Chapter 350

Then Ishikawa Hayato patted his chest.

"It's my turn to lead Nijika here, since I'm more experienced. Let's go see a live performance!"

"So skilled..." Nijika sighed with a faint smile.

Inside the hotel, Ikuyo, having finished checking off all the sights in the hotel, happily took out her phone, opened the door to their room, and went inside.

As soon as she entered, she saw the two playing games, and her smile immediately faded. She complained.

"They actually played video games while traveling..."

Ryo heard Ikuyo's voice and spoke without turning her head.

"You're back."

"Welcome back, Ikuyo-chan." Hitori turned and glanced at Ikuyo, then her game character got brutally beaten up by Ryo.

"Um."

Ikuyo agreed and walked over, excitedly saying, "It's almost time for dinner, isn't it? Let's go downstairs and properly enjoy the food here today!"

"Is it already this late?"

After finishing off the character Hitori, Liang checked the time, stood up, and said, "Let's go eat first, and then see what Hayabusa's plans are."

Both of them looked at her. Ikuyo, with a surprised smile, said, "You mean..."

Liang took out her phone. "Let me ask him."

Back in the city, the two had dinner and then went to the performance venue. There aren't many performance venues in Beppu, so Ishikawa Hayato chose the one with the best reputation.

On the darkened street, the two held hands and followed the lights to find the performance venue.

"Found it," Nijika said, pointing to the performance venue that looked just like the ticket.

"Alright, let me, a master of performance venues, show you what makes this venue different!"

Ishikawa Hayato pulled out his ticket, put his hands on his hips, and said menacingly.

Nijika chuckled twice and muttered under her breath, "When it comes to performance venues, I should know more about them than Hayato-kun, right?"

The two went inside.

Once inside, the tickets were in Nijika's hands. She excitedly took the tickets and stood in front of Ishikawa Hayato to hand them over.

Then, Ishikawa Hayato glanced at his vibrating phone.

Liang: "Are you coming back tonight?"

Ishikawa Hayato: "I guess I'll go back."

Liang: "Did you get it?"

Ishikawa Hayato: "I'm too embarrassed to answer your question."

Liang: "This is terrible. I was thinking we should avoid it."

Ishikawa Hayato: "If there's a chance, please make sure to avoid this area, or Nijika and I can stay out overnight."

Liang: "If you need to avoid us, just let me know in advance, and we'll hide in your room."

Upon hearing her words, Ishikawa Hayato inexplicably thought of smashing a cup as a signal, and dozens of axemen rushed out.

However, while he was talking to Ryo, the short line at the ticket checkpoint had already reached two people. After having her ticket checked, Nijika turned around and said to Ishikawa Hayato.

"Hayato-kun, this performance venue is quite large."

Ishikawa Hayato watched as she looked around and slowly approached him.

He walked over, Nijika immediately took his arm, but her eyes were still pretending to look around curiously.

Ishikawa Hayato smiled inwardly. This girl was hiding her unease again. He had been to so many performance venues, but he had never seen her so curious.

This seems to suggest they should hide next door.

240. All white

When they arrived, the performance had already begun inside the venue. The hall was half-dark except for the stage, which was brightly lit, and music was being played live from the brightly lit area.

The performance on the stage, just a few steps away, allowed the audience to see the musicians' true state of mind while playing, making it easier to feel the emotions in the music.

As was their custom, Ishikawa Hayato and Nijika went straight to the front desk to get drinks after entering.

Upon reaching the front desk, the two spoke in unison.

"A glass of orange juice."

After saying that, the two of them were both taken aback, then looked at each other and smiled.

The staff were used to these couples unintentionally showing affection, so they responded and turned to get drinks.

As the staff turned their backs, Ishikawa Hayato looked down at Nijika and said.

"If you really want to test the quality of drinks at a performance venue, orange juice is a must-order."

He closed his eyes and nodded proudly, displaying an attitude of great minds thinking alike.

Nijika was exasperated by him, and said with a smile, leaning close to his ear, "I just like orange juice, or rather, Hayato-kun, you deliberately ordered orange juice, didn't you?"

Ishikawa Hayato looked somewhat puzzled and glanced back at the band playing excitedly on stage.

"The music is so loud, I didn't hear what Nijika said."

Nijika rolled her eyes at him, but just then a staff member brought over two glasses of orange juice, and she immediately smiled and took the two drinks.

"Thanks."

Ishikawa Hayato took the drink from Nijika's hand, and the two of them walked into the arena with their drinks.

After watching some performances in recent places, Nijika noticed that the audience response was not very strong, but the band on stage was still performing very energetically and enthusiastically.

She glanced around and spoke to Ishikawa Hayato in a low voice.

"It seems to be a new band."

"Well, it's only a little past seven o'clock, and the performance has only just started."

Ishikawa Hayato approached her and said this, but unexpectedly Nijika suddenly smiled slyly and asked.

