"She's Nishimiya Shouko, the future superstar of the voice acting world!" Sakura spread her arms wide as she dramatically introduced her friend.
"Sakura…" Shouko tugged gently at Sakura's sleeve, blushing. Then she gave a polite and serious self-introduction.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Nishimiya Shouko, a friend of Sakura and Hojou-kun."
After a brief pause, she added, "I'm currently studying to become a voice actress."
Sakura had already hyped her up, so Shouko couldn't just downplay it now—otherwise, it would make Sakura look like a liar.
But still, saying that when she'd only just started her training felt a bit too arrogant…
'Studying to become a voice actress… even before graduating high school?'
Kato Megumi looked at the shy girl across from her, a hint of surprise flickering in her eyes.
Someone who already had such a clear vision for her future—and was actively working toward it—was the complete opposite of herself.
"Hello, I'm Kato Megumi, second year, Class B at Toyogasaki Academy. I live in…"
Oops. She had said it so fluently that she almost revealed too much. But her expression didn't falter one bit.
In her usual calm, serene tone, she finished the sentence without missing a beat: "…3-19, Kami-Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward."
"Eh? Is that something we're supposed to share when meeting new people?" Shouko whispered in mild shock.
That definitely wasn't the kind of detail you exchanged with someone you just met.
"Hahaha, that's just a quirky way Kyousuke and Megumi-senpai greet each other," Sakura said cheerfully.
She might not remember much about Megumi, but anything involving Kyousuke—she never forgot.
"Yeah… Hojou-kun does have a way of leaving an impression." Kato nodded slightly, her calm demeanor making Shouko tilt her head in confusion.
Was that… a compliment? It was hard to tell with how neutral she sounded.
In the booth, Sakura and Shouko sat on one side, while Kyousuke and Megumi sat on the other.
In front of each of them was a delicate plate of petite cakes.
Kato, having witnessed Kyousuke's appetite the last time, had brought her entire month's allowance just in case.
But even though she had seriously told them not to hold back, the other three only ordered a small number of snacks.
"Sakura, I finished the novel you lent me. Thank you." Kato pulled the book from her bag and handed it back.
"Eh? You already finished it?" Sakura looked surprised.
Even though the book was only about 100,000 words, it would still take at least two hours to finish—even for fast readers.
She'd only handed it over late last night, and now it was just after school.
"Yep. I read it very thoroughly—twice last night, and once again during lunch and Japanese class today," Kato replied in her usual composed voice.
"Three times!?" Sakura and Shouko exclaimed at the same time.
Even Kyousuke turned to look at Kato.
He had the habit of rereading books he liked, but that was only for stories he genuinely enjoyed. And Kato wasn't even into mystery novels.
He could tell that much just from the fact that she'd learned about him from her cousin—rather than being a fan herself.
Honestly, if you were a mystery fan in Japan, you'd have at least heard of his name.
Even if you didn't like pure mystery like The Devotion of Suspect X, you wouldn't ignore a novel that had made it to the final shortlist for the "Japan Mystery Writers' Association Award."
To read a book she didn't even like, three times, back-to-back… that was dedication bordering on absurd.
"Well… since Sakura went out of her way to have Hojou-kun deliver it to me so late, I felt like I couldn't waste your kindness." Kato's tone remained steady and sincere.
That signature calm seriousness of hers made it sound like reading a novel three times overnight was just another everyday task.
"You're amazing, Megumi-senpai! I totally thought you'd start with manga first!"
Sakura looked genuinely impressed.
As someone who wasn't a big reader, if the book hadn't been written by Kyousuke, she probably wouldn't have even looked at it.
Lending the book was more about creating a connection than actually getting someone to read it.
"Mm… I did want to start with manga," Kato admitted, pulling out a volume of One Punch Man from her bag and looking a little troubled.
"But it was kind of hard to get into. So I figured I'd try the novel first. I was planning to go back to the manga afterward, but once I started reading the book… I couldn't stop."
She gave a slight nod and continued:
"I always thought mystery novels were just about murder, solving crimes, and clever tricks. But this one shocked me. I didn't expect it to be so good."
"A heavy love story that perfectly created and was expressed through the ultimate trick… and that trick, in turn, expressed a noble love."
Her review was thoughtful and sincere, but her eyes were fixed on the novel in Sakura's hands—not on the author sitting right across from her.
She didn't look at Kyousuke with the typical starstruck gaze of a fan.
