Koromo, meanwhile, seemed to be savoring the sensations of what had happened the night before.
It really had been wonderful...
After a moment of silence, Amae Koromo cupped her flushed cheeks and said something startling with an innocent expression. "Has anyone ever said that doing that kind of thing means you have to be a couple?"
"You make a good point..." Toka was almost convinced by Amae Koromo's twisted logic.
Something about it felt wrong, but she really couldn't think of a rebuttal.
Seeing Ryumonbuchi Toka's expression soften, Amae Koromo appeared innocent as she delivered the final blow. "Besides, Cousin Kong is really good at it. It feels so nice... If you like him, Toka, you can try it too."
Kageyama Sora, who had been watching from the sidelines, was utterly stunned.
He hadn't expected the situation to develop into something this outrageous.
He was just about to speak when Amae Koromo stopped him with a look.
Ryumonbuchi Toka, meanwhile, was clearly in a terrible state.
Perhaps the young lady had too vivid an imagination. Amae Koromo's words conjured a scene in her mind.
The scene she'd just pictured—Kageyama Sora pinning Amae Koromo down and kissing her, his kisses traveling from her lips to her neck and collarbone—was suddenly replaced with an image of herself in Koromo's place.
And she...
In the fantasy playing in her mind, she was blushing and enjoying it!
The "startling words" and the even more startling images in her head frightened Ryumonbuchi Toka so badly that she stumbled backward and knocked over a vase. "You're all crazy! You've all gone crazy!"
Ryumonbuchi Toka seemed to have imagined all sorts of things. Her pretty face grew redder and redder, until she looked as if she'd been boiled. "W-who wants to do that kind of thing?! Shut up!"
Amae Koromo wasn't offended. Instead, she tilted her head, a mischievous glint hidden in her innocent smile. "You really don't want to? Your ears are redder than the sunset."
"Be quiet!" Toka's shriek nearly lifted the roof. She grabbed the scattered newspaper and rushed out, her high heels tapping a frantic rhythm across the marble floor.
She usually never spoke harshly to Amae Koromo, but this time, she'd truly been pushed too far.
Ryumonbuchi Toka had arrived in high spirits, but Amae Koromo's seemingly natural yet remarkably daring remarks had scared her into turning around and leaving.
Or rather, running.
As she burst out the door, the hallway sconces stretched a distorted shadow behind her, like her entire worldview collapsing in that moment.
The young lady, who usually cared so much about elegance and glamour, now seemed to be making a rather disheveled escape.
It seemed the young lady really did think the whole world had gone mad.
After Ryumonbuchi Toka left, Kageyama Sora didn't come back to his senses until he heard the front door slam.
He looked at the mess on the floor, his Adam's apple bobbing as he was about to speak. But Amae Koromo had already crossed the cold tiles barefoot and risen onto her tiptoes to cover his mouth.
The faint fragrance in the girl's hair drifted around him. "Shh—" Her azure eyes brimmed with amusement and mischief. "In this situation, whatever you say will just get Toka mad at you. I'd better explain it to her."
That was right. During the confrontation with Ryumonbuchi Toka, Amae Koromo hadn't let Kageyama Sora get involved, which was why he'd stayed silent.
When all was said and done, Amae Koromo had only been trying to protect him.
That left Kageyama Sora feeling rather conflicted.
Amae Koromo, however, didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, she brought up something she'd mentioned the night before. "Didn't you say I'd meet lots of interesting people at the tournament? I'm already looking forward to it..."
Fukuji Mihoko
Nagano Prefecture was always shrouded in a hazy mist during the rainy season. Kageyama Sora clutched his phone as he paused in front of a luxury boutique.
The screen was still showing the large red dot in his chat with Ryumonbuchi Toka from yesterday—yes, she'd blocked him.
His Adam's apple bobbed. His thumb rubbed unconsciously along the edge of his phone as he thought that he really had offended Ryumonbuchi Toka badly.
Ever since childhood, Toka had been the little princess everyone doted on, proud and haughty.
Perhaps his sudden appearance really had thrown her life off balance.
First, she'd seen the newspaper report about him and Haramura Nodoka, which called Nodoka his cousin. Then Ryumonbuchi Toka had caught him in bed with Amae Koromo, doing that sort of thing. After that, Amae Koromo had stirred her up with a whole string of remarks.
Kageyama Sora didn't even know why he needed to apologize to Ryumonbuchi Toka about his private life.
