Electric Hearts! [Hoshiumi Kourai]

The Invitation

November, 2018

Things were gonna be a doozy today. Of that, Enaga was certain. As she stepped out of the company van, taking out a deep breath, an excited voice sounded behind her.

"Wowwwww!"

Enaga turned back, grinning. "Oh, right. This is your first time, isn't it, Akane-chan?" She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. The first game of the season, and it's Jackals versus Adlers right off the bat. I'm gonna have a field day with this one. She'd heard rumors floating around the industry—that Hoshiumi Kourai was going to propose to his girlfriend, popular model Kuroeda Yumika, after the Adlers won.

According to the polls, sixty-seven percent of the sample audience had bet on the Adlers sweeping up the Jackals. But Enaga had always rooted for the underdogs—and she wasn't the kind to put all her eggs in one basket.

Yamamoto Akane, her junior, gazed at the arena with sparkling eyes. "I haven't been here in forever. And never for a match as huge as this. Oh, man, Sumire's gonna totally freak when she realizes she's passing up this once in a lifetime chance!"

Enaga puffed out her chest proudly, patting Akane on the head. "That's what happens when you have me as your mentor."

"Aw, Enaga-san."

They slipped on their jerseys—one that denoted them as members of the press. After showing their passes to security at one of the side entrances, they were allowed in. Akane was doing very well in reining in her excitement, but Enaga could already see her cracking and dashing down the line of stalls to get a bite out of everything.

"We still have time before the teams come out," Enaga said after checking her watch. She led Akane toward the food stalls. "Why don't we grab something to eat?"

Akane's eyes practically shone. "Enaga-san, has anyone ever told you that you're the best?" She thumbed her lip. "I hope there's a rice ball store. I'm craving onigiri." Unfortunately for Akane, there was no such stand, so they settled for takoyaki drizzled with mayonnaise and ketchup. "So," and Enaga could recognize that tone of hers—she was fishing for gossip, "What's the consensus about Hoshiumi and Kuroeda?"

"They're practically Japan's sweethearts," Enaga said through a mouthful of fried octopus balls. She could feel a clump of tomato sauce sticking to the corner of her lips. With a napkin, she wiped it off. "I can definitely see him proposing dramatically to her if she's here. He's the type of guy to pull off big gestures." But that's only if they win.

"Is she here, though? I can't see her anywhere...Then again, the stadium is pretty big." Akane craned her neck, but was ultimately too short to do any efficient scouting.

"I talked with Arakawa-san before we left." Enaga held up a finger as she recalled what Arakawa Mai had relayed to her. "She heard from Yonaga-san that it's almost guaranteed that she wouldn't be caught dead in a 'classless' place like this. If Hoshiumi-kun were to propose, he'd probably do it at the after party."

"Classless!" Akane exclaimed, feathers ruffled. "That makes her seem stuck-up. But I trust Yonaga-san when it comes to celebrity gossip."

Even though Enaga had been following Hoshiumi's volleyball career since his high school days, she knew quite little about his personal life. For a person which such a big stage presence, Hoshiumi was surprisingly private about matters outside of the sport. For Kuroeda, whose fame partially came from her boyfriend's, it was the opposite—she posted a lot about their relationship, but it was hard to make accurate comments about it when only hearing from one half of the couple. "Well." She shrugged. "Hoshiumi-kun likes her well enough. I can't imagine why they'd stay together if not. He doesn't seem like the type to be in a loveless relationship."