Ding-ling-ling—
Just then, Hibiki Naegi's reply finally came through. Megumi Kato perked up instantly and dashed over to the bed, snatching up her phone.
As she read the message, her slightly furrowed brows gradually began to relax.
So Kotomi Izumi really was eating sushi, and not alone with Mashiro. That thought immediately soothed Megumi's heart, and a smile returned to her lips.
After all, Hibiki seemed like a straightforward and trustworthy upperclassman. She wouldn't lie to cover for Kotomi and Mashiro, right? Besides, even if Kotomi and Mashiro were doing something, it wasn't like they'd loop Hibiki in to help them hide it.
That made Hibiki, someone presumably unaware of anything suspicious, the most reliable source.
That was exactly why Megumi had chosen to ask her.
Now that Hibiki had confirmed they were eating sushi together, there was no doubt about it. Kotomi and Mashiro weren't alone. Kotomi didn't answer the video call because the sushi restaurant was noisy, and maybe the signal wasn't good.
Thinking that, Megumi felt a lot better. She tossed her phone aside and lay down on her bed, silently counting down the days until Kotomi returned.
Meanwhile...
In the presidential suite, Kotomi, seated on the couch beside Mashiro watching Titanic, remained blissfully unaware that her dependable upperclassman Hibiki had, without knowing it, just saved her from a crisis that would have completely blown up.
If Kotomi ever found out, she would probably show up at Hibiki's house every New Year with a mountain of gifts, and sneak off somewhere private to give her a heartfelt kowtow.
To Kotomi, Hibiki's intervention was nothing short of life-saving.
Unfortunately, Hibiki chose to take all the credit to the grave. She said nothing to Kotomi and simply went back to sleep after finishing her warm water, curled up in the hotel blankets.
And so, Kotomi remained unaware that she had narrowly avoided a total disaster.
"I love you, Jack."
"Don't say that. Don't say goodbye. Not yet. Do you understand?"
"I'm so cold."
"Listen to me, Rose. You're going to get out of this. You're going to go on and make lots of babies and watch them grow. You're going to die an old lady, warm in your bed—not here. Not this night. Do you understand me?"
The TV was now playing the most emotional scene in Titanic. At least, for Mashiro, it was the most touching. Her eyes were red and watery, and the table was littered with crumpled tissues—each one used to wipe away a tear.
Mashiro cried as she watched the movie, while Kotomi had long since stopped watching the screen.
Originally, she had intended to focus on the movie. But ever since she noticed Mashiro crying, her attention had been completely captured. She hadn't looked away since.
This was the first time Kotomi had ever seen Mashiro cry from being moved.
As the film drew to a close, Mashiro once again teared up from Titanic's tragic beauty, while Kotomi remained captivated by the sight of Mashiro in tears.
"Even though I've seen it so many times already... whenever I hear Jack's last words to Rose, I still get this lump in my throat. I can't help but cry..."
Mashiro spoke with a choked voice as she dabbed at her eyes with another tissue.
Sometimes, tearjerkers aren't about flashy titles. They hit when a particular moment strikes the heart hard enough to leave a mark—a moment that stings, that triggers a memory or emotion so deep that before you even realize it, your tears have already begun to fall.
It was clear that for Mashiro, the most tear-jerking story was Titanic.
Kotomi, on the other hand, had yet to encounter a story that moved her so deeply she would watch it repeatedly and cry every time.
That said, there was one novel that once brought her to tears...
She read it during middle school, and after finishing—especially after a certain emotional climax and the ending—she was so moved that she cried uncontrollably, unable to stop. The story lingered in her heart for days.
It happened to be during final exam season, and Kotomi couldn't focus on studying at all—not that she usually could...
Unsurprisingly, her exam results hit a record low that term.
Now, as she sat beside Mashiro, who was sobbing with crystalline tears streaming down her cheeks, Kotomi didn't say anything. She simply handed her tissue after tissue in silence.
Fifteen minutes later, Mashiro finally seemed to have cried her fill. She sniffled pitifully, looking heartbreakingly adorable.
A third of the tissue box had already been used.
"Still crying?" Kotomi asked with a gentle smile.
Seeing Mashiro so pitiful, Kotomi didn't have the heart to tease her or pinch her cheeks like she usually would.
She had never understood why people liked pinching her cheeks so much. But after meeting Mashiro, she finally got it.
It really was addictive.
"Kotomi... I'm all cried out. I'll rest a bit, then keep crying later," Mashiro replied with a pout. Just hearing the melody of My Heart Will Go On made her tear up again.
Kotomi sighed helplessly. If this kept going, who knew when Mashiro would stop crying. No wonder Chihiro Sengoku had warned her before the trip: whatever you do, don't let Mashiro watch Titanic.
Kotomi had ignored that advice and was now paying the price.
Still, seeing Mashiro cry from being so moved was a first. In that sense, Kotomi felt she had gained something precious.
How many people could say they'd seen their close friend's tears?
Even though she was musing over this, Kotomi also remembered they were going to the first exhibition tomorrow. She definitely didn't want Mashiro showing up at the museum with puffy, red eyes.
If Eiren Kanagawa saw her like that, she might even think Kotomi had bullied Mashiro in secret.
