Chapter 798

Chapter 798: Chapter 798

Kaoru had never seriously expected the girls to sit obediently at 283 Production and wait for him, but their sudden appearance still caught him off guard. They had not sent him a single message beforehand, yet the moment he returned to his room, there they were as though they had been waiting for him all along.

’Did Kaho tell them exactly when the exam would end?’

Whatever the answer, Kaoru understood one thing immediately.

There was no escaping this anymore.

The five girls’ presence practically announced that if he refused to return gracefully, they would personally make sure he did.

Sure enough, under the convenient excuse of making a temporary visit to Advanced Nurturing High School, they simply arranged to stay on campus.

Not in Kaoru’s room, thankfully.

They were given accommodation in the faculty apartment building, apparently through a special arrangement by Tsukishiro. The man had connections everywhere, both legitimate and otherwise, and had long since figured out the complicated relationship between Kaoru and the idols of 283 Production.

Kaoru was in no hurry to leave with them. Summer vacation was still underway, with roughly two weeks remaining before classes resumed.

He decided to use that time to properly introduce them to Honami and the others.

This was the first genuine meeting between the two sides. Kaho’s earlier appearance had merely been the opening act.

Kaoru had been nervous at first, quietly expecting something to explode, yet everyone behaved with surprising restraint.

Suzuki Hana took the lead for 283 Production. She had matured considerably and now carried herself with the composure of a proper adult. She neither scolded Kaoru nor brought up their complicated history. Instead, she smiled warmly and asked about his life at school, occasionally listening with visible interest while Honami and Kei enthusiastically told her stories about everything Kaoru had gotten himself involved in.

Before long, the atmosphere became unexpectedly friendly.

Asakura Tōru occasionally joined the conversation as well. Her easygoing smile and neat short hair gave her a cool, almost princely air, the sort of girl who naturally attracted other girls without even trying.

With Hana and Tōru taking the initiative, what should have been a tense confrontation somehow turned into a pleasant social gathering, and everyone tacitly avoided the one subject that could have immediately ruined the mood.

Kaoru had originally expected Tsukioka Kogane to take charge of smoothing things over. She was the older-sister type who excelled at keeping everyone together, the sort of person whose absence could make an entire group feel as though its household had fallen apart.

Instead, Kogane spent most of the meeting tightly hugging Kaoru’s arm.

That alone made him painfully aware of several looks coming from nearby.

The darkest belonged to Mayuzumi Fuyuko.

Every time Kaoru accidentally met her eyes, he expected her to finally open her mouth and tear him apart.

She never did.

Whenever she turned toward anyone else, however, Fuyuko immediately switched on her flawless public smile. She laughed sweetly and behaved like the perfect idol, while whatever she was actually thinking remained completely hidden.

In that sense, her two-faced personality was disturbingly compatible with Kikyō’s.

The final member was Higuchi Madoka.

Kaoru genuinely did not know what to say to her.

Madoka still wore the same cool, unreadable expression as always, yet somehow her eyes seemed to ask a single merciless question.

’Weren’t you planning to disappear forever? So why did you come back?’

Overall, though, their first meeting went remarkably smoothly. Nobody made snide remarks, nobody openly attacked anyone else, and nobody tried to claim Kaoru in front of the opposing side.

Perhaps because the idols were visiting for the first time, Honami enthusiastically offered to show them around the school.

Kaoru had no objection.

The five girls would be staying for a while, and he did not intend to immediately leave Advanced Nurturing High School with them. Doing so would inevitably make Honami and the others feel as though he had simply chosen his old life over them.

So after some basic disguises to make the idols less recognizable, Hana and the others headed out with Honami’s group.

Strangely enough, Kaoru had intended to go with them, but Hana stopped him before he could leave.

She told him to remain behind with Madoka.

The moment everyone else disappeared, Kaoru understood.

Soon, only the two of them remained in the room.

Madoka said nothing.

Kaoru watched her for a moment before finally speaking.

"I wrote several songs while I was away. Once we get back, we can record some demos. If everyone likes them, you can start rehearsing."

