[Sumita Mana: I thought Anon might be really interested. So, if you two are free, would you like to come watch?]
'A stage play, huh?'
Kaito thought for a moment but didn't rush to reply.
Sure enough, after about two or three minutes, a panting figure appeared at the classroom door.
A girl with long pink hair, still munching on half a piece of bread, burst into the classroom in the nick of time, barely dodging the start-of-class bell.
"Ah, Kaito, good morni cough! Cough cough!"
Chihaya Anon choked while trying to swallow the bread too fast and pounded her chest frantically to avoid death by bread.
Kaito: ""
He might've just discovered the true nature of Chihaya's bad luck.
'With the way you're hammering yourself, even Susanoo would end up dented.'
"Mana's stage play is about to premiere," Putting his thoughts aside, he shook his phone, "She thinks you'll be interested, so she invited us to go watch."
"Eh?", The pink-haired girl froze, "But why didn't Mana message me directly?"
"Maybe she didn't have time? Being a super popular idol and all, she probably barely managed to squeeze out enough time just to message me."
Anon thought it over. That actually made sense.
'Still something feel a little off.'
Kaito didn't notice her odd expression and kept reading the production stills Mana sent, "Internal tickets, best seats, backstage tour, and even a photo op with the cast. But only with the two leads, one is Mana, the other is Misumi Uika?"
"Eh? Even Uika's in it?"
The pink-haired girl's mouth opened slightly. Ever since she met Kaito, her attention had strayed from idol fandom, so she hadn't kept up with Sumimi's recent news. Naturally, she didn't know they'd made such progress in the entertainment world.
Just recently, they were caught in the crisis of disbanding, and now they were already starring in a stage play? That's a huge turnaround, it's practically a full comeback.
Though surprised, the little fan Anon was genuinely happy for Sumimi's success. So she nodded without hesitation.
"Of course I'm interested. Mana's career is on the rise, even as a friend, I should go congratulate her properly!"
Not to mention, she could get photos with both Mana and Uika.
"Then I'll reply to her accordingly."
Kaito nodded slightly, accepting Donut Girl's kind offer. He was also somewhat interested in stage plays. Learning new things wasn't a bad idea.
[Kaito: Anon and I will come.]
[Kaito: Wishing you a smooth run in advance.]
[Office Building, a Bright Rehearsal Room]
A gentle girl with long brown hair looked at the message on her screen. Her cherry lips curved slightly, forming a soft arc.
Sweet and lovely.
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Chapter 235: My Heart Has Already Been Taken by Saki, Perhaps There Will Be No More Joy or Sorrow in This Life
"Mana, it's time to go to rehearsal."
The girl with long golden hair draped over her shoulders pushed the door open and entered. Her refined features full of heroic spirit shone with vigor, but upon noticing Mana's smile, her expression turned curious.
"Suddenly smiling so happily, did something good happen?"
"Mm I did encounter something wonderful indeed."
Sumita Mana put away her phone and cheerfully hugged her friend's arm, "Uika, in a few days, how about I introduce a new friend to you?"
"New friend?", Misumi Uika was slightly taken aback.
Ever since Sumimi suffered suppression from an unknown force, this guitarist, who appeared valiant and bold in the eyes of outsiders, had actually been feeling quite depressed inside.
She knew the reason behind it but was powerless to resist the grasp of that old guy's big hand. Relying only on stubbornness and a desire to see Sakiko once more, she barely managed to stay in Tokyo.
The only person Uika felt sorry for was Mana. If not for her, Sumimi wouldn't have fallen into the crisis of disbandment. With Mana's abilities, her future should have been bright.
So when she heard that the agency intended to separate Mana from her and let her go solo, Misumi Uika even felt a bit relieved.
At least this way, she wouldn't drag Mana down anymore.
But that vocalist who had always shown a sweet and gentle image unexpectedly displayed extraordinary courage and stubbornness.
Not only did she refuse the agency's request, but she was also willing to bear the pressure from the outside world together with her. Even in the most difficult times, she never thought of abandoning her.
Besides her guilt, Uika felt a warmness rising in her heart.
