Yukino Yukinoshita stared straight ahead, listening to the silence coming from the other end of the line.
That unnatural silence gradually made her realize that the unwilling thought that had bubbled up at the very end was correct.
Mai Sakurajima had deceived her — she had not stated the full truth.
It absolutely was not the case, as she had imagined, that Lin Ye was preparing to use Mai Sakurajima's mouth to convey his decision to break up.
That guy was so greedy, dreaming of an entire forest — how could he possibly confine himself to just Mai Sakurajima!?
In this moment,
Yukino Yukinoshita gained a further understanding of Lin Ye's greed.
Awareness she had criticized countless times had, in this moment, become her last hope.
"Miss Mai Sakurajima, no matter how you look at it, I count as having helped you, right? Please, tell me the truth."
She spoke up.
After her words traveled through the phone, she could clearly sense the change in the breathing on the other end.
Mai Sakurajima was biting down on her red lips, her thoughts in a tangle.
Should she keep up the lie she had woven and put up one last struggle, or come clean honestly and tell her how things actually stood?
"Student Yukinoshita, do you like Lin Ye?"
This time,
Mai Sakurajima turned the question back on Yukino Yukinoshita.
She understood that her struggling was futile. As long as Yukinoshita held firm on the point of making Lin Ye tell her himself, she would have no way out.
So why not switch tactics and get Yukino Yukinoshita to step aside?
Get her to withdraw of her own free will. As long as the result was the same, the process didn't really matter much, did it?
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
Yukino Yukinoshita frowned.
She didn't know how to answer this question.
"Do you like him, or do you not? Is it that hard?"
It was hard.
Because even she herself didn't know how to give a definitive answer.
The only thing she could affirm was that she did not dislike Lin Ye, but 'not disliking' ≠ liking.
"Please state your real purpose directly. No need to beat around the bush."
"I think..."
Mai Sakurajima's gaze drifted unconsciously toward the hotel room, as though through the closed door she could see Lin Ye inside resting with his eyes shut.
"I think, through these days of being together, I've come to like him. I have feelings for him."
"I want to be with him, to be together as lovers."
Slowly, she put into words the stir within her heart.
"These few days together have taught me what kind of boy he is — a boy who knows how to care for and look after a girl, a boy with a sense of responsibility and real capability, a boy who can step forward when I'm in danger, willing to risk himself to protect me."
It had only been a few short days,
but a lot had happened.
Especially the things that had happened at the Strange Chiba Park and in Akihabara, Tokyo — those had left an indelible impression on her.
Yukino Yukinoshita listened, an oppressive frustration churning in her chest.
Her own Quasi-fiancé really had gone and done quite a lot of unnecessary things.
Now he had even made another girl fall for him.
"And as for the confession he made to me in Akihabara—"
"That was only a confession meant to let you return to normal — it was all fake. Miss Mai Sakurajima, please don't misunderstand."
Yukino Yukinoshita immediately spoke up to remind her.
But upon hearing this, Mai Sakurajima smiled and shook her head slightly. "Student Yukinoshita, in truth, you already know — the first half of the confession really was the script, the declaration made in order to bring me back to normal."
"But the second half was his honest, heartfelt words. If you had thought from the very start that all of it was the script — all of it was fake — then how would you have believed what I said earlier?"
It was precisely because Yukinoshita believed that part had been Lin Ye's sincere confession that she had had the thought of withdrawing.
The girl fell silent.
She was a bystander — she knew many things. To her, Lin Ye's confession at the end really was a heartfelt confession.
She could distinguish the genuine emotion of the two halves. Even through the screen, she had been able to feel Lin Ye's sincerity.
Lin Ye had liked Mai Sakurajima — he had liked Mai Sakurajima long, long ago.
"I... chose to accept, not because I wanted to break free of the anomaly, not because I wanted to return to ordinary life, but because in that instant when I saw him turn to leave, my heart trembled, it shook. I didn't want to see that sorrowful, desolate expression on his face."
