'Gulp...'
Senpai wasn't wearing pajamas.
Thinking it over carefully, the problem wasn't all that bad — as long as he was wearing pajamas himself, it would be fine.
Lin Ye lowered his head, and discovered that he too was bare — not a trace of pajamas on him whatsoever.
M-my, my pajamas!?
My bathrobe!?
And my shorts!? Where did they all go?
Could it be — could it be... that something had happened last night, that he and Mai Sakurajima had waged an epic battle?
When that thought resurfaced, Lin Ye suddenly noticed that his whole body ached today, that his lower back and his back were sore, as though he'd gone through something quite particular last night.
Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!?
Lin Ye broke out in a cold sweat all over.
This had to be a hallucination.
This had to be a physical reaction caused by psychological factors.
Last night surely hadn't seen the appearance of the scene he least wanted to see.
So thinking, Lin Ye carefully reached out a hand.
Now he intended to further confirm what had happened last night by checking the state of Senpai's body.
If something had really been done last night, there would surely be marks on Senpai's skin.
Please let nothing awful have happened.
Lin Ye slowly extended his hand, grasping the edge of the blanket, applying just a touch of force. At the same time, he wracked his memory for what had happened last night — after chatting and teasing back and forth with Mai Sakurajima a few times, he had simply lain down and fallen straight into a deep sleep.
Throughout his sleep, he had felt absolutely nothing of note.
So...
"Boyfriend-kun."
The girl with long black hair had, at some point unknown to him, already awoken. Her bright eyes were fixed on Lin Ye, her right hand sweeping casually through her mussed strands of hair, revealing in that same motion an alluring stretch of scenery.
With her breath, Lin Ye caught a sweet fragrance that wafted in — the scent of Mai Sakurajima.
"First thing in the morning, and you want to look at your girlfriend's body? You really can't go doing that without asking my permission, you know."
She smiled, unable to hide a trace of amusement.
Mai Sakurajima showed no sign of displeasure at this action of Lin Ye's.
Lin Ye's heart immediately tightened — the alarm bells inside him ringing louder by the second.
Could it be that something really had happened last night, and that was why Senpai was being this bold? Otherwise, shouldn't a girl be shy and reserved? Shouldn't she have flushed bright red and pulled the blanket up to cover her body?
"Senpai, I was just — that — this—"
"I get it. Last night you still hadn't had enough, right? Even though you took me so many times."
Lin Ye: "..."
So it really did happen!?
"You wore me out something awful. Even after I'd fallen asleep, your body was unexpectedly well-behaved."
Well-behaved indeed.
No reaction at all.
Mai Sakurajima was practically dying of frustration.
Last night she had made up her mind, fully prepared to go for it, but this guy Lin Ye had been useless!?
In the end, Mai Sakurajima could only give up and stop struggling, calmly accepting that fact.
Besides, she also knew that, given Lin Ye's current mindset and consciousness, holding him with the 'physical relationship' alone — making Lin Ye end his ambiguous ties with other girls, with Yukinoshita, with Ai Hoshino — was, in her view, an impossible thing.
Refusing to give up a forest for a single tree — that wasn't just talk, it was something he genuinely intended to do.
"So, Boyfriend-kun, getting any ideas again this morning? You're young and your body really is good!"
Senpai, you're plenty young yourself.
Mai Sakurajima glanced down a few times, but because of the blanket, she didn't see anything.
Lin Ye's tangled thoughts also slowly recovered with time, and he began to think things over again.
Right now Senpai's words were full of suggestive teasing, but had anything really happened between them last night?
Rather than guessing about it endlessly, why not switch to a more direct, straightforward approach?
"Senpai, did anything happen between us last night?"
"What do you think?"
Mai Sakurajima rolled her eyes and threw the question back. "You slept with me last night — is Boyfriend-kun planning on weaseling out, on not taking responsibility?"
"Senpai, I'm asking you this question very seriously right now. Please answer me with the facts."
