Soyo returned home.
The gentle smile on her face gradually faded.
Her expression grew calm, even slightly serious.
Unconsciously fiddling with her index finger, Soyo began to sort through today's findings.
Actually, she shouldn't have come back so late.
But these past few days, she had been returning late almost every night.
Soyo was half a homebody.
After Crychic disbanded, she became even more of one.
The reason she'd been coming home late was that after school, she went around to different girls' schools in Tokyo, looking for information about Sakiko.
Some schools published their new student lists on their official websites, which Soyo could check directly.
But some didn't.
So Soyo had been visiting those schools herself. At the gates, she would approach one or two students, and with her strong social skills—and a little incentive—she could easily convince them to share the new student lists.
Still, there was no news about which school Sakiko had enrolled in.
Unexpectedly, meeting Hotaru tonight had been a pleasant surprise.
Hotaru had interacted with Sakiko, even knew her, and Sakiko might have appeared in Shimokitazawa.
Perhaps she could use him as a starting point to find Sakiko.
That didn't mean she was giving up her plan to check every girls' school in Tokyo.
Anyway, there weren't many left.
Ah… how much I miss her scent…
… … …
Hotaru returned home.
He set down the bag of donuts.
Of course, a few donuts weren't nearly enough to fill him up.
So he picked up the kettle to boil water, preparing to add a bowl of premium instant noodles.
While waiting, he went over today's harvest.
First, just as he expected:
Starting a conversation about music with Soyo had earned him 200 notes.
While working at Starry, selling tickets to Yamato Love Nika, and then watching the live show together with everyone.
On the way, he had "saved" Sakiko once.
He got notes for that too.
Among them, Sakiko gave him the most.
All added together, his total now exceeded 2,000 notes.
Next week, he'd see what he could exchange them for.
Finally, tomorrow was the long-awaited weekend.
He could finally get some proper rest.
Oh, and he still needed to find time to update his light novel.
Thinking of that, Hotaru let out a helpless little smile.
His phone buzzed.
Hotaru glanced at it. A message from the Light Music Club group chat.
But the water was boiling, so he'd check later.
… … … …
At Sakiko's home.
She sat on a wooden chair, her eyes shining brightly.
It had been a long time since she had felt this happy.
Many things had happened today, and she had thought it would turn out to be an unlucky day.
But it hadn't.
Sakiko held her phone tightly.
Hotaru's Line ID had been added to it.
Oh no! She had forgotten to ask him which class he was in.
The thought made her feel a little annoyed.
Should she ask him on Line?
No, no—that would be too sudden. Bothering him over something so small wouldn't be good.
That's right!
Sakiko's lips curved into a smile.
She opened her photo album, where she still kept the class assignment list she had photographed at the start of the semester.
Luckily, she hadn't deleted it.
She scrolled carefully.
Class 1…
Class 2…
Class 3… Found it!
A smile spread across her face—only to vanish just as quickly.
Unexpectedly, he was in the same class as Tomori.
Thinking of that, Sakiko's hand unconsciously brushed against the bandage still wrapped around her arm.
… … … …
Not far from the luxury apartment where Hotaru lived, there was a popular influencer apartment complex.
This building was reserved by entertainment companies for their talents.
It housed countless artists, idols, influencers, streamers, and others in the industry.
Ordinary people couldn't just walk in—or rent a place there—unless they were rich.
Tomori returned there.
She dropped off the donuts in the room next door; that room belonged to Chunta Mana, also known as Mana, her partner in Sumimi.
Back in her own apartment, Tomori quickly removed her mask, sunglasses, and hat.
Then she eagerly hurried inside.
At first glance, one might think the owner of this room was a typical homebody.
Light novels lined the shelves, even more than those in Ryo's tent that day.
Every single book was neatly arranged, well-kept, and spotless.
What was strange was that all of them were by the same author—Aki Amaji.
It seemed Tomori was a devoted fan of Aki Amaji-sensei.
Her usually calm face softened into a gentle smile as she glanced at the collection.
Hotaru, I've bought every single one of your novels.
And for each one, I bought three copies.
Because you once said:
One for personal reading, one for collection, and one for sharing.
I remember every word.
Tomori hurried to the bedside.
She couldn't wait—she needed to recharge her energy.
Only one novel lay there.
She carefully opened the cover, as though afraid to damage it, even though it was protected by an elegant book sleeve.
But this one was special.
The inner page bore the handwritten signature: "Aki Amaji."
Tomori stared at it for a long time.
Then her cheek pressed closer and closer to the page.
It was a signed edition she had won in a lottery event on Aki Amaji-sensei's SNS account.
Just imagining that Hotaru had once held this book, signed his name stroke by stroke, then packaged and mailed it himself…
Tomori felt wrapped in bliss.
Before she realized it, her entire face was buried against the book.
After a long while, she finally pulled away, her cheeks and ears flushed red.
"Ugh… I almost fell asleep."
She pulled out her phone. The clock read past ten.
Opening Line, she scrolled to a certain chat interface.
The messages were over a year old.
"Sakiko, long time no see. I'm going to debut."
"You're debuting? Really?!"
"Mm, the company told me not to tell anyone except my family, but I just had to tell you."
"Congratulations. You're finally becoming the professional singer you've always dreamed of. With your optimism, you'll be fine."
"I don't know if I can keep going."
"I'm not worried at all."
"Thank you."
The short history fit on a single page.
Yet she stared at it for a long, long time.
If only she had Hotaru's Line too.
Sigh…
Tomori let out a quiet breath.
She set her phone down and walked toward the bathroom.