"It's raining..."
Toyokawa Sakiko clicked the "Clock Out" button on the screen, took off her headphones, and gazed out at the heavy rain as she murmured.
She had never had a good impression of rain. Every time it rained, she lost something—whether it was Crychic or the past the five of them had shared.
"Sakiko, your boyfriend didn't call today?" a female coworker teased.
Toyokawa Sakiko had explained several times, but still failed to correct the misunderstanding. She merely smiled and said, "He can't call every day, can he?"
"What's the big deal? When my boyfriend and I first started dating, we'd talk on the phone for twelve hours every day."
Before long, everyone had left the company. Toyokawa Sakiko had forgotten to check the weather forecast and hadn't brought an umbrella, so she could only wait for the rain to stop. When she reached the foot of the office building, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
"What took you so long? I only have one umbrella, so don't complain about it..." Riki said to Toyokawa Sakiko.
Toyokawa Sakiko covered her mouth and laughed. She hurried over to Riki, opened the umbrella, and walked into the curtain of rain beside him. It seemed rainy days weren't entirely bad after all.
God, please... Don't throw away this last bit of warmth I have, too.
*******
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Let's use Kasukage
The rain in Tokyo was heavy. Riki didn't know whether it had been drawn in by the gravitational pull of the Gravity Band, but the raindrops were large and fierce, pounding against the umbrella with a constant bang. The two of them squeezed beneath the umbrella, braving the wind as they slowly walked along.
"Sorry. It's all my fault for forgetting to bring an umbrella," Toyokawa Sakiko said apologetically. To keep out of the rain, she stood very close to Riki. Besides the smell of rain, they could also catch each other's scent.
"It's fine. I occasionally forget that I'm a handsome young man who drives countless girls crazy," Riki comforted her.
There weren't many outstanding young men left who were as clear-headed as he was about their own shortcomings.
What a treasure of a boy.
Otherwise, why would Toyokawa Sakiko look at him with an expression that was three-tenths speechless, three-tenths confused, three-tenths helpless, and ninety-one-tenths admiring—at least in Riki's opinion?
"You really are narcissistic sometimes," Toyokawa Sakiko sighed.
"I can change," Riki hurriedly said.
Teacher Da Xiang, I'm so eager to improve.
"No, this is fine." Toyokawa Sakiko ran her slender fingers through her rain-dampened blue hair, revealing her beautiful face as she smiled softly. "I quite like you this way, Riki."
Riki's heart gave a sudden leap when he saw her like this.
Holy crap, Succubus Sakiko!
No wonder she's T0 in the current version. How is anyone supposed to fight a full-build character?
Designer, take a look! Designer!
Riki thought for a moment before saying, "Oh, right. I promised Sose to be the music director for her band, so I might not have time to call you for paid conversation anymore."
"I've never thought that way." Toyokawa Sakiko glared at him irritably. Although she had fallen on hard times, her pride would never let her do something so underhanded—
Unless Riki called her first.
As Toyokawa Sakiko spoke, she lowered her head, her brows and eyes drooping slightly.
Sose's band?
Is it for my sake?
Toyokawa Sakiko raised her eyes to look at Riki's profile as he held the umbrella and moved forward against the wind and rain. Then she lowered her gaze and fell silent.
If I invited Riki to join the band myself, would he agree?
"No..." Toyokawa Sakiko murmured.
She didn't want to know the answer.
This was fine.
If she didn't know the answer, at least her pride wouldn't be hurt again.
But when she thought of Riki possibly no longer being by her side, a faint bitterness welled up in Toyokawa Sakiko's heart.
I hate that.
Nagasaki Sose lay on the large bed at home, turning her head to gaze at Tokyo beneath the torrential rain. She picked up her phone and sent Riki a message.
Nagasaki Sose: [It's raining. Sakiko didn't get caught in it, did she?]
For some reason, she simply felt that Riki was currently with Toyokawa Sakiko.
The moment Nagasaki Sose put down her phone, Riki replied.
Riki (saved as Annoying Guy): [(Photo) I got soaked.]
The photo was a selfie of Riki. He looked as if he were struggling forward through the wind and rain, giving the camera a thumbs-up while wearing a bright, cheerful smile.
Nagasaki Sose took a deep breath and rolled her eyes. Sorry, but I couldn't care less about your problems, okay?
Nagasaki Sose: [Are you with Sakiko?]
Riki (saved as Annoying Guy): [Do you mean Golden Sakiko, Silver Sakiko, or Camel Xiangzi?]
You damn annoying guy!
Nagasaki Sose took a deep breath, turned off her phone, and ignored him.
The empty room held nothing but the sound of her breathing. Even the room outside her door was empty, with no one there but her. Nagasaki Sose couldn't help thinking of Riki. Why was he always so happy?
It's so irritatingly enviable.
"Soon..." Nagasaki Sose murmured softly. "We'll return to the happy days we had back then, too."
Although she felt sorry about it, Chihaya Anon was merely bait she had used to lure Takamatsu Akari and Shiina Riki into joining. Riki was also bait to draw Toyokawa Sakiko over. Once that was done, she could throw away both pieces of bait and revive Crychic.
