'Uu, Mana-chan, love!'
This timely lifeline moved Chihaya Anon to the verge of tears. As expected of the idol she had loved for so long, beautiful and kind-hearted. She made up her mind, 'Starting tomorrow, Uika will be demoted from my number one spot. The sky cannot have two sun, , there is only one sun in my heart, and it's Mana!'
After the two added each other as friends, the train happened to arrive at its destination.
After leaving the station and arriving at RiNG, perhaps because school had just let out not long ago, the caf wasn't very crowded.
Aside from the familiar manager Ririko, there was only one female staff member behind the bar. She had long black hair and was polishing a glass. Her features were delicate and lovely, and below her eye sat a very rare beauty mark, lending her an extra air of icy elegance.
"Two hot Earl Greys, one iced Americano, a small sweet donut, and three matcha parfaits," After confirming the two girls' orders, Sumita Mana handed the menu back to Ririko and said, "Please make it quick."
"Y-Yes, please wait a moment," The manager finally withdrew her gaze from Kaito, reluctantly turning away, which made Anon mutter inwardly, 'What a blue-hair disaster.'
She hadn't forgotten. Last time they came to RiNG for afternoon tea, this manager lady had acted like she slipped her hand but clearly used it as an excuse to get touchy, total pervert behavior.
Sumita Mana didn't know about any of that. Compared to the departing Ririko, her attention was much more focused on Kaito sitting before her.
Even if you ignored the life-saving grace he gave her during that crisis, just based on that face alone, which practically defined "pure beauty," it had a devastating effect on any girl with a budding heart.
Perhaps boys with budding hearts too?
In the past, the only people or things that could move her were her supporting fans, and Uika, her fellow "sumimi" member.
But now, for the first time in more than a decade of life, Mana felt a powerful urge to understand someone deeply.
It was just that
Looking at the cheerful pink-haired girl in front of her, passionately chatting, Sumita Mana sighed in her heart.
She could tell that this girl named "Chihaya Anon" harbored quite deep feelings for Kaito. Otherwise, she wouldn't be fantasizing about their married life already.
Though their relationship didn't seem that close for now, you could tell just from the fact that Kaito still called her "Chihaya-san."
'But, as an idol to poach a fan's crush'
Gentle Mana really couldn't bring herself to commit such a disgraceful act that would make her unworthy of being an idol.
The brown-haired girl lowered her lashes, hiding the loneliness in her eyes, but continued smiling and chatting with Anon.
She really was a great conversationalist. Totally down-to-earth with none of that celebrity arrogance. No matter how strange the question, she always answered sincerely, without a hint of perfunctoriness.
Kaito simply listened to the girls' sweet, lark-like voices, occasionally chiming in. The atmosphere was peaceful and harmonious.
Unfortunately, that harmony was soon broken by a sharp ringtone.
As a popular girl idol, Mana was under immense work pressure daily. Especially with recent issues surrounding sumimi, she was mentally and physically exhausted.
Even now, when she was out to relax, it was just a rare moment snatched from her busy schedule, destined not to last long.
"Sorry, I may need to leave now," She called over Manager Ririko to pay the bill and gave a regretful smile, "Looks like today's tea party will have to end early~"
"It's okay! Work is more important," Anon waved it off. Just being able to talk with her favorite idol for so long and even hear some backstage stories from previous performances was enough for her. Of course she wouldn't act clingy and annoying.
Maybe her manager really was urging her urgently, because Mana didn't waste time with small talk. But right before leaving, she once again asked to exchange contact info with Kaito, and this time, she wasn't rejected.
Watching the idol girl's silhouette gradually disappear, Anon stretched lazily and was just about to say something when the bell above the door jingled noisily.
A moment later, a short silver-haired girl carrying a guitar case walked in.
Her eyes were a rare mismatch of yellow and blue, and after scanning the room idly, her gaze suddenly lit up upon seeing Kaito, sparkling like a leopard cat locking onto prey.
"Found you."
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Chapter 167: One-Second Fermented Tofu Shiina Taki
"Raana?", After seeing clearly the figure walking into the shop, Kaito was a little surprised.
