When Ai walked out of the recording studio, all the girls waiting outside turned to look at her in unison.
Facing their collective gaze, Ai simply glanced over them before her eyes locked onto Sakiko.
"...You're the one who found this place?"
"Mhm."
Sakiko nodded.
"Although I lost you for a moment when you first left, in this live house, this is the only place where you could get up to no good."
"...I see. So you had the home-field advantage."
Ai stared at her with a playful look for a moment before speaking again slowly.
"Although you all did ruin my fun this time, I also heard a lot of good things from Tetsu, so I'll forgive you."
"Putting aside whether you're even in a position to 'forgive' us... This time? Don't tell me you're planning on a next time?!"
Sakiko was stunned.
"Do you really think Chihaya-nii will give you another chance like this?"
"...Who knows what the future holds."
Ai let out a soft laugh and began to walk towards the end of the hallway. However, just before she turned the corner, the last words she left behind made everyone present freeze with utter astonishment—
"Oh, right. Tell Tetsu for me, if I don't see that 'possibility' before the May live... I'm still going to elope with him."
With that, she started walking again, disappearing completely from their sight.
...
"Good work."
The moment she turned the corner, Ai felt something being placed on her head.
"...You're here too."
With the baseball cap suddenly placed on her head, Ai looked at Uika, who was holding a new face mask, and raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.
"Why didn't you come with them to interfere?"
"Rather than provoking you with such an obviously hostile act, I'm more inclined to clean up any potential mess."
Uika handed the mask to Ai.
"Don't worry. Although they were banging on the door quite loudly, no one noticed."
"The live inside isn't over yet, after all..."
Ai put on the mask and reached up to pull the brim of the cap down.
"Say, do you think we'll make the manager and the agency angry for being so reckless today?"
"It should be fine. Given how tolerant Higuchi-san is with you, as long as you don't break the law, she should be able to forgive you."
"...That's dangerous, then."
Ai's hand went to her lower abdomen, over her coat.
"I was really just a hair's breadth away..."
"..."
Hearing this, Uika, whose expression had been relatively calm, suddenly felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead.
"Hey, you... even if you were planning to elope with Tetsuya-san, isn't getting pregnant at sixteen a little too much?"
But for this terrorist driven solely by desire, something like that probably means nothing to her...
Just as this thought crossed Uika's mind, Ai nodded, contrary to her expectations.
"...It is a little, I guess."
She said, pressing her abdomen and muttering with a blank face.
"If we had a child, Tetsu would definitely take responsibility and raise them well, giving them all his love and care... If that happened, the time he could give me would definitely decrease... That won't do. I want to monopolize him for a while longer."
"So it's still for a reason like that..."
Uika shook her head with a wry smile.
"But to put it another way, since you don't want a child right now, then by the time of the May live, even if Tetsuya-san hasn't met your condition, you won't force yourself on him again, right?"
"...Who says?"
At this question, a bewitching smile suddenly appeared on Ai's face beneath the mask.
"Now that I've had a 'taste' of this, how could I possibly hold back... If there's a next time, I'll take precautions beforehand."
"...Terrifying."
Uika rubbed her arms, a look of lingering fear on her face.
Although this crisis had been resolved peacefully for the time being, achieving results before the May live would be a considerable challenge for Tetsuya.
(I hope everything goes well for Tetsuya-san...)
Looking at Ai's eyes, which still held a hint of a smile, Uika prayed silently.
...
"Nii-san! Are you okay?!"
This time, it was once again Anon who entered the room first and turned on the lights.
However, when she saw Tetsuya in the corner of the room, her expression turned to one of utter shock—
"What... happened here?"
Looking at Tetsuya slumped in the corner, buttoning up his shirt, Anon couldn't help but ask:
"Nii-san, what did Hoshino Ai do to you..."
"...It's nothing."
Tetsuya, having re-buttoned his shirt, shook his head and pushed himself off the floor to stand up.
"Thanks to you all arriving in time, she was forced to stop before she could do anything."
"So, it really was just like Mutsumi said."
Soyo said as she looked at Tetsuya's neck.
"This is a pretty blatant provocation, isn't it?"
"...I think so too."
Sakiko had, of course, also noticed the extremely conspicuous red mark.
Even the most naive person would surely understand how that mark was made.
"Is she insane? She actually tried to use that kind of method to force Chihaya-nii to submit..."
"But in reality, she was very close to succeeding, wasn't she?"
Soyo said with a frown.
"Should I say she's too forceful, or that you're too weak... Although I can see some signs of a struggle on your clothes, the result is still the same."
"About that... I'm already reflecting on it."
Tetsuya, having steadied his breathing, said.
"From now on, I'll work out properly outside of work... But more importantly."
He stopped mid-sentence, then looked up at the girls before him.
"Today's live was really wonderful. Congratulations."
"..."
Everyone present stared at him, dumbfounded. After a long moment, Soyo finally managed to speak.
"Hey... isn't your situation a little more important than our live? Is this really the time to be congratulating us?"
"For now, at least, the matter with Ai is settled."
Tetsuya glanced at the time, then turned to Sakiko.
"Sakiko, come to the studio a little early tomorrow."
He first flipped up the collar of his shirt to hide the evidence on his neck, then said:
"I already have an idea for Ai and Uika's performance outfits."