It was that desolate expression that had made her resolve herself,
had let her surpass her guilt toward Yukino Yukinoshita and her own moral constraints, and choose to say yes — to accept Lin Ye's confession, to choose to fall into his embrace, and to offer up her red lips.
"So, Student Yukinoshita, I hope that you can end the relationship you have with Lin Ye. Quasi-fiancés, yes, but no betrothal has actually been settled. The two of you are merely in the stage of contact and communication, of getting to know each other — you don't even hold mutual admiration or affection."
Mai Sakurajima looked at Yukinoshita. "Although I'm not clear why the two of you have this special arrangement, I suspect it must have something to do with your family, right?"
She had specifically looked into Yukino Yukinoshita and knew that the Yukinoshita house was also a famous family in Chiba.
Lin Ye and Yukinoshita clearly were not in a relationship, yet they had this Quasi-fiancés arrangement — there had to be something behind it.
As a major star, as someone who had performed in many works, her mind went to political-interest alliances: Lin Ye was a player in the Strange Game, with skill and potential, and the Yukinoshita family had influence and very likely also wanted a slice of the Strange Game pie. That was why the complicated relationship between Lin Ye and Yukino Yukinoshita existed.
This was Mai Sakurajima's analysis and conjecture. It wasn't that she hadn't thought of asking Lin Ye, but this topic was too sensitive — it would provoke resistance from him — so she hadn't asked.
But now, bringing this up with Yukino Yukinoshita wasn't really a big deal.
Yukino Yukinoshita's dark blue eyes were fixed on Mai Sakurajima, her expression calm.
It was only inside, that the waves were rising.
She had been seen through. Her relationship with Lin Ye did have to do with the family — although it was her own choice, were it not for her parents' suggestion back then and Lin Ye's words at the time, she and Lin Ye would absolutely not have this relationship.
"My interactions with and getting to know him is my own personal will. It has little to do with the family."
Yukinoshita opened her mouth to give her answer. "Miss Mai Sakurajima, I am very seriously responding to your request right here: I refuse. I will not end my relationship with Lin Ye. There is only one way for our relationship to be ended, and that is for him to propose it to me personally."
"We are already in a relationship," Mai Sakurajima reminded her.
"You're only dating, you're not married. And besides, Lin Ye and I are in a Quasi-fiancés relationship. As long as I'm willing, we can settle the betrothal and become Fiancée and Fiancé."
That single line caused Mai Sakurajima's expression to shift slightly.
Lin Ye had mentioned this point too — Mai Sakurajima remembered it very clearly.
"We're spending the night at a love hotel tonight."
"..."
Yukino Yukinoshita's heart shuddered. Of course, she was deeply unwilling to imagine her own Quasi-fiancé spending the night at a hotel with Mai Sakurajima.
"Tonight I will have to trouble Miss Mai Sakurajima to satisfy his everyday physiological needs."
Mai Sakurajima slowly typed out a few question marks in her mind.
This Yukinoshita girl was really accepting it all without resistance whatsoever!?
If Yukinoshita was like this, then Ai Hoshino...
Mai Sakurajima thought about it and knew Ai Hoshino would only accept it more openly. Compared to Yukinoshita, Ai Hoshino's tolerance was clearly more abundant.
This was the judgment Mai Sakurajima could make based on her own interactions with Ai Hoshino — not to mention that Lin Ye himself had said Ai Hoshino would accept his philandering, whereas with Yukinoshita there was only a 'possibility.'
"Rest assured, I will. I will take good care of him, soothe the bitterness and fatigue he's endured these past few days, repay him for the effort and sacrifice of these days."
Mai Sakurajima's mind was filled with the image of Lin Ye's worn, exhausted look from these past days.
Over two consecutive days without sleep, kept awake the whole time by tea, coffee, and the like — this was a scene she would not forget in her entire life.
