My Romance Simulation with Them

He had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being and immerse himself back into the simulation.

Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly.

But as time went on, you, who had been in contact with Chizuka Nishiki for a long time, keenly noticed something.

Beneath the girl's lively, cheerful, and carefree face, there seemed to be other, more hidden, and unknown emotions.

This is an emotion you can only feel, but you can never guess what it is.

However, occasionally after a performance, when talking to Chizuka Nishiki about the future or her dreams, this usually quirky and cheerful girl would reveal an indescribable sense of relief or detachment.

You sense that she might be hiding something from you, but as a friend, you don't want to pry.

Gradually, for some reason, she came to your open-air performances less and less often.

You gradually begin to feel uneasy, but every time you meet her, she is still so happy, showing no signs of trouble.

When she chats with you, she always becomes animated. When she's happy, she'll instinctively put one hand on her stomach while affectionately patting your back, laughing until tears stream down her face.

You sensed something was amiss, but the words just wouldn't come out.

After yet another performance, you meet with her as usual.

But this time, you broke with your usual hesitation and contemplation, and voiced your thoughts and questions.

In the simulation, the river of memories flows slowly.

"Wow! Shi! Your performance today was really great! How do you do it? You can always put on such an outstanding performance every time."

Sitting on the bench, she cheerfully stretched out her hand and waved to Nanxiang Shi, who had just finished his performance, saying, "Hurry up, hurry up, over here, over here."

She sat on the bench as if she didn't care about other people's opinions at all, kicking her fair and pink legs back and forth like she was on a swing, looking both happy and carefree.

Nanxiang placed the guitar between the two of them and remained silent.

"what happened?"

There was a strange sound, and the fair feet that were kicking forward stopped.

"..."

A long silence.

"nothing."

After a moment of silence, he spoke, his eyes fixed on the fountain in Shimokitazawa Square ahead.

As the sun sets, the fountain gushes forth.

Water droplets refract light.

The entire Shimokitazawa Square was imbued with an indescribable sense of poignant beauty.

"is it?"

The usually lively girl seemed to sense something and fell silent.

A silent silence spread between the two.

A while later...

"Thousands of bunches."

A sudden sound.

"Ok?"

While idly counting the cracks in the floor, she subconsciously looked up.

“You must have something on your mind, right? If you don’t mind, we can talk about it,” he said.

"Why...?"

His sudden remark made Nishiki Chizuka involuntarily open her mouth.

She originally planned to brush it off with a casual remark like "What's on your mind?" as she usually did.

But when Chizuki Nishiki saw his face, which showed no hesitation or confusion, she fell silent again.

She looked up.

White doves flitted past her eyes.

A while later.

"There are some things I want to say."

The sound was still somewhat cheerful.

"That..."

"But I don't want to say those things to Ashi in this state for the time being."

This made Nanxiang Shi turn his head to the side.

In the sunset, a girl sitting on a bench hugged her knees, her fair chin resting on them, and tilted her head to look at him.

Seeing him looking over, Nishiki Chizuka, who was tilting her head, chuckled.

Then she stood up abruptly, pointing at Nango's face: "Because of your handsome face, how dare you show such a boring expression in front of me! I'm really not satisfied, Chizuka-sama!"

She pretended to be angry, cutely put her hands on her hips, turned her head and grabbed something else to throw at him.

Nanxiang instinctively caught it and felt a slightly cold touch.

Look down.

It turns out I got a bottle of orange-flavored soda.

"Drink it quickly, and then don't make that face anymore."

With her ample chest crossed, Nishiki Chizuka smugly hummed, "In front of Lady Chizuka, all I need to do is be happy."

Nanxiang couldn't help but glance at her, then downed the drink in one gulp, his face full of disgust.

"It's so sweet, but why does it taste a little astringent?"

"hey-hey--"

Chizuka Nishiki put the guitar aside with a grin: "This is my favorite drink."

"Is that so?"

"Of course! Otherwise, I can swear an oath!"

She held up five fingers, making a funny gesture as if she were about to swear an oath.

"No need for that."

Thanks to her efforts, the atmosphere gradually became more lively.

She started chatting and laughing with Nanxiang Shi as usual.

Then--

"Oh, I'm completely satisfied."

She stretched out a big yawn and let out a comfortable breath.

Then...

"Let's talk about my matter tomorrow."

Gazing at the beautiful scene of the fountain in Shimokitazawa Square reflecting the sunset, she murmured to herself.

"why?"

He sat down next to her and asked a question.

"The reason... well... um... uh... ah... right... hehe..."

As if she had thought of something, she turned her head and gave him the cutest and most energetic smile in the world.

"Lady Chizuka doesn't want to ruin such a beautiful view for the time being."

"is it?"

As her friend, you can only respect her statement.

As you also know, since she's already said that, there's a high probability we'll get the answer from her tomorrow.

This time, in order to satisfy her, you prepared diligently for an entire night, and even practiced with headphones on for a long time.

You've never looked forward to tomorrow more than you have.

[Time continues to move forward.]

A night can be both long and short.

After a night of rest and recuperation, you take all your equipment and head back to Shimokitazawa Square.

Having already performed several times at the Shimokitazawa Plaza open-air venue, you now have a considerable number of casual fans.

[Although the fact that the majority of them were women was ridiculed by Chizuka Nishiki, you didn't seem to care.]

For you, the real key is to do your best to make this outdoor performance a success.

[After you have everything set up and is working properly, stand on the steps of Shimokitazawa Square and look down.]

You could usually see that familiar figure in that spot.

But today seems a little different.

She did not appear in her usual location.

You feel strange, a sudden unease creeping into your heart. But thanks to your thorough preparations, the open-air performance goes smoothly.

After the performance, instead of dealing with the fans as usual, you went to the bench where you often met her.

She, with whom you had made a promise, did not appear as agreed.

The bench had lost its usual warmth.

That day, you sat on the bench and waited for a long time.

You don't understand why she, who always keeps her promises, hasn't shown up.

Her absence has become a regret in your heart.