How can my simulation be a real love?

"Mygo~ Ready to go on stage!"

39

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Looking to the Future

"Mygo~ Time to get ready to go on stage!"

Miss Nijika, wearing a Doritos toy, peeked out from behind. Upon seeing Kazami Naru, she blushed and shrank back as if she had just realized something, leaving Mr. Kazami, who was being 'hidden', in a rather complicated mood.

Her appearance also made Chihaya Aine, who was arguing with Shiina Ritsuki, light up. The lively Chihaya Aine showed her cute little tiger teeth and ran over to grab Ichiji Nijika's little hand and shook it excitedly.

"Nijika-senpai! Please watch our performance carefully! You definitely won't be disappointed this time. If you encounter the Ending Band again next time..."

"We won't lose!"

With a confident smile, the pink-haired girl puffed out her chest, which resembled the plains of Kanto. Her serious expression left Ijichi Nijika speechless with surprise. Then, as if her fighting spirit had been ignited, she blinked in response—

"It'll be very difficult for you to beat us! Anyway, you guys should focus on making this live show a success first, right?"

These words made Chihaya Aine glance at her boyfriend not far away, then she proudly raised her head: "Of course! This performance will be a 100% success!"

"Idiot, who told you to make promises to people before you even got on stage!"

Shiina Riki, who was behind her, habitually put on a sour face and scolded Chihaya Aine for her smug behavior.

Upon seeing the petite 'senior' with a gentle smile, even the most impatient and sharp-tempered Riki inexplicably quieted down, blushing and nodding somewhat reservedly to Ichiji Niji Natsumi.

"Well then, everyone, let's do our best!"

The blonde girl, flashing her small white teeth, smiled and waved her fair hand, leaving the preparation room with light steps, like a beautiful fairy from the forest.

Her gentle, warm, and sunny personality immediately impressed everyone in Mygo, who all turned to look at the cold beauty, Ms. Shiina.

There are also differences in personality among drummers.

"...Do you guys have some kind of problem with me?"

"Haha, everyone, are you ready to go on stage?"

Chihaya Aine, who was being glared at fiercely by Shiina Tatsuki, immediately put on her smug smile and tried to get away with it, while Nagasaki Motoyo remained expressionless and simply kept silent. The two of them made the same decision without prior agreement.

Although she was already used to their personalities, Shiina Ritsuki's lips still twitched slightly. If these guys were to make a casual joke about Ritsuki later, she would probably turn into a cat with its fur standing on end.

"Okay, let's go on stage then."

After saying this, Kazami Mei stood still, but to his surprise, all the girls stared at him intently.

What are they planning to do by staring at him so intently? Even if he's handsome, there's no need to stare at him like that, right?

"Mingming, didn't you plan to say anything before going on stage?"

With her hands on her hips, Miss Aine narrowed her light gray eyes with a hint of helplessness. Even Shiina Riki and Nagasaki Motoyo, who usually didn't get along with her, stood on the same side, which was rare. Even the cutest little penguin seemed to nod its head seriously.

"No, does that mean I can't go on stage if I don't say a few words?"

He doesn't have a skill like 'Word of Power' to buff the fire, otherwise he would have stacked fifty layers on them before going on stage, just like Ainz Ooal Gown did.

As a result, the girls around him nodded in unison, which made Mr. Kazami, who had already retreated to the background, have a subtle look in his eyes. In the end, he shrugged lightly as if he had no choice.

Faced with everyone's 'requests', Kazami Mei responded somewhat helplessly: "Actually, I already said most of what I was going to say last time."

He hesitated for half a second, then took a deep breath—

“I will always be there to support you, so... just go for it.”

It's just repeating the encouraging words from the cultural festival, but the same words have a completely different effect at different times. Mygo, who now has a 'soul,' is no longer the same as he was at the cultural festival.

Faced with his encouragement, the girls simply nodded silently and solemnly.

There was no perfunctory attitude, no nervousness.

They were simply displaying their true abilities to him.

"Then, come up on stage."

As his calm words faded into the air, several girls turned and walked toward the stage without hesitation, but Shiina Riki, still holding her drumsticks, chose to leave last.

Her pretty face flushed slightly as a captivating smile gradually appeared on her lips. Her deep purple eyes and beauty mark seemed to combine to create a unique charm. But as soon as he realized what was happening, the girl immediately suppressed her smile and turned away, fleeing towards the stage.

Kazami Mei was left standing there, stunned.