Even if he had accidentally seen her completely naked the first time he visited the Ryumonbuchi residence, it had been an accident, and she hadn't held it against him...
But when he thought of Ryumonbuchi Toka's reddened eyes and trembling shoulders, it felt as if a heavy weight were pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
He'd planned to invite her out for a meal and apologize properly. Instead, he'd discovered she'd blocked him.
In that case, he'd buy her something as an apology gift.
He took a deep breath and stepped into the store.
The crystal chandelier scattered flecks of light across the velvet carpet. A saleswoman approached in ten-centimeter heels, her sweet smile tinged with professional distance. "Are you shopping for yourself, sir, or buying a gift?"
"It's for someone else. She's... my cousin." Kageyama Sora considered his words. "I want something that'll make someone who's angry... No, something that'll make someone stop being angry."
The saleswoman's smile stiffened for a moment, then quickly returned to normal as she led him toward the jewelry section.
It was a terribly vague request, but surely there wasn't a woman who didn't like jewelry.
Just then, a graceful figure appeared in the glass display window's reflection.
Kageyama Sora turned instinctively and saw a girl with medium-length blonde hair standing in front of the dessert shop across the street. She wore the uniform of Kazekoshi Girls' High School, her white blouse tucked into a pink pleated skirt that accentuated her slender waist. With her right eye closed, she was intently studying the strawberry cake in the window, her eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath her eye.
Although Kageyama Sora had never met her, he'd seen her in the information he'd been given.
Fukuji Mihoko, a third-year student at Kazekoshi Girls' High School and captain of the Mahjong Club. Last year, Kazekoshi Girls' High School had taken Nagano Prefecture's top spot from Ryumonbuchi High School.
In the several years before that, Kazekoshi Girls' High School had held Nagano Prefecture's qualifying spot every year.
Fukuji Mihoko had no idea that someone was watching her through the glass. She was thinking about buying some desserts to take back for the members of her Mahjong Club.
The doorbell chimed as she pushed the door open.
Habitually, she brushed the blonde hair beside her ear with her right hand, revealing a gentle smile. She said softly to the shop assistant, "Could I have a large strawberry cake, please? To go."
Her voice was as sweet as milk mixed with honey, but never cloying.
Kageyama Sora followed her almost as if in a trance. He didn't even know why he was following her.
When he entered the dessert shop, he saw Fukuji Mihoko rising onto her toes to reach for the strawberry plushie on the highest shelf of the shop's little gift display. Her slender ankles were faintly visible beneath her white stockings.
"Would you like some help?" Only after the words left his mouth did he realize how abrupt he sounded. He hurriedly added, "I mean, I'm tall, so I can reach it."
That was true. For a boy, Kageyama Sora was tall even among his peers.
He was also quite handsome, and even though his approach was a little abrupt, it wouldn't put people off. If anything, it might make them blush.
Fukuji Mihoko turned around. Surprise flickered in her left eye before giving way to a smile. "I'd appreciate that."
She stepped back half a pace, her hair brushing Kageyama Sora's hand. A faint, girlish fragrance lingered in the air.
The moment his fingertips touched the plushie's fur, the glass door opened again. Two girls who looked like middle schoolers rushed in, chattering excitedly. "Hey! We'll take the last strawberry plushie!"
Kageyama Sora's hand froze in midair. Seeing this, Fukuji Mihoko gently tugged at his sleeve. "It's all right. Let them have it."
Her voice was soft, yet reassuring.
She really was an exceptionally gentle girl.
But... Kageyama Sora noticed the brief disappointment in Fukuji Mihoko's eyes and, almost without thinking, told the shop assistant, "I'll take the plushie and the strawberry cake." Before Fukuji Mihoko could say anything, he hurriedly added, "Think of it as an apology. I'm sorry for approaching you so suddenly."
Fukuji Mihoko was momentarily taken aback. She didn't understand why this handsome boy was being so kind to her.
"Then I'll accept, since you insist." She took her wallet from her handbag. "But let me pay. I'm already so grateful that you helped me get the plushie. I'd feel bad making you pay for it too."
Kageyama Sora wasn't short on money, and he didn't intend to take Fukuji Mihoko's money.
But... remembering the reason he'd come out in the first place, Kageyama Sora said, "If you feel bad about it, maybe you could do me a favor?"
When they left the dessert shop, the rain had stopped sometime during their visit.