"You... slept with me."
Mai Sakurajima pointed at herself and at Lin Ye. But with Lin Ye now asking seriously, she wasn't going to keep stringing him along.
After all, something like that could be judged by all sorts of telltale signs.
It wasn't Lin Ye's first time either — he had plenty of experience. A quick lift of the blanket and a glance would tell him whether or not anything had happened.
"That much is beyond doubt — but it was just sleeping, nothing more."
Mai Sakurajima gazed at him, lips pressed together, expression serious.
"Then... my clothes..."
"Who knows. Maybe last night holding me felt so comfortable that you stripped them off yourself — and stripped mine off too."
If I'd actually stripped off your clothes, there's no way I would have done nothing.
So the situation with the clothes had absolutely nothing to do with him.
Senpai had to have done it.
He'd almost lost his innocence — Lin Ye broke out in a cold sweat.
Then again, losing his innocence to Senpai wouldn't have been bad — she was a fine partner. The only regret would be not having properly experienced it. Asleep as he had been, how could he possibly have felt anything?
"Boyfriend-kun, you have to take responsibility, okay?"
"With Senpai saying that, of course I'll take responsibility."
"Mm."
She gave a small sound of approval, satisfied by Lin Ye's answer that hadn't held even a trace of hesitation. She shifted, edging closer, and her hands, trembling slightly, wrapped around Lin Ye's arm.
"For that answer, I give you sixty points. A passing grade."
"That's all I get?"
"Right. If you want a higher score, you have to be wholeheartedly devoted to me, okay?"
Her eyes reflected Lin Ye's features. What she meant was simple — once again, she was hinting at Lin Ye to end his ties with the other women.
"Wholeheartedly devoted — isn't that a given? Of course I'll be wholeheartedly devoted."
After a brief moment of delight, Mai Sakurajima immediately realized who the target of Lin Ye's 'wholehearted devotion' was.
"Sooner or later you're going to get cut down in a Shuraba. A greedy man will end up losing everything in the end."
"Senpai, are you included in that scope as well?"
Included? Wouldn't that mean she would leave Lin Ye?
Not included? Wouldn't that essentially be tacit permission for Lin Ye to keep playing around outside, chasing girls, keeping his ambiguous ties with other girls? That absolutely wouldn't do.
Mai Sakurajima could not accept that.
"It depends on your future behavior. I'll decide based on how you act."
"Hey, hey, Senpai's being too sly — deliberately stringing me along."
"Compared to someone else, I'm much better."
"As if. I didn't deceive anyone — I disclosed everything. What I said is the most genuine, honest truth there could be."
Worse than a lie.
This kind of honesty was just too painful to hear.
As a girl, she would have rather heard nice, sweet lies.
On the large red-violet round bed,
two figures lay nestled against each other.
The girl had gone from her initial awkwardness to becoming used to it now, and the man too had gradually gone from his initial racing heart to his present calm.
The two of them lay idly on the bed, chatting back and forth.
"What does Senpai plan to do next? Last night's confession incident has already shaken the entire internet. Many of your fans are cursing you like crazy, expressing intense dissatisfaction toward you."
It was a scene every female celebrity had to go through after a relationship was officially announced.
This time, Mai Sakurajima's situation was many, many times higher on the Trending search than any celebrity romance news of recent years.
In the beginning, in order to get more people to recognize Mai Sakurajima's existence and pull her out of her abnormal state, Lin Ye had done everything he could to amplify the impact.
His method had succeeded. But now, after that success, the corresponding aftermath had also appeared.
As a major star, Mai Sakurajima's private life drew enormous attention — Japanese stars in particular were not supposed to have partners, and female stars especially so.
But this time, Mai Sakurajima had not only accepted the confession in public, she had even offered up a kiss of her own accord. For her many adoring fans, this was an extremely heavy blow.
Many of them turning their backs on her was not out of the question — even the possibility of the agency suing Mai Sakurajima and demanding compensation wasn't entirely out of the question.
