Chapter Twenty-Three: Think More

The girl at the front desk sighed. I wanted a boyfriend like that too.

Lu Yi found their seats and sat down with Toyokawa Sakiko. Guests had already taken their seats in the theater. Sitting beside Lu Yi was a girl in a baseball cap with a great figure. Lu Yi took a closer look and realized she seemed to be Yutenji Wakame.

Not seemed. It was her!

"Oh my, little brother, do you know me?" Yutenji Wakame asked, raising an eyebrow at Lu Yi.

"Yes. I often see your videos on YouTube," Lu Yi said. She was one of Sakiko's target members, so it would be better to build a good relationship first.

"Really? Which of my videos have you seen?" Yutenji Wakame's eyes lit up.

"The one you posted on New Year's Day," Lu Yi said without changing expression.

"Master, I was taking the day off then. I didn't post a video."

The conversation had died on the spot.

"Little brother, you're making me look bad," Yutenji Wakame said helplessly. She had not expected to run into Lu Yi here. She had already been curious when she saw a crowd surrounding him earlier, and now she had unexpectedly met him here.

"Sorry, sorry. But I really do know who you are—a blogger who's been very popular lately," Lu Yi said.

"That's right. But besides makeup videos, I'd also like to try something in another field. What do you think, little brother?"

"How about drumming?"

"Music?" Yutenji Wakame froze, not expecting Lu Yi to give such a definite answer.

Lu Yi looked at Yutenji Wakame's hands. She had ten fingers, and I happened to have a mouth... No, that was wrong. I happened to have two drumsticks.

"You're ambidextrous, right? That's a huge advantage for a drummer. As an arranger, I really like people like you," Lu Yi said.

"Is that so?"

Yutenji Wakame blinked. Drumming did not sound bad. Maybe she would try it after she got home.

Still, she did not think Lu Yi was especially professional. He looked far too young, and she had never seen a prodigious boy like him on television.

But the movie had started by then, so she could not continue talking. She focused on watching the film.

"Drumming, huh..."

Yutenji Wakame, who had been too curious to stay put, had left the theater and returned home. She muttered to herself while browsing drum kits online.

Just then, she noticed a message from her manager.

Manager: [Wakame, do you want to try working in the music field?]

What a coincidence. I was just thinking about trying it too.

Yutenji Wakame froze, then curiously replied: [Why do you say that?]

Her manager was a practical person. He would not say something like that without a specific purpose.

Manager: [Take a look at this video. It's been very popular in our circle lately. If you can become like him, there's no problem with your popularity rising another two levels.]

Yutenji Wakame opened the video her manager had sent. The filming quality was not very good, and the rain was loud, mixed with the sounds of the izakaya. But the voice coming from beyond the curtain of rain made her forget all of that. Clear singing and guitar flowed slowly into her ears.

Yutenji Wakame could not help becoming immersed in it. She only came back to herself after the video had finished playing.

What an incredible voice.

If it were her, her number of fans would definitely shoot up!

But the person in the video looked somewhat familiar.

Yutenji Wakame took a closer look and suddenly realized that it was Lu Yi.

"Eh!?"

Was it really that person!?

At night, moonlight shone over the house. Toyokawa Sakiko sat alone in the small room separated by curtains, working beneath a desk lamp. Turning on the living-room light would waste electricity, and the desk lamp was enough. Besides, its warm yellow glow was gentler.

After her bath, she sat on the bedding and wrote in her diary. She had kept this diary for many years.

"April 15. Today I went to Ring with Akari-chan and the others. So that's how the drink machine works. What an eye-opener. Crychic will definitely become the perfect band."

"May 17. A great success! Crychic's first performance was a huge success. I love everyone the most. Whether it's Akari, Rikki, Mutsumi, or Soyo, everyone is my lifelong friend. Oh, right, I should invite everyone over for tea next time. I need to prepare some snacks. The future will definitely be even happier!"

"..."

"June 5. Today, Father and I moved out of the house."

"July 1. For the sake of the scholarship, I should transfer to Haneoka."

"August (crossed out). I'm running a little short on money. I need to find a part-time job. I should also clean up the beer bottles at home."

"..."

"November. Akari came to see me today, but I didn't answer. (There are traces of tears.)"

"December. As usual."

"January. During New Year's, I bought a cake and brought it home. Father wasn't there."

"..."

"March 1. So crossing between worlds really does happen. Can that boy be trusted? He looks quite handsome, but appearances can be deceiving. I need to stay on my guard."

"March 3. The boy named Lu Yi seems to mean me no harm, but his towels actually have pictures of me in my swimsuit on them. How embarrassing!"

"March 7. We crossed over again today. Lu Yi is a very impressive college student. The things he says are very interesting."

"March 9. Lu Yi and I went to the Sky Tree. The scenery that day was beautiful. Lu Yi said he wanted to share every beautiful view with me. Sure enough, he's someone I can trust—apart from the fact that he rode away on someone else's bicycle (laugh)."

"March 11. Today's movie was very good. I wonder whether Lu Yi thought that we might have a similar story while watching it. I don't know, but one thing is certain: Lu Yi is my best friend..."

Beneath the warm yellow light, Toyokawa Sakiko hesitated before crossing out the word "friend" in her diary. The tip of her pen hovered over the paper, pressing down a few black dots without writing a new word. She closed the diary and looked toward the room just across the wall. That was where Lu Yi was.