Although the two hadn't seen each other for a while, he still retained a deep impression of this free-spirited girl who resembled a stray cat.
"I smelled a familiar scent outside."
Raana was still dressed in the same style. A black hoodie with a torn design on top, paired with a gray inner layer, and light brown Martin boots on her feet. At this moment, like a ragdoll cat seeing its owner, she happily opened her arms and jumped into Kaito's embrace, her perky little nose sniffed, revealing a satisfied expression.
"Man, you smell so good!"
Standing on the side, Anon couldn't help clenching her small fists. Hard. She was really hard.
It was the same last time, this cat-girl named "Raana" pounced on Kaito the moment they met, completely unrestrained. Even she herself hadn't done anything that intimate.
"?", Raana tilted her head but didn't pay attention to the strange pink-haired girl whose face was written with jealousy. She just rubbed against Kaito's cheek again, then leaned back to reveal her beautiful heterochromatic eyes, yellow and blue, and said seriously, "Couldn't find you. Wanted to see you."
Ever since they parted last time and the cat girl was picked up by Grandma Tsuzuki, she had tried countless times to sneak out of the house to find Kaito again.
But she couldn't find him. Not at all.
Vast Tokyo, occupying 2,155 square kilometers, with a resident population floating around thirty million.
Trying to find someone in such a gigantic city was undoubtedly like finding a needle in a haystack.
Although the cat girl had been to Kaito's house before, at that time she was too busy clinging to him to remember the address.
She could only vaguely recall that it seemed like a detached single-family house, but no further details came to mind.
During this time, every day after school, the cat girl would carry her guitar case and wander through the streets and alleys of the city, hoping to find the house from her memory.
But, nothing.
Until today, when she only came to RiNG just to relax and play some guitar.
But the moment she got close, her sensitive little nose picked up a familiar scent she had been longing for day and night. It was like warm sunshine over a grassy field, making one feel peaceful and relaxed.
Raana's way of speaking was very concise, which Kaito had long gotten used to. He just raised his eyebrows and asked, "I remember you should have my contact info in your phone, right? Why didn't you message me?"
Raana looked at him and said very honestly, "Because I don't know how to type."
Kaito: "..."
That reason was so strong it left no room for argument.
He was a little dumbfounded but didn't continue on that topic. He planned to first peel the girl off him. What kind of scene was this, hanging all over him like that?
But Raana refused to let go no matter what.
The lost-and-found cat girl, as if afraid he would disappear again, just kept burrowing into his arms with all her heart.
"So let go of Kaito-kun already!", Seeing the boy she liked getting rubbed all over by another girl, anyone who could stay calm for more than three seconds was a god.
She couldn't take it anymore, and didn't need to.
Chihaya Anon, like a betrayed wife forced to watch her husband flirt with another woman, lunged forward angrily, trying to drive away the silver-haired girl.
"Boring woman," Raana easily dodged her attack and even casually dropped a cold critique.
Anon became even more furious, but before she could react, they all heard approaching footsteps, "tap tap."
"Guests, here are your orders," The black-haired female employee who had been wiping glasses behind the counter didn't know when she had walked over. She was holding a tray, filled with desserts, and three cups of vibrant green matcha parfaits stood out especially.
Looking at Raana clinging to Kaito like a koala, the store employee paused and felt a bit of a headache.
From this angle, she could only see the customer's back, but it was clearly a guy. And the stray cat's current actions, no matter how you looked at it, were entirely inappropriate.
"Stray cat I mean, Raana, get off the guest right now. Don't disturb the guests while they eat."
"Mm", Raana tilted her little head, as if pondering something.
Then she shook her head and simply said, "No."
"Huh?", The black-haired store employee froze.
"Next to him, it's comfy," Raana opened her yellow-and-blue eyes seriously and said, "Taki, want to try?"
'Try your ass!'
The store employee named "Shiina Taki" was so angry she laughed. She had a very pretty face, and her hairstyle was that classic straight black hair favored by literary girls. But her brows held a sharp edge that, even when softened by the beauty mark near her eye, still made her look hard to approach.
