Soyo Nagasaki returned home.
The gentle smile on her face gradually faded.
Her expression became calm, almost serious.
Without thinking, Soyo Nagasaki began to fiddle with her fingers, starting to sort through the day's events.
Actually, she shouldn't have come home so late today.
But recently, she'd been coming home later and later.
Soyo Nagasaki was something of a homebody.
After Crychic disbanded, she became even more so.
The reason I've been coming home late these past few days?
It's because after school, I've been investigating information about Sachiko at other girls' schools in Tokyo.
Some schools publish their new student lists on their websites, which Soyo Nagasaki can easily check.
But others don't.
So, Soyo Nagasaki has been going to those schools these past few days, approaching one or two female students at the entrance.
Using her excellent social skills, and offering a little something in return…
She easily got the female students to help her get the new student lists.
However, there's still no news about which school Sachiko is attending.
Unexpectedly, tonight's encounter with Hakushu brought a pleasant surprise.
Hakushu knew Sachiko, or at least had some connection to her, and Sachiko might have been in Shimokitazawa.
Perhaps,
she could use him as a starting point to find Sachiko.
However, this didn't mean she was abandoning her plan to search every girls' school in Tokyo.
There weren't many left to go anyway.
Ah, how she missed Sachiko's scent...
Hakushu returned home.
He set down the donuts.
Just a few donuts certainly wouldn't be enough to fill him up.
So, he picked up the kettle to boil water, preparing to add a bowl of high-end instant noodles.
While waiting, he also organized his earnings for the day.
First, as he expected.
He earned 200 Notes from initiating a conversation about music with Soyo Nagasaki.
While working at the Hoshizora live house, he sold Rana Yo a ticket, and watched the live show with everyone.
I "saved" Sachiko Toyokawa on the way.
I also received Notes.
Among them, Sachiko Toyokawa gave the most.
All in all, I now have more than 2,000 Notes.
I'll see what I can exchange them for next week.
Finally, tomorrow is the weekend, after a long time.
I can finally get some proper rest.
That's right, I also need to find time to update his light novel.
Thinking about that, Hakushu smiled wryly.
His phone vibrated.
Hakushu glanced at it. It was a message from the Light Music Club group chat.
But the water was boiling, so he'd look later.
Sachiko Toyokawa's house.
Sachiko sat on a wooden chair, her eyes shining brightly.
It seemed like she hadn't been this happy in a long time.
A lot happened today, and I thought it would be a bad day.
But it turned out not to be like that.
Sachiko held her phone.
Hakushu's Line had been added.
Right! She'd forgotten to ask what class he was in.
Sachiko was a little annoyed at herself.
Should she ask him on Line?
No, it wouldn't be right to bother him with something so trivial.
"That's right!"
Sachiko Toyokawa's lips curled into a smile.
Then, she opened her phone's photo album, revealing the class lists she'd taken photos of at the start of the school year.
Thank goodness I didn't delete them.
Sachiko searched intently.
Class 1...
Class 2...
Class 3... Found it!
Sachiko Toyokawa's face just lit up with a smile, but it quickly turned into a frown.
I didn't expect to be in the same class as Tomori.
Thinking about it, Sachiko instinctively touched the bandage still stuck to her arm.
There was a group of trendy apartments, a distance away from the high-class apartment where Hakushu lived.
These apartments were specifically provided by entertainment companies for their artists to live in.
A large number of artists, idols, internet celebrities, and streamers lived here.
The general public couldn't enter here, or even rent a room here.
Unless you have money.
Uta Tri returned here.
She placed the donuts in the next room, the room belonging to her partner in sumimi.
Mana Sumida, also known as Mana.
Back in her own home, Uta quickly removed her mask, sunglasses, and hat.
Then, she couldn't wait to get into her room.
At first glance, one might think the owner of this room was a shut-in.
The light novels in the room were far more numerous than those in Ryo Yamada's tent that day.
And, each book was neatly arranged, meticulously cared for, and without a speck of dust.
What was strange was, there were so many light novels.
Yet they were all by the same author, Kaka Kaka.
It seemed Uta Tri was a huge fan of Kaka Kaka-sensei.
After glancing at the light novels, Uta Tri's calm face broke into a smile.
"Akio, I've bought every single one of your light novels."
"And, I bought three copies of each work."
Because, you said...
One to read, one to collect, and one to preach with.
I remember every single thing you said.
Uta Tri rushed eagerly to the bedside.
She couldn't take it anymore; she needed to replenish her energy.
Only a light novel lay on the bed.
Uta Tri gently opened the book's cover, afraid of damaging it in the slightest.
Even though she'd already protected it with a delicate book cover.
This one is different!
The inside cover of the book was signed with the three characters "Kaka Kaka".
Uta Tri stared at it for a moment.
Then, she brought her face closer to the book.
This was a signed copy she'd won in a contest on Kaka Kaka's SNS account.
Just thinking about Akio holding the book, carefully writing his name on it stroke by stroke, and personally sending it to her via courier...
Uta Tri felt completely enveloped by happiness.
Soon, her face was completely obscured by the book.
A long time passed.
Uta finally raised her head, her cheeks and the tips of her ears tinged with a slight blush.
"Ugh... I almost fell asleep."
Uta took out her phone and checked the time. It was already past ten.
Then she opened Line and tapped on a certain chat.
Looking at the date, the message was from a year ago.
"Sachiko, it's been a while. I'm going to debut."
"You're debuting, really?!"
"Yeah, the company told me not to tell anyone outside my family, but I wanted to tell you no matter what."
"Congratulations, you've become the professional singer you always dreamed of. Someone as proactive as you will definitely be fine."
"I'm not sure if I can keep it up, to be honest."
"I'm not worried at all."
"Thank you."
The brief exchange of messages occupied only a single page on her phone screen.
Yet, she stared at it for a long time.
If only I had Akio's Line.
Ugh!
Uta Tri sighed softly.
She put down her phone and headed for the bathroom.
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