Other than him, there was no other man left who could hide for her sake.
Mai Sakurajima had also made up her mind.
Now that she had laid her cards out with Yukino Yukinoshita, she no longer felt any hesitation.
The two of them sparred across the phone line, every line measured against the other.
At first Yukino Yukinoshita had been at a disadvantage, but at the very end she had mounted a desperate counterattack, finding the flaw in Mai Sakurajima's story and reclaiming her momentum in one stroke.
And now, comparing the two, overall it was Mai Sakurajima who held a slight advantage.
"Student Yukinoshita, at the end of this — thank you for the help these past few days, though it seems I don't really have the right to be thanking you."
Put in harsher terms, what she, Mai Sakurajima, was doing was forgetting kindness and biting the hand that fed her — taking revenge on her benefactor, snatching away her benefactor's man — even though this benefactor's help had had its limits.
"I will not forgive you."
Yukino Yukinoshita saw straight through the little calculations going on in Mai Sakurajima's heart.
To think she could win her forgiveness with one line — that was severely underestimating Yukino Yukinoshita.
"Mm."
Mai Sakurajima nodded. "I know. The two of us... from this moment on, must be... love rivals, then."
She and Yukino Yukinoshita couldn't really be called friends, but in Mai Sakurajima's heart, she did hold a favorable impression of Yukino Yukinoshita and had wanted to become her friend. But the way things developed often exceeded expectations — before she and Yukinoshita could become friends, they had taken a step ahead and become love rivals.
And once they became love rivals, the two of them could never become friends.
In this world, who had ever heard of a situation where two people were both friends and lovers!?
"If you say so, then so it is."
She acknowledged Mai Sakurajima's view.
But she had to admit, Mai Sakurajima was right — her life had welcomed its first love rival.
And this love rival was a heavyweight love rival.
The hugely popular major star Mai Sakurajima.
Compared to Mai Sakurajima, she had at most two advantages: one was her family background, the second was distance — the closeness of her everyday life with Lin Ye.
Lin Ye was, after all, a student at Sobu High. Over the next few years, her time spent with Lin Ye would only be more, far more, than the time Mai Sakurajima spent with him.
And this was time that she could grasp and control.
She resolved to try and be a little more proactive from now on.
She couldn't go on the way she had before.
"Well then, the hour's getting late. I should keep my boyfriend company — he should be waiting impatiently by now."
Yukino Yukinoshita unconsciously clenched her hand tight.
What would happen next — she didn't need to ask to know exactly what it would be.
"Goodbye."
After tossing out that one line, Yukino Yukinoshita hung up the phone of her own initiative.
After hanging up, Yukino Yukinoshita was clenching her teeth, her breathing intense, brimming with thick aura of dissatisfaction and displeasure.
'Thump, thump, thump...'
She paced back and forth across the room in long strides.
"What 'benefactor.'"
"Biting the hand that fed her, stealing my Fiancée."
"Mai Sakurajima, you are ruthless. I — I—"
...
She wanted to fling out cutting words, wanted to curse her out, but the upbringing and conduct instilled in her from childhood would not let her do anything so crude.
In the end, unable to vent it out, Yukino Yukinoshita had no choice but to keep pacing back and forth, stomping her feet to release the frustration in her heart.
"Lin Ye — when you get back to Chiba, I will make sure you regret this."
Whatever the reasons might be, Lin Ye really, truly had made her unhappy, made her displeased.
Especially him spending the night entangled with another woman —
how could she possibly accept this lightly!?
Tonight,
the girl, lying on her bed and stewing in silent anger, struggled to fall asleep for the longest time.
She — for the first time in a long while — was suffering from insomnia.
...
...
Online, the news and gossip about Mai Sakurajima being confessed to, accepting the confession, and ending her single status spread with extraordinary speed in a short period of time, taking over the top of the Trending search.