I treated you like a brother, and you actually tried to seduce me—

No, he hasn't considered Li Xi a brother for a long time.

“…Really.”

Kazami Mei shook her head slightly, somewhat amused and exasperated.

Miss Lixi's look just now was clearly meant to reassure him. Last time at the cultural festival, she felt she had 'let him down,' but this time she would definitely make him look at her in a new light.

After all, she was the person this guy trusted the most.

Perhaps it was Miss Riki's fleeting smile that completely put Kazami Naruto at ease, who was initially a little nervous. He then casually grabbed a handful of free candy from the table, stuffed it into his pocket, and turned to walk directly toward the concert hall.

……

As a band performing in Shimokitazawa for the first time, MyGo naturally couldn't possibly have any fame, not to mention that STARRY was a small ticket-selling livehouse with consistently limited foot traffic.

If the bands on the day don't have a large following, then relying solely on unpopular bands will result in very poor ticket sales.

This time, everyone's luck wasn't too bad. Even after the popular bands left, the audience didn't drop too much, since most people were there with the mentality of "since we're here, we might as well watch."

The audience's casual and calm attitude is naturally incomparable to that of large-scale live music venues like RiNG.

However, the girls on stage did not feel nervous because of this; on the contrary, they felt even calmer.

Holding the microphone, the little penguin took a deep breath, raised her determined eyes, and said, word by word, "Hello everyone, we are the band performing in Shimokitazawa for the first time."

"This is our first time performing here. We were still practicing before going on stage, but... we will present our songs to everyone in the best of our ability!"

"Please listen to the first song—'The Blue Snowflakes Cry'!"

The girls on stage played the prelude to this difficult piece of music without saying a word. Their 'performance state', so different from before, made Ijichi Nikka in the audience open her mouth in surprise.

She couldn't help but reach out and pat Yamada Ryo on the shoulder, praising him with a hint of surprise in her voice—

"Liang, look, look!"

"Xiaodeng and the others are completely different this time... They had a lot of problems last time, but they've changed so much in less than half a month!"

Yamada Ryo still stared ahead with that indifferent expression. Her face was usually hard to change, but this time she was unusually 'indifferent'.

This wasn't the usual expressionless, blank face; rather, it was a state that could be described as 'cold' in both expression and demeanor.

Even her close friend, Ichiki Nikka, failed to notice Yamada Ryo's change in the dim light.

Perhaps in the eyes of ordinary people, Ms. Yamada is a proud, confident, and aloof "eccentric" who likes to stay away from the world. It seems that nothing can leave a mark on her heart except for her bandmates. But this song, "The Blue Snowflakes That Narrate," is something very unique to her, who has a cold personality.

Because those were the belongings left behind by Kazami Naruto in her dream before he passed away.

However, this piece of music first appeared before the world during a very unsuccessful performance.

"..."

Yamada Ryo watched Mygo pouring out her emotions and playing her heart out on stage. Her golden eyes, which revealed a chill, had unconsciously closed. Perhaps it was a different kind of emotion that made her unable to stay here any longer.

So, under Ichi Nijika's questioning gaze, she turned and walked towards the door of the LiveHouse.

"Liang, what are you doing?"

"...I'm going out for a bit."

Yamada Ryo was indeed unable to accept the feeling of having something precious taken away from him.

But then she suddenly stopped.

The girl with short, azure hair looked up with a complicated expression. At that moment, she might truly understand what Nijika felt back then. It was so painful to suppress such feelings in her heart, yet Nijika willingly abandoned her own happiness and chose to applaud and bless herself with the gentlest smile.

Are they all idiots?

The expressionless girl murmured to herself, but before she could even reach out her hand, the iron gate in front of her was already pulled open.

A faint scent of gardenias drifted on the breeze, and an elegant young woman with long, light blue hair and pigtails brushed past her.

As the two walked past each other, Toyokawa Shoko's eyes met Yamada Ryo's for a brief moment, and they recognized each other at that instant.

The blue-haired girl gave only a polite nod before disappearing from Yamada Ryo's side like the wind.

"..."

Just then, a petite green-haired girl followed Toyokawa Shoko in.

Her face, even more bland than Yamada Ryo's, made her seem like a meticulously crafted doll, devoid of any emotion. Yet, after their eyes met, the two lingered for a significantly longer time than before.

