Kotomi Izumi did not immediately lean in as Ayani Kika had suggested. Instead, she shrank back warily and muttered in a small voice,
"Will you really tell me honestly?"
Faced with Kotomi Izumi's caution, Ayani Kika merely shrugged. She picked up the lemon water on the table, took a sip, and said lightly,
"You don't trust me? Ah... I thought that even if we aren't particularly close, we should at least have some basic trust between us."
As she spoke, Ayani Kika sighed faintly, her expression tinged with melancholy. With eyes as gloomy as an overcast sky, she gazed out the window.
Kotomi Izumi twitched her lips helplessly.
"Why are you looking at me like you're the heroine in Episode 9 of some urban romance drama?"
Sure enough, the moment Kotomi Izumi said that, Ayani Kika instantly returned to normal. She withdrew her gaze and smiled.
"After all, I am the top oiran among the geisha. I do know a little acting.
"It's just that I don't like using it often. The reason is simple. I think acting is like a mask placed over one's face. Using acting too frequently is like constantly wearing that mask.
"If you wear it for too long, over time, you might forget to take it off. Or you might forget what your original face looked like, not even knowing how to remove the mask anymore.
"When the mask replaces the real face, that's a terrifying thing."
Ayani Kika spoke slowly. After finishing, she seemed to realize that what she had said might have made the atmosphere a little strange. Without leaving a trace, she shifted the topic, as if nothing unusual had been said at all, and continued casually,
"By the way, what did you mean by that metaphor just now? 'Like the heroine in Episode 9 of an urban romance drama.' I occasionally watch a drama or two to pass the time when I'm resting, including urban romance ones. Do I just not watch enough? When you said that, I honestly didn't understand what you meant."
Seeing her genuine curiosity, Kotomi Izumi gave an embarrassed laugh. The comparison had simply slipped out of her mouth.
Of course, she had not said it randomly.
It really did look that way.
So she had just said it without thinking.
As everyone knows, some Japanese dramas run for over an hour per episode. If both the director and screenwriter are competent, a single episode can push the plot forward significantly and include many details.
These kinds of dramas usually do not exceed twelve episodes. For urban romance dramas, given the pace of one hour per episode, by the time Episode 9 arrives, the male and female leads are bound to experience an intense emotional conflict.
Either it's something like, 'Here's a hundred million yen. Leave him or her,' or, for various unavoidable reasons, one side has no choice but to walk away.
In short, there has to be a heart-wrenching love arc to push the story toward its finale.
One of the most classic scenes is the heroine sitting in the café where they once went on dates together, gazing sorrowfully out at the street outside, reminiscing about all the sweetness and beauty they once shared.
When Kotomi Izumi was in middle school, she would watch scenes like that while clutching a box of tissues, crying so hard her face was streaked with tears, yet the more she cried, the more she wanted to keep watching.
Those scenes almost always happened in Episode 9, which was why she had described Ayani Kika that way just now.
"In urban romance dramas, the kind where each episode runs about an hour, by Episode 9 it's almost always the angst arc. And the most classic, repeatedly used scene is the heroine sitting in the café where they once dated, gazing sorrowfully out the window at the street, right?"
"Oh, so that's what you meant."
After Kotomi Izumi explained briefly, Ayani Kika nodded in understanding. Then, with a teasing tone, she said,
"Hearing you say that reminds me of something."
"Eh? What is it?"
Kotomi Izumi asked curiously.
"When you came to Kyoto last time, the place for our first date was the Meigetsu Café. It seems our date was also in a café. I just wonder whether one day you'll make me sit in Meigetsu Café, gazing sorrowfully out the window at the street."
Ayani Kika smiled meaningfully, as if her words carried some hidden implication.
But Kotomi Izumi did not catch anything deeper. All she heard was the teasing tone. Her face immediately turned red.
"Did that even count as a date? Only lovers go on dates! I have a girlfriend, you know. Saying that insults my innocence."
"Oh? You admitted so readily that you have a girlfriend. I thought you'd say she's just my good little sister."
