Chapter 514
Chapter 514: Slip of the Tongue?
2,725 words
•
14 min read
While watching the morning drama and leisurely finishing breakfast, Kotomi Izumi realized that waking up early had its own kind of comfort—no worry about being late, no need to rush through anything.
"Thanks for breakfast, Onee-chan!" Aimi Izumi put down her chopsticks and pressed her hands together.
"Go upstairs and change your clothes. I’m heading out first. When you leave, make sure to lock the door."
"Don’t forget to take the bento from the table... Huh? Where’s your bento box?" Kotomi glanced at where she had just placed the boxes and saw only one—hers. Aimi’s was nowhere in sight.
"I already put it in my bag!" Aimi said with a mischievous smile. Ever since she’d gotten the bento from her sister, that smile hadn’t left her face.
It was as if Kotomi had made something Aimi had been craving for ages, and now she couldn’t wait to go to kindergarten and show it off to her friends. Kotomi almost wanted to pat her head and say: Good girl, make sure to share with your friends at school.
Of course, she kept it to herself. If she actually said it, Aimi would surely complain, Onee-chan, you’re treating me like a kid again.
Yet, when Kotomi stroked her hair, Aimi still acted like a child—closing her eyes in bliss. If Kotomi stopped too soon, Aimi would pout and nudge her palm with her head, signaling her to keep going.
Kotomi slung her guitar bag over her back and picked up her tote. "I’m heading out."
"Be careful on the way!"
Opening the door, she saw Megumi Kato already waiting under the streetlamp.
Kotomi jogged over. Since they hadn’t gone home together after rehearsal yesterday, she decided to make it up to her by planting a kiss on her cheek the moment they met.
Could Megumi possibly resist such a greeting? Of course not! She nearly wanted to grab Kotomi’s wrist and teleport them straight to the school’s sports equipment storeroom.
"Sorry I couldn’t walk home with you yesterday. Is this enough of a make-up?" Kotomi clasped her hands, closed one eye, and tilted her head—an act that seemed like a plea for forgiveness but radiated temptation.
"If superpowers were real, the one I’d want most right now is teleportation," Megumi murmured as she pulled Kotomi into her arms, breathing in her scent.
"Megumi, you smell so nice too. Did you change your body wash?"
"I did... If you like it, next time you come over, you can use it when we bathe together."
"The last time we bathed together was when we stayed at that hotel. Inviting me to your house and then into the bath... Megumi, are you getting bolder?"
"If it’s with you, my courage is limitless," Megumi said with a smile, leaning closer.
She bumped into the guitar bag slung on Kotomi’s back and only then noticed it—not just the tote in her hand, but a guitar bag as well.
"Is that... a guitar bag?"
𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
"Yup. Do you like the color? I’m fond of this off-white one."
Kotomi turned, swaying her slender waist to show off the bag.
"It’s beautiful. My Kotomi has great taste. But why the sudden purchase? And there’s something solid inside." Megumi reached under to lift it, startled by the weight. "So heavy?!"
The solid build of this guitar also meant extra weight.
For someone who plays regularly, their strength and stamina naturally improve, making it easier to handle. But for a beginner buying their very first guitar—unless they have a generous budget and strong confidence in their physical ability—there’s no way they’d choose this model.
Not just because of the weight, but the price—250,000 yen!
With her Queen of All Females constitution, Kotomi found carrying and playing it to be no trouble at all. Plus, with her musical skill level, she didn’t have to think about whether it was a "beginner’s" choice—she simply bought what she liked.
"Inside here is my guitar~" Kotomi unzipped the case and, like showing off a newly bought figure, revealed the same model guitar as Duyui’s. "Pretty, right?"
"It’s gorgeous! But... why are you suddenly bringing it to school? Are you transferring to the music program? Starting guitar from scratch is really tough."
"I can already play, and I’m really good at it. I signed up for a performance at the cultural festival. I’m going to play on stage with Yukino and Yui!"
That single sentence contained a whole bundle of surprises Megumi Kato hadn’t known about, leaving her a little dizzy.
"You’re performing at the cultural festival? With Yukino and Yui—three of you together?!"
Alongside the shock, a tinge of jealousy crept in. Why was she only hearing about this now? Judging from Kotomi’s tone, this wasn’t a new decision—it had been made days ago.
Why hadn’t Kotomi told her immediately? Why Yukino and Yui as her partners? Why had she never mentioned that she could play guitar? Wasn’t she supposed to be Megumi’s girlfriend?!
Her mind filled with questions.
Finally, Megumi turned her gaze away and let out a small but clear hmph, puffing her cheeks slightly.
She’s jealous.
Comfort me.