Everyone present had begun to understand her personality by now.
Her monotone delivery might sound robotic, but every word she said was genuine.
"It was so good… I just had to read it again. The tears just wouldn't stop. Good thing I didn't end up staining your book, Sakura."
'No way,' both Kyousuke and Sakura thought.
They simply couldn't imagine Kato Megumi crying.
Her bob-cut swayed slightly as she spoke, but she didn't elaborate further on her feelings during the part where the protagonist, Ishigami.
Included himself in his own perfect plan—cutting off all paths of retreat to save the mother and daughter next door.
'Does that kind of love really exist in this world?'
'Would someone really be willing to die… just to save another person?'
She didn't know.
She'd never had such thoughts before.
But for the first time, she found herself wondering.
Could such a bond exist between Hojou Kyousuke and Yamauchi Sakura?
Everything about them—how they acted, how they looked at each other—spoke of a deep connection.
As if they could read each other's minds with a single glance.
Though they'd only known each other a short time, both of them had already left a mark on her heart.
Normally, she would've tried to keep her distance… but not this time.
This time, she accepted it willingly.
A friend once said she was like a stone Buddha—emotionless and unshaken.
But come on, no teenage girl is truly without joy or sorrow.
Meeting Hojou Kyousuke felt like stepping into a different world.
Before she could even get over the shock of how down-to-earth the famous author was, she was suddenly surrounded by two of the school's most popular girls.
If her friend Rinko ever found out, her reaction would probably be even more dramatic than her cousin's.
After seventeen years of plain, ordinary life… Kato Megumi had suddenly stepped into a world of "extraordinary." And that world fascinated her.
It made her curious. Happy. And deeply drawn in.
She didn't want to let go of these memories. She wanted to stay with them longer—wanted to be part of their world.
Sakura's book really did have a kind of magic to it—just like she said. It was so simply written that even a grade schooler could follow along.
But it was a carefully crafted magic. You could tell Sakura wasn't comfortable with novels.
She'd clumsily jotted down her thoughts, reflections, and predictions in the margins.
The blank spaces were packed with tiny, handwritten notes—so many that unless you deliberately focused, you couldn't even read what they said.
It was like a black frame surrounding the entire story.
At the beginning of the novel, there was a description of the "blue plastic sheet" used by a homeless man to build his makeshift shelter.
When Kato Megumi first read it, she brushed past it, thinking it was just atmospheric detail meant to help readers immerse themselves.
But after finishing the book, she realized it had been a cleverly planted clue all along.
Intrigued by this revelation, and with the thrill of peeking into someone else's thoughts, she started reading Sakura Yamauchi's annotations with reverence.
"Why use a blue plastic sheet? Wouldn't gray be less likely to show dirt? Then again, maybe a homeless person wouldn't care about that…"
The first few lines were pure rambling.
Kato couldn't help but chuckle, yet deep down, she felt a hint of admiration for Sakura.
Even something as mundane as a plastic sheet had sparked such an elaborate train of thought—how long did it take her to finish this book?
Below that was a note Sakura had written after her second read-through:
"I knew it—blue was a bad choice. It stood out too much. That's probably why Kyousuke noticed him!"
Kato had been moved to tears during her own first read, yet from this comment, it was obvious Sakura hadn't felt the same.
She had even casually swapped the protagonist Ishigami's name for Kyousuke's. Kato guessed the next note must've come after Sakura's third reading.
"A homeless man's roof was as beautiful as the sky itself. In Ishigami's world, were Yasuko and her daughter his entire sky?"
That line weighed heavily on Kato's heart.
She wasn't sure if it was because of the name change, or because of the raw emotion it carried in the context of the novel.
If the murder committed by Yasuko and her daughter were ever exposed, Ishigami would lose the only thing that had saved him—his sky.
And so, he chose to sacrifice himself, even if it meant he could never look up at that clear blue sky again, just to preserve its beauty for her.
The sadness she had felt after reading the novel deepened into something more crushing.
Kato softly chanted a calming mantra she made up herself and considered reading a shounen manga to lighten the mood.
Letting a novel and one person's thoughts drag down her emotions this much was completely against her usual philosophy of life.
And yet… she couldn't stop herself from reading Sakura's fourth, fifth, and sixth round of comments.
This was the magic of love.
Even someone like Sakura, who had no interest in books, had pushed herself to read the novel over and over again.
Even Kato, who had never been in love, could clearly understand what that meant.
