Chapter 230

Being abnormal means being direct!

Nijika paused, all her doubts and desire to test the waters vanished, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

After learning about Ishikawa Hayato's thoughts, she felt relieved after the journey.

She smiled and turned to Ishikawa Hayato, asking with a slight sigh.

"Sigh... I always feel like things never turn out well when I act on my own. Hayato-kun, do you have any ideas?"

Seeing that Nijika had changed the subject and accepted the fact that they were alone together, Ishikawa Hayato reached into his bag and took out a folding fan.

He opened the folding fan with a tremor of his hand, revealing the word "pervert" on it.

"I have three strategies: best, middle, and worst. I won't mention the best one because I don't want my precious time alone with Nijika to be disturbed."

"I don't want to do the middle option; it'll ruin all the romance. The worst option is for me to try my best and do the work of the other three as well."

Behind the folding fan, Ishikawa Hayato smiled quite dashingly.

Since Ishikawa Hayato had so openly expressed his true feelings, Nijika was even more at a loss with him.

Continuing to avoid the issue would make it seem like she completely distrusts Ishikawa Hayato.

She opened the door while sighing with a smile.

"I always feel terrified to be alone with Hayato-kun."

She also expressed her thoughts frankly.

The two entered the store, and Ishikawa Hayato turned on the store's ventilation system and closed the door. He then continued what Nijika had said.

"I have pepper spray, let me look for it."

What exactly is in your bag? And are there any other worries besides that?

As Nijika walked down, she turned back to him and complained.

As she reached the bottom of the steps, she saw Ishikawa Hayato take out a bottle of pepper spray from his bag and look at her with a smile. Nijika stood there dumbfounded.

When Ishikawa Hayato handed her the pepper spray, Nijika finally realized what was happening and pushed it back without hesitation.

"I would never use something like that."

She spoke in a serious tone, and after finishing, she unusually showed a heavy expression before turning and walking towards the rehearsal room.

Ishikawa Hayato smiled and followed behind her.

When Ishikawa Hayato entered the rehearsal room, he only closed the door slightly, not completely. For Nijika, who was already feeling uneasy, the enclosed space would only make her more nervous.

Then he looked into the rehearsal room, where the space that had been reserved for their practice was now piled with gift boxes and CDs.

The number was like a small mountain, demonstrating the terrifying magnitude of what seems like a small number as one thousand.

But on the ground, Ishikawa Hayato also saw a small pile of packaged CDs already laid out.

Ishikawa Hayato thought for a moment and then asked.

"I remember the CDs arrived last night, and the packaging only arrived this morning."

It seems like Nijika couldn't wait to start working on it as soon as she got it.

But when he asked her a question, Nijika did not answer. She stood two steps in front of Ishikawa Hayato with her back to him.

This is strange, she usually answers other people's questions first.

This time, however, she continued the previous topic on her own.

"Hayato-kun, do you know why I don't need that thing?"

Ishikawa Hayato began to realize something was wrong, but he still cooperated by making a nasal "hmm" sound to indicate his confusion.

Nijika then explained.

"Because no matter what you do to me now, I won't resist."

Her voice trembled slightly, tinged with a forced and nervous smile.

Unlike her voice, her silhouette appeared pitifully lonely, as if she were walking on the edge of everything, lost in distress.

There was neither acceptance nor opposition.

Ishikawa Hayato fell silent and didn't respond to her.

After waiting for a long time, Nijika finally turned around, looking at him with incredibly complex emotions including confusion, doubt, and disappointment.

Ishikawa Hayato spoke before she could.

"Is the answer... no?"

Given Nijika's unusual behavior, her decision was becoming increasingly clear.

She avoided his gaze, nodded hesitantly, and replied softly.

"Um."

Ishikawa Hayato let out a heavy sigh to ease his mind. He smiled, walked to the side, picked up a small chair, and said...

"Let's start packaging."

"Aren't you going to do something...?"

Nijika stood there with her head down, her voice filled with disappointment, as if she had offered compensation but the other party refused.

As Ishikawa Hayato adjusted his mindset, he slowly practiced his technique, preparing to increase his speed.

"If you feel you've received a lot of help from me, and therefore want to use this method..."

"No! That's not how it is..."

Nijika refused firmly.

"You can't possibly be trying to comfort me like that, can you?"

Ishikawa Hayato's tone became slightly harsher. He looked up at Nijika and saw that Nijika eyes were misty and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

The glistening tears reflected a fleeting glimmer of light as they fell, before shattering upon hitting the ground.

Drop by drop, continuously.