There was no way Kotomi could miss the wave of jealousy radiating from Megumi. With a sly grin, she caught Megumi’s hand in her own.
"It’s always been my dream to stand on stage and... play for the girl I love most."
"You could’ve told me that sooner," Megumi said, releasing the breath she’d been holding and meeting Kotomi’s eyes again. "Yesterday, you didn’t come home with me—were you rehearsing with Yukino and Yui?"
"Yes. The feeling of our first ensemble was amazing. It made me even more confident that I can stand on that stage at the cultural festival and... play for the girl I love most."
Megumi’s mood instantly brightened, and she completely missed Kotomi’s little slip between "and" and "for" in that line.
"Have you decided which songs you’ll perform at the cultural festival?" Megumi Kato asked softly. She didn’t press for more details—it seemed she’d calmed down and wasn’t jealous anymore.
In fact, after hearing Kotomi say she wanted to play on stage for the girl she loved most, Megumi’s lips had been curved in a happy smile ever since, even letting out the occasional content hum.
"The performance slot is only 25 minutes, so we’ll do just two songs. Which ones? Haven’t decided yet—I want to try writing my own," Kotomi answered directly.
"You’re going to write your own songs?!" Megumi was stunned. She knew Kotomi could write novels and draw manga, but songwriting too? She suddenly had the urge to lock Kotomi in a basement and "interrogate" her about just how many hidden talents she had been keeping secret.
"I’ve dabbled in it for fun before—not amazing, but making two songs is doable. It’s just that time is tight. Less than two weeks until the festival."
"Anything I can do to help?" Megumi offered.
Kotomi was her girlfriend, and with her taking the stage soon, Megumi naturally wanted to be involved. Even if she couldn’t perform, she wanted to help behind the scenes so Kotomi could shine.
"Thanks for the offer, but for now, Yukino, Yui, and I can handle it. Just look forward to our performance~"
Kotomi declined, knowing that while she said time was tight, her collaboration with Yukino and Yui was going beautifully. Just the first rehearsal yesterday had filled her with endless confidence and let her experience a joy that only ensemble playing could bring.
As long as they kept up this momentum, they would absolutely succeed on stage at the cultural festival—and make a one-of-a-kind perfect memory for their high school years.
Hearing this, Megumi pouted slightly, jealousy threatening to surface again. But Kotomi caught it in time, leaning close to whisper into her ear with a soft, tempting tone:
"Guess what song I’ll be singing on stage~"
When Kotomi turned on the charm, even Megumi sometimes found herself flustered.
Kotomi’s knack for flirting felt almost innate—her Queen of All Females aura could rival that of a succubus.
"Kotomi, this is for you." Megumi said, pulling from her bag a still-sealed photobook—more accurately, a gravure collection.
Kotomi took it, blinked in surprise at the cover, then beamed and hugged it to her chest. "Mai Sakurajima’s Winter Photobook! Megumi, what made you think of buying this for me?"
Kotomi had planned to visit the bookstore after school to buy it herself, but she’d worried about missing out on the limited edition that came with a poster.
Spotting the [Limited Edition] mark on the book’s wrap, she flipped to the back and found the bonus poster—a shot she’d seen before in the preorder promotion.
In the poster, Mai Sakurajima wears a gray winter coat and gloves, cradling a warm drink in her hands as she strolls through a snowy landscape at dusk. The winter scenery paled beside her beauty. Caught in a spontaneous glance over her shoulder, the photographer, Saro Iwahashi, had instinctively lifted the camera and captured the perfect moment.
If the shutter had clicked even a second later, that breathtaking scene would have been lost forever. Even if Mai Sakurajima tried to recreate the moment exactly as it was, the magic caught in the original shot could never be duplicated.
Unsurprisingly, that photograph was chosen as the special bonus poster for the limited edition of the photobook, and photographer Saro Iwahashi’s reputation soared yet again because of it.
As Mai’s longtime exclusive photographer, Saro Iwahashi even wrote on her personal Twitter after the winter photobook went up for preorder:
This was a shot I captured by pure chance. Photography is sometimes about the perfect timing and conditions. This picture of Mai Sakurajima is the best example of that. I was lucky to catch that moment and preserve it through my lens. I doubt I could ever replicate such a perfect shot again (bitter laugh).
Kotomi Izumi, a frequent buyer of Mai Sakurajima’s photobooks, had naturally long been following Saro Iwahashi’s Twitter account.
Saro, now 23, had actually debuted as a photographer at 17. Her love for photography, combined with an exceptional grasp of equipment, space, and composition, had put her far ahead of her peers. Even after joining her high school’s photography club, her skills were so advanced that she had no common ground with the other members.
By the time she realized it, she’d already been ostracized by her clubmates.
