Rock Girl Descends Beside Me!

--Tinnitus.

Toyokawa Sakiko stared at the empty room before her, slumping to the floor. All she could hear was a piercing ringing in her ears, a physiological anomaly caused by overwhelming stress.

She remained stunned for a long time before snapping back to reality.

"Right, it's probably just like before, I accidentally transmigrated somewhere else," Toyokawa Sakiko breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest with a smile.

Honestly, she worried herself sick.

She'd have to complain to Riki properly later.

Toyokawa Sakiko picked up her phone, sending a message to Riki while searching for him in nearby parks and streets. She even checked Ring.

But he was nowhere to be found.

Toyokawa Sakiko's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly pulled out her phone to check the messages she'd sent earlier.

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Riki, where did you go? I'll come find you.]

--No reply.

Five hours had passed since she sent the message, but there was no reply, only dead silence.

"Is... is it that it's inconvenient to reply right now, or maybe he's preparing a surprise for me? This surprise is a bit too much." Toyokawa Sakiko's smile began to falter.

--No, the thing she feared most wouldn't happen.

She had made a wish. Surely, they wouldn't abandon her last shred of hope?

Toyokawa Sakiko returned home clutching her phone. Hearing a noise from inside, she quickly opened the door, "Riki..."

The room contained only her father, who was wolfing down a cake Riki had bought for her. He looked up, frowning, "What did you say?"

There were no illusions before her eyes, only the harsh reality.

Toyokawa Sakiko felt a void open in her heart as a cold wind rustled around her.

She returned to her "room" in a daze. Her school bag hit the floor with a "thud."

Right, maybe it was just a problem today. She'd see Riki tomorrow.

Toyokawa Sakiko's eyes lit up again.

Nothing.

Nothing on the second day.

Nothing on the third day.

And nothing on the fourth day either.

Toyokawa Sakiko clutched her chest, breathing rapidly. Her classmates' confused gazes fell upon her. She braced herself and walked out of the classroom.

Walking down the corridor, Toyokawa Sakiko even began to doubt if Riki had ever existed in the first place. Otherwise, why couldn't she find him no matter what? Was this just a hallucination she conjured to face the cruel reality?

Looking at the four-leaf clover necklace in her hand, Toyokawa Sakiko murmured softly, "Where are you?"

As she walked out of Haneoka High School, Toyokawa Sakiko suddenly saw a familiar figure. The person was wearing the uniform of a young lady from Tsukinomori, with long brown hair and a gentle smile. It was Nagasaki Sose.

"Sakiko-chan, I finally found you. So you were at Haneoka," Nagasaki Sose hurried over.

Toyokawa Sakiko suppressed her impatience, walked straight out of the school gate, and said coldly, "Please don't follow me. I don't want to be involved with you anymore."

"Wait, let's talk properly. Isn't Crychic for everyone?" Nagasaki Sose hurried after her.

"You already have your own band, don't you?" Toyokawa Sakiko frowned and walked away quickly.

"That band isn't what you think, and Riki is involved too..."

"Did you say Riki?" Toyokawa Sakiko stopped, turning back to look at Nagasaki Sose. "Do you know where he is?"

"No, I can't reach him either. But our business has nothing to do with him, right?"

"It does! It has everything to do with him!" Toyokawa Sakiko hissed, her voice suppressed. "I need him here. It absolutely won't work without Riki!"

Nagasaki Sose froze. She never imagined Riki was so important to Toyokawa Sakiko.

"People who know nothing shouldn't make assumptions. Someone like you wouldn't understand!" Toyokawa Sakiko said coldly to Nagasaki Sose before turning to leave.

Nagasaki Sose stared blankly at Toyokawa Sakiko's retreating back.

Toyokawa Sakiko wrapped herself in her blanket, covering her ears to block out the sound of her father in the living room, cursing after losing a bet on the horses while drinking beer.

She felt the light within her heart gradually being extinguished.

She had once fallen to the bottom and regained her light, but the most painful thing was precisely this: she had lost her light once again, and this time, her fall was even deeper.

Toyokawa Sakiko silently tapped on her phone.

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Riki, are you there?]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [It's already night here.]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Sorry I didn't cook for you today. Let's cook together next time.]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Oh, right, we haven't gone to the festival we promised yet. I recently heard our school is having a cultural festival, we can go together.]

Toyokawa Sakiko: [Riki... are you there?]

The light from the phone screen reflected in Toyokawa Sakiko's eyes. She stared at the last message she had sent, silent, with no reply from the other side. It was just her own lonely monologue, and she felt her heart sinking into darkness.

The fifth day passed with no reply, then the sixth, and the seventh.

Toyokawa Sakiko gave up.

The Sky Tree was closed, and the dark floors were silent.

Toyokawa Sakiko stood precariously on the railing, feeling the breeze. She jumped down and landed on the iron frame on the outside of the Sky Tree, a dangerous place that should only be accessible to staff.

But Toyokawa Sakiko just hummed "Love," written by Riki, softly. Only after finishing the whole song did she shakily take out her phone. Seeing no new messages, she closed her eyes.

