Kazusa had indeed left, flying from Japan to Vienna, and it was highly likely that she wouldn't return for several years.
Chisato returned to the apartment and confirmed the news to Utaha and Eriri.
Eriri nodded, indicating that she understood.
As for Utaha, while Chisato was speaking, she rested her chin on her hand, leaning against the sofa, her gaze fixed downward on the novel she was reading.
From beginning to end, she showed no particular expression, let alone lifted her eyes to meet his.
By any measure, their reactions could hardly be considered normal.
If this had happened a week ago, and they had learned that one of their rivals, Kazusa, had voluntarily stepped away for a long period, even if they wouldn't have been ecstatic, at the very least, they would have shown some relief.
They wouldn't be sitting here now, expressionless, lost in thought.
The problem still stemmed from that incident when he visited Eriri's house…
Chisato roughly understood.
The afternoon following that day, Eriri had asked Utaha out and told her everything that had happened.
As for the outcome… Well, naturally, she was furious. But this time, it was different from before.
According to the message Eriri later sent to Chisato on her phone,
When Utaha learned about the situation, her eyes became dangerously sharp, as if she were about to fire off death rays at any moment.
For the first time in Eriri's memory, a vein bulged on her forehead, and she looked like she was seconds away from picking up the tiny spoon from her coffee cup and stabbing it into her own eye.
Recalling it later, Eriri still felt a lingering fear and warned him,
"This time, Utaha probably thinks I played her for a fool. Chisato, you'd better be prepared for a long battle. I doubt she'll be willing to listen to our explanation anytime soon.
Even if she does, she might not be able to accept it."
At the time, Chisato didn't take it too seriously. Utaha had always been sharp-minded, and it was true that she occasionally overthought things.
But as long as they cleared up the misunderstanding later, everything should be fine.
Besides, during that phone call, Kazusa—who was about to leave him soon—had been clinging to him the whole time, acting oddly enthusiastic and muttering unintelligibly.
So in the end, Chisato had just offered a few words of comfort, assured Eriri that he would handle everything, exchanged goodnights with her, and hung up.
As for Eriri's concerns, he hadn't paid them much mind. Without any psychological burden, he had simply enjoyed his last moments with Kazusa.
But now, facing the two of them in person, he realized he had been blindly optimistic. The situation between them seemed far more serious than he had imagined.
Chisato glanced sideways at Eriri. When she met his gaze, she let out a small sigh and showed a helpless expression.
The next moment, she stood up.
"I'll go prepare lunch."
Under normal circumstances, Utaha should have set down her book and followed her to the kitchen to help.
Living together, even minor daily tasks could build up over time and turn into irreconcilable conflicts.
That was why, when they decided to cohabitate this way, they had already planned out their household responsibilities.
For example, they took turns doing the laundry on a weekly basis. Cooking was done by whoever had the time, and if both were present, they would cook together.
Grocery shopping and cleaning the apartment were tasks for all three of them.
These might seem like minor details, but they were actually quite necessary.
Just like in a workplace, setting clear rules and dividing responsibilities in advance made things more efficient and reduced the chances of conflict.
Judging by the warmth that had usually filled their apartment, it was clear that their foresight had paid off, and their arrangement had worked well.
But today, it seemed Utaha wanted to unilaterally tear up the "clear division of labor" agreement they had set.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Utaha stood up as well, still holding her book.
She spoke words of gratitude, but her cold expression betrayed no sincerity at all.
She had no intention of helping, nor did she lift her gaze from the pages of her book. Without so much as a glance at either of them, she walked straight back to her room.
Click.
The door closed behind her.
Eriri clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, but soon after, she sighed in defeat and shook her head with a wry smile.
She looked at Chisato.
"I've called her so many times since that day to explain, but she doesn't believe a word I say. Every response she gives me is utterly dismissive. I can't get through to her at all."
Chisato understood and pulled her into a reassuring embrace.
"Got it. Leave it to me. I'll talk to her and make sure she gets back to normal."
"Mm."
Feeling somewhat reassured, Eriri headed to the kitchen.
Chisato, meanwhile, walked up to Utaha's door and placed his hand on the doorknob.
He pressed down. The door opened.
That was a good sign—she hadn't locked it. At the very least, she was still willing to listen to him. Maybe she wasn't as angry as she appeared to be.
Chisato stepped inside.
Utaha sat at her desk, her back straight, reading with a posture so proper she could have been a model student cramming for an exam the night before a big test.
"Utaha."
Chisato walked over and placed one hand on the desk while the other wrapped around her shoulder.
"…"
Utaha showed no reaction.
As if she hadn't heard his voice. As if she couldn't feel his touch. She calmly turned another page in her book.
Chisato watched her in silence for a moment, then narrowed his eyes and exhaled slowly, rubbing his chin.
"Could those 18+ doujin mangas be telling the truth? Have I turned into an invisible man? Do I actually have a superpower no one else can perceive? Let's test it out…"
Muttering to himself, he reached out and unbuttoned the top button of Utaha's blouse.
The collar instantly loosened, revealing a bit more of her skin.
"…!"
Utaha's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she still didn't react.
"It's real…?"
