How can my simulation be a real love?

"..."

As a 'friend,' he was only helping her to the best of his ability, plus Kazami felt that this woman was somewhat similar to him.

However, Kazami Mei didn't bring up the topic of Ave Mujica today, which made Yutenji Wakana seem a little uncomfortable. She couldn't help but look into his eyes with her pink eyes and speak with a hint of a smile—

"Why aren't you bothering me with Mujica today? Have you given up?"

Hey, you really don't appreciate kindness.

"Our fried chicken nuggets?!"

Kazami Mei expressionlessly took a piece of fried chicken from the bento box, which made Yutenji Wakana, who had just reached for her chopsticks, widen her eyes. Her pretty face showed a hint of resentment, and her gaze towards him became more reproachful.

"Aren't you being a bit too childish?"

"You still have the nerve to call me childish? You even breathed on me over a mere fried chicken nugget."

Kazami Mei simply shrugged casually, responding as always with a generous attitude: "Besides, I didn't intend to force you to play drums at Mujica, so where does this talk of 'giving up' come from?"

"I have never intended to force anyone to do anything, nor would I want to interfere with what others have already decided. I respect other people's choices quite a bit, unless—"

"Unless what?"

Yutenji Wakana raised an eyebrow, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

"nothing."

Kazami Mei merely shook her chopsticks and moved on from the topic, which only made her feel as if she were being tickled by a cat's claws. After holding it in for a long time, she ultimately said nothing, only letting out a soft hum before continuing to bury her head in her rice.

He certainly wouldn't want to interfere with other people's choices.

If it really comes to the point where Kazami Naruto wants to interfere with the other party, then it will be like that situation where he can't let go of it at all and has to take the initiative, just like that idiot pink-haired guy.

"Whether you continue as Mujica's drummer is your decision, but until you submit your resignation to me, I, as the band's manager, will still be responsible for you."

"—Of course, you can always come over for a meal as a 'friend' after you resign."

Kazami Mei uttered those words and stuffed the last of the rice into his mouth. He slowly got up and tidied up the leftover lunchbox. Then, ignoring Yutenji Wakana's silence, he skillfully wrapped the scarf knitted by Suze around his neck.

“Ave Mujica’s training session might be longer tomorrow at noon, so I estimate that my arrival time will be delayed. If you can’t wait, just go out to eat. Consider it a resumption of Meow Dream’s restaurant review channel?”

"If Miss Meow Dream has decided not to form a band anymore, then at least we should reopen Miss Meow Dream's channel, right?"

The moment she finished speaking, Kazami Mei opened the door to her apartment.

As Yutenji ate her rice with her head down, she felt warm grains of rice blocking her throat. Her vision began to blur uncontrollably. The anxiety and inferiority she had been feeling lately, the panic of losing followers on her account, all seemed to turn into a flood that had burst its banks.

She sniffled awkwardly, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke—

"If it were you, wouldn't you want to run away?"

The girl, who had her back to him, suddenly spoke, which startled Kazami Naruto, who was just about to leave. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he raised his eyebrows thoughtfully, but kept his eyes fixed on the front with a calm gaze.

"of course not."

"It's normal for anyone to run away, but running away is only a temporary measure. In the end, you still have to choose to face it. Even at the very beginning, I never thought about running away."

"Otherwise, I would have listened to the shop manager's teasing and become a gigolo long ago?"

The teasing words reached the girl's ears, followed by the soft sound of the boy gently closing the iron gate, leaving only Yutenji Wakana sitting alone at the small round table, her eyes fixed on the half-finished bottle of KISS coffee.

A moment of silence.

"He's definitely underestimating me!"

A slightly exasperated Ms. Meow suddenly raised her head, gritting her teeth as she looked in the direction where Kazami Naruto had left. Recalling that guy's face made her feel a little annoyed, but no matter what, she couldn't bring herself to feel that same dislike she used to have.

She really didn't know if it was because that guy's attitude towards her had been too indifferent before, but now that he was showing a little tenderness, she felt that the change was so big. This strong contrast made her scratch her head in distress.

"Is he trying to manipulate me?! Otherwise, there's no way to explain his sudden act of being so understanding. Who would come over and bring me meal after meal for no reason?! And now I can't eat anything else..."

"That Naruko guy is really trying to pick me up!?"

Yutenji Wakana was panting heavily. A blush appeared on her beautiful face, which was worthy of praise from Toyokawa Shoko. Then she began to shake her head as if possessed, and finally her head hit the round table.

She used to think that Toyokawa Shoko must be out of her mind to fall for a guy like Kazami Mei who was obviously a scumbag.

Now she understands.

