My Romance Simulation with Them

Having a current girlfriend yet still being able to clearly remember his ex-girlfriend forced Nango to apologize to Yamada Ryo.

He turned back: "Let's continue."

"Ah."

Rikka Takarada nodded.

"Becoming a director of tokusatsu films and one day writing a tokusatsu script that belongs only to her has always been her dream."

It turned out to be the case.

Upon hearing this, Nanxiang Shi suddenly realized what was going on.

Why would she, who always maintains a refined and discreet demeanor, be willing to communicate and interact with me?

Why would she, who clearly harbored hostility towards him, be willing to condescend to become his fake 'boyfriend and girlfriend'?

So that's why it all started.

but--

"Although I feel very regretful and sorry, it has nothing to do with me anymore."

Nanxiang shook his head and spoke.

Yes.

That has nothing to do with him anymore.

Although the words were very harsh, they were indeed true.

He once gave his whole heart to that girl with short pink and purple hair.

But his sincere dedication is commendable.

The girl with short, pinkish-purple hair chose to refuse.

She never revealed her true feelings to him, nor did she ever show a genuine smile.

My close contact with him was solely for the purpose of utilizing his writing skills, nothing more.

He never truly entered her heart.

but--

Is the truth really as Nango thinks?

Rikka Takarada asked softly in return.

She looked at Nanxiang with her sapphire blue eyes.

His expression was as sorrowful as when he last saw her at Ocha High School.

She slowly recounted Shinjo Akane's experiences over the years.

After graduating from Ocha High School, Akane Shinjo, with grades second only to yours, was admitted to the film and television program at the prestigious Nihon University Faculty of Arts.

There, she continued to learn, continuing to study everything about filmmaking.

"I met Qian a few times after graduation."

"But by then, she was no longer as lively and energetic as she was during her time at Ocha High School."

Rikka Takarada was lost in her memories.

University studies are tedious and boring.

Akane Shinjo, who is wholeheartedly devoted to writing tokusatsu scripts, is no exception.

Although she still had a smile on her face and behaved as usual.

But as a close friend, Rikka Takarada could clearly sense Akane Shinjo's deep-seated exhaustion.

When people get tired, they tend to talk more.

At that time, what Shinjo Akane and Takarada Rikka talked about most... was probably the things that happened during their time in Nango.

Every time we talk about Nango Toki from our high school days...

Shinjo Akane, who always seemed a little tired, always seemed to cheer herself up again.

Soon after graduating from university, Shinjo Akane officially entered the film and television industry.

Work is getting busier.

This meant that Rikka Takarada rarely saw her again.

When he saw her again, it was too late.

She died at home after taking medication.

While sorting through his belongings.

Rikka Takarada noticed countless thick stacks of scripts and manuscripts, piled together, rejected and ignored.

Similarly, she finally understood the mental pressure that Shinjo Akane had been under all these years.

“This is not your fault, Miss Baoduo.”

Nango gently comforted Rikka Takarada, whose eyes were already brimming with tears again.

He could roughly understand how things would unfold next.

Unlike the Japanese literary world, talent and ability are not enough in the Japanese film and television industry.

Without qualified mentors and decent interpersonal relationships, it's impossible to go far—unless your talent is truly beyond ordinary imagination, like Nango in the previous simulation, who was able to change the entire landscape single-handedly.

In this environment, a girl's dream of special effects is, frankly speaking, nothing more than a seemingly gorgeous bubble in the water, which vanishes in an instant if touched by a hand.

It's probably because they can't accept this fact.

That girl who always carefully disguised herself chose to leave this world in this way.

"No, that's my problem."

Rikka Takarada let out a heavy sigh; at this moment, she had lost all her strength.

"If I had been more serious back then, and tried harder to persuade you, perhaps the two of you would have continued, and Qian probably wouldn't have..."

"This has nothing to do with Shinjo and me, and of course, it has little to do with Ms. Takarada either. It was Shinjo's own choice."

Nango stood up, patted Yamada Ryo on the head, and gestured for her to wait outside the cafe.

She, who was usually free-spirited, was unusually obedient at this moment, nodding and leaving.

"No, it is related. Every time I talk to Qian about you, there is always another emotion on her face."

Almost every time I talk to Akane Shinjo, when we talk about Nango...

Even her beautiful face, which she always knew how to hide and disguise, carried a slight hint of regret.

Even that meticulously crafted smile seemed to have been tinged with a shadow.

"That's just your guess."

Nango looked out the coffee shop window.

Pedestrians continued to walk outside the coffee shop window, and the alternating hot and cold air from the heating inside blurred the view outside the window and distorted people's vision.

"This is not speculation! It is a well-founded fact!"

Rikka Takarada suddenly became agitated, probably thinking of something, and said, "Among Akane's belongings, on her phone, there was a text message she edited before she passed away, which she wanted to send to you! She never forgot you!"

When we get to this point...

All her grief and sorrow came to an abrupt end, suddenly ceasing.

It's like being so sad that you can't cry anymore.

She simply took out a cracked cell phone in silence.

On the screen where everything has come to a standstill.

There is an edited text message.

It was a blank text message, with no content whatsoever.

The recipient was Nanxiang Shi.

No one can truly understand the feelings of Shin-chan as she typed this text message on her deathbed.

Similarly, no one could understand Rikka Takarada's feelings and thoughts when she buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably on the table after that.

You simply stared at the blank, edited text message and let out a soft sigh.

Perhaps back in Ocha High School, you unintentionally touched her heart, but she skillfully concealed it.

Perhaps she had already fallen for him long ago.

Or perhaps it was all just Rikka Takarada's illusion.

[The edited text message, accidentally stumbled upon, was merely a coincidence, a result of her unconscious struggle before her death.]

However, in the last tokusatsu script she left behind, there was this line.

[These are the words spoken by a villainous monster, consumed by grief and driven to monstrous transformation, to the righteous warrior who came to defeat him.]

"I once had someone who truly loved me, but that person disappeared forever because of my ignorance, foolishness, and arrogance."

but--

"It's too late to say all this now."

After seeing Rikka Takarada, whose emotions had stabilized, out of the coffee shop, Toki Nango spoke up.

"Perhaps that's true. It's indeed too late to say all this, but Nango-san, do you really think you've never touched Akane's heart?"

Standing at the door, Rikka Takarada uttered the same words she had spoken years ago.

And this was also the last thing Rikka Takarada said that I heard her say when I was in Nango.

Standing at the entrance of the coffee shop, Nango Toki and Yamada Ryo watched her leave, and they also saw cumulonimbus clouds gathering in the sky.

The clouds at dusk were tinged with crimson.

It hovered above Nanxiang's head for a very, very long time.

You later married Yamada Ryo, and your married life was very happy.