The café bell chimed softly.
Machida, who had already been facing the entrance, lifted her gaze first. A small, knowing smile curved at the corner of her lips.
"Ah. Right on time. Sei-chan, over here."
Akira and Erika turned at the same time.
A tall, slender girl stepped inside.
Mid-back length dark hair flowed neatly behind her. A white hairband rested gently atop her head. Scarlet-red eyes, sharp and observant, far too intense for something as ordinary as a quiet café, swept across the room.
Her posture was straight. Composed. Elegant to the point of coldness.
Akira didn't need more than a second.
"Yep. That's her, alright."
Kasumigaoka Utaha.
His online friend. Fellow author. Occasional rival. Professional menace.
Utaha walked forward, heels tapping lightly against the wooden floor, each step controlled and unhurried. She stopped beside the table when she fully registered who was sitting there.
There was the faintest pause.
Then she spoke.
"Machida-san… I've asked you not to call me that."
Her tone was polite.
But very clearly not amused.
Machida only smiled, unfazed.
Utaha's gaze shifted.
First to Akira. A slow, deliberate assessment.
"So that's how Sirius-kun looks in real life."
Then her eyes moved to Erika.
And lingered.
"…Miss Vice President."
A faint curve touched her lips.
"No wonder I always felt you looked familiar."
Erika's eyes widened slightly.
"You are …Kasumigaoka Utaha-senpai?"
Machida blinked in mild surprise. "Oh? You two know each other?"
Akira turned to Erika. "She's from our school?"
"Seriously, what kind of development is this?" he thought.
Erika nodded. "Yes. She's a third-year. One of the top students in our school."
Utaha tilted her head slightly, red eyes shifting back to Akira. "Oh? Sirius-kun is also going to our school?"
"Second year," Akira replied calmly. "Just transferred in."
Then he looked at her more closely. "So, you're the one helping me with the interview? I thought you'd usually be asleep at this hour."
Utaha's lips curved faintly. "Machida-san asked me to assist a helpless little junior who's new to this. So, I agreed."
Erika's gaze sharpened. "Wait. How do you know when she sleeps?"
Akira blinked. "Huh? Well, we're online friends. We both have weird sleep schedules. When she messages me, it's always at strange hours."
Utaha lifted a brow. "Oh? And didn't you message me at three in the morning once?"
"That was a time zone difference," Akira replied immediately. "You responded instantly. Which means you were already awake."
Machida raised a hand lightly, cutting in before it escalated. "All right, enough exposing each other's sleep habits. You're both equally guilty."
She gestured toward the empty chair.
"Take a seat, Kasumigaoka-sensei. Let's begin."
Utaha gave a soft, theatrical sigh but complied, taking the seat beside Machida, directly facing Akira and Erika.
Erika folded her arms slightly.
"Forget it. He's an idiot. There's no reason to get worked up over something like this."
…But the thought lingered anyway.
As Erika was busy calming herself, Utaha rested her chin lightly on her hand and studied Akira, who was still wearing his sunglasses.
"You know," she said lazily, "most people remove their sunglasses indoors."
Akira didn't hesitate. "It can't be helped. My eyes are dangerously beautiful. If I remove them, someone might fall in love by accident."
Machida promptly coughed into her coffee.
Utaha's lips curved faintly. "Oh? Like Orion from your novel? The one with 'eyes that hold an endless sea of stars'?"
Erika slowly turned toward him. "You actually wrote that?"
Akira adjusted his glasses slightly. "Well, it's true. All members of my family have beautiful eyes. Mine are simply… the most refined."
"Lies," Selena's voice echoed telepathically, audible only to Akira and Erika. "My eyes are more beautiful than his."
"No," Akira shot back mentally. "You still have Mystic Eyes of Reason. Mine are Mystic Eyes of Truth, and I've been strengthening them since I was a baby."
Selena shot back. "What, you think I've been doing nothing? Mine are more…"
Erika cut in telepathically, flat and unimpressed. "Both your eyes look exactly the same to me."
Both siblings immediately opened their mouths to refute her…
But interrupted by Utaha, tapping the table lightly.
"Now I'm curious," she said, scarlet eyes sharpening. "Are they truly that captivating? Or is this just author-level narcissism?"
Akira leaned back slightly. "It would be irresponsible of me to demonstrate. I cannot be held liable for emotional damage."
Utaha smirked.
"Coward."
Akira, who was unfairly called a coward, said, "Fine, if you insist… but prepare yourself."
Utaha leaned forward slightly, interest flickering in her crimson eyes. "Show me."
Akira tilted his head. "I warned you."
Slowly, deliberately, he removed his sunglasses.
For a brief second.
Silence.
Then his violet eyes caught the café light.
The reaction was immediate.
Utaha's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "…It can't be. It's too bright…"
Machida nearly choked on her coffee.
Utaha exhaled softly. "So Orion's 'endless sea of stars' line wasn't exaggeration."
Akira smiled faintly. "I don't lie in narration."
Erika stared at him.
She was used to his eyes.
But seeing someone else react like that…
It bothered her a little more than she expected.
Under the table, she quietly reached out and grabbed his hand.
After a moment, Utaha added dryly, "If you were the protagonist of a shoujo manga, sales would double instantly."
Akira calmly put his glasses back on. "That is precisely why they must remain sealed."
Utaha's gaze shifted to Erika.
Then back to Akira.
"Oh, speaking of shoujo manga… that reminds me." Her tone turned lazily amused. "Vice President… were you the mysterious 'relationship update' that shook the internet yesterday?"
Erika blinked.
Akira nodded proudly. "Yes. This is my girlfriend."
Then he added, completely unprovoked, "You may have debuted as a light novel author before me… but I advanced in life first."
A pause.
"I got a girlfriend while you are still single."
Silence.
Machida slowly put her cup down.
Utaha's smile froze. "…You."
Erika stared at him in horror.
Utaha crossed her legs elegantly. "How bold for someone who once asked me at 2:43 a.m. whether describing hair as 'moonlit silk' was too cliché."
Akira replied calmly, "That was research."
Erika, who now knows all the characters from his novel are real people, she meant turned sharply and asked. "Whose hair did you describe like that?"
Akira said calmly. "Orion's."
Machida finally intervened.
"All right." She clapped her hands lightly once. "We are here for a mock interview. Not a romantic battlefield."
She looked at Akira. "Sirius-kun. Control yourself."
Then at Utaha. "And you, Kasumigaoka-sensei, try not to assassinate him verbally before we begin."
Utaha sighed. "Fine."
She folded her hands neatly on the table.
"Let's begin."
Akira had the sudden feeling that this interview might be more dangerous than any battlefield he had stood on before.