Nagasaki Sose suddenly remembered the way Riki had looked at her in the Cafe earlier.
Calm, with a hint of pity.
Why had he looked at her like that?
Nagasaki Sose stared blankly at her phone as she thought. Suddenly, her hand slipped, and the phone smacked her in the nose again.
"Ow..."
Nagasaki Sose curled up on the bed, clutching her nose and crying out in pain.
This was all that guy's fault!
Nagasaki Sose thought viciously.
I'll make full use of that guy, then kick him away and bring Sakiko back!
She hated Riki the most!
"Who's calling the fleet!?"
Riki frowned. He had a vague feeling that someone was praising his good looks, and he gave a forceful sneeze.
The last message on his phone had been sent by Nagasaki Sose.
Nagasaki Sose (saved as Scheming Little Sister): [Come to Ring tomorrow at noon.]
The short, cold, perfunctory sentence made Riki sigh. He was her technical advisor, at least she could be a little more polite, couldn't she?
Just look at Haneoka's neighboring school, for instance. Its name differed from yours by only one character. Teacher Da Xiang could flash all the way to Hokkaido to recruit people for Starlight, while all you had was one sentence. What a difference.
"Be careful not to catch a cold. Go take a shower," Toyokawa Sakiko said when she emerged from the steaming bathroom and heard him sneeze.
People's constitutions can't all be judged the same way. As a music student, I'm second only to legendary athletes. Although I can't defeat the strongest jujutsu sorcerer in history, dealing with a mere illness is no problem.
Riki discovered that the water in the bathtub was still warm. Apparently, in Japan, an entire family might share one tub of water, washing their bodies first and then soaking properly.
Sakiko had already bathed. In other words, this was Sakiko's bathwater?
No. That's a little too much of a turn-off.
Riki shook his head, banished his wicked thoughts, and began washing.
Speaking of which, the bathroom smells really nice.
Toyokawa Sakiko's phone received a message just after she finished bathing.
Wakaba Mutsuki: [Sose-chan said she wants to know where you live.]
Toyokawa Sakiko frowned and replied: [Mutsuki, what do you think?]
Mutsuki couldn't keep acting as a messenger anymore.
There was no reply from Wakaba Mutsuki for a long time. Only after a while did she respond: [Sose-chan said you made a friend.]
Toyokawa Sakiko: [His name is Riki. We met by chance. Don't pay too much attention to him. We're just ordinary friends.]
In a mansion in Tokyo, Wakaba Mutsuki stared expressionlessly at the messages on her phone, as doll-like as ever. Then she closed her eyes.
The next day at noon, Riki arrived at Ring and ordered a cup of black tea first. After all, Nagasaki Sose, the rich girl, was paying.
Nagasaki Sose shot him a glance before smiling at Shiina Riki, who was working at the Cafe beside them. "Oh, right. Rikki, why don't you join the band too?"
"Huh?" Shiina Riki frowned.
"Akari-chan will be joining too," Nagasaki Sose said with a smile.
Shiina Riki's frown eased. After hesitating for a moment, she agreed, though she seemed to be on somewhat bad terms with Chihaya Anon.
Whenever the topic turns to Takamatsu Akari, Rikki becomes a completely unconditional supporter... Riki thought.
Just revolve your entire life around her. Stop studying, stop playing drums, stop contacting any of your friends. You might as well give up everything you like doing. Then ask me what to do because you're in so much pain. What do you mean, what should you do? How about calling the police?
"So what practice song should we use?" Riki asked.
"Wouldn't Kasukage do?" Shiina Riki said casually.
Nagasaki Sose's expression changed slightly. She forced herself to say, "Perhaps not that one..."
"I think it works," Riki said. "Let's use it."
Huh?
Nagasaki Sose felt that this had gone beyond her plans.
Yes, I'm Beethoven reborn
Nagasaki Sose hadn't expected the band she planned to use to replace the real one to encounter something she disliked right from the start. Kasukage was a song she had created together with her Crychic companions. The thought of letting other people take part in it now filled her with deep resistance, and she frowned heavily.
Nagasaki Sose's expression was rather ugly, and even Riki was infected by it. He finally couldn't hold back and laughed sadly.
Nagasaki Sose glared fiercely at him.
I'm two years older than you, at least. Is that any way to treat your big brother?
Riki sighed. Still, it made sense. Nagasaki Sose was a true Tokyo aristocrat, so she did have reason to feel proud of him, a newcomer from out of town.
"Could you stop looking like you're insulting me in your head?" Nagasaki Sose said with narrowed eyes.
Mind reading!?
You don't need mind reading. You've written it all over your face... Nagasaki Sose took a deep breath. For some reason, she couldn't understand why Toyokawa Sakiko had gotten to know someone like Riki.
"Sose seems to be very close to him," Chihaya Anon said curiously.
Riki hadn't even spoken when Nagasaki Sose preemptively smiled and said, "No, we're just strangers who have met twice."
She emphasized the word "strangers."
Riki didn't mind. Once they reached the practice room, he said, "There's one guitar missing from the score, so I'll play guitar."
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