"Just happened to see you walk him downstairs. I was worried you'd be home alone, so I came back early. I didn't expect you to make such quick progress." Nagasaki's Mom teased.
"I've told you, we're not that kind of relationship!" Nagasaki Sose glared at her mother angrily.
With a thud, Nagasaki Sose flopped onto the bed. She was still upset about being misunderstood by her mother.
"Why do I have to like that guy? He doesn't have any good points. He's just a little better at music, a little more considerate, and able to protect me..."
"He has absolutely no good points." Nagasaki Sose muttered under her breath. Then she noticed the enormous brown teddy bear at her bedside. It sat there blankly, the supermarket's longtime employee and grand prize winner—the store's prized possession.
The more Nagasaki Sose looked at it, the more it resembled Riki. She frowned and reached out to pat its head. Watching the bear's head bob up and down lifted her mood.
"Listen, I don't like you at all. You definitely secretly like me, right? I'm sorry, but you're not my type."
Looking at the blank teddy bear, Nagasaki Sose propped herself up on the bed with both hands and beamed. "That vacant look really is just like Riki."
You idiot,
You're so stupid, so stupid!
Still, being a little stupid isn't bad.
"Achoo!"
Riki figured someone must have been praising his handsomeness again. As he walked along, he spotted a pale green figure up ahead, seemingly waiting specifically for him.
Wakaba Mutsuki.
She looked at Riki.
Chapter 54: AD's Seventh Item Is True Damage
"Were you waiting here specifically for me?" Riki asked, sizing up Wakaba Mutsuki as she stood there quietly.
The petite girl with pale green hair stood calmly, without much expression on her face. She wore the same Tsukinomori school uniform as Nagasaki Sose. There was no doubt she was a wealthy young lady from an excellent family. Unlike Nagasaki Sose, both of Wakaba Mutsuki's parents were famous in the entertainment industry, and she had attracted attention as a child star from a young age.
What was most surprising was that this quiet-looking girl specialized in the seven-string guitar.
It was like how Meleody always loved setting up an AWP to aim at her opponents' heads when playing CSGO. The wildness in her heart was completely unexpected.
"Sakiko told me about you."
Wakaba Mutsuki's voice was like a flowing brook, faint and pleasant. You could barely hear it unless you listened carefully.
So Sakiko-bao really was talking about how handsome I am.
No wonder I sneezed just now.
"Sakiko wants me to join her new band. She said there's an amazing person providing technical guidance, and that he's someone she trusts. I wanted to come meet you." Wakaba Mutsuki said.
"Then do you want to join Sakiko's band?" Riki asked.
"I don't know." Wakaba Mutsuki lowered her eyes. "Sakiko has been doing much better recently. Perhaps it's because you're around. But if things continue getting worse, Sakiko will break down again soon. I'm worried about her."
Did you come to me for reassurance?
Riki looked at Wakaba Mutsuki's lowered eyes. Perhaps she didn't know what choice to make either, so she hoped he would ask her to join the band and help Sakiko. That way, she wouldn't have to think too much about it.
"If I had to offer an opinion, I'd say... don't join." Riki said.
"Huh?"
Wakaba Mutsuki froze. Riki's answer was completely different from what she wanted to hear.
"Other than worrying about Sakiko, you don't really have any reason you have to join, do you? Instead of forming a band with this time, you might as well play cat's cradle with your Japanese schoolgirl friends, attack a few pathetic men online, and enjoy a rosy life."
"My only close friend... is Soyo." Wakaba Mutsuki said softly. "What's your relationship with Soyo?"
"Good friends, I guess, although she..."
"But Sose likes you a little." Wakaba Mutsuki said.
You could have put that a little more plainly.
Cold sweat broke out on Riki.
"You mean the kind of liking friends have, right?" Riki hurriedly said.
He had always thought AD's seventh item was courage. Only today did he discover that AD's seventh item was damn true damage with every single sentence!
Please stop using your powers, Mutsuki.
I'll give you five yuan.
"Let's sit down and talk. Is there anything you want to drink?" Riki pointed at the vending machine nearby.
"Then... coffee." Wakaba Mutsuki hesitated before answering.
"Coffee at night is bad. You won't be able to sleep. Pick something else."
"...Black tea."
"Black tea has plenty of caffeine too. Forget it."
Wakaba Mutsuki fell silent and sat on the bench with her head lowered.
Riki wanted to slap himself twice.
You really are damn awful.
Why did you have to say that? Look, you've made her depressed.
"Then coffee. Coffee is fine." Riki spotted American coffee in the vending machine and cursed it as "imperialist dishwater" under his breath. Frowning, he bought two bottles. Both were hot.
"Here."
"Thank you."
Wakaba Mutsuki held the hot coffee in both hands. Her hands quickly warmed, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
"What did Sakiko tell you?" Riki asked as he sat beside her.
"That you moved in next door to Sakiko, and what happened after you met."
In other words, she hadn't told her about the time-traveling. For one thing, saying it out loud would only invite disbelief and require the troublesome task of proving it, so it was better left unsaid. For another, it was a little secret between them. The more people who knew, the less valuable it became.
Sigh, Sakiko's little schemes.
Wait, could Sakiko be planning to assassinate Lady Sose?
I should tell Sose to be careful whenever she rides in a convertible from now on—if she ever becomes rich enough to ride in one.
Riki looked at Wakaba Mutsuki beside him. At this angle, she really did look like a doll.
