Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

It wasn't until midnight that Tazaki Toru was freed from the hell of discussions and boarded a company-funded taxi to Tsukishima.

Indeed, it's much more comfortable than a tram.

When they got home, the two female voice actresses were in the living room. Rin Tachibana, unusually, was sitting on the sofa with an electric guitar, strumming it aimlessly.

The guitar wasn't plugged in, so it wasn't considered a disturbance.

"Tazaki-kun, welcome home. You're back so late today."

"Did you go drinking with your good friend again?" Tachibana Rin asked in a strange tone.

Ever since that night, when talking to Tachibana Rin, she always seemed to have a hidden meaning in her words, and if you asked her directly, she would just hum in displeasure.

Apart from that, there haven't been many changes.

"Manager Yoshimura introduced me to a new job, and I officially signed the contract today," Tazaki Toru said.

"Huh? Really? Congratulations! I knew that with Tazaki-kun's abilities, someone would definitely appreciate you."

"Thank you."

"What kind of job is it?" Tachibana Rin peeked over, looking like a curious child.

"I can't say," Tazaki Toru answered truthfully.

"Tch! You stingy person, I don't care to know!"

Rin Tachibana called out, her bare feet stomping on the floor as she ran upstairs with her electric guitar clattering.

Shortly after, a loud and sharp sound came from upstairs.

"Get ready, log in!"

55. I never truly received it, yet it feels as if a wound has been ripped out of me. (Seeking monthly votes)

"Miss Aoki, that last part was a bit off."

"Eh? Um, sorry..."

As usual, sitting in the practice room arranged by the agency, Rin-chan sitting next to me was writing with a worried look on her face.

But I could tell that her fingers were becoming more and more nimble, gradually becoming more adept and at her command.

On the contrary, it was me, Aoki Hina, who played the role of the perfect girl in front of others.

These days, my fingers have been acting out of control, as if they're rebelling against me.

Since it won't listen to me, it might as well be cut off from my palm and become someone else's finger. How annoying!

Rin-chan, on the other hand, has been making rapid progress lately and is always being praised.

She wouldn't be secretly having Tazaki teach her guitar behind my back, would she?

"Miss Aoki, you're wrong again."

"……Feel sorry."

After our usual evening guitar lesson, Rin and I left the guitar classroom and headed towards the station together.

She complained as usual, something I'm used to hearing.

At the same time, I admire her for being able to do things she's not good at and persevere until she becomes good at them.

"My fingers hurt so much, I want to go home and play games!"

I've only ever heard that girls have two stomachs, one for regular food and the other for desserts.

This is the first time I've ever seen someone with two pairs of fingers on their left hand.

"Hina, you've been acting strange lately."

"Eh?"

When I came to my senses, Rin-chan had somehow appeared in front of me and was staring intently at my face.

Why do you say that?

"Why? You've been so absent-minded lately."

"A cat's thoughts are always as unpredictable as the wind and clouds in the sky; you can never figure them out."

"You're not a real cat, otherwise why don't you shed?"

Taking advantage of her height, which wasn't much taller than mine, she patted my head wantonly, as if she really wanted to see if she could pluck a few strands of hair from my head.

If I had sharp cat claws, I probably wouldn't be able to resist scratching her pretty face a few times before I'd stop.

"Ah! It must be that Tazaki guy, he's made you angry again."

"again?"

"Of course! The time he stayed out all night, and even earlier, when he went out on dates with girls, you were always secretly hiding in your room biting your pillow."

"Why don't I have this memory?"

"It was added for you, in my heart."

I think there are very few girls in the world who could be friends with her, except for me.

……

……

"We're back."

"Huh? Tazaki-kun, didn't you go to your part-time job today?"

As soon as I entered the living room, I saw Tazaki-kun come out of the kitchen with an electric kettle, from which water was bubbling.

Rin-chan goes without saying, but I have a cat-like tongue that's afraid of getting burned. Neither of us likes drinking hot water, and we once thought it was Tazaki-kun's strange quirk.

"The store manager said I don't need to go during this period, and that it's considered as me taking leave."

"Oh! Is it because of the new job I introduced to you?"

"Ah."

Hearing Rin-chan say that, I realized it was true.

I'm naturally curious about Tazaki-kun's new job, wondering what kind of music he'll write this time.

But for some reason, this past week, just seeing his handsome face has made me feel inexplicably suffocated.

I'm not angry with Tazaki-kun, and he didn't do anything to provoke me.

I think this must be due to my own actions.

Unfortunately, I have a face that's as agile and versatile as a cat's, and also quite cute and pretty.

By simply changing the perspective, donning a cat's skin, and hiding one's true feelings.

Today, Oshima Haruna continues to perfectly embody the character of Aoki Hina.

"Miss Aoki."

"Hmm? What's wrong, Tazaki-kun?"

I was all ready to go, and I put on a smile that he could never find fault with. Many people have said that my deliberately faked smile was extremely cute.

After hearing it so many times, I've come to believe it too.

"I'm going to the music room now. If you need a lesson, just come find me."

"Okay, sure."

After Tazaki Toru went up to the second floor, I could clearly feel the corners of my mouth slowly drooping, and then I just stared blankly at the stairwell.

"Japanese food, it's really weird."

I ignored Rin-chan, went back to my room to get my pajamas, and went to the bathroom.

After taking a shower and going upstairs, I originally planned to go straight to my room, but I ended up standing in front of the music room without realizing it.

As if she had suddenly forgotten how to open the soundproof door, she stood there dumbfounded until Rin-chan's door opened not far away.

She skipped out, humming an incredibly childish tune like, "Juice~ I love drinking juice~ la la la~".

Not wanting her to see me, I immediately pushed the door open and went inside.

As soon as I entered, I heard a familiar melody.

Tazaki-kun stood behind the koto, playing my favorite piece, "Spring Shadows".

Even after he noticed me come in, he didn't stop playing the piano.

I noticed early on that Tazaki-kun's fingers were very slender, with distinct segments, and were the most suitable hands I had ever seen for playing the piano.

My hands are quite small, and if our palms were facing each other, he could easily envelop them.

It's truly enviable.

I hummed the lyrics to "Spring Shadow" softly, a song I had sung countless times before.

After he finished playing, I couldn't help but applaud him softly.

It's strange, but as soon as I heard him play this piece, the tightness in my chest that had been lingering before miraculously disappeared.

Only that addictive melody is firmly engraved in a certain place in my heart.

I'm not Rin-chan, so I don't fantasize about romantic things. I understand perfectly well that what attracts me to Tazaki-kun is the music he plays.

If one confuses a person with music, then Hina Aoki is a disqualified person.

I must recognize the boundary between the two without the slightest error.

"Ms. Aoki, there's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I've decided I should tell you."

"What is it?"

Tazaki-kun suddenly looked at me very seriously, and my first reaction was that I was worried he would confess his love to me.

This must also be influenced by Rin-chan.

In the past, I would never have thought in this direction.

I naively assumed that Tazaki-kun was like me, someone whose heart was only for music.