"Good night," Toyokawa Sakiko said softly, smiling faintly.

I hope you have a good dream.

I don't need one. I'm already living in a wonderful dream.

Beneath the night sky, the moon shone brightly over the earth.

******

Do you have any votes? Do you have any votes? Do you have any votes? Important things must be said three times.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Think More

In the morning, Lu Yi greeted Toyokawa Sakiko.

"I'm off to school, then. See you later." Toyokawa Sakiko's smile was radiant, and the sunlight made her face glow.

"Okay."

Why was Sakiko so happy today?

Could it be because I looked even more handsome today?

Lu Yi watched Toyokawa Sakiko's back with some confusion, not knowing what she was thinking. Then he remembered Old Man's advice—Little Yi, all I can tell you is to think more.

You old geezer, are you trying to start a Three-Body Problem invasion?

Believe me, I'll use the Advance Four and make a run for it!

Lu Yi had plenty to do. As a college student, his workload was quite heavy. What his homeroom teacher had said in high school about college being easy had been pure nonsense. Only after entering college did he realize that he had merely stepped into another academic hell. His advisor's assignment for him was still arranging music.

Lu Yi used to get stuck in endless overthinking, spending every day from morning until night with dark circles under his eyes. Recently, however, he was clearly thinking less and often went out to have fun with Sakiko, yet for some reason his ideas had been better than before. His pen practically flew across the page.

Music danced through Lu Yi's mind. He muttered, "This direction is right." "No, that's wrong too." "Am I an idiot?" "Holy crap, I can change it like this? I'm a genius!"

"I should go to Ring and play the whole piece through." Lu Yi acted as soon as the thought occurred to him and headed out toward Ring.

Halfway there, he noticed a message from Nagasaki Soyo.

Nagasaki Soyo: [Hurry over. It's time to practice.]

Lu Yi: [The hero makes his entrance!]

Nagasaki Soyo replied with a speechless cat sticker that had an ellipsis floating above its head.

Two minutes later, he arrived at Ring. When he pushed open the door, he saw Nagasaki Soyo and the other four members of Mygo already there. The five most correct people... Wait, where was the cat?

"Rakuna-chan seems to have gone to pet cats again," Chihaya Anon said with a laugh.

Let me pet one too.

"What would you like to drink, Lu Yi?" Chihaya Anon asked. "I recommend black tea. There's also this Americano..."

As expected of a wealthy young lady who had studied in old England, her taste was so Western. Venmo me fifty.

"Let me think..." Lu Yi looked at the menu. Suddenly, he noticed that Shiina Riki, dressed in her employee uniform, had already placed a cup of coffee in front of him.

"It's on the house," Shiina Riki said directly. "Consider it a gift for the advice you gave me about my song before."

You're testing an official with only this much?

I actually like it.

Lu Yi held the warm coffee. Halfway to his seat, he noticed a line of delicate handwriting on the cup: Thank you for helping me write my song at my house before. You looked like you weren't feeling very well, so I thought coffee might help wake you up.

Thank you, Rikki.

But I'm full of energy. I can't casually tell my bro I'm weak.

I just got a little mentally drained from arranging the piece this morning.

Although Shiina Riki spoke bluntly, she was equally direct when she needed to show concern.

In any case, Lu Yi was in a good mood after getting a free cup of coffee. He walked over and sat down at a table in the cafe.

Seeing that Lu Yi was in a good mood, Nagasaki Soyo found herself in a bad mood. She huffed and asked, "What did you say to Rikki?"

"She said you'd put on some weight recently, and I said she was right," Lu Yi replied.

Nagasaki Soyo furrowed her brows and glared angrily at Lu Yi.

Rikki couldn't possibly have said something that harsh.

"All right, the truth is that I said you'd gotten a little thinner lately, and Rikki agreed," Lu Yi said apologetically.

Nagasaki Soyo's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and she hummed in satisfaction.

—Emotional intelligence.

Complimenting her directly would not make her happy. Making her angry first, then turning it around and praising her, had triple the impact.

If only my Pokémon Kricketune's sound effects could land a critical hit three times over too.

I've always been a fan of the Kricketune Hero!

"Since everyone's here, let's go to the practice room," Nagasaki Soyo said, bringing her hands together and smiling at Takamatsu Akari and the others.

She looked like a gentle mother figure, but she was actually an undercover traitor.

How could a band ever function properly with a bug like this among them?

"Is there something on my face?" Nagasaki Soyo turned toward Lu Yi.

How do you manage to tell every time I'm criticizing you in my head?

As Nagasaki Soyo's gaze grew more dangerous, Lu Yi kept a straight face and said, "Actually, I finished arranging my assignment recently. I'd like to play it through once and see how it sounds."

"Eh? A song? I want to hear it, I want to hear it!" Chihaya Anon raised her hand excitedly.

"I don't mind listening to Lu Yi's song," Shiina Riki said as she walked over.

"I want to hear it too," Takamatsu Akari said.

When had he gotten so close to the others? Nagasaki Soyo frowned as she looked at Lu Yi. She felt that he was becoming more and more irritating, constantly doing things she never expected.

She hated that sort of thing the most.