The comments section all think I'm a really good person.

Damn it, their schedule is too weird.

71. Hibiki Tachibana's Morning

Unlike Kita Kirihara, whose life was monotonous, Tachibana Hibiki's day was quite fulfilling.

I was still heating up a midnight snack for my roommate at 1 a.m., and after a little fuss, I was finally able to rest at 3 a.m. Then, at 7 a.m., I was woken up by the clattering and banging noises coming from the kitchen.

The messy, golden-brown head burrowed restlessly in the blankets, and an arm covered in golden crystals suddenly grabbed the pillow, trying to cover its ears. After trying for a while, it still sat up in annoyance.

"boom!"

"...Hey, keep your voice down, Tachibana's still sleeping...Ah, watch out for that plate!"

"Waaah..."

Just by listening to the noise, you could tell that the kitchen had been completely messed up.

Hibiki Tachibana threw on her coat and stormed into the kitchen. Sure enough, she found the two troublemakers in the kitchen, frantically cleaning up the broken plates scattered all over the floor.

The fried eggs in the frying pan were already emitting a burnt smell, and upon closer inspection, there were still quite a few eggshells in the pan. The stove was on high heat, but the range hood wasn't turned on, and the whole room was filled with smoke.

She woke up early in the morning in a rage: "What the hell are you two doing?!"

Ms. Chiho Kobayashi, who seems to have recently become obsessed with bandages, chuckled under her bandages: "...Well, Jun is hungry."

Jun Furuhashi had been framed. His eyes widened, and he looked around anxiously and blankly.

"...In short, get out of here right now." Tachibana Hibiki rubbed her forehead, looking at the messy kitchen, feeling extremely annoyed, and almost wanted to just throw the two of them out.

Moreover, Jun Furuhashi, being such a large creature, is really in the way in the kitchen.

After turning the kitchen upside down, the two lazy bums were pushed out by Hibiki Tachibana. They looked at each other and obediently waited in the living room for each other to feed them.

Even Kobayashi Chiho leisurely remarked, "Tachibana is really nice. He cooks well and has an interesting personality... I might as well marry him."

However, after she finished speaking, she saw the shock and panic on Furuhashi Jun's face, and helplessly rubbed the other's head hard, half disgusted and half comforting her, "But with you here... there's no room for me at home."

And for some reason, after I finished speaking, I felt a chill down my spine.

Chiho Kobayashi rubbed the goosebumps on her arms, feeling a chill run down her spine, and subconsciously threw the joke about marrying Hibiki Tachibana to the back of her mind.

After feeding the two unemployed people in her house, Tachibana Hibiki had to pack up and get ready to go to work.

Her recent cashier job wasn't very close to here, so she needed to allow some time for commuting. Therefore, Tachibana Hibiki left about an hour early, and before leaving, she carefully reminded the two of them not to make the house too messy.

The original words were actually, "Stay put and don't cause trouble."

After she finished speaking, she zipped up her coat, put on a scarf to cover the lower half of her face, and went out into the cold wind.

While riding the bus, as we passed the cafe where Nana Oba worked, I saw a suspicious person wearing a mask and sunglasses, his face completely covered, crouching furtively at the cafe entrance waiting for it to open.

When Tachibana Hibiki passed by, she glanced at it and countless questions arose in her mind: ...? Isn't that Hachiya?

The information sharing between the character cards allowed her to recognize Shiori Hachiya, whom she hadn't seen for some time.

The other person changed their hairstyle, straightened and shortened their hair slightly, and the red highlights were very eye-catching.

Wearing a green tracksuit for his morning workout, but also a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a black mask, he was squatting in front of the coffee shop, looking particularly suspicious.

Hibiki Tachibana's gaze from behind caught Shiori Hachiya's attention.

She instinctively turned around and met the gaze of Tachibana Hibiki, whose eyes were lifeless.

The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

Finally, after looking around for a while, Tachibana Hibiki suddenly realized what was happening and called out to the police officer not far away, "Officer, there's something here..."

The tense atmosphere was broken when Shiori Hachiya rushed forward and covered Hibiki's mouth, desperately gesturing for her to be quiet: "No, no, no, no... I'm not a bad person!"

She quickly removed the equipment from her face, revealing a face that had recently been trending on social media.

It wasn't just because of Shiori Hachiya's farewell concert, but also because...

...This guy can go into other people's dreams and hold his own concert.

Since deciding to stop her idol activities, Shiori Hachiya has completely let loose and embraced her true self.

She believes that she can take the stage no matter where she goes.

For example, in the dreams of others, especially in the dreams of one's former fans.

And so it became a trending topic, seemingly even more popular than before, which is both funny and frustrating.

When Tachibana Hibiki suddenly saw the silly face of the person who holds concerts in other people's dreams appear in front of her, she subconsciously took a step back and asked warily, "I know you, Dream Weaver... What are you doing here?"

"You are... Hibiki Tachibana, right?" The other person could clearly recognize Hibiki Tachibana's face, since apart from Nana Oba, there were only some photos of Hibiki Tachibana.

She carefully observed and realized that the girl passing by was a member of the Silver Garden, that is, Nana Oba's companion.

This made Shiori Hachiya's eyes light up immediately. She grabbed Hibiki Tachibana's hand, looking like she had seen a savior: "Can you get in touch with Nana? She hasn't spoken to me since the last concert."

