Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

The smile and complex emotions on Iruma Hibiki's face slowly disappeared. His eyes did not linger on the phone screen, but instead looked towards the distant Rinkai Park, and finally turned to look towards Ikebukuro.

"I'm so sorry, Iruma-san. My choice of words was inappropriate. I was so excited! I'm so sorry if I misunderstood you. I don't have any such thoughts towards you, Iruma-san."

……

[…Let’s move on to the next topic quickly.]

Hibiki Iruma stopped Shoko Toyokawa from dwelling on this topic and urged her to end it immediately.

He always felt that Toyokawa Shoko would clumsily make things worse.

However, knowing that Toyokawa Shoko also has a clumsy side is at least what Iruma Hibiki gained tonight.

After all, in his impression, Toyokawa Shoko is actually the kind of guy who is persistent, serious, determined in his goals and won't give up easily, and may occasionally lack a little common sense.

But those are minor issues.

"No, I still need to explain this properly. After all, this was my mistake, and if Iruma-san misunderstands me, it will be very troubling for me."

[Just now, love at first sight, actually means——]

On the other side of the screen.

It was completely different from the capable and condescending tone he used.

Shoko Toyokawa's face was very red. She sat up straight on the big bed, her whole body tense.

I really like your lyrics. Actually, I've also read your novels since then, but unlike your lyrics, I don't quite understand your novels.

[It might be my fault, since this is my first time reading a light novel. Shouldn't this be the category?]

【It was Ya'er who ordered the mountain emu to slip away VII.】

Iruma Hibiki rested his forehead on the table.

Perhaps in this moment, in just a short contact, he had been stabbed dozens of times by Toyokawa Shoko.

His fragile heart was bleeding.

"Eh? Has Nagasaki-san also looked for Chihaya-san?"

At the same time, Ijichi Kouka, who had just said good night, had not yet gone to bed because she suddenly remembered that Nagasaki Motoyo had contacted her today. So, with a little worry, she found Chihaya Aine to discuss it.

[Yes.]

"Actually, I'm a bit troubled too. I have no idea how to respond to Nagasaki-san."

Ijichi Kouka frankly expressed her concerns, and in fact she really wanted to get some opinions from Chihaya Aine.

【Just block him. 】

[Eh? Isn't this a bit heartless?]

"When Nagasaki-san blocked us and deceived Iruma-san's feelings, he showed no regard for friendship at all. Ijichi-san, you're too gentle."

Chihaya Aine frowned, feeling even more unhappy about what happened to Nagasaki Soyo.

and--

Since I've already found her and Ijichi Hongka, that means...

Chihaya Aine thought for a moment.

She hadn't originally planned to tell this to Hibiki Iruma, but now it seemed she had to.

Having made a decision, Chihaya Aine immediately opened the chat box of Iruma Hibiki.

But she soon gave up.

After all, the meeting time for them is tomorrow, so it would be better to have a face-to-face conversation then.

With this thought in mind, Chihaya Aine decided to go to bed early tonight, so she put down the guitar in her hand, closed all the English textbooks on the desk and piled them in a corner.

As for Ijichi Kouka, there were some parts of Chihaya Aine's suggestion that she agreed with. She thought about it for a long time, but being a gentle girl, she had never actually done anything like blocking anyone.

[Could you tell me about what happened recently, Ijichi-san? ]

Until, Nagasaki Suyo sent her this message.

[Nagasaki-san is the most annoying! I won't say anything!]

Finally, Ijichi Hongxia made up her mind.

Of course, she still couldn't block her, but she hid Nagasaki Suyo's friends and chose not to remind her of the news.

19 Yilinyiqishu (Five) What begins after the drinking @ thing ends?

The morning arrived as usual.

Nothing strange happened. Iruma woke up early in the morning and lowered the temperature of the air conditioner by a few degrees. Although the summer vacation was coming to an end, it was far from over. The hot summer started early in the morning.

After waking up a little, Iruma Hibiki finished his morning routine and turned on his cell phone.

It was only 6 o'clock and his friends were barely awake.

The news from last night was frozen on the screen. At the top was Shoko Toyokawa, the person who had chatted with him the latest last night.

For some reason, Hibiki Iruma wanted to laugh when he saw Shoko Toyokawa's profile picture.

He always felt that the relationship between him and Toyokawa Shoko was a little strange since they met, as if all the social rules in the past were no longer applicable between the two of them. Toyokawa Shoko was like a girl from another world or a foreign country, which gave him a headache and made him feel helpless.

Of course I can’t say it’s annoying.

rather say--

Hibiki Iruma once again played the song sung by Toyokawa Shoko. The wonderful piano and her soft voice, accompanied by the lyrics of the song that Iruma thought he would never be able to hear the melody of in his lifetime, slowly rang in his ears.

Toyokawa Shoko is different from him.

He is a porter of another world, while Shoko Toyokawa is a true genius.

No, it could also be someone who is working hard in a place he can't see, someone who values music and the band's ideals more than anything else.

