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Chapter 161: The Turmoil in Their Hearts
🕑 Added 2025-02-28 10:14:55 +0000 UTC"Alright. That's enough for today."
Minami Shouji's calm voice echoed through the rehearsal space.
Hearing that, Rikka Takarada finally let out a breath of relief.
"The Monster of the Human Heart" had been in rehearsals for over a week now.
And throughout that week—
She had been diligently studying her script.
Though, strictly speaking—
She didn't actually have many scenes that required interacting with other actors.
After all, in The Monster of the Human Heart, she was the only one playing a human role.
The other lead, Sho Utsumi, was in charge of playing the monster Thanasis.
And monsters…
They didn't need much dialogue.
All Kan really had to do was growl on cue,
sync up with the pre-recorded sound effects,
and wreck the carefully prepared miniature sets.
Compared to memorizing lines,
Portraying a monster's movements was far more important.
So for the most part—
Rikka's performance consisted of her narrating her own thoughts,
or interacting with Minami's voice-overs and background narration.
At this point, though—
Both rehearsals and run-throughs had been completed twice already.
Everything was fully prepared.
There was no reason for her to feel nervous anymore.
At least, that's what Rikka told herself.
So then…
If The Monster of the Human Heart was already taken care of—
That meant she only had one more thing left to deal with…
As she pretended to lower her head to put her script into her bag,
She secretly glanced out of the corner of her eye—
At the young man marking up his script with a red pen.
Messy black hair.
Clear, composed eyes.
Lips pale but defined.
His voice was steady and articulate as he exchanged thoughts with Sho Utsumi—
Like there was no problem in the world he couldn't solve.
"Minami Shouji…"
Rikka mouthed his name in her head.
Her deep blue eyes lingered on him for a moment.
And as she did—
A certain memory surfaced in her mind.
A conversation from not too long ago—
At her family's secondhand shop & breakfast café.
It was a very rare sight.
Shinjo Akane—
A girl who was always flawless, who never faltered—
Had actually bowed her head in front of her.
"Please, Rikka! I'm begging you!"
"No matter what it takes—"
"Help me get together with Minami!"
Rikka nearly dropped her coffee.
Her fingers, wrapped around the cup, visibly trembled.
This development—
This shocking revelation—
Was completely unbelievable.
"You like Minami?"
Her voice was full of disbelief.
Because never in her wildest dreams—
Had she imagined that Shinjo Akane—
The ever-perfect, effortlessly charming Akane—
Would ask her for help.
Help… to get a guy?!
Wait, no—
Saying "get a guy" sounded way too aggressive.
The word Rikka had in mind was pursue.
But even then—
Akane's response was far more blunt than she expected.
"Yeah. I like Minami."
"And I need your help."
"I need you to help me get him."
COUGH COUGH COUGH—
Rikka immediately choked on her drink.
Coughing violently, she barely managed to recover.
And when she did—
She stared at Akane in shock.
"...Akane, you like Minami that much?"
"Mhmm. That's why I'm asking you to help me."
Akane answered with a dazzling smile—
That same perfect, practiced smile of hers.
But her expression—
Made Rikka feel… uneasy.
Because logically speaking—
"Akane, if you like someone…"
"Shouldn't you just… go for it yourself?"
She placed her glass down on the table.
"With how popular you are at school, getting a guy to like you should be easy, right?"
It was true.
Shinjo Akane was ridiculously well-liked.
Every month, she had to clean out at least ten or twenty love letters from her shoe locker.
Her bright, friendly nature—
It struck a chord with tons of guys.
With Akane's social skills, intelligence, and charm—
Winning over someone she liked shouldn't be difficult at all.
So why the hell did she need Rikka's help?
What could she possibly do?
But—
"Oh, Rikka, you just don't get it."
Akane giggled softly.
"Minami isn't like the guys who are easy to win over."
As she said this,
Her delicate hand rested against her cheek.
