Chapter 62 – Overflowing Blossoms (Patreon)

"So Ai-nee actually stays here?"

Judging from the personal items scattered around the living room, this apartment clearly showed signs of being lived in.

"Come to think of it, Ai-nee did say she was transferring to Shuchi'in..."

Kouma thought to himself as he walked toward the closed bedroom door. "Maybe she's taking a nap?"

He gently turned the doorknob. It wasn't locked.

In the next instant, the door swung wide open.

"Kouma..."

A soft sigh slipped from between red lips.

However, the person lying on the bed wasn't Ai Hoshino. It was Miyako Saito, her figure long and elegantly proportioned, radiating the full aura of a mature beauty!

Kouma witnessed this exquisite scene with his own eyes.

At the exact same moment, Miyako, whose body had just gone limp with release, was startled awake by the sound of the door opening, her beautiful eyes flying open in panic.

Shit, Ai saw me! My image as her manager and big-sister figure is completely ruined...

"Ai-chan, I—"

She was about to explain instinctively, but when she clearly made out the small figure standing in the doorway, her mind went utterly blank.

The good news: it wasn't Ai, so her dignity as a manager was safe!

The bad news: it was the person she'd just been fantasizing about, which was even more of a social death sentence!

Miyako suddenly remembered that she'd apparently said Kouma's name out loud just moments ago...

In that instant, Miyako's brain completely short-circuited, her mind a total blank.

"K-Kouma-kun... h-how did you get in?" Her thoughts had ground to such a halt that she was stammering.

"Ai-nee gave me a key to this place before." Kouma held up the key in his hand, his gaze drifting over Miyako now and then.

There was no denying it: Miyako was, as expected of a former idol, truly something. Her figure was incredible! Not the preternaturally lush type like Yotsuya-san, nor the naturally mature fullness of Mrs. Yukinoshita or Eri Kisaki. Miyako's body was clearly toned from years upon years of dance training—firm, tight, and exquisitely curved.

At thirty, she was at that perfect age where beauty, figure, and presence all melded into one. She embodied the word mature beauty to absolute perfection.

Miyako vaguely noticed the faint heat flickering in Kouma's eyes. Only then did she snap back to reality. "Kouma-kun, go outside for a moment..."

She instinctively jumped off the bed, planning to usher him out and shut the door. But her bare soles hit the floor and slipped. Her entire body pitched forward, crashing down and taking the small figure in the doorway with her.

"Ah—!"

When there's nothing to block it, the power of the groping hand is essentially limitless!

A long while later, Miyako forced herself to get up and close the door. A slightly trembling voice came from within. "Kouma-kun, just... just wait in the living room for a bit..."

She dove straight into the covers, her delicate face so hot it felt like it might combust.

I'm done for... Not only had Kouma seen her outright... but just now they'd also...

She absolutely could not imagine what would become of her image in Ai's mind if Ai ever found out about this!

Miyako buried herself under the blankets, lost in a chaotic tangle of thoughts for a long time.

Knock, knock.

"Miyako-san, are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself in that fall, did you?" The young boy's tender, gentle, considerate voice came through clearly, making Miyako's body tremble slightly.

She felt her knee, which had smacked straight into the floor. It was faintly sore. But beneath the emotional turmoil she was feeling, the pain barely registered.

She threw off the covers, her voice steadying. "Don't worry, Kouma-kun, I'm fine!"

Miyako bit her lip. It's just... the lingering effects are pretty intense...

She didn't understand. It had only been a fall...

Could it be that I actually... toward Kouma-kun...? Miyako thought back to that unfinished dream, and her burning face grew even redder.

After changing clothes and returning to the living room, she found a perfectly well-behaved little boy sitting there. In the past, Miyako had also been very fond of Kouma, but ultimately, his young appearance had allowed her to maintain the appropriate distance and composure of an adult.

Now... just sitting across from him was enough to make her heart restless and hot.

Kouma could see Miyako sitting there, fidgeting slightly, and understood her embarrassment. So he simply changed the subject. "When did Miyako-san get here? Did Ai-nee come too?"

"Just yesterday. Ai—she successfully transferred into Shuchi'in too!" Miyako said quickly, blurting out the news about Ai's transfer as well.

"Ai-nee didn't tell me that?"

"She wanted to surprise you..." Miyako's expression grew complicated. A surprise had indeed appeared. It just... happened to be for her.

Just then, her phone rang. It was Ai calling.

The moment Miyako saw the caller ID, her heart skipped a beat. She had an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, as if she'd just been caught fooling around with someone she shouldn't.

She answered. Ai's voice, full of boundless energy, came through the speaker. "Miyako-nee! The school festival performance is about to start—are you awake yet?!"

"J-just got up..."

"Great! Then I'll leave it to Miyako-nee to bring Kouma-kun over. Definitely don't tell him, okay?! He'll be so surprised!"

Listening to the anticipation brimming in Ai's voice, Miyako subconsciously glanced at the little boy in front of her. Kouma could sort of make out the conversation through the phone and hurriedly pressed a finger to his lips. Miyako nodded and replied to Ai, "Okay, I'll head over now."

After hanging up, Miyako's heart was pounding. Joining forces with Kouma—the person Ai treasured most—to keep a secret from Ai... it stirred a strange, inexplicable thrill deep inside her.

"Kouma-kun, what should we do now?"

"Follow Ai-nee's plan, of course!"

"She must have spent ages preparing this surprise for me. So I'm going to play along for her properly!"

Hearing the young boy's earnest words, Miyako's red lips parted slightly, a hint of envy rising in her heart. She finally understood why Ai held Kouma—a younger brother with no blood relation—so dearly.

