Chapter 608

"Nothing new."

"How's Chuchu's place? Is the space big enough?"

"That's not bad either."

"Cat café."

"Huh?" XN

Ten pairs of eyes focused simultaneously on a certain Songstress, their expressions a mixture of astonishment and confusion.

"Um, Yukina, cat cafes are usually more focused on quiet, right? It might not be the best place for a celebration..." Imai Risa tried to persuade her.

"But we have a free card, wouldn't it be a waste not to use it?"

"That's true... but you just... two days ago..."

"That really suits Minato-kun's style," Hikawa Sayo smiled.

"What is a cat café?" Tamade Chiyu asked, puzzled.

"Oh, Chuchu-san, don't you know?" Shirabe Rinko tilted her head, glancing furtively at Ogura Asahi, her voice soft and gentle. "It's a cat cafe run by Miss Ogura, with lots and lots of adorable cats~"

"As a special perk, she gave each of us a permanent membership card."

"..."

With Tamade Chiyu slammed her hand on the table in front of him, her petite figure pressing down on him with overwhelming force, her small face contorted with anger. "Why wasn't this mentioned in the contract we were given?!"

She didn't care about the value of the membership card; she just didn't want to be left behind by Roselia, even by a little bit.

Ogura Asahi blinked awkwardly; if Minato Yukina and Shirabe Rinko hadn't brought it up, he would have completely forgotten about it.

"... Actually, this wasn't in their contracts; it was a last-minute decision to include it."

"We agreed on the same conditions! We want them too!!"

"..."

After dealing with the Tamade Chiyu, and declining their invitation to celebrate, he chose to obediently go to work at the Starry Sky.

With the boss right there beside them, can they really celebrate properly? Maybe it's best not to disturb them.

Besides, he really had a lot on his plate today.

"Yukino Shita- san, any progress?" After finishing his daily preparations, he walked out of the kitchen and spoke to Yukino Shita Yukino was fiddling with the Smart Lens and computer nearby.

He was asking about the matter of asking her to help set up an online Livehouse a couple of days ago.

Yukino Shita Yukino frowned. "We've gathered some information and know what to do, but..."

"Since I've never done it before, I don't know if it's correct?" he speculated.

"Um."

"It's okay. You can discuss it with the store manager first, consult some professionals, and then just go for it. Even if it's not perfect at first, I don't think she'll blame you."

"Snort."

Yukino Shita Yukino snorted softly, as if to say, "Do you need to tell me this? You're the kind of person who does nothing, so get out of my way..."

"... Then good luck."

Seeing that she wasn't very welcoming to him, he chose to avoid confrontation.

Just as he was about to go to the recording studio at the back to give some pointers to the Kessoku Band, Yukino Shita Yukino suddenly spoke up, "You've started your exams these past few days, right? How are they going?"

"As you can see, I'm very free."

"..."

Leaving the aloof girl who remained silent and wouldn't speak to him anymore, he entered the recording studio filled with "warmth".

The moment he pushed open the door, the rousing melody amplified dozens or even hundreds of times, instantly enveloping him.

They played and sang their latest songs earnestly, their postures unrestrained and stiff—except for a certain white cat who was so casual it was almost humming a tune.

But despite the joy, her performance was almost perfect.

As the last note faded, Kanau didn't even look at the others, but walked to the cabinet next to her, picked up the daifuku Daifuku and started eating, her cute little mouth covered in coconut flakes.

Compared to before, when she would frequently run out of her room and wander aimlessly in the underground space and the Shimokitazawa district above, unable to find anyone, this was already a huge improvement—but the price was Ichiji Nijika's increasingly thin wallet.

"... No, it doesn't feel like something's missing."

"It's okay! There's still a week until the next live, there's still time! Good luck, Ryo- Ryo-senpai!"

"Ah, I... I think things are pretty good right now!"

"Liang has become increasingly professional lately, not bad~ not bad... Ah, Mr. Talent!"

Ichiji Nijika spotted him talking to Yuihama Yui.

The fact that they only noticed it now demonstrates their focus just now.

"Mr. Talent, are you open for business yet?" That was the first thing she asked.

Even if it weren't for him leaving early, she really needed to replenish her allowance lately.

"We still have some time. I'm just looking around. You guys continue," Sakurakoji Talent explained, then turned to Yuihama Yui.

In a sense, Starry has become the second activity room of the Service Club.

Under his various temptations and pressures, Yukino Shita Yukino has been coming here more and more frequently after school lately. Her best friend (whom she considers herself) Yuihama Yui is also often with her.

Of course, a large part of the reason is that the Service Club is simply bored out of its mind.

It's nominally about serving others, but the only difference between it and the Home Return Department is that it takes place in a school.

After all, even the Homebound Club doesn't go straight home every day, right? Just like their mission, it's something like an error margin.

"Classmate Yuihama is here to listen to their performance again? Isn't that boring?"

"Ah, um," Yuihama Yui slowly forced a smile, "Because everyone is so amazing!"

Sakurakoji Talent's eyes narrowed as she sensed something was wrong; her energy was noticeably lower than usual.

After a little thought, I roughly understand why.

"Even so, you didn't come here because of that, did you?"

"Huh?"

"It seems to me you've come here seeking noise... Tell me, what happened?"

Ignoring the background noise of "They actually called it noise! How outrageous! Talent-senpai!", he looked at Yuihama Yui.

Surrounded by gossipy high school girls who were all secretly observing and not really paying attention to their performance, Yuihama Yui rubbed her Hands together and said slowly and in a low voice, "Actually, it's related to what happened with Kawasaki last time..."

As he expected, the whole story was that, after the previous request, Komachi Hikigaya recognized her as the owner of the dog that caused Hikigaya Hachiman's hospitalization at the start of the school year. Hikigaya Hachiman then assumed she was deliberately trying to get close to him and being kind to him, etc...

