Rock Girl Descends Beside Me!

Chapter 5: Nagasaki Sose Has You in Her Sights

Toyokawa Sakiko returned from the bathroom as if nothing had happened. Riki didn't pry, and they simply finished the hot pot, though they didn't drink much of the broth, as it would lead to weight gain. It was a shame, as the purine content in the broth was half a liter, wasted on an unworthy audience.

"Is this your assignment?" Toyokawa Sakiko leaned over to look at the Musical Score on the laptop and asked.

"Yeah, I was planning to post it on a video site to see the reviews. I was wondering who would play it, and then you happened to show up," Riki said.

"This score is amazing," Toyokawa Sakiko's eyes swept over the score in surprise. Although she knew Riki was a top student at Keio University, she realized now she had underestimated him. Riki was far more capable than she had imagined.

"People often say that. Everyone else is just a mortal born in an era where I exist," Riki said with an air of unchallenged mastery and nonchalance.

If only his nose wasn't pointed to the sky and his mouth wasn't stretched into a wide grin.

"Will I be the one to play this piece?" Toyokawa Sakiko asked.

"Yeah, if I play it in the video, the views won't be high, and I won't be able to collect money from 'Uncle'," Riki said. "It's better for a beautiful girl to play it. We'll split the profits fifty-fifty afterward."

The piano was in the bedroom. As Toyokawa Sakiko sat down and looked at the piano before her, she felt a sense of unreality. Once upon a time, she too had played the piano like this at home.

"Is the name of the score My Dearest You?" Toyokawa Sakiko pressed a key with her slender fingers. Contrary to her delicate and beautiful appearance, each press was powerful. From the light melody at the beginning of the score, like a beautiful memory of youth, it turned sharply into sorrowful notes that rained down, completely drawing the listener in.

Teacher Da Xiang's piano skills are so strong. Is this the strength of the fallen noble, Miss Toyokawa?

"This piece..." Toyokawa Sakiko looked at the score thoughtfully.

"It's something I wrote for you before I met you... before you came to my house."

No wonder it felt so familiar. But why was it called My Dearest You? Toyokawa Sakiko cast a suspicious glance at Riki.

Riki calmly uploaded the video he had just recorded to Bilibili.

Seeing Riki avoid her gaze, Toyokawa Sakiko's lips curved into a gentle arc.

Not long after the video was posted, comments started coming in. Riki and Toyokawa Sakiko watched them together.

"Holy crap, Teacher Da Xiang!?"

"Did Customer Service Xiao Xiang transform into Piano Xiao Xiang?"

"Sakiko bought a piano, no! Let her be poor for another ten years!"

"Which Cosplayer is this? So accurate. Her boyfriend should really die!"

Toyokawa Sakiko's face darkened. Did these people just enjoy watching her struggle?

And they called Riki her boyfriend...

"I'm going to block them!" Toyokawa Sakiko snorted.

"Forget it, blocking them might lead to bad reviews and less money from views," Riki advised.

Toyokawa Sakiko hesitated for a moment, but the burden of her life made her compromise.

However, this situation made Toyokawa Sakiko recall the early days of Crychic. Back then, Shiina Riki would also get angry and talk about blocking people, and Nagasaki Sose would gently persuade her...

Wait, am I as happy now with Riki as I was with Crychic?

That period with Crychic was undoubtedly Toyokawa Sakiko's treasure in life. Now, she felt just as happy with Riki. Did that mean Riki was as important as Crychic?

"Is there something on my face?" Riki asked, looking strangely at Toyokawa Sakiko, who was suddenly staring at him.

"Ah, sorry." Toyokawa Sakiko snapped back to reality, quickly turning her head away, her cheeks slightly flushed.

A handsome young man like me always unconsciously attracts the attention of beautiful girls, even Teacher Da Xiang. I'm truly a man burdened by sin. Perhaps this is fate... Riki sighed.

"Ring ring ring--"

Riki answered his tutor's call. A voice came from the other end: "Xiao Yi, I saw your piece. Your girlfriend played it very well. I didn't expect you to improve so quickly. You're probably better than your seniors."

"Tutor, did you misunderstand something? I don't want to sound too rude..." Riki said confidently.

"They are the challengers!"

"Ding--"

The call ended.

Old man, didn't even drop any gold.

"Is it okay to be so rude?" Toyokawa Sakiko worried.

"It's fine, it's fine. My relationship with my tutor is great. I even tutor his third-grade daughter," Riki said with a smile.

The teacher-student relationship in China seems different from Japan, Toyokawa Sakiko thought curiously, then frowned. "There's something else. I'm not your girlfriend. Please clarify that later."

"Got it."

Under Toyokawa Sakiko's intense gaze, Riki nodded obediently.

Kids say things without thinking, just playing around.

"One more thing," Toyokawa Sakiko said with a smile at Riki. "Since I might be coming to your place often from now on, please take care of me."

Riki stared blankly at her bright smile. Toyokawa Sakiko was indeed a beautiful girl. When she smiled, it felt like the whole room lit up by two degrees.

"Then can I call you Sakiko-bao from now on?"

"Of course not," Toyokawa Sakiko stated firmly.

Riki's eyebrows furrowed. Although he was unhappy, he couldn't find any reason to refute her.

Riki woke up and found himself back in the rental apartment. If nothing unexpected happened, Toyokawa Sakiko would be in the room next door. His phone buzzed.

Toyokawa Sakiko: [I left your bento at your room's door. I'm going to school first.]

Unlike university students whose intelligence was already declining, Toyokawa Sakiko, as a high school student, was still at her peak intelligence, not yet corrupted by the idiocy of university students.

Riki looked around the empty room. Thinking he would be staying here often, he decided to buy some daily necessities. As for money, the small gold nugget his dad gave him when he started university should fetch a decent price.