...

In the school festival performance hall, students were busy with their final rehearsals.

Shuchi'in's performance hall could seat an audience of a thousand. For ordinary students, this might well be the largest audience they'd ever perform for in their lives. So everyone took this stage extremely seriously.

The event was being overseen by Sawako Yamanaka, the music teacher.

"B-Komachi, you're up to test your equipment!"

Sawako checked the list in her hand and then spoke into the microphone. Her voice echoed throughout the venue. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes toward the four girls below the stage. No—to be precise, toward the girl standing in the center position.

Ai Hoshino.

Without question, she was an absolutely flawless idol. In just two short years, as the undisputed center, she had propelled the name B-Komachi to explosive popularity in the underground idol scene. All of that popularity basically rested on her shoulders alone. A fourteen-year-old girl.

"Wait, if she's fourteen, shouldn't she be in the middle school division?"

"Why is she performing for the high school division?"

Yui Hirasawa, the adorable girl with the slightly raspy voice from the Light Music Club, had spotted the inconsistency. The other three Light Music Club girls also paused, baffled.

"Huh, yeah, why is that?"

"Sawa-chan-sensei, do you know?" Ritsu Tainaka, the club president, patted Sawako on the shoulder, asking without the slightest hesitation.

Sawako was long used to it. She pushed up her glasses and said flatly, "Because that's what she requested herself. What other reason would there be?"

This sort of thing had happened before. A middle schooler wanting to show the high school upperclassmen how much they'd grown, or something like that.

Shuchi'in was pretty open-minded in that regard. Although, she couldn't fathom why a girl who had just transferred into Shuchi'in's middle school division would be so determined to perform for the high school division.

"You think she's here to show us loser high school girls who's boss?"

"That from now on Shuchi'in is under her rule, and every other culture club has to pay tribute to her..."

"Uuu... are we doomed to grovel beneath her oppressive might from now on?"

"Don't worry, Rit-chan! We've still got Tsumugi-chan's cakes! We'll just offer those as tribute!"

"Yui-chan..."

"Rit-chan..."

"Waaaaah, we'll never taste little cakes again!"

"Don't be scared—my family makes way more cakes than we could ever eat, you know!"

That reassurance came from the Light Music Club's sole supplier, Tsumugi Kotobuki

Mio Akiyama watched the two clowns, Yui and Ritsu, put on their little show with a completely deadpan expression. She finally couldn't take it anymore and delivered a solid punch to Ritsu's head.

"Ow! That hurts! Why'd you only hit me?!"

Mio shot them both an exasperated glare. "You're making her out to be way too dirty-minded!"

Her words fell, and she turned to watch Ai sing and dance as she tested the equipment on stage. It all looked so effortless, yet Mio could clearly feel the total, unwavering dedication Ai poured into every single movement.

Even just for rehearsal, her smile, her dance, her voice—everything was impeccably flawless.

Mio could almost foresee it. When those audience seats were packed, the fanatical cheering that would roar back in response to Ai's performance! "She's amazing..."

Mio said it with genuine admiration. Compared to their band, made up of complete rookies, Ai, who was even younger, was already a fully-realized idol.

"That's because she worked hard to get here." Standing beside her, Sawako gazed at Ai on stage and spoke with emotion. Then she looked down at the Light Music Club girls and added encouragingly, "You've all worked hard too. Believe in yourselves!"

That one simple, quiet sentence instantly moved the four girls about to make their stage debut.

"Sawa-chan-sensei, I didn't know you could say something so teacher-like!"

"What do you mean 'teacher-like'?! I am your teacher!"

Sawako exploded.

"Alright, you're up next. Hurry up, get changed, and get on stage!"

Mio's expression stiffened as she stared at the dazzlingly bright idol stage outfits Sawako produced. "Do I... have to wear this...?"

"No! You're wearing this!"

A while later, B-Komachi came off stage to rest, and the four Light Music Club girls, now changed, went up to test their equipment.

Mio stood at the very front, center position, clad in a black dress, looking out over the nearly empty hall below. But in her mind, the scene was already filled with nearly a thousand pairs of eyes watching her. Her face instantly flushed bright red.

"S-so embarrassing..." She turned around and cast a pleading look at Yui. "Yui, maybe you should be lead singer instead..."

"But my voice is totally hoarse—it'll take days to recover..."

"Right... that's true..." Mio miserably turned back. Guess there's no choice now but to go through with it!

After giving herself a mental pep talk, Mio joined the others in testing the equipment. They gave a simple performance of Fuwa Fuwa Time.

The other students present looked at them with slightly astonished eyes. Those looks of surprise and appreciation gave the girls a surge of confidence. Mio's voice gradually steadied. When half the song was done, scattered applause broke out. Mio let out a huge sigh of relief.

Her gaze shifted downward and landed on a small figure in the audience. An exceptionally beautiful young boy! In his gorgeous eyes, she saw appreciation and affirmation. It filled her with a solid, substantial dose of confidence.

Looks like I can do this!

Just as that thought crossed her mind, Mio turned to exit the stage and let the next group rehearse. But her foot had barely lifted when it snagged straight on an audio cable plugged into a speaker. Her body pitched off-balance, and she tumbled straight off the stage.

"Ah—!"

Below the stage, Kouma watched helplessly as the blue-and-white-striped bowl came plummeting down toward him. So he reached out and caught it.

Don't get the wrong idea. He was just thinking that Mio's bass was seriously expensive, and it would be a huge shame if it got broken!

The next moment, a tiny kitten-like squeak sounded.

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