The friendship forged through shared hardships was always especially precious.
So even after the unknown force suppressing Sumimi mysteriously disappeared, her relationship with Mana didn't regress, but instead became even closer, turning into best girlfriends.
At this moment, seeing her friend's smile sweet like cotton candy, Uika was momentarily stunned and couldn't help but feel a bit strange.
Looking at Mana's appearance it didn't seem like she was going to introduce a new friend. It looked more like she was going to introduce a boyfriend?
Uika had never been in a relationship and wasn't entirely sure what liking a boy felt like, but even if she hadn't eaten pork, she had seen pigs run.
Back when she studied at Hanasakigawa, she had seen what girls looked like when they got into relationships: their eyes would shine when talking about their lovers, their lips would uncontrollably curve up, and pink bubbles seemed to float all around them.
And Mana's current look wasn't just similar, it was identical.
'But when did it happen?'
As teammates in the same group, she spent more time with Mana than most people did, yet rarely saw the latter go out. She would sometimes just stare at her phone in a daze, occasionally frowning or smiling foolishly. No one knew what she was looking at.
'Could it be an online relationship?'
Such a guess suddenly popped into Uika's head and startled her.
But thinking it through carefully, the possibility was actually quite high. After all, Mana didn't have much opportunity to interact with outsiders in real life, so it seemed like only the internet offered a loophole to explore.
The girl couldn't help but feel a little worried.
The internet world is full of truth and lies, and separated by a screen, the darkness of the human heart could be infinitely magnified.
With Mana's silly and sweet personality, if she were to meet a frivolous bad man, wouldn't she be tricked into giving birth to triplets?
With that concern, she hesitated a little, but still cautiously asked, "You and that friend have a good relationship?"
"Uh", Sumita Mana stretched out a slender finger and tapped her lips somewhat troubledly, "We probably can barely be considered good friends?"
Her guilty and uncertain attitude made Uika fall silent for two seconds.
'What the heck is "barely"?'
'Does your friend know he's your friend?'
"Anyway, he's a very good person~ Might seem hard to approach at first, but he's actually very gentle," Sumita Mana didn't dwell on this topic, instead promising confidently, "Uika, you'll definitely like him! I promise!"
Uika didn't quite understand where her friend's confidence came from, 'Is it the case of love is in the eye of the beholder?'
Since she couldn't figure it out, she simply stopped thinking about it. As long as they met once, she'd know what kind of person he was.
As for whether she'd like him?
Uika slightly shook her head imperceptibly. In her mind appeared the image of a delicate doll-like blue-haired girl, her smile radiant like an angel.
'My heart has already been taken by Sakiko, perhaps there will be no more joy or sorrow in this life.'
"What scheme are you up to again?", Putting away his phone, Kaito looked at the pink-haired girl who suddenly leaned in and sighed.
"What do you mean Am I, in Kaito's heart, really that unreliable?"
Chihaya Anon puffed up her cheeks slightly, looking like a cute little pink hamster, "I was just curious Isn't your uniform a bit off?"
"Hm?"
"No playing dumb!"
The girl's gaze was sharp, her tone serious like a detective confronting a suspect, "Confess and be lenient, resist and be strict! Tell the truth, what's the deal with this button!"
'So it is about this?'
Kaito looked down at his uniform. One button was missing. At first glance, it did look a bit odd, no wonder Anon noticed it.
But he didn't think much of it and just casually said, "I gave it to someone."
Worth mentioning
In Japan, the second button on a boy's uniform holds a very special meaning: because it lies over the chest, closest to the heart, there's a saying that "as long as you have that button, you'll always have his heart." [T/N: It's a true custom. Not made up here.]
This legend was especially popular decades ago, but even now it hasn't gone out of style. Every graduation season, you could still see girls actively asking their crushes for that button. If successful, they'd hang it on a red thread around their neck, symbolizing "you are the love of my life."
But Kaito, being essentially a guy from next-door, wasn't too familiar with these Japanese customs, so he didn't realize what his words implied.
However, as a native girl, Anon had certainly heard of the legend about buttons, and had even once fantasized about similar scenarios.
