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Chapter 224: Let’s Have a Band Party Together!
🕑 Added 2025-03-25 12:39:35 +0000 UTCThe room in the cheap apartment was freezing.
Winter had nearly arrived, and cold wind blew in from who-knows-where, making the whole building creak and groan with eerie "whooo" noises.
As if the weather wasn't bad enough already, Ryo Yamada's offhand comment — "Instead of staying in a dump like this, why not just move into my place?" — made the atmosphere in the room grow even colder.
Especially when it came to Ikuyo Kita and Nijika Ijichi's reactions.
Kita, who had just stepped in and was still rubbing her cold hands together, blinked in surprise, her pink lips parting slightly, as if she couldn't believe what Ryo had just said.
Nijika, who had been peeling an apple, froze mid-motion.
And Hitori Gotoh, who hadn't said much so far, keenly noticed the shift in her two best friends' moods.
Something's definitely off!
Hitori glanced back and forth between Kita and Nijika.
Ryo always did things her own way and often said the most outlandish, unrealistic stuff.
Normally, Nijika and Kita would've immediately jumped in with sarcastic jabs or flat-out rebuttals.
But now? They stayed silent, their faces stiff.
Seeing this, Hitori, dressed in her signature pink tracksuit, nervously swallowed.
This is… weird.
A wild idea popped into her mind.
Ever since that memory fragment about all of them marrying Minami Shouji together surfaced in her head, Nijika and Kita had been acting off.
Could it be...?
Nijika-chan and Kita-san also have memories of being with Nami—Minami—just like I do?
It was too likely.
And it would perfectly explain why Nijika and Kita had been so off their game recently.
If that were true—
Then, given how they already liked Minami in the memories, their feelings now must have intensified... fast.
Though… though she wouldn't mind marrying Minami along with everyone else...
Still...
Hitori's heart trembled with uncertainty.
In the memories, she had won in the end and married Minami.
But in reality? They were just close friends at best.
If Nijika and Kita jumped in...
Her already barely-there presence...
Her fragile, balloon-like presence that could pop at the slightest prick and vanish into nothing...
Going full doom-mode, she even started imagining that, unlike in the memories, Minami might just end up drawn to the far more dazzling Kita and Nijika — forgetting about her completely.
The mere thought sent panic flashing through her eyes, hidden beneath her too-long bangs.
Still, she forced herself to remain calm.
At least don't let anyone, especially Minami, notice you're panicking.
She vowed internally.
And then—
"Hitori? Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"Eh? Not good? I'm fine, really."
Bocchi replied calmly.
"Fine? Then why is your hand shaking like that?"
Minami raised an eyebrow.
He glanced down — Hitori's cup was trembling violently in her hand, water splashing everywhere.
"Ah!"
Letting out a yelp, she realized it too, quickly leaning over to wipe the mess with a towel.
"..." Minami.
He shook his head.
"Ryo, I know you just said that on a whim, but jokes like that really aren't funny."
If Ryo had said her dad could help find a better, cheap place to rent, Minami might believe it.
But move in with her?
Even if Ryo was okay with it, her parents definitely wouldn't be.
"I'm not joking."
Ryo's expression didn't change. "If you want to live at my place, I can handle my parents. Just let me tell them, that's all."
"There's no way it's that easy—uh."
Mid-sentence, Minami cut himself off.
He remembered just how ridiculously doting Ryo's parents were.
Last time she showed up at his place at 11 PM and spent the night, all she did was make one phone call to her parents.
If she really did bow her head and ask…
Yeah, it wasn't impossible.
"So? Move in with me."
Seeing Minami hesitate, Ryo's amber eyes sparkled with anticipation. She stood up, excitedly continued:
"Once you're living with me, I'll give you half my monthly allowance. And we can sleep together whenever we want. Come on, don't overthink it—mmph!"
Her words were cut off mid-sentence—
Nijika had come up behind her and covered her mouth.
"Alright, alright, enough! Don't spout nonsense. There's no way Minami-kun would agree to something like that."
Blushing furiously, Nijika glared at the struggling Ryo.
"And we're just high schoolers! Living together is way too soon."
"Exactly, exactly!"
Ikuyo Kita jumped in. "Ryo-senpai always says stuff that's totally impossible. Right, Hitori-chan?"
"Eh? Oh... mm."
With all three members of Kessoku Band having voiced their opinions, it was clear that "The Shameless Cohabitation Life with Yamada-san" plan had just been shelved.
Minami felt a twinge of regret.
He had been genuinely curious about what the inside of Yamada's family mansion looked like. Not being able to see it with his own eyes was a little disappointing.
And absolutely not because he regretted missing out on Yamada's "we can sleep together when we have time" offer.
After all, he was Tokyo's No.1 Pretty Boy—no, wait, now it should be World's No.1 Pretty Boy.
How could someone like him possibly lament not getting to sleep with Yamada?
Succumbing to desire is the ultimate weakness!
He mentally repeated that golden rule to himself, snapping back to reality—just in time to hear Nijika's thoughtful voice:
"That aside, Minami-kun, you really can't keep living in this cheap apartment."
