Side Story 3: Built on Her Sacrifice

Then she closed the door, and now the hallway light couldn't shine in, plunging the studio into complete darkness.

"Mai- chan? Why are you getting all high-class?"

Shuya thought she was quite romantic.

However, the title of "romantic beauty" sounded appealing, so he didn't say anything more.

"Atmosphere, atmosphere, it's very important."

Mai shook her finger.

Life needs a little ritual, right?

Shuya thought to himself.

"Whatever makes you happy, please sit down."

Shuya gestured to the corner.

My Little Senior Sister's studio has a great environment; in addition to a bunch of luxurious equipment, there's also a small rest area in one corner.

It has designer sofas, chairs, low tables, tea sets, and other items.

He hadn't noticed it when he came in, but now he saw a cushion on the sofa with a picture of Nakamura Cho from the anime "Hikari-chan- chan" in JK (high school girl) style.

A character I miss very much.

It seems that the Little Senior Sister really likes this role.

The reason is quite simple: the Tiny Love Song sung by Nakamura Cho was the first popular song that her Little Senior Sister helped create, so it's understandable that she would like Nakamura Cho as well.

"This is... ah, I miss it so much."

Mai had walked over to the sofa, also noticed the cushion and sat down to hug it.

Then she took off her shoes, flopped down, and placed her long, slender legs, clad in black pantyhose, on the sofa, lying in a comfortable position to listen to music.

"You're really taking it easy."

Shuya's gaze involuntarily lingered on her legs a few more times.

Mai keenly noticed his gaze, and she was very satisfied with Shuya's reaction, a smug smile on her face.

Then Shuya's gaze fell on the body pillow, and he murmured, "My Little Senior Sister's original body pillow... Mai- chan, do you think my Little Senior Sister will notice if I replace it with a new one?"

I don't know if my Little Senior Sister will find out, but I know I will definitely tell her.

Mai replied with a smile.

"Oh, never mind then."

Shuya was quite disappointed.

Even if she hadn't told on him, he wouldn't have been able to find a new pillow to replace it; this thing is probably a collector's item now.

He had no choice but to give up, so he pulled up a chair, sat down, and started tuning his guitar.

Mai took out her phone and started fiddling with something.

What?

"No way. I'm doing a live stream on my LINE group."

Mai placed her phone upright on the table, angled it towards Shuya.

Is it necessary?

"Sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone. It's rare for you to turn your life around and start singing, so I can't be the only one listening."

Mai held up her hand in front of her phone, making a scissor shape.

Shuya glanced at the live stream. Although the studio lights were dim, he could still barely make out himself and his surroundings.

In one corner of the screen, it was shown that all members of the group had entered the live stream room.

Even Shizuka Hiratsuka surfaced, which was quite rare.

Hyakka: "What are you doing? Why the sudden live stream?"

Haruno: "Where is this?"

Little Senior Sister: "... Huh? This is my studio???"

Shuya said helplessly, "Don't ask me, it's just Mai- chan's mission."

Mai lay comfortably on the sofa. "Shuya today, so I had him sing to repay me. As for the live stream, it's because I'm kind-hearted and couldn't bear to leave you all to listen."

Little Senior Sister: "I see, so you were looking for an instrument in my studio?"

Shuya nodded. "That's right, I can borrow Little Senior Sister instrument for a while."

Little Senior Sister: "Hmm~ o(*￣▽￣*)o. Junior Brother, feel free to use it~"

Damn, emoticons are so cute!

Kirino: "Mai is the best!"

Ayase: "Mai- senpai, I'm so touched!"

Kyousuke: "Let's get hyped! Let's get hyped!"

Uesugi: "It's a pity my sister is already asleep..."

Yukino: "Listening to music is nice too. Although Inoue -kun has a terrible personality, he sings really well."

Jing: "Hurry up! I've already prepared the snacks to go with the drinks!"

Motoko: "Yes!"

Okay, even Motoko has given up on typing in Japanese.

Chapter 3, Section 569, is built upon her sacrifice.

Shuya looked at the rapidly scrolling comments and complained, "Just how much free time do you guys have?"

He casually strummed his guitar, ignoring the messy replies.

He asked Mai, "What do you want to hear?"

Mai patted the pillow and touched Nakamura Cho's sweet smile.

She said, "Small Love Song!"

"Um."

Shuya is perfectly fine.

