Sayaka Maizono spoke up again almost at once, making her position clear to Ai Hoshino.
"Anyway, I don't. Senpai, I think I understand what you're getting at, but I don't have any romantic feelings for Mr. Lin at all."
Whether Senpai was testing her or being completely serious, this was the only answer she could give. It had to be the only one.
Anything beyond that carried consequences she couldn't bear.
What if it was a test?
And even if it wasn't, even if Senpai meant every word, she still couldn't accept an arrangement like that.
She, Sayaka Maizono, wanted true love. A devoted love, given to one person only. Not this.
"Sayaka, you're doubting me again."
"I'm not. But what I said is honestly how I feel. I really don't, so, Senpai, there's no need to bring it up anymore."
Sayaka Maizono wanted the subject closed.
Ai Hoshino considered that, then let it drop.
This much was enough for now. The seed had been planted.
Whatever grew from it afterward was another matter entirely.
Ai Hoshino believed Lin Ye had more than enough charm to sweep Sayaka Maizono off her feet. It would only take time, and, more importantly, it would take Lin Ye making the first move.
The first was a fair-sized problem. The second was an enormous one.
Lin Ye almost never initiated anything, which meant Sayaka would have to be the one to act.
And the Sayaka of right now would never do that.
Which meant the future she was picturing for those two had no chance of coming about on its own.
The odds were vanishingly small.
Ai Hoshino's thoughts stuck there, going in circles.
Then a wonderful smell reached her.
Breakfast, drifting in from the kitchen.
Not long after, the food arrived on the table.
Spaghetti, bright red tomato sauce spread over the top, vivid enough to make the mouth water, with a scattering of green onion adding a splash of color.
The fried eggs were neatly shaped, the yolks still glistening and soft inside.
Green lettuce, lightly blanched.
A glass of milk stood off to one side.
This morning's breakfast had color, aroma, flavor, and balanced nutrition on top of it.
Ai Hoshino stared, genuinely impressed.
It looked simple enough, but pulling it off to this standard took real skill.
She certainly couldn't have managed it.
Neither could Sayaka Maizono.
For a man to cook breakfast this well was not an ordinary thing at all.
"Lin-kun, you're really good at this!" Ai Hoshino said, marveling at the spread.
"When you live alone, you have to be."
Living by himself in his previous life, he'd had to make his own lunches and dinners. Eating takeout every single day struck him as neither healthy nor nourishing.
Takeout places piled on oil and seasoning to make the food taste better.
It was delicious going down, but eat enough of it and your body paid the price.
Ai Hoshino heard that, and a picture rose in her mind of him alone, night after night, with no one for company.
"Lin-kun, once you come to Tokyo, I can help out too."
She was already imagining the two of them bustling around a kitchen together.
"Let's talk about that when the day comes."
"Mm, mm, mm."
To Sayaka Maizono, it seemed like Senpai and Mr. Lin Ye had grown even closer.
After everything that happened last night, after they'd communicated their feelings quite so physically, of course things had to improve. Otherwise what had been the point of it all?
The more Sayaka Maizono thought about it, the hotter her cheeks got. She shook her head hard and shoved the thoughts away.
Ai Hoshino picked up an egg with her chopsticks first and tried a bite.
"It's good."
"It's just a fried egg."
"Good is good. And this is a labor-of-love breakfast Lin-kun made for us."
At those words, Sayaka Maizono, mid-chew on her first mouthful, nearly spat it out.
A labor-of-love breakfast?
That was going too far!
She did not want any labor-of-love breakfast.
Sayaka Maizono's gaze settled on the meal in front of her, simple and yet so generous.
If she could have a breakfast like this every day, that really would be a kind of happiness.
Something in her stirred. She truly did want a life like that.
Originally, Sayaka Maizono had pictured retiring from idol work and becoming an excellent full-time wife, laying out three lavish meals a day for her husband and children.
That was what she had always looked forward to. But now she found that having the person she liked prepare a lavish dinner for her sounded like happiness too.
She genuinely wanted this everyday life, so different from the one she knew.
"Sayaka, how does it taste?"
Ai Hoshino turned to the girl beside her, eyes bright with expectation, waiting for an answer.
Sayaka understood exactly what Senpai was after.
But how was she supposed to put it? If she admitted anything, a fresh round of teasing was guaranteed. She knew this Senpai far too well.
Yesterday and today had given her a thorough education in her Senpai's talent for reading things into words.
"It's all right."
Sayaka Maizono didn't deny it, but she didn't fully confirm it either. She felt she had to answer that way.
To keep Senpai from teasing her again.
"Sayaka isn't satisfied?"
Ai Hoshino's eyes went wide and her voice climbed.
"Lin-kun's labor-of-love breakfast is this delicious and you say it's not good? Sayaka really does have high standards, doesn't she?"
The teasing had begun. The attack was underway.
"That's not it. It's just how it tastes to me," Sayaka Maizono went on.
By now she had worked something out: no matter what she answered, Ai-senpai would find a way to argue the opposite.
She really had no defense against it.
"All right, Ai-chan, eat your breakfast first."
"Mm, mm, mm..."
Ai Hoshino nodded vigorously.
The three of them settled down and focused on the rest of the meal.
Sayaka Maizono hadn't admitted it, but she liked the food a great deal.
She simply knew that, as things stood, she could never say so. The moment she did, Senpai's teasing would be unavoidable, and it would come back far fiercer than before.
How wonderful it would be if Senpai would just give up on teasing her one day.
That was what Sayaka Maizono thought.
A dozen or so minutes later, breakfast was over. Ai Hoshino gathered up the plates, Sayaka Maizono moved just as fast, and between them the two girls had the table cleared in no time.
"Lin-kun, I'm off today. Let's go out and have some fun!"
Sayaka Maizono froze for a beat at that. They had rehearsal scheduled today. With next week's performance coming, they needed all the practice they could get.
And Senpai wanted to skip it.
That didn't match the impression Ai Hoshino had always given her.
But when she thought about it, it made sense. Lin Ye only came around once in a while, so of course Senpai would rather spend as much of that time with him as possible.
As for any pressure from the agency, there wasn't any.
If anything, the agency was hoping Ai Hoshino would retire sooner rather than later, so they could stop worrying and finally see this particular girl off.
After all, Ai Hoshino was too much of an exception. Her very presence affected how the other idol girls thought and what they wanted.
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