"I know."
Minami nodded in agreement.
He really couldn't continue living here.
Tokyo was just starting to dip into winter temperatures, and the room was already so cold it was barely tolerable.
If things kept up until mid-winter, when Tokyo's first snow arrived... this place might as well become an icebox.
He had already planned to find a better place to live in Tokyo, but a decent location with affordable rent wasn't easy to come by.
Tokyo was big—but for someone living paycheck to paycheck, it felt surprisingly small.
"So I've been thinking..."
Nijika had planned to sit cross-legged, but with Minami around, she chose to kneel formally instead. Her expression was serious:
"How about moving into my place, Minami-kun?"
Her words silenced the room.
Everyone turned to look.
"Nijika, that's sneaky. You won't let him live with me, but now you're offering yourself?"
Ryo Yamada's voice broke the silence, her tone flat.
"No, that's not what I meant!"
Nijika glared at her. "I meant he should live at the STARRY live house!"
"Oh?"
Minami's interest was clearly piqued. "You mean live at STARRY?"
"Yeah."
Noticing his attention shift to her, Nijika didn't beat around the bush and explained:
STARRY had two levels—a basement and the ground floor.
The basement was the live house itself.
The ground floor had a kitchen and one large unused room.
"There's already a small storage area downstairs, so we've only used the ground floor room for random junk. It has decent ventilation and sunlight—there's a window, but no balcony, so you'd need to use a dryer for clothes."
She paused, then continued:
"If you're okay with it, we can give you a key. No one really uses it. Just at night, when the live house is open, it might be a bit noisy."
She made a cute "just a little" gesture with her fingers.
Minami expected that.
Even with soundproofing, some noise and vibrations from downstairs were inevitable.
But he didn't mind.
He wasn't an early sleeper anyway. Even before he had the simulator, he stayed up reading till 9 or 10 PM.
Now with simulations and preparing problems for the band, 10 to 11 PM was the norm.
Nijika's worry was unnecessary.
However—
"Would the manager and you be okay with that?"
He asked out of courtesy.
"We're fine. No one uses that room anyway."
"I see."
Minami nodded thoughtfully.
He was definitely tempted.
STARRY had a great location.
Just over 100 meters from Shimokitazawa Station—super convenient.
And surrounded by commercial areas, unlike his current place, where the only thing within half a kilometer was a convenience store.
The only downside was the crowds of noisy college students at night.
But compared to the pros, that was nothing.
In Tokyo, finding a perfect place is impossible unless you're filthy rich.
"Alright then. Nijika, could you check with the manager and discuss rent with her?"
"Rent...? I don't think my sister will care about that…"
"No, we should still sort that out properly."
Minami shook his head.
Money matters should always be clear.
Even if he got along well with Nijika and her sister Seika, this principle remained.
"Okay."
Seeing his attitude, Nijika didn't push back and nodded.
With housing sorted, and Minami feeling better, things naturally moved along.
Everyone had rushed over right after school, and by now, they were all starving.
Especially Ryo Yamada, who clung to Minami, demanding he cook as repayment for "taking care of him."
To be honest—
From getting sick to now, Minami had only seen Nijika actually taking care of him.
Ryo? Nowhere to be found.
But given how little she usually cared about anything besides music, the fact that she came to check on him today was surprising.
So Minami didn't sweat the details. Despite Nijika's protests, he got up to cook.
It wasn't complicated.
Minami glanced at the ingredients and quickly whipped up a meal.
Nijika helped with all the water-related tasks.
She was always thoughtful—but today, it was a bit much.
Even while cooking, Minami couldn't help glancing her way.
It wasn't his imagination.
Her eyes, though fixed on the stew, kept drifting toward him.
And Kita Ikuyo?
Her behavior was also odd.
Usually respectful, today she seemed avoiding him.
The second she noticed Minami's gaze, she quickly looked away, flustered.
"Something's not right."
Seeing them off, Minami stroked his chin.
Definitely off.
If it were Hitori or Ryo, it'd be normal.
But those two...?
Suspicious.
But this was Nijika and Kita.
In the simulations, his relationships with the two of them had been deeply intertwined.
But this is the real world.
"Hmm... Could it be that the memories from the Direct simulation have somehow flowed into their minds?"
Back in his room, Minami sat down and glanced at the simulation interface.
He had already figured out—from that time when Ryo Yamada came to him at 11 PM uninvited—that a Direct simulation could transmit memories into the simulated targets.
But that should only apply to those specific targets.
Nijika and Kita weren't considered simulation targets by the system, so they shouldn't have any memories...
Wait, no.
Minami shook his head.
He hadn't forgotten the special case of Takina Inoue.
She wasn't a simulation target either, yet she still had simulation memories.
If this was truly the case...
"Then things are going to get really wild..."
Recalling Nijika's and Ikuyo's recent attitudes toward him, Minami propped up his face with one hand and muttered:
"Are we seriously heading toward a 'band members all throw a party together' situation?"