The most severe outcome would be Mai Sakurajima losing the chance to keep working in the entertainment industry — no longer continuing life as an actress. For Mai Sakurajima, a girl who loved the profession of acting, that would be an enormous wound.
"It's all right. I'll handle it."
It was something she had foreseen — though she hadn't actually thought it through until after the event itself.
But things being what they were, all she could do now was face it calmly.
What could be solved would certainly be solved.
But inwardly Mai Sakurajima did not feel fully confident.
"Can you?"
Lin Ye looked at the girl.
"I can. I'll be contacting the agency later and holding a press conference to formally explain things to the fans."
That was her method.
In truth she knew the agency had been trying to contact her since last night, but she hadn't reached out to them immediately. She had instead chosen to delay it — to wait until today.
At least last night, she wanted to properly stay by the side of this boyfriend of hers.
"I can help you solve it."
What are you planning to do?
Even as she thought this, Mai Sakurajima also believed Lin Ye could do it.
Toward Lin Ye's promises, she now held one-hundred-percent trust.
"I can manage."
"Senpai, you don't need to be polite with me."
Lin Ye gripped Mai Sakurajima's hand.
"No."
"You don't trust me?"
"It's because, if I let you help solve this problem for me too, I... I wouldn't know how to repay you anymore. By then, it seems my only option left would be marrying you."
Marry me?
Lin Ye was stunned — that was quite a heavy piece of information.
"I'm only seventeen right now. I'm not yet mentally prepared to marry and become a wife. So, Boyfriend-kun, please let me solve this on my own. I can do it, and you should believe in me."
The girl with long black hair gazed at him, her eyes shimmering with expectation.
Lin Ye nodded. "All right. But the moment you run into a problem you can't solve, you have to contact me. I'll definitely help you solve it — after all, I'm the boyfriend Senpai herself acknowledged."
Those words made Mai Sakurajima feel that Lin Ye didn't really regard himself as her boyfriend.
"Boyfriend-kun,"
Mai Sakurajima reached over and gripped Lin Ye's wrist. "You confessed to me yesterday, and I accepted your confession — I even gave you my first kiss. You aren't planning to weasel out, go back on your word, and refuse to acknowledge the relationship between us, are you?"
Lin Ye caught the trace of nervousness in the girl's words.
She was worried, was afraid he would refuse.
"Getting a beautiful major-star girlfriend for free — that's something I couldn't ask for."
With Mai Sakurajima putting it like that, Lin Ye naturally had no reason to refuse.
If Senpai had said yesterday's acceptance had been only out of 'the need to return to normal,' he would, of course, calmly have accepted that too. At least when it came to relationships between men and women, Lin Ye had no wish to force a girl.
"You still have a chance to regret it now."
"I won't take it back. If anything, I'm worried Senpai will be the one to regret it."
"Maybe I'll regret it in the future. But at least right now... I don't regret it."
Becoming the girlfriend of the man before her — she did not regret it for a moment.
Mai Sakurajima was certain that if she let Lin Ye slip away, she would never find a man better than him.
A man who would lay down his life for her — how was she ever going to find another one?
The only flaw was that this guy was too philandering.
He was still tangled up in ambiguous relationships with other girls.
If Lin Ye could end his ties with the other girls of his own accord, it would be even more perfect.
But Mai Sakurajima also clearly knew that this wish could not be realized in any short time. She had to work toward it patiently.
As for sharing Lin Ye with other women — that was absolutely out of the question.
"Lin Ye."
"Hm?"
Calling him by his name directly — was there something important?
Lin Ye waited for Senpai's next words.
"Get yourself mentally prepared to end your relationships with the other girls."
"Senpai's making things difficult for me."
Lin Ye gave his reply.
He had already told Senpai last night — Senpai's hope was something he was destined to be unable to fulfill.
"A disobedient Boyfriend-kun needs to be properly disciplined."
