Rock Girl Descends By My Side!

"I apologize for making you worry. It was just a small trouble earlier, and we're on very good terms."

Toyokawa Sakiko nodded her thanks to her female colleague. The Tokyo sun was beautiful today. It had rained last night, and the sky was clear and blue, making her want to take a picture to share with Riki when she visited his place. She just didn't know when she'd be able to go over again.

Toyokawa Sakiko smiled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her phone light up with an incoming call. It was from Riki.

"Is that Riki?" Toyokawa Sakiko answered the phone in surprise.

"Sakiko-chan!?"

A voice she knew all too well came from the other end of the phone. It was her former best friend and bandmate, whom she had barely seen since personally disbanding the band. The gentle girl named Nagasaki Sose. Why... why was her voice coming from Riki's phone?

"...Sose-san?" Toyokawa Sakiko said sternly. "Why are you with Riki?"

Crossing over to Riki's place wasn't that supposed to be her special privilege?

Why... was someone else there too?

And of all people, it had to be Nagasaki Sose.

For some reason, Toyokawa Sakiko's heart ached. She knew it was beyond her control, but the thought of another woman living with Riki, secretly watching his face, and giggling at him while he focused on eating, made her deeply uncomfortable.

Riki and I aren't dating. Can I really ask him for anything?

Toyokawa Sakiko clutched her chest.

"Hello? Hello? Sakiko, can you hear me... Stop it, stop it, that's my phone!"

Riki's voice came through, instantly lifting Toyokawa Sakiko's spirits. She quickly replied, "I can hear you."

"There's something dirty trying to steal my phone here, ugh... Anyway, don't worry about me. Remember to wear more clothes, and give me the extra ones, ah no, I wish you good health and all the best. Uh, anyway, I'll be there soon."

"Okay."

Toyokawa Sakiko smiled and nodded vigorously, then frowned. "About Sose-san..."

"Sakiko-chan, I have something I want to tell you. I really feel about Crychic..." Nagasaki Sose said quickly.

"Enough! I don't want to talk about this anymore. You should understand too, Crychic is over," Toyokawa Sakiko said, taking a deep breath.

"It's not over yet..."

Before she could finish, the call was disconnected.

Toyokawa Sakiko sighed. Thinking of Riki, she couldn't help but frown when she remembered Nagasaki Sose.

"...Why her."

"Why did the call drop?"

"You're asking me? I'm asking you."

Riki pondered.

Perhaps it was a gravitational collapse caused by gravity, which distorted the electromagnetic waves between the two worlds, and then radiated throughout the universe starting from the microscopic level. The immense radiation caused the entire universe to expand dramatically—resulting in Riki's phone bill being overdue.

Who knew interdimensional communication also cost money.

Isn't this cheat a bit too basic?

Couldn't it be more advanced and just top up my phone credit by five yuan?

"Hmph," Nagasaki Sose huffed unhappily. After a pause, she added, "I'll help you clean your room. After all, I'm staying here, and I don't want you to think I'm rude."

"Do it thoroughly for me!" Riki said.

Is that really okay? Riki thought.

Riki's inner thoughts and spoken words appeared simultaneously.

He thought about it and realized that what he said and what he thought seemed to be reversed.

But considering my good looks, please forgive me, Sose. This is the last time.

"..."

Nagasaki Sose glared at Riki irritably.

Once she and Sakiko resolved their misunderstanding after returning, she wouldn't need Riki.

She only needed her Crychic companions.

Yes, that would be enough.

Riki had no objections to Nagasaki Sose. After all, she came from a single-parent household, and her mother was very busy. It was like how Sun Wukong was suppressed by his original family for five hundred years; it was normal for her to be displeased with people.

Nagasaki Sose turned and noticed that Riki had changed into casual clothes for going out. She asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

"Of course, I'm going to school to clock in. What other identity do you think I have?" Riki said.

A hardworking and uncomplaining university student!

You can't get a farmhand for three thousand yuan, but you can definitely get a university student!

"University...?" Nagasaki Sose was a bit curious. As a high school student, she had many fantasies about university life, especially in Japan where getting into university was difficult. She couldn't help but wonder what Riki's university was like.

"Are you curious? Then come with me. This is our school's forum. There's a translation software, so you should be able to understand it."

Lu Yi handed his phone to Nagasaki Sose, and they left together to take the subway.

Nagasaki Sose saw the various school honors and achievements on the university forum. Although she couldn't understand most of it, there was one item she could comprehend—the ninth student exchange with Tokyo University had progressed smoothly, and Tokyo University expressed anticipation for the next exchange.

To Japanese people, Tokyo University was the ultimate elite school. Those who got in were the cream of the crop, geniuses of the highest caliber, so much so that they practically praised them as non-human from their genes. Being able to exchange with Tokyo University meant that Lu Yi's university was also quite impressive.

So he's this amazing? Nagasaki Sose looked at Lu Yi, who had a calm expression, in surprise.

I've underestimated him all this time.

Lu Yi's expression remained unchanged.

Brothers, this is the satisfying part. It's actually hard work to pretend to be so nonchalant, and I can't even laugh.

When the two arrived at the university, Lu Yi handed over his recent assignments to the teachers of each subject. He looked back and found Nagasaki Sose standing in front of a bulletin board. It was covered with notices posted by students and teachers. In the past, there were even legendary rankings like the "Campus Beauty" and "Campus Hunk" lists—the campus beauty list's top spot eventually went to Wu Jing, and the campus hunk list's top spot was a chicken that played basketball.