It must be because she spent too much time in Ave Mujica before, and her brain started to be infected by that stupid young lady, Toyokawa Shoko, and now she's inexplicably become abnormal too!

"I'm so angry..."

She couldn't swallow this insult!

Chapter 166 Him?! This kind of scumbag?! [5k]

Perhaps because the impact of the first two live performances was so strong, Ave Mujica's third tour has already generated a lot of buzz, with countless eyes from the outside world focused on the next performance, requiring even more thorough preparation.

Therefore, even without Kazami Mei's active supervision, the girls in the band would spontaneously extend their practice time and perfect their coordination to the best possible state, which required several days of uninterrupted practice.

Today is no exception.

"Thank you for your hard work. Let's take a break for now."

"Chuhua, this bottle is yours."

Kazami distributed drinking water to the sweating girls, especially Hatsuka, who, as the lead singer, needed to maintain high notes during training, which probably put a greater strain on her throat than she had imagined.

Because Kazami had taken this into consideration, she prepared an extra serving of specially stewed rock sugar pears as a drink for her. Otherwise, with such intense training, she would probably have injured her throat before the performance even started.

"Thank you...thank you."

With a shy gleam in her eyes and a joyful expression on her face, Misaki Hatsuka accepted the drinking water offered to her by Kazami Mei.

Although she knew this was just a little 'preferential treatment' that Ming was giving to the lead singer, the feeling of being the only one treated differently from others still made her happy, and even her mood became more lively because of it.

"Excuse me, may I sit next to Ming?"

She held the drink in both hands and approached Kazami Mei. Her bright golden hair was like a carefully woven silk. In front of the audience, she was always the 'beautiful' idol. In private, she was just a little girl in love.

"Of course, do you really need to ask me about something like this?"

Kazami Mei found her polite and courteous attitude somewhat amusing. She was completely different when the two of them were alone. Was it because other people, including Shoko, were watching them, making her a little hesitant?

"That's wonderful!"

With permission granted, Misaka Hatsuka smiled brightly and sat close to Kazami Mei. She leaned almost half her body on his shoulder, gently rubbing her cheek like a spoiled kitten.

At this moment, the other three were standing not far away.

"...Xiang, are you envious?"

With a blank expression, Wakaba Mutsu looked at the blue-haired twin-tailed girl beside her. From the beginning, she had noticed that Shoko kept glancing in that direction, occasionally revealing a look of envy that seemed to want to say something but didn't, yet she still didn't make any concrete move.

"It's just a little bit, but it's no big deal!"

"The seat to Ming's right is currently empty, and I see you're getting impatient, aren't you?"

Hachiman Kairin raised her dark green eyes and swept them towards the other side of Kazami Naru. Her seductive words made Toyokawa Shoko's body tremble, and even her little leather shoes took a half step forward, but she quickly and quietly pulled them back.

"I already told you I'm fine!"

"Compared to Chu Hua, I've already gotten a lot, but Chu Hua has only ever kissed Ming, right? As my girlfriend, she should be ahead of me in every way. Maybe she's worried about me... that's why she hasn't taken the initiative."

Shoko Toyokawa responded softly, her cheeks slightly flushed. She gently clenched her small pink fists behind her back and looked at the blonde girl not far away who was genuinely smiling, which made her smile as well.

However, the smile on her face quickly froze.

The expressionless fiancée, Ms. Mutsu, and the invincible bass mercenary stood on either side of her, both staring at her cheeks with meaningful gazes. This caused the already shy and reserved Miss Toyokawa to feel an overwhelming sense of shame.

What are you all staring at me for?!

"You two are the ones who came over to ask me! Aren't you just standing here watching? There's an empty seat next to Ming, don't you want to go and take that spot?"

Toyokawa Shoko's coquettish words startled the two girls beside her. Wakaba Mutsu, expressionless, looked at Hachiman Kairin, who also showed no change in emotion. The air between the three of them fell into an eerie silence for two seconds.

The next second, the eldest daughter of the Toyokawa family froze on the spot. She couldn't help but cover her cheek with her hand and said in a somewhat subtle tone, "...I almost forgot that you two are both living with Ming. You're probably used to this kind of contact by now!"

Isn't this just humiliating myself?!

Thinking about it carefully, Ms. Mutsu, who was one of the first girlfriends of Ming and lived with him, was probably already used to being held by Ming while sleeping. Thinking of this, Toyokawa Shoko felt a surge of envy.

"Xiang, why aren't you moving in?"

As Ye Mu's soft and gentle question drifted into his ears, Hachiman Kairin, who had been silent, raised an eyebrow, a hint of realization appearing on her handsome and dignified face.

"Indeed, Xiangzi is, in fact, his legal fiancée, isn't she?"

"Anyway, there are still many empty rooms in the house. If we move in sooner, we can choose one that is close to his room."

