Rai's phone suddenly vibrated on top of her desk.
She glanced at the screen.
Kousaki.
Rai grabbed the phone and answered immediately.
"…What do you want?"
From the other side, Kousaki's hesitant voice responded.
"Are you busy right now?"
"…Oum."
"Oum… about yesterday…"
While listening, Rai walked toward her bed and lazily dropped onto it.
Kousaki continued carefully.
"What do you think? Your fans keep talking about you. They're even calling me a liar now."
Rai buried half her face into the pillow.
"Just ignore them."
"No way," Kousaki protested immediately. "I can't just break my promise."
"…Is that so."
"So where can we do the livestream together?"
"…Don't know."
Her voice already sounded sleepy.
Kousaki paused.
"You sound tired. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Oh… is that so? So—"
Clunk.
The phone suddenly slipped from Rai's hand onto the bed.
Silence.
"…Rai?"
No response.
"…Hello?"
Still nothing.
Kousaki slowly lowered the phone from her ear.
Then sighed.
"…She fell asleep, didn't she?"
The call ended.
— A few minutes later —
Kousaki quickly changed clothes, grabbed her bike, and headed toward Rai's house.
The afternoon air rushed past as she pedaled through the quiet streets.
When she finally arrived, she parked her bike near the entrance and pressed the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
A few moments later—
the door opened.
A man stood there casually in house clothes, blinking at her curiously.
"Hm… are you Rai's friend too?"
Kousaki straightened immediately.
"Ahh… something like that. I'm Kousaki. Nice to meet you."
Then she hesitated slightly.
"…Are you Rai's father?"
"Father?" The man laughed. "Ahh, no. I'm her uncle. Haru."
He stepped aside casually.
"Come in."
"Ah—yes. Thank you."
Kousaki carefully entered the house.
"…Is Rai home?"
"Yeah."
Then Haru suddenly raised his voice dramatically.
"Raiii! Someone's here for you!"
Silence.
No response at all.
Haru scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"…She's in her room. You can just go there."
"Ahh… okay. Thanks, Uncle Haru."
Kousaki quietly walked to the second floor until she stopped in front of Rai's room.
Knock knock.
"…Rai?"
Nothing.
She waited a second longer.
Still no answer.
"…I'm opening it."
Slowly, Kousaki opened the door.
The room was dark.
"…It's so dark in here."
She reached toward the switch and turned on the light.
Click.
Then she froze slightly.
Rai was asleep on the bed.
Peacefully.
One arm lazily draped over the blanket, her phone still beside her.
For once, her usual cold expression was completely gone.
Kousaki stared quietly.
"…She really fell asleep…"
A small laugh escaped her.
Then, as she looked at Rai more carefully, she noticed something.
Rai's fingers were shaking slightly.
Kousaki blinked.
"…Hm?"
Curious, she slowly reached toward Rai's hand.
But before she could touch it—
"She's probably really tired."
Kousaki flinched slightly and quickly turned around.
Haru was standing near the doorway.
"Rai's stamina is really weak," he said quietly.
"Ah…" Kousaki placed a hand on her chest. "Uncle, I didn't notice you."
Haru laughed a little.
"Sorry."
Then he looked at his watch.
"Well, I've gotta go now."
He reached into his pocket and handed her some money.
"Here. Pay for the food delivery when it arrives."
Kousaki blinked in surprise.
"…Where are you going?"
"Ah, I still have work this afternoon, so…"
"I see…"
As Haru stepped out of the room, he suddenly stopped near the doorway.
Without turning around, he spoke again.
"…Take care of her, okay?"
Kousaki's face immediately turned red.
"Ahh… y-yes!"
Haru laughed softly at her reaction, waved casually, then finally left.
— One hour later —
Rai slowly opened her eyes.
As she rubbed them sleepily, she noticed Kousaki sitting beside the bed, asleep with her head resting near the mattress.
Rai blinked once.
Inside her head—
Kousaki…? What is she doing here?
Then—
Grrrkkk…
Her stomach growled loudly.
Rai glanced around and noticed a plastic bag on the nearby desk.
Food delivery.
Silently, she stood up from the bed.
She gently placed her blanket over Kousaki's shoulders, took the food, then quietly walked out of the room.
— In the living room —
Rai sat on the couch while eating and casually watching TV.
A few minutes later—
Kousaki slowly woke up.
She stretched lightly, then noticed the blanket resting on her shoulders.
"…Hm?"
At the same time, she could hear the faint sound of the television coming from outside the room.
Kousaki glanced toward the desk.
