Chapter 364

The current emotional balance among the five people seems to have been easily achieved by him, but in reality, it is the result of his efforts to maintain that balance.

Of course, their assistance and tolerance also played a part.

Today, it's time to move in a further direction.

The four women walked behind him, and although they didn't know their destination or what they were going to do, they still trusted him wholeheartedly.

After walking for more than ten minutes on the still familiar road, I started to sweat a little in the hot weather.

Looking at the familiar scenery around him, Liang asked, "How much longer until we arrive?"

When Ishikawa Hayato saw that their destination was in sight, he stopped and turned to look at them, pointing ahead.

"It's right there."

The four looked around and saw the familiar flowerbeds, the familiar tall buildings, and the familiar sunken staircase entrance.

"Stars? Has Hayato-kun prepared a victory party?" Ikuyo exclaimed, looking at Ishikawa Hayato with suspicion.

Is this Hayato-kun planning a party here to secure their ultimate victory?

But why is it so mysterious, so serious?

She glanced at Ishikawa Hayato again, and when he shook his head in denial, she became even more puzzled.

Even so, the five continued walking forward.

As Nijika descended the stairs lined with band posters, she noticed that the door to Fanxing was locked. Surprised that Seika wasn't there, she prepared to open it.

But she saw Ishikawa Hayato calmly walk forward, and very familiarly take out his key from his pocket and open the door.

Where did Hayato-kun get the key?!

But because it was Ishikawa Hayato, Nijika wasn't too nervous and just planned to ask him later.

The five people entered the store.

After walking down the stairs a little, all four of them noticed something unusual about the shop.

There wasn't a single person there.

Hitori looked around the extremely quiet shop and said.

Inside the stadium, not only inside the venue, but also backstage and the restrooms, there was no sign of human presence.

Ryo watched as Ishikawa Hayato walked onto the stage. She looked around and followed him up.

She led the others to a spot behind the stage, crossed her arms, looked at Ishikawa Hayato, and asked:

"What are you trying to say by going to all this trouble?"

At this moment, the four of them stood in a row facing Ishikawa Hayato.

Ishikawa Hayato breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had finally arrived here and that no one would disturb him.

He smiled relaxedly, and said in an incredibly sincere voice:

Actually, I want to apologize.

As the four people gradually began to experience various emotions such as worry and doubt, he continued:

I apologize for my cowardice and timidity; I wonder if anyone else has noticed.

From Ikuyo at the beginning to Nijika at the end, everyone was the one who confessed first, while I was the one who was confessed to. I'm the one who's supposed to maintain this family, how could I be so despicable as to do this?"

The four of them were startled, looking at each other in surprise, and each recalled the scene from back then and what they had learned about the other people's confessions.

They suddenly realized that it seemed to be true, just as Ishikawa Hayato had said.

Ryo's tentative confession, Ikuyo's sneaking away, Hitori's resolute charge, and Nijika's lover's advice.

They did it all on their own initiative!

Seeing that it wasn't anything bad, Nijika relaxed and regained her usual gentle smile, looking around at the group before speaking.

"Now that you mention it, it seems right."

Liang, on the other hand, wore a disdainful, mocking expression.

"You're so weak that you only get girls to confess to you."

Hitori clenched her fist, covered her mouth, and looked excited. Only then did she realize that she had taken the initiative to confess her feelings.

She's amazing!

Ikuyo said smugly, "Is Hayato-kun planning to confess again? But a confession only counts as one, you know."

Seeing the pleased looks on their faces as if he had gained the upper hand, Ishikawa Hayato smiled, then quickly became serious and continued speaking.

"And I was also afraid that everyone would choose to leave because they couldn't adapt to living together as a group of five, so I never dared to make any promises. But now... I think it's okay."

He took a deep breath, praying that no one would refuse him, because if that happened, the balance among the five of them would be in jeopardy.

He mustered his courage and spoke loudly.

I want to confess my feelings to all four of you at once!

While they were dumbfounded, Ishikawa Hayato bowed deeply, stretched out his hand, and looked at the stage floor, calling out to them:

"I like you all, I like you all so much, please date me with marriage in mind! I will love you all for the rest of my life."

"Wait, wait, wait! How can you cheat like this! What do you mean by confessing to four people at once?!"

Nijika couldn't keep up with all the complaints, but she couldn't hide the joyful smile on her face.

Ikuyo Nijika and said, "Yeah! Confessing to a girl like that will almost always get you rejected, right?"

Liang was being very pretentious; she had a smug look on her face that said, "You'd better learn from me, kid."

"Looks like we even have to teach you how to confess your feelings."

Hitori quickly looked left and right, his hands clasped in front of his chest.

She really wanted to reach out and grab Ishikawa Hayato's hand, but seeing her companions doing this, she realized they were deliberately teasing Jun and didn't dare to act, lest she become the one who ran away and ruin everyone's unity.

Just as the girls' voices stopped, Ishikawa Hayato called out again.

"I mean it."

None of the girls doubted this. Now that he had done everything and could continue moving forward without doing anything special, he still confessed to them and specifically mentioned the four of them.

This can only be from the heart.

They saw his trembling hands and knew he didn't have to do it, but he did it anyway.

I just wanted to give them more peace of mind, and I just wanted them to see hope for the future.

