Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

Author: Yu Dai (who wrote half of it)

Synopsis: [Single female lead + pure romance + slice-of-life]

After graduating from university, Kenzaki Yuuma ran away from home and came to Kawasaki to pursue his musical dreams.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the band disbanded, and he ultimately decided to go home.

However, on his way home, Kenzaki Yuuma encounters Ijichi Seika, who dumped him a few years ago for some reason. He is even choked by Seika and forcibly taken back to Seika's performance hall.

Ryo Yamada: The shop manager knocked Yuuma-nii to the ground, so he's definitely going to take him back to be a star trainee!

Ichi Nijika: Ugh! What's with your vivid imagination?!

Kenzaki Yuuma looked at Iji Tomoka, who was riding on his back, and his survival instinct kicked in: "Hey, can we make peace?"

Ichiji Hoshika: Right now? Are you kidding me?

Chapter 1 Returning Home

"Still not willing to come back?"

"Let's wait a while. I'm sorry to have troubled you with things at home."

Kenzaki Yuuma sat on his bed in his rented room, talking on the phone. The other person was Kenzaki Yuuki, his older brother who was five years older than Kenzaki Yuuma, and the only person in the family besides their mother who was willing to indulge his younger brother.

"You probably know that Dad doesn't care about those things anymore. Now that I'm here, Dad won't..."

“I know.” Kenzaki Yuuma lay down on the bed. “Thank you, big brother. I was indeed too willful before, but I want to think about it some more.”

"Okay, remember to let me know if you encounter any trouble. Also, come back home when you have time; Mom misses you."

"I see."

"Are you short of money?"

"I still have quite a bit of savings."

After hanging up the phone from her brother, Kenzaki Yuuma casually tossed her phone onto the bed and lay there staring at the ceiling.

His family was quite well-off, but his father had always been strict with his two sons, hoping they would take over the company from him in the future. Although the two brothers were capable of doing so, Yuzhen simply didn't have that in mind.

Yuuki is different from Yuuma; he is quite interested in these things, so he has been working hard in the direction his father hopes for.

After learning about his younger brother's thoughts, he took on all the household chores himself. It turns out that the night Kenzaki Yuuma ran away from home, it was his mother and Yuuki who gave him some money.

Yuma was reminiscing about the past when she suddenly remembered something and picked up her phone to check the time.

"Time to go back to work."

Kenzaki Yuuma yawned and sat up in bed. He'd forgotten to wash his hair today, but he'd do it when he got back. He ruffled his hair a couple of times, parting it into a side part, just enough to cover his eyes. Then he put the keyboard from beside the bed into his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

Yuma is currently active in Kawasaki. He got into a fight with his former bandmates and collapsed in a park, where he was taken in. He is currently sharing an apartment with two other people, splitting the rent.

"Is Kenzaki-nii-san heading out?"

My roommate is back. A silver-haired girl, probably in her early twenties, she just pushed open the door that's so hard to open without much effort. I wonder when the landlord will be willing to come and fix it.

The girl was Momoka Kawaragi, the one who carried him back. Although Momoka couldn't remember anything about it after sobering up, and Yuuma didn't know how she managed it with her small frame, she did bring Yuuma back and prevent him from catching a cold. So he decided to stay and help Momoka share the rent.

Yuuma was quite confused, though. Why did she think of taking him home instead of taking him to the hospital? This isn't an anime. She's so bold, taking just anyone home. Luckily, Yuuma isn't a bad person.

"I have to go to work." Kenzaki Yuuma noticed a petite girl following behind Momoka; she looked quite young. "Who is this?"

"My name is Jingqinrencai (井芹仁菜)."

Thinking of the gay man in the next room, Kenzaki Yuuma's gaze toward Momoka grew increasingly strange.

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Izayoi. It may be a bit impolite, but could you please wait in Kawaragi's room for a moment? I have something to say to her."

After Nina entered the room, the two closed the door, and Kenzaki Yuuma looked at Kawaraki Momoka with a serious expression.

"You won't end up like the guy next door, also a..."

Before Kenzaki Yuuma could finish her question, Momoka interrupted her, as she didn't want to be misunderstood in this matter.

"No, she's just a fan of mine."

After she finished speaking, Kenzaki Yu's expression turned even worse.

"That's even more impossible. Even though you used to play in a band, you absolutely can't connect with fans, especially not with kids who look so young..."

"Kenzaki-nii-san! What are you thinking?!"

After Momoka explained the situation, Yuuma finally understood and apologized to her.

"Honestly, you should have said something sooner."

"It's clearly your understanding that's flawed."

Yuuma awkwardly touched the back of his neck, then suddenly remembered that he was supposed to go to work. He checked the time on his phone.

"Bye! We're going to be late. There's still some curry I made in the pot. Heat it up yourself if you're hungry."

He quickly put on his shoes and went out after saying that.

Kenzaki Yuma previously worked as a keyboardist for the band "Last Dawn".

Of course, they formed the band after arriving in Kawasaki. Over the past few years, the band has gained considerable fame.

