Ayani Kika looked at Kotomi Izumi, who wore an expression as though she were seriously thinking about how to help her friend recover her memories. The corners of her lips lifted unconsciously into a faint smile as she thought to herself:
You still don't know that the friend with amnesia I mentioned is actually you. But perhaps that's for the best. The less you know, the more deeply you've buried those memories. And recalling everything that happened back then... losing those memories might actually be a good thing for you.
After pondering for a moment, Ayani Kika finally decided to speak.
"Kotomi, don't think about my amnesiac friend for now. Grandma once said, 'Thinking is something precious. Don't let other people's matters occupy too much of your thoughts.' When we were just talking about amnesia, I suddenly thought of a question. I only just came up with it, but I really want to ask you and hear your answer. If you don't mind, could you answer it?"
"Sure."
Kotomi Izumi nodded. She felt that answering a spur-of-the-moment question from Ayani Kika was hardly a big deal.
Besides, a few hours ago, after cuddling closely with Ayani Kika to ease the side effects of the Queen of All Females constitution, Kotomi had been looking for an opportunity to express her gratitude.
Of course, she absolutely would not directly mention the Queen of All Females constitution, its side effects, or this idea of showing thanks.
If she said it outright, the atmosphere between them would likely become unbearably awkward.
What if Ayani Kika suddenly asked:
"When you let me kiss you, was it because you felt my love and wanted to return it? Or... were you just treating me as a tool to relieve your side effects?"
If she really asked that... embarrassing as it was to admit, Kotomi truly wouldn't know how to answer.
Kotomi felt that her feelings toward Ayani Kika were complicated. Even though their relationship had clearly taken a significant step forward, that strange blend of familiarity and unfamiliarity Kika gave her had not faded. Instead, after learning about Kika's destined karuta card, that feeling had grown even stronger.
In Kotomi's heart, Ayani Kika was like a girl standing within a mist. Kotomi could sense that she held no hostility toward her—perhaps even affection. Yet at the same time, it felt as though countless secrets and hidden thoughts were concealed within her. The aura of mystery surrounding her sometimes stirred an inexplicable unease in Kotomi's heart.
That unease wasn't something Kika herself deliberately gave her. More accurately, it stemmed from the secrets and thoughts Kika kept hidden.
It's as if the things she's hiding are somehow deeply connected to me... Kotomi thought.
And it was precisely because of that lingering sense of mystery that Kotomi could not figure out what her feelings toward Ayani Kika truly were.
It was as though, unless that mystery disappeared, she would never be able to understand her own heart.
While Kotomi's thoughts wandered, Ayani Kika finally voiced the question she had just conceived and so desperately wanted to ask.
"Kotomi, how do you view amnesia?"
You really picked the right person to ask, because I've lost part of my memory too... Kotomi joked silently to herself, though she said aloud,
"After realizing you've lost your memory, you'd probably feel confused and helpless, right? Especially when facing family or a lover from your past, yet being unable to recall their names or the things you experienced together. It would feel like being lost in a cold forest—disoriented and alone."
"Lost in a cold forest..."
For some reason, Ayani Kika seemed particularly struck by that description. She murmured it several times under her breath, as though recalling something from the past.
Just as Kotomi was about to ask what was wrong, Kika spoke again.
"That's quite vivid. It really captures the atmosphere. As expected of a novelist whose work has already been published~"
"Huh? How do you know my novel was published?"
Kotomi looked surprised. She remembered telling Kika that she liked drawing and writing in her spare time, but she hadn't mentioned that her novel had been published as a standalone volume.
Mainly because when they first met in Kyoto, everything had been too rushed. She had returned to Chiba before they could talk much. After that, she'd been swamped with all sorts of things. Most of the time, it was Kika who messaged her first, and only then would Kotomi remember to chat.
And whenever they chatted, there were usually other girls around her. Naturally, Kotomi wouldn't talk with Kika for too long.
Especially when she was with Megumi... Kotomi truly didn't dare chat with Kika for long. She was afraid that if she wasn't careful, Megumi might see their chat history—or worse, see her phone wallpaper.
Just imagining Megumi Kato accidentally seeing her wallpaper made Kotomi feel a chill creep up her neck.
But if she changed it... she really couldn't bear to replace the photo of herself and Iroha Isshiki taken at Enoshima.
"You told me your Twitter account before. I memorized that string of numbers and letters. I don't have a Twitter account myself, and I don't know how to register one, so I was planning to ask Shiba to help me when he had time. But he's been quite busy lately, so I didn't want to trouble him.
Recently, at the arts house, I saw a geisha browsing Twitter in the lounge on her phone. I asked her to search for your account for me. I had no idea until I saw it—your account has so many followers."
"Followers?"
Kotomi felt slightly uncomfortable with that term.
"Usually people would say fans or readers, right? 'Followers' sounds kind of strange. It makes it feel like some sort of religion."
"Fans?"
Ayani Kika's expression was as if she had just learned a new word. She looked puzzled yet curious. Then, as though she had suddenly understood what Kotomi meant, she smiled lightly.
"I see. You must be hungry and craving glass noodles, aren't you?"
Kotomi Izumi was so thrown off by Ayani Kika's conclusion that she stood there blankly for quite a while before finally letting out a bewildered:
"Eh?"
The "fans" she meant and the "glass noodles" Kika understood were two completely different things!
Still smiling, Ayani Kika continued,
"I know how to make several dishes with glass noodles. For example, steamed abalone with garlic glass noodles, lamb and glass noodle hotpot, or stir-fried pork with celery and glass noodles.
If you'd like some, we happen to have the ingredients in the refrigerator. I can make them for you. Though you'll have to wait a bit. You can't just eat the dishes by themselves, right? I'll need to cook a pot of rice too. Rice is your favorite staple food, isn't it?"
