Omnibus Anime: In a Music Anime, Relaxed and Happy

Nijika added in her heart.

Yamada Ryo sneezed at the perfect moment.

Goto Hitori suddenly felt an itch in her nose and throat as well.

She never expected that this person had been brought here by Bai Qiu-kun!

But what could she say?

In the end, Bai Qiu apologized to Yoruna.

Bai Qiu promised to treat her to all the Matcha Parfaits she could eat next time.

Upon hearing this, Yoruna accepted happily.

Chapter 36: Where the Dream Begins

On the pedestrian bridge behind Moon Forest.

Nearby, high-rise buildings stood in rows, and the lights of ten thousand homes illuminated the city.

Toyokawa Shoko hung her head, her eyes fixed on the road below the bridge, where cars drove by one after another without a moment's pause.

When a person stands at a great height, they cannot help but have such thoughts: what would happen if they accidentally fell?

Would they... die?

If they were lucky enough not to die, they would most likely end up disabled.

At this very moment, standing on the pedestrian bridge, Toyokawa Shoko could not help but let such thoughts rise in her heart.

However, she had no thoughts of ending her life at this time.

At least, that was what she believed.

Come to think of it... why did she even come to this place?!

Toyokawa Shoko clenched her fists, unable to help but ask herself.

There was a very high probability of running into one of the people she least wanted to see right now: Takamatsu Tomo.

Because Takamatsu Tomo's home was in the residential building right next door.

But... she had already encountered Tomo once at school today.

Toyokawa Shoko had always been aware of the fact that she and Takamatsu Tomo attended the same school.

Because on the first day of school, she had already gone through the entire list of new students.

She did this specifically to ensure that there was no one in this school who knew her, or whom she knew.

Did that seem unnecessary?

Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but mock herself.

Because aside from Crychic, her social circle was actually entirely within Tsukinomori Girls' Academy.

Besides Toyokawa Shoko, who else among the Moon Forest students would flee to these ordinary schools like a stray dog?

However, her luck was truly a bit poor.

She had actually seen two familiar names on the list.

One of them was Takamatsu Tomo.

She was also the person Shoko felt she owed the most.

Fortunately, Takamatsu Tomo was in Class 3, while she was on a higher floor in Class 8.

From the start of school until this afternoon, the two had never crossed paths.

However, at the end of the school day today, Toyokawa Shoko left as usual and ran into Takamatsu Tomo at the corner of the staircase.

She understood that meeting was only a matter of time.

But she had still prayed for it to be as late as possible.

When Takamatsu Tomo saw her, she seemed somewhat delighted and surprised.

But there also seemed to be timidity and fear.

Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but recall the scene of seeing Takamatsu Tomo; she had looked like she wanted to say something to her.

But under her own extremely cold gaze, Takamatsu Tomo retreated.

Just like a penguin encountering its natural predator.

Yet, faced with Takamatsu Tomo's retreat, Toyokawa Shoko secretly breathed a sigh of relief. How cunning she was.

After school, she finished her part-time job as she did every day.

About half an hour ago, she returned to that simple, cramped home.

Before even pushing open that old door, a nauseating stench of alcohol wafted out.

Stepping inside, the wooden floor was littered with empty liquor bottles.

It was somewhat laughable, really...

Looking at the bottles on the floor, Toyokawa Shoko's first thought was actually:

If she cleaned them up, she could sell them as scrap and earn a meager income.

Some of the bottles even had residual alcohol still dripping from them.

Toyokawa Shoko forced herself to endure the disgust in her heart and worked hard to tidy the place up.

Even now, as she recalled it, her beautiful brows couldn't help but furrow.

Returning to her room, she prepared to store the wages she had received from her part-time job today along with her previous savings.

Only to discover that the zipper of the wallet she kept hidden in the cabinet had been pulled open.

Naturally, the wallet was completely empty.

This was the small amount of savings she had managed to scrape together by working hard, leaving early and returning late, for quite some time.

There was no need to ask... Toyokawa Shoko knew exactly what had happened.

It must have been her degenerate, self-abandoning bastard of a father who had snuck in and taken it.

Toyokawa Shoko no longer felt even a shred of desire to speak with that father.

She only blamed herself over and over in her heart; she had already known what kind of person he was.

Why... why had she still kept her savings in the house?

She was just... just so...

Clutching the few remaining banknotes in her hand tightly.

Toyokawa Shoko ran out.

She didn't know what kind of emotions she was harboring.

As she walked... she eventually arrived at this place.

It was here that she had first met Takamatsu Tomo; back then, she was still a carefree young lady.

What was Akari doing here at that time?

Toyokawa Shoko pondered, her slender arm reaching out toward the air involuntarily.

The scene from that time surfaced in her mind.

However, there were no cherry blossoms this time.

Even the leaves on the surrounding trees had long since turned yellow, casting a sorrowful hue over everything.

Toyokawa Shoko suddenly realized that, at some point, she had ended up just like Akari had back then, standing on the lowest railing of the guardrail.

This was a dangerous position.

Cars were speeding by beneath the bridge.

Right, that was exactly it.

That was why she had mistakenly believed at the time that Takamatsu Tomo wanted to take her own life.

And so, in order to save her, she had rushed over, pushed Tomo down, and they had both tumbled onto the ground together.

Staring at the cars below in a daze, Toyokawa Shoko felt no fear in her eyes.

That's right, she was no longer even afraid of death, so what else was there to fear?

The weak version of her from the past was already dead.

So, what did it matter if the money was gone?

Toyokawa Shoko's mouth opened and closed.

She wanted to shout those words.

I want to become human!

But she found that she couldn't make a sound no matter how hard she tried.

Toyokawa Shoko smiled. Perhaps...

She wasn't worthy of it anymore...

Just as Toyokawa Shoko was lost in her trance, a sudden sensation of falling struck her.

Immediately after, the world seemed to spin along with her.

With a thud, Toyokawa Shoko fell heavily to the ground.

A sensation of pain instantly coursed through her entire body via her nerves.

Arms, ankles, back...

The pain caused tears to involuntarily well up in the corners of Toyokawa Shoko's eyes.

She then forced herself to look up at the person before her who had pushed her down.

He looked familiar; it felt like she had seen him somewhere before.

Why am I crying?

She hadn't cried even once since that day.

She had clearly told herself that the weak version of her from the past was already dead.

Yet why, even now, could she not stop the tears from falling?

"You can't!"

"I'm sorry I pushed you down."

"But you cannot seek death!"

Urgency, concern, gentleness, apology...

The handsome face before her was filled with worry.

His voice was also laced with a complex mix of emotions.

Words of care continued to reach Toyokawa Shoko's ears.

However, Toyokawa Shoko did not respond.

Instead, she suddenly reached out and pressed a hand to her chest.

Now, her chest was also aching with a dull pain.