Especially when combined with the love letter from a few days earlier, where the female lead was Mai Sakurajima,
it pushed the news to a fresh climax.
A great many of Mai Sakurajima's fans had already begun erupting in fury online.
Japanese actors — especially female actors — being single is what most aligns with what their fans want.
Especially with Mai Sakurajima not even of legal age yet — for her to suddenly have a boyfriend made the likelihood of fan acceptance even lower.
The internet was already a sea of curses.
The minority of netizens and fans who tried to defend her or call for understanding were being viciously cursed at by mobs of fans, all of them venting the emotions inside them.
Right now, with Mai Sakurajima not having given any direct response, these fans could only release their feelings by furiously attacking netizens who held the opposite opinion.
"The number you have dialed..."
No answer.
Still no answer.
At the agency Mai Sakurajima belonged to, her manager had already tried to reach her by phone more than once, but the call simply would not connect.
"What do we do, what do we do?"
"How did things turn out like this?"
"Joining the entertainment industry — what right do actors have to free romance? The agency has stated time and again no dating!"
"Even if she really wants to date, she should at least give the agency advance notice so we can prepare!"
"How could she let the agency be caught with no preparation at all!?"
Mai Sakurajima had the potential to remain Japan's hottest major star for the next ten — even twenty — years. For the agency, she would have been a money-tree raining gold by the bushel.
And for Mai Sakurajima herself, it was the same — whether money or income, the prospects were considerable and beautiful.
But if, because of this 'Akihabara confession incident,' her many supporting fans turned away in droves, and her rising reputation suffered a setback and collapsed in catastrophic failure, the losses would be enormous.
They simply couldn't afford it.
"The number you have dialed..."
Still the call couldn't connect.
"You should pick up the phone already!"
"If you don't connect, how are we supposed to discuss a proper solution?"
"If the boss demands compensation from you, how are you supposed to pay it!?"
As Mai Sakurajima's manager, she had taken over from Mai Sakurajima's mother long ago and become her manager. In truth, she had a very favorable impression of Mai Sakurajima — the two of them got along very well. This young woman was already a hugely popular major star, but in their everyday interactions she carried not the slightest air, and was extremely polite and knew when to advance and when to step back.
For this reason, she liked her, and didn't want Mai Sakurajima to lose everything she now had because of this incident.
"Miss Yoshiko, the phones at our agency are being flooded with calls!"
"Unplug the phone lines. We'll deal with everything when work starts tomorrow."
The only option was to play dead for now.
The agency wasn't entirely unable to issue a statement first, but if Mai Sakurajima's personal wishes turned out to be completely different from the agency's, then things would become even more troublesome.
Therefore,
play dead and stall first;
then once they got hold of Mai Sakurajima and reached an official response with her to give to the public — that was the best resolution.
Acting on their own authority right now might instead push things into an unforeseeable abyss.
"Phew..."
"I just hope we can get through this PR crisis smoothly."
They were already at their wits' end, anxious and worn down with headaches.
Everything depended on tomorrow.
...
Meanwhile, Ai Hoshino, who had ties to the entertainment industry, also became aware of the 'Akihabara confession incident' through the chatter and attention of those around her.
"Mai got confessed to!"
"And she even accepted the confession!"
"I wonder what kind of man's confession could possibly make Mai say yes."
...
Upon hearing the news that Mai Sakurajima had accepted a man's confession and offered a kiss in front of everyone to become lovers, Ai Hoshino felt a rush of envy — and at the same time a breath of relief flowed out of her.
"Mai has someone now — she has a boyfriend. Lin-kun shouldn't be thinking about Mai anymore, right?"
Ai Hoshino remembered keenly just how much Lin Ye had liked Mai Sakurajima.
Compared to herself, she felt that Mai Sakurajima's position in Lin Ye's heart was much higher than her own.
But now everything was fine — Mai Sakurajima had already started dating another man. Surely Lin Ye wouldn't keep clinging to thoughts of Mai Sakurajima and refusing to let go!?
