Tokyo: My Girlfriend

School lets out on Friday evening.

Shinichi Kitagawa has been coming home for dinner very late these past few days, or you could say he's been eating fast food at Akemi Aoki's house.

Of course, for Rena, if her brother didn't eat what she cooked, it was as if he hadn't eaten at all, so she would still prepare dinner for him every night.

Today, Shinichi Kitagawa spent a long time practicing songs with Akemi Aoki again.

At her house, sitting on Aoki Akemi's bedroom bed, watching her stand in front of me, one hand covering her chest, the other raised to raise her voice.

But he suddenly stopped when he reached the climax of the song.

Shinichi Kitagawa asked in confusion, "Why did you stop?"

Akemi Aoki blinked her alluring eyes and said with a smile, "I forgot my lines...sorry."

Kitagawa Shinichi felt embarrassed. When it was time to rest, Aoki Akemi brought tea, and Kitagawa Shinichi took out the comprehensive evaluation he had written for her during the practice that night.

"To be honest, Mingmei, I won't beat around the bush. Have you not been feeling well these past few days?"

Akemi Aoki exclaimed "Ah!" and handed the tea to him, smiling as she said, "No, right? Does Shinichi-kun think I'm having some kind of problem lately? Please have some tea."

Kitagawa Shinichi said thank you. Although he couldn't fully understand Aoki Akemi's thoughts, he knew her voice very well.

"Logically, there shouldn't be any problem, but I feel like you didn't perform as well this week as you did last week. Although you're still considered competent by my standards, you shouldn't have only improved by this much."

Akemi Aoki grinned and immediately found an excuse: "Shinichi-kun, do you think it might be because of my period? I just got my period these past few days."

Kitagawa Shinichi blinked: "I see...that's possible, but we're going to Tokyo tomorrow..."

Akemi Aoki straightened up, patted her chest, and swore, "Don't worry! Everything will be fine tomorrow! I'll put in a thousand times the effort!"

"If you feel unwell or need my help, just say so. There's nothing more important than going on stage tomorrow. If your debut goes smoothly, you'll become famous much faster than you can imagine."

"I see. Well..." Aoki Akemi held up one finger, "I do have something I need Shinichi's help with!"

"you say."

She clasped her hands together and rested her head on them: "Shin-il, can you hug me before the performance tomorrow? I feel like if I get a hug, I definitely won't make a mistake. Shin-il is a great medicine for my performance."

Kitagawa Shinichi chuckled, but after thinking for a moment, he didn't refuse: "Sure, as long as Akemi's match goes smoothly tomorrow, this little thing is no problem at all."

Akemi Aoki was surprised that he actually agreed. She blinked, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "In that case, I have one more request..."

Shinichi Kitagawa sipped his tea: "Go on. As long as tomorrow's performance goes smoothly, I'll do as many requests as I can."

Akemi Aoki stared intently at Shinichi Kitagawa: "If you can't get back together with your ex-girlfriend, can't you be with me?"

"Huh?" He paused in his tea-drinking motion.

Akemi Aoki repeated with a smile, "I said, if you can't get back together with your ex-girlfriend, and you feel that being with Rena isn't right for you, why don't you be with me?"

Sometimes, Shinichi Kitagawa really couldn't understand how a girl's thoughts worked.

Whether it's Hina, Rena, or Akemi, there are always aspects of them that he couldn't have imagined.

However, hearing what Akemi was saying now reminded him of what happened in the bathroom on Monday.

"Are you serious this time or joking? The main thing is, with Akemi... dating requires mutual affection, right? Before..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kitagawa Shinichi's eyes suddenly widened.

Because Aoki Akemi leaned down and kissed her without hesitation.

The next second, before Shinichi Kitagawa even realized what had happened, she suddenly sat back down with a grin, pretending nothing had happened, her clothes sparkling, and clapped her hands: "Alright, don't worry about what I just said, let's continue training!"

"ah.."

But the next second her eyes suddenly turned sad: "Anyway, everyone's pretending to be stupid, right? Then let's just keep training."

Kitagawa Shinichi looked at her suspiciously. Sure enough, Akemi had been acting a little strange lately...

It's not because of my period.

The training continued in the second half, and it was as if nothing had really happened.

When it was time to leave, Shinichi Kitagawa and Akemi Aoki said goodbye at the door. Akemi waved goodbye, saying, "Take care on your journey, Shinichi-kun. See you tomorrow morning!"

"Hmm..." Kitagawa Shinichi was about to turn around, but then he felt that things really couldn't go on like this, and some things really needed to be made clear.