The sunset turned the clouds honey-gold, and the puddles in the street reflected their figures walking side by side.
Fukuji Mihoko held the cake box. The ribbon on the strawberry plushie was wrapped around her wrist, swaying gently as she walked. "So you want to buy a gift for your cousin, who's important to you and is angry with you, but you don't know what to get, so you'd like me to help?"
Kageyama Sora looked up at the evening clouds. "That's right. I did something that made her angry, and she blocked me, so I need to make it up to her."
He wasn't going to say what had actually happened. He wasn't the kind of person who shared his private life with everyone.
Fukuji Mihoko listened quietly, then thought it over. "Since you're family, I'm sure you can work things out, no matter what happened. And the fact that you want to make amends means there's still a chance to mend things."
"I hope there really is a chance to make things right." Kageyama Sora sighed. "Honestly, I don't want things to go sour between us, but I can't understand why she cares so much about what I do."
"Because she cares about you, of course. That's why she cares about what happens to you," Fukuji Mihoko answered without hesitation. "If she didn't care about you, she wouldn't care what happened to you at all."
Kageyama Sora thought Fukuji Mihoko made a lot of sense. He became even more determined to make things right with Toka.
As he thought that, Fukuji Mihoko asked, "By the way, you haven't told me what she likes. Does she have any favorite clothing brands? Has she posted anything she wants but can't get on social media?"
A Note on the Upcoming Release
Hi, everyone! We meet again!
Dear readers, this book is reaching eighty thousand words, so it's time for it to go premium. (3)
I suddenly felt like chatting with everyone. I'd said before that I wasn't going to write a crossover, but the other day, while browsing pictures, I accidentally came across an old image of Amae Koromo I'd saved years ago. It suddenly made me really want to write about her.
When I first watched Saki, I especially liked Amae Koromo. I felt like she had a different art style from all the other characters.
Now that I'm older, I'm more fond of characters like Haramura Nodoka, Toka, and Jindai Komaki... My tastes have changed quite a bit.
As for why I don't write much of that and have mainly focused on original stories...
Personally, I'm not very familiar with some of the recent harem yuri anime. You can tell from my first crossover that the shows I watch are all pretty old—they're from when I was in school.
Saki, Date A Live, K-On!, Kakegurui.
They're all shows with a real sense of their era, and I'm worried we won't have much in common.
And in fact, the numbers for this Saki-themed story are far worse than those for my original work. Even so, I've decided to finish it.
Purely because I love it. Because I like it.
As for updates, even though I already have two brain-intensive books to write, working on this crossover really makes me happy.
It's the kind of satisfaction where I can finish a chapter in half an hour. Maybe it's because I'd already worked out what I wanted to express in the early chapters?
So don't worry that I'll abandon it. I'll finish it no matter what. I'll complete this Saki arc—that's a promise.
Enough sentimentality. Let's talk about the male lead.
He's handsome, rich, and—true to my usual style—easy for dear readers to put themselves in his shoes!
And naturally, I'll be bringing in all the beautiful girls who are completely pure~
I'm counting on everyone's support!
A Date with a Gentle Girl
After hearing Fukuji Mihoko's advice on choosing a gift, Kageyama Sora rubbed his chin and looked at her dazzling blonde hair. "She likes white and anything glamorous, but..." He remembered the ahoge in Ryumonbuchi Toka's blonde hair bobbing as she laughed wildly from time to time. "She's a young lady. She has everything she needs, and her only hobby is mahjong."
"I see." Fukuji Mihoko tapped the cake box with her fingertips, then suddenly brightened. "I know a popular designer brand that just came out with a new line. Their jewelry combines traditional patterns with modern designs. Maybe we'll find something suitable."
As she turned, her hair brushed Kageyama Sora's arm, carrying a faint, girlish fragrance.
They walked side by side along the shopping street, the damp air of the rainy season filled with the sweet smell of pastries.
As they passed a music shop, the jazz CDs in the window caught Fukuji Mihoko's eye, and she stopped. "The owner of this shop finds rare out-of-print records in Europe. Do you think the person you mentioned would like a music-themed gift?"
"She only listens to Chopin," Kageyama Sora replied. He remembered hearing low piano music from Toka's study whenever he passed it. "And it has to be the Rubinstein version."
Yes, even though Ryumonbuchi Toka was a brash young lady, she did have refined tastes.
Fukuji Mihoko blinked and smiled. "She sounds like a very particular young lady."
Before you continue