A popular actress who debuted as a child star, a three-ti box office champion, a nightmare that countless actresses could never escape, her smile had once flooded the covers of every magazine in Japan.
Even Kotomi, who didn't particularly follow celebrity news, had bought several magazines featuring Mai Sakurajima on the cover.
Especially that one where she wore a black dress, her legs wrapped in black stockings—the perfect blend of mysterious elegance and adorable charm.
Kotomi had even wrapped the magazine in a protective cover and carefully stored it in a box.
These were her little secrets.
Secrets she would never tell anyone!
And most importantly, she could never let Mai Sakurajima find out!
Although Kotomi had long known that Mai attended the sa high school, and she was well aware that Kasumigaoka Utaha and Kisara Tendo were Mai's classmates.
This was the first ti she had seen Mai Sakurajima in real life.
For a brief mont, Kotomi almost thought she was hallucinating.
She blinked several tis before confirming, she was truly seeing Mai Sakurajima in reality!!
While Kotomi was feeling overwheld with excitent.
From Kisara Tendo and Mai Sakurajima's perspective, Kotomi just looked like she had zoned out completely.
She seed a little... dazed.
"Is she okay?" Mai asked, a little concerned.
She had heard a lot about Kotomi from Utaha and Kisara, and their descriptions had made her very curious.
She had been wanting to find a chance to et Kotomi in person.
But because of midterm exams next month, she had been focused on studying.
Especially since, as an actress, she didn't attend school regularly, she needed to make the most of the days she was actually at school to catch up on her studies.
She definitely didn't want to see headlines like this popping up in entertainnt tabloids after midterms:
"Shocking! The critically acclaid actress who srized audiences as Sadako in 'Ring', Mai Sakurajima, fails her high school midterms!!!"
"Thought-provoking! Does Mai Sakurajima's academic struggle highlight the failures of Japan's education system?"
"Even A-list actresses struggle with studying?! Experts share 10 essential tips for parents, this viral advice is taking the internet by storm!"
"XX Cram School, only ¥1.6 million per year! Top-tier instructors ensuring your child's path to success! Don't let your kid fall behind at the starting line!"
The struggles of being a famous actress.
Even if the articles were completely fabricated, just having her na in the title would generate massive buzz.
And even if it was false, so people would still believe it.
Mai absolutely did not want clueless parents waving fake articles in their kids' faces, using her as a negative example to lecture them about studying.
So recently, she had been studying diligently, so much so that she barely noticed how fast ti was passing and hadn't found the chance to et Kotomi.
At this point, getting to et Kotomi had practically beco one of her biggest wishes.
Today, Mai had co looking for a friend's notebook to copy down the chemistry notes she missed from two previous lessons.
She first tried to borrow one from Kasumigaoka Utaha.
But to her shock, Utaha simply scratched her head in confusion and asked, as if hearing this for the first ti:
"Huh? We're supposed to take notes in chemistry class?!"
Then, looking utterly dumbfounded, she continued:
"Damn, before school started, I even bought a bunch of brand-new notebooks, carefully labeled them by subject on the first page…"
"But up until now… they're still completely blank. So clean, I could literally resell them as brand-new."
Fortunately, Kisara Tendo had paid close attention during class, far more reliable than Utaha, so Mai Sakurajima was able to borrow her chemistry notebook and catch up on the notes she had missed.
After finishing that task, which brought them to the present mont, most students had already left school.
Since the Kendo Club didn't have practice today, Kisara Tendo had stayed behind, waiting for Mai to finish copying her notes before they left together.
Perhaps, the heavens had heard Mai Sakurajima's wish.
As she was chatting and walking with Kisara, she suddenly caught sight of sothing ahead.
A small penguin, waddling aimlessly, as if it had migrated all the way from Antarctica to the Arctic.
That small penguin was none other than Kotomi.
Mai had just been thinking about introducing herself.
But at that exact mont, Kotomi looked completely spaced out, like she had frozen in place.
Kisara glanced at Mai, whose face was filled with concern, then shrugged slightly and teased:
"Maybe she's just too excited to see you in person for the first ti."
Then, Kisara stepped forward and lightly shook Kotomi's shoulders.
"Kotomi, wake up! There's a street vendor selling grilled quail eggs outside the school!"
"Huh?! I'm awake!"
Kotomi snapped back to reality.
Her reaction was so silly that, combined with her naturally cute appearance, it only made her seem even more lively and adorable.
Mai Sakurajima simply watched silently, her lips curving into a small smile.
"What were you even wandering around for just now? Didn't Naegi find you? Skipping out on club activities during practice hours, you sure are bold. Give sothing in return, or else I'll tell her."
Kisara grinned, pinching Kotomi's soft cheeks.
Ever since they had beco closer, Kisara had started joking around with her more often.
Of course, this so-called "joking" was just an excuse, a way to sneak in so skinship.
Kisara wasn't sure why, but ever since she t Kotomi, she just couldn't resist teasing her whenever she had the chance.
Which often led to monts like this.
Grabbing Kotomi's face while pretending to talk, breathing in the soft fragrance that always seed to linger around her.
If the Kendo Club mbers ever saw this scene, their jaws would hit the floor.
Their usually strict and serious club captain, Kisara Tendo, was actually shalessly touching her cute underclassman?!
This was too much—
Too envious—
No, too disgraceful!!
"No, I wasn't wandering around aimlessly. I just finished my painting for the competition yesterday, so I have nothing to do today. Even if I stayed in the art club, I wouldn't feel like picking up a brush. Just sitting in front of the easel felt like being locked up in a prison. So, Naegi let out for a while."
"Oh, so Naegi actually gave you permission to slack off."
Kotomi then hesitated for a mont before leaning closer to Kisara and whispering:
"Um… Tendou-senpai, is that really Sakurajima-senpai?"
She wanted to double-check, just in case she had made a mistake.
Hearing that, Kisara paused, then her lips curled into a playful smirk.
"Why don't you go ask her yourself?"
And before Kotomi could react, Kisara shoved her forward, right in front of Mai Sakurajima.
Kotomi hadn't been paying attention to her footing and sohow, she ended up tripping over her own feet.
With Kisara's Kendo-trained strength, the push was just a little too strong.
Smack!
Kotomi collided with sothing soft and caught a faint fragrance, and without thinking, she instinctively leaned in even closer.
She lifted her gaze, blinking her soft pink eyes, only to realize she had been shoved directly into Mai Sakurajima's arms.
Mai lowered her head, while Kotomi looked up.
Their eyes t for the first ti.
"I always thought I had a good figure…"
Mai's lips curled into a smirk, her voice gentle, yet laced with a hint of playful amusent.
"But after eting you, I'm starting to lose confidence."
Kotomi had no idea what was wrong with her brain at that mont.
Instead of responding normally, she blurted out:
"Am I impressive?"
Silence.
For a brief mont, the air seed to freeze.
You look at .
I look at you.
And Kisara, watching the two of them.
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