This girl, who wasn't as strong as others thought, and who had always been holding back her tears, couldn't help but cry in front of him this time.

"No..."

She only realized what was happening after Ishikawa Hayato looked at her, and hurriedly wiped away her tears.

Ishikawa Hayato understood her thoughts; she simply still didn't dare to take that step, wanting to end it all through this hurt and concession.

He softened his tone and confirmed again.

"Is this how you intend to end all of this, and incidentally make up for my feelings?"

Nijika covered her eyes, wiping away tears, and hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Um."

Ishikawa Hayato walked over, took out a tissue from his bag, and gently wiped her face while pressing her shoulder, softly wiping away her tears.

The sight of her once vibrant, rosy eyes now tinged with sadness and tears is heartbreaking.

She was truly prepared; even in such an intimate situation, she stood motionless.

Ishikawa Hayato wiped her face, pulled her into his arms, patted her head, and stroked her soft, golden hair.

"I wouldn't do something like that. I don't want to hurt Nijika."

He touched the back of Nijika's head, feeling that she seemed to be crying again. He didn't say anything, just quietly touched her head and gently patted her back.

After a while, feeling that the petite girl in his arms was gradually recovering, he spoke.

"Let's get our spirits up and get to work! We've been dawdling for so long, we might all have to work overtime tonight."

Nijika took a long, deep breath, her voice regaining its usual relaxed, smiling quality.

"Um."

She pulled away from Ishikawa Hayato's chest, wiped away her tears one last time, and gave a brave yet beautiful smile.

The two sat down beside the mountain of CDs and wrapping paper and began to work.

Because of the awkwardness just now, neither of them spoke for a long time, until Ishikawa Hayato, having mastered the art of packaging, finally spoke.

"Falcon 4x speed activated!"

Nijika looked up at him and saw him using dazzling techniques, as if leaving afterimages, to begin packaging CDs.

She silently packaged for a little while longer, seemingly not in the mood to do much more, but after a while, she saw that Ishikawa Hayato was still incredibly fast.

She glanced at the CDs packaged by Ishikawa Hayato and saw that they were still neatly and beautifully packaged, with the four corners perfectly aligned.

She then offered her advice.

"Hayato-kun doesn't need to work so hard."

"What if we can't finish?"

Even though his hands moved so fast they left afterimages, Ishikawa Hayato still had the energy to speak, and he glanced at Nijika in between.

She spoke in a calm tone, though with a hint of stubbornness.

"Take your time, it'll all be done eventually."

Do you stay up late at night?

After Ishikawa Hayato asked her question, she fell silent. This time, she hesitated for a long time, and a sense of guilt gradually crept in.

"Hayato-kun... I've already rejected you, you don't need to be nice to me anymore."

"I'll consider it, but I really need to finish this here. I don't want the other three to arrive to find the rehearsal room in such a mess; they definitely won't want to go back then."

As he spoke, he looked up at Nijika, his gaze meeting hers as she hesitated.

"Staying up all night for fun is different from staying up all night for work."

"Um..."

Seeing her serious expression, Ishikawa Hayato thought for a moment before slowing down, continuing to pack at twice the speed of Nijika.

Nijika is a decent and good girl; she doesn't want to receive unconditional love.

Although Ishikawa Hayato didn't think that way either.

Seeing that she was still in a heavy mood, Ishikawa Hayato casually asked her directly.

"Speaking of which, why did Nijika refuse?"

Nijika's heart skipped a beat, and she stopped what she was doing. At this point, she no longer intended to hide her thoughts from Ishikawa Hayato.

"Um..."

The first thing that came to her mind was her sister's subtle reminder to her last night, but she wasn't the type to use her sister as a shield; she chose the less important reason instead.

"It's probably society's opinion..."

For her, it was her sister's disapproval and societal views that combined overwhelmed her initial willingness to accept the situation.

"It's clearly rock music..."

Ishikawa Hayato teased, but Nijika, who usually would retort, looked at him helplessly.

He said, quite surprised.

"Hey, isn't this a great point to criticize? Let Nijika make a comment."

"Don't portray rock music as so terrible. There are good people in rock music too."

Nijika weakly chimed in with a sarcastic remark, but seemed to have regained some energy.

She stared blankly at the scattered CDs on the floor, her heart heavy.

"Hayato-kun, I'm sorry, I don't have the courage to rebel against everything I've always been. I'm timid, and I never dare to easily step into the unknown, even if I have regrets from the past..."

She sighed deeply, put down the CD in her hand, and decided to reveal all her thoughts.

"Moreover, my family's opinions and my sister's thoughts all worry me."