Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

She answered like this.

And Iruma Hibiki probably breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking of the agreement he had made with Toyokawa Shoko to meet today, he——

Maybe there is a sense of loss in my heart.

But soon this loss was replaced by thoughts of understanding and heartache.

"Let's go, Mu."

As if urging himself, Iruma Hibiki put aside the bad mood in his heart and walked towards the door with Wakaba Mutsu. When he opened the door of the rehearsal room, Iruma Hibiki saw Nagasaki Suyo who had just returned.

"Sorry, the check-in at the front desk took some time."

Nagasaki Suyo's lies remain impeccable.

Even Hibiki Iruma, who knew her very well, couldn't expose it.

14 Loneliness in a Dinner for Three

The dinner for three of us was a bit lonely.

This emotion actually made Iruma Hibiki dazed for a moment, as if he was a stranger to himself.

At least this kind of feeling is rare for him.

After all, he was actually single until high school, and although Goto Ichiri was always around, the two of them had never eaten together outside the campus.

So for Hibiki Iruma, having dinner with friends at a restaurant outside is something he looks forward to and something he would fantasize about from time to time in the past.

But at this moment he felt extremely lonely.

It's like being alone among a crowd.

It's like an alien mingling among humans, missing his home planet.

Of course, this statement is a bit exaggerated.

The loneliness that Iruma Hibiki feels is actually very simple. It is just the longing for someone, which cannot be filled by the person in front of him.

For him, the agreement with Toyokawa Shoko is actually very important.

It's what he thinks about all the time.

Iruma Hibiki may not understand what kind of emotions liking and loving are. After all, he is just a virgin fool, so how can he understand the rules and principles of love?

For him, he only knew that at this moment he had a desire for Toyokawa Shoko.

It would be nice if I could see her.

It would be nice if we could hold hands.

It would be nice if I could hug you.

Even if I do nothing, go nowhere, and the world ends tomorrow, it doesn’t matter.

Iruma Hibiki cut off a small piece of chicken cutlet and put it in his mouth.

The grilled chicken steak in this restaurant is very delicious, served with ground pepper, grated radish and special mustard sauce. The soft texture and juicy chicken are not as delicious as my mother's meals, but it can still be considered very delicious.

And the price is very affordable, this one is only around 2000 yen.

There are also various side dishes and soups, as well as desserts and refillable drinks.

Next to Iruma Hibiki sat Nagasaki Suyo, whose dinner was simple: a large vegetable salad with two slices of toasted whole-wheat bread and a small bowl of classic miso with tofu, kelp, and radish.

Wakaba Mutsu's is similar to Iruma Hibiki's, except that the chicken cutlet is replaced with a fried pork cutlet, and it is also served with some curry. The side dishes are seaweed and pickled cucumbers that look delicious.

The three of them enjoyed their dinner quietly without talking much.

Hibiki Iruma's attention kept turning to her phone from time to time.

In fact, there are a lot of messages on his mobile phone at this moment.

After all, school is over.

[Pochi-chan! This can't go on! ]

In the group of people who had ended the band, it seemed that Goto Ichiri had somehow provoked Ijichi Nijikana's heart, which was full of concern and sunshine.

Then the light that opened the cage instantly shone on Miss Slug, who could only live in the dark.

【Oh, it's really rock and roll. 】

Yamada Ryo's comments followed.

[Eh? Goto-kun, what's wrong? ]

Kita's reply came a little later.

[Pochi-chan, it seems like she's been spending all her free time playing games since she's not performing lately!]

Yidizhi Hongxia's supplement ⒎⑵⒊璎九七鏾seemed to follow.

And Iruma Hibiki knew this matter best.

He even felt a little guilty.

After all, it was he who took Goto Ichiri to play games, so he was the culprit.

For creatures like Goto Ichiri, the video games produced on Earth are really too terrifying. People whose real lives are not fulfilling can easily become addicted to video games, and then their wasted lives are like Florida being heated in a microwave (note: this seems to be a true story), which is completely messed up in the explosion.

After temporarily closing the group chat about the band's end, Hibiki Iruma looked at Shoko Toyokawa's account.

There was still no reply from her side, and everything was quiet.

Maybe he was busy with the Toyokawa family's affairs, so he was affected.

Thinking of this, Iruma Hibiki even felt a little guilty about himself.

At this moment, does it mean that he is only considering his own behavior when he wants to meet Toyokawa Shoko so much?

