In Akari Honne’s bedroom.

"Hoo..."

As a long, winding breath escaped from her cherry lips, Hojo Honne’s previously taut and raised waist completely relaxed.

However, a tingling sensation still coursed through her body with her blood, and her delicate, doll-like frame trembled slightly.

The exhilarating feeling from her toes to her heart brought a smile to the girl’s face, her eyes narrowing into slits.

From the corners of her eyes to her neck, she was flushed, and a natural charm flowed from her.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her. Akari Honne felt her eyelids heavy, and even blinking was somewhat difficult.

Normally, she would probably continue to hug Alan’s jacket, tuck his photo over her heart, and then drift off into a beautiful sleep.

But not today. Today she had to go to Tokyo.

Thinking these thoughts, Akari Honne rested for a while before regaining her strength. She raised her fair, slender arm, wiped the sweat from her body with a tissue, and glanced at her phone for the time.

7:43.

It was still quite early. She had bought a train ticket for eleven in the morning, and the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Tokyo would take about two hours.

However, even so, she still needed to get ready properly.

She wasn’t packing her luggage, her mother had helped her pack it last night. Now, she just needed to doll herself up.

Compared to her sister’s concert, she cared more about seeing Alan in Tokyo.

Each meeting in life is one less meeting.

Especially with her current identity, opportunities to see Alan were few and far between.

Since the last incident, Akari Honne had rarely sent messages to Alan, not because she was afraid of his girlfriend, but because she was afraid he would get annoyed.

She understood it very clearly, when her sister was his girlfriend, she had the identity of a sister-in-law as a shield, allowing her to act spoiled however she wanted, legitimately.

But now it was different. From Alan’s attitude towards her sister last time, she could tell that Alan seemed to be intentionally trying to keep his distance from her sister.

If she were to cling to him like a snot-nosed child without understanding the situation, she might instead incur Alan’s displeasure.

Ultimately, it was her sister’s lack of ambition.

Whenever she thought of this, Honne would clench her teeth, frustrated by her sister’s failure to live up to expectations.

But if she didn’t contact him for too long, she would be afraid he would forget her.

As time accumulated, the longing in her heart overflowed, and at such times, she couldn’t help but send him messages.

Even just asking "good morning" or "good night" and getting a reply was enough to make her happy.

If he were to ask about her recent situation, and she were to share some interesting school anecdotes, just looking at the chat history would make her too happy to sleep all night.

However, she still strictly controlled the frequency of her messages to him.

Unless she absolutely couldn’t resist, when she had free time, she would open the location tracking app and check Alan’s daily route, feeling as if she were right by his side.

Interestingly, Alan’s daily route was very consistent, and after a while, she could almost memorize it.

Restraining her inner excitement, Honne carefully washed up, changed into her meticulously prepared clothes, and looked at herself in the mirror, satisfied with a slight pursing of her lips.

After telling her parents that she was going to Tokyo, she boarded the Shinkansen to Tokyo alone.

Yes, she was the only one going this time.

Her father, of course, wasn’t that invested in her daughter’s affairs, he’d rather spend the time bragging to colleagues than attending a concert.

Her mother couldn’t leave work. She had planned to take time off, but due to an unexpected inspection by higher-ups, that plan fell through as well.

But none of that mattered. Although she was alone, her urgent desire to see Alan had replaced any worries or fears in her heart with anticipation.

Watching the trees flash by outside the train window, Honne felt as if she had turned into the wind, carrying all her longing to fly to his side.

The road to see him, no matter how far, did not feel tiring, even walking it ten thousand times would not feel annoying.

Along the way, Honne’s mind was filled with thoughts of her future encounter with Alan, and time passed especially quickly.

By the time she came to her senses, she had already arrived at Kanagawa’s Yokohama Station.

After getting off the train, she had just taken out her phone to check Alan’s location, but the next second, a message from Akari Hojo popped up on her phone:

"Honne, I’ve already asked Miss Kaguya to pick you up. Just follow her directly once you exit the station, okay?"

Her plan to meet Alan ahead of time had fallen through.

Honne pouted, dragging her suitcase as she walked out. As soon as she exited the station, she saw a woman in a business suit walking towards her.

She recognized the person immediately, as she was her sister’s manager and she had met her a few times before. Suppressing her displeasure, she put on a polite smile and said.

"Hello, Sister Kaguya."

"Mm."

Kaguya nodded, taking the luggage from her hand and saying.

"You must be tired. Hojo has already arranged everything. Shall we go to the hotel first?"

"Okay, I’ll follow all of Sister Kaguya’s arrangements."

Honne’s obedient demeanor put Kaguya at ease.

After driving to the hotel and settling the girl in the room next to Akari Hojo’s, she helped organize her luggage and then looked at her, asking.

"Hojo is currently rehearsing. Honne-chan, would you like to rest here or go watch?"

Honne had originally thought of saying she would rest at the hotel, but after checking her phone and seeing that Alan was still in Tokyo, she blinked and asked.

"If they’re rehearsing, is it okay for me to watch? Will I be a bother to you all?"

Upon hearing this, Kaguya shook her head, a warm, older-sisterly smile appearing on her face as she said.

"Of course not. Honne-chan is family, so it’s a special privilege."

"That’s wonderful then. I haven’t seen my sister in so long, I miss her."

After all, in front of outsiders, she had to at least show a harmonious family to avoid gossip, she understood that much.

Following Kaguya, she drove to the concert venue. Before even getting out of the car, Honne could see a huge poster banner through the window.

From outside the building all the way down half the street, there were various stalls selling Akari Hojo’s merchandise and records, as well as various busy staff members...

Akari Honne couldn’t help but open her mouth, a look of surprise in her eyes.

Kaguya parked the car at the entrance of the building. As soon as she unbuckled her seatbelt, she noticed the girl’s dazed and adorable expression beside her and couldn’t help but smile, saying.

"How is it? Didn’t you expect such a grand scale?"

Akari Honne pursed her lips and nodded.

Kaguya said with a hint of emotion.

"Yes, at the beginning of this year, I also didn’t expect Hojo to reach this point, especially since she wasn’t in the best condition back then. But she just keeps bringing miracles time and time again..."

As she spoke, Kaguya’s face broke into another smile, and a look of anticipation rose in her eyes as she said.

"However, for Hojo, this is probably just a stepping stone to becoming truly famous. She will definitely fly higher and further in the future."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Honne frowned, bit her lip, and couldn’t help but say.

"Even without Alan, will she still be able to fly further?"

Kaguya was startled.

She turned to look at the girl beside her and couldn’t help but open her mouth.

The latter seemed to not want to continue the topic, pulling down the car door and leaving...