Ayani Kika teased with a laugh. She usually did not smile much. In the past, she would only laugh aloud when chatting with her younger brother. But now, talking with Kotomi Izumi, she found herself smiling more and more.
"If I like someone, I like them. If they're my lover, they're my lover. Once I've confirmed my feelings for a girl in my heart, I will absolutely take responsibility! I would never use that kind of excuse to cover it up."
Kotomi Izumi said seriously, her expression earnest.
"I didn't expect you to be so responsible."
"Of course. I, Kotomi Izumi, despise heartless scumbags who toy with feelings and then abandon people!"
After saying that, she even let out a proud little hum.
"So you're not a scumbag, then?" Ayani Kika raised an eyebrow, asking curiously.
"Of course not. I'm a girl who's incredibly devoted in love, wholeheartedly loving just one person! Hmph. A good girl as devoted and affectionate as me is impossible to find even with a lantern."
Kotomi Izumi declared proudly. If she had a little tail behind her at that moment, it would surely be sticking straight up into the sky.
And if she really did have such a tail, Ayani Kika felt the one thing she would most want to do would be to give it a firm tug.
"Devoted and affectionate? Then what about the golden-haired girl who was by your side when you came to Kyoto last time? And this time, the long black-haired girl, and the shoulder-length pale pink-haired girl. What exactly are your relationships with those three girls?"
Ayani Kika asked with smiling eyes. There was not the slightest trace of displeasure in her expression. It felt more like she was cheerfully asking out of curiosity.
"You might not believe me, but I actually have many hearts. Each heart corresponds to one girl. So even though I love many girls and want to date many girls at the same time, I'm still a devoted, affectionate girl who wholeheartedly loves each of them."
"So in other words, all three of them are your girlfriends?" Ayani Kika asked bluntly.
"Mm..."
Kotomi Izumi nodded, blushing.
Although Little Kotomi had openly dreamed of building a harem for a long time, when she actually said it out loud, she still felt a little shy.
Ayani Kika looked at her with a complicated gaze. She studied Kotomi Izumi's pretty face for a long while before finally speaking again, a soft smile on her lips.
"You little scumbag~"
Kotomi Izumi, who had just been called a little scumbag, reacted like a snow-white kitten whose tiny tail had been tugged. She instantly puffed up and snapped,
"I'm not a little scumbag!"
It turned out that when you were too cute, even your fiercest outburst looked adorable in someone else's eyes.
For example, the fierce little Kotomi at this moment looked incredibly, irresistibly cute in Ayani Kika's eyes.
Cute enough that Ayani Kika almost wanted to reach out and pat her little head.
However, as a mature older-sister type, Ayani Kika knew very well that she should not linger too long on the topic of whether Kotomi was a scumbag. So she changed the subject rather directly.
Sometimes, a straightforward change of topic actually lets the other person breathe easier.
Just like now.
Of course, after changing the topic, the new one still required some caution.
"By the way, have those three really all become your girlfriends? You only answered with a single 'Mm' earlier. You didn't explain the process at all... ah, ha..."
When chatting, if you sense a topic is about to run its course or can no longer continue, switching subjects bluntly and letting the other person feel the transition is coming does not come across as rude. On the contrary, it often brings relief.
Ayani Kika's intention to shift topics was good. And when Kotomi Izumi sensed that she was trying to change the subject, she did feel relieved.
But the so-called new topic Ayani Kika brought up... rather than new, it simply circled back to the subject from before the whole "Kotomi, are you a scumbag?" discussion.
It was a question Kotomi Izumi had no idea how to answer.
Ayani Kika realized that too. That was why she stopped halfway through and let out an awkward dry laugh instead of continuing.
But since the words had already been spoken, Kotomi Izumi felt she could not just pretend she had not heard them.
So she began struggling with how to respond.
Should she say, with a hint of swagger, "That's right, all three of them are my girlfriends!"
And then unleash her novel-writing talent, fabricating a whole series of romantic confession scenes straight out of a rom-com, regardless of whether they were real or not?
Kotomi Izumi thought that sounded pretty good. It would even satisfy her small desire to show off.
But her usual thick skin seemed to have suddenly expired at this critical moment. It thinned out instantly.