After listening, Sakurakoji Talent didn't offer any advice or words, but instead turned to the other five people beside him. "What do you think of this story?"

"What complicated relationships between teenagers!"

"That's true~"

"Ah, ahh..."

"Cut."

"Bored girls and boys."

The five people reacted differently.

Ichiji Nijika and Kita Ikuyo felt it was inappropriate to interfere, given the complicated nature of their youthful friendship; Gotou Hitori was so overwhelmed by the situation that he collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Yamada Ryo clicked his tongue dismissively and went back to polishing the piece; Kanau lowered her eyelids listlessly and went back to practice with her guitar.

--However, she may have already been educated by Shinji Rinriko, so now she has changed "woman" to "girl".

"Eh..." After seeing their reactions, Yuihama Yui was stunned.

Is this... this... this really such a boring, ordinary thing? She's really bothered by it! She hasn't even gone to the Service Club for the past few days!

She could tell that even though Ichiji Nijika and Kita Ikuyo had their lines carefully crafted, their forced smiles masked their indifference to the matter.

Why, why, why?!

"Want to know why they reacted this way?" Seeing her surprise, Sakurakoji Talent smiled seldom.

"Ah..." Yuihama Yui was startled, then nodded repeatedly.

Even Mr. Talent looks like this... Could it be that the ways of thinking Tokyo and Chiba residents are really that different?

Sakurakoji Talent didn't keep anyone in suspense, directly pointing out the answer, "Because your thinking is too rigid, circuitous, and especially awkward. Once you get stuck on a rut, it's like a knotted thread that makes people irritable."

Chapter 550 Birthday Banquet Turns into Shura Field?

"Mmm~ Mmm!"

Ichiji Nijika and Kita Ikuyo were like hired trolls, providing comedic relief from the sidelines.

"Eh~? How could this be! W-What do you mean?" Yuihama Yui and hurried tone, her voice distorted, as if she were the only one who was completely out of the loop.

"Don't you understand?" Sakurakoji Talent felt sorry for her emotional intelligence. Was this the aftereffect of spending too much time in a normal school within a distorted society?

Tsk, that's why he dislikes these kinds of overly cautious social relationships.

He looked at Ichiji Nijika: "Nijika, if it were you, what would you do in this situation?"

"Ah, me?" Ichiji Nijika thought for a moment, and then, without much thought, her face lit up with the sun's rays. "Can't I just bring the gift and explain in person?"

The idea was simple, but it shocked Yuihama Yui.

"Hey?! No way!" She hurriedly waved her hand, "If we don't explain things clearly, things will get more complicated and the relationship will get worse!"

"And besides, it wasn't my fault... It just doesn't feel right to let it go like this..."

She tapped her index finger against each other, pouted her thin lips, and had a fleeting expression—a typical young person who cared a lot about appearances.

The awkward high school student, Sakurakoji Talent, rolled her eyes and called out to the next person, "Kita- chan, what would you do if you were in her shoes?"

"Hey hey hey!" The second sun rose, completely sweeping away the oppressive atmosphere created by Yuihama Yui. "I'll call him out and apologize! I'll say I didn't mean it that way and hope we can get along normally in the future! Then I'll bring him a gift to thank him for saving the dog!"

Yuihama Yui her aura, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. "... Kita- chan and Nijika are really amazing, aren't they~~~"

I almost forgot, their personalities are so Angel, they simply don't have a negative mindset!

Both are located in sunny corners, but what kind of kids are in my class and school? The difference between them is just too great!

To paraphrase Yukino Shita Yukino, they were a bunch of dark, dim-witted people who only knew how to gossip behind people's backs...

"You're overthinking things; your thinking is limited by your long-standing environment and 'common sense'," he concluded.

"Because of the ingrained bad 'atmosphere' from the past, you feel that this is a difficult, embarrassing, and complicated matter, but in reality, if you step back and look at it from a different perspective, it's not a big deal at all."

"This matter can be easily resolved by changing the way it's handled. For example, all five of them would handle it in their own way."

"..." Yuihama Yui remained silent, pointing her delicate finger at Gotou Hitori on the ground, and asked questioningly, "Bocchi-chan too?"

Sakurakoji Talent glanced at Gotou Hitori, who was still sprawled on the ground, and nodded firmly. "That's right!"

"I don't believe it!" she said firmly.

Ugh! The pink slug shuddered, as if it had been shot again!

Although it's true, it still feels... Yuigahama -san says it like that.

"You've got it wrong, Classmate Yuihama." He pointed a finger at her to correct her, "Bocchi-chan is just not good at scheming in interpersonal relationships, but she would never encounter a situation like yours."

"You find yourself in this predicament because you want to build good relationships with people and actively integrate into their circles, yet you're constrained by various taken-for-granted expectations. You're neither entirely gentle nor entirely cold-hearted."

"But Bocchi-chan is different. If you ask why, it's because she simply doesn't have the courage to talk to people. She'll sit in her seat and wait forever, secretly imagining what she's waiting for."

"That's right, just Hikitani classmate before... if no one talks to him, he gets absorbed in his own world, so he won't encounter the situation you're in now."

Click!

Something on the ground seemed to have silently shattered into dozens of pieces.

"Yes, that makes a lot of sense..." Yuihama Yui's eyelashes twitched, and she inexplicably found it very convincing.

He then pointed to the two who were completely absorbed in their own world. "Ryo and Rakuna are the same. They are only interested in people and things that interest them. What others think or think is almost irrelevant to them."

"And that aloof, friendless young lady outside, if it were her, she probably wouldn't even bother with or think about such things; she'd just keep her distance."