'So… was there something romantic going on between Sakura and Hojou?'
That question had been tugging at Kato's mind since the night before.
It was rare for her usually calm heart to feel this kind of anticipation. Even if that love wasn't hers, she still wanted to see it unfold.
"If you really liked it, Senpai, feel free to take it home and read it again," Sakura said, handing her the book once more.
"No, it's okay~ Something this precious should be returned to its rightful owner quickly. If it weren't so hard to find all the manga volumes in stock at once, I'd return those too," Kato replied, shaking her head. It was just too valuable.
"Hehe, looks like my magic worked on you too, Senpai," Sakura giggled playfully.
"Huh? What magic?" Kato tilted her head slightly.
"I still have a bunch of author copies the publisher sent me at home. I'll bring one for you next time, so you don't have to go buy it."
Kyousuke picked up on Kato's hint that she had planned to buy the book herself.
"Yeah, totally! The royalties are already paid—you won't be giving them any extra money," Sakura added smartly, trying to convince her.
"Really? Are you sure?"
The thought of receiving a signed copy from a well-known author had never crossed Kato's mind.
She didn't want to seem rude in front of her new friends, so she had already handled all of her cousin's requests.
Of course, she used a little strategy.
"I told Hojou-kun right away that I knew him through my cousin, and that my cousin's a huge fan—watched all his promotional videos multiple times. But… for some reason, Hojou-kun seemed kind of upset."
It wasn't a lie.
Kato's emotions were often subdued, which made her keenly observant of others.
Or maybe it was because, as someone usually overlooked—a quiet "audience"—she could easily see what lay beneath the surface.
Like now, for example: Hojou was clearly nervous about Sakura's book because he knew how much it meant to her.
And then there was Nishimiya Shouko, who hadn't said a word but seemed genuinely happy just to be sitting nearby and listening to the conversation.
It was the kind of happiness that came from the heart.
"I've got other stuff too—like manga merchandise. If you end up liking it, I can give you some," Hojou offered.
They were meant to be giveaways anyway.
His personal website regularly held raffles to engage fans—something Eriri managed these days.
"Yeah, yeah! At first, it might be hard to get into these kinds of manga if you've never read them before," Shouko said enthusiastically.
"But once you get used to them, you'll see how amazing One Punch Man and Attack on Titan really are!" She loved the hero in the former, and the heroine in the latter.
"Mm~ Actually, while I was waiting at the café after school, I calmed myself down and read a bit more," Kato said, glancing at the suddenly excited girl across from her.
It was easy to read the word "love" on her face.
"Well… how do I put it~~ Once I realized the same author wrote both of them, reading them back-to-back felt kind of jarring," she said, holding up her copy of One Punch Man.
"It's hard to believe this and The Devotion of Suspect X came from the same person. One Punch Man feels like a dreamy fantasy of heroes.
"Saitama may be unusual, but it's like the whole world is filled with soap bubbles—so light and whimsical. But The Devotion of Suspect X… it's so painfully real."
"It's the kind of story that makes you empathize deeply, like something that could happen to anyone, anywhere. But now that I think about it… maybe there's a strange harmony between the two. "
"After all, a love so deep you'd die just to protect someone—that's a fantasy too, isn't it? I think… maybe? Reading this novel has made me yearn for love just a little bit more~~"
Despite her lengthy and heartfelt analysis, Kato's expression remained calm, her voice flat as ever—like a still lake.
It gave no hint of the emotional depth she spoke of.
There was one thing she hadn't mentioned aloud, though: she was shocked that even a genius like Ishigami could be cornered so mercilessly by life.
Shouko sat there, stunned.
Everything Kato had said was sincere, yet her tone was so emotionless it felt... off.
Shouko lowered her head, brain spinning as she tried to decode it all.
'Come on, Shouko,' she told herself, 'didn't Sensei teach you? Emotionless characters aren't really emotionless. Even if their voice is flat, their hearts are full of stormy waves.'
'Like Eriri—you can't just flip a "don't" into a "do" with her. You have to analyze… take a step back… and observe from above!'
But the more she thought about it, the more confused Shouko became.
'Ugh… This is so hard. You got this, Shouko! Your ultimate goal is to voice Mikasa, right?'
'Even though Senpai Kato doesn't have that emotionless character vibe, this is still good practice to understand how to emote better!'
"Um… Did I say something weird?" Kato Megumi asked with a slightly awkward smile, gently tapping her cheek with her index finger as Shouko stared at her intently.