If Yamada Ryo and Toyokawa Shoko were merely 'acquaintances', and Ryo didn't even consider her a rival in love, then Wakaba Mutsuko is currently Ryo's most dangerous 'rival in love'; especially since the two had previously exchanged information and formed a 'temporary' alliance.

However, when faced with the issue of 'harem', Wakaba Mutsumi made a choice completely opposite to Yamada Ryo's.

"……I see."

From the way Wakaba Mutsu looked at Toyokawa Shoko, Yamada Ryo seemed to vaguely sense something.

The doll girl who left her side seemed to have made a completely opposite choice to Yamada Ryo, but in reality they still had similarities. Even the seemingly passive Wakaba Mutsumi directly took action on this.

She's really something.

At this moment, Xiao Mutou had no idea what Yamada Ryo was thinking as she had just passed by. After entering STARRY, her gaze was almost entirely focused on the girls on stage.

Shoko Toyokawa, who had been invited to the live performance, frowned slightly as she stared at the stage, then began to look around as if searching for something: "Where's Naruto...?"

"What, you're thinking about me?"

As if responding to the girl's call, Kazami Mei emerged from the crowd while neither of them was paying attention. Such a sudden movement naturally startled Toyokawa Shoko.

She patted her chest repeatedly before finally coming to her senses, then said coquettishly, as if flirting, "Really, doing this all of a sudden might upset others, you know?"

You seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit.

Kazami Mei, who was inwardly criticizing Toyokawa Shoko for being hypocritical, twitched at the corner of his mouth. As if by magic, he produced a warm red bean soup drink from behind his back and handed it to Shoko. The still warm aluminum tube brought a touch of warmth to the girl's cold, fair hands.

This kind of 'detail' in treating girls made a hint of tenderness flash in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes.

"Mu, this is yours."

As Wakaba Mutsu's boyfriend, he naturally couldn't possibly abandon his important girlfriend.

Under the watchful gaze of Mr. Daisho, who was frowning, Kazami handed another can of mango juice to the dazed little wooden boy, who simply nodded and accepted it.

If Xiangzi hadn't been watching over him, Mr. Kazami would have definitely taken the opportunity to secretly kiss Xiaomu.

Such intimate interaction between the two was quite unfamiliar to Toyokawa Shoko, but because she was 'used' to being with Kazami Mei and with the expressionless Wakaba Mutsumi watching beside her, Toyokawa Shoko, no matter how subtle her feelings were, simply pretended to be nonchalant and casually said—

"Buying drinks in a LiveHouse is a bit too wasteful of money, I can't just accept this."

This is a lie told out of modesty.

Having spent so much time with Toyokawa Shoko, Kazami Mei naturally understood Shoko's personality. So, she gently stroked Shoko's fur, pinched her chin, and said in a troubled manner, "If you don't want it, Shoko, then I'm in a bit of a problem. The red bean soup will get cold if you don't drink it."

Upon hearing this, a faint smile flashed in Toyokawa Shoko's eyes, but on the surface, she only sighed with a helpless expression, as if she had no way to refuse.

"...In that case, I'll accept it for now. As a token of my gratitude, I'll treat you next time."

This 'interaction' that belongs only to them, like a tug-of-war, has been going on for countless times.

Actually, if it weren't for Wakaba Mutsu being there watching them, Toyokawa Shoko would probably have already been in a more intimate relationship with Kazami Mei.

This usually unserious guy is incredibly attentive when it comes to girls, and what troubles Toyokawa Shoko is that this gentle attention to detail isn't just for her.

Without her knowledge, Ruoye Mutsu had already become close to the person she liked.

Toyokawa Shoko was somewhat afraid that Wakaba Mutsu would gradually become a second Hatsuka over time. She knew that she already didn't know how to deal with Hatsuka alone, so if her most trusted 'half-body' ended up becoming a 'love rival' competing with her, she really wouldn't know what to do.

No, even if it becomes like that... I will never give up!

"Xiao Xiang, what did you think of their performance this time?"

Kazami Mei's calm questioning gradually brought Toyokawa Shoko back to her senses, who was lost in thought.

Only then did she focus more on Mygo, who was playing on stage. In fact, if Kazami Mei and Wakaba Mutsumi hadn't invited her, she probably would never have come to see their performance again.

The performance that Toyokawa Shoko happened to see at the cultural festival last time was truly disappointing.

However, this performance surprised her somewhat.

Even though it had been less than half a month since their last failed performance, Gao Songdeng and her team had already mastered the piece. Their skills, level, and even teamwork were unimaginably different from their last performance.