Riki wasn't a naive fool. With his sharp tongue, he made the gold shop owner sweat and sold it for a good price. Then he went to the convenience store and bought quite a few things.

However, as soon as he walked out, he saw a familiar gray-haired figure. Riki walked over and asked, "Are you picking up stones?"

Takamatsu Akari looked up after a while and saw Riki. "You're the one Ring met before..."

"I'm Riki," Riki said with a smile. "Haneoka is about to start class, is it okay for you to be here?"

"Hello," Takamatsu Akari nodded. She always felt a comfortable presence about Riki, which made her want to speak her true feelings. "A former very good friend of mine would pass by this road to get to class, but she didn't even acknowledge me just now."

"Perhaps she has her own difficulties," Riki said after thinking. Toyokawa Sakiko did have her reasons.

"Difficulties...?"

"If, as you say, you were very good friends before, then she must have treated you sincerely. Maybe something happened that made her sensitive. If you want to help her, you should try to understand her heart."

"I'll try my best," Takamatsu Akari nodded after thinking. She looked at Riki and asked, "Can I find you again if I run into problems in the future?"

"Yes, if I'm nearby. Your class is about to start, hurry up and don't be late, Takamatsu Akari."

Takamatsu Akari nodded and walked towards the school gate. Suddenly, she realized she hadn't introduced herself. How did he know her name?

And he had a strange, reassuring feeling about him.

Could it be that he was the key to me becoming human?

Takamatsu Akari returned to the classroom and sat down. She suddenly received a message from Nagasaki Sose.

Nagasaki Sose: ['Photo', Akari-chan, this is the culprit who made Sakiko leave the band. He's a bad person, you must not believe anything he says.]

Takamatsu Akari looked at the handsome black-haired boy in the photo and was stunned for a moment.

Because it was Riki, whom she had just met at the school gate.

He spoke so gently, could he really be a bad person?

Just then, Takamatsu Akari heard the teacher's voice from the podium: "Today, we have a new student transferring into our class, Chihaya Anon."

"Hello everyone, I'm Chihaya Anon. You can just call me Aine. Please take care of me!" the pink-haired beautiful girl said with a bright smile. Noticing Takamatsu Akari's gaze, she waved towards her with a smile.

Riki waved at Toyokawa Sakiko, who was in the office building.

"I brought the bento, do you want me to bring it up?" Riki asked over the phone.

"No, that would be misunderstood as us being Boyfriend Girlfriend. I'll come down," Toyokawa Sakiko said quickly, getting up and heading downstairs during her break.

A female colleague smiled and said, "Sakiko, did your boyfriend come to deliver your bento?"

Toyokawa Sakiko's face stiffened. She sighed and didn't bother to explain further, nodding, "Yes, he's downstairs."

"I saw him too. That young man is really good-looking."

That goes without saying... Toyokawa Sakiko felt a little happy inside.

In a nearby park, they ate their bentos with their legs resting on the food. Sunlight dappled through the leaves, and the spring breeze rustled the foliage. Riki looked at Toyokawa Sakiko beside him, thinking that if there were a Tokyo Love Story, Toyokawa Sakiko would be the perfect heroine, and he'd reluctantly play the male lead.

"Sose called me again," Toyokawa Sakiko said.

"She hasn't given up?" Riki asked.

"No, but this time she's not calling me, she wants to meet you."

Riki: "?"

What does she have to do with me?

"She seems to think you're the reason I left. She's probably planning to 'punish' you," Toyokawa Sakiko said calmly. "So I plan to let you meet her."

Riki: "?"

When I use a question mark, it doesn't mean I have a problem, it means you have a problem.

"You're my partner, after all. It wouldn't be good if I was constantly harassed, so you go and make her give up," Toyokawa Sakiko said indifferently.

"I don't think she'll give up easily," Riki sighed. He thought he was just an observer enjoying the show from the sidelines, but unexpectedly, he was caught in the vortex himself.

How terrifying.

Wait, could Empress Akari's gravity have captured me already?

Riki recalled his previous conversation with Takamatsu Akari and felt relieved, thinking there was nothing that could have piqued her curiosity about him.

"In any case, I'm counting on you," Toyokawa Sakiko stood up, preparing to continue her work as Customer Service Xiao Xiang.

"Wait, you have a grain of rice stuck to your mouth," Riki said quickly.

In Ring, Riki sat nervously in his seat. After all, Nagasaki Sose was coming next. She was quite cunning, so he needed to prepare his words carefully.

But after a while, he noticed that it wasn't just Nagasaki Sose walking in from the door, but Takamatsu Akari as well.

You're still calling for a jungler?

Cowardly actions will not be tolerated!

Riki panicked a little. The pressure of two against one was a bit much.

*******

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Chapter 6: A Lifetime's Resolve

When Riki saw Nagasaki Sose, she noticed him too. She frowned almost imperceptibly and walked over with Takamatsu Akari to sit down.

"Although this isn't our first meeting, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nagasaki Sose," the young lady with brown hair introduced herself expressionlessly. "Beside me is Takamatsu Akari."

"What do you want me to come over for?" Riki asked, feeling a headache coming on as he looked at the watchful Nagasaki Sose.

Nagasaki Sose crossed her hands under her chin, narrowed her eyes, and looked at Riki. "First, I want to ask you, what is your relationship with Sakiko-chan?"

"Just friends."

"Then why are there pictures of you in Sakiko-chan's phone gallery?" Nagasaki Sose questioned. This kind of treatment was previously only given to members of Crychic. How could it be just ordinary friends!

When did she take them?

Riki thought for a moment and said, "She and I are currently meeting frequently for a certain reason, but other than that, we don't have a special relationship."