Just like earlier...
Every time Mashiro recalled a scene, she would start tearing up again. And Kotomi, sitting beside her, kept passing her tissue after tissue in resigned silence.
One hour later.
Kotomi stood up from beside Mashiro, her mouth parched. She grabbed the open bottle of mineral water on the table and gulped it down in one go.
Mashiro had been about to mention that it was her water, but she stopped herself. Instead, she watched Kotomi drink with a quiet expression and sparkling eyes, as if secretly delighted.
I must take this bottle back and treasure it, she thought, her heart fluttering.
As for why Kotomi was so thirsty?
She had spent the past hour nonstop telling Mashiro various short romantic stories—each with a happy ending and filled with sweet, heartwarming moments that would make anyone grin. With such high requirements, Kotomi quickly ran out of preexisting material.
The remaining stories? All made up on the spot.
Focusing on sweet endings helped a bit, but creating stories from scratch is mentally exhausting. Doing it one after another? Even more so.
And then telling them out loud?
Her brain was fried.
After the final tale, Kotomi felt like her throat was on fire. She deeply regretted letting Mashiro watch Titanic earlier.
"Feeling better now?"
Kotomi exhaled after finishing her water. It looked less like she had been storytelling and more like she had just finished an intense workout on the couch with Mashiro. The slight sheen of sweat on her forehead only added to the illusion.
"Much better! Thank you, Kotomi! Every time I watch Titanic, I end up sad for two whole days. You're the first person who's ever told me sweet stories to cheer me up after watching it. The only one!"
Mashiro spoke without hesitation. Kotomi, though fully aware she had a girlfriend, couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat. Her cheeks grew warm.
When a girl tells you something like "You're the only one," even if it isn't a confession, it brings the two dangerously close to breaking that thin emotional boundary.
She probably didn't mean anything by it. She probably just sees me as a friend... Kotomi told herself.
"When I said that, I didn't mean it as just a friend," Mashiro said softly.
She smiled, her usually delicate face now glowing with unusual confidence. As she stood and leaned forward, a gentle fragrance accompanied her motion—as she deliberately shortened the distance between them.
Kotomi froze in surprise. Just a moment ago she was full of energy, but now, as Mashiro drew close, she felt paralyzed. Instinctively, she shut her eyes and quietly waited.
She thought it was going to be a kiss, and the nerves were overwhelming. Her long lashes quivered with tension.
She knew she should firmly push Mashiro away and say, "I already have a girlfriend. You can't do this!"
It should've been a simple sentence. And yet...
It felt impossibly hard to say, like a task more difficult than saving the world.
But Mashiro didn't kiss her.
Instead, she pulled Kotomi tightly into an embrace. No dramatic love confession, no tearful speech—just a silent, heartfelt hug.
Without saying a single word, Mashiro seemed to pour her emotions into Kotomi with that embrace.
"Mashiro..."
A bittersweet smile tugged at the corner of Kotomi's lips. She wanted to believe it was all in her head, not the truth she had just pieced together in that moment.
Mashiro... likes me?
The realization nearly made Kotomi gasp aloud. Her heart was overwhelmed by a storm of emotions.
Shock, nervousness, worry... and maybe even happiness?
Kotomi had to admit, the very first emotion she felt upon realizing Mashiro's feelings was pure, unfiltered joy.
Mashiro listened to Kotomi's heartbeat in silence. Then, after a moment, she smiled—a rare, meaningful smile. Slowly, she released her embrace and gazed at Kotomi with serene, amber-red eyes.
Kotomi returned the gaze with a soft smile of her own.
They didn't say a word, yet it felt like they'd said so much.
Before, an orange-red heart had always been chasing a pink one. The distance between them never seemed far, yet they could never quite meet. No matter how hard the orange heart tried, the pink one remained just out of reach.
But now...
That invisible distance had shattered. Not as a sign of parting, but of a new beginning. The ambiguous closeness had disappeared, replaced with something new:
Their hearts were moving toward each other.
And soon, they would collide.
That moment wasn't far away anymore.
Kotomi opened her eyes and slowly sat up in bed. She couldn't sleep.
Even though the presidential suite's bed was supremely comfortable—the pillows, the blanket, everything was perfect—she had kept her eyes shut for half an hour and still couldn't drift off.
She wasn't the kind of girl who needed her own bed to sleep. Last time at Yui's house, she'd slept like a baby.
"Maybe I ate too much..."
Kotomi let out a bitter chuckle. She knew that wasn't the real reason.
She turned her head to look at Mashiro sleeping beside her. After their embrace earlier, Kotomi had fled to the bathroom with a flushed face, saying she was going to take a bath.
When she came back out, Mashiro was already lying on the bed, eyes closed, breathing peacefully as if she were fast asleep.
Kotomi had wanted to ask her a few things, but seeing her asleep, she gave up.
After taking off her pajamas, she felt it wasn't quite right to sleep completely bare, so she put the top back on and lay down beside Mashiro.
The bed in the presidential suite was huge, and the blanket was equally large. But in the end, it was still a single, oversized duvet meant for two.
Which meant...
For the next three nights, Kotomi and Mashiro would be sharing the same blanket.
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