Madoka’s unfocused gaze immediately sharpened and settled directly on his face.

"I took our previous style into account, so you’ll be the main vocalist again," Kaoru continued. "And I haven’t forgotten the solo I still owe you. I’ll make that up too."

Within noctchill, Tōru occasionally forgot lyrics, Ichikawa Hinana was stronger as a dancer, and Fukumaru Koito was still timid under pressure. When it came to vocal stability and stage performance, Kaoru had always trusted Madoka the most.

Madoka herself constantly dismissed the idea that she possessed any special talent, insisting that anyone could do what she did with enough effort.

After a long silence, she finally asked, "Why are you talking about work?"

Kaoru blinked.

"Is that really the only thing you can talk to me about now?"

Her voice remained quiet, but the look in her eyes was nothing like the Madoka Kaoru remembered.

The girl who had once seemed almost unnaturally detached was biting her lip as she stared at him. Her eyes were already reddening, though she stubbornly refused to let herself cry, and both hands were gripping her own arms as though physically restraining everything she wanted to say.

"Show me at least a little of that shameless side of yours," Madoka said slowly. "Aren’t you supposed to enjoy teasing girls? Why are you sitting there looking like you don’t even know how to speak to me?"

Her voice trembled despite her efforts to keep it steady.

"Do you really think that because you disappeared once, there’s suddenly nothing between us anymore?"

Kaoru had never seen her like this before.

He almost did not know how to react.

Hadn’t Madoka once described their relationship as one of mutual indifference?

"I’m sorry."

Madoka’s expression tightened.

"How arrogant. After everything, all you have is one weightless little—"

She never finished.

Kaoru pulled her close by the waist and kissed her.

He barely had time to register the warmth before Madoka shoved him away.

"You’re awful."

Her voice shook.

"You’ll always be the worst Producer."

Kaoru kissed her again.

Madoka stiffened and clenched her fists, but little by little, the strength left her hands.

Then Kaoru felt something warm fall against his cheek.

A tear.

...

It was Hana’s first time visiting Advanced Nurturing High School, and everything around her felt strangely novel.

She herself had still been a high-school student not so many years ago, so seeing uniforms that were both familiar and foreign stirred old memories of her own youth. Before she realized it, a faint smile had appeared on her lips.

"That’s the café over there," Honami explained enthusiastically as they walked. "It’s really popular. We go there after class pretty often and end up talking about whatever gossip is going around."

"That sounds nice."

Hana looked through the windows and felt as though she were catching a glimpse of her younger self.

"I think living at a school like this would actually be pretty comfortable. When I first heard it was completely closed off from the outside world, I imagined somewhere much scarier."

"Hmm... sometimes it actually is pretty scary."

Honami scratched her cheek, uncertain how to explain the school’s special systems without making the entire institution sound insane.

Hana noticed her reaction, then casually looked ahead again.

"When I first met Producer-san, I was still in my third year of high school."

Honami turned toward her in surprise.

"Someone had recorded a video of me and uploaded it online. Somehow Producer-san found it, and after that he started sending me message after message, trying to recruit me as an idol."

Honami glanced around instinctively. Kei and Kikyō were currently walking farther away with Fuyuko and the others.

"How should I put it... he scared me a little at first because he was so enthusiastic," Hana continued with a laugh. "Eventually he even came all the way to my hometown just to prove he wasn’t lying."

"He kept telling me I had the potential to become an idol and that I was practically born for it. He even offered to write songs specifically for me, almost like he was trying to lure me in with his reputation as a genius composer."

Kaoru had told Honami that his relationships with the idols were complicated, but he had never explained much about how any of them began. Honami knew only the broad outline.

Hearing one of the girls personally describe those memories made her listen with unusual concentration.

"And it worked," Hana admitted softly. "I was tempted."

"At the time, I was filling out my university applications and had no idea what I actually wanted to do with my future. What he described sounded interesting, so in the end I joined his agency."