Her lips curled up.
It was a smile that even Rikka found captivating.
A smile that—
Without a doubt—
Came straight from her heart.
Your Childhood Friend… Showing That Kind of Smile…?
Rikka Takarada's gaze was drawn in.
She fell silent.
Ever since that day—
From then until now—
She had been observing Minami Shouji.
She wanted to see for herself—
If he was really as special as Shinjo Akane claimed.
She wanted to understand him with her own eyes.
To that end—
She had gone out of her way to ask their mutual friends about Minami.
Of course, she wasn't asking about the obvious things—
Like how he was ranked first in the country in the national mock exams.
She wanted to know the things that weren't common knowledge.
The hidden details about Minami Shouji.
And the more she found out—
The more she was shocked.
He loved books.
He had been first place in the entire grade since enrollment.
He had somehow passed the entrance exams for Shuka High—
All the way from some rural town—
And he was still living alone, completely independent.
He was mature for his age, rarely spoke, yet always listened.
An incredibly diligent, hard-working student—
Who had never once let Akane surpass him in grades.
A self-sufficient young man,
Living alone in Tokyo,
Completely capable of taking care of himself.
He really wasn't like the typical high school boy.
And after working with him on The Monster of the Human Heart—
Rikka started to notice more things about him.
Unlike most guys their age—
Minami considered everything carefully before acting.
And even when Akane constantly teased him—
He barely reacted at all.
Not once had he shown any signs of being a flirt.
"...No wonder Akane's interested in him."
Handsome.
Top grades.
Had his own fan club at school.
Strong-willed and resilient.
Rikka could see the appeal now.
Even she had to admit—
Akane and Minami…
Actually might be a pretty good match.
And so, when Minami finally announced the end of today's rehearsal—
Rikka hesitated for a moment before stepping forward.
"Minami, there's something I wanted to discuss with you."
"Hm? What is it, Takarada?"
Minami stopped writing and looked up.
This was rare.
Rikka almost never approached him outside of discussing script details.
The only one who regularly chased after Minami was Akane—
Who had been relentlessly trying to invite him over to watch tokusatsu DVDs at her house.
"...Well—"
"Tomorrow is the start of the 31st school festival, right?"
"And in the morning, we need to set up the stage props and equipment…?"
"Yeah, that's right." Minami nodded.
His sharp gaze focused on her.
"Why? Something wrong?"
"..."
Rikka hesitated.
Out of the corner of her eye—
She caught Akane winking at her mischievously.
Rikka quickly turned back to Minami—
Who was staring at her with the purest, most genuinely clueless expression.
Ugh…
At that moment—
She felt a massive pang of guilt.
But—
This was Akane's request.
She had to follow through.
Taking a deep breath—
She forced herself to continue.
"So, I was wondering…"
"Could you, um… pick me and Akane up tomorrow morning?"
"Since, y'know—there's gonna be a lot of stuff to carry."
"..."
Minami frowned slightly, deep in thought.
Is he suspicious?!
Rikka's heart skipped a beat.
Was he catching onto something?!
Did he realize she was setting him up with Akane?!
But then—
"Sure. No problem."
"As long as it doesn't interfere with my schedule, I don't mind."
"...Oh."
She exhaled in relief.
Turns out—
He had just been checking his schedule.
"Great! Thanks, Minami!"
"Don't worry about it. There's a lot to carry anyway."
After all—
Akane had spent a fortune renting an entire LCD display, a kaiju suit, and a scale-model city.
There was no way she and Rikka could move all of it by themselves.
As Minami stood up, he cast a quick glance at Rikka—
But didn't seem to think much of her nervous behavior.
It was understandable.
These days, he was practically drowning in work.
He was constantly juggling between—
Editing the script for The Monster of the Human Heart,
Tutoring those chaotic girls from Kessoku Band,
Working shifts as the head chef at Riko-Riko,
And on top of all that—
Trying to deal with the absurd amount of trouble caused by Ryo Yamada and Chisato Nishikigi.