"How come Hayato-kun can hear it even though it's so noisy now?"

Nijika actually set a trap for him?!

Ishikawa Hayato looked at her adorable face, illuminated by the flashing lights in various colors, and couldn't help but be surprised.

Only when the music reached its emotional climax did he lean close to her ear and speak clearly to her.

"Because I can't just answer that I want to enjoy the same flavor as Nijika, can I? Besides... Nijika's gone astray."

Nijika's ears turned red quickly. She lowered her head and gulped down her drink, then hugged Ishikawa Hayato's hand and said...

"There are too many people here, please don't attack me like this."

Ishikawa Hayato chuckled twice.

After watching the main band's performance that evening, the two left the venue and boarded the bus back home.

It was five stops from their hotel; there were a few people on the bus, but not many.

The two found seats and sat down, then naturally took hands.

A large, well-defined hand and a small, soft, smooth hand intertwined their fingers.

Nijika looked out the window as if she were on a high-speed train.

The scenery outside the window was completely different from Tokyo. The same neon lights and the same building materials created a city that felt novel.

After a short while, Nijika looked out the window and tightened her grip on Ishikawa Hayato's hand.

"Hayato-kun, let's stay somewhere else tonight."

"Are you really sure?" Ishikawa Hayato asked.

Even though she knew Ishikawa Hayato would immediately understand, Nijika's pursed lips trembled slightly with a mix of emotions when she heard him ask that question.

"Um."

"Then let me look at other places..."

Ishikawa Hayato quickly searched on his phone with one hand, then deliberately looked back after a moment to make sure no one was around before whispering, "The couple thing... is that okay?"

Nijika lowered her head, her eyelids slightly drooping.

It's normal for hotels to be out of rooms during the tourist season; she should have expected that.

But love hotels...

Seeing her reaction, Ishikawa Hayato tapped his phone again and showed her the Line conversation he had just had with Ryo.

"It seems they had planned this welcome all along."

Nijika glanced at the messages, then swiped the screen to see what came before and after. Looking at Ishikawa Hayato's reply, which showed no certainty about winning her over, she smiled slightly, a mixture of helplessness and amusement on her lips.

Seeing Ryo's messages, which were practically begging him to hurry up and send them, he turned to Ishikawa Hayato and said.

"It's really unexpected that Ryo would help Hayato-kun in this regard."

Ishikawa Hayato put his phone away.

"She just felt uncomfortable watching me dawdle because I was too slow. Besides, she wasn't helping me. She only agreed because it was Nijika. If I brought someone else, she would have just packed her bags and left."

"Grab your bags and leave... Hayato-kun really knows Ryo."

Nijika smiled as she imagined the scene and realized it wasn't impossible.

"Are you going back tonight?" Ishikawa Hayato asked, feigning calmness, then quickly added, "In a special sense."

After he finished speaking, Nijika's hand, which was clasped with his, suddenly tightened.

Half a second later, she sat back in the chair and placed her other hand in a fist on her lap.

Seeing her nervous expression, Ishikawa Hayato gently patted the back of her hand.

The bus passed another stop, and amidst the mechanical announcements and the screech of the air brakes, Ishikawa Hayato heard a barely audible "hmm."

He didn't look at Nijika, but simply tightened his grip on her hand in response.

As the bus moved forward, the surrounding streets changed from bustling to quiet. Although this is a tourist city, only a few places are lively at night. The other streets are like those in other Japanese cities, and there are hardly any people around 8 or 9 pm.

The silence of the street meant there were far fewer passengers on the bus, and Ishikawa Hayato and Nijika remained silent.

After a short while, Ishikawa Hayato couldn't help but speak.

"Nijika, would you like to hear the story of the terrifying bus?"

Nijika immediately kicked off his shoes and said quickly, "Hayato-kun, I'm sleepy. I need to go to sleep as soon as we get back."

Ishikawa Hayato's expression changed, and he hurriedly said, "Would you like to hear me sing a BabyBus song?"

Although Nijika didn't know what BabyBus was, she guessed what it was from his attitude and asked with a smile.

What is BabyBus?

Ishikawa Hayato then used his phone to search, and although it took some effort, he found the video and showed it to Nijika.

Nijika turned her head to look at the Chinese children's song with Japanese subtitles, and at the cute scene that her older sister would like. Her expression went from strange to suppressing a laugh, and then, as if she was thinking of something, she burst into laughter, shaking uncontrollably.

After a while, she came to her senses and looked around, seeing that there were still people smiling and talking.

"Sing it to me again later."

"Good."

After getting off the car, the two walked up the slope, which was only about a hundred meters away from the hotel.

Even though she knew what to do next, Nijika surprisingly didn't feel too uneasy. She was actually very afraid of unfamiliar territory, but now she was as calm as if she were just strolling around at other times.

She held onto Ishikawa Hayato's arm and rested her head on his shoulder as she asked.