"Mm, definitely not. From here on out, it's Ai-chan's time."
Imagining the happy, sweet times she and Lin Ye would share in the future, free of Mai Sakurajima's influence, a radiant smile bloomed on Ai Hoshino's fair face — a smile that carried a faint flush of pink.
Quickly flipping through a few images and text descriptions,
Ai Hoshino got a rough understanding of the matter.
And the comments section was even more lively.
Many fans were unleashing torrents of abuse, expressing intense fury over Mai Sakurajima taking a boyfriend.
"The fans are so worked up."
As an idol herself, Ai Hoshino's thoughts went to her own situation. If she and Lin Ye officially started dating, and the news got out, would her own fans likewise rage and fly into a frenzy like Mai Sakurajima's fans here?
It seemed possible.
And the possibility wasn't even low.
Ai Hoshino was well aware of how much Japanese fans cared about the private lives of stars and idols.
Many stars and idols did have partners, but those were truly kept as secret relationships — they would never dare leak so much as a hint. Once exposed, what awaited them was likely the end of their careers.
Even so, this still couldn't stamp out idols secretly dating in private.
But for someone like Mai Sakurajima to accept a confession face-to-face, and even offer a kiss — that really was the first time in history!?
This single act alone could probably make it into the history books of the Japanese entertainment industry.
Ai Hoshino spotted the link and clicked into it.
It was a recording.
She watched, wanting to see exactly what outstanding qualities this man had besides his good looks, that he could make a public confession succeed.
"Ai-chan, you're watching this too!?"
A voice suddenly rang out.
Ai Hoshino turned to look — what she saw was an adorable young woman, Sayaka Maizono.
Their relationship had become much closer recently.
"Sayaka, you've already watched it?"
"Of course. While Ai-chan was still rehearsing her dance and I was resting, I already watched it. The male lead of the confession really was sincere in his feelings — that he succeeded isn't surprising. It's just that the target turned out to be Mai Sakurajima — that really caught everyone off guard."
As a fellow idol, Sayaka Maizono also knew the pressure Mai Sakurajima would have to bear by saying yes to that confession. But even so, she had still said yes — enough to demonstrate just how seriously Mai Sakurajima took this man, and how much she liked him.
"Mm-hmm. I wonder who could have won over Mai Sakurajima and earned her favor."
After that,
Sayaka Maizono kept Ai Hoshino company as they rewatched the recorded video together.
At first,
Ai Hoshino was full of excitement, eager to see this man.
But as the events progressed,
her expression slowly began to change.
A certain thought began to surface in her heart.
No way, no way!?
How is it that this man — how does he feel so much like Lin-kun?
Lin-kun. This was very possibly Lin-kun!?
Even so,
Ai Hoshino still held to the denial. She really didn't think the relationship between Lin Ye and Mai Sakurajima could have developed this quickly to this point.
Something had to be wrong in the middle of this.
The confession ended, and the fans and onlookers went berserk, shouting 'Kill, kill, kill!' and 'Burn, burn, burn!'
Over a hundred people had the male lead and Mai Sakurajima surrounded right in the middle. In a situation like that, even sprouting wings wouldn't get you out — and yet the male lead and Mai Sakurajima had escaped.
And it was precisely this scene that drove Ai Hoshino into total despair.
Because she knew that the most likely cause of this kind of bizarre situation was 'Time Stop' — by relying on Time Stop, Lin Ye had successfully gotten Mai Sakurajima out of the crowd's encirclement.
Ai Hoshino's face turned pale, her whole body went limp, and the discomfort she felt was beyond words.
Why,
why did it have to be like this?
She — she had been there first, hadn't she? It was she and Lin Ye who had met first. Whether it was acquaintance or contact, she had been the first.
But why was it Mai Sakurajima that Lin-kun had confessed to first?
And Mai Sakurajima had even accepted the confession.
The two of them had now officially become lovers.
