Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

“No.” Hina Aoki slowly shook her head.

"I think I'm afraid that Tazaki-kun would prefer spending time with you to a boring girl like me."

"Rin-chan always has a magical power to make the people around her smile."

"Are you saying my voice is funny, or my appearance is funny?"

"Seriously, why would anyone interpret it that way?"

Rin Tachibana was speechless for a moment, feeling a little awkward, but when she saw the worry and self-blame on Hina Aoki's face, she couldn't help but soften.

"I know, I..."

"I will always stand by your side and cheer you on in your relationship."

Ah, here we go again.

Once again, he lied without batting an eye.

263. Then, Valentine's Day, when everyone has their own ulterior motives, is just around the corner.

Since returning to Tokyo, Tachibana Rin has not gone back to Osaka. I don't know what methods she used to avoid being scolded in Osaka. It is likely that Kubo Yayuu mediated this.

As the New Year holiday passed, Hina Aoki and Rin Tachibana returned to work.

The bands MyGO and Mujica are rehearsing steadily. Toru Tazaki occasionally goes to the recording studio to watch their practice and offer some guidance.

According to the plan, MyGO will hold its first live event this year, and during this period, the number of MyGO's group practice sessions has also increased significantly.

Every day, you can see Tachibana Rin dragging her tired body home, collapsing onto the sofa exhausted as soon as she gets there.

Besides these two main bands, sumimi's rehearsals are also ongoing, and Toru Tazaki has visited them a few times.

Sasaki Riko's performance was as consistent as ever, while her partner, Ms. Sonoda, was considerably less impressive.

This is a gap in basic skills; there are no shortcuts, and it can only be made up for through practice.

One afternoon in late January, Toru Tazaki sat alone in the music room, as usual, composing a song.

Sitting by the window, the bright sunlight shines through the glass, dappling the pages of the book and my fingertips.

Tazaki Toru quietly flipped through the notebook in his hand. No matter how many words he read, the crooked and messy handwriting on the pages always made him feel slightly suffocated, as if a pile of dry hay that had been drenched by a downpour was pressing on his chest.

When their memories merge, Toru Tazaki always recalls that figure, alone at night in a dark rented room, hunched over a wooden table, his twisted fingers gripping a pen in an odd way, silently screaming.

Touching the words with your fingertips, from the outside it looks like an empty, broken box, but inside it is filled with all the pain in the world, squeezed into the darkest corner.

Closing the notebook, Toru Tazaki slowly played the first note.

……

……

"We're back."

The living room was empty. Rin Tachibana glanced into the music room, but it was still empty.

Rin Tachibana went downstairs again, puzzled. "Huh? He's not in the music room. Where did he go?"

Aoki Hina suddenly noticed something, walked to the French windows in the living room, and lifted the curtains.

Outside, a slender figure sat alone in the courtyard, seemingly on the phone.

The soft moonlight cast a pale silver glow on him, making him look exceptionally lonely, which made her feel worried.

This was the first time Aoki Hina had ever felt such emotions in Tazaki Toru.

Rin Tachibana's voice actress radar immediately registered.

Pointing to Toru Tazaki outside, he confidently told Hina Aoki, "He's definitely on the phone with a female voice actress."

Aoki Hina sighed, glanced at Tachibana Rin, shook her head, and walked away.

Rin Tachibana was a little confused.

No, sis, he's doing this right under your nose and you're not going to do anything about it?

Rin Tachibana and Hina Aoki have completely opposite personalities.

At that moment, after seeing that Tazaki Toru had hung up the phone outside, he didn't go back inside immediately. Instead, he looked up at the moon and remained motionless.

Pretending to be profound.

Rin Tachibana clicked her tongue.

Pushing open the French windows, Tachibana Rin walked to Tazaki Tooru's side, about to strike up a conversation with him.

But what he saw was Tazaki Toru's expression at that moment, deep and solemn, as if something heavy was pressing on his shoulders, and he was silently enduring it.

Rin Tachibana had never seen Toru Tazaki with such an expression. For a moment, she stammered, abandoned her plan to tease him, and pretended to follow Toru Tazaki's gaze to the dark, starless night sky.

Tazaki Toru turned his head and looked at the girl next to him with a puzzled expression.