Mai Sakurajima reached out and gave Lin Ye's waist a hard pinch, conveying her inner dissatisfaction.
Lin Ye counterattacked, pinching the girl's soft waist in return, eliciting a flush of red on her face.
"As expected of Senpai — this feel is completely different."
"Compared to Yukinoshita and Ai-chan, whose feels nicer?"
Wasn't this a death-trap question?
If he said hers didn't feel as nice, he was definitely going to get killed.
"Each has her own merits."
"Truly the style of a philandering man."
Lin Ye gave a sly little laugh.
Mai Sakurajima's next line drew a stunned reaction out of Lin Ye.
"Yukinoshita called last night."
Last night?
Don't tell me she found something out!?
That really was possible.
Lin Ye's expression changed.
"Just as you were worried — Yukinoshita recognized that the person who confessed in Akihabara was you."
So she had recognized him after all.
Part of his purpose in disguising himself had been to avoid being recognized by anyone who knew him, but he still couldn't escape Yukinoshita's eye.
Wait — maybe it was Haruno who had contacted her and told her.
If it was Haruno, the motive was entirely there. After all, having Yukino learn that he was the one who had confessed, and that he had become a couple with Mai Sakurajima, could substantially diminish Yukinoshita's affection for him, and lead her to actively end her current relationship with him.
His Quasi-fiancée — he was about to lose her, in all likelihood.
"Worried? Reluctant to let go?"
Going by Lin Ye's constantly shifting expression, Mai Sakurajima could already guess what was on his mind.
"Cough cough cough — even if I were worried or reluctant, it wouldn't mean anything. I'll meet up with Yukinoshita to talk after I get back to Chiba."
This matter couldn't be sorted out clearly over the phone. He had to meet her in person to discuss it.
If — if Yukinoshita really did end this current relationship of theirs because of this, Lin Ye felt he could accept it.
It was something they had agreed upon from the very start: if interaction failed, the relationship ended, and the two of them returned to being mere classmates and club members. Though their future relationship would absolutely not be the same as it had once been.
"You take it pretty well."
"What's the point of not taking it well? It's already happened."
"You don't regret it? Don't regret coming to help me, which is going to make you part ways with the girl you like?"
Mai Sakurajima knew very well that Lin Ye liked Yukinoshita.
A girl like Yukino Yukinoshita — if Lin Ye didn't like her, that would have been the strange thing.
"Helping Senpai was a choice I made myself. Even if it leads to bad things happening, I'll bear the corresponding consequences and outcomes. If because of this matter Yukinoshita and I part ways, it just means the two of us weren't fated to be together. Though I've never really believed in 'fate.'"
What Lin Ye believed in, more than anything, was relying on his own initiative.
"Saying that, even though you don't believe."
Mai Sakurajima was caught off guard. Her red lips moved softly as she continued, "You don't regret it, but the girl might regret it, you know. Regret not having opposed you."
Lin Ye thought it over and shook his head. "She's not that kind of girl."
His tone was certain.
Mai Sakurajima recalled her conversation with Yukinoshita last night. Yukinoshita had never once said anything along the lines of having stopped Lin Ye from helping her.
Even knowing she had done something as biting-the-hand-that-fed-her, stealing-a-man as this, that girl still believed Lin Ye should have helped her.
That awareness was something that left her unable to face her squarely.
Yukino Yukinoshita was a good girl.
If the two of them had been students at the same school, the two of them might have become close friends.
Such was Mai Sakurajima's thought.
"She doesn't regret it, but she is very angry. Make sure to prepare yourself mentally, my dear Boyfriend-kun. Whenever you've broken off your relationship with your Quasi-fiancée, contact me. As your girlfriend, I'll use a warm embrace to properly console and comfort that hurt heart of yours."
Lin Ye glanced over.
Senpai's figure really was outstanding.
Even the little bit of scenery showing made him outright exclaim — not bad.