"Not long after graduating, I moved into the agency dorms. Rinze-chan and several of the others were already living there, and I remember worrying about whether I’d be able to get along with everyone."

"At first I didn’t belong to a unit, so Producer-san wrote a few solo songs for me and I debuted that way. Later, he put me together with Haruki-chan and Luca-senpai almost without warning, and suddenly the three of us were a unit."

Hana smiled faintly at the memory.

"Honestly, I didn’t think we’d last. I didn’t really understand what being an idol meant. Producer-san kept insisting I was suited for it, so I figured I might as well keep going."

"I never expected it to bring me this far."

Since Honami did not know much about 283 Production’s internal history, Hana kept the explanation simple.

Even so, Honami’s reaction became slightly strange.

Hana glanced at her.

"Something wrong?"

"Ahaha, no, nothing. I was just curious."

Honami hurriedly tried to hide her expression.

The truth was that she felt oddly envious.

Her own first meeting with Kaoru had been nothing like Hana’s.

Hana blinked.

"Were you wondering why Producer-san sounds different from the pervert you know?"

Honami’s face immediately turned red, like a child caught thinking something she should not.

"No, Producer-san is exactly the same pervert you know."

Hana’s smile remained gentle.

"I may have joined the agency relatively late, but I’ve heard plenty of stories about the things he did before I arrived."

She gestured toward Fuyuko in the distance.

"Fuyuko-senpai used to argue with Producer-san constantly because he’d tease her into doing strange things for him. He’d come up with ridiculous games, make her indulge some weird preference of his, and then act completely innocent afterward."

The description gave Honami an overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

Her boyfriend really had always been like this.

"Fuyuko-senpai complained constantly, but she never actually hated him."

Hana smiled.

"I heard she sometimes took Producer-san out with her too. They’d watch magical-girl movies together, pull gacha characters together, and go shopping for merchandise."

Fuyuko carefully maintained her flawless idol persona in front of everyone else, yet around Kaoru she constantly revealed her real personality, and she only allowed him to address her in ways she would never tolerate from anyone else.

Hana did not explain exactly why.

Honami could make a reasonable guess.

"Tōru-senpai and Kogane-senpai got teased by him plenty too," Hana continued with a small sigh. "Sometimes Producer-san’s hobbies really are impossible to understand."

Then her expression softened.

"But whenever something truly mattered, he never disappointed us."

Without realizing it, Hana straightened slightly, and unmistakable pride entered her voice.

What Kaoru had given them was nothing short of a miracle.

In only two years, he had almost single-handedly dragged 283 Production through the entire entertainment industry, transforming a barely known agency into one of the most dominant names in the business.

Countless girls wanted to enter 283 Production. Some were willing to offer almost anything just for an opportunity.

Yet despite being an incorrigible flirt with bizarre tastes, Kaoru turned those offers away and instead made the agency’s standards increasingly strict.

It was almost as though girls outside the people already precious to him simply did not interest him.

Hana had once believed things would continue that way forever.

Not merely across Japan; perhaps one day they could even stand on the world stage.

She had been prepared to help Kaoru claim every crown within reach.

Then she witnessed something she knew she would remember for the rest of her life.

Only at that moment had Hana finally understood what she truly felt for him.

"Honami-chan, I don’t know exactly what all of you experienced with him, and I don’t know how deeply each of you feels about him."

Her voice became quiet.

"But I don’t think we’ll lose to you."

The Hana of the past probably could never have said something so direct.

People changed.

After witnessing that unforgettable scene and nearly losing Kaoru forever, Hana had already made her decision.

She would never willingly let him go again.

From the moment she woke each morning, she intended to remain close enough that whenever Kaoru looked toward her, she could greet him with the gentlest smile she possessed. Whatever he needed, she would be the first person there to help.

She would no longer laugh awkwardly and dodge her feelings whenever Kaoru became flirtatious either. If he dared to say something, she intended to answer him honestly.

They had known each other for so long, and yet Hana still regretted how many things she had left unsaid between them.

She was done hiding behind excuses.

"Is Hana-senpai declaring war on me?"

