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388 Could She Really Be a Genius?
🕑 Added 2025-07-18 15:00:16 +0000 UTCBreakfast didn’t require much prep work, and there weren’t that many ingredients involved.
But Kyousuke had planned from the start to prepare meals for the entire day.
After all, there was no way he’d be able to come back at lunchtime to cook.
He kept lunch light—mostly cold dishes.
A small batch of sushi, a refreshing dipping sauce for chilled noodles, and a generous amount of cakes.
For hot dishes, he just made a few simple stir-fries so that anyone still eating breakfast would have something warm.
And if someone really wanted freshly made food?
Well, Kyousuke trusted Sakura completely.
No way she wouldn’t be more than happy to recommend all the great restaurants she’d discovered in Tokyo over the years.
Mitsuha, Yukino, and Miki could also help with that.
As for him, his only concern was preparing something light and easy to digest for his mother.
At the moment, he was cooking a classic: stir-fried green peppers and beef.
A soft click echoed from upstairs.
Someone had opened a door.
Kyousuke's lips curved into a knowing smile.
He didn’t even look up—he just calmly picked up a small porcelain dish with blue flower patterns, grabbed a few strips of green pepper and beef with his chopsticks, and plated them.
Sure enough, the girl who didn’t seem to grasp the significance of his mom's visit—and who always slept in—wandered down the stairs, just like Eriri earlier.
She was yawning, sleep-mussing her hair as she swayed her way down, and then plopped into a chair at the kitchen bar, resting her little head on both hands.
She opened her mouth wide mid-yawn and let out a sleepy “Aah—”.
Kyousuke fed her a bite at just the right moment: crisp green peppers paired with tender, juicy beef, perfectly seasoned and at the ideal temperature.
“Mmwaaah! So good!”
Sakura let out a satisfied little cheer.
The lingering drowsiness evaporated instantly, swept away by the warmth of the delicious food made with such care.
Her bright golden eyes popped open, bursting with energy.
Yamauchi Sakura’s perfect day had officially begun.
“Ohayoo~ Kyousuke!” she said, swallowing quickly and waving enthusiastically.
And of course, she didn’t hog the energy all for him.
She turned to the others and beamed as she greeted them with enough cheer to outshine the morning sun:
“Good morning, everyone!”
“Sakura, how are you this energetic right after waking up?” Eriri muttered as she knelt on the sofa, her small head resting on the backrest.
She was still yawning, even now.
Clearly, pushing past her limits wasn’t for her.
Thankfully, it seemed like Aunt Mikiko wasn’t a morning person either.
That meant guilt-free sleep-ins going forward.
“Hehe, that’s what you get for waking up too early,” Sakura teased playfully.
“I bet just the thought of spending a day alone with Hojou had her so excited she couldn’t sleep,” Kasumigaoka Utaha chimed in mercilessly.
“Lies! Only a pervy girl like you would have weird fantasies about spending time alone with a guy! I’m going to work with him today, WORK, you hear me? Job. JOB!”
Eriri shot her a scandalized look—as if Utaha had installed a hidden camera in her room—and then quickly counterattacked.
“Hahaha, you fake blonde! You should’ve said work not job! Honestly, do you even English?”
“Wha—”
Eriri looked like she’d been shot in the heart.
She tilted her head back in disbelief, trying to escape the academic elite across from her.
But how? Job is a word for work! She was totally confident when it came to short, three-letter English words!
“Look at this radiant golden hair that not even the Queen of England could dream of! How dare you call me a fake foreigner, you dumb Japanese chicken!”
“Right, right. You’re a refined British lady who only drinks bottled tea, aren’t you?”
“Why do you sound exactly like Kyousuke when you say it?! Somehow it’s ten times more sarcastic coming from you!”
…
“Sakura, Eriri seems pretty lively to me,” Utaha said with a smile. “Looks like you two are getting along great.”
“No way I’m close to her!” ×2
They turned away from each other, arms crossed in perfect sync.