What are you thinking? How could a normal university have such normal lists? Only urban novels about picking up girls have those.

Nagasaki Sose also saw the outstanding students being recognized. Most of them were third-year or fourth-year students, but there was one first-year student who stood out—Lu Yi, dressed in a formal suit, looked exceptionally handsome. He didn't have his usual lazy or playfully annoying demeanor and appeared remarkably serious.

"Are you thirsty? I'll go buy you a bottle of water."

As Lu Yi spoke and walked towards the vending machine, he was suddenly called out by a student from a nearby building: "Lu Yi, this piano has a problem. Come quickly and use your invincible perfect pitch to listen to it."

Is he really that popular? Nagasaki Sose sat nearby, watching Lu Yi chat and laugh with people, and couldn't help but think.

Unlike her, who pretended to be a young lady to fit into the class atmosphere at her school, Lu Yi hadn't hidden his personality from the start, yet he was still popular with many people.

That's nice.

Nagasaki Sose suddenly had this thought.

No, no, what am I envying! This guy is definitely someone I should hate, right?

Nagasaki Sose was lost in thought when a bright red flower suddenly appeared before her eyes.

"Here's a little flower for you."

Lu Yi, crouching in front of her, handed her a thornless red rose he had just picked. The sun was bright, making the flower in his hand shine brilliantly.

Nagasaki Sose was stunned for a moment and asked warily, "Why are you giving this to me? What are your intentions?"

"How dare you think of me with such a petty mind, but I'll forgive you because I can contain a ship in my belly. There's only one reason." Lu Yi patted her head and said, "Because girls and flowers go well together, and I thought this flower looked nice, so I gave it to you."

Nagasaki Sose hesitated before taking the flower. She smelled its faint fragrance and couldn't help but smile.

"I'll accept the flower, but if you like me, I'm very sorry, I don't like you at all," Nagasaki Sose said calmly.

Brother Lu, why are you wearing clown makeup? Do you have a pig in your head? Don't say anything, just stop Batman from coming over. I'm afraid I won't be able to come back if I go to Arkham.

Lu Yi sighed and couldn't help but think of his uncle—not the one on Bilibili. If Sakiko were here, how surprising would that be!

Seeing Lu Yi's dejected look, Nagasaki Sose's lips curved into a smile. She smelled the flower in her hand and beamed.

"But thank you for the flower anyway," Nagasaki Sose said, glancing at the sighing Lu Yi and smiling at him.

A girl's smile was sweet under the sunlight, devoid of any ulterior motives, just a pure smile.

It feels like it's been a long time since I smiled like this, she thought.

Although Crychic doesn't need him, I can be nice to him before he leaves, so he doesn't cry his eyes out then.

Chapter 33: Nagasaki Sose: ...So Warm

"Later, I have to play for a few teachers with my classmates. This is a relatively important regular assessment at school. I've formed a team with some classmates, and of course, the main focus is my composition, 'Love', which I just wrote recently."

Nagasaki Sose walked while listening to Lu Yi.

She didn't care who Lu Yi was dating.

It had nothing to do with her or Sakiko anyway.

Lu Yi knocked and entered a large classroom in the teaching building. It was furnished with a piano and several teachers.

Not just Brother Lu, but teachers too? What piano and teachers, I'm gonna—

"Hello, Teacher. My name is Student Lu."

"Hello, Student He... ah, no, Student Lu, please sit down."

Lu Yi was startled. You just said Student He, didn't you?! Teacher, do you also browse Bilibili! But why don't you know about the 'He Bu Kuo San Tiao Yue'!? Don't you know that's an untouchable ancient forbidden zone?

"Lu Yi, you are an outstanding student at our school. Several teachers have high expectations for you today. Your classmates have already arrived early. Uh... where is your bassist?"

Huh?

You guys actually noticed the bassist wasn't here.

I, Riki, declare you the strongest!

Just forget about me forgetting to call someone.

"Today's bassist is her, my classmate's sister. She said she wants to get into our university in the future and is studying hard. Today, I'll let her experience university life," Riki said, pulling Nagasaki Sose, who was standing cluelessly beside him, over.

"I never agreed to this!"

"Oh, come on, help me out and I won't charge you rent. Think about it, if my grades aren't good enough, I might become a dark beast due to psychological issues. Then I'll steal and eat your cake every day. You don't want that to happen, right?"

Nagasaki Sose hesitated. It wasn't because of Riki's childish threat, but rather she felt embarrassed about living at Riki's place for free. Helping him out with something wouldn't be a problem.

"If I mess up, don't blame me," Nagasaki Sose whispered.

Tsundere Sose is so cute.

Don't worry, even if she plays terribly, I'll say she's amazing.

I've always been a cute, moe Japanese girl.

Riki walked over to the piano and sat down. A bandmate asked, "I-Bao, where did you find such a beautiful sister? Introduce her to me."

University students' nicknames for their friends have evolved to be as disgusting as possible. Among guys, just adding "Bao" to a name creates the ultimate disgusting nickname, and Riki possessed such a top-tier title.

That's disgusting.

"Her name is Nagasaki Sose, she's sixteen, and she's a Japanese JK. Do you understand Japanese?" Riki asked.

"Um... Aminos?"

"Are you impersonating King Gg?"

You haven't even watched Mygo and you want to make a move on Sose-Bao? You clearly don't know the power of the Holy Divider!