Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

The conversation with Nagasaki Motoyo was smooth and there was a feeling of reconciliation, but for some reason Iruma Hibiki always had an indescribable sense of discomfiture about it.

But this feeling of disharmony makes no sense, no reason.

So he could only ignore these feelings of incongruity and continue his conversation with Nagasaki Motoyo for the time being.

[Even though she ran away, Kita isn't a hopeless person. She's a good person.]

Iruma Hibiki responded to Nagasaki Suyo honestly.

"Eh—does that mean Hibiki hasn't actually thought about ending the band?"

Then——

The message from Nagasaki Motoyo made Iruma Hibiki silent for a moment.

【No matter how I think about it, it's impossible to go back.】

[That's true...]

For Hibiki Iruma, the increasingly strong sense of disharmony made him feel a little uncomfortable, and he didn't understand why his relationship with Nagasaki Soyo changed so suddenly.

originally--

The relationship between them should be particularly relaxed and comfortable.

The occasional hurt is nothing more than a minor setback that is insignificant.

Iruma Hibiki originally wanted to ask something, trying to find the source of the discomfort in her heart, but soon, Nagasaki Motoyo returned to the group and started chatting with Shiina Tatsuki about Kasuga Kage again.

Shiina Tachiki, who had become a bit of a hedgehog, grumbled a little when Nagasaki Motoyo returned, "Leaving in the middle of a conversation is too much." Then, she immediately started praising Kasuga Shadow with Nagasaki Motoyo. She really loved Kasuga Shadow and seemed to be pouring all her energy into it recently.

Iruma Hibiki spent some time looking through the chat history.

Shoko Toyokawa appeared once earlier, roughly when school was over.

As for Takamatsu Touma, she was there throughout the whole process. When Shiina Tatsuki and Nagasaki Motoyo were interpreting "Kasuga Shadow" together, she would come out as an official and occasionally talk about her own mental journey in writing the lyrics.

The only person who didn't show up was Wakaba Mutsu.

[Mu, what do you think of "Kasuga Shadow"? ]

So with a hint of concern for Wakaba Mutsu, Iruma Hibiki chose to ask Wakaba Mutsu in private chat.

But he waited for a while and did not receive a reply from Ruoye Mu.

Instead, a private message came from Toyokawa Shoko:

[Xiang, I'm sorry. I was busy with some things at home today, so I didn't have time until now. I missed you. Did you miss me too?]

Yes, yes.

Iruma Hibiki quickly responded to Toyokawa Shoko.

Then he typed a lot in the chat box, deleted a lot, and finally it all turned into concern for Toyokawa Shoko.

【We should pay more attention to Xiang.】

The words that Wakaba Mu said that day once again appeared in Iruma Hibiki's mind.

And the part that Toyokawa Shoko didn't want him to know...

When thinking about this, Iruma Hibiki's worry about Toyokawa Shoko actually began to emerge. He stopped playing the sticky games between lovers and Toyokawa Shoko, and instead asked with concern:

【Is everything at home okay? 】

"Well, it's okay, I can handle it! Speaking of which, my wish today is to write "Haruhi Kage" with Hibiki."

Facing Toyokawa Shoko's fantasy, Iruma Hibiki smiled.

"I can't help you with that right now, because I'm a real alien composer from another world."

[Even if that's the case, I still want you to be by my side right now.]

Toyokawa Shoko sent an expectant emoticon, and of course, her emoticon was of herself.

Where is Xiangzi now?

[Home! Is Hibiki coming?!]

When she typed these words with anticipation, Toyokawa Shoko suddenly froze in place for a moment.

A slightly heated argument could be heard outside the door of her piano room.

It was a quarrel between her father and mother.

……

It's not that she didn't make an effort. Rather, she tried to intervene and reconcile the conflict between her father and mother since she came back from school.

but--

Failed.

The redness at the corners of Shoko Toyokawa's eyes and the torn buttons of her school uniform are the answer.

Even though she was just pushed by her own father, who told her not to intervene.

But anyway——

At this moment, Toyokawa Shoko had a contradictory expectation. She wanted to snuggle up to her lover, but she didn't intend to allow her lover to see her in such a miserable state.

Her weakness and strong self-esteem made Toyokawa Shoko feel a little tired.

【Xiang, it’s better not to come. 】

She thought so, but in the end she didn't want Hibiki Iruma to discover her vulnerable side.

[It's probably too late to think about it, but as for phone calls, it's possible... I'm not good at it, and I haven't tried it, but... it seems that long phone calls are quite common. My friends seem to do it a lot when they are in relationships.]

At the moment when Iruma Hibiki said this, Toyokawa Shoko called.

"ring?"

"Xiangzi?"

When Iruma Hibiki's voice rang out, Toyokawa Shoko finally felt a rare sense of relief.

She carefully closed the door and drew the curtains to ensure that the sounds outside would not reach Hibiki Iruma. Then she put on her headphones, turned up the volume, and began chatting with Hibiki Iruma, sharing things about school.

For example, the cucumbers grown by Wakaba Mutsuki, they have recently started to eat lunch together with Nagasaki Suyo.

There are also willful ones, such as terrifying words like "How about letting Hibiki attend Tsuki no Mori?"

