Rock Girls Descend Upon My Side!

The receptionist sighed. I wish I had a boyfriend like that.

Riki found a seat and sat down with Toyokawa Sakiko. Some guests were already in the screening room. Sitting next to Riki was a girl wearing a baseball cap with a great figure. Riki took a closer look and realized it looked like Yutenji Wakame.

It's not just that it looks like her, it IS her!

"Oh my, little guy, do you know me?" Yutenji Wakame raised an eyebrow and asked Riki.

"Yes, I often watch your videos on YouTube," Riki replied. She's one of Sakiko's target members. It's better to build a good relationship first.

"Really? What videos of mine have you watched?" Yutenji Wakame's eyes lit up.

"The one you posted on New Year's Day," Riki said, his expression unchanged.

"Master, I was resting that day and didn't post any videos."

The conversation was a disaster.

"Little guy, you're making me look bad," Yutenji Wakame said helplessly. She hadn't expected to run into Riki here. She had been curious when she saw a group of people surrounding Riki before, and now they had met unexpectedly.

"Sorry, sorry. But I really do know who you are, you're a very popular blogger recently," Riki said.

"Yeah, but besides makeup videos, I also want to try other fields. What do you think, little guy?"

"How about drumming?"

"Music?" Yutenji Wakame was taken aback. She hadn't expected Riki to give such a definitive answer.

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

"You're ambidextrous, right? That's a big advantage for a drummer. As a composer, I really like your type," Riki said.

"Is that so?"

Yutenji Wakame blinked. Drumming sounded interesting. She should try it when she got back.

However, she didn't think Riki was that professional. He looked too young, and she hadn't seen any prodigies like him on TV.

But at this moment, the movie had already started, so she couldn't say anything more and focused on the film.

"Drumming, huh..."

Yutenji Wakame, who had left the cinema out of sheer curiosity and returned home, muttered to herself, browsing drum sets online.

Just then, she noticed a message from her manager.

Manager: [Wakame, do you want to try venturing into the music field?]

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

Yutenji Wakame was surprised and replied curiously, [Why do you say that?]

Her manager was a pragmatist. He wouldn't say something like this without a reason.

Manager: [Take a look at this video. It's been very popular in our circle recently. If you could be like him, your fame would increase by two more levels without a problem.]

Yutenji Wakame opened the video her manager had sent. The filming wasn't great, and there was a lot of rain noise and sounds from an izakaya, but the voice coming from across the rain curtain made people forget all that. The clear singing and guitar sounds slowly entered her ears.

Yutenji Wakame couldn't help but get lost in it. She only snapped back to reality after the video finished playing.

She sings so well.

If it were her, her fan count would skyrocket!

But the person in the video looked a bit familiar.

Yutenji Wakame took a closer look and suddenly realized it was Riki!

"Huh!?"

It's that person!?

Night fell, and moonlight shone on the houses. Toyokawa Sakiko was alone in her small room, separated by a curtain, with a desk lamp on. Turning on the living room light would be a waste of electricity, and the desk lamp was enough. Besides, it was a warm yellow light, which was softer.

After taking a bath, she sat on her futon and was writing her diary for the day. She had been keeping this diary for many years.

"April 15th, today I went to Ring with Akari-chan and the others. I learned how to use the drink machine, it was eye-opening. Crychic is definitely the perfect band."

"May 17th, Great success! Crychic's first concert was a huge success. I love everyone the most. Whether it's Akari, Rikki, Mutsuki, or Sose, you are all my friends for life. Oh, right, I should invite everyone over for tea next time. I need to prepare some snacks. The future will surely be even happier!"

"..."

"June 5th, Today, my father and I moved out of our home."

"July 1st, For the scholarship, I'll transfer to Haneoka."

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

"..."

"November, Akari came to see me today, but I didn't reply. (There are tear stains)"

"December, As usual."

"In January, during New Year's Day, I bought a cake, but my father wasn't home."

"..."

"March 1st. The idea of crossing worlds actually happening... Is that boy trustworthy? He looks good, but you can't judge a book by its cover. I need to be careful."

"March 3rd. The boy named Riki seems to be kind to me. But his family's towels have pictures of me in my swimsuit on them. How embarrassing?"

"March 7th. We crossed worlds again today. Riki is a really capable university student. What he says is interesting."

"March 9th. Riki and I went to the Sky Tree. The view was beautiful that day. Riki said he wanted to share all the beautiful views with me. He really is someone I can trust, except when he rides off on someone else's bike (laughs)."

"March 11th. The movie today was great. I wonder if Riki is thinking about whether we'll have a similar story while watching it. I don't know, but the only thing I'm sure of is that Riki is my best friend..."