The most gifted often find themselves accompanied by loneliness, even if they don’t seek it.
The isolation within the photography club eventually spread to the entire class. The silent treatment surrounded Saro like walls. Since the club president was a third-year senior with connections in nearly every class, her influence was everywhere.
Eventually, unable to endure the bullying any longer, Saro tearfully told her parents she no longer wanted to attend high school. The Iwahashis respected her decision and helped her withdraw.
On her last day, Saro kicked open the photography clubroom door, marched up to the president, pulled a bottle of soy sauce from her bag, twisted off the cap, and poured it over the president’s head. The dark liquid ran down, ruining her carefully applied makeup.
This particular "makeup remover" had both color and smell.
Glancing around at the stunned members, Saro’s eyes were full of contempt as she left them with one sentence:
"A bunch of idiots who’d only have one person in their family portrait."
Then she walked away.
After withdrawing, Saro didn’t take a year off to enroll in another high school. Instead, she boldly decided to apply for work as a photographer.
At first, she met plenty of resistance—too young, no high school diploma.
Her luck turned when she applied to Maboroshi Productions. By chance, Mai Sakurajima’s mother, Shiori Sakurajima, happened to sit in on the interview. When the interviewer saw Saro’s age and lack of formal education, they were ready to reject her without even glancing at her attached photography samples.
Shiori stopped them, dismissed the interviewer, and took over personally.
Saro had no idea the woman before her was Shiori Sakurajima, founder and owner of Maboroshi Productions. Assuming she was just a replacement interviewer, she answered every question with ease.
Halfway through, Shiori said:
"You’re still young and haven’t even graduated high school. You said you dropped out... I don’t know the exact reason, but it must have been because staying in school made you feel exhausted and miserable, right?"
"If an ordinary student without a high school diploma came to interview at Maboroshi Productions, I’d tell them to go back to school. But you’re different—you’re a genius. I don’t know the high art of lofty ideals, but I do know this: with your skill and understanding of photography and composition, you’d find commercial success shooting entertainers’ photos."
"I train entertainers to make money. You’re applying to make money. It’s mutual benefit. Now, let’s talk about your monthly and annual salary."
Shiori Sakurajima offered Saro Iwahashi a salary so high that even the once-proud prodigy was stunned. Without hesitation, she signed the contract and became an in-house photographer at Maboroshi Productions—exclusively shooting Mai Sakurajima.
She never imagined her very first assignment would be for such a high-profile star. She thought she was dreaming—until she learned from colleagues that her interviewer was not just any staff member, but the founder and owner of the company, and Mai Sakurajima’s mother and manager.
At first, people assumed she was just lucky. How skilled could a high school dropout be? But once Saro’s work—Mai’s photobooks, posters, profile shots, and all her commercial photography—was released, all doubts vanished. Praise replaced criticism. Even film directors and cinematographers began seeking her advice during shoots.
"I just want to hang this poster in my bedroom already..." Kotomi murmured dreamily, clutching the winter photobook, planning to find a chance today to ask Senior Mai in Class 2-B for a signature.
"Ahem, if your eyes get too starry, I might get jealous~" Megumi Kato teased, fingers lightly brushing Kotomi’s pale neck.
Feigning calm, Kotomi pointed at the cover and said seriously:
"Megumi, do you think this coat looks nice? If Mai can pull it off, you’d look even better in it! I’ll buy you one."
Smiling, Megumi opened her phone, searched for the brand of the coat from the cover, found the official site, and handed the screen to Kotomi without a word.
Kotomi wondered how pricey a coat could be—until she glanced at the price. Her eyes widened instantly. She covered her face with her hands, then peeked through her fingers for a second look—only to quickly cover them again.
After a cough, Kotomi straightened her face and said with forced seriousness: "This coat’s dark, more of a mature style. It doesn’t really suit you, Megumi."
While speaking, she kept her gaze averted; she didn’t dare look at the price again.
Megumi closed her phone and took Kotomi’s hand. "I agree. The color doesn’t suit me. Everyone has their own best colors and styles."
"Exactly." Kotomi nodded vigorously.
"Kotomi, let’s go shopping for new clothes this weekend~" Megumi suggested.
"Shopping? Sure. How about Saturday?"
"Saturday works. But why not Sunday? Got plans?"
"Sunday... I want to stay in and play CS GO, show off my new Miami Gloves – Factory New..." Kotomi lied smoothly. In truth, she’d promised to go to karaoke with Yui Yuigahama that day to practice singing.
Megumi, knowing Kotomi loved gaming, accepted without question and agreed to move their outing to Saturday.
Saturday with Megumi, Sunday at karaoke with Yui... This weekend’s going to be packed, Kotomi thought.
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— End of Chapter 514 —