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V2 Chapter 20: Mutsumi’s Really Not Good at This…
🕑 Added 2025-05-09 13:14:52 +0000 UTC"Hello, please take a look!"
Kazami Haru smiled warmly as he handed a flyer to a passing high school girl.
At first, her expression was one of mild annoyance, but the moment she saw him, her face lit up. Not only did she take the flyer eagerly, but she even started chatting him up like they were already friends.
Anyone walking by might think he was doing something way more suspicious than passing out flyers.
"What are you doing?"
A faint scent of matcha drifted past just as Haru was mid-handout.
As he turned, pure white hair came into view. A petite, silver-haired girl wearing a loose black shirt stood on her tiptoes, peering curiously at the flyer in his hands.
Up close, she looked like a snow-white mochi, her tiny body leaned in so close that her soft hair brushed right in front of his face.
Then, just as suddenly, she took a step back, revealing her delicate, adorable face.
It was Neko.
The 'stray cat' who drifted between every Livehouse—Kaname Raana . Last time, she'd shamelessly used her cutesy tactics to snatch the only matcha daifuku and some "Good Kid Juice" right from his hands.
"I got roped into labor by the manager," Haru explained. "She told me to pass these out to everyone walking by."
Raana's interest clearly piqued.
"I want one too."
Her sparkling, mismatched eyes lit up as she stretched out her small hands, totally serious.
If he didn't know better, Haru might've thought she was reaching for a hug with that childlike posture.
He raised an eyebrow slightly. "Just asking, what do you plan to do with it?"
Raana puffed her cheeks and smiled as if it were obvious. "Make paper planes."
Just as I thought.
As her nickname "stray cat" suggested, Raana was that kind of whimsical beauty—appearing out of nowhere to play music or do whatever caught her fancy, only to vanish just as suddenly.
Today, she just wanted to play.
"You can't use these for fun. If the manager finds out, she might twist my head off."
"…But I want to fold them."
Raana squinted, cheeks puffed with visible discontent.
"No."
In the past, Haru might've immediately crumbled in the face of such weaponized cuteness.
But after enduring repeated emotional damage from Ryo Yamada, his resistance to beautiful girls had leveled up considerably. Even if Raana hugged him right now, he'd only be distracted for a few seconds.
Still, seeing her disappointed expression stirred a flicker of guilt. Then, he had a thought, a clever little shortcut.
"Hey, Raana , wanna help me?"
"Help?"
"Yeah. Help me pass these flyers out. If it goes well, I'll buy you a matcha milkshake. Plus, I'll save a few flyers so you can make your paper planes."
The moment he said "matcha milkshake," her eyes popped wide open.
She nodded seriously and snatched a stack of flyers from him before scurrying off to approach passing strangers.
If Haru did it alone, handing out all the flyers would take forever.
But with Raana helping, it was a different story.
She could hand them out to people and even her cat friends too.
…
Tsukinomori, Gardening Club.
Wakaba Mutsumi crouched silently beside a small vegetable patch, her long skirt brushing the soil without care. Holding a watering can larger than her face in her pale hands, she carefully poured water over the plants before her.
Vines, thick as fingers, curled around a patch of vibrant green leaves. The cucumbers had already begun to grow, their glossy skins sparkling under the droplets.
A soft look flickered across her otherwise emotionless eyes.
These cucumbers turned out really well this time.
She wanted to pick a few of the best ones and give them to him. But since she hadn't exchanged contact info with him last time, she had no way to find him.
That left her feeling… a little troubled.
"Mutsumi!"
A sudden call from behind made her hand pause mid-pour.
"…"
She slowly turned around. There stood a girl in the same Tsukinomori uniform, with a refined beauty far beyond her age and a grace befitting a classic Yamato Nadeshiko.
Wavy brown hair draped over her shoulders, and she wore her usual gentle smile.
"Mutsumi, I messaged you earlier, but you didn't reply. I was worried."
Nagasaki Soyo's voice carried genuine concern. Mutsumi simply shook her head, responding in her usual calm tone: "I fell asleep."
"As long as you're okay. If you're ever having trouble with anything, you can always talk to me, okay?"
Mutsumi nodded softly, then turned her gaze back to the cucumbers.
But her subtle shift in demeanor hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Mutsumi… have you been in touch with Sakiko lately?"
"No."
Her reply came instantly and with mechanical steadiness, like she had rehearsed it.
"I see… I guess even childhood friends like you can't reach her. Where could Sakiko be now, I wonder…"
A flicker of sadness crossed Soyo's face. Since the band had disbanded, she hadn't been able to contact anyone.
Phone numbers had become nothing more than hollow shells.
Not just Sakiko, even Tomori had vanished without a trace.
CRYCHIC was shattered.
"You must feel frustrated too, right? That CRYCHIC just… disappeared?"
"…"
Mutsumi said nothing, just nodded slightly.
Soyo had long since gotten used to Mutsumi's silence and blank face. But today, something felt off.
She let the conversation flow, talking lightly about Mutsumi's daily life, her recent activities, even asking if she could try one of her cucumbers. The mood relaxed.
Then she struck.
"Say, Mutsumi… are you really sure you can't find Sakiko?"
"…"
This time, Mutsumi didn't answer right away.
"I'm sorry, Mutsumi. I didn't mean anything by it… I just really want to find her…"
Before Mutsumi could respond, Soyo cut off the conversation herself.
She smiled again—gentle and elegant, like nothing had happened.
Mutsumi… really isn't good at lying.
