Back to the present.
Calm down… just stay calm.
Having had her lack of genuine interest in sumimi's songs bluntly exposed by Kikukawa Kyo, Uika momentarily panicked.
When she first arrived in Tokyo and began settling in, she increasingly came to appreciate the girl she'd met at the seaside. Despite the girl's warnings, Uika found that she'd still underestimated just how difficult it was to survive in Tokyo.
Living as a student on the monthly allowance sent by her parents wasn't particularly hard, but that wasn't what she wanted.
Eventually, she abandoned the lingering thought that perhaps she could skip becoming an idol altogether, immediately form a successful band, and achieve her dreams. Instead, she followed the advice the mysterious girl had given her.
Yet even that path wasn't smooth. She'd faced confusion, setbacks, and had been deceived more than once. Thankfully, she hadn't lost too much—but those experiences taught her valuable lessons, helping her finally understand why the girl had stressed the importance of hiding one's true emotions.
Despite all these hardships, Uika never reached out to Sakiko or dialed the number the girl had given her. Still, step by step, she found her footing. With her appealing looks and steadily improving guitar skills, she soon attracted the attention of talent scouts.
Then came a long stretch of tedious negotiations and compromises. Uika quickly realized she was nothing more than a speck of dust in Tokyo, forcing her into countless concessions.
One such compromise was joining sumimi, an idol duo focused primarily on a sweet, youthful style. Uika knew these weren't songs that Sakiko would ever enjoy. If she'd had her choice, she'd much rather have joined a group that could more directly prepare her for someday standing alongside Sakiko.
Idol work proved more exhausting than she'd imagined. It wasn't unexpected, but without Mana's constant optimism and cheerful encouragement, it would have been far harder to endure.
Thus, Uika always felt a quiet sense of guilt toward Mana. After all, she knew she would inevitably leave sumimi someday...
But that day wasn't now. It couldn't be.
Until she'd absorbed enough resources to truly grow, Uika wouldn't let go. Kyo's arrival, though it introduced a destabilizing element into their previously stable duo, could also push sumimi to new heights if they leveraged her existing popularity effectively. In turn, Uika herself would gain more resources and solidify her own standing.
Taking a deep breath, Uika flashed another flawless smile—every time she did so, she inevitably recalled the smile the mysterious girl had shown her. Three years had passed, and the girl's face had become indistinct in her memory.
While Uika composed herself, Mana and Kyo were enthusiastically discussing their new song.
"If we're sure we'll stick to sumimi's usual style, it shouldn't take Uika long to compose," Mana said, glancing at Kyo, who was hugging a water bottle. "Kyo-chan, do you have any thoughts on the lyrics?"
"The theme for the lyrics, you mean?" Kyo, still brimming with excitement, nodded energetically. "sumimi's songs have usually been about love, right?"
"That's right. Everyone seems to like that topic, and our sweet love songs always get the best response."
Having fully regained her composure, Uika joined the conversation. "Actually, even before Kyo-chan joined, we already had a concept for a new song."
At Uika's voice, Kyo naturally turned to meet her gaze. In that instant, something in Uika's heart trembled.
Those eyes. Clear and serene on the surface—like the calm blue of the ocean—yet concealing swirling currents beneath. Who knew how much hidden truth those eyes could perceive?
It wasn't the first time she'd felt this way. Long before she met Kyo, another person's eyes had given her this sensation of being seen through—the eyes of that mysterious seaside girl.
After meeting Kyo, Uika had even briefly wondered whether Kyo might actually be that very girl.
Three years had passed, and Uika's memory of that encounter was now hazy, leaving only vague impressions behind.
Looking at each of Kyo's features individually, she did strongly resemble that girl.
Unlike the pure white hair in Uika's memory, Kyo's hair was a softer, less striking pearl-gray, but under certain lighting, it sometimes appeared white enough to momentarily deceive her.
Both shared blue eyes, a delicate nose, and pale lips...
Yet when all those features came together, they somehow felt different. Three years would have undoubtedly matured that girl's features further, making her even more strikingly beautiful than before.
But that only meant it would be even harder for Uika to recognize her when they inevitably met again.
Still, the primary reason Uika doubted Kyo could be that girl was their radically different personalities. The girl at the beach had openly projected coldness; even her help had felt purely transactional, as if simply repaying Uika for preventing her from hitting the rocks.
It was impossible to imagine that distant, detached girl behaving with the exuberant warmth Kyo displayed now. Even associating the word "passionate" with that mysterious girl felt impossibly out-of-place. While Kyo's current excitement was unusual, she typically showed none of that girl's aloofness and occasionally even revealed a playful side.
And if Kyo really was that girl, why didn't she recognize Uika? Unlike the mystery girl, whose name she'd never learned, Uika had clearly introduced herself back then. She hadn't adopted a stage name for idol activities either; she openly used her real name.
Even if Kyo had forgotten her face, wouldn't hearing her name spark recognition?
After weighing it all, Uika ultimately decided Kyo probably wasn't the same person. Yet sometimes, she couldn't help but mistakenly see a flash of that mysterious girl in Kyo's expression.
The phone number the girl had given her was still safely stored in Uika's phone, even now.
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