Honami’s expression became complicated.

She did not want their relationship to turn hostile.

"No. Not exactly."

Hana fell silent for a moment.

"I know he left us, and I know he came back. I’m simply... frustrated."

Honami looked confused.

Hana unconsciously pressed her lips together, but she did not explain the darkest part of those memories. Even before Kaoru disappeared, she had sensed something terribly wrong with him, and on some level, she had already prepared herself for the possibility that he might never come back.

Among everyone at 283 Production, Hana had probably been one of the few who absorbed the initial shock more quietly.

Because she had never truly believed Kaoru wanted to abandon them.

And now he had returned.

But even so...

"Whenever I think about someone supporting him somewhere I couldn’t see, or about him giving affection to girls I’d never even met, I realize I don’t want to let him go."

Hana lightly pressed a hand against her chest.

"Not this time."

Her heart still seemed to contract painfully whenever she remembered it, as though that old fear could drain every drop of blood from her body.

It would take Hana much longer to understand what the feeling truly was.

Fear.

She had been terrified that she had lost Kaoru forever, terrified that her Producer-san would never return. The fear had been so intense that sometimes merely remembering it seemed to stop her breathing, leaving her with the desperate urge to hold onto him tightly enough that she would never experience that pain again.

And now she had discovered that while he was gone, he had fallen in love with other people.

That was why she was telling Honami all of this.

It was not only Hana.

Everyone at 283 Production felt some version of the same frustration.

If they had made mistakes before, they intended to correct them. This time, they would stop hiding what they wanted.

Love was not something they intended to leave silent anymore.

They would make Kaoru remember exactly how warm 283 Production could be, until leaving them again became something he could no longer bear to do.

"This isn’t a declaration of war, Honami-chan."

Hana lowered her eyes.

"It’s simply what we’ve decided to do."

Then she smiled.

"So let’s call it fair competition."

Honami remained silent for a few moments.

She knew she had no right to stop them.

Considering that the girls from 283 Production had known Kaoru first, the fact that they had not treated Honami and the others as enemies or simply demanded that Kaoru abandon his new relationships was already an extraordinarily restrained response.

In return, Honami had no intention of blaming them, nor would she suddenly accuse Kaoru of being some irredeemable bastard for leaving so many tangled relationships behind him.

She had known this moment would eventually come.

That was precisely why she had spent so much time strengthening her relationship with Kei, Kikyō, and the others. If their side turned on itself, 283 Production would barely need to do anything before taking Kaoru back.

"It’s okay."

Honami finally smiled.

"We won’t let go either. No matter what happens, I’m not giving up on him."

Their gazes met.

That was enough.

Everything they needed to communicate had already passed between them.

A moment later, both girls returned to chatting as casually as before, almost as though the confrontation had never happened.

...

The idols were simply too famous for Kaoru to let them remain at Advanced Nurturing High School indefinitely.

Before summer vacation ended, he finally left the school with them.

Honami trusted her boyfriend, but knowing that did little to erase the sense of loss that followed.

For the entire next semester, she would not see Kaoru at school.

She could not stop wondering what would happen once he returned to 283 Production, what the idols would say to him, and how much closer they might become while she was nowhere nearby.

For the first time since they had begun dating, Kaoru’s presence simply disappeared from her daily life.

The loneliness was much stronger than she expected.

Whenever Honami accidentally noticed one of the gifts he had given her, she would find herself pressing a hand against her chest.

They were only going to be separated for a while.

So why did it hurt this much?

She knew he would come back.

She absolutely believed he would come back.

And still, it hurt.

At the same time, Honami found herself thinking about the girls at 283 Production.

’So this is what they felt.’

At least Honami knew Kaoru intended to return.

They had endured something far worse for nearly two years without knowing whether they would ever see him again.

What Honami did not know was that Hana and the four girls who visited the school were actually among the calmer members of 283 Production.

Several of the others were in much worse shape.

If Kaoru delayed his return much longer, some of them genuinely might have fallen apart.