“Hmph!” ×2
A little later, once the scent of freshly baked cakes filled the house, Mikiko finally came downstairs—carrying a proud and smug-looking Kasuko in her arms.
“Ahh, youth really is something. None of you are lazybones like your aunt here who just loves to sleep in,” Mikiko said with a laugh as she looked around the now-lively room.
“Heh… haha… yeah, totally…”
The self-professed sleep-in specialists tried to force smiles. Only Sakura was grinning wide, genuinely carefree.
‘I should’ve known! Kyousuke’s a total lazybones—of course his mom wouldn’t be an early riser either!’
Every time they gathered at the dining table, Kyousuke felt deeply validated about buying such a big one.
While everyone ate, he also took the chance to mentally sort through the plans for the day.
First off—what about Aunt Yuzuru and Yaeko? Were they planning to head back to Suimon City or stay in Tokyo for another day?
Next, what did his mom want to do—catch up with Aunt Tamai from the party last night, or go sightseeing with his… friends?
As for Yotsuba, that depended entirely on what Mitsuha wanted.
In the end, the best choice was obvious: a day out in Tokyo for everyone.
It was a beautiful Sunday, and Tokyo was just waiting to dazzle anyone with free time and a full wallet.
Even Shouko couldn’t tag along to help Kyousuke with housework—her mom and sister were visiting, so she needed to be the perfect host.
“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure Mikiko-san and Kasuko eat all the best food today!” Sakura promised with a grin, shaking little Kasuko in her arms for emphasis.
“Right, Kasuko?”
“Yep! Kasuko doesn’t drink milk anymore!”
Although she did wonder why she hadn’t seen Daddy in a while, it was only a tiny worry.
After all, Mommy and Big Bro were here—plus a whole bunch of beautiful big sisters.
Eriri narrowed her eyes at Utaha suspiciously.
She’d woken up early specifically to show off in front of Kyousuke’s mom.
After everything that happened yesterday, this calm and quiet Utaha felt way off.
Too suspicious.
But what she saw wasn’t the usual smug poet. It was a gloomy, tight-lipped expression that Utaha never wore at home.
“Kyousuke, you—”
“This rose pastry is just for you,” Kyousuke cut her off, smoothly placing one in front of her. “Took some effort to find edible roses, you know.”
Even more suspicious! Kyousuke had interrupted Utaha?!
Others at the table noticed it too.
Everyone who knew Kyousuke well could sense the strange air.
For a moment, the entire table went oddly still.
Then Mikiko took a bite of the rose pastry and broke the silence with a cheerful, “Mmm~ So good! Kyousuke, how could you keep something this delicious hidden from us?”
And just like that, things returned to normal.
Well—mostly.
Mitsuha, Yukino, and Miki were still glancing at Kyousuke with subtle curiosity.
Only Sakura and Mikiko were fully oblivious, laughing and stuffing their faces alongside the kids.
Kyousuke gave a wry smile.
‘As expected of Utaha-senpai—she always gets the news first. Eriri, on the other hand, hasn’t noticed a thing.’
‘Maybe it’s because Kosaka Akane is so good at keeping secrets… or maybe Sayuri and the others just aren’t paying attention to this sort of thing.’
He could probably talk his way around the others, but with Utaha…
“There’s someone who’s dying to work at Kyousuke’s company, and she’s already picking fights with her future coworkers before even joining!”
Shouko scrunched up her nose as she started complaining about the girl she clearly didn’t like.
“Hehehe~ Isn't that a good thing though? Energetic employees like that should make the boss happy,” Okudera Miki chuckled.
“Exactly! Once she officially joins, we’ll make sure to squeeze every ounce of effort out of her!” Yamauchi Sakura clenched her fist with a vicious grin.
“……”
Good job, Shouko. That’s my girl.
Kyousuke sighed in relief.
If he had said something like that himself, it would’ve needed constant adjustments and cover-ups, one lie after another to keep the story straight—and eventually someone would notice.
But coming from Shouko, it was a different story.