"It should have been me,"
Ai Hoshino murmured, her words drenched in resentment.
It should have been her!?
Mai Sakurajima should have been in the back of the line. How could she cut in, how could she overtake from the side road?
"What should have been what?"
Beside her, Sayaka Maizono looked questioningly at the senior member of her idol group.
"Ah, that, this..."
Ai Hoshino was flustered and didn't know how to explain.
"Ai-chan, what happened? Don't tell me — don't tell me you..."
"No, no, no, nothing of the sort! Sayaka, don't get the wrong idea. I'm absolutely not — that's not — I don't know him at all."
But these very words drew Sayaka Maizono's attention and got her associations going.
She was eighty percent certain that Ai Hoshino knew this male lead.
"Ai-chan, Ai-chan-senpai, please tell me! Who is he, what's his identity? I'm so curious — I promise I won't tell anyone."
"No, no, no, I don't know him, I really don't."
But the unconvinced Sayaka Maizono clung to her in an affectionate string of pleading.
But Ai Hoshino held firm — she withstood Sayaka Maizono's offensive and didn't reveal this secret.
If Sayaka Maizono were to find out that the male lead was Lin Ye — the boy she liked, the boy she was close to — and that he had confessed to Mai Sakurajima and gotten together with her,
if this matter became known,
what would Sayaka's reaction be? She could hardly imagine.
This matter absolutely had to remain a secret.
She had to guard it carefully.
"All right, Sayaka, that's enough for today. I'm tired now, I'm thinking of going back to rest."
"Eh-eh,"
Sayaka Maizono yelped, "What about the manager..."
"It's fine — it's only leaving half an hour early. There won't be a problem. I'll be off then. I'm a little tired and want to get home and rest soon."
With that, Ai Hoshino propped herself up with one hand, stood up, and walked toward the changing room. She changed into her casual outdoor clothes.
Sayaka Maizono became even more certain that something was off with Ai Hoshino.
"I am going to figure this out, no matter what."
After leaving, the first thing Ai Hoshino did was call Lin Ye.
"The user you have dialed..."
On a call?
Five minutes later.
She dialed again, but the result was the same response.
Still on a call.
Ai Hoshino was certain this wasn't actually a call — it was that the number had been restricted.
At that thought,
Ai Hoshino's face turned even paler.
"Lin-kun and Mai — right now, right now they aren't... at a hotel... spending the night, are they!?"
"Wuaah! No, please don't!"
Her heart was bleeding.
Ai Hoshino felt like crying — she really felt like crying.
Once she got back to her apartment, she silently stared at this phone that couldn't reach Lin Ye, her mood sinking lower and lower.
"No,"
"I can't go on like this."
"Next time — next time, I will definitely win Lin-kun for myself."
"I absolutely cannot give other women the chance to get close to Lin-kun. Mm, I will absolutely..."
Her confidence was just a tiny bit lacking.
...
The sun hung high in the sky, brilliant sunlight pouring through the curtains and into the hotel room.
Lin Ye's eyelids twitched faintly. After a good long while, he finally, slowly, opened his sleepy eyes.
His mind was still hazy, still jumbled.
His eyes ached without pause — even prying them open took considerable effort.
Lin Ye gradually recovered his consciousness, his thoughts slowly returning.
He moved his hand reflexively, and what followed was a soft, supple, smooth touch caressing his sensitive nerves.
Hm?
Lin Ye reacted, realizing something was off.
He turned his head, and an exquisite sleeping face came into his view.
Long lashes were trembling.
Mai Sakurajima.
Someone Lin Ye knew well.
He and Senpai were sleeping together again.
This wasn't the first time, and Lin Ye relaxed quickly.
But in just one second's time, he noticed Senpai's current state of attire — and at once his face shifted slightly and his eyes went wide.
Senpai wasn't wearing pajamas last night.
Things seemed to have gotten a little serious.
...
...
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