[Xiangzi, good evening. I'll be at rehearsal tonight. Just take care of your own business. When you're done, can you let me know? I'm a little worried about you.]

Hibiki Iruma sent a message to Shoko Toyokawa.

After a moment of silence and some realization, he edited another message:

【I like you, Xiangzi.】

Perhaps this confession is a bit exaggerated.

It's a bit awkward here too.

For Hibiki Iruma, being so honest is a little difficult.

He did feel shy.

Just like the snakehead fish that can theoretically move on land, it doesn’t mean that they like to move on land.

Just like for Hibiki Iruma, confession is something that she can do but is not good at.

"Ugh--"

Just then, Iruma Hibiki heard a sigh beside him.

He looked up and saw Nagasaki Suyo smiling.

He thought he had misheard, or that the voice came from the guest sitting next to him, but when he looked at Wakaba Mutsu, he found that Wakaba Mutsu was also looking at Nagasaki Suyo and stopped eating his fork.

On her fork, a small piece of pork chop had been bitten off, and the rest was covered with curry soup, which looked delicious.

Wakaba Mutsu seems to be a soup type, not a taste type——

The so-called soup style refers to the emphasis on the sauce when eating fried pork cutlet.

The taste faction, on the other hand, does not like to use sauce because they think that a wet sauce will make the crispy crust of the fried pork cutlet become soft and soggy. Although the struggle between these two factions is not as fierce as the war between the bamboo shoot faction and the mushroom faction, it can still be regarded as a serious dispute.

By the way, Iruma Hibiki is a mushroom type because mushroom types have more chocolate, and for tonkatsu, he is a soup type, just like Wakaba Mutsu.

"Su Shi?"

In short, such thoughts were somewhat complicated, and Iruma Hibiki still chose to worry about Nagasaki Soyo beside him.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Nagasaki Motoyo put down her fork and looked at Iruma Hibiki with a smile.

"Ah, I thought I heard you sigh just now, so I was a little worried."

Facing the current Nagasaki Suyo, Iruma Hibiki was able to subtly express his worries naturally.

"Eh? Did I make a sound? Sorry... Hibiki and Mutsu-chan must be really troubled."

Nagasaki Suyo did show a hint of apology.

"So why are you sighing? Are you thinking about something unhappy?"

Iruma Hibiki asked with some concern.

"It's not that I'm unhappy, I just feel it's a pity that Xiangzi can't come..."

Nagasaki Suyo said this.

But there was no apology on his face at all.

After Nagasaki Suyo's reminder, the expressions on Iruma Hibiki and Wakaba Mutsu's faces became slightly heavier.

15 Gifts in the Sun and a Dark Road Ahead

Shiina Tatsuki and Takamatsu Touma came about the same time.

But when he came, Shiina Riki looked a little embarrassed.

"Staying up late again?"

"Ah."

The habit they developed while working part-time made the greetings between Iruma Hibiki and Shiina Tatsuki unusually natural.

"Anyway, start practicing. Every practice session from now on will be important, so don't slack off, Hibiki."

Today, Shiina Riki was very serious and tense.

Even Hibiki Iruma could notice her anxiety and nervousness.

But yes, it is a given.

After all, for Tatsuki Shiina, this time on stage is of great significance. This is one of the few stages for her to prove herself.

If you miss it, there may not be another chance.

Shiina Riki stood here with this awareness.

Facing Shiina Riki, Iruma Hibiki, who had already known something and had a premonition, fell silent for a moment and said nothing.

"Hiroshi, welcome back!"

Then, Takamatsu Deng also said this.

"So, are you all ready?"

Suddenly, Nagasaki Suyo said something strange, and the moment Iruma Hibiki turned around, everyone present went to the corner of the rehearsal room.

In fact, when he came, Iruma Hibiki noticed that there seemed to be some tables covered with red cloth in the corner of the rehearsal room, which obviously did not belong to them.

But at first, Iruma Hibiki thought it was some kind of device purchased by Ring, so he didn't pay much attention to it.

"Hibiki! Welcome back!"

Accompanied by the red cloth being pulled open.

There were some carefully arranged lights and decorations, and a few small boxes on one of the tables.

"This is a surprise everyone prepared for Hibiki, to welcome him back to Tokyo."

"Because I didn't have time to prepare it before leaving, I prepared it now."

……

Looking at the gifts on the table, Hibiki Iruma opened his mouth slightly.

Indeed, in his memory, Nagasaki Suyo did say the word "surprise".