Bonus Chapter: Kubo Takako in the If Timeline / Bonus Chapter: Kubo Takako in the If Timeline (Part 2)

Inoue Jun took a doughnut from the maid and mumbled around a mouthful, "It's true. Toka's usually a scatterbrained young lady who's always doing something funny, but she's the type who gets stronger the stronger her opponents are. The more fired up she gets, the more..."

Her words grew muffled as she chewed and swallowed, leaving everyone at a loss.

Kunihiro Hajime picked up the thread, full of faith in Toka. "Toka's the passionate type who gets stronger when she faces a strong opponent... And the more fired up she gets, the more likely another Toka is to appear."

"Another one?" Kageyama Sora seized on the key point.

Hajime didn't hide anything. "Yeah... You haven't seen her either, Kageyama. She's very calm, and we can't find a single opening in her..."

"But one day, a man will show up who can melt her..." Inoue Jun grinned and turned her gaze toward Kageyama Sora.

At that, Kageyama Sora looked a little embarrassed. He asked in return, "But the state you're describing—isn't it a lot like the way Koromo feels when she plays mahjong?"

Hajime didn't deny it. Her expression grew complicated as she said, "Yeah, but Toka doesn't like being in that state. She wants to win through her own skill, not by becoming... a Monster..."

The air conditioner in the lounge hummed softly. Amae Koromo curled up in a corner of the sofa, her icy blue eyes fixed on the television screen.

The hem of her pink uniform skirt rose and fell gently with each breath, but her huge red rabbit ears drooped like leaves touched by frost. Her fingertips unconsciously brushed the edge of the score sheet, making a faint rustling sound in the silence. "Toka... looks really excited..."

The end of her sentence was as light as a drifting feather, with a hint of confusion that was difficult to detect.

Kageyama Sora followed her gaze. On the live broadcast, Ryumonbuchi Toka sat upright at the mahjong table.

The girl's long golden hair fell around her shoulders, and her ahoge quivered slightly.

Her green eyes burned with an almost obsessive fervor. A feverish flush colored her fair cheeks, as if the glow of sunset had soaked into a snowy field.

The fingers of one hand trembled faintly where they propped up her cheek, the knuckles white with tension. The tiles in her other hand were slick with sweat.

Her knees seemed to tremble beneath the table. The skin visible below her uniform skirt had an unnatural flush, and even the beads of sweat sliding from her temples glinted with excitement.

The moment she declared riichi, she leaned back in her chair, the corners of her lips lifting into a bold, almost unhinged smile.

For a moment, the lights and shadows of the broadcast seemed to sketch a pair of black wings behind her. They quivered with the rhythm of her fingers tapping the table, as if ready to burst through the screen and shred every opponent beneath their invisible edge.

The first hand ended in an exhaustive draw.

Even the commentators remarked that everyone was playing cautiously. They couldn't believe the first hand had ended in a draw.

It was the first draw they'd seen in the tournament so far today.

In the second hand, Haramura Nodoka won. A player from Kazekoshi Girls' High School dealt into her hand, but...

As the male commentator put it, it was a rather unremarkable win.

In a sense, it had also broken the stalemate.

After that, Haramura Nodoka started calling tiles with pon and chi.

Toka began declaring riichi and calling tiles too. Neither side was playing as cautiously as they had at the start; they were still careful, but they'd begun to attack as well.

As the match progressed, however, Haramura Nodoka's condition kept improving. Her cheeks grew redder and redder...

It was as if she were... transforming...

Watching the screen, Kageyama Sora murmured, "She must have entered that state."

"What state?" Kunihiro Hajime asked, curious and a little worried. She was the one here most concerned about Toka, who seemed to be getting pushed around by Haramura Nodoka.

Kageyama Sora thought for a moment. Without revealing any secrets, he tried to give everyone as much of an explanation as he could. "Well... When Nodoka plays face-to-face, she's often affected by what's happening around her. That's why she wins so often as Xiao Hehe, but doesn't have as high a win rate in person. But after some things happened, she learned to maintain Xiao Hehe's online mahjong state even in real life."

