"Senpai, is this really all right?"
In the end, a good while after Lin Ye had gone, Sayaka Maizono had to ask.
She already knew about the tangled relationship between her senpai, Lin Ye, and Mai Sakurajima. Still, watching Lin Ye leave her senpai behind to go arrange a date with Mai Sakurajima...
If she had been in her senpai's place, she honestly wouldn't have been able to stand it. It would have hurt. She would have grieved, and her chest would have ached.
Sayaka Maizono had no idea how her senpai endured it.
Had Senpai truly accepted it all and stopped caring, unwilling to spend another thought on that complicated three-way arrangement?
Was she planning to tolerate Lin Ye's wandering affections and his flirtatious nature too?
"All right or not, what does it matter?"
Ai Hoshino turned the question back on Sayaka Maizono.
"I've known Lin-kun liked Mai Sakurajima from the very beginning."
Yes. She had known from the very start.
She had voiced her displeasure back then, but at that time she and Lin Ye were nothing more than acquaintances, and she still needed to rely on him to survive, to keep herself from dying in a Strange event.
That she was alive now, that she had made it this far, she owed to Lin Ye.
Ai Hoshino disliked how easily his affections spread. She wished he would be hers alone, that he would give her his whole heart and spend his life with her and no one else.
But she also knew that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
She loved him one-sidedly. As for how much he cared for her, she knew it wasn't much — probably only a shade more than the simple appreciation a man feels for a pretty girl's face.
Asking Lin Ye to give up an entire forest for her sake was flatly impossible.
Not worth considering.
Not even worth dreaming about.
Ai Hoshino understood that perfectly.
Compared to the others, she held no real advantage. An idol's fame counted for something, sure — but Mai Sakurajima was one of the hottest stars in all of Japan, and it wasn't out of the question that she'd become a national idol someday.
If a girl like that couldn't make Lin Ye give up other women, what hope did a small-time idol like her have?
So all Ai Hoshino could do now was hope he'd treat her a little better, that he'd carve out a little more of his time for her.
Anything beyond that was just a fantasy.
And she didn't want to beg for more.
Begging would accomplish nothing, because it simply wasn't possible. It would only cloud her thinking and throw off her judgment.
Ai Hoshino understood that all too well.
"But, but, Senpai..."
"Sayaka, that's enough. I knew from the start, and I've accepted it now. Besides, Lin-kun and Miss Mai Sakurajima are already a couple. If anything, I'm the one playing the other woman."
Saying it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
That was the truth of it. She really was the other woman.
She had become exactly the kind of woman she'd always despised — the sort who meddles in someone else's love life.
"Senpai, that... that's not true at all!"
Sayaka Maizono shook her head in immediate denial. In truth, she agreed with the description a little, but there was no way she could say so out loud.
She had to look out for her senpai. She had to keep her from carrying that kind of weight around.
Thoughts like Ai Hoshino's needed to be talked down, soothed somehow.
She could hardly lecture her outright — say this is wrong, you need to change!
And change how, exactly?
She could hardly tell her senpai to break up with Lin Ye!
Once that thought surfaced, an impulse stirred in Sayaka Maizono.
Maybe she should try it?
"Not true? Factually speaking, that's exactly what it is. But I don't care. I've already decided to be with Lin Ye."
"Senpai, do you really like Mr. Lin that much?"
The question made Ai Hoshino feel her junior was doubting the depth of her feelings for Lin Ye.
"Yes. Very, very much. So much that I'd do anything for him."
"But if Senpai ever met a man who suited you better..."
"There's no such possibility."
Ai Hoshino said it without a trace of hesitation. "There isn't a man in this world better than Lin-kun. Lin-kun is the strongest, finest man alive, and I will never let him slip through my fingers."
That declaration told Sayaka Maizono that anything more she said would be wasted breath.
Her senpai's love for Lin Ye ran deeper than she could have imagined.
Sayaka Maizono simply couldn't picture it.
"I suppose something must have happened between you and Lin-kun that I can't even begin to imagine."