Now that she intentionally put on a stern expression, the pressure she exuded intensified.
People say cats have reactions seven times that of humans. If they're uncomfortable, they'll walk away on their own. But facing an angry Taki, Raana just shrank her neck a little and still clung tightly to Kaito's neck, refusing to let go.
The two sides stared at each other for about five seconds, and in the end, it was Taki who lost.
The black-haired girl helplessly rubbed her forehead. Since threats didn't work, she tried bribery, "Get off the guest, and I'll give you two matcha parfaits. How about it?"
Unexpectedly, facing the temptation of sugary bribes, the cat girl rejected even faster, "No."
What parfait could compare to the scent of a man?
This time, it was Taki's turn to be stunned.
'Even the parfait she loves most can be refused has the stray cat changed personalities?'
Threats didn't work, and even the usually foolproof parfait bribe failed. She suddenly felt completely at a loss.
Though Kaito hadn't turned around, he had seen their entire interaction. Since the store employee had no solution, he simply shook his head and spoke himself, "Raana, get off me first."
"Mm", The cat girl bit her lip, raised her little face the size of a palm, and looked up at those deep, unreadable eyes. After struggling for two seconds, she finally obediently let go.
Even though she still longed for the warmth of that embrace she didn't want to be hated even more.
Shiina Taki: "?"
'I threatened you and bribed you, and you ignored it all. But one word from someone else and you obediently let go?'
That kind of helpless feeling. Like raising a cat with great effort, one that's always proud and cold, won't even let you touch its belly, yet gets stolen away in a single glance by another man, acting all cuddly and spoiled with him.
'Forget it. Let the stray cat act spoiled with whoever she wants. It's not like I care.'
"Right. Not one bit.'
'As long as it doesn't disturb the guests.'
Taki sorted out her feelings, stepped forward, bent down, and placed the desserts and drinks from the tray one by one on the table.
After finishing all that, she stood up and looked at the guests beside her, just about to say some service line like "Please enjoy." But her violet eyes suddenly froze.
The moment the young man looked up, the warm sun broke into golden powder on his eyelashes. His light chestnut eyes seemed to hold a stained-glass glow, reminiscent of the windows in the Florence Cathedral.
Taki opened her mouth, but it was like someone had hit her pause button. She couldn't say a single word.
She suddenly understood why some nuns in the Middle Ages were willing to remain celibate for life after just one glimpse of an angel.
This really was a face so perfect, it made people want to believe in God.
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Chapter 168: This Chapter Is Pure Rant, You Can Skip It
[T/N: This chapter is Author's ranting, not mine.]
I'm seriously confused now. I can't figure out what the screenwriter is thinking.
It feels like I watched more than ten minutes of anime, but also like I watched nothing at all. Did I even watch anything? Maybe I did.
Up until now, Sakiko has always had a lonely, cold, lone wolf image, but now she's turning into a comic relief character too. And Chihaya only got one shot.
But none of that really matters. The real issue is Mutsumi's character setup, it seriously makes me want to scream, "WTF, wsd!" What the hell are you writing, Sakura?
Let me briefly summarize the new setting thrown out in episode eight: Mutsumi doesn't just have a dual personality, she's actually Hassan of the Hundred Faces. She has hundreds of personalities. Among them, one super-guard dog personality rose to the top, killed off all the other personalities in the name of the Great Western King, and became the dominant persona. Only Teacher Momo was smart enough to pick the right side and survived the purge by kissing up to Mutsumi and pledging loyalty.
If you hadn't told me this was Ave Mujica, I would've thought it was some ancient Chinese palace drama. Is every throne succession doomed to be full of blood and gore?
The reason the Mortis group is so obsessed with keeping Chicken Card safe is also pretty simple, they just want to survive. Hah! This is a girl band anime, yet the characters aren't forming a band because of dreams, or because they're moved by music, or even because they want to bring smiles to audiences, they just want to survive.
Suddenly thought of a joke: a few members of a girl band meet and talk about why they formed the band.
One says: "I want to see the audience's smile."
Another says: "The band gives me strength."