As she spoke, Ayani Kika, dressed in her red kimono, was already preparing to stand up and head to the kitchen to make a late-night snack for Kotomi.
It had to be said that the sight of her turning away truly carried the elegance and grace of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
Kotomi quickly reached out and grabbed Kika's wrist.
"The fans I was talking about aren't the kind you eat. It's an adjective. It means fans, followers, or people who admire celebrities."
"I think I understand now. So that's another new term for followers?" Kika smiled faintly. "When you said fans, I thought you were hungry."
The helplessness hidden within her smile was easy to see.
It seemed that whenever she casually listened to others, she would hear countless things she didn't know. At first she would assume they were newly invented concepts, only to discover after asking that they had existed for years and were considered perfectly ordinary by everyone else. She was simply learning about them much later than everyone else.
No wonder Kika often joked that she was slow to accept new things and adapt to changes.
"Even if I were hungry, I wouldn't announce it at this hour. It's already so late. We should be sleeping."
As Kotomi spoke, she glanced toward the futon.
After a moment, she added in a slightly suggestive tone,
"Ahem. I think I'll take a bath first. We can continue the rest of our conversation after we're in bed. Talking under the blankets has to be more comfortable than sitting on the tatami, right?"
"Sure. We'll do as you say. Go take your bath. Do you want a soak or just a shower?"
"A shower. It's too late. Taking a bath would take forever. Right now I just want a hot shower and then to crawl into bed."
"Turn the handle left for hot water and right for cold water. Don't mix them up. I wouldn't want you to go into the bathroom alone, only for a scream to come from inside a few minutes later because you scalded yourself or froze yourself with cold water~"
Kika paused before smiling mischievously.
"Actually, maybe I should bathe with you~"
"N-No, that's not necessary..." Kotomi's cheeks flushed as she hurriedly refused.
Her refusal wasn't entirely due to embarrassment.
The bigger issue was that a shower that should only take ten or fifteen minutes could easily turn into more than an hour if Ayani Kika entered the bathroom with her.
After all, while Kotomi became extremely pure-hearted during crucial romantic moments, she wasn't timid at all.
In fact, she was often the one who initiated the first kiss.
Though usually, less than seven seconds later, her girlfriend would seize complete control.
"Don't be so shy~ I'm just worried you'll accidentally burn yourself or get chilled by cold water. If I heard you scream, I'd feel heartbroken."
Kika smiled sweetly as she spoke.
Only now, her intentions were no longer hidden behind subtle hints.
It was less like revealing a dagger after unfolding a map and more like openly waving the dagger around while not even bothering with the map anymore.
A month ago, Kotomi might actually have believed her.
But the current Kotomi Izumi absolutely wouldn't.
Not because she'd suddenly become smarter.
Kotomi's little brain was still the same one that constantly bounced back and forth between clever and adorably foolish.
The reason she didn't believe it was because she had already become Megumi Kato's girlfriend.
After they started dating, there had been one occasion at Megumi's house.
The weather had been especially hot that day, and Kotomi had worked up quite a sweat. She wanted to borrow the bathroom for a shower.
Megumi agreed.
Then, with a meaningful smile, she added,
"Kotomi, the shower temperature in my bathroom is a little difficult to adjust. I was planning to bathe too, so why don't we shower together? I can help adjust the water temperature for you so you won't accidentally get burned or frozen."
The innocent Kotomi of that day had immediately nodded without thinking.
"Thank you, Megumi. You're so considerate!"
And then the two of them entered the bathroom together.
And then...
Even now, Kotomi vividly remembered that day.
She had sat in the bathtub for a full hour, and her stamina still hadn't recovered enough for her body to stand on its own.
In the end, Megumi had to support her and slowly help her walk back to the bedroom step by step.
Ever since then, whenever Megumi suggested bathing together, Kotomi would blush furiously and refuse with a resentful expression while thinking:
If I keep bathing with you like this, I might have to start preparing to become a mother someday... Though... that doesn't actually sound too bad...
Returning to the present.
When Ayani Kika proposed bathing together, Kotomi's legs instinctively weakened.
She nearly toppled backward onto the tatami and imagined herself wearing the aggrieved expression of a kingdom's holy maiden, saying:
"Guh... stop with the tricks already. Just do it."
Fortunately, she didn't actually say that.
If she had—and worn that expression as well—
She probably wouldn't be making it to the bathroom tonight.
Faced with Kika's explanation, Kotomi laughed awkwardly and repeated,
"N-No, really. I'm not a child anymore. I'm not so foolish that I can't even adjust hot and cold water."
As she spoke, she felt a little guilty.
While she did know how to adjust shower temperature, she had grown so accustomed to being taken care of by Aimi that every time she bathed, Aimi would set the water to Kotomi's preferred temperature beforehand.
Sometimes Kotomi even forgot what temperature she liked.
Yet Aimi remembered it more clearly than her own bank card PIN.
As a result, scenes like this happened frequently:
Kotomi Izumi: "Aimi, what temperature do I like again?"
Aimi Izumi: "Forty-one degrees. I've already adjusted it for you, Onee-chan. Just go in and shower."
...
"Really don't need me?" Kika asked quietly.
"Mhm! Definitely not!"
Kotomi nodded vigorously before standing and heading toward the bathroom.
However, after entering, her cheeks reddened slightly.
She didn't lock the bathroom door.
Not only did she fail to lock it, she didn't even close it completely.
Instead, she deliberately left it slightly ajar.
Only after doing so did she let out a soft sigh of relief, her face still faintly red.
"That way... Kika can just push the door open and come in later, right?"
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