"Uuu... mmm..."
With a soft whimper, the girl in his arms slowly woke up.
"Awake?"
"....Mmm."
Mutsumi rubbed her eyes and stretched her shoulders. It felt like she hadn't slept that well in an eternity. Even in the practice room with her guitar, it was never this silent.
"It's getting late. I'll take you home."
"....Mmm."
Rin was used to her robotic, one-word responses. He helped her up, smoothed out the wrinkles on the back of her skirt, and placed the baseball cap back on her head. He pulled the brim low over her eyes before they left the room.
He didn't take her all the way to her front door. He stopped a short distance away.
"It'll be trouble if we're seen together. Message me when you're inside."
"Okay."
Mutsumi looked at Rin once before turning to walk away. She hadn't gone far before the familiar voices began to echo in her skull.
[Don't go near him again!]
[Are you trying to kill me!?]
[I've been protecting you our whole lives.]
[He's a pervert! I felt something hard poking your ass while you were asleep! He was definitely horny.]
[He just wants your body!]
[You have to trust me.]
[Waaaah! I don't want to die!]
[Please.]
"Shut up."
Mutsumi ignored the internal chaos and kept walking. The further she got from Rin, the louder the voices became, until the wailing nearly drowned out her consciousness.
She staggered, bracing herself against the wall as she opened her gate. She didn't go to her room; she dove straight into the underground rehearsal studio and grabbed her pink guitar. Only then did the noise recede slightly.
In the past, there was always noise, but never this frantic.
Being around Sakiko or Soyo used to dampen the sounds because they didn't treat her as just "Minami's daughter," but they had never explicitly stated it like Rin had.
Rin's ability to suppress her other personas wasn't a superpower; it was the strength of his words validating her core identity, which allowed her to discard the "protector" noise.
But now, those voices were fighting for survival. Even in the basement with her guitar, the room felt crowded with screams.
She went to pick up her plectrum to drown out the noise with music, but then she remembered something.
Right...
He told her to message him when she got home. The voices were so loud she had almost forgotten.
I'm home.
She finished the text but hesitated before hitting send.
[Send it! What are you waiting for!]
[Tell him to leave! The further the better!]
[Uuu... please make him go away. I feel like I'm dying.]
Ignoring the screams, Mutsumi deleted the text and typed a new one. The moment she hit "send," the internal voices shifted into the sound of a child throwing a desperate tantrum.
Mutsumi: [Can you come and stay with me?]
Rin: [Sure.]
Rin: [Go to your room. Leave the window unlocked. I'll sneak in.]
Mutsumi: [Okay.]
Mutsumi went to her room with her guitar. Her parents were often away for work, but she had live-in staff; Rin couldn't just walk through the front door.
Rin spotted her on her balcony from the street.
He mapped out a few handholds and, like a master of urban infiltration, easily scaled the wall and climbed onto the second-floor balcony.
"What? Couldn't let me go?" Rin teased, ruffling her hair.
"Mmm."
Mutsumi's bedroom was massive—filled with plants, a sofa, and a tea table. It was larger than Rin's entire living room. Her lace-curtained double bed was piled high with animal plushies.
Rabbits, mice, penguins, lions, octopuses... Sakiko?
Rin noticed a plushie of a blue-haired girl that looked remarkably like Sakiko Toyokawa.
If it were Uika, he'd bet it was a custom-made doll she slept with every night. But with Mutsumi, it was likely just something she bought because it looked similar. It was tossed in with the animals, showing no signs of being treated specially.
Rin picked up the Sakiko doll and smiled, his hand resting on Mutsumi's back as he played with her soft green hair.
"How long do you want me to stay?"
"Until tomorrow."
Mutsumi led Rin to the sofa and sat him down. Then, she stood before him with her guitar.
"A 7-string heavy guitar. You like heavy metal?"
Spending time with Nijika's group had taught Rin quite a bit. Bocchi used a 6-string, which was standard for rock and pop. A 7-string was for the low, guttural tones of heavy metal.
"Mmm." Mutsumi nodded.
As her pick hit the strings, an aggressive heavy metal riff filled the room. Near Rin, the voices were already weak, and the intense music allowed her to fully submerge her consciousness into the rhythm.
Mutsumi's petite frame swayed with the music, arching back and leaning forward with every chord. During a particularly high-energy riff, she instinctively kicked out one leg toward Rin.
Mmm.
Green and white stripes. Very cute.
Compared to the "robotic" Mutsumi of the daytime, this version felt like a real teenage girl. She was full of life rather than a stagnant pond.
When she was finally drenched in sweat, Mutsumi sat down next to Rin, gasping for air. Her green hair was plastered to her neck and forehead, and her small chest heaved with every breath. Her flushed face and dilated pupils gave her a look of raw, post-orgasmic allure.
A truly seductive little cucumber.
After resting for a moment, Mutsumi stood up.
"I'm going to shower... don't leave."
"Don't worry," Rin pinched her cheek. "I promised to stay the night."
Mutsumi went to her wardrobe, grabbed some pajamas and fresh underwear, and disappeared into the bathroom. Once the door closed, Rin let out a long breath.
He didn't have any particular designs on Mutsumi... at least, not until her mental state was more stable.
Mmm... right now, her mind is a battle between her 'Guitarist' persona and her 'Protector' persona. The balance was stable until the band broke up, allowing 'Metis' (the protector) to take over.
Maintaining that balance was one way to go.
But his arrival had tipped the scales back toward the "Guitarist" side. He might actually end up "killing" the "Metis" personality entirely.
But these personalities weren't a recent development; they were a part of her for over a decade. They were both Mutsumi Wakaba. Losing either would make her incomplete.
Outside the bathroom, Rin had a headache trying to decide. He hoped they could resolve it internally, because he wouldn't know which one to choose.
Rin had a headache, but Mutsumi didn't. Why were only she and Metis left?
It wasn't because the other personalities were "kind" and left; it was because she had "killed" them... or rather, they vanished because they lost their reason to exist.
Metis existed to protect her from the shadow of being "The Superstar's Daughter."
Rin's words had fortified her belief that she was just Mutsumi Wakaba, shining a light on that shadow.
If she didn't need protection, then Metis would vanish—which was effectively death. Rin's presence had replaced her role. Once Mutsumi was truly free, Metis would disappear forever.
Right now, Metis was weakening. That was why she screamed at Mutsumi to stay away. But with Rin right in the room, the screaming was barely a whisper.
Mutsumi wasn't intentionally trying to make Metis vanish. Just like before, she was just doing what felt "comfortable."
Speaking of which... that voice said he wanted my body?