The delivered food was already gone.
Slowly, she removed the blanket and stood up before quietly walking toward the living room.
There—
Rai was sitting on the couch, calmly eating while watching TV.
Rai noticed her.
"Oh. You're awake."
She said it while still looking at the TV.
Then, after another bite—
"…What are you doing here?"
"Ahh—"
Kousaki suddenly remembered something.
She quickly went back to Rai's room, grabbed her camera, then returned to the living room.
Holding it tightly, she looked at Rai.
"Let's do the livestream."
The moment Rai heard that—
she stopped eating.
Slowly, she turned her head toward Kousaki.
Without saying anything, Rai pointed toward the delivered food on the table that her uncle had ordered earlier.
"…Eat."
"Ahh… no, I'm still full."
"…Is that so."
Rai calmly took another bite.
"Then I'll just throw it away later."
A bead of sweat slowly formed on Kousaki's forehead.
Inside her head—
Is she threatening me?
Kousaki immediately sat down at the table.
"I'll eat."
While Rai quietly watched TV, Kousaki kept staring at her while eating.
Rai didn't seem to notice.
Or maybe she simply didn't care.
After finishing the last bite of her food, Rai lowered the empty container onto the table.
Then she grabbed her glass of water and took a drink.
Kousaki's eyes unconsciously followed the movement.
The way Rai tilted her head slightly back.
The quiet sound of the glass touching her lips.
Even the movement of her throat as she swallowed.
For some reason—
Kousaki suddenly choked on her food.
"Cough—! Khk—!"
Rai immediately lowered the glass and looked at her.
"…What are you doing?"
Kousaki quickly grabbed her chest.
"N-Nothing— cough—!"
Rai stared at her silently for a second.
Then she slowly pushed another glass of water toward her.
"…here."
Kousaki immediately grabbed it.
"Th-Thanks…"
After drinking, she finally calmed down.
Rai quietly stood up from the couch and picked up the empty food containers before walking toward the kitchen to throw them away.
After that, she returned to her room, grabbed a change of clothes, then casually headed toward the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Kousaki continued eating while unconsciously following Rai's every movement with her eyes.
Then, without realizing it, she quietly muttered to herself—
"…She's going to take a bath?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Kousaki immediately froze.
"…Why did I say that out loud?"
Embarrassed, she quickly stuffed the last bite of food into her mouth, drank water right after, then grabbed the empty containers.
She walked to the kitchen, threw away the trash, and carefully washed the glass before heading back to the living room.
After sitting down on the couch, Kousaki picked up the camera and began preparing everything for the livestream.
"…Okay… camera angle's good…"
She adjusted the tripod slightly.
"…Audio too…"
Once everything was ready, Kousaki took a deep breath.
Then—
Click.
The livestream started instantly.
Within seconds, viewers flooded into the stream.
Kousaki's eyes widened slightly at the rapidly increasing numbers.
"Eh?! That fast?!"
The comments immediately exploded.
"FINALLY!!!"
"WHERE'S RAI OMG"
"IS THIS REAL???"
"DON'T TELL ME YOU LIED AGAIN 😭"
"Kousaki please show Rai already"
Seeing the comments fly endlessly across the screen, Kousaki awkwardly laughed.
"E-Everyone's so energetic…"
Then she straightened herself and smiled nervously at the camera.
"Sorry for making you wait so long!"
She pointed proudly at herself.
"Today's livestream will be with…"
Kousaki paused dramatically.
"…Rai!"
The comments instantly exploded even harder.
"RAIIIIII"
"NO WAY"
"SHE ACTUALLY CAME???"
"SCREENSHOT THIS MOMENT"
"IS SHE BESIDE YOU RIGHT NOW??"
Kousaki laughed nervously while reading the comments flooding the livestream.
"Calm down, calm down…"
Then, with a completely straight face, she suddenly said—
"Rai isn't here."
For one second, the chat went silent.
Then—
the comments section completely exploded.
"LIAR 😭"
"NOT AGAIN"
"KOUSAKI I TRUSTED YOU"
"SHOW RAI RIGHT NOW"
Kousaki immediately burst into laughter.
"I'm joking! I'm joking!"
Then she leaned closer toward the camera with a smug smile.
"Guess where I am right now."
The comments instantly flooded the screen again.
"At your house?"
"WAIT—RAI'S HOUSE?! OMG"
"No way she's actually there"
"Are you two living together???"
"Why are you at Rai's house? Are you two dating?"
The moment Kousaki read that last comment—
she instantly froze.