Chapter 105

Ｒｅ​ａｄ​ ｏｎ​ ＫａｔＲｅａ​ｄｉ​ｎ​ｇ​Ｃ​ａｆｅ

**Good News and Bad News (3)**

“This fridge is for members who finish their lessons and need to recharge! If you open it, it’s packed with drinks!”

“Can I have one?”

“Technically, these are for the members who’ve been training hard—but I bet the CEO wouldn’t mind if _you_ had one.”

“…Should I not drink it then?”

“Ehhh, don’t worry about it! There’s nothing in this fridge that Yeoreum can’t have. Come on, drink up~ You must be thirsty after walking all the way here.”

Honestly, the best part about the lesson studio might just be the snack basket and the fully stocked fridge. I kind of wanted to bring one of these fridges home and put it in our streaming room. It’d be nice to have cold drinks handy during broadcasts.

I took the drink Toya handed me and stared at it silently, only for her to suddenly reach out, open the cap, and pass it back to me.

…That wasn’t what I was staring at it for, though.

“…I was just reading the label, you know?”

“Doesn’t matter~ It’s the thought that counts!”

“Ugh. Give me another one. I’ll prove I can open it myself.”

Toya might’ve been ready to let it go, but I couldn’t. Did she seriously still think I was some weakling who couldn’t even open a bottle cap?

Hah, I’ll show her! Even someone like me can open a drink bottle now!

Sure, it was childish pride—but also one I couldn’t back down from.

Maybe my sincerity came through, because Toya pulled another drink from the fridge and handed it to me.

“Nngh…”

“If you can’t open it, I can—”

“I said I _can_, didn’t I?!”

_Crack!_

With that satisfying twist and pop of the plastic seal, the bottle opened smoothly, revealing the drink inside.

See? I can do it! So stop acting like I can’t open stuff, got it?

Toya, who had clapped at my success, pulled out _another_ drink and handed it to me.

…What, is that her way of saying, “Don’t get cocky from opening just one?” Fine. One could’ve been a fluke—I’ll show her I can open two, no problem.

_Crack!_

“Hmph, are you underestimating me or what?”

“Oh, so it wasn’t just luck, huh.”

That’s two now.

When I handed the bottle to Toya, she tilted her head but accepted it anyway.

Since we now had two open bottles, we each got one. I watched her gulp hers down and then started sipping mine too.

Man, nothing beats a cold drink after moving around.

“Well then, now that I’ve had a drink Yeoreum gave me, I’m feeling fired up!”

I clapped as Toya pumped her fist in the air, full of energy.

I’d heard her sing before, but this would be my first time seeing her dance _while_ singing.

Actually, if you think about it… this kind of feels like a solo concert just for me.

My heart fluttered with anticipation.

“The first song is—”

Naturally, Toya’s singing was amazing.

—

[Pretty sure I saw Nacchan while I was out.]

[Can’t say for _sure_… but a girl with white hair and red eyes isn’t exactly common, right? And I saw her near the V-Spe HQ, so it makes sense. lol]

ㄴ[Wait, for real? lolol]

ㄴ[Where exactly? I wanna check it out.]

ㄴ[Maybe it was just someone with dyed hair?]

ㄴ[ㄴCan you even dye it _that_ white? And what about the eyes?]

ㄴ[ㄴColored contacts, maybe?]

ㄴ[Was she cute??]

ㄴ[ㄴSuper tiny and cute. Though she was wearing a big hat and sunglasses.]

ㄴ[ㄴIf she had sunglasses, how’d you know her eyes were red? lol]

ㄴ[ㄴI caught a glimpse, okay? lol]

ㄴ[Did you take a pic? That’d clear it up.]

ㄴ[ㄴTaking photos of strangers is illegal, you know.]

ㄴ[ㄴAnyone can just _say_ they saw her.]

ㄴ[ㄴBelieve it or not, I’m just sharing what I saw.]

…

“…Toya. Can you look at this?”

“Hm? What is i—ah.”

I held out one of the posts from a community I sometimes check, and Toya’s face immediately stiffened.

Yeah… not surprising. I mean, how many white-haired, red-eyed girls are there around here?

Well, technically Koyuki fit that description too, but she didn’t go out much. Ragu-sensei didn’t seem to want her going outside either.

I think she mentioned once that Koyuki had to visit an eye clinic after going out.

That probably made them extra cautious.

But anyway, that wasn’t the point right now—

“…Maybe I shouldn’t go with you after all?”

“…”

Honestly, it was inevitable that someone would recognize me.

If I go out looking exactly like Ichinose Natsu, more and more people will start noticing.

But the real issue isn’t me.

The real problem is _Toya_, walking around with me.

If this many people are posting after just a few days, it’s only a matter of time before they figure out who Toya’s special someone is.

“It can’t be helped.”

“…You’re right, huh?”

Rather than risk getting Toya caught up in a mess, it’d be better for me to stay home.

And if I got lonely, I could always spend time at Koyuki’s place.

Sure, I’d get to see Toya less—but that was still better than getting caught in public.

Yeah… not much I could do with this look of mine.

“In that case, there’s only one thing left to do—disguise Yeoreum to the max!”

“Eh?”

“Come on, come on, this way!”

Before I could even tilt my head in confusion, Toya was already dragging me off.

I sat down on her bed obediently, and Toya brought over a large paper shopping bag.

A wig popped out from inside before I could even ask what it was for.

It looked a bit big for my head, but Toya started adjusting it and slowly shrunk it down to size.

Wait, what the heck. Is that some kind of _magic wig_?

“I got one with adjustable sizing just in case… Let’s see… Yeah! This might actually look natural!”

“…My head feels heavy.”

“Mmm… Guess it’s kind of a lot for Yeoreum’s little body, huh.”

“It’s not unbearable, though.”

It was strange seeing myself with black hair again after so long.

But the longer I wore it, the heavier it felt, and I started frowning.

It wasn’t _unmanageable_, but definitely more uncomfortable than usual.

Toya nodded after hearing my honest thoughts.

Not like we had many other options.

“I was tempted to just dye your hair, but…”

“That’d totally ruin it. Plus, hair dye stings when it touches your skin. You know how sensitive I am, right?”

“Thought so.”

Can’t even dye my hair properly.

And if that stuff got in my eyes, it’d be a disaster.

Just imagining it made me shudder.

Toya seemed to catch on and gently rubbed my shoulder.

“But still… I think I’m starting to get used to it.”

“If it ever gets too much, just tell me. I’ll carry you.”

“…There’s no way I’d let you do that in public.”

I shook my head at Toya, who was tapping her chest proudly.

I’d rather break my neck than let her carry me like a princess out in the open.

Sure, it’s fine when it’s just the two of us, or with friends—but with strangers around? Absolutely not.

That’d be so mortifying I’d probably never leave the house again.

“Oh, right—Toya.”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

“Can you take a picture of me?”

“Sure, I can… but why?”

“I wanna send it to Koyuki.”

I was kind of curious how she’d react.

Toya reacted normally, so maybe Koyuki would too—but still, you never know.

…Okay, the truth was I just wanted to show her a different side of me.

So a few moments later, I posed as naturally as possible with the wig on, and Toya snapped a photo and sent it to Koyuki.

“Did she reply?”

“Not yet—”

_Ding dong. Ding dong-ding dong-ding dong-ding dong…_

“—but I think she came in person instead.”

“…Looks like it.”

Ten minutes after sending the photo to Koyuki, the doorbell rang like crazy.

Toya and I exchanged glances with… a _lot_ of unspoken meaning.

…Was this really that big of a deal?