Mai Sakurajima noticed Lin Ye's gaze, and her expression shifted slightly.
Men — their nature really doesn't change.
Maybe I should just go ahead and—
'Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz...'
'Buzz, buzz, buzz...'
A vibrating sound rang out.
Lin Ye turned to look toward the nightstand.
It was his phone — someone was contacting him.
Lin Ye reached over and looked at the caller ID on the screen.
"Is it Yukinoshita, or Ai-chan?"
Both of them had called last night and this morning, but Mai Sakurajima had mostly not picked up.
"It's not."
Lin Ye noticed the time on the screen.
13:14.
It was already afternoon.
Having slept straight through to the next afternoon was a first for him.
It just went to show that the sleepiness accumulated these past days had been thoroughly released last night.
Lin Ye felt his body and decided there was still some lingering fatigue inside him.
This sleep alone wasn't enough.
He'd have to properly rest again tonight.
"Ryou Fujibayashi..."
Mai Sakurajima glanced over and saw the name displayed on the screen.
If she remembered correctly, Lin Ye had agreed to have dinner with her today.
"Mm. I've got a dinner appointment tonight — with an underclasswoman, going to eat at her place. I need to get back to Chiba."
Traveling from Tokyo to Chiba by train took about an hour and a half.
Taking into account that he would need to eat something before setting out, and a few other things, arriving at Ryou Fujibayashi's home by four-thirty was already cutting it close.
"Senpai, what about you? Coming back to Chiba with me, or staying in Tokyo?"
Mai Sakurajima would have liked to go to Chiba with Lin Ye, but she also knew this wasn't a good time. She had quite a lot left to deal with.
Handling the aftermath of the 'Akihabara confession incident,' figuring out how to safeguard her continuing acting career — these were going to take up a great deal of her time.
"Once I get my work matters sorted out, I'll come to Chiba to find you."
Mai Sakurajima said this to Lin Ye.
"All right."
Lin Ye gave a small sound of acknowledgment. "If you hit any trouble you can't solve, don't keep it bottled up — tell me right away, and I'll help you solve it."
He was worried the girl wouldn't want to trouble him and would hide it instead.
"All right."
Mai Sakurajima agreed.
"This is something Senpai herself promised. If I find out you're sneaking around keeping things from me, I will absolutely make you pay a heavy price."
That hand opening and closing immediately made Mai Sakurajima think of something, and her cheeks once again turned red.
"H."
"Isn't that exactly what Senpai wants me to be?"
"No. Please don't say nonsense like that."
Mai Sakurajima corrected him in a grave tone.
Half a minute later,
Lin Ye rose and changed his clothes. Mai Sakurajima watched as the blanket continued to cover her graceful form.
"Senpai, do you need me to attend on you while you get up?"
"No... I don't."
Mai Sakurajima shook her head firmly in refusal.
The mere thought of Lin Ye attending on her, helping her dress at close range — an overwhelming wave of shame swept over her like a tide. And this was only at the level of imagination. If that scenario actually came to pass, she truly had no idea what state she would be in.
"Such a pity — I was really looking forward to it."
"..."
After holding it in for a good while, Mai Sakurajima spoke. "Next time."
Once she said it,
she lowered her head. Her face went bright red — those few words had felt as though they had drained every last bit of her strength.
Ten minutes later,
the two had finished dressing and a quick wash.
Mai Sakurajima now wore a hat, with her long black hair tucked inside it, a blue mask covering her face — fully camouflaged.
A whole night had passed.
But the heat on the Trending search hadn't faded much at all.
Besides the continued rage and fury of the fans driving Mai Sakurajima's heat further up, there were also plenty of people latching on for traffic — using this incident to attack and draw more attention and heat for themselves.
The whole internet was still buzzing over last night's Akihabara confession incident.
And as for Lin Ye, the male lead of the incident, countless netizens were focused on his identity and origin. But up to this day, there was still no information whatsoever.
The male lead's identity remained a complete mystery.