"What are you looking at?"

"I should be asking you what you're looking at, why are you standing outside in a daze?"

"When I get tired of writing songs, I take a breath of fresh air."

Tazaki Toru's expression relaxed, returning to its usual gentleness.

Rin Tachibana's face was full of disbelief; she had clearly seen Toru Tazaki talking on the phone with the female voice actress.

An indescribable emotion welled up inside him, and he deliberately said sarcastically:

"I thought you saw Princess Kaguya. Let me make it clear, Princess Kaguya is not a voice actress."

I couldn't understand her ramblings.

The January evening breeze was bitingly cold, blowing through the girl's hair and revealing her small, delicate ears, slightly red from the cold.

"Miss Tachibana, it's cold outside, let's go back inside."

"I haven't even asked yet, who was he on the phone with? Another female voice actress?"

"Why is it that whenever I contact someone, Ms. Tachibana immediately identifies them as a voice actress?"

"You don't have any other way to meet girls."

"But I didn't say I was on the phone with a girl."

"Was that phone call from a man or a woman?"

Tachibana Rin didn't let Tasaki Tooru's thoughts slide and pressed him for an answer.

She is a woman.

"See!"

Rin Tachibana immediately gave him a look that said, "I knew it."

Tazaki Toru didn't explain further, just smiled slightly: "It's just a personal matter."

Normally, Tazaki Toru wouldn't use this kind of rhetoric, which shows that he really doesn't want to discuss this matter in detail.

Rin Tachibana still looked suspicious.

Helpless, Tazaki Toru could only say, "Ms. Tachibana, you seem to be paying extra attention to me lately."

Rin Tachibana blushed and spat, "Don't be so self-conscious. I'm clearly concerned about the female voice actresses in the industry."

Am I really so untrustworthy to you?

Unexpectedly, Tachibana Rin shook her finger: "It's precisely because I trust you so much that I'm certain that some female voice actress will fall for your tricks."

Tazaki Toru was both amused and exasperated upon hearing this.

"Look at you, how infatuated you were with that Ms. Kondo last time. Oh right, has she been making moves lately?"

There has been no further contact.

"That's strange." Tachibana Rin rubbed her chin, as if she had encountered some ancient mystery and was trying her best to figure out the reason.

"Rin-chan, Tazaki-kun, it's so windy outside, come inside and talk."

Aoki Hina's voice came from inside the house.

At dinner time, the three of them gathered at the table.

Because of the recent increase in training volume, and the fact that she continued to only eat gummies, her body's nutrition was clearly not keeping up, so Tachibana Rin unusually maintained a normal diet.

She was so thin that when she laughed freely, the wrinkles on her almost fleshless cheeks deepened.

In contrast, Hina Aoki looked much better.

At the dining table, Tachibana Rin kept sighing.

"February is almost here, and I'll be doing a live concert in a few months. With my current skill level, will I get eggs thrown at me if I go on stage to play the piano?"

"I know you're still not practicing properly. Come with me to the music room later."

"Eh~~~ Do I have to play the piano even when I get home?" Tachibana Rin immediately looked distressed, even the wrinkles on her face seemed to be complaining.

Suddenly, Tachibana Rin seemed to remember something and said, "Speaking of which, Valentine's Day is coming soon, so it should be considered a holiday, right?"

I don't know if I'll get a day off to rest and stay home in bed.

As soon as Tachibana Rin spoke, she subconsciously looked at Aoki Hina and secretly winked at her.

Hina Aoki glared back at her, then looked at Toru Tazaki with apprehension, fearing that Toru Tazaki had understood Rin Tachibana's implication.

Tazaki Toru remained calm and showed no reaction, which made her breathe a slight sigh of relief.

264. We all favor daughters, so let's not criticize each other.

One sunny day in early February, the weather was fine and the breeze was gentle.

On this rare day off, I finally don't have to keep plucking those stiff strings with my fingers.

Although, contrary to my wishes, I didn't get a holiday on Valentine's Day and had to attend band practice.

However, for Hina Aoki, this ending was barely acceptable, since it was a five-person practice session and there was no need to worry about anyone taking the opportunity to sneak away and increase their affection level.

This mainly refers to Mika Kohinata.