The four looked at each other, all realizing how eager they were to grasp Ishikawa Hayato's hand.

Looking at the situation before her, Nijika knew that the fact that there were only five of them in the starry sky was a special arrangement made by Ishikawa Hayato.

In this place, at this time, at this crucial juncture leading to a wider world, he responsibly confessed his love and proposed to them.

She also intended to respond with some thoughts; after beckoning to the other three, she led them to a corner.

After exchanging a few words on their phones in the corner, the four of them quickly returned.

The five gathered for a night raid. Inside the starry sky of Qun Lu Jiu 69.49'36135, Ishikawa Hayato waited patiently on the stage until his index, middle, ring, and little fingers were touched one by one and pulled outwards.

He looked up at his hands.

The four girls huddled together, their slender, alluring fingers forming a tight band, making room for the others. Each of them then touched one of his four fingers.

This love and sharing—he was pampered by them once again.

Seeing Ishikawa Hayato's absent-minded expression, Nijika smiled and continued speaking while maintaining her pose.

"Hayato-kun, you can put your thumb away now."

She meant that she couldn't date anyone else.

But Ishikawa Hayato did not do as she said. He curled the four fingers of his other hand and pointed his thumb at himself.

A satisfied smile graced his face, and his eyes reflected their joyful and chuckling expressions.

This book is finished.

I wonder how the ending will feel to everyone, and whether the performance and the interlude were too short, or if the story progressed too quickly.

But I'm worried that if the story is too slow, it will deplete the emotions built up earlier.

Hmm... Thinking about this makes me uneasy again.

After all, I'm a complete loser...

Getting back to the main point, this book is finished! It's completely done!

First of all, I'd like to thank the editor for signing my book, letting this nobody experience what it's like to get a contract.

Secondly, thank you to dfreewa.

I started giving tips when I published the second chapter of the book, and they've been with me for over a year, along with the previous gold treasure chests and numerous in-between posts...

I was originally going to write a separate chapter to thank the treasure chest, but since it's already ended, I'll include it in the ending remarks.

Thank you so much! You've been a tremendous help with this book.

And Age919's Silver Treasure Chest.

Thank you so much!

To be honest, I really don't know how to respond to all these tips and donations. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. Is it really okay for someone as insignificant as me to receive such praise? But there's nothing I can do in return, so I can only express my thanks.

I hope all the big shots can find a beautiful white-haired girl, and have beast girls come to their door to repay their kindness every day.

Looking back on the past year or so, I still feel quite regretful. At first, I wanted to write an original story, but I didn't know what to write. So I thought I'd start with a light novel with a male protagonist and just write a protagonist with a strong personality to practice. I didn't think about the story at all, there wasn't even a big framework, and I even wrote in the synopsis that I might abandon it at any time.

As a result, people watched it, he received tips, and he even signed his first contract.

Then it took me over a year, dragging my feet, to finally finish writing it.

Just thinking about it makes me happy.

Moreover, I initially planned to write until the end of the school festival, or even just two or three hundred thousand words. But then I thought that writing only two or three hundred thousand words after signing a contract would be disrespectful to the editor, so I lengthened the story and continued writing.

Without an outline, I can't write one. I only managed to squeeze out a little time to write it after a long day at work...

In this situation, to be honest, I feel my writing is quite poor. Perhaps I should have added more conflict, added some villains? And then, like others, separated the girls? Or pitted the girls against each other? Or used the parents as the source of conflict?

But it's hard to imagine how they could be willing to share the main character with someone else when their relationship is so bad. Even if the main character tries their best to maintain the relationship, it feels like a major conflict will inevitably erupt sooner or later.

Or perhaps I simply prefer perfect, fairytale-like stories and therefore don't want to add those elements.

However, it might just be my perception that it's poorly written. After all, I also thought it was terrible when I finished the last one. But a few months later, when I was relaxing, I took another look, and wow, even though there weren't any major events, I ended up reading for hours and actually quite enjoying it.

Ah... even writing the closing remarks feels like a mess.

Finally, here's the usual ending.

Their story continues, we just can't see it anymore.

The five of them staying together will definitely continue, since even if Ishikawa Hayato upsets one of the girls, the other girls will help mediate, making things very stable.

As for my plans afterward.

I might write another short story to practice; I'd like to write an adventure/battle story, but I'll wait until I finish the epilogue.

Thank you for reading this far. I wish you all a relaxed and happy life after finishing this book! Hope to see you again with the next book!

"All you brats and girls from the Ishikawa family, come out and assemble!"

In the living room of the large villa, Ishikawa Hayato, who looked no different from his younger self but was actually 39 years old, shouted upstairs.

The villa, housing 11 people including five adults and six children, was quite large and was therefore forced to be decorated in a lavish manner.

Although there are no exaggerated colors, the furnishings, from the walls and doors to the furniture and floors, all look quite elegant.

In this house, Ishikawa Hayato's shouts were deafening, and even Hitori and Nijika, who were prepared and had hidden to the side covering their ears, couldn't help but show expressions of unbearable pain.

After the sound faded, ignoring the chaotic footsteps and exclamations in the house, Nijika walked over, tugged at Ishikawa Hayato's sleeve in annoyance, and called out to him.