Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

He was the guy who could scare her when she eavesdropped on other people's ghost stories.

Ichichi Hongxia holds a small grudge.

But after class, when she turned around and saw Iruma Hibiki's smile, she forgot all about it and thought, "Iruma looks a little more relaxed. How great!" Then she breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, troubles followed.

Ijichi Hongxia noticed the graffiti she had drawn when she was distracted.

The doodle happened to be on the notebook that Hibiki Iruma had written when he was asleep.

After all, if Hibiki Iruma wants to catch up on his work after he goes to bed, he has to rely on her notes, and there is no one else he can borrow them from, and such graffiti will make him sad no matter how he looks at them.

Ichichi Hongxia thought for a long time.

Finally, she tried to wipe off the little figure representing Nagasaki Suyo. If only she, Chihaya Aine and Iruma Hibiki were left, then everything would probably be fine.

Ijichi Hongxia thought so.

On the notebook, the friction between the eraser and the paper formed a long strip of eraser crumbs. Ijichi Hongxia, who was a little distracted, gently crumpled it into a ball.

There is no reason or purpose, it's just a little subconscious action.

Then before lunch break, Ijichi Kouka lent her notebook to Iruma Hibiki.

Of course, with a little bit of trepidation.

After borrowing it, Ijichi Hongxia also felt a little regretful. After all, if such graffiti was seen by Iruma Hibiki, wouldn’t it cause trouble for him?

Although it was true that she was told that it was okay to cause trouble.

But is it really good?

Ijichi Hongxia was so worried.

"Karaage chicken for tamagoyaki."

It wasn't until Iruma Hibiki picked up a piece of fried chicken from his lacquer lunch box that Ijichi Hongka came to her senses.

"sure."

"Eh? Is this already possible?"

In fact, when asking, Iruma Hibiki didn't have much hope, but he was surprised by Ijichi Kouka's straightforward agreement.

"Swapping dishes is something most friends would do, right? Iruma, you're too concerned about keeping distance from everyone."

Ijichi Hongxia said unconsciously.

And it was probably this moment.

Iruma Hibiki was stunned for a moment.

[I care too much about the distance between us...]

After all, after hearing these words, the first thing that came to Hibiki Iruma's mind was—

The day he took the initiative to reach out his hand, the moment Nagasaki Suyo stepped back to dodge.

Then, Ijichi Hongxia picked up a small piece of goose yellow tamagoyaki with her goose yellow chopsticks. It was soft and looked extremely delicious, like fragments of sunlight.

16 Iruma Hibiki and Toyokawa Shoko, who cannot intervene

Hibiki Iruma went to meet Shoko Toyokawa on Wednesday evening. Probably because of what happened yesterday, Shoko Toyokawa called as soon as school was over and stopped Hibiki Iruma who had just arrived at the station and was about to go home with Nikka Ijichi.

But it is true that for Iruma Hibiki, going home to practice is nothing special, so keeping the appointment is not too much trouble or will interfere with his daily life, so he naturally agreed.

After the swaying train, Iruma Hibiki saw Toyokawa Shoko wearing the Tsuki no Mori Junior High School uniform.

"Let's go for a walk, Iruma-san."

……

Iruma Hibiki felt that he might be sick. He didn't know why he wanted to laugh when he saw Toyokawa Shoko, who was now so polite and acted like a real lady.

Who could have imagined that beneath such a beautiful and elegant appearance, Toyokawa Shoko's personality would be so——

Of course, it can’t be said to be a pity.

Quite cute.

At least that's what Hibiki Iruma thought.

"Good afternoon, Toyokawa-san."

"Come on, let's go to the nearest cafe."

Afterwards, Iruma Hibiki was brought to the coffee shop by Toyokawa Shoko. Just like before, Toyokawa Shoko ordered [Hot Earl Grey Tea] for him and she ordered [Mocha] for herself.

"If you ever change your taste, please tell me, Iruma-san."

Toyokawa Shoko said this after she finished ordering.

A totally superior guy.

Iruma Hibiki thought subtly.

But he didn't dislike Toyokawa Shoko at all. After all, he was a big fan of drinks. He had been drinking hot Earl Grey tea recently probably because -

I didn't know what was on the menu, so I just ordered what people who cared about it had tried.

"So the reason for meeting today?"

It would be more accurate to say that what Hibiki Iruma really wanted to complain about Toyokawa Shoko was something else, such as her behavior of calling people out without telling her the purpose at all.

"I heard something from Mu-chan, and I wanted to talk to you, Iruma-san."

"May I?"

"If you say no now, isn't it too late?"

"It's still in time."

Toyokawa Shoko smiled at Iruma Hibiki.

