Before leaving, to prevent anyone from making a move while she was away, Sayaka also signaled her two friends with her eyes, reminding them to protect Kamijou Mutsuki.
Faced with Sayaka's hint, the two girls responded with reassuring expressions.
With them around, aside from themselves, no other woman would be able to get close to Kamijou Mutsuki.
Seeing this, Sayaka left with peace of mind.
"Mutsuki,"
As soon as Sayaka left, Hitomi moved closer.
"I heard that recently, you've been working on an anime?"
"MyGO!!!!! Hitomi should've heard of it, right?"
"It's a pretty good… music anime."
When the topic of the anime came up, a complicated expression appeared on the girl's face.
After all, she knew very well just how deep a connection the boy before her had with the word "music."
It was just a pity—that accident…
So, could this anime be some kind of emotional outlet for Kamijou Mutsuki?
But come to think of it, she had recently heard that Kamijou Mutsuki seemed to…
"Mutsuki, are you planning to keep making anime from now on? And not…"
Not play the violin anymore?
She knew even better than Sayaka just how dazzling this boy usually was.
Wasn't part of the reason she was drawn to him that shining figure on the stage?
"Hm?"
"No, it's nothing."
In the end, the girl gave up asking. After all, she wasn't Sayaka or "Mutsu-head"—she wasn't very good at bluntly hitting sensitive topics.
"Mutsuki, no matter what you become,"
The girl raised her head to look at the boy she longed for, her eyes shimmering with a captivating light.
"In my heart, you'll always be the most dazzling one!"
Even if Kamijou Mutsuki never played the violin again, he would still be that most radiant figure in her heart.
The girl pressed her lips together, and under some decision made in her heart, revealed a resolute gaze just like Soyo Nagasaki.
Hitomi Shizuki, without a doubt, harbored a poetic, maidenly affection for the boy before her. However, she also clearly understood what kind of feelings her close friend had toward him.
Given the girl's personality, she naturally disdained making a move behind the scenes.
In fact, she had already prepared herself to confess everything to Sayaka and compete fairly.
But unexpectedly, Kamijou Mutsuki met with that accident afterward, and before he had even fully recovered, he left Mitakihara.
By the time she heard news of him again, Sayaka was already his girlfriend.
Before the competition had even begun, she had already lost.
Was she willing to accept it?
Of course not.
Nor could she possibly give up.
From the moment she met that boy, she had already decided that he would be the one to accompany her for the rest of her life.
But now that Sayaka and Kamijou Mutsuki were already together, was she really going to destroy her friend's relationship?
With her moral standards, she clearly couldn't do such a thing.
However, the existence of "Mutsu-head" gave rise to a different thought in her mind.
The same green hair, the same noble lady background—how was she any worse than her?
If Mutsu could do it, why couldn't she?
She didn't want to hurt Sayaka, nor did she want to give up on Kamijou Mutsuki.
So there was only this one choice left.
Since Sayaka didn't even mind Mutsumi Wakaba—whom she hadn't even known before—then she surely wouldn't mind her either, right?
She wasn't here to destroy this home.
She was here to join it!
Moreover, if Kamijou Mutsuki were to build a harem, with Sayaka's naive personality, how could she possibly compete against other women?
As her friend, she was here to help Sayaka.
Thinking of this, the girl's psychological pressure eased quite a bit.
Although Kamijou Mutsuki was very popular with girls, he was actually quite inexperienced when it came to romance.
As his friend, she could help him "practice" first—then wouldn't Sayaka be able to have a better experience later?
Of course, afterward, she wouldn't hide her thoughts from her friend either. She would find a chance to confess everything.
She believed Sayaka would understand her.
Compared to the proactive Hitomi, Madoka Kaname simply stood to the side with a gentle smile.
In her view, wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just stay together like this?
It was just that… more girls might be joining in…
Even Madoka couldn't help but puff her cheeks slightly at that thought.
Mutsuki was getting a bit too flirtatious!
Although Madoka didn't mind, "Mutsu-head," who was watching from a distance as Hitomi practically stuck herself to Kamijou Mutsuki, couldn't help but frown.
Seriously, couldn't they at least avoid doing this in front of her?
With so many people around, and right in front of her at that…
Were they not even treating her as a person anymore?
The "little cucumber" puffed her cheeks slightly.
However, before Mutsu-head could make a move, Kamijou Mutsuki's phone rang.
And the person contacting him was Soyo Nagasaki.
That's right—since Mrs. Nagasaki happened to be at home today, Soyo hadn't come together with everyone else.
Of course, there was still plenty of time before the performance started, and since MyGO was performing last, there was no issue.
The reason Soyo called Kamijou Mutsuki was simple—she had already arrived at the venue.
But it seemed she had gotten lost and couldn't find the backstage area, so she asked Kamijou Mutsuki to come pick her up.
"…"
Wait, since when did Soyo have a poor sense of direction?
Still, he had no intention of refusing. After explaining the reason to Hitomi, he turned and left—just like Sayaka had done earlier.
Hitomi stared blankly at Kamijou Mutsuki's departing figure, a trace of disappointment barely noticeable in her eyes.
On the other side, after walking out of the backstage area, Kamijou Mutsuki began searching for Soyo's location based on the messages from a certain JK "divorced rich lady."
The venue for this large-scale music festival was quite big. Even for him, it wasn't easy to find Soyo Nagasaki right away.
However, he had only been searching for a short while when a voice came from behind him.
"Um… are you Kamijou-kun?"
Turning around toward the sound, Kamijou Mutsuki saw a blonde girl with the same art style as Sayaka and the others, exuding a gentle and mature aura.
Headless senpai?
Cough cough—rather, it should be Mami-senpai.
"Hello, I'm Mami Tomoe."
The girl had seemed a bit cautious at first, but after confirming Kamijou Mutsuki's identity, she relaxed.
"I'm Sayaka's friend. I was wondering… did she mention me to you?"
Meanwhile, Soyo was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
So many people…
Previously, she had only been to places like RiNG, a live house—not even close to the scale of what was in front of her now.
So… where exactly was the backstage?
The flow of people around her made the girl increasingly irritated, her thoughts unable to settle.
Why hasn't Kamijou Mutsuki arrived yet…Should she go ask the staff?
Just as Soyo was starting to lose her patience, a somewhat excited voice suddenly sounded behind her.
"Soyo Nagasaki?!"
Soyo's body trembled slightly. She was well aware of her popularity—she had even disguised herself before coming—but she hadn't expected to still be recognized.
Turning around, she saw two girls standing behind her. One of them, a very cute blonde girl, was looking at her with visible excitement.
"Excuse me, are you cosplaying Soyo Nagasaki? It's incredibly realistic!"
......................