Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

"How could that be! I just... I just..." Yuzhen looked at Xingge's smile and had a feeling that if he didn't tell the truth, Xingge would definitely pull him to the railing and tease him. "Okay, I'm just afraid of heights."

"That's no fun, why did you admit it so easily?" Xingge punched his shoulder, as if venting her dissatisfaction. But Youzhen found the playful force quite pleasant. "Then let's go quickly, if you're afraid of heights, don't stay here."

"Senior, you are so understanding. I'm not used to it." Yuzhen followed behind Xingge and was led away from the Qingshui stage by her hand.

"I've always been pretty understanding, haven't I?" Xingge turned around and lightly kicked his leg as a warning.

As they left, they saw a sign next to the stairs with a long list of precautions, but the most important one seemed to be "Please do not jump off the Qingshui stage."

"Are people actually jumping off? How dare they do that from such a high place?"

Kenzaki Yuu couldn't believe it; just looking at it made his legs go weak.

……

The most famous feature of Kiyomizu-dera Temple is its three springs, each representing "longevity," "wisdom," and "health." Visitors can choose two springs to taste.

Xingge also dragged Youzhen over here, wanting to join in the fun and taste the spring water to see if it was any different.

Yuzhen, however, thought this thing was unreliable. Putting aside the question of whether the spring water flowing down from the mountain was unsanitary, the long line next to the spring under the blazing sun made him feel very unhealthy.

Waiting so long in this weather just to drink some spring water? Yuzhen felt she couldn't stand it.

While he and Xingge were queuing, he suddenly noticed that there were people in front of them who looked very familiar, like Aikawa and Kamishiro.

Aikawa had already reached the drinking spring, but he simply pulled an empty bottle from his bag, leaned out, and stretched out his arm to fill it with water. A staff member nearby quickly stopped him, fearing he might fall into the pool.

"I'm sorry, I won't do that again."

Aikawa was, of course, given a lecture, and he and Ueshiro, who felt utterly humiliated, went off the stage together. Then, this guy saw Yuuma and Hoshika in the group.

The two noticed the guy's gaze and quickly broke away from the group before he could greet them. They didn't want to have their names called out in public by this guy who had just made a fool of himself, all for a sip of spring water.

"You two are really unfair, running away as soon as you see me."

Aikawa met up with the two at the entrance of Kiyomizu-dera Temple, accompanied by Kamishiro.

“You know perfectly well what you just did.” Yuma looked at Aikawa with a helpless expression. “We don’t want to get involved with you in public.”

After resting for a while, the four of them went to Yasaka Shrine together. However, Yuuma felt that there wasn't much to do there.

This place is a typical, incredibly boring Instagrammable spot. The only thing worth seeing are the lanterns in the middle, which only light up at night. They look good for photos at night, but that's about it.

Then everyone strolled around Gion for a bit. To be honest, this place is basically a geisha district, and since the group wasn't interested in that kind of thing, they headed west to the Kamo River.

Every five meters along the riverbank, a couple sat chatting and laughing. Yuzhen and Xingge also sat there for a while, but perhaps they hadn't shaken off their lowbrow tastes and were completely oblivious to what the others were laughing about, even though there wasn't anything particularly interesting on the other side of the river.

After touring the area, it was getting late, so the four of them took the bus back to the hotel.

"It looks like they have barbecue at the buffet tonight."

Aikawa glanced at the restaurant's arrangements.

"It looks pretty good. Let's go get some barbecue."

Chapter 66 Imagination and Nighttime Conversations

"Kenzaki, can you still eat?"

Aikawa looked at the stack of plates on the table and Kenzaki sitting across from him, still eating barbecue.

Now only Yuuma is still eating; the other three members of the team have finished eating.

"It's alright." Yuzhen stuffed a piece of grilled beef tongue into her mouth. "Don't be fooled by the large plate; there are only a few pieces of meat on it. Who's going to eat that much? Senior Xingge, please eat more. You're too thin."

"Huh? Am I that thin?"

Sitting next to Kenzaki Yuuma, Hoshika pinched her arm. She didn't think she was thin. What exactly was this guy's definition of thin?

"Aren't you thin?" Yuzhen put down her chopsticks, stretched out her arm, and compared it with Xingge's.

Aikawa and Ueshiro also looked at the two girls' arms. Compared to Yuuma's arms, Hoshika's arms were indeed thinner. However, a large part of the reason was probably because Yuuma's arms were thicker; it really depends on who you're comparing them to. Yuuma usually eats a lot and exercises frequently, and just looking at the muscles in his arms made you feel a sense of security.

"So you should eat more, senior," Yuma continued grilling the meat. "Being too thin isn't healthy either."

"Kenzaki, is it possible that what you call thin is considered a normal build in our eyes?" Kamishiro thought for a moment and reminded Yuuma.

“Yes, yes, Kenzaki, imagine yourself with your arm muscles on Ijichi’s body.” Aikawa began to guide Yuuma’s imagination. “Can you imagine it? How does it feel?”

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you making this guy think about?"

Xingge looked at the three people who suddenly treated her like she wasn't there and couldn't help but complain. But she didn't stop Youzhen from letting her imagination run wild.

Yuuma closed his eyes following Aikawa's words, imagining himself as a powerful and imposing figure like Iji Tomoka. However, he needed to adjust the proportions; his body was definitely different from a woman's.

