Kotomi Izumi had always found it strange—every ti she woke up, there was a faint sweetness in her mouth, as if she had eaten a piece of candy in her sleep.
Once or twice would've been fine, but this happened every day.
The only difference was, when she was at ho, the sweetness had a certain flavor.
When she slept next to gumi, the sweetness took on a different taste.
Now that she was sleeping beside Mashiro, it was a completely new kind of sweetness she had never experienced before.
So basically... she was getting free candy every day in her sleep? Nice!
But the more she thought about it, the more Kotomi felt sothing wasn't quite right. She couldn't put her finger on it, though.
With a helpless sigh, she decided to set the thought aside and save it for later, once she got ho.
She had woken up a bit earlier than necessary—her own fault for forgetting to adjust her alarm. The ti it rang was still set to her usual school-day schedule.
She got dressed and washed up as quietly as possible, trying not to wake Mashiro Shiina, who was still sound asleep in bed.
It did seem like Mashiro had gone to bed pretty late last night...
[Are you awake yet?]
A ssage ca in from Hibiki Naegi.
[Yeah, I just got up and I'm getting dressed. About to call room service. Our Shinkansen is at 11 a.m., so no ti for lunch. Gonna make the most of this presidential suite breakfast—one last freebie!]
Guests staying in the presidential suite could enjoy three lavish als a day for free, as long as they inford the suite's concierge team. No matter how much they ate, there would be no charge. It was one of the perks offered by the five-star hotel.
[So jealous~ I wanna try that exclusive breakfast too!]
Hibiki followed up with a voice ssage.
[Then co eat with ! Are you dressed yet, senpai? Let's et in the lobby—I'll co get you.]
Treating soone to a al was a simple but effective way to build rapport. It might not instantly make you best friends, but it did make conversations easier and less awkward.
Social niceties were exhausting, because the line you had to maintain was never clear—not even to yourself.
But that's the reality of society. You could scoff at it all you wanted, but if you wanted to be part of it, you had to figure out which rules were worth following.
Kotomi's father had taught her a lot about social etiquette, and her second life's harsher lessons reinforced it even more. She had co to understand a simple truth: true friendships usually started from casual acquaintanceship, gradually growing into sothing deeper.
That's why Kotomi made a point to stay in touch with everyone she had a good impression of. Not too close, not too distant.
Of course, that was her principle for friendships.
Romantic feelings… that was a different story.
Back on track: over the past few days, she hadn't gotten the chance to treat Hibiki to a al, and it had been on her mind. Hibiki was a senior, and maintaining good relations with upperclassn never hurt.
The only reason she hadn't invited her earlier was that she had been waiting for the right mont.
But when the perfect mont didn't co, she decided to make one herself. And just as she was setting up the opportunity—bam, a ssage from Hibiki dropped right into her lap.
No way was Kotomi going to let that chance slip by.
She imdiately sent the invitation.
And before Hibiki could even reply, Kotomi followed up with another quick ssage:
[Naegi-senpai, I'm already in the elevator. Almost downstairs.]
That one line—ambiguous enough to hide exactly where she was, yet clear enough to let Hibiki know she was on her way down—put pressure on Hibiki. If she refused now, wouldn't that make Kotomi's trip to the lobby pointless?
In situations like this, even if you weren't eager to go, you pretty much had no choice but to show up.
After sending the ssage, Kotomi turned back toward the bed, planning to gently wake Mashiro. Since Hibiki was coming up for breakfast, it was only right to give Mashiro a heads-up.
But just as she turned, she saw Mashiro already groggily sitting up, rubbing her sleepy eyes with a dazed look on her face.
"Morning, Mashiro."
"Kotomi!" The mont she saw Kotomi, Mashiro's eyes lit up. She imdiately spread her arms wide, wanting a good morning hug!
As for why not a kiss?
Mashiro worried that jumping straight to a kiss might catch Kotomi off guard. So she had planned to start with a hug, then slowly progress to kisses once Kotomi was used to the routine.
Her ideal was beautiful—but reality hit hard. Kotomi saw her stretching out her arms and simply assud Mashiro was yawning. Smiling, she brought her clothes over and placed them down gently.
