Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"My wife has spoken! You think you can refuse, kid?!"

Kenzaki Yuuma was exasperated. The couple hadn't changed at all; they never let her finish speaking.

"Mom and Dad have been watching your band's performance videos, Xiao Zhen. We don't really understand them, but Xiao Zhen is so cool. We're also trying to learn more about it. Speaking of which, we've even been to see Xiao Zhen perform live a few times before, and the atmosphere was really exciting."

Yuma hadn't expected his mother to be interested in this kind of thing. Back in Kawasaki, many of his juniors' parents had opposed their band activities, considering it a waste of time. Yuma was already grateful that his father had stopped objecting, but he truly hadn't expected his parents to actively seek out such things.

"Mom even took pictures."

Kenzaki Yuriko showed Yuuma a photo on her phone. The photo showed Kenzaki Yima and Kenzaki Yuriko, dressed in a very...trendy way to blend in. Yuuma's band was on stage not far behind them.

"But then I heard that Yu-Zhen's guitarist was dating twelve women at the same time, and Mom is very worried. Could it be that Yu-Zhen was dumped by Hoshino for this reason?"

"Mom, please don't think of your son as so immoral, okay? Besides, I hadn't even gone to Kawasaki when I got dumped."

Kenzaki Yuuma never imagined that the first person to doubt him in this regard would be his own mother. She seemed to be the kind of person who... well, her current outfit certainly wasn't much better.

"Speaking of which, since you two went to see my performance, why didn't you just come find me?"

"At first I didn't want to bother Xiaozhen, but later I heard that Xiaozhen had moved. I went to look for her twice, but when I saw that Xiaozhen was living with a girl, I didn't bother her anymore."

Yuma, after listening to her mother's words, finally realized what was going on. The girl with them must be Kawahara Momoka; it seemed her mother had misunderstood their relationship.

"No, that girl's name is Momoka Kawahara. She's just my roommate, not my girlfriend."

After Yu-chan said those words, her parents' expressions suddenly turned quite grim.

"We also saw a guy come out of your rented room and hug and kiss another guy..."

“That’s another roommate, and his orientation… is a bit off.”

After Kenzaki Yuuma finished speaking, his parents' expressions turned even uglier. Yuuma sat on the tatami mat, watching his mother stand up, press her hands firmly on his shoulders, and look at him nervously.

"I can understand Miss Momoka living with that kind of person, but are you really okay with it, Shin?"

Yu-chan understood that his parents were worried about his safety, and he felt it necessary to explain. But before he could speak, he heard his mother continue, "Yu-chan, you didn't interfere in someone else's relationship, did you?"

Kenzaki Yuuma noticed that his father was also looking at him with a worried expression, and paused for a moment.

"What... what do you two think your son is?! My orientation is perfectly normal! I like normal girls, and I've kept the photo of me and Ichika Hoshika as my phone's lock screen wallpaper for years without ever changing it!"

"Because Xiaozhen plays rock music, and you said you haven't dated any other girls since breaking up with Xiaoxingge, we always assumed..."

"I'm a fan of pure love! And what's wrong with rock bands? Don't have those stereotypes!"

When Kenzaki Yuuki returned home, he heard Kenzaki Yuuma's angry roar as he walked in. Confused, he sat down next to Yuuma. The Kenzaki family finally had a long-awaited reunion. What a joyous occasion!

While the Kenzaki family was having a lively family reunion, Ijichi Seika went to bed early. She had a dream about things that happened many years ago.

"Good morning, Ichichi. Is your cold better?"

This is Kenzaki Yuuma dressed normally a few years ago. At that time, he had a healthy complexion and often wore a gentle smile. His hair was still black without any white highlights, and he wore ordinary sportswear. He liked this kind of loose and comfortable clothing.

"It's all right now, but I didn't ask you to visit me, did I? What are you doing here at my house without permission?"

Ijichi Hoshika blushed and turned her head away. She didn't want Kenzaki Yuuma to see her, especially since he had seen her in a dazed state when he visited her in the hospital yesterday. This might be a dark history for her for the rest of her life.

"What's the big deal? I'm just visiting a sick classmate, why are you so angry?"

High school student Kenzaki Yuuma is still a straightforward boy. The naive boy simply cannot understand why his well-intentioned visit to the sick girl has angered her.