Even so, Honami could not avoid feeling lonely herself. She simply refused to let that loneliness spread to Kei and the others, so she kept her spirits up and frequently comforted Kei whenever Kei’s frustration started resurfacing.

Summer vacation eventually ended, and the second semester began.

Kaoru might have been on temporary leave, but Advanced Nurturing High School certainly did not stop moving just because he was absent.

During the second semester, the second-years faced another special exam carrying the threat of expulsion, although every class ultimately survived without suffering a fatal loss.

After that came the annual sports festival.

Without Kaoru present, Class 2-A was now effectively led by Arisu, while Kōhei showed no interest in fighting her for authority.

That was probably because Class 2-A was facing a three-class alliance led by Honami, Ryūen, and Suzune. Starting an internal power struggle at a time like this would merely hand their opponents an advantage.

At first, everyone expected Arisu’s leadership to carry Class 2-A to an easy victory.

Instead, Suzune’s class emerged as the surprise dark horse.

With athletes like Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, Kōenji Rokusuke, Sudō Ken, and Onodera Kayano, their physical ability was nothing to underestimate, and even Masumi—one of Class 2-A’s strongest hopes—was eventually defeated.

The final sports-festival rankings ended with Class 2-C in first place, followed by Class 2-D, Class 2-B, and finally Class 2-A.

It was the first time Class 2-A had ever fallen all the way to last place.

By any reasonable standard, it was their worst defeat yet.

They barely had time to mourn it before the next event arrived.

The cultural festival.

That morning, Kaoru received an invitation from Arisu asking him to come watch Class 2-A’s rehearsal.

It was his own class, so he agreed without thinking much about it, though he did find it slightly strange that Kei and several of the others had mysteriously disappeared from their rooms earlier that morning.

Kaoru made his way toward the special classroom building, which the school had selected as one of the main venues for the festival. Only eight classrooms were available for indoor events, and different locations came with different rental prices. Rooms closer to the front entrance and staircases were considerably more expensive, meaning an ambitious class could easily spend so much on location costs that it failed to recover the investment and ended the festival near the bottom.

Because, naturally, the cultural festival was also a special exam.

Every class had to operate some kind of business or attraction, and the school would determine rankings according to total revenue. To make the event more profitable, the administration had invited a large number of outside guests, and the students’ job was essentially to extract as many points from those visitors as possible.

When the idols at 283 Production heard about the cultural festival, they immediately wanted to attend as well.

Kaoru could not talk them out of it.

Since they were coming anyway, he also invited Honami’s younger sister and Kōhei’s sister without telling either Honami or Kōhei, intending to surprise them later.

When Kaoru reached the special classroom building, however, he found a warning sign blocking the entrance.

Electrical System Inspection in Progress. No Entry.

Kaoru frowned.

Wasn’t this building supposed to be in use?

He was about to call Arisu when a cheerful girl’s voice suddenly came from nearby.

"Senpai, Senpai! Over here!"

Kaoru turned instinctively.

The previously closed entrance had opened just enough for Ichika’s face to peek through, and she was waving excitedly for him to come over.

Kaoru glanced around.

There was nobody else nearby.

More confused than ever, he walked toward her.

The moment he reached the door, Ichika grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside without explanation, then immediately closed and locked the entrance behind them like a thief covering her tracks.

"Why are you locking the door?"

Something was definitely wrong.

Arisu had invited him to watch Class 2-A’s rehearsal.

So why was Ichika the person waiting for him?

"Because we only borrowed this building for the morning. We have to give it back this afternoon, and if people start wandering in, they might realize we’re doing something suspicious in here."

Ichika checked the lock and nodded in satisfaction.

"There. Now nobody will know what we’re doing."

Kaoru understood even less than before.

He looked up at the security camera.

Normally, the indicator light would have been on.

Today, the camera was not merely switched off; someone had put a bag over it.

"I’m sure Senpai has a lot of questions right now, but don’t worry. Your adorable guide will explain everything!"

Apparently reading his confusion, Ichika proudly patted herself on the chest.