He looked down at the guitar and began to play and sing slowly.

A light and cheerful melody danced in the air, Shuya sang it leisurely:

"The number of the universe is wide, the world is wide and the earth is wide, the love is small, the thoughts are the same..."

This classic song remains timeless even after all these years, and has been covered by countless people. It can be said to be one of the must-sing songs at karaoke.

The viewers of the live stream were all silent, focused solely on listening to the music...

Hyakka was sitting in the room, checking the script for the next dubbing session, but after the song started, she rested her elbows on the table and looked at her phone, which was propped up in the air, with her hands supporting her chin.

"Hmph hmph hmph, la, la la, la..."

She pouted her pink lips, with a ballpoint pen resting on them, bobbing up and down with each hum, like two mustaches—so cute!

In the living room, Haruno also abandoned her university assignments, picked up the Little Fox lying to one side, and started controlling its little paws in rhythm with her phone.

The Little Fox whimpered twice, indicating that it was not a small animal, but a deity who had established a sect.

"Shut up, listen to the music."

Haruno patted His head, and He had no choice but to shut his mouth in grievance, letting her play with his body.

He felt he was already a useless god...

Kirino and Seya stopped making eroge and studying, respectively, and lay on the bed looking at their phones.

Yukino was listening to music while doing her homework. If someone compared her current homework speed with her previous one, they would know that she was much slower...

Kyousuke played games while listening to music, while Uesugi put his phone aside and studied with even more focus.

Shizuka Hiratsuka to the music, poured himself a drink, and occasionally ate some snacks to go with it. He was living a very pleasant life.

Motoko is less favorable.

She sat in her room, sobbing in front of the thick stack of manuscript papers, "Waaah! Why can't I stop my damn hands!"

"Mai, Inoue- kun, Little Senior Sister's studio, the two of them alone, live streaming... So dirty! Absolutely so dirty! How can anyone not have impure thoughts!"

As the song played, Motoko wrote with divine inspiration, quickly producing erotic fiction...

At the same time, at my Little Senior Sister's house.

When Mai was live streaming, Little Senior Sister was actually creating music; she was sitting at the piano, contemplating a melody.

When Shuya started singing, she stopped creating music because she was a little tired. She walked over to the sofa, sat down, put her phone on the low table, and planned to listen to music and rest for a while.

She swayed her body to Shuya's singing, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Perhaps the singing was a bit too loud, because someone pushed open the door and came out rubbing their eyes.

"Little Senior Sister... what are you listening to?"

"Ah, Shoko- chan, you're awake? Did you get enough sleep today?"

Hmm... more or less.

Wearing Shoko Makinohara, still looking very sleepy, swayed as she walked over.

She climbed onto the sofa and lay down, her upper body firmly occupying her Little Senior Sister's thighs.

"Shoko- chan, would you like to hear your junior brother sing?"

The Little Senior Sister gently stroked Shoko's soft, long hair, the tender touch making her want to sleep again.

"Listen."

But Shoko still perked up, resting her head on her Little Senior Sister's lap while looking at her phone screen.

After listening for a while, the Little Senior Sister asked softly:

"Shoko- chan, tomorrow's Saturday, want to go out and play together? You've been staying home a lot lately."

"Thank you. But let's wait a few more days. I feel like I'll be able to move around freely soon."

Shoko said regretfully.

"Hmm... so that means, what you mentioned about the world, what part of the world, is about to disappear?"

"The world's rejection."

Shoko corrected her Little Senior Sister's words before replying:

"That's right. Haven't Little Senior Sister noticed I haven't been sleeping much these past few days?"

"But I still slept too long; I slept for sixteen or seventeen hours today."

"There's no other way; this is the price to pay..."

Shoko rubbed against her Little Senior Sister's leg affectionately, answering indifferently.

... Her current situation stems from her involvement in an incident.

Previously, when Shuya and his good friends returned to their hometown after a long absence, it was Shoko Makinohara woke Yukino up in the middle of the night and led her to find Shuya.

Shoko has traveled through numerous timelines and knows the development trends of many worlds.

After excluding some alternative niche worlds (such as the world where Shuya dies at the beginning), she and Rio and others summarized some events that would affect Shuya's personality.

Among these events, the trip back to his hometown is a common plot device across multiple timelines.

The timing of this event is uncertain, but there's a 90% chance it will happen.