Forget about spinning an entire dramatic confession story. With her skin suddenly so thin, she could not even loudly declare with a bit of swagger, "That's right, all three of them are my girlfriends."
After thinking it over and over, Kotomi Izumi could only let out a dry laugh and lower her head to flip through the menu.
"If we keep talking about it, it wouldn't be very polite."
"You're right. Sorry."
Ayani Kika lowered her head slightly in apology.
The two of them began browsing the menu. Before long, Kotomi Izumi called over the waitress to place their order.
Ayani Kika ordered a smaller tempura set, evenly divided between seafood and vegetables. The seafood consisted of conger eel and squid. The vegetables included ginkgo nuts, shiso leaves, and dried pickled greens. Her staple was brown rice.
Kotomi Izumi had originally intended not to reveal her gluttonous side in front of Ayani Kika. But the moment she stepped into the restaurant earlier and smelled the rich aroma of frying tempura and sauce in the air, she had already abandoned that idea.
When eating fried food, you had to stop thinking and just take big bites!
Kotomi Izumi ordered an extra-large serving of fried shrimp tempura. She even emphasized to the waitress repeatedly, "Just two slices of fried eggplant for the vegetables. Nothing else!"
As for the staple food, of course it was white rice.
Kotomi Izumi's favorite staple was white rice. If a meal did not include it, she always felt like she had not truly eaten her fill.
After ordering, she finally noticed that Ayani Kika had been smiling at her the entire time. Her cheeks warmed slightly.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking that with a figure like yours, you must be very meticulous about every meal. Now I've seen what they call effortless results. If those girls who rack their brains researching diets for the sake of a good figure knew that you eat this indulgently every meal, they'd either shut themselves away or give up entirely," Ayani Kika said with a smile.
"I don't deliberately maintain my figure. I don't know why, but no matter how I eat, the weight always goes to exactly the right places."
"Mm. You can tell just by looking."
Ayani Kika nodded in full agreement and began openly admiring Kotomi Izumi with her eyes.
At first, Kotomi Izumi accepted the appreciative gaze with pride. But as the seconds stretched on and Ayani Kika's gaze lingered longer and longer, her cheeks began heating up again.
Finally, red-faced, she hurriedly shook her head.
"W-Where are you looking?!"
Ayani Kika smiled faintly but did not answer. Instead, she chuckled softly.
"Are you still curious?"
"Curious about what?"
Kotomi Izumi's attention was already mostly on the tempura. She had clearly begun forgetting what she had asked earlier.
Ayani Kika shrugged helplessly.
"You're such a little glutton~"
"Wh-what did you say?"
Kotomi Izumi was just about to puff up again.
Fortunately, before she could, Ayani Kika continued,
"Weren't you curious about how I knew you had just woken up not long ago? And how I knew you wouldn't go straight to Gion's hanamachi but would come to this tempura restaurant first? The way you looked just now was as if you thought I could read minds. I said I could tell you—but only if you leaned your little ear closer."
After reminding her, Ayani Kika could not help but laugh again.
"Sometimes your memory is like that of a little fish. You forget so quickly."
"I-I didn't forget! I was just focused on ordering and didn't have time to ask you again!"
Kotomi Izumi's face flushed red as she protested.
In reality, she had forgotten...
Ayani Kika's slender finger curled lightly once more. With a charming smile, she asked,
"So do you still want to know now?"
"I do..."
"Then lean your little ear closer, and I'll tell you."
Seeing that Ayani Kika still insisted on her leaning in, Kotomi Izumi blushed. Though she felt shy, her intense curiosity ultimately won. She stood up and leaned forward toward Ayani Kika.
Just as she was about to get close—
"Ten years ago, I didn't know you, you didn't belong to me. We were just the same, staying by a stranger's side, walking through gradually familiar streets..."
Kotomi Izumi's ringtone suddenly rang out.
Instinctively, she pulled back from Ayani Kika and sat down again. When she glanced at the caller ID, her heartbeat unconsciously sped up by several beats.
On the screen was the name she knew better than anyone.
Megumi Kato.
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