A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

"That's what I said..."

"By the way, let me show you the gloves I mentioned earlier. I asked my mom to take a picture of them for me... Look! They're super cute because they were made by my brother when he was a kid!"

“…Yeah, that’s true.”

"???"

Chihaya Tetsuya was stunned after hearing this.

She even mentioned the gloves? How much did this girl tell Takamatsu about him?

Or, are their relationship so close that they would talk about such topics?

The more he intuitively felt the friendship between the two, the more Chihaya Tetsu felt conflicted about what he should do next.

He began to wonder if he should postpone asking and let them enjoy the weekend first.

Or, in other words, I should temporarily keep my suspicion of Takamatsu Deng and then ask Shiina Riki about his attitude first...

"By the way, did your previous band only write that one song?"

Just when Chihaya Tetsuya was hesitating, the topic mentioned by Chihaya Aine immediately attracted his attention.

And then, Gao Songdeng's next answer made his hesitation disappear instantly -

"Yes, we... only had time to leave behind that one song."

Takamatsu Touma replied with a slightly depressed tone:

"It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, CRYCHIC might have..."

"…………"

After hearing this, Chihaya Tetsuya immediately understood that Takamatsu Deng also had a lingering attachment to [CRYCHIC].

Sure enough, we still can't let our guard down.

Ding-dong-

As Chihaya Tetsuya made up his mind again, the doorbell rang, symbolizing the start of the plan.

Then, after he took the takeaway from the delivery man, he suddenly stood still——

"Oh no, I think I forgot to buy a drink."

After saying that, he turned around and said to Chihaya Aine who was lying on the sofa with an apologetic look on his face:

“Excuse me, Aine, could you please run an errand to the convenience store next?”

Chapter 10: Direct questioning will not lead to wild speculation

When Chihaya Aine heard her brother's request, her heart was suddenly filled with an incredible feeling.

First of all, how could the brother who is always so meticulous forget to prepare drinks?!

Secondly, her brother didn't go to the convenience store to buy it himself, but chose to let her run errands! ?

Although just running errands was nothing to Chihaya Aine, these two unprecedented situations still made her feel inexplicably concerned.

However, the next second, when Chihaya Aine, who was full of curiosity, was about to ask something, Chihaya Tetsuya directly took out his wallet and took out a ten thousand yen bill from it.

"This is for you, and the rest is your pocket money."

"Roger that!"

Compared to those insignificant little things, pocket money is indeed more important.

So, Chihaya Aine put aside her doubts without hesitation and turned to Takamatsu Deng:

"Deng, do you want anything to drink?"

"Eh? I, I can just drink water..."

"If it's to go with sushi, a lighter drink would be better, right? How about sparkling water?"

"I, I don't have any objection."

"Where's your brother? Anything you want to drink?"

"Just like you."

"You two are too indecisive."

Faced with the two people's worthless answers, Chihaya Aine could not help but shake her head helplessly.

"Then I'll just buy what I like."

After that, she hummed a song and walked out of the house with brisk steps...

........................

After Chihaya Aine walked out of the house, the living room, which was originally extremely lively, suddenly became quiet.

Takamatsu Deng's silence is naturally due to his personality, while Chihaya Tetsuya's silence is because he is getting rid of the last bit of hesitation in his heart.

"Takamatsu-san."

Finally, after thinking for about ten seconds, Chihaya Tetsuya took the initiative to break the silence.

"I don't like lies, and I'm not very good at lying, so I'll be straight with you—"

Then, under Takamatsu Touma's stunned gaze, Chihaya Tetsuya said:

"Do you want to reorganize [CRYCHIC]?"

"……Eh?"

For a moment, Gao Songdeng almost doubted his own ears.

"Reorganization? [CRYCHIC]?! W-why…"

Such an unexpected question coming from such an unexpected person immediately threw Takamatsu Deng's mind into chaos.

Why did he know about CRYCHIC? Why did he suddenly say the word "reorganization"? And why did he specifically ask himself this question?

At the same time, while Takamatsu Deng was still deeply shocked by this, Chihaya Tetsuya had no intention of giving her too much time to think.

"Although you only have Nagasaki Motoyo and Shiina Riki by your side right now, if you want, I can always help you contact Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mutsu."

Chihaya Tetsuya continued to ask:

"So, you just need to tell me frankly whether you want to reorganize [CRYCHIC] or not."

“Huh?!?!”

Gao Songdeng finally couldn't control himself and let out a cry of surprise.

Not only does he know CRYCHIC, he even knows the names of Xiangzi and Mu? Not only that, he even claims he can contact Xiangzi, who suddenly lost contact with everyone?!

What on earth is going on?!