What was a lie to him sounded like the absolute truth coming from her. It couldn’t have sounded more natural.
After breakfast, he left the task of clearing the table and cleaning the kitchen to the others and stepped into the courtyard to check on Kisaki’s progress.
In a world like this, forcing someone’s hand usually boils down to one of four things: money, family, reputation, or safety.
From the very beginning, he had no intention of investigating what kind of dirty tricks Kosaka Akane used. It didn’t matter.
Even if he knew—then what? Try to "treat the illness"?
That sounds nice in theory, but in practice, it just means dancing to someone else’s tune.
Plug one hole and another opens. Worse, it shows you're flailing.
All he needed to do was make sure that the people who still chose to follow him were safe in those four aspects.
Everything else was just noise.
As long as the people were still with him and he had the money, anything could be rebuilt.
Once he understood that, everything else fell into place—
“Kyousuke.”
A clear voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned his head—and just as he expected, it was Senpai, Kasumigaoka Utaha.
“Why aren’t you inside keeping my mom company? Ever since she got back home, she hasn’t stopped talking about that rose tea you made her.”
He smiled first, as always.
No matter how brutal or chaotic things got outside, he never let those sides of himself show around his loved ones.
All storms stayed at the door. Before them, he was the sun.
“Have you figured out how you’re going to deal with it yet?”
Her lovely face was full of worry.
She had gotten up early to impress Kyousuke’s mother, but the moment she woke up, she was greeted by a flood of missed calls from that troublesome editor, Machida Sonoko.
The message was clear:
———————————————————————
[Shi-chan! Danger incoming. Kosaka Akane has her sights set on Kyousuke. Red alert!]
———————————————————————
Kosaka Akane.
The queen on the mountaintop.
A top-tier creator admired by every aspiring artist.
Ever since Kyousuke helped skyrocket Utaha’s debut novel into a bestseller, people at the publishing house had excitedly murmured, “Maybe she’ll be the next Kosaka Akane!”
"Maybe."
"She might."
Those words alone showed just how far she still was from that legendary figure—even with Kyousuke’s help.
But instead of feeling offended, Utaha had felt… honored.
To be mentioned in the same breath as someone so powerful, so iconic—it made her happy.
Yes, she was that kind of woman.
So strong that even someone like Kasumigaoka Utaha, a proud and independent woman herself, couldn’t help but admire her.
“It’s already been handled,” Kyousuke replied with a calm smile.
“No way! We’re talking about Kosaka Akane!”
Utaha’s voice grew anxious.
She opened her mouth, ready to explain just how dangerous that woman really was—
“Are you two talking about Kosaka Akane?! Is she finally releasing something new? Could it be FIELDSCHRONICLE XI?!”
A high-pitched, overly excited voice cut in from behind. Utaha groaned and covered her face.
“Sawamura-san… Why is it only during times like this that your English is so perfect? And you don’t need to be fancy about it—just say Fields Chronicle 11, okay?”
“Mind your business! I wanted to say it in English!” Eriri stuck out her tongue as she bounced across the lawn, skipping over to Kyousuke’s other side.
“Also, it's kind of surprising you even know about that game.”
“Putting aside your obvious ‘Kasumigaoka Utaha, you should just hide in your closet and cry over your pathetic life’ attitude—don’t get ahead of yourself.
Kosaka Akane’s not working on any new books or manga. She’s busy with something… more important.”
Utaha glanced sideways at the tall man beside her with a complicated expression.
“Wait… Don’t tell me that legendary creator wants to work with our company!?”
Eriri’s voice lit up like fireworks.
She grabbed Kyousuke’s sleeve with both hands.
“Heh. To recognize the hidden potential of ‘Carbonated’—a team that includes the great me and the miscellaneous guy—no wonder she’s the queen of the industry. I’ll give her credit for her eye.”
Wearing a plain white T-shirt and light green shorts, the golden-haired princess twirled like a butterfly, radiating joy.
“……”
Even Kyousuke didn’t know how to shatter the hopes of this innocent fool.
