[The real world]
The noon break.
After finishing their food, the four girls were resting in the hall.
Their instruments were all left in the practice room.
Kita Ikuyo's consciousness gradually withdrew from the simulation.
She was never the type to wait passively.
The other girls, once they realized that Toru might possess a simulator, would certainly probe carefully and test the waters.
Kita Ikuyo was different. Once she formed a hypothesis, she would act immediately.
Just like entering the simulation earlier.
Kita Ikuyo handed over what she obtained from the first simulation to Tachibana Kanade.
This was something that, if it were Yamada Ryo or Gotoh Hitori, they would never dare to do.
In fact, Kita Ikuyo should have realized this long ago. The reason Toru blocked her after the simulation ended must have been due to some special reason.
She was not as slow as Gotoh Hitori.
Some things only needed a single point of clarity, and Kita Ikuyo could instantly touch the truth.
Of course, she still did not dare to confront Toru directly.
If Toru really retained memories from the previous simulations, then after seeing "Stars", he would definitely look for her to talk in private.
[T/N: Composition: The Stars (World-class piece, the deceased boyfriend's final work)]
When that time came, she would just find an excuse to brush it off.
For example, saying she suddenly gained some vague memories or something like that.
She absolutely could not admit that she had a simulator.
Keeping the enemy in the light and herself in the dark was the only way to gain the greatest advantage.
In this war of love, preventing any accidents, she would probably take the win…
Sorry, everyone.
I really wanted to help everyone fall in love, but a pie fell from the sky.
In this situation.
Handing over the boy I like?
Sorry, I cannot do that.
At this moment, Kita Ikuyo decided to betray the faith of the cuckold and join the camp of pure love warriors!
A harem? Not familiar at all.
————
A corner of the live house.
Gotoh Hitori was slumped over the table.
After successfully stealing the base yesterday, she had been swollen with pride for several hours.
Now that the high had passed.
An inexplicable emptiness filled her heart.
Nothing had changed. She had not become someone worthy of Toru's affection. Was it really okay to just confess and start dating so simply?
In the first simulation, she was abandoned by him.
In the second simulation, she was intercepted by Ryo-san.
In the third, Nijika-chan…
The fourth…
It could be said that on the road to capturing Toru, Gotoh Hitori had basically been lying down the entire way. Rather than saying she was using the simulator to conquer Toru romance route,
It was more like Toru was using the simulator to temper himself.
Who does he actually like, Gotoh Hitori AI-chan, or me?
As Gotoh Hitori pondered this question, her mood sank.
"Bocchi-chan, what's wrong with you?"
Ijichi Seika raised her head and noticed that Gotoh Hitori had once again fallen into her own little world, her expression looking rather pitiful.
Having been keeping an eye on Bocchi-chan, she felt a bit worried.
"Ah… n-no, nothing."
Bocchi-chan shook her head vigorously, the two square hairpins and the pink ahoge on her head swaying back and forth.
"You're probably thinking about a boy you like, right?"
PA-san joined the conversation with a smile.
"Uu, n-no, I'm not." Bocchi-chan looked like she wanted to escape.
With her sharp eyes, she spotted the box of fully ripe mangoes nearby.
Carefully.
Bit by bit, slowly…
As long as she could reach that place.
As long as she could touch that place.
"Why hasn't this box been thrown away yet?"
Ijichi Seika was speechless.
It had been almost a year. In that amount of time, she could have eaten the next batch of ripe mangoes already.
What was it even being kept for?
"Hehe… like a snail's shell?"
PA-san fiddled with her phone and looked up with a smile.
"Don't compare Bocchi-chan to some kind of hermit crab."
Ijichi Seika delivered a merciless retort.
Lately, it felt like PA had started treating the live house as some kind of strange place.
If you want to ship couples, could you change locations? Stop treating our band like entertainment, okay?
"Aiya, Manager, you didn't notice? Bocchi-chan has someone she likes."
"Don't treat me like I'm blind. I can tell something that obvious."
Ijichi Seika shot her a glance.
Bocchi-chan liking Toru was no longer a secret among those who knew her.
"Y-you all knew?"
Gotoh Hitori froze beside the box of ripe mangoes, her expression as if the sky had collapsed.
No, no, how could they possibly know something like that?
She had never told anyone.
"I guessed." PA-san propped her cheek with one hand, her tone lazy.
Ijichi Seika comforted her. "Bocchi-chan, girls your age having one or two boys they like is very normal. There's no need to be embarrassed."
"I-I… I really d-don't have anyone I like."
Gotoh Hitori explained with a red face.
Then she carefully looked around and realized her bandmates were not paying attention to this spot, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
"I already told you, sixteen-year-old girls dating is perfectly normal."
What is there to be ashamed of?
"But…"
Gotoh Hitori muttered softly, "The manager is almost thirty and still hasn't had a boyfriend."
Is it really appropriate for a woman who's been single since birth to say that?
"Who told you that?" Ijichi Seika said irritably.
Boyfriend?
I've dated several times in the simulation!
And it was the boy you like! When I was rolling around in bed with Toru, you were still crying into your sheets in some corner.
"…N-Nijika-chan s-said it."
Gotoh Hitori put on a pitiful expression.
She was just telling the truth.
"Sigh, forget it…"
Ijichi Seika sighed. "Bocchi-chan, sometimes you say some really terrifying things. Who on earth taught you that?"
If she thought about it.
Who would the culprit be?
The answer was obvious.
The scheming Yamada Ryo, and the reckless Kita Ikuyo.
Bocchi-chan must have learned bad habits from those two.
"I… don't know." Bocchi-chan hid herself inside the box of ripe mangoes and shut down.
At this moment.
Ijichi Nijika, who had just finished chatting with Yamada Ryo about the details of a new song, walked over.
She noticed PA-san smiling brightly, wearing an expression like she had just seen something good.
"PA-san, what happened?"
"Nothing at all."
As PA-san spoke, she cast a few extra glances at Ijichi Seika.
A woman who's almost thirty and never dated, really…
Pfft, this is killing me.
"Hey, if you keep looking at me like that, I'll fire you. I'm not joking."
Ijichi Seika shot her a glare.
What are you looking at?
Like you've ever dated either.
"Eh eh, tell me, tell me."
Ijichi Nijika pressed curiously.
PA-san went back to fiddling with her phone, her voice soft. "Just a romance topic."
Show's over, that was satisfying.
When Kitahara-kun comes by this afternoon, there might even be a sequel.
"What what? Does big sis have someone she likes?"
"…What are you thinking? That's not it. Stop gossiping."
Ijichi Seika brushed it off.
If she really had to say it, she did have a boy she liked.
It was just that—
That mysterious existence was a full twelve years younger than her.
Liking younger boys was something Ijichi Seika truly could not bring herself to admit.
————