She was wearing a white short-sleeved blouse and pleated skirt today, and the unnecessarily energetic movement immediately caught Kaoru’s attention.

"Arisu told me today was your rehearsal and asked me to come watch."

"That’s completely true. Today is the rehearsal."

Ichika grinned.

"We simply prepared a special event that we wanted Senpai to experience first."

"What kind of event?"

Kaoru’s suspicion continued to rise.

What kind of cultural-festival attraction required them to lock the entrance and cover the cameras?

Still, he trusted his girlfriends enough to play along for now.

"Don’t rush me. Your guide will explain everything properly."

Ichika reached into her pocket and produced what looked suspiciously like a handwritten strategy booklet.

"The cultural festival is next month, right? Since it’s such a special event, everyone started wondering whether we could hold another little cultural festival today."

She smiled mischievously.

"One made exclusively for Senpai."

"A cultural festival exclusively for me?"

Kaoru stared at her.

"Isn’t the actual festival a schoolwide special exam?"

"That’s different. The exam is the exam. Senpai deserves a festival where Senpai is the guest of honor."

Ichika pointed proudly at herself.

"And today, I’m your exclusive private guide—the cutest underclassman tour guide in the entire world. You should be properly grateful."

The more enthusiastically she explained, the more convinced Kaoru became that something terrible awaited him.

"Ahem. Now for the rules."

Ichika suddenly adopted an exaggeratedly serious expression.

"This special festival exists entirely for Senpai. Every attraction has its own little challenge, and Senpai can spend Flirt Points to unlock extra interactions with the participants."

Kaoru’s mouth twitched.

There it was.

"What the hell are Flirt Points?"

"Flirt Points are Flirt Points."

Ichika spoke as if explaining basic mathematics.

"If Senpai wants someone to pamper him, tease him, go on a mini-date, give him a special reward, or do something embarrassingly romantic, he has to pay the corresponding number of points."

She raised one finger.

"For example, if Senpai suddenly wanted your adorable underclassman to give you a kiss, you’d have to pay the listed amount."

Kaoru stared at her.

Ichika deliberately leaned closer with a wicked little smile.

"This much is a free sample, Senpai."

"You’re enjoying this way too much."

"Of course I am."

Kaoru looked away before she could invent another demonstration.

"Don’t deliberately tempt me. I might actually take the game seriously."

"Ara, ara. Senpai is pretending to be restrained again."

Ichika poked his cheek.

"If you want something, just spend the points. That’s the entire premise."

"I’m not worried about the premise!"

"The premise is extremely important."

Ichika opened the booklet and tapped one of the handwritten rules.

"According to the setting, Senpai is outrageously rich, so your Flirt Points are unlimited. You can spend as many as you want."

Kaoru immediately understood where this was heading.

"And everyone earns whatever I spend?"

"Exactly!"

Ichika beamed.

"The participant who collects the most Flirt Points gets a cultural-festival date with Senpai."

Kaoru fell silent.

This had clearly been planned by people with too much free time.

"Next, Senpai will visit everyone’s attractions. Don’t worry about anything complicated. Just treat yourself like a normal customer and enjoy the festival."

Kaoru narrowed his eyes.

"Normal attractions?"

Ichika’s smile became almost offensively innocent.

"Define normal."

"Romantic games, embarrassing challenges, special service, things like that."

"I knew it."

Ever since the King’s Game, these girls had become disturbingly comfortable inventing increasingly ridiculous games around him.

Kaoru sighed.

"Whose idea was this?"

"Sakayanagi-senpai proposed it."

Ichika raised the booklet proudly.

"But everyone approved. Unanimously. Nobody objected."

Her grin widened.

"So really, Senpai should be happy."

Kaoru stared down the empty corridor beyond her.

Somewhere inside the building, an unknown number of girls were apparently waiting behind classroom doors with rehearsed attractions, handwritten price lists, and an unlimited supply of ways to embarrass him.

For the first time since entering the building, he seriously considered turning around.

Unfortunately, Ichika had already locked the door behind him.