"Mm. He saved my life."
Sayaka Maizono made a small sound of acknowledgment.
"When I was facing death, he stepped forward. He stood in front of me and shielded me from everything. You haven't been through that, Sayaka. You can't understand it."
She really couldn't. If she could, she wouldn't be arguing like this.
"If Lin-kun ever saves your life someday, you won't think this way either."
Anyone could be swept up in a Strange event.
It wasn't impossible that Sayaka Maizono would be next.
Ai Hoshino even thought it was entirely likely.
But the odds of Sayaka being caught up in one together with Lin-kun were slim.
She wasn't about to hope for something like that, either.
"Ah, I'd rather not run into anything dangerous at all, haha..."
"Mm. Better not to. Things like that are best kept far away. If it gets truly dangerous, you might not walk out with your life."
And once your life is gone, what else is there left to look forward to?
"Exactly. I'm rather fond of this little life of mine. Dangerous things can stay as far from me as possible. What I want is to get through this life safe and sound — retire from being an idol, be with the man I love, get married, have children, live happily."
That was what Sayaka Maizono wanted.
"So, is that man Lin-kun?"
"Senpai, stop teasing me like that."
"Fine, fine! Though I do hope it is. Then we'd be real sisters — the closest sisters of all!"
Ai Hoshino's teasing left Sayaka Maizono at a loss, but a faint flush crept across her cheeks all the same.
"Senpai, don't always be like this."
"Nobody ever believes the honest truth. I'm saying this for your sake. However impressive Lin-kun is, his stamina has limits. If we sisters take him on together, we could cut his appetite down considerably."
"Ugh..."
Catching Ai Hoshino's meaning, Sayaka Maizono went redder still.
Her senpai truly had no filter. She would say anything.
This was a side of her Sayaka never would have guessed at before.
And of course, everything they'd talked about last night and today was beyond anything she could have imagined.
She'd known her senpai liked Lin Ye, that she thought highly of him — but who could have guessed it went this far?
Her feelings for Lin Ye had grown so deep that she'd started trying to drag Sayaka in alongside her.
With anyone else, that would have been unthinkable.
"Senpai, please stop saying things like that. It's not going to happen. There's no way I'd ever agree."
"Sayaka, don't speak in absolutes."
Sayaka Maizono looked at her with a question in her eyes.
"I used to say I'd only ever settle for a boy who loved me and me alone. Fickle, philandering men could get as far away from me as possible."
And then Lin Ye had appeared, and she found she couldn't refuse him at all. She couldn't harden her heart and walk away. Instead she had fallen, and accepted it, and had even become willing to share him with other women.
She was now trying to talk her own junior, Sayaka Maizono, into joining her.
Who on earth would believe it if she said it out loud?
Ninety-nine point nine percent of people wouldn't.
A girl like Ai Hoshino, of all people, sharing a man's love with other women — and actively recruiting more women for him on top of it.
"That... that's still different."
Sayaka Maizono was still resisting.
"The way you're acting only makes me more certain that what I described will come true. Sayaka, I think if you spend enough time around Lin-kun, you'll fall for that gentleness of his."
"Um, no, I won't. Absolutely not. I'll say it plainly right here, Senpai — that will never happen to me."
Sayaka Maizono had made her position clear once again.
Ai Hoshino only smiled.
She'd seen plenty of reverse flags planted just like that one.
Time would tell.
The more you dread something, the more surely it happens. Ai Hoshino had a feeling about this one — she just didn't know when.
She hoped it would be soon, so she could give Sayaka Maizono a proper round of teasing over it.
Otherwise, where would the fun in these days come from?
That was what Ai Hoshino thought.
"Senpai, do you have any plans for today?"
After all, Ai Hoshino had taken time off. Was she ending her leave and heading back to the stage for practice?
Or was she staying home to rest?
"No dance practice. I'm not in the mood."
It was true.
She wasn't in the mood.
She had accepted the reality of it, but thinking about Lin Ye going off on a date with Mai Sakurajima left an ache she couldn't stop and a restlessness she couldn't settle.