He certainly wasn't going to say how she'd trained for it.

The lounge air was hazy with lemon-scented mist from the diffuser. The hum of the central air conditioner mingled with the background noise of the broadcast, weaving a fine web through the silence.

Inoue Jun's fingers tightened around her water bottle until they went pale. Condensation trickled through them and pooled in her palm. "So... Toka's really going to be all right?"

She looked up at the screen, her eyes full of worry.

Kunihiro Hajime leaned against a locker, her black ponytail swaying gently as she moved. The green bow in her hair caught the light. "Toka... she's getting more and more excited."

On the live broadcast, Ryumonbuchi Toka sat at the mahjong table, the ends of her hair trembling in the air-conditioning.

Her green eyes were like poisoned jade, fixed on Haramura Nodoka across from her. Her fair cheeks had turned a feverish red, and even her earlobes were flushed a vivid color.

When Nodoka pushed a five-man tile forward, Toka suddenly bit her lower lip. Her canine pressed a crescent-shaped mark into her lip, and a stifled laugh escaped her throat.

"Playing against Xiao Hehe in person... As expected, the real thing feels even more delicious..." Toka's nails dug deep into her palm, but she didn't seem to notice the pain.

Scorching thoughts churned through her mind. She could almost see herself tearing through Haramura Nodoka's defenses at the mahjong table. The girl leaned back slightly in her chair, her swanlike neck gleaming beneath the overhead lights. A bead of sweat gathered at her collarbone, slid slowly along its hollow, and disappeared beneath the collar of her pure white shirt.

When the camera zoomed in, it was easy to see her lick her lips. Her tongue first brushed lightly across them, then she bit her lower lip hard, her canine almost breaking the skin.

She looked like a hungry beast eyeing its prey, and like a devout believer gazing at a sacred object.

In the lounge, Kageyama Sora's Adam's apple bobbed. "What kind of perverted fantasy is she indulging in now?"

He rubbed his aching temples, but it did nothing to dispel the near-mad look on his cousin's face.

If Chapter: Kubo Takako

It took place on the night the preliminary round of the qualifiers ended.

Suppose Kageyama Sora hadn't gone on a date with Fukuji Mihoko, and had instead planned to go have a drink alone...

That day, Kazekoshi Girls' High School had qualified flawlessly, but their coach, Kubo Takako, had still angrily punished her students.

But since the one she was going after was Fukuji Mihoko, Kageyama Sora immediately stepped in to stop the foul-tempered beauty of a coach.

Kageyama Sora had thought they'd only cross paths once in a while, but the world was full of strange coincidences.

That day, neon lights blurred into hazy smudges in the rain. When Kageyama Sora pushed open the bar door, the scent of whiskey and cigarettes washed over him.

A crystal chandelier cast diamond-shaped patterns of light across the bar. For some reason, he thought of all the nonsense that had happened in the lounge that afternoon.

"Bourbon. On the rocks." He leaned against the redwood counter. The clink of glass was as crisp as mahjong tiles colliding.

A glass suddenly shattered in the corner. A blonde woman stumbled into a table and knocked it over, her black suit jacket spattered with alcohol. It was none other than the stern coach, Kubo Takako.

Kubo Takako propped her forehead up with one hand, her hair falling across half her face. The silver ring on her ring finger glinted coldly in the light.

"Another..." Her voice was hoarse. She reached for the fresh glass the server had brought her, but her fingertips slipped against its rim.

Kageyama Sora instinctively reached out to steady the glass. Its cool sides touched his palm, bringing back the warmth of her wrist from earlier that day.

"Feel like butting into other people's business?" Kubo Takako narrowed her eyes, her breath smelling of alcohol as it brushed his collar. "Got a hero complex?"