"But I will certainly ask Iruma-san to listen to me."

Then, facing Iruma Hibiki, Toyokawa Shoko tilted her head and showed a terrifying smile, using very complicated honorifics in her tone, to the point that even Iruma Hibiki could hardly understand.

"No, no, no, forget it."

Iruma Hibiki quickly refused. This kind of Toyokawa Shoko was actually a little scary.

So he quickly took a sip of tea to cover up his panic.

"Are you sure about the position of the guitar, Iruma-san?"

"Yeah, sure, rhythm guitar is fine."

At this moment, Iruma Hibiki seemed like a job applicant facing an interviewer, nervously waiting for the lecture from Miss Toyokawa Shoko.

"Actually, I thought Iruma-san was obsessed with the lead guitar position, because Nagasaki-san seems to think so, and it seems to me that Iruma-san is actually someone who is very persistent about some things."

Toyokawa Shoko spoke as casually as if she was chatting about family matters.

"Well, it's not that I don't want to continue playing lead guitar. It's just that I feel the rhythm guitar position is more suitable for me now, and—"

Iruma Hibiki suddenly thought of Wakaba Mutsu.

"Miss Ruoye must have her own aspirations and desires. I think switching places with Miss Ruoye is a bit..."

"This is what I'd like to ask for your help today, Iruma-san."

Toyokawa Shoko looked at Iruma Hibiki seriously.

"Please say."

And Iruma Hibiki also put away all his joking attitude and asked Toyokawa Shoko seriously.

"Mutsuko seems to have a good impression of you, Iruma-san, so if it's okay—"

"I'm sorry, Toyokawa-san, I may disappoint you. I think Wakaba-san might be unhappy with me."

Iruma Hibiki responded quickly.

"Eh?!"

And the next moment, the person who was shocked was Toyokawa Shoko.

"After all, Wakaba-san has said that I'm lacking something, even though it's the truth."

Iruma Hibiki complained slightly.

"Has it come to this?"

However, Shoko Toyokawa looked surprised.

"Then I'll have to leave this matter to you, Iruma-san! As for me, I want to know Mu-chan's true feelings—"

There was a glint in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, and she continued talking to herself as if she wasn't listening to Hibiki Iruma at all.

"sincere?"

For the time being, Iruma Hibiki planned to ignore the somewhat strange part and continue asking.

"Well, because when we first formed the band..."

Toyokawa Shoko turned her head away, looking as if this question was difficult to answer, and then, as if she had made up her mind, she blushed a little before saying:

"I think I'm a little reluctant to come to Xiaomu."

"What? That's it."

Iruma Hibiki suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok?"

His excessive behavior made Toyokawa Shoko ask a question in return.

"If it's Toyokawa-san, I wouldn't be surprised at all."

"Eh... Is this how Iruma-san thinks of me?"

Iruma Hibiki nodded quickly, and then Toyokawa Shoko visibly dejected. However, this dejection only lasted for a moment, and soon she glared back fiercely.

"But it is precisely because of this that Crychic! Such an important Crychic was able to be successfully established!"

Then, as if introducing her most precious child, Toyokawa Shoko leaned forward slightly and spoke to Iruma Hibiki.

"If you want to confirm Wakaba-san's feelings, I will help. What can I do? Actually, I am also a little concerned about this matter--"

Iruma Hibiki responded quickly, just in case Toyokawa Shoko did something else too cute that would drain his blood.

【It doesn't matter】

If Hibiki Iruma remembered correctly, Wakaba Mutsu seemed to have said this before.

This also made him a little worried about Ruoye Mu.

"That's great. Actually, if you weren't willing to help, Iruma-san, I wouldn't have been able to help you. I'm really glad I was so determined to get you into the band."

Toyokawa Shoko smiled and sighed to himself. Perhaps, apart from sighing, the rest of his emotion was spent on bragging about his own achievements.

Iruma Hibiki thought subtly.

"Yes, Toyokawa-san is amazing."

"Right."

Sure enough, with Iruma Hibiki's tentative praise, Toyokawa Shoko's twin tails trembled with joy.

So easy to understand——

At least that's what Hibiki Iruma felt about Toyokawa Shoko.

"It's not a particularly complicated matter, I just want to know what Xiaomu thinks about the band."

Shoko Toyokawa then brought the topic back on track.

"Matsu-chan has never been very good at expressing her feelings since she was little, but she changed a little yesterday when she came to me to talk about you, Iruma-san. So I was thinking, maybe you could tell me how Mu-chan feels."

……

"By the way! After that day, Iruma-san and Shiina-san went to correct mistakes together, right? How did it go?"

Toyokawa Shoko suddenly changed the subject without waiting for Iruma Hibiki's answer.