Although Kakeru did have designs on the donut lady — after all, who wouldn’t like a five-time champion — there was a big difference between him asking for a favor and her offering it herself.
He hadn’t even had time to bring it up yet when Hatsune brought it up on her own.
Hatsune had already thought the proposal through carefully.
She was genuinely grateful to the donut lady.
When she first arrived in Tokyo, it was Mana who pulled her into the group and gave her exposure.
Without her, reaching this point would have been much harder.
In that sense, Hatsune still owed her a debt she could never fully repay.
But gratitude was one thing.
As long as it conflicted with her own happiness, everything else had to be set aside.
She would make it up to Mana later — even if it meant being her slave for life, she was willing.
For now, though, Mana would have to remain her lifelong groupmate.
Normally, Kakeru would have politely refused a few times before accepting, but he was still in a phase of guilty conscience.
He didn’t want to burden Hatsune further right now.
“No need,” he said.
“I’ll figure something out myself.
Besides, asking you to go after your own friend really is too much…” Hatsune immediately stood up.
“It’s fine!
It’s not troublesome at all.
I know it’s unfair to Mana, but for you, I can do it.
I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her, so there’s really no problem.
As long as you still need me, I’ll do anything!” Kakeru couldn’t help but feel moved by her humility.
He had already braced himself because of Mujica’s dark undertones, but seeing it play out in front of him still felt heavier than expected.
He could more or less understand what was driving Hatsune right now.
At its core, it was about recognition.
People need to be acknowledged to feel like they truly exist in this world — whether by their parents, their friends, or their peers.
That sense of being seen gives them a real connection to the world around them.
It’s one of the most fundamental needs between humans and society.
Hatsune had probably only ever received that kind of recognition from him.
Only from Kakeru had she ever felt that connection between herself and the world.
This wasn’t baseless speculation — it was the reality of her life.
Whether it was her family, her work, or even her fans and teammates in Tokyo, she had never truly been validated.
At home, her biological father abandoned her.
Her mother remarried.
Even though her stepfather claimed to treat both daughters equally, anyone could see how things really were.
Then a little sister was born — one who looked exactly like her.
In such a twisted environment, how could she ever feel recognized?
He could already imagine how devastating it would be if her parents one day mistook her for her sister and gave that validation to the wrong person.
Even her stage name choice carried the same weight.
Using “Misumi Uika” when she debuted wasn’t just to hide from the Toyokawa Group or to avoid drawing Sakiko’s attention.
Deep down, it was also because she lacked confidence in her own name and her own existence.
After joining the group, things didn’t improve much.
Mana was genuinely kind to her and saw her as a real friend.
That kindness might have comforted Hatsune, but it still didn’t give her a sense of being needed.
The foundation of recognition is being necessary.
In Sumimi, everyone knew Mana was the center.
Even without Hatsune, Mana could find another pretty girl and the group would keep spinning just fine.
Hatsune was little more than an accessory.
No matter how much Mana insisted she was essential, the truth was obvious — and Hatsune couldn’t draw any real validation from it.
Her fans and other teammates were the same.
Whether they were her personal fans or group fans, as long as they were drawn in by Sumimi, they would always see her as someone who only existed because of Mana.
She couldn’t get any recognition from them either.
Worse still, they kept calling her “Uika”… Not only did these people fail to give her recognition, they actually made the split in her identity worse.
The more they called her by that name, the more inferior and invisible she felt.
She couldn’t understand her own purpose in the world.
Because of that, she became even more dependent on Kakeru — the one person who came only for her.
Only he recognized Hatsune.
Only he came looking for “Hatsune,” not “Uika” or Mana.
Only when she was with him did she feel like she had a reason to exist in this world.
That was why, no matter how hard she worked in Tokyo, as long as she was still using the name Uika, she would grow more and more dependent on him.
It was also why she had reacted so strongly when he tried to refuse her help.
She couldn’t bear the thought of the only person who truly needed her no longer needing her.
If that happened, she would lose her last connection to the world — and she would completely break down.
Perhaps it was because Hatsune’s heart was complicated.
But then again, whose heart isn’t complicated when they’re alive?
Kakeru didn’t plan to remind her of any of this.
After all, this version of Hatsune was exactly what he needed.
He might feel guilty sometimes and soften because of her humility, but at his core, he was still a selfish person.
This kind of Hatsune would never be able to leave him.
Or perhaps it wasn’t just selfishness.
It was also fear — fear that she would leave him.
So for now, until he made up his mind about what came next, he decided to maintain the current situation.