The development of the situation was so bizarre that Takamatsu Deng's thinking speed could not keep up with the current situation.

"You seem hesitant."

He sat down on another sofa with an expressionless face, his eyes, neither sad nor happy, fixed on Gao Songdeng's wavering eyes.

"Is this question so difficult to answer?"

"…………"

Takamatsu Deng, who was already in an unfamiliar environment, became even more nervous under the pressure of Chihaya Tetsuya. The strong palpitations made her breathe faster involuntarily, and even fine cold sweat began to seep out of her forehead.

Being a sensitive person, she could clearly sense Chihaya Tetsuya's seriousness and solemnity at the moment, but she really didn't understand why he suddenly asked her this question, and in the absence of Aine——

……

(Eh? When Aine isn’t around?)

In that tangled mess of thoughts, Gao Songdeng suddenly caught sight of this premise that could not be ignored.

Then, the scene where Chihaya Tetsuya sent Chihaya Aine away under the pretext of running errands also entered her mind.

(Chihaya-san... didn't want Aine to hear our subsequent conversation.)

Why is this?

According to Aine, although Chihaya-san never spoiled or overprotected her, he still attached great importance to her actual experiences and feelings.

That means... Chihaya-san thought that the topic they were going to talk about next was not only related to Aine, but also shouldn't be heard by her.

But what is the connection between the reorganization of [CRYCHIC] and Aine? Why did Chihaya-san make such a judgment? And... how will her next answer prompt Chihaya-san to react?

As he gradually began to think clearly, Gao Songdeng's nervousness eased a little.

But even so, her dilemma did not change at all.

Without knowing Chihaya Tetsuya's true intentions, she was extremely worried that her gaffe would lead the conversation in a worse direction...

"...Is there no way to answer this question?"

On the other side, seeing that Takamatsu Deng had not responded for a long time, Chihaya Tetsu couldn't help but frown.

There were less than ten minutes left until Aine came back, and he had to finish questioning Takamatsu Deng as soon as possible.

"Then let me put it another way. Do you think Aine is necessary for your current band?"

"Of course it's necessary!"

Takamatsu Deng's answer to this question can be said to be without hesitation.

"If it weren't for Aine, we would never have wanted to get back together like this! Or rather... I would never have wanted to form a band with anyone else..."

“Even if it was Aine who facilitated your reunion, if your goal is to reorganize [CRYCHIC], then regardless of whether you succeed in the reorganization or not, there’s no point for Aine to stay here anymore, right?”

Chihaya Tetsuya's suspicion was not shaken at all by Takamatsu Touma's unhesitating answer.

"Gratitude is only a short-term psychological state, and it's not enough to warrant her staying here. To ensure that Aine won't be abandoned by you in the future, I must ensure that you sincerely want to form a band with Aine."

"!"

The necessity of CRYCHIC's reorganization, and the reasons why it won't be abandoned...

So that’s how it is!

After hearing this, Takamatsu Deng finally understood why Chihaya Tetsuya suddenly asked himself these questions.

At the same time, he also understood why Chihaya Tetsu deliberately sent Chihaya Aine away and talked to him alone about these things.

……

"Chihaya-san...you are indeed a good brother."

Once you understand the reasons for this series of problems, Gao Songdeng will naturally no longer have to hesitate.

Because at this moment, she already had enough confidence to dispel Chihaya Tetsuya's doubts about her.

"Let me answer Mr. Chihaya's first question first."

Under Chihaya Tetsuya's increasingly serious gaze, Takamatsu Touma said:

"I do want to reorganize [CRYCHIC]—"

Chapter 11: What I Miss and What I Cherish

"But because of this, I must cherish this band no matter what... cherish the love music that allowed me to start all over again!"

"……What's the meaning?"

After hearing the first half of the sentence, Chihaya Tetsuya had almost come to his own conclusion, but the second half of Takamatsu Deng's answer suddenly made him more confused.

"If you want to reorganize CRYCHIC, what does that have to do with Aine?"

"Because I know that even if you, Chihaya-san, can really reconnect Shoko and Mu, the Shoko and Mu of today are no longer the same as they were during the [Crychik] period! Even if we really get back together, it will... no longer be the [Crychik] of the past!"

Unexpectedly, Takamatsu Deng expressed a point of view that was very close to that of Toyokawa Shoko.

Her voice was much louder than usual when she spoke these words, and her expression did not show her usual timidity.

It was as if he was venting, as if he wanted to convince himself with this determination that was different from usual.

How long had she endured these words in her heart?

Just as Chihaya Tetsuya was still stunned by this sudden outburst, a hint of indescribable loneliness appeared in Takamatsu Deng's tone.