"Fool!"

"Huh? Why are you cursing me? Explain yourself."

"We're going to be late for class, let's go!"

Ichi Hoshika started running, but for a moment she felt as if she had stepped into thin air, and she woke up with a feeling of falling.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the ceiling of her own room again. The boy who used to be with her was no longer beside her. She put the plush doll she was holding on the bed, stepped barefoot on the floor, and put the photo frame that she had accidentally knocked over when she got out of bed back up and placed it on the headboard.

The photo was the same one that was Kenzaki Yuuma's phone lock screen wallpaper; it was a picture they took together in college. Back then, she had introduced Kenzaki Yuuma to a band, and Yuuma still had that tuft of white hair, saying things like, "This makes us look more like band members." Thinking back to those times, a slight smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

The phone screen on the table lit up; it was Kenzaki Yuuma's phone, and it seemed someone had sent him a message. Hoshika picked up the phone and saw a photo of them together as the lock screen wallpaper, along with a message from Kawara Momoka: "I've decided not to leave!"

"It's obviously a girl's name... Oh well, he'll definitely come to pick up his phone tomorrow anyway, I'll just ask him then."

She grabbed her phone, opened the French windows, and walked onto the balcony, gazing at the starry sky. Though she was muttering to herself with resentment, Ichiji Hoshika couldn't help but chuckle softly; she couldn't possibly lose to any other woman.

Chapter 4 Goodbye

Ichi Hoshika is not in a good mood today.

It seems that the shops on both sides of STARRY have all been taken over, so renovations started this morning. Although the performance hall is well soundproofed, the pile of various things outside makes the entrance to STARRY very crowded and messy.

The PA who was sent to negotiate returned looking rather strange.

"Manager, I think you should go and take a look. The situation up there... is a bit complicated."

Ichika Hoshika naturally assumed her employee had been bullied by outsiders, and stormed out. The construction crew was waiting outside the shop on the left; she could roughly guess that the person in charge was inside.

As soon as she entered the room, she saw Kenzaki Yuuma choking Kenzaki Yuuki.

“I said I wanted to open my own shop. Last night you said you'd buy a shop and then rent it to me, fine. But what do you mean by buying two shops today? And right here.”

“This is the place your parents picked out. They made me buy it for you first thing this morning, so don’t blame me! You’ve finally come back, and they can’t bear to see you suffer.”

Kenzaki Yuuma realized what was going on and released Kenzaki Yuuki. Since it was his parents who did this, there must be a deeper meaning behind it. Did these two want to rekindle his old flame with Hoshika?

"But I've already said I want to find something to do on my own. And I clearly have a lot of savings, but the way you guys are doing this makes me look like a useless adult who's just sponging off his parents."

"So you weren't?"

Faced with Kenzaki Yuuki's taunts, Kenzaki Yuuki chose to continue choking him, strangling him forcefully.

"Oh, it's the two of you. That saves me the trouble of arguing."

The two brothers temporarily ceased their fighting and finally noticed Ijichi Hoshika, who had just entered the room.

After exchanging greetings, the Kenzaki brothers learned why Hoshika had come and asked the construction crew to move the things piled up near the entrance of STARRY.

"Oh, right, your phone."

Ijichi Hoshika took out her phone, and as Kenzaki Yuuma took it, she deliberately pressed the power button. The screen lit up, and the lock screen wallpaper was seen by the three people present, along with the message that Momoka had sent the night before.

"Still using this photo as your wallpaper? Oh, and girls are messaging you too."

Ijichi Hoshika herself didn't know she could be so sarcastic, but Kenzaki Yuuma blushed.

"The wallpaper is... I'm too lazy to change it. Also, this girl is just my roommate; I'm not interested in girls who are nine years younger than me. He can vouch for that."

Kenzaki Yuuma pulled Kenzaki Yuuki to his side, looked at Ijichi Seika, then at his younger brother, and nodded.

"Ah, yes. I can attest that he was half right."

"Stop stirring things up, you idiot."

"Okay, I can confirm that his second statement is correct, but I don't agree with his first statement."

Watching the two brothers fight like children again, Ichiji Hoshika sighed and turned to leave. But the trip was definitely worthwhile; she had heard what she wanted to hear.

