"Two cups of hot Earl Grey tea, one cup of iced Americano, a small portion of donuts, thank you."
Kaito handed the menu to the black-haired, tear-moled female clerk beside him and said politely.
Ten minutes later, it was still the familiar RiNG, still the familiar corner window seat, still the familiar drum team member helping to place the order.
Even the items ordered were not much different from last time, only missing three matcha parfaits.
The female clerk named "Shiina Taki" took the menu. Her pretty face looked somewhat absent-minded, but she quickly came to her senses, coughed once, and covered up her disordered breathing, "Do you need anything else?"
"Please bring two more portions of baked cheesecake," Chihaya Anon beside him raised her hand and, after thinking, added, "Small portions."
"...Understood," Shiina Taki lowered her eyes, avoiding looking at that face as if it had been carefully sculpted by the gods, a face of pure beauty, while inwardly telling herself that so-called love at first sight was nothing but lust at first sight, extremely shallow. She silently recited the name of Takamatsu Tomori in her heart, thinking of that innocent, naive, lovable girl who was like a small animal, and her tone barely regained its calmness, for now, at least.
"Please wait a moment. I'll be at the bar. If there's anything else, you can call me directly."
"Mhm! Mhm!", Chihaya Anon nodded vigorously, thinking to herself that the staff at this livehouse were really quite considerate. Though she had a cool beauty's face, could she be the type who's cold on the outside and warm on the inside?
Kaito didn't care about the departing figure of the store clerk. He only glanced at the pink-haired girl beside him, "Two portions of cake, aren't you afraid of getting fat?"
Nowadays, young girls all seemed to have the habit of maintaining their figure. Even Soyo would occasionally complain on chat apps that she seemed to have gained some weight lately, although Kaito really couldn't see where she had gained any. Still, she would intentionally diet.
But this kind of worry didn't exist at all with classmate Chihaya. She ate and drank as she pleased, didn't let things weigh on her heart, a kind of carefree spirit like a heroine.
"Humph humph~", Anon wrinkled her little nose, her face full of "hopeless child" expression, "Beautiful girls don't get fat. That's just common sense, right?"
"What kind of common sense is that?"
"It just is!", Chihaya Anon started counting on her fingers and gave him examples one by one, "There are lots of common sense things like that. For example, beautiful girls don't get hit by bullets. For example, beautiful girls can do anything. And also, beautiful girls are..."
"What you're talking about isn't a beautiful girl. It's a magical girl warrior," Kaito chatted with her casually like this. Sumita Mana hadn't arrived yet, so they had to find something to kill the time.
However, this idle chat didn't last long. After a short wait, the bell on the door rang again. A long brown-haired idol girl walked in, the hem of her skirt fluttering.
"Sorry, I'm a little late," Mana took off her sunglasses, her smile tinged with a bit of apology. Her outfit was very plain, just a simple white dress, clear water face without makeup, yet she looked beautiful like a lotus blooming on a quiet mountain top. No wonder she was one of the most popular idol girls right now, simply cute to the point of breaking the rules.
But to Kaito, this was just fleeting scenery. He never judged friends by looks, so he simply nodded and bluntly got to the point, "So… the rumor about Sumimi disbanding, is it true?"
Mana sat opposite him and was silent for a while, as if she didn't know how to answer.
Anon nervously watched the girl's every move, afraid to hear a bad conclusion from her mouth.
Fortunately, that conclusion didn't come. After a long silence, Mana still shook her head and showed a smile as gentle as spring water, "Sumimi is not disbanding."
"But, the rumors outside are spreading so widely...", Anon still looked a little worried. She was a very perceptive girl. Although Mana smiled gently, there was still sorrow left between her brows. Obviously, things were far from simple.
Mana gently let out a breath but did not intend to hide anything.
"Sumimi is not disbanding. It's just… we've hit a small setback."
As one of the hottest idol groups right now, Sumimi's composition was very simple, only two people: lead singer Mana and guitarist/composer/lyricist Misumi Uika.
Among them, Mana had slightly more popularity. This girl not only had a sweet and lovable appearance but was also a five-time champion of the national singing contest, a legend. Her professional level was so high that even if she and Anon teamed up for a contest, they could "gagaga massacre", Mana responsible for the massacre, Anon responsible for the "gagaga."
Uika's popularity was slightly lower, but not by much. One was pure and the other cool; both were steadily rising in fame. As long as they kept going steadily, the future was bright.
But life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what flavor you'll get next.
Not long ago, when everything was proceeding normally, Sumimi suddenly suffered a devastating blow.
First, a signed endorsement deal was canceled. Then, the number of gigs they got grew fewer and fewer. And then even their manager gently reminded her that the agency had come under some sort of suppression. Sumimi... might not last long.
("Mana, you're a gem already shining with light. The agency has invested a lot into you, so you won't be abandoned, as long as you can make up your mind,") the manager privately found Mana and told her.
That day, after the manager left, Mana spaced out for a long time and finally understood what she meant.
She said the agency wouldn't give up on her, which implied... the one they wanted to give up on was actually Uika.
The supposed "suppression" from the beginning wasn't targeting her, but targeting Uika. She was just unlucky collateral damage because she was in the same group as Uika. So if she was willing to abandon Uika, she could still peacefully continue being an idol, just no longer in a group, but solo.
There were two paths before her, one led to a future, the other to a friend. The answer seemed obvious?
Mana chose the latter.
She was someone who was the same inside and out, with a sweet, silly face and a personality to match. Sometimes when calling her mother, the gentle woman on the other end would always worry about her getting taken advantage of in Tokyo. And Mana would laugh and say, ("No way, no way. I have Uika protecting me. Uika is super amazing, okay? She can easily beat up all the bad guys.")
And Uika really had protected her very well. So now it was her turn to protect Uika.
But Mana was still afraid. She was an outstanding idol, able to smile sweetly even in front of ocean-like crowds and give perfect performances.
But she was also just an ordinary girl who had just come of age. Faced with overwhelming malice from the outside world, she didn't know how to protect her friend.
She invited Kaito out for tea today not to ask for help, just because the pressure was too much and she wanted to find a tree hole to talk to. She and Kaito had only met once, yet she especially trusted this not-so-familiar boy. Maybe because he had saved her, or maybe because she had... a faint crush on him.
"So don't worry, Sumimi is not disbanding," Bathed in sunset, she revealed a sweet smile. The soft confession had ended, and she returned once again to that dazzling idol on stage.
"I will bring Uika back safely."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y