But as the saying goes, the higher you climb, the harder you fall. The band's guitarist was having affairs with several women, and later, one of his girlfriends secretly filmed him with other women in a hotel room, and the photos were leaked.

This utterly pointless incident caused the band's reputation to plummet, and Yuma even got into a fight with the guitarist. Shortly after that incident, the band disbanded, and everyone went their separate ways.

Although the band's reputation was tarnished, Kenzaki Yuuma's reputation remained unaffected. This was because he frequently helped younger musicians at performance venues and often treated young musicians facing financial difficulties to meals.

He felt that everyone here was pursuing their dreams, so helping each other out was a good thing, which is why the atmosphere here has always been positive. This is also why Kenzaki Yuuma was able to continue working as a support musician in the area even after the band disbanded.

Tonight, Kenzaki Yuuma is going to support a band that's about to disband; tonight is their last performance.

"Here, this is my blessing to you." Upon seeing them, Yuzhen took out the monetary gift she had prepared in advance.

The reason this band broke up was that the drummer was going back to his hometown to inherit the family fortune and then marry his guitarist. Yuzhen had prepared a wedding gift before he came. Since his juniors were getting married, he, as their senior, naturally wanted to offer his blessings.

"We can't accept this. Kenzaki-senpai has already helped us so much..."

"Take it. I'm happy to see you two together. But one thing at a time, the commission fee for tonight is still due."

"Okay! I'll leave to Kenzaki-senpai with you tonight as well."

……

The farewell performance was great. This band didn't have a keyboardist to begin with, and Yuma improvised the entire time on stage.

He knew in his heart that these guys had no reason to invite him. The only reason they remembered Yuuma this time was probably because he had treated his juniors to a few meals when they were going through difficult times.

After the performance, Yuma sat on the sofa in the dressing room, took out his phone, and saw the greeting that the blond-haired kid from Shimokitazawa had sent him as always.

The blond-haired girl named Ijichi Nijika continues to send messages to Yuuma every day, presumably for her sister's sake.

If Yuzhen doesn't click on the message but only looks at it on the lock screen, the other party won't see a "read" message, which is a pretty good technique.

"Is she your girlfriend, senior?"

"She's my ex-girlfriend's sister."

"..."

"Our relationship is normal, please don't overthink it."

He was too lazy to explain further, and just hoped they wouldn't imagine any dramatic ethical issues.

Yuzhen looked at the message on the lock screen, and a few pixels curled up at the corners of her mouth.

This little one is a bit annoying. Yuzhen has no idea where she got her contact information. Judging by the timeline, she should be a high school student now, right?

To be honest, Kenzaki Yuuma felt that he was very unambitious.

His phone wallpaper hadn't changed in years; it was always a photo of him and Ichiji Hoshika. He'd accepted the friend request immediately after finding out it was Hoshika's sister. After all, they'd known each other for so long, and he understood that Hoshika was a proud and aloof person, so it was normal for her to want to get back together but be too shy to say it herself.

"Did the band end just because they were getting married?"

The conversation paused for a moment because of the question that Kenzaki Yuuma suddenly asked.

"..."

“My parents are already very old. I should do something productive and not cause them any more trouble.”

The speaker was the band's bassist, a 24-year-old young man who had been playing in the band for several years and graduated from university this year. He was a very filial son.

Yuzhen had heard him say that he was an only child, and his parents had married late, having him when they were thirty-six years old, so they were quite old now. He was already very content with his parents supporting his dreams, and he felt he should go back now.

“We’re going back to get married, and my dad wants me to go back and take over the family business. I’ve already talked to my seniors about this before.”

Kenzaki Yuuma, of course, already knew the reasons behind the guitarist and drummer.

"Does Senior have any plans?"

The guitarist girl was very perceptive; she noticed that Kenzaki Yuu's emotions were off.

"I'm thinking of giving up, but I'm still a little reluctant. I'd like to ask for your opinions."

He'd been found out, so he decided not to hide it anymore; he felt better about telling the truth.

"When the senior asked us, they probably already had the answer in their hearts, right?"

Kenzaki Yuuma was speechless. He was already twenty-nine years old. Although he didn't look old, he was already at the age where middle school students walking on the street would call him "uncle."

Yuzhen is quite stubborn; it's probably hereditary, as his father and older brother are both like that.

Yu Zhen wanted to dedicate himself to music, but after seeing this band in front of him, he couldn't help but consider giving up. Although his family wouldn't say anything anymore, was he really going to go back like this? It would be so embarrassing.

After saying goodbye to the others, Yuuma returned to his rented apartment. Serina Iza was already asleep in Momoka Kawara's room. His male roommate wasn't there; she must have gone to her boyfriend's house.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? Staying up late will cause wrinkles."

Kenzaki Yuuma picked out a room-temperature beer from the purchased beer and handed it to Momoka.

"I've decided to go home, I can't sleep." Momoka took the beer Yuuma handed her and pulled the tab. "Why is it at room temperature?"

"Didn't you have a stomachache yesterday? You've already forgotten about it now that you're better?"

Yuma pulled the tab on her beer and glanced at Nina on the sofa.

What should we do with this child?