Under the warm yellow light, Toyokawa Sakiko hesitated for a moment before crossing out the word "friend" in her diary. The tip of her pen hovered over the paper, leaving a few black dots but no new words. She closed the diary and looked across the wall to where Riki was.

"Good night," Toyokawa Sakiko said softly, with a gentle smile.

"Sweet dreams."

"I don't need them, because I'm already living in a dream."

The moonlight was bright in the night sky, casting its glow upon the earth.

******

"Tickets? Tickets? Tickets? Important things must be said three times."

Chapter 23: Thinking More

In the morning, Riki greeted Toyokawa Sakiko.

"I'm going to school now. See you later." Toyokawa Sakiko's smile was brilliant, the sunlight shining on her face.

"Okay."

Why is Sakiko so happy today?

Is it because I'm even more handsome today?

Riki watched Toyokawa Sakiko's retreating figure, a little confused. He didn't know what she was thinking. Just then, Riki remembered the Old Man's teachings: "Little Ri, I can only tell you this: you need to think more."

"That old geezer, are you invading Earth with the Trisolarans? Believe it or not, I'll just use 'Advance Four' and run."

Riki wasn't idle either. As a university student, his tasks were quite heavy. What his high school teacher said about university being easy was pure nonsense. He only realized in university that he had stepped into another academic hell. And the assignment his advisor gave Riki was to compose music.

Riki used to get stuck in thought loops, pondering endlessly, with dark circles under his eyes from morning till night. But recently, even though he's been thinking less and going out with Sakiko more often, his ideas have been flowing much better than before, as if divinely inspired.

Music danced in his mind. Riki muttered to himself, "This direction is correct," "No, it's still wrong," "Am I an idiot?" "Holy crap, it can be changed like this, I'm a genius!"

"Let's go to Ring and play the song through," Riki thought, and immediately set out for Ring.

Halfway there, he received a message from Nagasaki Sose.

Nagasaki Sose: [Come over quickly, we need to practice.]

Riki: [Hero's entrance!]

Nagasaki Sose replied with a speechless cat emoji with ellipses above its head.

After walking for two minutes, he arrived at Ring. Pushing the door open, he saw Nagasaki Sose and the other four members of Mygo all there. The five most correct people... Wait, where's the cat?

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

Let me pet them too.

"What do you want to drink, Riki?" Chihaya Anon asked. "I recommend black tea, and this Americano coffee..."

As expected of the "Ouye" who studied abroad in England, his taste is so sophisticated. Send me 50 yuan.

"Let me think..." Riki looked at the menu, then suddenly noticed that Shiina Riki, wearing an employee uniform, had already placed a cup of coffee in front of him.

"This is for you," Shiina Riki said directly. "Consider it a gift for the feedback you gave me on the song earlier."

You're testing your subordinates with this? I actually like it.

Riki held the warm coffee and, halfway through, noticed a line of elegant handwriting on the cup – "Thank you for helping me write the song at my place before. You didn't look well, so drinking coffee might help you stay alert."

"Thank you, Riki. But I'm full of energy, don't casually say I'm weak. It's just that composing this morning was a bit draining."

Although Shiina Riki is direct, she is also very straightforward when she needs to show care.

Regardless, Riki, who got a free coffee, was in a good mood and walked to a seat in the cafe.

Seeing Riki in a good mood, Nagasaki Sose felt unhappy and huffed, "What did you say to Riki?"

"I said you've gained weight recently, and I agreed," Riki replied.

Nagasaki Sose frowned and glared at Riki angrily. Riki would never say something so mean.

"Okay, actually, I said you've lost a little weight recently, and Riki agreed," Riki apologized.

Nagasaki Sose's furrowed brow relaxed, and she hummed contentedly.

— Emotional Intelligence.

She wouldn't be happy if I praised her directly, but if I make her angry first and then praise her, it's like a triple critical hit.

If only my Pokémon, Kricketune, could get a triple critical hit.

I've always been a fan of the Kricketune Master.

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

She looks like a gentle mother figure, but she's actually a traitor.

How can we have a good band if I'm stuck with trash like her?

"What's with the staring?" Nagasaki Sose turned to Riki and asked.

Why can you always tell when I'm badmouthing you in my head?

Seeing Nagasaki Sose's gaze grow more dangerous, Riki said with a straight face, "Actually, I've finished composing my homework recently and wanted to play it once to see how it sounds."

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

"It's fine to listen to Riki's song," Shiina Riki also walked over and said.

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

When did this guy get so close to everyone else? Nagasaki Sose frowned, looking at Riki. She felt like he was becoming more and more annoying, always doing things that caught her off guard.

She hated that the most.