"Hurry and get dressed. I put your socks on the sofa. I invited Naegi-senpai to co have breakfast with us. Even breakfast in a presidential suite is a lavish feast. If it's just the two of us, we probably can't finish it all. Haha."
Kotomi casually gave a reason that sounded plausible—but anyone who knew her well would imdiately spot the flaw in her logic.
You? Unable to finish a al? Anyone who had spent ti with Kotomi would silently scoff at that line.
Mashiro, of course, picked up on it right away. She was already a little down from Kotomi not understanding her hint for a hug. Now, hearing that Hibiki was joining them, she pouted even more.
It wasn't that Mashiro disliked Hibiki. In fact, she had a good impression of the art club president. But to her, breakfast during this Kyoto trip had always been a special ti shared just between her and Kotomi.
These quiet breakfasts were precious. A ti for just the two of them.
Now that Hibiki was joining, even if it was Kotomi who invited her, it felt like Mashiro's ti with Kotomi had been interrupted. How could she possibly be happy about that? The only reason she wasn't sulking outright was because she always listened to Kotomi.
Mashiro wasn't like Kotomi—she didn't understand social nuances or how to play polite gas. They were opposites in that regard. Mashiro's thoughts were as pure as a blank page. Sotis it might look like she gave Kotomi a simple toy, when in truth, she had handed over her entire world.
A hint of sadness passed through Mashiro's eyes. She was about to obediently change clothes when suddenly she felt her body being pulled forward—into Kotomi's warm embrace.
Before she could react, a sweet voice whispered into her ear:
"Good morning~"
...
They stayed like that—hugging—for a long, long ti before Kotomi finally let go. She had to admit: she was growing more and more fond of the feeling of holding Mashiro in her arms.
It was hard to describe, but impossible to forget. That first ti she hugged Mashiro, it was like she had unwittingly opened a Pandora's box ant just for her. What seed harmless at first had, without her realizing, slowly pulled her in deeper and deeper—until escape was no longer possible.
Kotomi felt like she had lost her mind. She knew full well that she was still teetering on the edge of triggering her Queen of All Females side effect—sothing that could explode at any mont—and yet, she couldn't resist the urge.
She raised her arms and embraced Mashiro, just as she'd hoped for. A proper morning hug.
If the side effect had gone off right then...
She might seriously have had to take responsibility and marry Mashiro. Wait—no! Not marry, take her as a wife!
"Be good and get dressed, okay? Don't catch a cold. I'm going down to et Naegi-senpai. After breakfast, we'll rest a bit and then head to the Shinkansen."
Kotomi ruffled Mashiro's hair. Seeing Mashiro nod like an obedient little pet, she finally pulled back, satisfied.
She left the room, took the elevator, and headed for the hotel lobby.
When she arrived, she saw Hibiki Naegi waiting nearby... and beside her was—Eiren Kanagawa?!
What are they doing together this early in the morning?
Or worse—did they never part ways after the banquet last night?
Kotomi was stunned. Starting yesterday, she had noticed that Eiren Kanagawa's attitude toward Hibiki had begun to shift in strange ways.
Gone was the lukewarm detachnt from their initial eting. In its place was a growing attentiveness. Even when they were with other people, Eiren's gaze rarely strayed from Hibiki's face.
In terms of change, it wasn't bad in itself—but the speed of that change was the real issue.
Others might still be unaware, but Kotomi had noticed everything. Eiren's behavior seed... off. Like her entire stance toward Hibiki had undergone a dramatic shift in just a few days.
To put it bluntly, even though Eiren had been lobbying hard for Kotomi to apply to Kyoto University's art program—going as far as trying to recruit her as a student—her current level of attention toward Hibiki seed to far exceed that.
Kotomi quickly masked her surprise and approached them with a smile, greeting them like usual:
"Good morning, Naegi-senpai, Professor Kanagawa."
"Good morning, Kotomi."
"Pretty generous of you," Eiren replied, her tone casual. "I just happened to hear from Hibiki that you were treating her to breakfast in the presidential suite. If word gets out that a club mber treated their president to a luxury al, people might start thinking you're trying to bribe her."
Eiren didn't show the slightest hint of guilt or nervousness. She spoke calmly, as if there were nothing to hide:
"Curious how I knew about this?"