"I just don't want you to stain the carpet." Kageyama Sora pulled out a tissue to wipe the counter. From the corner of his eye, he caught the tiny beads of sweat on her neck.

The imposing coach from that afternoon looked like a crumpled playing card now—disheveled, yet hiding another kind of sharpness.

Kubo Takako suddenly grabbed his sleeve, her grip astonishingly strong. "Kid, have a drink with me."

She undid the top button of her suit, revealing a glimpse of her collarbone. "Tell me, what's so great about that little girl you're protecting?"

Whiskey sloshed in the glass, reflecting the redness at the corners of her eyes.

Kageyama Sora remembered the way sunlight had passed through Fukuji Mihoko's eyelashes when she stepped forward. "I guess... even when she's caught in the rain herself, she still thinks about holding an umbrella for someone else. She really shines."

The glass slammed onto the counter. Amber liquid splashed onto Kubo Takako's sleeve.

"How foolish." The foul-tempered coach scoffed. "On the night of last year's final, Hanana's mistake threw away a whole year's worth of effort. She was completely crushed by Amae Koromo! Do you know why I'm so hard on them?"

At some point, rain had begun to fall outside.

The rain grew heavier, its patter against the windows mingling with the jazz music.

Kubo Takako undid the second button of her shirt, exposing her slender neck. She turned her glass, seeming lost in the past. "When I was their age, I was just like them. I was a mahjong player at Kazekoshi Girls' High School too... In the final hand of the championship match, I made a mistake and handed the trophy to our opponents with my own hands."

Kageyama Sora looked at the ring on her ring finger. For some reason, it seemed to hold some special meaning.

"After that, I swore I'd never let my players go through that kind of despair." She tilted her head back and finished the last of her drink. "But... the harder you try to hold on, the more they want to run away. I'm only doing it for their own good..."

Kageyama Sora hesitated, then said slowly, "But... they're still young girls..."

The sharp scent of whiskey hung in the air. Kubo Takako suddenly leaned closer, her hair brushing his ear. "If they weren't young, pretty girls, would you still care?"

Her breath was warm with alcohol, and her eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows beneath her eyes.

Kageyama Sora's Adam's apple bobbed. The bar's lights streamed across her blonde hair, making the shadow beneath her suit collar look even more suggestive.

A last-call announcement came from the distance, but Kubo Takako suddenly chuckled. Her laughter was hoarse with drunkenness. "Forget it. Why am I telling you all this?"

She grabbed her suit jacket and stood, but stumbled as she turned.

Kageyama Sora reached out and caught her around the waist, feeling her slender bones beneath his hand.

"Let go." Her voice was muffled, but she didn't struggle. They stood frozen in the narrow aisle. Reflections from the glass door cut diamond-shaped patterns across the floor, just like the designs on mahjong tiles.

"Coach Kubo." Kageyama Sora's voice sounded especially clear in the quiet bar. "You know, they all understand that you're doing this for their sake. They appreciate it. It's just... sometimes, being strict isn't really the answer."

He felt her body tremble faintly in his arms. After a moment's thought, he voiced what he believed. "Maybe... you don't have to be the strict coach every now and then."

Kubo Takako jerked her head up. The flush at the corners of her eyes hadn't faded, but her breathing had grown unsteady.

Beneath the bar's warm yellow lights, their shadows overlapped in the diamond-shaped glow, as if they might blur into one another at any moment.

Kubo Takako's damp eyelashes trembled. The moment she met Kageyama Sora's gaze, the bar lights shattered into tiny stars in her pupils. She suddenly gave a soft, self-mocking laugh. "Not be the strict coach? What else could I be?"

Kageyama Sora released her, then seemed almost casually to drape his suit jacket over her shoulders, shielding her from the cold draft that swept through the bar. "Maybe you could start by being yourself again."

He paused, looking at the dazed expression on her face. "There's a 24-hour bar nearby. Want to give it a try?"