Chisato murmured in disbelief.
Next, he crouched down and lifted the hem of Utaha's skirt.
"Hmm, today Utaha seems to be in a good mood. It's rare for her to wear white—"
"Chisato!"
Utaha finally reacted.
Clenching her teeth as she spoke, she slammed her novel shut with a loud "bang," pushed her chair back, and forcefully slapped away the hand that seemed poised to take further action.
"The superpower is gone, huh."
With a sigh, Chisato looked at his hands, his expression filled with a sense of loss.
Eighty percent of that disappointment was an act, but the remaining twenty percent was genuine.
He had indeed hoped Utaha could hold out until the end.
Keeping up this pretense of ignoring him, only to be picked up and placed on the bed, maintaining that delicate balance of feeling yet barely suppressing it, that sort of hesitant resistance...
A little pre-lunch exercise didn't seem like such a bad idea.
Well, there would be plenty of time for such fantasies in the future.
The pressing matter now was to clear up what had happened at Eriri's house that day.
He couldn't let the current atmosphere between the two of them continue—being caught in the middle like this was exhausting.
"If you have nothing else to do, then get out."
Utaha smoothed out her skirt and rebuttoned her blouse. The flush on her face was slowly fading, and her tone had regained its firmness.
"Utaha, Eriri never intended to deceive you—"
"I don't want to talk to you right now, and I don't want to hear that girl's name either."
Utaha cut Chisato off coldly.
Chisato scratched his head.
Sure, these two had never gotten along from the start, but even at their worst, she had never been this blunt before.
"No choice then... I didn't want to do this."
Without warning, Chisato scooped Utaha into his arms.
The moment she was lifted, her instinct was to reach out and wrap her arms around his neck.
Her hand had already extended halfway before she suddenly remembered—she was supposed to be mad at him right now.
The next second, she started pounding Chisato's chest with all her might. Her legs, wrapped in black stockings, flailed wildly in the air, sending her slippers flying off onto the floor.
"Let go of me!"
Placed onto the bed, Utaha glared at Chisato, who was now pinning down her wrists.
"No."
Chisato responded with a smile.
"At least now, Utaha, you're finally looking at me when you speak."
"...Hmph."
Utaha turned her head to the side.
She had meant to show that she was still angry, but she failed to realize just how much her sulking expression stirred a man's desire to conquer.
Suppressing the urge to kiss her, Chisato got to the point.
"Neither I nor Eriri ever explicitly told Mrs. Sawamura that we were dating. She inferred it on her own based on Eriri's past behavior and some things you did before."
He summarized the events of that day in the briefest terms.
Utaha turned back to look at him, her voice cold.
"So what you're saying is, this whole mess is my own doing, the consequence of my past arrogance?"
"I never said that—"
"But it's true, isn't it?"
"..."
That was difficult to refute.
From Eriri's account of her conversation with her mother, it was clear that if Utaha hadn't played that out-of-context recording for Sayuri, she might not have jumped to the conclusion that Eriri and Chisato were dating so quickly.
"In the end, after Kazusa left, Eriri was the first to solidify her relationship with you.
She became your official girlfriend and even earned parental approval. Now she gets to openly hold your arm and walk home with you.
So what about me? I want to introduce you to my family too, to proudly tell them that you're my boyfriend.
But I can't. My mom keeps in touch with Mrs. Sawamura, and sooner or later, she'll find out that Eriri's boyfriend is you.
In that case, even the slightest sign of intimacy between us would have me labeled as a shameless flirt.
Back then, we made a promise—to face everything together, side by side. But now, what does this situation even mean?"
It wasn't the fact that Eriri had become Chisato's official girlfriend that made Utaha explode.
At the core of it, what upset her the most was that Eriri had broken their promise.
She understood logically that it was an uncontrollable accident, but emotionally, she just couldn't turn the page and pretend nothing had happened.
She didn't want things to become so complicated. Everyone had their own work to focus on.
She was a light novelist with strict deadlines.
Eriri had to maintain the popularity of her "Kashiwagi Eri" alias online while also illustrating for Utaha's novel.
Chisato was the same.
With Kazusa having left for overseas piano studies, he had decided to officially start his own talent agency, taking a solid step toward their future.
She knew that her temper would only cause trouble and conflict, yet she still couldn't suppress the irritation boiling inside her.
She let it burst out uncontrollably...
In the end, nothing had changed.
She hadn't grown at all.
She was still the same as before—the girl who had left her family, abandoned Chihaya and her husband.
Because of this utterly foolish temper, she had single-handedly overturned everything that made up her happiness...
"Then, as long as we reset everything to the same starting line, there won't be a problem, right?"
A voice interrupted them.
Eriri stepped into the room, causing both Chisato and Utaha to look at her in surprise.
"Chisato."
Eriri's gaze softened as she looked at him. He understood and moved away from Utaha.
Utaha sat up and met Eriri's eyes, taking a deep breath to calm her emotions.
"Saying we should reset everything to the starting line... That's the kind of thing only a winner can say from above."
"No, I have no intention of comforting or placating you."
Eriri shook her head firmly.
"Right now, the three of us should go to our parents together and tell them the truth about our relationship."
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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