Lin Ye went to a convenience store and bought two sandwiches and milk.
"Senpai, eat this first."
"Thank you."
Mai Sakurajima accepted it. She and Lin Ye walked along the side of the road eating their sandwiches and drinking their milk.
This was their lunch for today — though at this time of day, it didn't really count as lunch.
This simple food was just to fill their bellies.
Mai Sakurajima wasn't really suitable for appearing in front of ordinary people right now.
If she did, it would easily stir up unnecessary trouble.
The two of them strolled along, eating their sandwiches.
Every so often, Mai Sakurajima's gaze would drift toward the man beside her, taking in his profile.
Compared to yesterday, today's Lin Ye had shed the disguise and revealed his true face. Sensually speaking, the Lin Ye of yesterday's appearance had been far better-looking. But in Mai Sakurajima's eyes, the Lin Ye of now was the real one, unaffected, with a kind of handsomeness that made her heart skip.
"Senpai, if you keep staring at me like that, I'm going to start charging."
"Eh!?"
Hearing this, Mai Sakurajima immediately turned her head away.
"I wasn't looking."
"If you're going to play dumb, at least do it with a bit of conviction."
The girl with long black hair turned red.
A taxi slowly pulled up to a stop.
Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima got into the taxi to head for the agency Mai Sakurajima belonged to.
A little over half an hour later,
the taxi pulled over to the side of the road.
"We've arrived, passengers."
"All right."
Lin Ye finished paying.
The two of them stepped out one after the other. After walking a short while, they saw the building where the agency was located — and outside the building, a crowd had gathered.
"Hurry up and bring Mai Sakurajima out here!"
"We want an explanation — we want the truth!"
"Why is Mai Sakurajima still not showing herself!?"
"Can your agency not even keep your own talent in line!?"
...
It was the forceful and furious feelings coming from the fans.
Last night's 'Akihabara confession incident' had driven a portion of the fans to spontaneously come to the front of the agency, banding together to express their dissatisfaction.
The agency's only response was that they were temporarily unable to reach Mai Sakurajima, and were actively trying to contact her.
But to the fans, this was simply evasion — the agency clearly didn't want to respond to their demands.
Mai Sakurajima gazed at the crowd packed densely together.
On this scale, the number of people was already substantial.
"A lot of those people are here just for the spectacle — they're not your actual fans."
"Mm."
Mai Sakurajima nodded.
"There's a back entrance, right? We'll go in through the back."
Following Lin Ye's prompt, Mai Sakurajima led Lin Ye around to the rear of the building, and they successfully made it inside.
"Senpai, I'm going to say it once more — if you can't solve this, can't handle it properly, contact me. I'll get it taken care of for you."
"Mm, I will. Boyfriend-kun, just trust me."
Before he left,
Mai Sakurajima reached out and adjusted Lin Ye's clothes, smoothing out the creases on his top.
In the end, she went so far as to take the initiative and hug Lin Ye.
"Thank you. Thank you."
She thanked Lin Ye from the bottom of her heart.
After this, it was time for her to handle this matter on her own.
If it really did reach a point where she couldn't resolve it properly, then she would turn to Lin Ye for help.
Since Boyfriend-kun had said as much, if she — as his girlfriend — still wouldn't ask for help, it would definitely hurt the bond between them.
Mai Sakurajima said her goodbyes to Lin Ye, and disappeared from view.
"Have faith in her."
Lin Ye turned and headed back the way he had come.
Next, he had to return to Chiba and head to the Fujibayashi home.
"There should still be time."
Lin Ye headed to the train station and boarded a train bound for Chiba.
Even on a weekend, there were still people aboard.
Lin Ye looked at the list of callers from today.
Calls from Yukinoshita and Ai Hoshino were the most numerous.
Clearly, besides Yukinoshita, even Ai Hoshino had picked up on the fact that he was the male lead of the 'Akihabara confession incident.'
"Is Ai-chan's eye really that sharp? She could tell from that?"
