[gumi, are you asleep?]
[If I were asleep, I wouldn't be able to reply to this ssage, would I?]
Every ti Kotomi Izumi ssaged gumi Kato, the reply always ca instantly.
Sure enough, not even a few seconds had passed before gumi's reply popped up. The delay was so brief, it could have just been the ti she took to type.
Soon, another ssage followed:
[Let's not talk over Line. I'll just video call you instead. Is now a good ti?]
Kotomi glanced at Mashiro sitting next to her watching the movie...
[Not really convenient.]
As she sent the ssage, Kotomi inhaled softly and began thinking of how she might explain this.
Usually when they chatted on Line, it wasn't long before they'd switch to video. Not only did it save them from typing, but more importantly, they could see each other's faces and hear each other's voices. That second part was especially aningful for both of them.
Over ti, video calls had beco their primary way of communicating. If they could video call, they wouldn't settle for a regular phone call.
But today, Kotomi had rejected gumi's request. She didn't need to guess—gumi was definitely going to take it to heart. The next ssage was likely going to ask why.
Kotomi imdiately regretted ssaging gumi at this ti. She should've waited until later, when Mashiro was asleep, then slipped into the bathroom with her headphones and called her.
With a small frown, Kotomi pondered how to give a reasonable explanation. Her phone vibrated.
As expected, it was gumi:
[Why can't I call you right now? Is soone with you?]
[I really want to hear your voice right now, and see you. Can't I?]
gumi had sent two ssages in a row. Kotomi almost gave in—almost. But she managed to hold herself back just in ti.
A regular phone call might be fine, but a video call...
If gumi found out that she was spending the night in the sa room as Mashiro, Kotomi knew it wouldn't matter how innocent it was. Even if her conscience was clear, she wouldn't know how to explain it in a way that didn't cause misunderstanding.
Why was she with Mashiro so late?
Why were they sharing a room for three days?
It wasn't a matter of whether she could explain—just the fact that it needed explaining was enough to cause issues.
The best solution was not to let gumi find out in the first place.
With her resolve fird, Kotomi's fingers flew across the screen as she typed and sent:
[It's not just one person around —there are lots~ Hehe, don't worry, I'm not telling ghost stories. I'm just having dinner in the hotel restaurant. Don't know what hit , but I suddenly really wanted sushi tonight, so I ca down to the hotel's sushi place. Pretty good, actually. I accidentally ate too much salmon roe. The eel was nice too, but I still prefer grilled eel rice...]
Kotomi painted the sushi experience so vividly, it was as if she were really sitting at a sushi bar, tasting everything while ssaging gumi.
That's just how she was—once she started typing, she couldn't stop.
Before she knew it, she had written a whole paragraph and sent it off.
At a glance, the ssage seed perfectly normal. But she added one more line without thinking:
[Chief Naegi ate a piece of salmon sushi without noticing it had wasabi in it and teared up instantly.]
Kotomi sent the ssage, still unaware of anything off, gently rubbing Mashiro's cheek as she sat on the sofa, silently proud of her quick thinking.
Mashiro didn't know why Kotomi suddenly started rubbing her cheek, but since Kotomi seed to enjoy it, Mashiro simply blushed and let her do it.
Honestly, if Kotomi's hand had wandered a bit lower, Mashiro might have just shyly unbuttoned her shirt herself, thinking it would make Kotomi even happier.
Before long, a reply from gumi Kato arrived:
[Oh? I see. It's true—if you haven't had sushi in a while, the craving can get really strong. But still, be careful not to eat too much, okay? Eating too much sushi might upset your stomach tomorrow. You're going to the first art exhibition, right? You wouldn't want to go with a tummy ache.]
Every word of gumi's ssage ward Kotomi's heart.
How lucky she was to have soone so thoughtful by her side.
[Got it!]
Kotomi replied as if she were really sitting obediently in a sushi bar, heeding gumi's advice and deciding to eat less.
[Since you're in a sushi restaurant, I guess calling you now wouldn't work. It's probably too noisy, and we wouldn't be able to hear each other clearly anyway. Once you get back to your room after dinner, let's have that video call.]
[Okay~]
After sending that ssage, Kotomi let out a quiet sigh of relief. The situation had been smoothed over.
Finally relaxed, she focused her attention on watching Titanic with Mashiro.
While Kotomi and Mashiro sat together watching the movie...
gumi sent a ssage to Hibiki Naegi.
[Sorry to bother you, Naegi-senpai. I just found out from chatting with Kotomi that you two were having sushi together, and she ntioned that you accidentally ate so wasabi and teared up. I forgot to remind Kotomi earlier, so I was wondering if you could help out and tell her to rest early tonight and not stay up too late.]
At that very mont, Hibiki was groggily waking up, still in that cozy, half-asleep state. Her phone, charging on the bedside table, buzzed with a new notification.
She sat up slowly and blinked at the screen, realizing it was already 10 p.m.
Reading gumi's ssage left her puzzled. It was as if a string of question marks had appeared above her head.
She'd been asleep all afternoon—when had she gone to a sushi restaurant with Kotomi?
She hadn't even had dinner yet and didn't plan to. She just wanted to sleep through to the next morning and have breakfast then.