Kubo Takako tugged at the jacket on her shoulders. Her perfume mingled with the scent of whiskey as it enveloped him. "You little brat. You're pretty good at making excuses."

But she was already following Kageyama Sora toward the door, crushing the diamond-shaped patterns of light scattered across the floor beneath her heels.

The rain had stopped at some point. The night wind carried the dampness with it.

They walked side by side down the empty street, the sounds of dress shoes and high heels alternating.

The neon sign of the 24-hour bar glowed purple. As they stepped inside, the jazz music grew clear, and the scent of citrus and rum hung in the air.

"Two Jokers' Smiles." Kageyama Sora raised an eyebrow at the bartender.

Amber liquid swirled in the stemmed glasses. The orange peel on each rim curled into a sly arc.

Kubo Takako traced her fingertips along the glass. Its coolness helped clear her head a little. "You really do know how to order."

"...Meeting someone who knows their drinks makes it more fun, doesn't it?" Kageyama Sora clinked his glass against hers. The liquor chimed softly.

As they downed one glass after another, the conversation shifted from mahjong strategy to childhood stories. Kubo Takako told him about sneaking over a wall in high school to buy strawberry cake and getting punished with laps around the field. She laughed so hard she leaned back, her blonde hair brushing Kageyama Sora's hand and raising a tingling sensation.

At three in the morning, the bar was nearly empty.

Kubo Takako's cheeks were flushed. She tilted her head and looked at Kageyama Sora. "Tell me, if someone had kept me company and helped me forget my troubles over drinks back then..."

Her voice gradually faded, but when Kageyama Sora reached out to brush aside her fallen hair, she suddenly grabbed his wrist.

Their breaths mingled beneath the purple lights. Tiny ripples spread across the liquor in their stemmed glasses, shattering the intimate atmosphere into shimmering fragments.

If Chapter: Kubo Takako (Part Two)

Kageyama Sora was still in her grip, the warmth of her fingertips seeming to burn into his skin.

Kubo Takako's gaze grew hazy and heated. In the purple light, his reflection filled her eyes, as if a fire ready to spread was hidden inside them.

"Kageyama Sora..." she murmured his name, her voice ending in a faint quiver. Her breath brushed lightly over the back of his hand. "Do you know how dangerous you are? You're this young, but you have the kind of charm a mature man should have..."

Kageyama Sora wanted to say it was because he'd started doing business early and had dealt with plenty of old foxes, so he was more mature than people his age.

But he felt that explaining himself like that would come off as irritatingly arrogant, so he held back.

Besides, Kubo Takako might not have expected an answer from him at all.

Before he could reply, she suddenly stood. Her heels clicked sharply against the wooden floor as she pulled him deeper into the bar.

She'd asked earlier if they had any private rooms, and he hadn't thought much of it.

Now it seemed she'd had a plan all along.

The hallway lights were dim and warm, casting swaying shadows over them.

Kubo Takako pushed open the door to a private room and pulled Kageyama Sora inside. Then the door clicked shut behind them.

A faint sandalwood scent filled the room, mingling with the smell of alcohol on them both. An intimate atmosphere instantly filled the cramped space.

Purple curtains patterned with dark designs blocked out the light from outside. The only source of illumination was a uniquely shaped lamp in the corner, its warm yellow glow making Kubo Takako's blonde hair shine even brighter.

She released Kageyama Sora's hand but didn't step away. Instead, she rose onto her toes and braced both hands against the wall behind him, trapping him in the narrow space.

"Seeing you today reminded me of so many parts of myself I'd hidden away." Her voice was husky from the alcohol, but utterly alluring. "The girl who was happy over strawberry cake, who ran wild around the field..."

Her fingertips slid slowly down his collarbone and stopped over his heart. "You brought her back to life."

Kageyama Sora's throat tightened. He looked at the face so close to his own. The stern, hard-edged coach from that afternoon had vanished completely, leaving only a captivating and vulnerable woman.