"Not at all. Shou-chan's probably just not used to the way you speak, Senpai," Sakura explained with a laugh. Shouko quickly nodded in agreement.
"Oh, I see, I'm sorry about that" Megumi apologized with a soft nod.
"No need to apologize! It's not your fault at all, Senpai."
As the girls chatted, the time for club activities came to an end. Eriri soon appeared at the entrance of the café.
"Hey, Senpai, if you're free sometime, come hang out at our place," Sakura said as they were about to part ways.
Of course, she'd already gotten approval from everyone—after all, a bunch of girls living together was a detail best kept under wraps, especially from others at school.
"Sure, I'd love that. It's always fun talking with you all." Megumi held her bag with both hands and gave a warm smile.
On paper, her words definitely read as cheerful, but Shouko still looked puzzled, unable to tell if she really meant it.
"Then it's settled!" Sakura declared with a mock air of authority.
Since they now knew Megumi was Sakura's friend and not some girl linked to Kyousuke, Eriri and Kasumigaoka refrained from launching their usual barrage of verbal barbs.
When they returned home, even before the door opened, a soft whimpering sound could be heard from inside, along with scratching at the door.
"Haha, looks like Momotarou is welcoming us back!" Sakura said cheerfully, stepping past everyone and retrieving a small bag of dog treats from a box near the door to reward their furry housemate.
"It kinda feels like Momotarou gets really lonely when he's home alone," Eriri suddenly said.
"But didn't we get him a robot vacuum to keep him company? I thought he liked it," Kasumigaoka said, raising an eyebrow.
"Hmph, heartless witch! You think a cold, emotionless machine can replace a mother's loving arms?" the blonde scoffed dismissively.
"Huh… Funny, Sawamura-san. I'm starting to think we're more in sync than I realized."
"Who's in sync with you?! You're the one who said the robot vacuum—"
"No, I meant that artificial things can't hold a candle to the real deal," Kasumigaoka interrupted, her eyes gleaming with amusement as she glanced slyly past Eriri.
Before the blonde could retort, Kasumigaoka had already stepped into the house.
"KASUMIGAOKA UTAAAAAHA!" Three seconds later, Eriri finally processed the insult and stormed in after her, yelling at the top of her lungs.
Soon after, the sounds of their usual spirited "discussions" echoed through the house.
At first, Eriri's voice was filled with indignant fury, while Kasumigaoka's remained cool and graceful.
But as Eriri activated her "Full Kasumigaoka Combat Mode," their voices soon became equally chaotic.
The quarrel didn't last long, though—dinner time was approaching, and the group had another task waiting for them: building a house for Momotarou.
As mentioned before, Momotarou's current bed was a makeshift one sewn from old fabric by Naoka.
Kasumigaoka, as the official owner, had no complaints.
But Eriri, being a soft-hearted sentimentalist, wasn't satisfied and had been going on for days about building the little mutt a proper home.
They had leftover wood from renovations, and their tools were so high-end that even a professional carpenter would drool.
As he sorted the tools, Kyousuke couldn't help but think of Teshigawara.
He had always wondered why he was so skilled with woodworking when helping Miki with her shop renovations—turns out, he'd learned it back in Itomori from the heir of a construction family.
According to Mitsuha, that guy had officially joined the family business and restarted operations in Nara, with plans to eventually expand to Tokyo.
Not everyone could be as relaxed as him even after school had started.
Mitsuha, with her back-to-back national high school kendo championships, had been immediately recruited into the kendo club and was now busy preparing for the new member orientation.
On top of that, being the daughter of a high-ranking Tokyo bureaucrat meant all sorts of social groups—mostly kids from finance and politics—were trying to recruit her.
Whether for her own school life or her father's reputation, she needed to build good relationships.
With all that going on, Kyousuke would laugh while listening to her vent, then share his own stories in return.
"Don't worry," he would tell her. "Once you settle in, things will get easier. The entrance exams were tough, so it's only fair that life gets easier after getting in."
Mitsuha had already invited him to visit her school sometime.
Yeah, it was an all-girls school—but of course, there were ways around that.
Back to the doghouse construction—progress was painfully slow.
Everyone had gathered on the lawn to watch as Eriri and Kasumigaoka took turns ordering Kyousuke around like a construction lackey.
One wanted a flat roof, the other demanded a dome.
One wanted the house painted red, the other insisted on green…