Anime Crossover: There are a lot of beautiful girls who like me.

"Childhood sweethearts..."

Kitagawa Yu sighed silently.

Then... he never expected that when he and Anna Hachimi left LUMINE EST and arrived at the Yoshinoya restaurant near the station, they would actually run into Lupa and Ebizuka Satoshi there.

"Ah!? Kitagawa-kun?"

As Lupa, dressed in work clothes, called out Kitagawa Yu's name, Ebizuka Tomo and Yanagi Anna, who was looking down at the menu, both turned their heads at the same time.

"Huh? Does Lupa work here?" Kitagawa Yu couldn't help but be taken aback when he saw Lupa.

He noticed that Rupa and Ebizuka Satoshi worked at Yoshinoya, something he had noticed while watching anime.

However, there are more than 300 Yoshinoya stores in Tokyo, so he didn't expect that he would happen to come to the store where the two of them worked.

However, this Yoshinoya is not only close to the station, but also located in Shinjuku, one of the three major live house districts in Tokyo. In addition, it is also close to Takadanobaba, where Lupa Gakuba is located, so it seems quite reasonable when you think about it.

"Is this Kitagawa-kun's girlfriend?"

At this moment, Lupa's gaze had shifted from Kitagawa Yu to Yanami Anna, and a curious light appeared in his eyes.

At the same time, Anzu Hachimi looked at Lupa, who was dressed in black and looked to be around twenty years old. A strange look flashed across her eyes, and she also became curious about Lupa's identity.

After all, Rupa is clearly several years older than Kitagawa Yu, yet Kitagawa Yu calls her "Rupa-chan". Why is that?

The answer, of course, was that Rupa himself requested it.

After all, she and Ebizuka Tomoya were friends, so how could she suddenly become an older sister or senior to Kitagawa Yu?

As for being mistaken for Kitagawa Yu's girlfriend, Hanami Anna didn't seem to care.

After all, it's normal for a boy and a girl of similar age to be misunderstood when they go out to eat or shop alone together.

What's more... to be honest, being mistaken for the girlfriend of a handsome guy like Kitagawa Yu made Anna Hanami secretly pleased and proud.

"You guessed wrong. This is my classmate and club member, Anna Hachimi. I came out with her today to help her look at guitars."

Kitagawa Yu first clarified his relationship with Hanami Anna, and then introduced her to Hanami Anna: "This is my bassist, Rupa, whom I met when I was in the music arrangement class."

"Hello, I'm Lupa. Since I'm from South Asia, my name is a little hard to pronounce, so you can just call me Lupa-chan~" Lupa greeted Anna with a gentle smile.

Now, Anna finally understood why Kitagawa Yu called her "Lupa-chan".

"Oh right, this is our Ash Ketchum—"

Rupa then pulled Ebizuka Satoshi over and looked at him with kind and encouraging eyes.

"...Nice to meet you all, I'm keyboardist Ebizuka Satoshi. It's a pleasure to meet you all, please take care of me!"

Ebizuka Satoshi's lips twitched slightly. She felt a little shy and unwilling, but in order not to disappoint Rupa's concern and expectations, she forced a smile and took the initiative to introduce herself.

However, it was working hours, and the store was crowded with customers during mealtimes, so after a brief self-introduction, she and Rupa continued to work.

On the other side, after Anna and Yu Kitagawa sat down at the bar again, Anna first glanced at Rupa and Satoshi Ebizuka, who had returned to the semi-open kitchen, and then turned to look at Yu Kitagawa with a gossipy expression.

"Hey! Yu, are you and that Lupa on good terms?"

“We’re just ordinary friends who have known each other for three days,” Kitagawa Yu explained calmly. “My music arrangement class happens to be next to her bass class, so I’ve only met her two or three times.”

"Then why is that guy so enthusiastic towards you? That smile...tsk tsk, could she be interested in you?"

As Banami spoke, she subconsciously lowered her voice, and her eyes couldn't help but sparkle with excitement.

That's right, Anna Hanami is an ordinary high school girl who loves food and gossip. Apart from having a lot of expressive faces and a lively personality, she is just average in every other way.

But just like Chihiro Kosaka, the most ordinary character in "The World God Only Knows," who had almost no special talents except for her sharp tongue, ultimately defeated a group of goddesses and won the heart of God.

In Kitagawa Yu's eyes, Anna Hanami is incredibly cute!

"If my childhood friend were Hanami, she would definitely give up her own dreams and form a band with me, right? Even if I suggested that we transfer to Tokyo for school together, she would definitely agree without hesitation, right?"

While thinking to himself, Kitagawa Yu casually said, "It's probably just because I also play in a band and am an arranger. Besides, it would be normal if she really had feelings for me, wouldn't it?"

"Sigh... what a narcissistic guy!"

When Hana saw Anja making a face at him, he didn't know why, but even though he didn't hear any gossip, he felt more relaxed and happy.

Chapter 75 A Closer Step

"Yu, what are you planning to order?"

"Let's go for the beef bowl set meal. After all, Yoshinoya's beef bowl is one of their signature dishes."

"But I also want to order the beef rice set meal~"

"so what?"

"How about you order the pork chop rice bowl with sauce instead?"

"So you can have both beef rice and pork chop with sauce, right?"

"Hehehe, you figured that out..."

Perhaps they had already shared more than one indirect kiss, and Hakamada Sosuke saw it but didn't seem to care at all.

Now, Anna Hanami no longer sees anything wrong with her good friend adding a piece of uneaten, sauce-covered fried pork chop from Yu Kitagawa's bowl to her own.

That's right. Although they've only known each other for less than a week, perhaps because they've just entered high school and are in a new environment, she's already considered Kitagawa Yu a good friend.

