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Chapter 30: Nijika’s Confession
🕑 Added 2025-09-29 14:48:14 +0000 UTC[Not every story ends with a happy conclusion.]
[The Light Music Club quickly disappeared from Shimokitazawa High's list of clubs, as if it had never existed.]
[In the months that followed, you spent most of your time preparing for exams, hoping to distract yourself this way.]
[Kitahara Toru, however, carried on with his days as always, carefree and idle.]
[He was like a child who would never grow up, innocent and free of worry, basking lazily by the classroom window each day.]
[A month ago, you had talked about dreams. Toru said that after graduating college, he wanted to be an ordinary man, step into society, marry, have children, grow old with his wife, and in the end die under the eyes of his children.]
[Sometimes you could not help but wonder... who would be the lucky one to grow old with him? Deep down you knew you liked him, but when faced with the choice between friendship and love, your hesitation had hurt Toru.]
[But what use was recalling that now? High school was already nearing its end.]
[Day by day time passed. In the tense atmosphere of study, the final day before exams soon arrived. Before the test, your sister Ijichi Seika handed you an omamori (Japanese Amulet) she had prayed for at the New Year shrine visit.]
[You accepted the charm for academic success, bowing in gratitude to your sister, who had always loved you yet was not good at expressing it.]
[She watched you enter the exam hall. It was a snowy day, white flakes falling onto her golden hair.]
[The results came quickly.]
[You did not get into a good university, and first-tier schools were out of reach.]
[After graduation, Toru disappeared from your life for a time.]
[He was like a mischievous black cat, breaking into your heart and then leaving without a trace.]
[A week later, you heard from Yamada Ryo that he had not chosen to attend university after graduating, but instead had taken time off to travel the world.]
["Nijika, you still have the chance to stop him," Yamada Ryo said to you. She seemed to have long sensed your feelings and your fondness for Toru. Like someone who had been through it herself, she spoke sincerely, urging you to stop him, or else you would regret it.]
[Half a month later, spring came. On a day when cherry blossoms danced in the wind, you went with Kessoku Band to the airport to see him off… You had made up your mind, but when the final moment came, you suddenly lost your courage.]
[Later… he left Tokyo. You chose your dream. The winds of Shimokitazawa could not reach foreign lands. Ordinary you was unworthy of exceptional him. You still called him Toru, but he had already forgotten you.]
[Your story ended in that spring.]
Eh? What?
That was it?
[…Just kidding.]
[Before Toru boarded the plane, you finally gathered your courage. Under the gaze of the other Kessoku Band girls, you walked up to him. In truth, whether it was Gotoh Hitori, Yamada Ryo, or the perceptive Kita Ikuyo, all of them already knew of your feelings for Toru, and knew of his feelings for you.]
["Kitahara-kun… I don't want you to go." Shyly, you spoke the words aloud. You knew if you did not stop him today, Toru might truly vanish from your life.]
[And besides, the words Yamada Ryo had spoken a month ago symbolized her giving up her own feelings for Toru. Like you, she valued your friendship, so she stepped back.]
[Stopped by you, Toru looked surprised and asked, "Why?"]
Why? Of course because... "I like you, Kitahara."
You… you said it.
Ijichi Nijika looked at the simulator's screen and immediately felt the embarrassment sink into her bones.
[No longer wavering, you spoke the confession you had held back for months. It was not complicated, just a few syllables, the words "I like you."]
[Toru rubbed his brow with some trouble. He clearly had not expected this.]
["And your answer?" you pressed.]
[Toru let go of his suitcase and cast a glare at Yamada Ryo, who had turned her head away not far off, shoulders trembling as she stifled her laughter.]
["I'm only going to America for a week's trip. I'll be back when university starts," Toru explained. Only then did you realize, Yamada Ryo had lied. Toru had not taken time off, nor was he planning to travel the world. It had all been a scheme she set up to push you into confessing.]
[Your face turned bright red. Remembering how boldly you had just confessed, you no longer knew what to do.]
["As for your confession, I accept." Toru seemed to have no reason to refuse. Everyone knew he liked you.]
["Mm." You nodded slowly, only to realize Kessoku Band had gathered around, teasing you. Flustered, you hid in Toru's arms.]
[Yamada Ryo watched your happy scene. A trace of loss flashed in her eyes, but she forced a smile and congratulated you.]
Huh?
[Gotoh Hitori wore a touch of envy, but joined the clapping.]
Eh?!
Ijichi Nijika stared at the words, quickly understanding.
In all those days together, not only she and Ryo had fallen for Toru. Bocchi-chan had too.
[Kita Ikuyo was the most excited of you all. She had worried over your romance for a long time, and now that it had come true, she felt the thrill of seeing her favorite pairing become real.]
Kita-chan was shipping us?
Nijika shook off her shyness and muttered this little complaint in her heart.
[After the confession, Toru canceled his trip. He had originally thought to confess to you after returning, once he had sorted out his feelings, but your sudden confession ruined his plan.]
…So that's what he had been thinking?
[Once you became a couple, you spent every day together before the term started. Even after university began, he showed no sign of wanting to part from you. Only then did you learn he had given up his recommendation to Todai, choosing instead to attend the same university as you.]
[Yamada Ryo, however, went to Todai with tears in her eyes. She had studied hard and barely made it.]
[In university, with more free time, you threw yourself into drumming with renewed effort, and soon caught up with your bandmates.]
[You were thrilled, though alongside your joy came fatigue. Thankfully, Toru took careful care of you.]
[In the autumn of your first year, you fell ill. Fortunately, it was nothing serious, just a cold.]
[But you knew... the side effect of the Extreme Pressure Training Method had begun.]
Nijika stared at the final line.
A faint sense of dread filled her heart.
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