The two roommates, like two fierce generals, kept asking questions, causing Xiao Xiang, her face flushed, to gently stroke the engagement ring on her ring finger. She closed her eyes, adopted a matter-of-fact attitude, and spoke in the most serious tone—

"Of course I want to!"

"Wouldn't it be a bit too forward to say I want to live together? That's why I've been waiting for Ming to invite me first, so it can happen naturally... What's with the way you guys are looking at me?"

Shoko Toyokawa looked at the two people beside her who had simultaneously looked away, feeling somewhat embarrassed and angry. She had a feeling that they must be thinking something very impolite, but she couldn't find any evidence to prove it!

"What are you all doing over there?"

Kazami Mei stared helplessly at his girlfriends whispering in the distance. He wondered when they had started this habit of whispering, and most importantly, they were talking to each other secretly so he wouldn't hear!

What kind of voices haven't they heard before?!

"Because we just finished practicing, it wouldn't be good if you could smell that we smell sweaty."

With a casual flourish, Hachiman Kairin opened Kiss Coffee with one hand. Her offhand line alerted the girls around her. The previously expressionless Xiao Mu suddenly took two steps back, while Toyokawa Shoko was so startled that she quickly sniffed herself.

If she hadn't said those words, it would have been fine, but they startled Hatsuka, who was closest to Kazami Mei, so much that she almost jumped up.

"This is only the first phase of training. You guys don't even smell of sweat at all with this amount of training."

Seeing Miss Chuhua's tearful and flustered expression, Kazami Mei could only reach out and touch her forehead to soothe her emotions. Once she calmed down, she quickly reached out and gently touched her chest, her panting appearance becoming even more adorable in his eyes.

"Oh, right, I have to leave for a bit later."

"I'll leave the training here to you, Xiao Xiang. I'll be back as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Misaka Hatsuka paused slightly, and asked with some doubt, "Are we still going to deliver lunch to Miss Ruomai? I know she hasn't been eating properly lately, it's really worrying..."

"She didn't come to training today either?"

Hachiman Kairin glanced thoughtfully in the direction of the drum set. As the bassist responsible for the 'bass', she usually collaborated most with the drummer during performances, and naturally knew best about Yutenji Wakanagi's hard work.

Over the past few days, Kazami Naruto has told them everything—

His suggestion to let Yutenji Wakana resume the band's activities was met with no objection from any of them, and even the band leader, Toyokawa Shoko, agreed without hesitation.

Her unauthorized behavior on stage at the time was indeed a significant mistake. Although it didn't ultimately affect Ave Mujica, punishment was necessary since she made a mistake. However, no one actually had any ill intentions towards her.

"I was a bit too harsh on her before, shouldn't I find a chance to apologize to her...?"

Toyokawa Shoko spoke in a somewhat dejected tone. Just as Kazami Mei was about to comfort this silly young lady, the door to the practice room was suddenly pushed open, and a tall, beautiful woman with purple hair and pink eyes strode in.

She pursed her cherry lips tightly, and her beautiful light pink eyes were somewhat dimmed because of her deep frown. Even her right hand was nervously gripping her left arm, but she quickly regained her composure.

"The person who should apologize to everyone is me—"

"I don't intend to make any excuses for this matter. It's all because I was too eager for quick success... The things I did without permission before also hurt Hai Zi and Mu Zi, and I feel that I must apologize to you no matter what."

Everyone was clearly surprised that Yutenji Wakana would suddenly come to the practice room, nor did they expect that she would come to apologize. Toyokawa Shoko stood there somewhat at a loss, while only Hachiman Kairin was the first to react.

"Although I don't care about this matter, we still accept your apology."

If she doesn't accept her apology, Miaomeng will likely be unable to let go of the resentment.

"Thanks……"

Yutenji Wakame's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Wakaba Mutsu nod at her. But even after doing all this, she still couldn't calm her racing heart. She simply fixed her resolute gaze on Toyokawa Shoko.

next second.

She bent down.

"Xiangzi, you're right."

“I’m an immature, selfish person who only thinks about myself… I’ve thought a lot during this time. You are genuinely thinking about Ave Mujica’s future, but I’m only concerned about the present…yet I still have the audacity to say I’m thinking about the band.”

"I'm so sorry that I only just now came here to apologize to you in such a sorry state."

This apology wasn't just a show of bravado; it was a genuine commitment to the future.

If it weren't for a certain guy's repeated harassment and tireless attempts to talk to her, Yutenji Wakame wouldn't even be able to pick up a drumstick again, let alone recover.

"I know that even an apology probably won't earn your forgiveness. I've said so many hurtful things to you in the past, but I have to say it no matter what, because—"