"Kika-nee..."
For a moment, Kotomi Izumi didn't know what to say. It wasn't that she didn't know how to comfort the grievance in Ayani Kika's heart—comforting girls and sweet-talking them had always been one of Kotomi's specialties.
But now, listening to Kika's voice, the sweet words she had already prepared in her mind somehow wouldn't come out.
Just as Kotomi was about to wait a few minutes before speaking, the Kika who had just sounded faintly resentful and aggrieved suddenly changed her tone in the very next second and asked with a smile,
"Did you really believe it?"
The abrupt emotional shift left Kotomi stunned. Her little brain couldn't process it in time, and she could only respond instinctively:
"Yeah..."
"Pfft, hahaha~ My little Kotomi is just too cute. Looks like my acting hasn't gotten rusty," Kika said with a grin.
Only then did Kotomi realize what had happened, and she said with a hint of displeasure:
"So that aggrieved tone you used just now was all an act!"
"Yeah..."
Kika deliberately mimicked the exact tone Kotomi had used when she said "yeah..."
No one knew her own voice better than herself. Kotomi recognized it instantly. Her already flushed cheeks turned even redder—not just from embarrassment, but also because she realized that Kika's earlier grievance had been completely fake. With her strong sense of pride, Kotomi's expression now carried a trace of gritted teeth.
"I was so worried about you just now, and it turns out you were just showing off your acting skills! Seriously! You're not even an actress—why are you showing off your acting for no reason? Should I clap for you now too?"
Little Kotomi puffed her cheeks in anger, her words already carrying a faint scent of gunpowder.
"If you want to clap, that's not impossible... But I should correct one mistake in what you said. Who said only actors can show off their acting? Geisha need acting skills too, you know? To become an apprentice geisha, the very first foundational thing you learn is acting."
"Huh? Really?"
Kotomi was surprised. She had some understanding of geisha culture, but this was the first time she'd heard that geisha also needed acting skills.
"Of course. The most important thing for a geisha is to bury her true feelings deep within her heart. No matter what, her face—painted in geisha makeup—must never reveal her real emotions. It's like how a magician must always keep a poker face.
That's the sentence 'Grandmother' used to say most often when she taught me.
And the fastest way to lock away your emotions is to master acting."
At this point, Kika seemed to recall something amusing and continued:
"A few days ago, I heard some geisha chatting. They said that some incompetent actors in today's entertainment industry can't even match the acting of geisha.
Three years ago, after a geisha from an okiya retired at the age of thirty, she left the hanamachi and took on a role in a period film.
Unexpectedly, after the movie was released, among a group of well-known but talentless stars, she turned out to have the best acting. Anyone who watched that movie praised her performance when they walked out of the theater—and then casually cursed the other actors a few times.
Since it was her first film, she only played a minor role with about ten minutes of screen time. But in those ten minutes, she brought the character completely to life.
What happened next was quite awkward. The minor role she played earned that poorly received period film its only award with any praise attached. But at the award ceremony, none of the lead stars were qualified to attend. The only one who could go on stage to accept the award was her.
When she gave her speech, she said she used to be a geisha. The reporters covering the story were very good at finding a focal point—they kept emphasizing her past as a geisha. As a result, those star actors were almost all labeled as 'having worse acting than a geisha.'"
"Ah, I've seen that news before. It's still trending even now. Back then, I thought she was the only geisha who could act."
"That's not the case. In reality, every woman who can become a geisha possesses superb acting skills. Apprentices who can't master acting simply can't become geisha—at least, that's how it is in Kyoto's Gion district."
Kika let out a soft laugh, then spoke gently:
"But thinking about it carefully, I don't really have the qualifications to be a geisha anymore. 'Grandmother' always taught me to bury my true feelings deep inside and never let my real emotions show on my face. Things that once felt incredibly easy to me... now, in front of you, I simply can't do them.
That little bit of grievance I just acted out for you was the last trace of my acting skills. Now that it's over, my acting is like ashes after burning—scattered into the air."