But that was a long time ago. She subconsciously patted her chest and just breathed a sigh of relief, "So it was given to someone wait a sec!"
The girl froze, suddenly coming to her senses belatedly, 'Kaito gave the button closest to his heart to someone else.'
'That means'
'I have been cheated on?'
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Chapter 236: I Was Clearly First!
It had already entered June, and the world welcomed midsummer.
The sunlight outside the window was bright, the wind was gentle, and the sky was a clear blue like it had been washed.
This ought to be a day of exceptionally clear weather, even the clouds were tender.
But Chihaya Anon's mood was not bright at all. On the contrary, sorrow welled up in her heart.
Netorare in Japan was a very popular genre, meaning "one's partner being forcibly taken by another." From upper-level film and anime to lower-level doujinshi and novels, you could always see the tag's shadow.
As a beautiful maiden in her youth, Anon had, of course, read many romance manga in private. She had also once been disgusted by pure love stories that suddenly turned into NTR, to the point where she wished she could slay the author and wipe out all cuckolding bulls in the world.
But she never could have imagined that one day, such a storyline would actually descend upon her.
'No, wait.'
'Strictly speaking, my situation can't even count as NTR.'
After all, the premise of NTR was, "The relationship of the two being interrupted by a third party must be that of spouses."
Although her relationship with Kaito was steadily rising, they were still one step away from dating. At most, it could be called a half-step girlfriend status, and there was still time to break through.
In this case, a more accurate term should be BSS, that is: The person one is unrequitedly in love with is taken by someone else.
Even sadder than being cucked is not even qualifying to be cucked.
At least the victim once had a brief moment of possessing their beloved. But even if Kaito dated another girl, it seemed it had nothing to do with her
'Like hell it doesn't!'
'I was clearly first!'
'The first time meeting on the train The first time becoming classmates The first time exchanging contact info'
'As long as you stack up enough "firsts," they add up to a lifetime!'
'I absolutely won't acknowledge this sort of "skyfalling homewrecker cat" situation!'
'So'
"Wh-what exactly is going on here?"
Anon slammed the table with a "pa" and stood up, her whole body instinctively leaning forward, her delicate cheeks nearly pressing up to him. Her dense lashes, like fine brushes, stood out sharply.
The girl's pink hair softly draped down, a few strands brushing against his arm, like cherry blossoms drifting gently from a tree branch, stirring the heart.
Normally, the safe and effective social distance between people should be maintained at over one meter.
But right now, the unit between them could only be described in "centimeters."
Anon had gotten too close, too suddenly. Like a Squirtle using Rocket Headbutt, charging in with unstoppable momentum.
Kaito instinctively reached out a hand and lightly blocked her.
This wasn't a conscious decision, just like reflexively blinking when facing strong light, it was a self-defense mechanism of the human body.
He only meant to stop the girl from pouncing on him like a facehugger but by some twist of fate
Bad news: He touched a place he shouldn't have touched.
Good news: That place technically didn't exist, so maybe it didn't matter?
'Ahem, alright, that was a joke.'
Although he had always thought Anon was flat, but without investigation, there should be no right to speak.
It turned out, he had underestimated anon all this time.
Although the curves weren't very obvious, upon closer inspection, he could still feel a trace of the softness unique to a youthful girl.
At the moment the accident happened, Kaito had already quickly retracted his hand, his movement so fast it almost left afterimages.
But as the party involved, Chihaya Anon didn't miss that brief moment of contact.
The pink-haired girl first froze, as if the air had turned to honey wax, locking her in place. For two seconds, or maybe even less, a vacuum of time, coral-colored blush spread upward from her pale neck, slowly climbing bit by bit.
The uniform still seemed to retain the burning heat of the touch, nearly scorching her, while clearly reminding her of what had just happened.
"Anyway, that's what happened," Kaito lightly cleared his throat, subtly shifting the topic, summarizing the incident on the train in a few words.
But Chihaya Anon clearly no longer cared about such minor matters.
'Is the second button closest to the heart really that important?'
'I just had the very place where my heart beats touched!'