Because she didn't know what she had done wrong, Shiori Hachiya, completely bewildered, came to the café where Nana Oba works these past two days, intending to ask her about it.

If you made a mistake, you should apologize to your friend.

Hibiki Tachibana wasn't used to being so close to others. She awkwardly pulled her hand away from his grasp, her eyes drifting to the side. After thinking it over, she kindly reminded him, "...Yes, but you'd better not provoke her recently... If you're looking for her, she's not in a good mood and might not really want to see you."

She didn't know whether she should pity Shiori Hachiya in front of her. This girl was quite something, managing to step on Banana's landmine even when giving a return gift.

I hope Banana won't just slash me after we meet...

It's kind of scary to think about.

Hibiki Tachibana's answer left Shiori Hachiya puzzled, but she also keenly sensed that something she had done had caused Nana Oba's recent bad mood.

I really should apologize to Banana as soon as possible.

Shiori Hachiya cherished Nana Ohba, a friend who could wake her up when she was confused, so she asked again, "So, will she come to work today?"

Before Tachibana Hibiki could answer, a familiar voice came from not far away:

"Hibiki, Ms. Hachiya, what are you doing standing here?"

A tall, blonde girl with twin ponytails stood in front of the two with a puzzled smile.

She wore the same smile as always, gentle and considerate.

However, Tachibana Hibiki, who knew how Oba Nana was feeling lately, could only pray for Hachiya Shiori's good luck in her heart.

P.S.: Here are some pictures.

72. Lucky Bear

After taking a couple of days off, Nana Oba returned to work, and the boss lady was visibly in high spirits.

Originally, they just wanted to hire a waitress, but unexpectedly, the Nana Oba they hired was not only impeccable in serving guests, but also had outstanding cooking skills.

This new employee, who is adept at utilizing the natural sweetness of ripe ingredients, possesses outstanding abilities in baking and cooking. Coupled with her striking appearance, she has become a living advertisement for the store.

For some reason, the majority of customers attracted by Oba-sama were women.

Banana has a lot of female fans.

A few days ago, Nana Oba took leave from the store because of some things.

She originally thought she was just doing temporary work, and if she took leave like this, the boss would probably not give her a chance to continue working. But to her surprise, the boss valued her more than she had imagined.

I was a little nervous about her.

While I was preparing today's chocolate lava cake in the kitchen, the proprietress lifted the curtain and came in, whispering to me, "Miss Oba, your friend is still waiting for you outside."

Then, lowering her voice slightly, she hesitated, "She doesn't seem like a normal person... Does she really not need help? I know some of the patrol officers around here..."

Who wears sunglasses and a mask in a store for no reason? Even if you order a Black Forest cake, you don't take them off while eating it...

Can you really see the cake clearly?

Nana Oba simply gave a troubled smile and reassured the proprietress, "It's alright, Ms. Hachiya is just having some inconvenience."

The proprietress realized that this strange customer was probably not a bad person, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Then, Miss Oba, you can leave work early today."

"Huh? Is that okay?" Nana Ohba was taken aback.

"It's alright, the customers who came specifically for you have probably left by now." The proprietress waved her hand and said with concern, "You don't look too well, you should get some rest. Go home early, the nights haven't been very peaceful lately."

"What... has happened recently?" Nana Ohba, who doesn't live nearby but inside the Starlight Pavilion, was completely unaware of what was going on in the area and looked bewildered.

The proprietress exclaimed in surprise, "Haven't you heard? At night, you can always hear the howls of unknown wild animals around here. I heard a couple of days ago that a homeless man was attacked; he was covered in blood and gore, it was terrifying..."

She still felt a lingering fear when she thought about it: "They said they've already sent heroes to investigate this area, but it will take some time. Just to be on the safe side, Miss Oba, you should go home as soon as possible."

Nana Oba obediently replied, "Okay."

Actually, this has nothing to do with her. When she gets home from get off work, she just needs to find a quiet corner and go back to the Silver Garden.

However, for Tachibana Hibiki, who only moved out yesterday, this might be an issue that needs attention.

...Ah, and perhaps there's also a certain Ms. Hachiya who lives quite far away, has rather low combat ability, and is a total softie.

Speaking of Shiori Hachiya, Nana Ohba wasn't actually that angry.

Her emotions weren't directed at Shiori Hachiya, who had meant well but ended up doing something wrong.

...To be honest, I was a little angry, but not to the extent that Tachibana Hibiki speculated.

Because the beautiful dream that Shiori Hachiya sent was not entirely woven by the other party, but merely brought out the beautiful things that Nana Ohba longed for deepest in her heart.

That was also the part of her that caused her the most conflict.

Nana Oba knows each of her companions very well, and after countless reenactments, she has developed a mental image of them.

However, it is also clear that if it is reconstructed solely based on one's own memory, then it is definitely a fake.

Even though she clearly remembers everything about the other person deep in her heart, she also knows very well that this rigid, unchanging existence—

—It absolutely cannot be the 99th generation students.

It was this realization that made Nana Ohba unable to resist falling into nostalgia for everyone from the past.

I'm not in a good mood, and my condition is unstable. Actually, I don't really want to see Shiori Hachiya right now, but since she took the initiative to contact me, I can't ignore her.

After sending the information about the danger in the vicinity to Hibiki Tachibana, Nana Ohba checked the time; it was almost time to get off work.

Nana Ohba's mood was quite complicated. She braced herself and prepared to deal with Ms. Hachiya who had come to her door.