Tokyo: Oreimo

Ryosuke glanced at the sky outside the window, then at the girl in front of him.

Shizuka Hayakawa is dressed very differently today; she has clearly put a lot of thought into her appearance.

Wearing a blue T-shirt with a black and blue striped dress, and her ponytail loosely tied behind her head, she looked much softer than the radiant idol she had seen on stage before.

The bruise on my knee has improved a lot after applying ice, but there is still a small, faint red mark on my skin.

"Let's forget about it."

Ryosuke shook his head.

"Huh?"

"Your knee is injured, so walking must be difficult, right? And it's already taken up your whole day."

"Also, don't worry too much about the songs; they're just for the sake of game development."

Good songs can make idols famous, and idols will also give back to their fans by promoting games and animations.

Ryosuke didn't feel like anyone owed anyone anything, and he certainly received a fair share of song royalties.

But hearing him say that, Hayakawa Shizuka felt quite disappointed.

"That's true..."

She forced a smile, put the guitar aside, and stood up from the chair.

"Then, Lord Takagi, please be careful on your journey."

"Okay, remember to keep applying ice when you get back."

Ryosuke slung his backpack over his shoulder and turned to leave.

But when he reached the door, he stopped and looked back.

In the practice room, the girl stood in the setting sun, her shadow stretched long.

She was looking down at her knee, her fingers lightly touching the bruised area before pulling back.

Her ponytail hung down her shoulder, a few strands of hair blowing in the evening breeze.

Ryosuke stood there for two seconds, then suddenly spoke.

"Miss Hoshimi."

"Ok?"

Shizuka looked up, her face still bearing the lingering sadness she hadn't had time to hide.

"Since we need to select voice actors, please help me talk to Ito's manager."

Ryosuke's hand rested on the door frame.

"There's still the song licensing issue to discuss. Please let me know when you have time, and I'll come back in a few days."

Shizuka was taken aback.

Then, the melancholy on her face seemed to melt away with the setting sun, replaced by a bright smile that spread from the depths of her eyes.

"Anytime is fine!"

She blurted it out almost immediately, then realized she had overreacted and quickly added:

"I mean... I'll talk to Uncle Ito. If he knows, he'll definitely tell you. Takagi-kun can come anytime."

Ryosuke nodded and pushed open the door.

"See you next week then."

"Okay, see you next week!"

The door closed.

The practice room fell silent again.

Hayakawa Shizuka stood there, staring at the closed door for a long time.

Then she slowly sat back down in her chair, hugged the guitar back to her chest, and gently plucked the strings with her fingers.

The prelude to "Unreachable Love" flowed from between her fingers.

She played it once, and then played it again.

On the third time, the practice room door was suddenly pushed open.

"Shizuka-chan! What do you think?!"

Asakura Mirai rushed in like a gust of wind, followed by two other teammates. All three of them had excited gossip written all over their faces.

Why are you standing here all alone, grinning like an idiot?

"I wasn't grinning like an idiot..."

"Yes! You were definitely grinning like an idiot just now! Everyone outside the door could see it clearly!"

Asakura Mirai leaned close to Shizuka, stared at her face for a long time, and then exaggeratedly covered her chest.

"Oh no, Shizuka-chan has completely fallen for her."

"The future! Don't talk nonsense!"

Shizuka buried her face behind the guitar, her ear tips burning red.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this." Asakura Mirai sat down next to her with a grin, then suddenly lowered her voice, "So, he's gone?"

"Yes, they just left."

"Then why didn't you invite them to stay for dinner?"

"...He said I had injured my knee and told me to rest."

Asakura Mirai looked at her knees, then at her face, and said "Oh".

"So you obediently listened to me?"

"I...I wasn't being obedient..."

Shizuka's voice grew softer and softer.

She hugged the guitar tighter, rested her chin on the body, and stared at the sunset outside the window.

"future."

"Ok?"

He said he would come again next week.

Asakura Mirai looked at her.

The setting sun illuminated the girl's profile, revealing a smile that she couldn't suppress.

"...I'm defeated by you."

Asakura Mirai sighed and reached out to ruffle Shizuka's hair.

"I'll help you pick out clothes for next week."

A burst of laughter echoed in the practice room.

The sunset outside the window was a beautiful sight.

Chapter 165 Ling Nai: "That annoying guy"

The entire month of September was busy for Ryosuke.

Not only did he have to rush to finish the script for White Album 2, but he also had two comic book projects to work on.

All we can do is try to speed things up as much as possible.

During this period, Ryosuke also took the time to visit SP Company again to finalize the song licensing agreement and select a group of voice actors to dub the new work.

After finishing my work, it was already lunchtime.

Shizuka Hayakawa made the request to have dinner with him again.

Ryosuke did not refuse this time.

The idol girl originally thought she could go out to eat with him alone, but after hearing this, Shinpei Ito immediately made a suggestion.

"Speaking of which, I've never had the chance to treat Takashiro-kun to a meal. Since it's such a coincidence, why don't we go together?"

As a result, their date turned into a dinner party attended by the DC idol group and their manager.

"No matter how much we planned, we never expected Uncle Ito to interfere."

When this happened, Asakura Mirai was even angrier than Hayakawa Shizuka.

After waiting a whole week, she finally convinced Shizuka to take the opportunity to confess her feelings at their private dinner date, only to have her plans ruined by her manager.

"It's okay..."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Anyway, it's good to be able to spend more time with Takashiro-kun."

For Shizuka Hayakawa, it was a relief.

“…”

Asakura Mirai was disappointed in her, but seeing the disappointed look on Hayakawa Shizuka's face, she couldn't bring herself to say anything to criticize her.

She could only vent her anger on Ryosuke.

'This guy is so slow! Is he made of wood?'

Throughout the entire dinner, Ryosuke was stared at with a sharp gaze by the other party.

This left him completely confused.

They don't usually interact much, right? Why does that twin-tailed loli girl seem to dislike him so much?

......

After the dinner party ended, it was almost 10 p.m. when Ryosuke got home.

I pushed open my bedroom door and found that the lights in the room were on.

Takashiro Ryouno was wearing a thin T-shirt and shorts, lying on his bed, engrossed in flipping through a manga magazine.