If it were sunset right now, Kotomi—too shy to admit it—would surely blame the blush spreading across her cheeks on the glow of the setting sun.
Seeing that Kotomi had fallen silent, Kika wasn't surprised at all. Just like how she could imagine Kotomi's flushed cheeks even when they were far apart, she asked with a smile:
"Are you blushing?"
"Mm..."
Kotomi didn't try to deny it this time. Her face red, she softly hummed in acknowledgment.
Perhaps out of embarrassment, or perhaps because she had become more honest in this moment, that small "mm" even carried a hint of coquettishness.
"What a coincidence~ After saying all that, my face is a little red too," Kika said with a soft laugh as she left the Shinkansen station and walked toward the bicycle parked by the roadside. With hands slightly stiff from the cold, she touched her cheeks and added,
"And they're a little warm too."
Kotomi stayed quiet for a long time before finally speaking again:
"Kika-nee..."
"Mm?"
"I think... I like you a little more now."
Hearing Kotomi's sudden confession, Kika laughed happily.
"Hahaha~ Is that so? I'm so happy. And I'm also looking forward to it—just how much more will you need to like me before you start seeing me as your girlfriend? How much more will this feeling have to grow before it evolves into love?
Kotomi, I understand. Right now, your feelings for me are closer to relying on an older sister than seeing me as a lover. That's why you're troubled when it comes to ranking your harem—you don't know where to place me.
It's fine. I don't really care about what position I'm in. Even if I remain your mistress forever, I have no complaints.
As long as you can give me just a little bit of your love. Just a little—really, just a little is enough...
At the same time, I'm willing to wait. I'll wait until the day you finally fall in love with me."
Kika's gentle words were like soft calls, stirring the long-forgotten fragments of memory deep within Kotomi's mind.
Suddenly, Kotomi spoke up, her voice carrying a trace of urgency as she expressed what she felt:
"Kika, I love you! But my feelings for you right now are really hazy—like looking at flowers through fog. It's not because my feelings or love for you aren't strong enough, but—"
Without hesitation, Kotomi asked the question she had always wanted to ask Kika:
"From the very first time we met, I felt a sense of familiarity with you. It's like many years ago, we met and spent a long time together!
"But no matter how hard I try, I just can't remember. This feeling of familiarity mixed with strangeness has kept me from fully letting my emotions out.
"So, Kika-nee... can you tell me? Did we already know each other a long, long time ago?"
After finally asking the question she had always wanted to ask, Kotomi Izumi suddenly felt a sense of relief, as if a weight had been lifted off her chest. She couldn't help but let out a soft breath.
Even though she hadn't yet received an answer from Ayani Kika, simply voicing the question already made her feel much lighter.
Hearing Kotomi's question, Kika didn't show much surprise or confusion. Instead, she let out a light laugh and said,
"What an interesting question~"
"Kika-nee, you don't have to be so tactful sometimes. You can just say what you mean. Like right now, why do I feel like you're saying I asked a childish question?"
Kotomi said this with an awkward smile.
"Not at all. I genuinely think your question is quite interesting. You're sixteen now, and I'm twenty-five. That's a nine-year age difference between us. From that perspective, if we had met before, you might have been just a babbling baby at the time..."
Before Kika could finish, Kotomi cut in anxiously:
"So have we met before or not?"
"Haha~ Don't be so impatient. Hot food can't be eaten in a hurry. And besides—even if you ask me, I can't give you a definite answer. To be honest, my memory isn't very good. How bad is it?
There was a time last year when I was having lunch, and on a whim I tried to recall what I had eaten the day before. But when I thought about it, I realized I couldn't remember at all. It was as if that entire memory had a blank gap in it.
Hehe... thinking about it, maybe the reason I've never fully learned how to use a smartphone properly is because of this."
You can remember that this happened last year, but not what you ate for lunch? Kotomi couldn't help but complain inwardly.
"So... you don't know either?" Kotomi asked, feeling a bit disappointed, though not particularly surprised.