That’s why lies are necessary.
If Yukinoshita Yukino saw Eriri right now, she'd probably understand that better than anyone.
Utaha gave Eriri a pitiful look.
But of course, she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to tease her.
She could always comfort her later—just like Yukino’s older sister did.
“This is exactly why dumb people are happier. Fewer brain cells, fewer worries.”
“Huh?” Eriri raised an eyebrow but wisely chose not to take the bait.
She turned to Kyousuke instead.
“Hey, miscellaneous guy, what happened? What did that Kosaka Akane woman do to our company?!”
Eriri’s mood changed in an instant.
When it came to her dreams—and Kyousuke’s—she was ready to fight for them without hesitation.
“While you were curled up with your body pillow last night, flipping around in bed fantasizing about Kyousuke, Kosaka Akane was working behind the scenes to dismantle our studio.
If the drivers and cleaners hadn’t been loyal to Kyousuke, you’d be walking into a locked building today and spending the whole day doing janitorial work instead of creating anything.”
Even as she spoke, Utaha still couldn’t believe it.
That this was how she’d become involved with her—that woman.
Just this morning, Machida’s phone call had sounded surreal…
“W-What?!”
Eriri’s dainty blonde eyebrows shot up.
What the hell was this woman talking about?
Why would someone as distant and irrelevant as Kosaka Akane do something like that to them?
She turned to glare at the boy beside her, fuming.
‘Just as I thought—this woman is a total liar. I should’ve trusted what Kyousuke said from the start!’
“Don’t worry,” Kyousuke said, trying to hold back a laugh. “Even if we really had to clean the place up, Eriri, all you’d have to do is wipe the tables. Utaha can handle the sweeping, and I’ll mop the floor.”
“No! Not Kasumigaoka Utaha! I’ll do the tables and the sweeping. Kyousuke, you mop!” Eriri shot back reflexively.
“…You idiot. You just want an excuse to be alone with him, don’t you? What kind of hopeless fantasies are you cooking up in that head of yours?” Utaha’s lips twitched, clearly feeling defeated once again by Eriri’s ridiculousness.
“Oh right, Kyousuke—wait, was everything that liar said actually true?”
The golden-haired princess finally processed the situation, cautiously glancing toward Nishimiya Shouko, who was still sitting on the carpet in the living room playing with Kasuko.
Poor Shouko… tricked so easily. Thank goodness I’m smarter than that.
“More or less,” Kyousuke admitted with a smile. “But I’ve already handled the problem, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“You handled it?” Eriri didn’t hesitate to believe him, her face relaxing with relief—only to frown again a second later.
“But… why would Kosaka Akane even do something like that?”
“Why?” Utaha’s lips curled into a strange smile, part smug, part exasperated. “When a woman declares war, what do you think the reason usually is?”
“Uhh… perfume?” Eriri scrunched up her face in thought, trying to recall something she’d seen in a fashion magazine.
“…I told you to stop reading that junk. Look what it’s done to your brain,” Utaha sighed, unable to hide her exasperation and amusement.
Kyousuke turned away and began to chuckle quietly to himself.
‘God, Eriri really is a genius in her own weird way…’
“It’s because she wants Kyousuke, you idiot.”
This time, Utaha didn’t hold back—her voice was loud and clear, full of undisguised pride.
Where does a man’s charm truly show?
You don’t even need to meet him. Just look at the kind of people who chase after him, and you’ll know.
The queen of multimedia. An industry titan. A legend idolized by creators across the world—Kosaka Akane.
And yet, this woman had resorted to scheming and manipulation to win Kyousuke over.
Even people who had never heard his name would be curious: Who is this guy, to make even someone like her act like that?
And to think—that same man, she, Kasumigaoka Utaha, had come this close to completely claiming him more than once.
That thought filled her with a strange sense of pride.
At the same time, something felt oddly surreal—her former idol was now just another rival in the race for Kyousuke’s heart.
‘What a funny, unpredictable world we live in…’