She took the four-leaf clover necklace out of her pocket and clutched it tightly to her chest. Toyokawa Sakiko whispered, "Riki, save me."

She was about to do something terrifying that she had never imagined.

Just one more step, and she would enter another world, a silent world free from the cruelty of reality.

Her heartbeat grew faster like a drumbeat, her eardrums unable to even hear the wind.

Toyokawa Sakiko prepared to take a step forward.

I hope I don't scare anyone... A fleeting apology flashed through Toyokawa Sakiko's mind.

Then, She stepped forward.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew the four-leaf clover necklace out of Toyokawa Sakiko's hand.

"The necklace!"

It was her only remaining treasure.

Toyokawa Sakiko panicked and quickly reached out to grab it. Her foot slipped, and she fell onto the iron frame, tightly gripping the four-leaf clover necklace.

It hurts.

Toyokawa Sakiko wiped her scraped knee and suddenly thought that cleaning it now seemed unnecessary. After all, nothing would be visible once she fell.

Toyokawa Sakiko was about to step forward again when her ears twitched. In the night wind, she heard her phone ringing. She turned her head and saw the name lighting up on her screen—Riki.

"Huh?" Toyokawa Sakiko blinked.

A certain emotion resurfaced in her heart.

******

?What are "normal" and "taken for granted"??

Do you have votes? Please cast one.

Chapter 29: You're not going to sleep with Sakiko, are you?

Toyokawa Sakiko picked up her phone as if it were a life raft. The ringing tone sounded like heavenly music to her. Her trembling fingers failed to press the answer button several times.

"Please... it has to be Riki."

Toyokawa Sakiko muttered, finally connecting the call. A familiar voice came from the other end.

"Zzzz... Hello, hello... Is this Sakiko?" Riki's voice came through, but the call was heavily interfered with.

"Yes, it's me!" Toyokawa Sakiko said quickly.

"I got your message, but for some reason, my messages weren't sending. I tried calling several times, but I couldn't get through. I almost gave up. Luckily, this call went through. I think the method of communication might have changed. Let's keep communicating via phone for now and see if anything changes."

"Okay!" Toyokawa Sakiko sobbed, nodding vigorously.

"Get some sleep early. Since the phone call went through, it means we can still meet later. Remember to wait for me, okay? Buy me some takoyaki next time."

"Okay!" Toyokawa Sakiko wiped away her tears and nodded.

After talking on the phone for half an hour, Riki finally hung up, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

Even through the phone, he could hear the strong wind on the other end. Tokyo is a concrete jungle, and only high places have such strong night winds.

And Toyokawa Sakiko's reason for being in a high place so late was self-evident.

--Flying Sakiko.

Riki guessed it but didn't want to provoke Sakiko further. He just talked about everyday things, coaxing her to go home. He only breathed a huge sigh of relief when he heard she was home.

She almost scared him to death.

It's just that you can't see me, why are you acting like life and death are on the line? You're Teacher Da Xiang. Riki felt both happy and worried about his high standing in Toyokawa Sakiko's heart.

Vaguely, he saw someone named Seiji calling him, warning him to be careful of the cleaver and not to answer.

Who are you?

"I'm not a player, man."

"Phew, it's been a week, and I can finally relax. Since the phone works and I can get news about Sakiko, unlike at the beginning when I couldn't even reach her, things must be getting better." Riki mused, deciding to take a shower to calm down first.

"Brother Riki, you should go change your pants. I saw you wet yourself."

"Is that a dog barking?"

Riki filled the bathtub, which had a bourgeois vibe, with hot water. He then grabbed his beloved SpongeBob bath sponge and soaked in the hot water, letting out a comfortable sigh. He remembered Sakiko was still at home and worried about her current situation. After a hasty shower, he opened the bathroom door wearing only his underwear.

And then he saw a familiar person in the living room.

The other person was stunned when they saw Riki only in his underwear, revealing his slightly muscular, streamlined physique. Nagasaki Sose recoiled in horror, pointing at Riki and exclaiming, "W-what are you doing? Why are you only wearing underwear? And where is this place? Did you kidnap me? I never thought you were that kind of person!!"

Riki was also stunned.

Nagasaki Sose, when did you get here?

How did Sacred Kara contact so many people? Next time, are you going to call the big blonde guy too?

No, no, first I need to figure out how to resolve the current situation. The thing that would calm her down the most is...

"Have you seen Sakiko these past few days?" Riki quickly asked.

"Sakiko?" Nagasaki Sose indeed calmed down. Recalling what Toyokawa Sakiko had told her before, and the emphasis she placed on Riki between the lines, she couldn't help but look at Riki with cold, hostile eyes.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Are you unhappy that Sakiko and I are so close?

What, you're not convinced?

Riki rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to put on his clothes, not giving Nagasaki Sose a chance to peek at his muscles.

Seeing that Nagasaki Sose still looked wary, Riki explained, "This is my home. This place and your world are two different worlds. In other words, you've traveled to my house, you know?"