"Check this out—this fruit tart I bought is super famous in the Kyoto area. If you try to get it around lunchti or in the afternoon, you'll face long lines. And after all that, you might still hear 'sold out' when it's finally your turn. I hate that."
"So whenever I want one, I set a 5 a.m. alarm to make sure I get it. Today, after I bought one, I rembered that the three of you are leaving Kyoto soon—and you haven't even tried this amazing fruit tart yet. Wouldn't that be a sha?"
"As a responsible teacher, how could I let that slide? So I turned my car around and drove straight here. I was planning to enjoy it myself at ho, but now I'll share it with you."
"And wouldn't you know it, just as I walked into the hotel lobby—I saw Hibiki, looking like she was waiting for soone."
Her words were all about how good the tart was, but clearly served another purpose: explaining why she and Hibiki were seen together that morning.
After all, they had left together after the party last night. If they were seen together again first thing in the morning, people might assu Eiren hadn't left at all—and had spent the night with Hibiki.
As a university professor, Eiren Kanagawa didn't want any misunderstandings or rumors spreading about her. Naturally, she made sure to clarify everything—thoroughly.
Kotomi picked up on the real aning behind her words and smoothly shifted the topic.
"That tart looks amazing. Can I have an extra piece later?"
"Kotomi, you've committed the sin of greed!"
"Eh?!"
A few light-hearted jokes—standard morning small talk.
Kotomi then took Hibiki and Eiren Kanagawa up to the presidential suite using the exclusive elevator.
Eiren hadn't planned on joining them. Although she didn't have any early classes today, she still had a one-hour online eting to attend. Her original idea was to hand the fruit tart to Hibiki and head ho.
But Kotomi's invitation was hard to refuse.
After all, she'd never stayed in a presidential suite before, much less experienced its exclusive anities.
Faced with Kotomi's offer, Eiren felt a sudden curiosity—what did breakfast in a presidential suite taste like? And just like that, she followed them upstairs.
Being a university professor didn't necessarily an earning a huge inco.
Sohow, modern dramas had popularized the image of professors as wealthy elites—dressed head-to-toe in designer brands, driving stylish sports cars, and buying luxury items or new vehicles with ease.
Every ti she saw that portrayal on TV, Eiren could only offer a bitter smile. She'd been a professor for years—how co she wasn't that rich?
Her current car had been purchased three years ago through a mix of family loans and savings, on a teeth-gritting, budgeted installnt plan. She hadn't even finished paying it off.
At best, she might buy one luxury item a year—and only entry-level stuff. Anything too expensive didn't bring her joy, only heartache.
Unless you were a senior professor, younger faculty like her didn't earn much.
Especially in a city like Kyoto, a professor's salary might let you live comfortably—if you didn't have to pay rent, avoided extravagant spending, and already had property in the city.
Eiren's parents were Kyoto natives who had made a bit of money early on—not rich, but well-off enough to buy two apartnts outright. They didn't have much left afterward, but comparing today's housing prices with what they paid, it was like gaining over 100 million yen on paper.
When Eiren returned from studying abroad and beca a professor at Kyoto University's art departnt, one of those hos was given to her. That was where she lived now, rent-free and without worry.
The elevator arrived at the private floor. Inside the presidential suite, Eiren subtly glanced around the room.
After three days of occupancy, the suite was still surprisingly tidy—no signs of chaotic activity hastily cleaned up. Especially the bed: though the blanket hadn't been neatly arranged, the mattress and sheets hadn't shifted much at all.
It looked like… Kotomi Izumi and Mashiro Shiina had done nothing these past three nights.
Looks like Chihiro Sengoku's hope that Kotomi and Mashiro would have a heart-to-heart during their stay has completely fallen through, Eiren thought silently.
"Professor Kanagawa, what are you standing there for? Co eat before Kotomi eats all the tarts."
Hibiki's casual reminder snapped Eiren out of her daze.
"Ah—right, I'm coming."
She walked over to the table, still hearing Hibiki's voice echoing faintly in her ears.
As she looked at Hibiki's back, a rare and subtle smile curled at the corner of Eiren's lips.
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