Especially after the two of them had just gone shopping together, and she had even tried on clothes for Kitagawa Yu to see, and... after Kitagawa Yu's affectionate head pat, she had unconsciously upgraded her 'newly acquainted friend with whom she had a good relationship' to 'very good friends'.

In fact, even if you include her childhood friend Sosuke Hakamada, Yu Kitagawa is the only boy who goes shopping and eats with her alone.

"Okay then~"

Kitagawa Yu pretended to hesitate for a moment, then suppressed his laughter and reluctantly agreed.

Then, Lupa happened to see Anja add fried pork cutlet from Kitagawa Yu's bowl to her own, which made Lupa wink at Kitagawa Yu and chuckle to himself.

In fact, she didn't have any feelings for Kitagawa Yu. She just thought that Kitagawa Yu was a nice person, could compose music, and had a sunny personality. He was a good match for being friends with someone like Ebizuka Satoshi, who seemed cold but was actually a tsundere.

He had never considered that he, Ebizuka Tomo, or Kitagawa Yu might have any further development in their relationship.

Of course, if Ebizuka Satoshi really falls in love with Kitagawa Yu after getting to know him, she won't object.

As for now...

We're leaving now.

"Bye-Bye!"

About half an hour later, Lupa smiled and waved, watching Kitagawa Yu and Banami Anna leave together after finishing their dinner.

It was only at this moment that Ebizuka Tomo, who had been hiding in the kitchen and didn't want to see anyone, finally turned around and poked his head out.

"Those two guys are gone?"

"You should say 'Kitagawa-kun' and 'Hanami', Satoshi!"

"Okay~ okay~ but why didn't you give them those performance tickets?" Ebizuka Satoshi first gave a perfunctory answer, then asked with some curiosity.

“Because it’s very impolite to interrupt your friends’ date!” Rupa’s face still had a friendly and gentle smile, but she continued in a ‘serious’ manner, “What if Kitagawa-kun and Hanami-chan originally wanted to go to a love hotel later?”

"Cough cough cough-"

A series of rapid coughs suddenly rang out.

Ebizuka Satoshi, who had previously maintained a cold expression, choked on his saliva and his face turned red.

However, after the initial shock, she had to admit that what Rupa said might not be impossible.

After all, in Japan, people can register for marriage and have children at the age of sixteen, so what's so unusual about going to a love hotel?

On the other side, perhaps because they had just eaten and were still warm, Kitagawa Yu and Banami Anna were unaware of the gossip coming from behind them.

However, when Kitagawa Yu returned to the street outside, the cool night breeze suddenly reminded him of Lupa's invitation to the performance, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"There are so many live music venues of all sizes in Shinjuku, it's unlikely we'll run into each other again by sheer coincidence, right?"

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Yu couldn't help but take out his phone and glance at the two 'Shinjuku LOFT' performance tickets he had ordered online last night. A strange look flashed involuntarily in his eyes.

This Live House, which seems to have been very famous in its previous life, is also one of the most popular Live Houses in Shinjuku in this crossover anime world. So... the chances of bumping into it again seem quite high!

"Oh well, if we bump into each other, so be it. As long as I'm not embarrassed, it's others who will be." Kitagawa Yu quickly put the matter out of her mind.

However, due to Anna's curiosity, the conversation between the two on their way to the Ishibashi Music Store turned to why Rupa and Ebizuka Satoshi, even after graduating and forming a band, were still working at a fast food restaurant.

Then, with Kitagawa Yu's explanation, Hanami Anna learned that most of the underground independent bands at the bottom of the pyramid could not survive by performing and releasing songs alone, and had to work part-time to make ends meet.

"What about these people?"

When Hana saw Anzu curiously turn her head, she secretly pointed with her finger at the street performers who started appearing on the roadside after dark.

“Most of these people are worse off than the lowest-level independent bands. They are usually people who are not good enough to perform in live houses, so they perform on the street like this.”

"But I feel like these people sing really well, and they play the guitar really well too... And that one and that one... are very pretty, they're just as good as those idols!" Banami asked, still somewhat puzzled.

"You're right. Many street singers may not sing badly, and their guitar playing skills may be much better than mine. Some are even more good-looking than idols. But the problem is that their creative ability is limited, they can't write any good works, and their voices are not distinctive enough and lack recognizability. So they become street singers not because they are unlucky, but because they are not good enough."

Kitagawa Yu explained patiently, while also expressing some感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of mixed emotions, including admiration and regret).

But the next second, he suddenly froze, a look of surprise on his face, because the two street singers that Yanami Anna had mentioned, whose looks were comparable to idols...

"Isn't this Kawahara Momoka?"

The tight-fitting black leather jacket was worn over a low-cut black knit top and a white tank top. The bottom was paired with dark blue denim shorts, black tights, and black Doc Martens boots.

With her long, flowing hair that was a shade between light gold and light brown, and her black eyes, Kitagawa Yu recognized her at a glance with her signature outfit.

As for the other girl, who was about ten meters away, with long dark purple hair and dark purple eyes, wearing a dark green work jacket and a dark brown fisherman's hat, and also around twenty years old, Kitagawa Yu quickly recognized her after a brief search of his memory.

"This must be Nanami Kuon, Eiko's rival and friend from 'Party Guy Kongming', right?"

"I never expected to run into them here."

"However... Banami's judgment is quite accurate. One of these two definitely has the potential to become a 'mainstream idol,' while the other is already a second-rate idol..."

As Kitagawa Yu muttered to himself, he couldn't help but smile slightly.

Chapter 76 After all, they're good friends...

"Which road is more or less!"

Hanami Anzu clearly had no idea what he was thinking. After hearing his explanation, she suddenly understood.