Around 7 o'clock, Hibiki Iruma was ready to go out.

Today's gathering place is Starry Sky.

It was natural to choose such a place. After all, they met in Fanxing, and although many things had happened, there were still many bad memories.

But in Iruma Hibiki's opinion, the place to say goodbye should be the stars.

He looked at himself on the phone screen, confirmed that his outfit and hairstyle were fine for the day, and then boarded the train.

Soon, Iruma Hibiki arrived in Shimokitazawa. It was still a little early, so he sent a message to Shiina Riki:

[Shiina, thank you for your hard work today. I'm sorry that I have to take a leave because of personal matters.]

After a while, Iruma Hibiki received a reply from Shiina Riki.

"Oh, it's okay. Just go about your business. I'll say hello to Wildcat on your behalf. Speaking of which, you mentioned before that today is the day to say goodbye to an important friend. Um..."

The other party obviously hesitated.

Afterwards, Iruma Hibiki received the second half of Shiina Riki's words.

【It would be better not to leave any regrets. 】

Hibiki Iruma smiled at the message on the screen.

In a sense, it seemed even more incredible to him that Shiina Riki would say such gentle words than that Nagasaki Suyo liked him.

"I understand. Thank you, Shiina. I will definitely not leave any regrets with the item. You too, please do not leave any regrets because of a momentary hesitation."

【Huh? What are you talking about?】

Seeing that Shiina Riki had returned to normal, Iruma Hibiki, who had been harshly rebuked, looked relieved and then closed the dialog box.

Something must have happened to Shiina Riki this morning, which is why she was so gentle when replying.

Thinking of this, Iruma Hibiki was a little worried, but he was not with Shiina Ritsuki now, so he naturally could not help much. He could only wait until they met again.

Then, Hibiki Iruma embarked on this familiar yet unfamiliar road, walking from Shimokitazawa Station all the way towards the stars.

In fact, in the past few months, he has deliberately avoided taking this path. After all—

The memories this road brought to him were a little heavy.

But when he set foot on it again, Iruma Hibiki felt a slight sense of strangeness and nostalgia.

So he was a little distracted and thinking about something, and didn't notice at all that a figure flashed by behind him.

"Good morning, manager."

"Good morning."

In fact, it was not time for Fanxing to open the door yet, but Iruma Xiang was not a guest, but an acquaintance, so he could go in directly.

"Hongxia!"

Following the shouts of Ichichi Hoshige from the front desk, Ichichi Hongxia ran out of the rehearsal room with two drumsticks in her hands.

"Good morning Iruma."

"Were you practicing drums just now?"

"what!"

It was not until Iruma Hibiki reminded her that Ijichi Hongka realized that she seemed to be so excited that she forgot to put the drumsticks back in their place.

"Yes, because there was not much to do this morning, so I took the opportunity to practice. After all—"

Ijichi Hongka paused for a moment, then showed a brilliant and subtle look to Iruma Hibiki.

"First week of school! Our Live is scheduled!"

The moment he heard the news, Iruma Hibiki was stunned. His emotions were slightly complicated, but then he was happy in an instant. He was happy from the bottom of his heart for Ichichi Hongxia, his important friend.

"That's great, congratulations, but—is Goto-kun okay?"

The two of them walked towards the rehearsal room while talking.

"This performance was decided by Goto-san. I was surprised when I heard that, too."

"Goto-san decided..."

Iruma Hibiki was slightly surprised.

After all, the Goto Ichiri he knew was definitely not the kind of person who would actively choose to perform live.

"Well, Goto-san said he wanted to sing a song for you, Iruma-san, and say goodbye to Chihaya-san at the same time."

……

Ijichi Hongka turned her head and spoke to Iruma Hibiki with a mysterious look on her face.

"Then I'll have to look forward to it."

And Iruma Hibiki smiled faintly and responded softly.

Perhaps he was actually a little worried at this moment, about Goto Ichiri's situation...

But in the end, he still chose to believe Goto Ichiri and the others.

"But...I'm a little reluctant to leave Chihaya-san."

"Me too, but come to think of it, three years... maybe it's not that long after all. In fact, when you think about it, the three years of junior high school went by in a flash. Maybe the day we meet again will come soon, and, and..."

Ijichi Hongxia moved her head closer to Iruma Xiang. She raised her head, her face filled with excitement.

"Chihaya-san said last night that she comes back about once a year, so it's not necessarily that we won't see her for even a single day in three years."

"That's great."

"but……"

Iruma Hibiki pondered for a moment before continuing:

"It's going to be quite troublesome to go back to Japan from the UK. If Chihaya-san is busy, we can keep in touch online."

"Yeah! That's for sure!"

Ijichi Hongxia put down her drumsticks.

Today's rehearsal room was obviously decorated deliberately. Compared to usual, some musical instruments were moved away, and a large table and several chairs were placed in the room. In the corner, Ijichi Hongxia also thoughtfully prepared drinks and snacks.

Iruma Hibiki noticed even such tiny efforts and details.