She decided she ought to rest today and get her head straight.
"Then I'll..."
"Don't go. Stay with me today," Ai Hoshino demanded.
Sayaka Maizono naturally felt that skipping practice wasn't ideal, but once Ai Hoshino had asked, she really didn't want to refuse.
She knew her senpai was in a bad way today.
"All right. I'll keep you company, Senpai."
Having made her decision, Sayaka Maizono went on, "Honestly, I think you... ah, never mind, forget it. Just take care of yourself, Senpai. There'll only be more days like this."
"Which is exactly why I need Sayaka by my side all the time. When Lin-kun is off with another woman, the two of us can keep each other company and go out walking to clear our heads."
So that was part of it too.
The thought ran through Sayaka Maizono's mind.
"We can go out walking together without being that kind of sisters, you know."
"It's not the same. It doesn't feel the same at all. Friendship isn't what I need."
Ai Hoshino held her ground. "If Sayaka isn't willing, then one day I'll just have to find someone else."
The moment the words left her mouth, urgency pricked at Sayaka Maizono — a rush of panic at the thought of being cast aside.
She genuinely had no interest in the arrangement. But if her senpai went looking for someone else, and that someone else said yes...
What would happen after that?
Sayaka Maizono didn't need to think hard to know.
Once that day came, there'd be no place left for her.
The protection her senpai had extended to her would dwindle, and eventually vanish altogether.
She was afraid of losing all of it.
But agreeing now was out of the question. She didn't want to eat her own words, and even less did she want to sell out her own feelings for the sake of gain — even if Lin Ye was, in certain respects, genuinely a fine man.
Besides, Sayaka Maizono knew Lin Ye had no real interest in her.
Last night there had been plenty of squeezing and touching, sure.
But most of it had been going through the motions, humoring the situation.
After all, last night Lin Ye had every chance to do something far more intimate. If he had steeled himself and forced the issue with her, it wouldn't have been impossible.
"So think it over carefully, Sayaka. You're not the only one I have in mind."
"I, I..."
In the end, she couldn't muster the conviction to finish the sentence.
Somewhere deep down, the thought of giving in had already taken root.
"So what should we do today?"
"Let's see a movie."
Ai Hoshino realized it had been ages since she'd last watched one.
"Mm."
Sayaka Maizono agreed at once.
Movies were something she liked.
Though she wondered what sort of films her senpai preferred.
The two of them started getting ready to head out.
They weren't meeting anyone important, but as girls, going out still meant dressing up a little.
And to avoid being spotted by fans, they had to put together some disguises as well.
Idols weren't like screen stars — far fewer people recognized them. But there was still a chance of being picked out on the street.
The disguises were a necessity.
Half an hour later, Ai Hoshino and Sayaka Maizono were both ready, and the two of them stepped out with small handbags on their arms.
The sun was bright, and it lifted both their spirits.
"It feels like forever since I've been out for a walk like this."
"You mean since you've been out walking with Mr. Lin, Senpai?"
"Yes. But I like walking with you too, Sayaka."
"Senpai, you're all sweet talk."
Sayaka Maizono laughed softly.
She'd spend today walking with her senpai, then.
She could use the fresh air herself. Yesterday and this morning had been far too much to take in.
The two girls headed for the train station, bound for the shopping district to browse the shops and catch a movie, making the most of this rare day off.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Lin Ye arrived at the meeting place twenty minutes ahead of the appointed time.
Mai Sakurajima hadn't arrived yet.
He waited alone.
Mai. It had been a long time.
Messages and phone calls every day were no substitute for seeing someone in the flesh.
But with the two of them living apart, there was no helping it.
All he could do was come see Mai Sakurajima whenever he had the time.
The minutes ticked by.
Lin Ye waited patiently.
Click, clack, click...
All at once, the hurried tap of boots against pavement came closer and closer.
Lin Ye turned to look.
A figure came into view.
It was... Mai Sakurajima.
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