Xingge, who had already developed some muscle through his workout, looked as thin as usual when he was dressed, but his body was actually quite strong.

"I feel like I've imagined it."

With his eyes closed, Yuzhen constructed a different kind of Star Song in his mind.

"How do you look? Do you think you've lost weight or gained weight?"

Xingge and the other two asked Youzhen with anticipation.

“I feel…” Yuzhen closed his eyes, paused for a moment, and thought about how to describe it, “I feel that his body shape is just right. Hoshika-senpai looks very reassuring, and he also has a lot of… uh… charisma.”

In Yuzhen's mind, Xingge, whom he had taken to work out with, lifted the hem of her shirt during a break and fanned herself with her hand. Yuzhen imagined her already defined abs and felt a strange... allure. Then, in Yuzhen's imagination, Xingge noticed his gaze and asked him if he wanted to touch them.

"Wake up right now."

Xingge shook Youzhen's head, forcibly pulling him back to reality.

The three of them had no idea what Yuzhen had just thought of, but looking at the satisfied smile that slowly appeared on his face, Xingge felt that he was definitely not thinking about anything serious.

"Seriously, I was about to touch my senior's abs."

Yu-chan sounded disappointed. He noticed that the meat he had just put down was already cooked again, so he picked up his chopsticks and took a piece.

"You're thinking about things that don't even exist again. What's the point of having such a vivid imagination?"

Xingge grabbed Youzhen's wrist and ate the piece of grilled beef he had just picked up in one bite. Youzhen had timed the grilling perfectly; the beef was very tender.

……

After taking a shower, Xingge made her bed on the tatami mat. After turning off the lights, she crawled into bed, ready to sleep, but her roommates were clearly still awake.

"Ijichi-san, did Kenzaki-san confess to you under the torii gate?"

"How did you know?!" Xingge suddenly looked up in surprise at the girl who had just spoken. Had they all seen it?

"This is it." The girl took out her phone and opened a video. "It seems that a classmate from the same school happened to be passing by and filmed it. The boy in the video is Kenzaki, and the girl in it must be Ijichi."

Of course! Who else could it be but Xingge? That video shows the scene in the morning when she accompanied Yuzhen on her pilgrimage to the holy site and was confessed to by Yuzhen. Although she covered her face, her ahoge (cowlick) was so distinctive.

"Speaking of which, Ijichi-san, who confessed first in your relationship with Kenzaki-san?" the girl lying next to her asked.

Her question piqued everyone's interest, and they all lay in their blankets watching Xingge.

"This..." Xingge felt that this was a bit difficult to talk about. She couldn't very well tell him that she had impulsively used her ultimate move, could she?

"Of course, he confessed first."

She was right to say that; she kissed Yuuma on impulse, but it was Yuuma who truly made things clear.

"As expected, Kenzaki-san seems like the kind of person who would take the initiative."

Girls really never get tired of gossiping.

In this atmosphere, Xingge no longer felt sleepy.

"Does he really seem like a proactive person?" Xingge recalled the scene when she took the initiative. If she hadn't given him that first kiss, would they have started dating so smoothly?

“Of course, Kenzaki seems like the kind of person who plans things out in advance.” Kamishiro nodded. “Maybe his confession to you was also planned in advance.”

“That’s not true at all.” Xingge thought about the situation that day. “He said he made the decision on the spur of the moment.”

"Huh? Kenzaki-kun is really this honest about things like this?"

"I guess so. Since we got together, he hasn't hidden anything from each other." Xingge recalled the bits and pieces of her relationship with Youzhen. "We're pretty transparent with each other. Neither of us likes to hide anything from the other."

"Such a healthy relationship," Shangcheng remarked. "Seeing you two so inseparable every day makes me want a boyfriend like that too."

Shangcheng rolled over and lay there staring at the ceiling of the room.

"But Kenzaki-kun is truly one of a kind. At least I've never met another boy like him."

The room was quiet for a while.

"Does Ijichi-kun mind Kenzaki-kun talking to other girls?" the girl next to Hoshika suddenly asked. "Actually, I gave him chocolates for Valentine's Day before..."

"You are not allowed to go near him."

She was interrupted before she could finish speaking by Xingge's rapid-fire remark.

"Um... what did Ijichi-san just say?"

“I said,” Xingge tilted her head slightly as she looked at her. The phone playing the video was still lit up, and the light shone on her face, making her expression look terribly gloomy, “He is mine.”

"I didn't mean to compete with Ijichi-san... I... I understand, please don't kill me."

The girl next to her was so frightened by her expression that she spoke so softly that she was almost inaudible.

Xingge realized she had acted impulsively. She apologized, returned the phone, and crawled back under the covers, pulling them over her head. She felt ashamed for saying those things in her haste.

……

The boys on the other side.

"Hey, Kenzaki, someone took a picture of you confessing your feelings."

Aikawa showed the video on his phone to Yuma.

Yuma took the phone from Aikawa and watched the video playing on it.

"Who filmed this? The audio wasn't even fully recorded."

He returned the phone to Aikawa with little interest, then crawled into his bed to go to sleep.

The boys quieted down. That's how it should be.

"Hey, who do you think would win if one Guiman fought against two Guiman?"

I don't know who said that.