Seriously.
Those two had insane levels of persistence.
He was exhausted.
Between studying and work,
He barely had any time to relax.
Even his weekends were packed with commitments.
So honestly—
He didn't have the energy to care about whatever minor expression changes Rikka was making.
If anything—
He was this close to asking the simulator if it had an option to clone himself.
At least then he could split the workload.
But whatever.
"The Shuka Festival is finally tomorrow."
All this stress—
All this chaos—
Had all been leading up to the festival.
Once it actually started—
Most of these problems would disappear.
After wrapping up his conversation with Rikka and Akane,
Minami turned to leave.
He still had to tutor at STARRY later.
And as he walked away—
A voice called out behind him.
"Rikka."
"Hm?"
She turned to see Akane approaching.
Then—
Without warning—
Akane lunged at her and pulled her into a tight hug.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!"
"I swear I'll do my best!"
"I won't waste your efforts!"
Akane squeezed her, practically glowing with excitement.
Yes.
With Rikka officially on her side—
She would succeed this time.
"Akane."
Rikka's voice was slightly muffled.
Along with the struggles of her arms.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Akane tilted her head in confusion.
"Let—let go! I— I can't—breathe—!"
"I—I'm gonna pass out—!"
Rikka flailed desperately,
Her entire face smothered against Akane's, uh—
very generous chest.
"..."
Akane blinked.
"Oops."
...
"Hmm... there's been some improvement."
Flipping through the test papers in his hands, Minami Shouji nodded in satisfaction at Nijika Ijichi and Ikuyo Kita.
"If you keep studying like this, Nijika, Ikuyo, your next test scores should improve a lot."
He had just finished speaking when—
"Really? Then praise me, Minami."
A monotone voice interrupted him.
"..."
Expressionless, Minami turned his head—only to meet Ryo Yamada's equally blank stare, her big eyes fixed right on him.
Then—
Without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed her soft cheeks, stretching them apart.
As he did, his voice took on a dangerous edge.
"After half a month of tutoring, your grades haven't improved one bit! Yamada, how do you have the nerve to ask me for praise?!"
"Ow! It hurts, Minami!"
"Oh, so you do feel pain?! I thought someone with your thick skin wouldn't even notice!"
Minami let out a long sigh and shot Ryo a glare.
"But isn't 'staying true to yourself' supposed to be a compliment?"
Ryo rubbed her reddened cheeks, frowning slightly as she seriously pondered the matter.
"By rounding up… this still counts as praise from you, Minami."
"…The way you're rounding things up is way too generous."
Minami's lips twitched, deciding it wasn't worth arguing with her anymore.
Even after all these tutoring sessions, Ryo Yamada's grades remained as abysmal as ever.
But that was within Minami's expectations.
With her level of intelligence, adjusting to a proper study rhythm was going to take time.
On the other side...
Minami turned toward Hitori Gotoh, who looked so guilty she didn't even dare lift her head.
Without hesitation, he reached out and ruffled her soft pink hair, offering some reassurance.
"Hitori, don't overthink it. You might be about as bad as Ryo, but at least I can see you're trying. Being bad at studying isn't your fault—as long as you keep working hard, you'll get better. Just do your best next time."
"..."
Hitori froze.
Minami's voice was so warm and gentle.
It felt like he was genuinely comforting her.
So why… why did the words make her feel even more useless?!
No—
Now wasn't the time to focus on that.
Hitori blinked and shot a glance at Ikuyo Kita.
Ikuyo instantly understood.
Flashing a bright, cheerful smile, she spoke up.
"By the way, Minami-senpai, tomorrow is the School Festival! Are you free in the morning?"
Yes!
For the sake of Minami and Hitori—
As the sunshine energy of STARRY, this was her moment to take the initiative!