"If you can't make a decision for now, then don't. I'll help Sakiko form the band anyway." Riki said. "If you feel like you don't have many friends, try getting closer to Sose first."
Wakaba Mutsuki's eyes moved slightly. She asked softly, "How?"
"For example, share what you did each day, who you met, and things like that." Riki thought for a moment.
An excellent plan. Love comes from China.
Riki was very satisfied with the suggestion. He offered a few more ideas, all of which suited the taciturn Wakaba Mutsuki. Besides, Nagasaki Sose wore her young-lady armor in public and would treat every word from Wakaba Mutsuki gently.
"I understand." Wakaba Mutsuki nodded slightly. "Thank you."
No problem. Just call me Taro.
Wakaba Mutsuki calmly watched Riki. She knew that Riki and Sakiko had a very good relationship, so at first she had assumed he would definitely persuade her to join the band for Sakiko's sake. She hadn't expected him to consider things from her perspective instead, or to offer her several suggestions for making friends.
He's a good person.
Although she knew Sakiko wouldn't associate with bad people, learning that Riki was a good person still put Wakaba Mutsuki at ease.
"You don't need to rush about the band. It'll still take some time to put together." Riki shrugged and took a sip of coffee. "It's late. Go home early. By the way, aren't you drinking your coffee?"
Wakaba Mutsuki paused. "If I drink coffee... I won't be able to sleep tonight."
Riki looked at the coffee in his hand, of which he had already drunk half, and stared seriously at Wakaba Mutsuki.
I've realized something. You people in Crychic are truly a gathering of elites.
Can every one of you land a critical hit on me?
You fell asleep, and now I won't be able to sleep tonight.
"Then what about before..." Riki asked.
"I said coffee, and you told me to 'pick something else,' so I chose black tea. Then you said 'forget it,' so I stopped talking." Wakaba Mutsuki said blankly. "Speaking of which, why did you buy coffee?"
"?" Riki.
You're asking me?
Damn it, I can't take this anymore. I'm going to explode like a cucumber.
Wakaba Mutsuki stood up, politely bowed slightly to say goodbye to Riki, and got into a taxi. Thinking of Riki's advice, she opened her phone and sent Nagasaki Sose two messages about what she had seen and heard that day.
Wakaba Mutsuki: [I talked with Sakiko for a long time this afternoon and told her some things I didn't want to tell the other members of Crychic.]
Wakaba Mutsuki: [I also talked with Riki a lot just now. He bought me coffee, but I haven't drunk it yet. (Photo)]
Nagasaki Sose was lying in bed and preparing to sleep when she suddenly received the messages.
"Mutsuki-chan?"
Nagasaki Sose's expression shifted slightly when she saw the messages. After noticing the coffee in Wakaba Mutsuki's hand in the photo, she narrowed her eyes.
She looked at the teddy bear by her bedside, smiled, and threw it off the bed. Then she slept poorly all night.
The next day, after Nagasaki Sose arrived at Tsukinomori Academy, she saw Wakaba Mutsuki watering the cucumbers in the garden. She walked over with a graceful smile and said in a deliberately light tone, "Mutsuki-chan, how are the cucumbers growing? Come to think of it, you met Sakiko and Riki yesterday. But you need to be careful—Riki is a boy with some strange fetishes. Don't get too close to him."
"Really?"
Wakaba Mutsuki froze. But he didn't look like that.
A faint smile appeared on her face. Riki's advice really had worked. Sose had taken the initiative to come talk to her today.
I'll listen to Riki next time too.
Chapter 55: Toyokawa Sakiko, You Succubus!
Good evening, City of Music!
After meeting Wakaba Mutsuki beneath the luxury apartment building, Riki returned to his rented apartment beneath a sky full of stars. He saw Toyokawa Sakiko's shoes on the shoe cabinet outside the neighboring door—a delicate pair of girls' school shoes she had worn from her days at Tsukinomori until now. He decided to remind Sakiko later to be careful around her bandmates. What kind of hentai these people were, Riki had never known. He had always been a former bandmate.
"Click."
Riki froze when he pushed open the door.
Looking at the pale blue underwear and bra hanging from a hanger in the middle of the room, obviously belonging to a teenage girl, with lace so delicate, Riki's heart began to pound.
Could this be Sakiko's underwear?!
Riki froze. But why had it been left in his room? He walked over and took down the intimate garments. Come to think of it, there had been a light drizzle that morning. If she had left them by the window, they would have gotten wet, and her room smelled strongly of alcohol, so they wouldn't have dried well there. Had she put them in his room to dry?
Detective Riki deduced the answer in an instant.
Then how should he use these garments... Ahem, how should he return them?!
No, wait. Who had been tampering with his train of thought?!
He was such a pure person. How could he have such filthy thoughts?!
Riki's heart sank when he heard footsteps behind him. If nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was about to happen.
He turned around and saw Toyokawa Sakiko standing there, her face flushed and her hands at a loss. Steam practically seemed to rise from her head. "R-R-Riki... when did you get back?"
Sakiko-bao, don't blush yet. Listen to me first!
Riki tried to remain calm, hoping his Lower House wouldn't pass the proposal for the moment. Otherwise, the situation would become incredibly awkward.
"I just got back and saw this underwear. Were you drying it?"
"Mhm..." Toyokawa Sakiko stared at the floor without raising her head and said awkwardly, "I wore it today."
Oh, she wore it today?
Ah, no, wait?
Before you continue