He stopped and told Aoki Akemi his true thoughts:

"I'm sorry, Mingmei. Actually, I vaguely know that you like me. Although you said after I rejected you a long time ago that you would never let yourself fall in love with me, what you did in the bathroom on Monday, you weren't joking, were you? And just now you kissed me..."

Aoki Akemi looked at him with her foxy eyes, and it wouldn't be accurate to say she was surprised: "You suddenly started talking about these things, huh? And then..."

Shinichi Kitagawa: "I should have given you an answer sooner. After what happened on Monday, I shouldn't have just pretended it never happened and used my previous rejection as a permanent rejection. Although I originally thought it wouldn't have any impact, reality has just shown me that's not the case. You still care about this, don't you?"

He looked up and met her gaze:

"I have indeed broken up, but I probably haven't completely forgotten her. In this situation, I can't fall in love with anyone else. I don't dislike Akemi, but I really don't have that kind of romantic love for her."

If I really get together with Mingmei, it probably won't be a good thing for either of us. I'm really sorry, a lot has happened in my life lately, so I haven't been able to respond to you in time.

Standing under the warm light at the doorway, Aoki Akemi listened to these completely unsurprising words, feeling not even sad, because she had already guessed it.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have just smiled and brushed it off, continuing to pretend nothing had happened.

"So, Shinichi thought I meant everyone was pretending to be stupid? No, that's not it. Okay, although there wasn't much buildup, since we've come this far..."

Akemi Aoki slowly walked up to Shinichi Kitagawa, looked up and carefully examined his features, then reached out and cupped his face in her hands:

"I've actually always wanted to ask Shin-ichi, since you've never liked me from the beginning, why did you bother me in the first place? Doesn't Shin-ichi know how a powerless girl like me would react to someone like Shin-ichi appearing in her life?"

I know that Shin-il might genuinely be looking for me with career goals in mind, but isn't that a bit too much for me? Telling me to focus solely on my career, and saying things like I can't like you—how am I supposed to do that?

Akemi Aoki questioned, "I'm just an ordinary girl. I can't resist someone like Shinichi who barged into my life. I originally wanted to take things slowly. Even if you don't like me now, it's okay. As long as we do what you like, we'll eventually reach a turning point in our relationship."

Her eyes suddenly welled up with tears: "But that turning point has passed now, and my relationship with Shin-ichi is still not progressing at all." She said painfully:

"I just asked you if I've been in a bad mood lately? You said you felt fine, and I acted really well, didn't I? But I've actually been in a really bad mood this week, especially bad, and I almost couldn't keep up the act several times, but I could still pretend to be fine when I'm with Shin-il."

Shinichi Kitagawa's pupils trembled as he looked at her heartbroken expression.

Unlike last time, he wasn't as composed at all; it seemed like he was suppressing a great deal of resentment.

Akemi Aoki's eyes narrowed into crescent moons: "Tell Shinichi-kun why I kissed you tonight. The truth is, I've been thinking about how to get close to you in this situation, and kissing you was a last resort." Tears streamed down her face as she spoke.

"Just because you said you'd promise me anything before the competition, I kissed you even though I knew it was a lie. I'm not stupid! I knew you'd reject me immediately after the kiss and wouldn't keep your promise, but I still did it because I had no other choice, right?"

Her hands trembled as she touched his face: "Can't you like me even a little bit? Can't you be with me first, Shin-il? I really will make you like me, I really will treat you well, I'm not kidding."

Shinichi Kitagawa saw the breakdown in her eyes, a breakdown somewhat similar to that of Hina.

The familiar feeling of déjà vu made a thought pop into his head unconsciously.

Her eyes trembled as she asked, "The turning point that Akemi just mentioned, you weren't referring to what happened on Monday, were you? Did something else happen between Akemi and me?"

Akemi Aoki burst into tears, feeling utterly pathetic. She forced a smile, her voice choked with sobs:

"Look, even though things have gotten this bad, Shinichi still hasn't connected me to that incident. That night, didn't you realize it was me at all? I'm not asking you to take responsibility for me, but at least don't make me feel so invisible, okay?"

Shinichi Kitagawa's pupils dilated. Upon hearing a certain keyword, he felt as if an electric current had struck him, freezing him in place. He stammered, "What did you say?"

Inside, Hirano Aoki, her hair pressed into the shape of earphones, walked out carrying potato chips, looking puzzled. "Sis, partner, why are you chatting with the door open? Bugs will get in."