Arriving at Chiba Station, Lin Ye, walking alone on the street, dialed Ai Hoshino's number.
If he didn't return her messages soon, Ai-chan was likely to wait so anxiously that even the flowers would wilt.
"Beep, beep..."
The call connected in under ten seconds.
"Lin-kun."
Ai Hoshino's voice came through immediately from the other end.
Right now, the purple-haired girl was so worked up she felt like crying.
This call had finally come.
It was already evening. Any longer and it would be night. She had even begun to wonder whether something had happened to Lin Ye — that was why he had been so slow to return her calls.
"Sorry — I got up rather late today, and had some things to handle, so I didn't get back to you right away."
"It's, it's fine, it's fine."
But the words 'got up rather late' drilled their way into Ai Hoshino's ears, sending her thoughts running wild.
Last night, Lin-kun hadn't spent the night with Mai Sakurajima, had he!?
Please no!?
Inwardly, Ai Hoshino had been praying countless times that the worst possible scenario wouldn't come to pass.
She really didn't want to see Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima reach that step. If they had really reached that step, had a relationship, spent the night together — then what was left for her, Ai Hoshino?
She, Ai Hoshino, would become the loser-girl, the complete and utter failure.
"Ai-chan, you called me so many times — was there something?"
Lin Ye inquired cautiously.
"..."
Ai Hoshino didn't know quite how to ask.
"Lin-kun, do you know about last night's Akihabara confession incident? Someone confessed to Mai Sakurajima, and Mai Sakurajima accepted the confession."
"It was a movie script, wasn't it?"
That single line made Ai Hoshino immediately think Lin Ye wasn't the male lead of last night's incident.
Otherwise, why else would Lin-kun answer that way?
"Actually, Ai-chan — that person was me."
Lin Ye's next words admitted it. Caught completely off guard, Ai Hoshino froze where she stood.
He felt there was no need to keep deceiving Ai Hoshino.
She would find out sooner or later.
Ai Hoshino and Mai Sakurajima had ties. While having Mai Sakurajima specifically keep it secret could have worked, his goal was a whole forest. So such deliberate concealment was unnecessary.
"So... so it really was... Lin-kun!?"
Ai Hoshino, her right hand brushing back her long purple hair, smiled as she spoke. But her words were suffused with a faint trace of sorrow.
Her extravagant hope had shattered.
"Mm. It was me. For certain reasons — to put it simply, Senpai had run into something like a Strange event, and I needed to use this method to help her break free of the anomaly."
"So that's what it was."
Delight,
a glimmer of hope flickered in Ai Hoshino's eyes.
"Mm — that's the main reason."
"Then — then what's the smaller part of the reason?"
Ai Hoshino couldn't help but press further.
"It's simple. I like Senpai — isn't that something Ai-chan already knew long ago?"
Ai Hoshino's surging spirits immediately deflated.
I know that, but I wish you wouldn't say it.
She would honestly have preferred Lin Ye lie to her.
"Then are Lin-kun and Mai... lovers now?"
'Gulp...'
Ai Hoshino swallowed and waited, slightly flustered.
"Mm. We're lovers now — officially together."
At once,
Ai Hoshino's head spun, going completely blank.
She nearly fainted right then and there.
They really had started going out!?
Now what was she supposed to do?
In that moment, Ai Hoshino was completely out of sorts, lost in a daze.
"Ai-chan, let's talk about the specifics tonight. I've arrived at my destination."
Lin Ye looked at the 'Fujibayashi' home before him.
"Mm-hm."
Ai Hoshino made a small sound. She didn't know what else to say. Once she sorted out her thoughts, she'd properly talk it through with Lin-kun tonight.
The call ended.
Lin Ye pressed the doorbell.
The purple-haired young woman opened the door.
"Welcome."
Kyou Fujibayashi gave a small nod.
He'd finally come.
Tonight, she was going to fulfill her promise.
...
...
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