The chat lasted for a long time.

So much so that——

In front of Shoko Toyokawa, the lid of the piano was not opened.

The lyrics of Kasuga Shadow only have a few of the simplest chord progressions marked on them.

That is still a long way from being a finished draft.

However, at this moment, Shoko Toyokawa was in no mood to complete the song. In fact, she wanted to escape from this home and run all the way to the arms of the person she could rely on.

62 Ten Hours of Phone Calls

On Tuesday, the sky was overcast and light rain began to fall. In Iruma Hibiki's memory, it seemed that Crychic's recent rehearsals were all related to rainy days, with a damp and cold feeling.

With the approach of autumn, the temperature dropped sharply this morning. Rubbing his aching forehead, Iruma Xiang struggled to get up from the bed. He felt as if he had been beaten up by a dozen strong men who had lost consciousness and had just woken up, with strange and inexplicable aches all over his body.

After spending some time coming to terms with the physical abnormality, Hibiki Iruma began to fumble for his phone.

The sky was very dark today, and it would be easy to misjudge the time if one only relied on the daylight. Fortunately, the alarm clock on his bedside table accurately told him that the current time was [5:40]. His biological clock was still very accurate, at least when it came to getting up.

He kept groping for the phone for a long time until the pain in his ear made him realize that he had slept with headphones on last night. After realizing this, he woke up a little and then found the phone along the headphone cord.

At this moment, his phone had already prompted a low battery alarm.

As soon as the screen lit up, it showed the call with Toyokawa Shoko. The call had lasted almost 10 hours. If you listened carefully, you could seem to hear Toyokawa Shoko's soft breathing on the other end of the phone.

This fact made Iruma Hibiki stunned for a moment.

Then, when there was some movement from Toyokawa Shoko's side, Iruma fell silent.

He thought carefully about last night. Indeed, their phone call last night was very long, so long that neither of them mentioned the end in the end.

And later he probably just lay on the bed with headphones on, without a blanket, and fell asleep. I think Toyokawa Shoko did the same.

This terrifying call time is probably maintained in this way.

Do you want to hang up?

Iruma Hibiki pondered.

After hesitating for a while, he hung up the phone on his own initiative, and the call was completely terminated.

【Good morning. 】

After wishing Shoko Toyokawa a good morning in writing, Hibiki Iruma chose to get up. After all, no matter how bad the weather was, today's classes would continue as usual.

His attendance was healthy though.

But no matter what, going to school is not all about attendance, and he has no intention of missing out because of such a small setback.

But no matter what——

Hibiki Iruma always felt that there was something strange about his body today.

He turned off the light in the room that had been on since last night, and dragged his tired body to take a shower and change clothes.

A little later, Ijichi Hongxia sent a message to say hello.

Good morning! Hibiki, the weather is really bad today, so I'm going to have something warm for breakfast!

Ijichi Hongxia's message was followed by a photo of a pot of bubbling porridge.

[Good morning, Hongxia, your breakfast looks delicious. I want to eat it too.]

Iruma Hibiki laughed and teased Ijichi Kouka.

【Would you like me to give some to Xiang? 】

I was just kidding.

[If Hibiki doesn't have breakfast, it's okay if I give her a tape.]

Ijichi Kouka sent a cute emoticon, and Iruma Hibiki felt a warm current spreading through his body in an instant.

Don't worry, I'll probably have rice and fried fish this morning.

【It's a standard breakfast. 】

That's all the news about Ijichi Hongxia. She was actually quite busy this morning.

This kind of weather is different from sunny days. She can't hang her washed clothes on the line to dry so easily. After washing, she can only put on her cute raincoat and go to the nearby laundry to spend 100 yen to dry them in the dryer.

As for why I don’t just use the washing machine in the laundry, it’s probably because I can save a lot of money if I choose to just use the dryer.

Moreover, items like underwear always need to be washed by hand, and public washing machines always have this problem.

So Ijichi Hongxia was a little busy this morning, but of course she was also a little bored most of the time, such as when she was watching the clothes in the drum turning over and over in front of the washing machine.

As for Iruma Hibiki, he was a little worried about Toyokawa Shoko and kept looking at his phone while eating breakfast.

Shiina Riki in the group posted a message at 3:40 last night:

[Has "Haruhi Shadow" been written yet? ]

The stressful message sent during such a worrying time was not seen by Hibiki Iruma until this morning.

Having spent the entire night with Toyokawa Shoko, he actually knew that Toyokawa Shoko did not write "Haruhi no Kasuga" last night, or at least she did not finish it.

Do you want to help Toyokawa Shoko respond to Shiina Tateki?

It was at this time that Nagasaki Suyo's question came.

Good morning, everyone.

【Good morning. 】

【morning. 】

In response to Nagasaki Suyo's good morning greetings, the people who replied were Takamatsu Touma and Wakaba Mutsu.

Takamatsu Teru, Wakaba Mutsu and Nagasaki Motoyo are considered to be those who don't stay up late, and their life and work schedules are very regular. On the contrary, Toyokawa Shoko, Iruma Hibiki and Shiina Tatsuki, ranked by their names, have more or less some shady lifestyles.

How should I tell you all?