Lonely Rock for the Blind

"Oh, it would be great if someone could share the rent with me. I still have one room vacant in my rental."

"... "

Nekoyashiki Haru blinked, then raised a finger and said.

"chrysanthemum…"

"Forget about the drunkard."

pa Sang answered immediately.

Nekayashiki Haru nodded and then asked.

"Then Miss Pa has no other friends?"

“…I’m sorry…I’m someone who only socializes online…”

Pa-sang suddenly put his head in his hands and lay on the table.

"Ahhh...why have I still accomplished nothing?! If I keep going like this, I'll become an old woman like the store manager! I originally planned to be a carefree housewife before I turned 20!"

"Hey!"

Ichichi Xingge raised her head in dissatisfaction.

"It's too early to be a housewife at 20. And I don't think people who dropped out of high school because they couldn't get up in the morning have the right to complain about why they haven't achieved anything..."

Nekoyashiki Haru commented.

"Warm, cozy! Every day when I come home, someone says welcome back, and when I cook a meal, I'm praised for being delicious! I want a life like that!"

Pa-san, immersed in his own world, continued to complain.

"…Miss Pa is starting to break down, which is rare."

Nekoyashiki Haru smiled helplessly.

Ijichi Hoshige looked at Nekoyashiki Haru and asked.

"Come to think of it, Kikuri hasn't been here lately."

"... "

Nekoyashiki Haru blinked.

“Actually, he didn’t come to live in my house…”

Nekoyashiki Haru sighed.

"I guess he thought I was angry, so he apologized to me on the phone yesterday."

"That's it."

Ichichi Hoshige nodded.

Nekoyashiki Haru shook his head.

"It's okay, it should be fine after a while."

"is it?"

Ichichi Hoshige suggested.

"That's what Kikuri is like."

Nekoyashiki Haru smiled brightly at Ijichi Hoshige.

The boy, who was no longer wearing sunglasses, now had his face fully revealed to the two of them, and their cheeks turned red at the same time.

"Okay, okay, stop laughing."

"Yeah...um, Nekayashiki-kun looks better when he's normal..."

"…Do I look ugly when I smile? I should be okay looking, right?"

Nekayashiki Haru touched his face to confirm.

...

……

.........

“Gudong gudong gudong gudong gudong…”

After drinking a bottle of sake, Hiroi Kikuri suddenly raised her head.

"Pooh!"

"...Why are you drinking again? Is Qing feeling unwell at home?"

Iwashita Shima asked, one hand on his hip.

"Because... because Xiaoqing must be mad at me..."

Hiroi Kikuri sighed, her breath reeking of alcohol.

"If I go live there now, I'll definitely be kicked out... I might as well drink."

"Xiaoqing won't be angry about this kind of thing, right?"

Eliza asked.

"Yes! He definitely will! I was forced to leave even though I clearly didn't want to go... And he told you about this without my permission. Xiaoqing will definitely be angry... Gu, in order to avoid facing his anger, I'd better hide..."

Hiroi Kikuri lowered her head and said.

“…You’re such an anxious guy.”

Iwashita Shima folded his arms and sighed.

"Ugh... the more you think about it, the more you'll think about it. Shima, you don't understand."

"I don't understand again... Never mind..."

Iwashita Shima shook his head.

"Don't forget there's a performance tonight."

"Oh…"

Iwashita Shima left, and Hiroi Kikuri continued to drink with her head covered.

Eliza looked at Hiroi Kikuri, then suddenly sat down next to her.

"Hey, Kikuri."

"Ok?"

"Did anything interesting happen while you were staying at Xiaoqing's house?"

“…interesting things…”

Hiroi Kikuri subconsciously thought of the time when Nekayashiki Haru asked her if she liked him.

"No! No!"

"You're so nervous, so it must be true."

Eliza nodded and then asked.

"Kiri, do you like Xiaoqing?"

"puff!!!"

Hiroi Kikuri spat out the wine from her mouth and looked at Eliza.

"Wha...what?"

Hiroi Kikuri was stunned, and then became excited the next moment.

"Eliza? Why...why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

The purple-haired woman asked nervously.

"Hmm~ Because Kikuri herself said just now, [The more you care, the more you think], so the fact that you're thinking so much now means that Kikuri cares a lot about Xiaoqing."

Eliza tilted her head and smiled.

"Right~ So I was thinking, if I care so much about him, do I like him?"

"... "

Hiroi Kikuri looked at the wine in her hand, then looked at Eliza, and smiled.

"It's just a matter of concern between friends, don't think too much about it..."

Hiroi Kikuri patted Eliza's shoulder.

"Besides, Xiaoqing and I are totally incompatible. In every way, haha!"

Hiroi Kikuri walked to the other side while smiling.

"I'm going to drink somewhere else. Good luck on the performance tonight!"

Eliza watched the scene calmly.

“He ran away.”

Chapter 176: Second Generation

Dusk.

As the weather starts to get cooler, it gets dark faster and faster.

Kita Ikuyo was walking along the path in Shimokitazawa, holding Goto Ichiri's hand.

"It gets dark so quickly... But this scenery feels really interesting."

Kita Ikuyo took out her cell phone and took a selfie with the sunset behind her as the background.

"Want to join us Yili?"

Kita Ikuyo asked Goto Ichiri who was beside her.

“Eh? No no no no no no…”

"Just taking a picture, I won't post it on the wall, come on!"

Kita Ikuyo came closer to Goto Ichiri and held up her cell phone.

Click.

Flashbulbs went off.

The two people's faces were filled with smiles under the flash lights.

snap…

Out of the corner of my eye, I heard footsteps.

They were both stunned at the same time and looked forward.

The man in the black sweatshirt was holding a guitar covered with chains.

"Are you... the band Hunter?"

Under the hood, his eyes narrowed seriously.

Goto Ichiri was startled and his body trembled violently.

Suddenly, a very strange rock guy showed up?!

The band Hunter?

What's with this nickname that 18th-rate writers would give themselves, like someone in the late stages of chuunibyou who feels ashamed of it and just has to write it down in their little diaries?!

Are you talking to us?

No, no, no… He should be talking to other people, like there are other people behind us?

Goto Ichiri turned his head.

Empty.

Goto Ichiri turned around suddenly.