"They've already left, aren't you going to chase after them? Let go of me right now!"

"Why chase after her? You'll have plenty of time to see her later. Besides, you can let her go, just go back to the company."

After Kenzaki Yuuma saw Kenzaki Yuuki off, the construction team began renovating the shop. He originally planned to just open a family restaurant in Shimokitazawa and make a living, but his family disrupted his plans. Now he has two shops, which are not even next to each other, so he is thinking of opening an izakaya as well.

"Thank you for yesterday, Ms. PA. Here's the money back."

After the construction team started working, Kenzaki Yuuma realized there was nothing for him to do, so he decided to pay back the money he had borrowed the day before. He then went to STARRY, but didn't see Ijichi Hoshika.

When Kenzaki Yuuma came to return the money, PA was sitting on a chair behind the stereo, using it as a table to eat her bento. Seeing that it was Kenzaki Yuuma, she quickly shoveled a few more mouthfuls of food into her mouth, chewed for a while, swallowed, and then put away her bento to take the money. During this time, Ijichi Hoshika happened to come out of the storage room.

"So you still remember to pay back the money? That's good, you haven't become a useless person."

As soon as Ichiko Hoshika finished speaking, she regretted it. In the dramas she had watched, ex-girlfriend characters would inevitably make sarcastic remarks when they met the male lead. However, she was the one who dumped Kenzaki Yuuma back then without giving a reasonable explanation, so theoretically, she was actually in the wrong. Her way of speaking made her seem too condescending.

"Don't look down on me. I'm not so bad as to be a scumbag who doesn't pay back his debts."

Kenzaki Yuuma has lived alone for so many years, so he must be different from before. He still knows how to talk back to others' unreasonable remarks; it's almost an unconscious behavior for him.

Silence fell over the performance hall. Both Kenzaki Yuuma and Iji Tomoka felt they had wronged each other, so they turned their heads away and ignored each other. PA sat behind the speakers watching. The silence was broken by Nijika, who returned home from school.

"Sister, I'm back. Why are the shops next door under renovation? Yuzhen-ge is here too."

"It's Hongxia, it's been a long time."

“We just saw each other yesterday.”

Kenzaki Yuuma found an opportunity to break the silence by picking up where Nijika left off, though it didn't work very well.

"By the way, those two shops are mine. I plan to open a family restaurant and an izakaya."

"Dining room!"

Suddenly, Ryo, who was behind Nijika, looked at Kenzaki Yuuma with shining eyes, making him feel a little uneasy.

"Can you give it to us for free?"

This was Liang's next question, and Hongxia's gaze toward her grew increasingly hostile, but she was completely unaware.

"Just come, we're all friends, I'd feel bad taking money..."

"No way! Yu-chan! Ryo is the kind of person who would spend all her allowance to buy a bass guitar, we absolutely can't give her special treatment!"

"W-Is that so? I see. Since Hongxia has said so, then Liang will be half price from now on."

Nijika reluctantly agreed to Yuuma's proposal, then glanced at her older sister and Kenzaki Yuuma.

"What are you doing here, Yu-zhen? Does that mean you two are getting back together? That would be great!"

When Hongxia said those words, Xingge's ears turned noticeably redder, but she still tried her best to maintain her composure and sent Hongxia and Liang off to clean up.

Seeing this, Kenzaki Yuuma also went out of the exhibition hall, but as soon as he stepped out the door, a scream came from outside.

When everyone went outside, they saw Kenzaki Yuuma standing against the wall, looking lost, and Goto Ichiri on the ground, whose body was almost turned into a jumble of random characters.

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't do anything!"

After school, Goto Ichiri arrived at the performance hall as promised to Nijika, but she hesitated to go in. After some mental preparation, she finally mustered up her courage, but before she could even grasp the doorknob, the door opened. The first thing she saw when she looked up was Kenzaki Yuuma's face, which often looked a bit fierce due to lack of sleep and a perpetually furrowed brow. And that's how she ended up in this situation.

"Bring her in first, Yuzhen-ge, don't let her lie outside."

Hearing Hongxia's words, Youzhen nodded, picked up the convulsing Pochi from the ground, carried her on his shoulder, and then placed her on the sofa in the lounge.