Feeling confused, she started typing a reply:
[gumi-san, did you maybe mishear sothing when you were talking to Kotomi? I didn't go to a sushi restaurant with her. And I definitely didn't cry from wasabi... Actually, I love eating sushi and sashimi with lots of wasabi.]
After finishing the ssage, Hibiki was just about to hit send when her finger paused mid-air.
In the past, if she received a ssage that seed off, she would've called imdiately to clarify—asking what it ant or if it was sent by mistake.
When she first saw gumi's ssage, her instinct was to tell her flat out: this didn't happen. But just before hitting send, her finger hesitated as if sothing unseen held her back.
Maybe it was just her imagination. Still, Hibiki reread gumi's ssage calmly, and upon reflection, a thought began to form:
Kotomi must have lied to gumi—pretending she went out for sushi when in fact, who knows where she really was?
Hibiki thought back on her impression of Kotomi: cheerful, sweet, and seemingly not the type to lie.
For Kotomi to go so far as to make sothing up...
That must've taken a lot.
Then it hit her—Kotomi had probably been with Mashiro all day. Connecting the dots, Hibiki sat frozen, her mouth falling open in stunned realization.
"If my hunch is right... then what are Kotomi and Mashiro doing together right now that would make Kotomi feel the need to lie to gumi? Why wouldn't she want gumi to know they're alone?
Is she afraid gumi will misunderstand?
And why would she worry about that? Why would she care so much about gumi misunderstanding?
Could it be... she's so guilty she can't even let gumi find out she's been with Mashiro?
Just like one of those late-night soap operas—where the wife, unable to resist temptation, cheats on her husband with a much younger coworker, and feels so guilty she hides even the most innocent encounters from him."
Suddenly, Hibiki's mind was flooded with dramatic, over-the-top scenes from all the lodramatic dramas she'd ever seen. In every one, the unfaithful wife's face morphed into Kotomi's.
"The pitiful, clueless husband" — gumi Kato.
"The seductive, younger coworker" — Mashiro Shiina.
Following the sacred art of full-on headcanon imrsion, Hibiki seamlessly constructed an entire tangle of drama, soap-opera tropes and all. The more she imagined, the more believable it felt.
Clicking her tongue with theatrical flair, Hibiki deleted the ssage she had typed earlier and rewrote a new one:
[Yeah, I'm eating sushi with Kotomi and Mashiro right now. Kotomi's appetite is seriously sothing else. She's stacked the plates so high, I'm worried they're gonna topple. I thought I'd treat her to dinner, but now I think I'll pass—she's basically treating this fancy sushi spot like a conveyor belt joint.]
[If I really did pay, my entire month's allowance would vanish in a single al, and probably still not cover it.]
She sent the ssage with a crying bear emoji clutching an empty wallet. Everything about it looked effortlessly believable.
Afterward, Hibiki poured herself a glass of warm water. She didn't bother turning on the lights. Instead, wrapped in the hotel's soft white blanket, she sat on the bed staring out at the dazzling nightscape like it was a pile of worthless gemstones. She sipped slowly, shivering slightly.
The world suddenly felt... dull.
"Sigh, being loyal is the way to go~ My heart is completely filled with my dear little Seiko. There's not a single bit of room left. This lifeti, I only love her."
gumi paced back and forth in her room. After Kotomi had refused her video call request, she couldn't shake a feeling of unease. It was as if Kotomi had lied to her.
That's why she'd secretly ssaged Hibiki to confirm if they were really eating sushi together.
Unlike Aimi, who had complete trust in Kotomi even knowing she was spending three days in Kyoto with Mashiro, gumi couldn't relax.
Every ti she thought about Mashiro being by Kotomi's side for those three days, it made her feel unsettled. She even regretted not taking up art herself. If only she had learned to draw—maybe she could have also been selected for the National Art Exhibition and gone to Kyoto too. It could've been a honeymoon trip for the two of them.
But the world didn't work on "if only."
gumi was decent at art theory exams—after all, they were open-book and straight from the textbook. But when it ca to actually drawing...
Her mother, Ikemi Kato, had always hoped gumi would excel academically and get into a prestigious university, eventually landing a job her mother could proudly talk about.
So, from a young age, gumi was fed ssages like, "Studying is the only path to success," and "If you don't get good grades, you're letting down everything your father and I worked for."
Every opportunity was aid at improving her exam scores.
From elentary school onward, it was all math and science tutoring. The idea of enrolling gumi in an extracurricular activity like music or art never even crossed her mother's mind. In her eyes, interest-based classes were a waste of ti—no, a waste of life.
It was practically a miracle that gumi didn't end up a complete academic robot.
So while other kids were attending art or music classes, gumi was at ho solving math problems.
Then again, even if her mother had signed her up for an art class, gumi likely wouldn't have enjoyed it. As a child, she had no interest in learning to draw or play music.
Enjoying art or music as a hobby and wanting to study it seriously were two completely different things.
Back on topic—gumi remained extrely wary of Mashiro, who was now spending ti in Kyoto with Kotomi.
Because last ti, in the art room, when she kissed Kotomi, Mashiro had accidentally seen them.
It was hard not to suspect Mashiro might try sothing during these three days alone with Kotomi. Or say sothing.
Just the thought made gumi's brows furrow deeper and deeper.
If she could, she would rush to Kyoto right now.
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