Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

That's right.

Immediately, Tazaki Toru seemed to understand the implied meaning.

"Could it be that Meijia is thinking about something unpleasant?"

"I... I'm not that vulgar!"

Tazaki Toru couldn't help but laugh: "I only said 'not good,' what does that have to do with 'vulgar'?"

"...Tou-kun, you're so annoying."

Tazaki Toru smiled and shook his head slightly: "I live on a different floor from them, so it's not as inconvenient as you might imagine."

"I'm so sorry that my house is too small and it makes you feel inconvenienced."

"You can connect these two things?" Toru Tazaki asked in surprise.

"That's right, but don't really think of me as an idiot who doesn't know anything."

Tazaki Toru thought to himself, "Girls' thoughts are really hard to guess."

Even the simple-minded Mika Kohinata sometimes says such funny things.

"No, not at all. Rather than those things, I often occupy the music room by myself. I hope I don't upset Miss Aoki."

"Nina-chan wouldn't be so petty."

Mika Kohinata subconsciously spoke up for Hina Aoki, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she remembered Hina Aoki that night.

I recall what she said and the expression on her face at that time.

Although Mika Kohinata couldn't quite put her finger on it, she always felt something was off and couldn't shake it off.

Ultimately, he attributed it to his own oversensitivity, or perhaps he thought everyone was like him, treating Tazaki Toru as an easily coveted treasure.

There was silence again on the other end of the phone.

"Mika seems to have something she wants to say to me."

"...No."

Tazaki Toru glanced at the time: "In that case, it's getting late, let's get some rest."

"...If we have nothing to say, can't I call you?"

“I never said that.”

Tazaki Toru's voice was unhurried, and even though there was no sound from the other end of the phone, he still had a faint smile on his face.

"I thought that on this rare Christmas Eve, you would at least wait for the bells to ring together."

"I don't really look forward to Christmas that much."

Mika Kohinata remained silent, sharing the moment of quiet reflection.

Outside the second-floor window, the withered trees stood motionless, their bare branches exposed in the biting wind.

The soft moonlight shone through the window, and time passed little by little.

The clock hanging on the wall of the music room ticked away, its minute hand moving incessantly.

Finally, it intersects and overlaps with the upright clock hand.

The girl's gentle voice reached his ears.

"Tou-kun, Merry Christmas."

……

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Tazaki Toru had just gotten up when he saw the message from Tachibana Rin.

The girl woke up quite early after getting home.

Unbeknownst to Tazaki Toru, the message Tachibana Rin sent to Aoki Hina remained unread overnight.

Who is Miss Tachibana?

The fantasies in her head, even if all the female voice actresses were added together, probably wouldn't amount to even two or three-tenths of what she imagined.

Aoki Hina didn't reply to any messages all night. Could it be that these two really did get carried away and spent the whole night together?

Damn Aoki Hina, I get nagged by my parents as soon as I get home.

She, on the other hand, slept soundly with a man.

This feeling of unease lingered with her all night, but Tachibana Rin dared not make a call rashly, for fear of hearing Aoki Hina's barely suppressed moans and Tazaki Toru's heavy breathing.

And this thought actually led me to imagine dawn.

Feeling extremely embarrassed, Rin Tachibana washed her underwear and then sneaked back to her bedroom from the bathroom.

After struggling for a long time while lying on the bed, I finally made up my mind.

Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off...

"Well done, you, Haruna Oshima! You actually did it!"

Rin Tachibana angrily pounded her pillow, her expression extremely complicated.

Finally, unwilling to give up, she sat up, her eyes shifting between light and shadow, and dialed another number.

Tazaki Toru, who had just returned from his morning run, hadn't even had a chance to shower when his phone suddenly rang.

"Good morning, Ms. Tachibana, Merry Christmas..."

"Stop with this nonsense, let Hina answer the phone."

"what?"

Tachibana Rin spoke urgently, while Tazaki Toru was completely bewildered.

At this moment, there was no one in the living room.

“She should still be sleeping,” Toru Tazaki said.

Rin Tachibana's voice suddenly turned shrill on the other end of the phone.

"No, still sleeping? What time did you guys keep going last night?!"

That's a very strange way of putting it.

"It wasn't too late, I got home around 10 p.m.

What time did you go to bed?

Tazaki Toru was taken aback for a moment, but without thinking much of it, he replied, "A little over midnight."

"...So weak."

"what?"

"Tazaki, you're so weak."

Great, I didn't understand a single word.

Even so, Toru Tazaki could still detect the displeasure in her tone.

She really is like that; whether in Tokyo or Osaka, she always looks unhappy.

I don't know where all these things in the world come from that would upset her.

"Miss Tachibana, are you resting well at home?"

"No, not good at all."

"Forehead……"

There's no way to respond to that.

"Confess now, what exactly did you do to Rina?"

"Why are you speaking in a tone as if I've kidnapped Ms. Aoki and am about to demand ransom from Ms. Tachibana?"

She didn't check my messages all night.

"Did you two go out together yesterday? As soon as I left, you started acting recklessly."

This is truly a miscarriage of justice for Tazaki Toru.

"We just went out to a music store."

"Then?"

"Go home and sleep."

"Sleep...sleep together?"

Tazaki Toru fell into a subtle silence.

After a long silence, he said helplessly, "Miss Tachibana, did you bump your head? How could that be?"

Huh? Didn't you sleep together?

That shouldn't be the case; something should have happened by now, right?

Rin Tachibana cursed in his heart.

Don't let Oshima Haruna's seemingly gentle demeanor fool you; she's no pushover. Once she makes up her mind, no one can stop her.

Could it be that she changed her mind at the last minute?

Tsk! Useless woman.

Well done!

For some reason, after hearing Toru Tazaki say that, Rin Tachibana's pent-up anger and gloom vanished.

"I knew it! Hina wouldn't be interested in guys who keep flirting with other female voice actresses. Only a magnanimous, beautiful, and kind-hearted girl like me would be willing to take you in until now."

Just as Tazaki Toru was about to speak, he heard the sound of a girl's footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Miss Aoki has come downstairs. You can talk to her yourself."

Having not slept well all night, Aoki Hina now sports a pair of panda eyes, and her chest has been restored to its original state. She is wearing a loose nightgown, revealing her completely bare chest.