After all, the sense of familiarity she felt toward Kika was something that had appeared for no clear reason.
Sometimes, a sense of familiarity didn't necessarily mean anything real—it could just as easily be an illusion.
Maybe that feeling she had during their first meeting was nothing more than a misunderstanding.
"It's not that I don't know—it's that I'm not sure. I often forget things without realizing it. Maybe we really did know each other in the past, but for various reasons, you forgot me, and I forgot you. Until the last time you came to Kyoto with Mashiro, and we 'met for the first time' again.
"Of course, it's also possible that the time you came to Kyoto was truly our first meeting.
"After thinking it over, your question ends up with two possible answers. As for which one is correct? It's like a student who isn't good at studying facing a multiple-choice question—since they don't know the answer, they can only guess. It could be A, or it could be B."
Hearing this, Kotomi couldn't help but laugh.
"Kika-nee, that analogy is way too accurate. It instantly reminded me of my middle school days. Every time I faced a multiple-choice question, I'd pick between A, B, C, and D. At first, I'd try to read the question seriously and understand it. But later, I just picked whichever option looked the most pleasing."
"Oh? So your grades weren't very good in middle school?"
"Of course not. Back then, whenever the English or Japanese teacher wanted to check memorization, I'd call my mom in advance and say, 'Mom, we have a recitation test today, so I probably won't be able to come home. I'll just stay at school tonight.'"
"Pfft~ I didn't expect that Kotomi Izumi, who ranked first in all of Tokyo in two high school exams, used to be a poor student who, upon hearing about a recitation test, would already be thinking about how to sleep comfortably in the classroom. Going from a poor student to a top student—your reason for improving must be very inspiring, right?" Kika teased with a smile.
Yeah, very inspiring. I just pressed confirm on the system, and my grades improved... Kotomi thought to herself.
Although it was both her true thought and the truth, she couldn't possibly say it out loud.
It wasn't about trust. The God-given heroine system she had received was something she, as the host, could quickly understand. But if she tried to explain it to someone else, it wouldn't be something she could make clear in a short time.
And even if she spent a long time explaining it, whether the other person would believe her was another matter entirely.
Kotomi found it too troublesome and simply decided not to tell anyone about the system.
"Yeah, it was super inspiring. After the high school entrance exams, I realized that relaxing for a moment could cost me a lifetime.
"So I started waking up at six every morning, making use of every bit of time, studying until midnight. If I got sleepy, I'd hang my head from a beam or stab myself with an awl.
"In just a few weeks, I learned everything I hadn't understood before, and then spent the rest of the summer previewing the key points for all three years of high school. If I wrote an autobiography, I bet tons of parents would buy it and force their kids to read it every day after school."
Kotomi joked along. In reality, during vacations, she usually slept until she woke up naturally—by the time she got up, it was already ten in the morning. After playing some games, she'd go downstairs to eat. In the afternoon, after a nap, she'd lie in bed watching anime or sit at her computer and continue gaming.
"Amazing, amazing~" Kika clapped in encouragement.
Always a bit narcissistic, Kotomi naturally felt a little pleased when she heard Kika's applause. Just as her little tail was about to rise to the sky, she suddenly remembered something—she had accidentally gone off-topic!
"Wait, why did the conversation suddenly drift to studying?!" Kotomi quickly pulled the topic back.
"Hahaha, when I heard your voice gradually becoming smug, I was wondering whether you'd realize the topic had drifted. And if you did, how long it would take. Your time was three minutes—not bad~" Kika said with a smile, then asked meaningfully,
"So, Kotomi—do you choose A, or B?"
"I... I don't know how to choose. At least right now, I don't know whether to pick A or B."
"Oh? So that's your current answer? I'll remember it," Kika said.
"Why do you need to remember it?"
"Because after some time, I plan to ask you again. I'm very curious—and looking forward to it. By then, which will you choose? A, or B?" Kika said with a smile, revealing her intention.
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