At the same moment.
In a damp little corner.
Hitori hid inside the closet and switched off the simulator.
She didn't take this simulation to heart.
Mainly because.
Last time Toru came over to hang out.
While he was asleep, Bocchi snuck over and stole his first kiss.
In this silent war is love, the one who claimed Kitahara-kun's first kiss was not Ryo san, not Kita-chan, not Nijika-chan, but me, Hitori.
Unbeatable, simply unbeatable.
"Hehe, my YouTube subscribers just passed one hundred fifty thousand."
Hitori scrolled through the comments under her video and smiled with pure delight.
Love and career, both flourishing.
Life was getting sweeter.
As expected, as long as you put in the effort, life becomes beautiful.
There are still half a month left of summer vacation, so while the momentum is hot, taking down Kitahara classmate and becoming his girlfriend should be an easy task.
After dating.
What kind of wedding should they choose?
A traditional Japanese ceremony?
Or a Western church wedding?
What style should the rings be?
How many carats would be suitable for the diamond on the engagement ring?
Besides that.
When should they have children?
The first child after graduating from university?
That way, the age gap between the first and second child wouldn't be too big.
So many things to consider.
...
...
————
[You became Toru's lover.]
After their first night together.
Seika began to understand the men who rushed straight to adult stores after work.
Letting go of every worry in the real world and drowning in the most primal desire, that kind of temptation is impossible for most people to resist.
The adult entertainment industry had endured for generations in Japan, carrying its own unique allure.
The simulator was Seika's adult store.
Toru was the hostess she requested.
[Your bond with Ijichi Nijika has deepened.]
During her moment of calm.
Seika lay on her bed, holding a somewhat worn out stuffed toy.
These toys were birthday gifts from her little sister, and Seika cherished them, often sleeping with them in her arms.
Why do people live?
Who am I?
Where do people go after they die?
[After that night, you and Toru returned to your usual relationship.]
[Your younger brother and younger sister asked if you wanted a wedding, and you refused without much hesitation.]
[Your relationship with him could never be brought into the light.]
[Toru didn't care about society's views, but you did, and you didn't want to embarrass him.]
[You didn't even tell your father and mother about it.]
[Your parents were getting old, and if they discovered that the three of you were tangled together, their blood pressure would surely rise and their health would suffer.]
[On the surface, you were Toru's older sister, but in private, you were his mistress, helping him deal with his excess desires.]
[This forbidden relationship continued for many years.]
[Perhaps it would last until the final moment of your life.]
[Time slipped by.]
[Without noticing.]
[Half of your life had already passed.]
[Since you never had children, your overflowing motherly affection was given to your niece.]
[Kitahara Shio was eight years old this year.]
[Recently, the little girl fell in love with the bass and declared that she wanted to become a bassist in the future.]
The bass?
Why the bass?
What about the bass attracted her?
Seika really didn't want her niece to learn bass.
There were too many bad influences around.
Hiroi Kikuri, bassist.
Yamada Ryo, bassist.
And there was no need to list the rest.
Those two alone were disastrous enough.
[The following year.]
[A major event occurred among those around you.]
[Your mother passed away. She never saw the day her granddaughter married, a wish she had held for years.]
[At the funeral.]
[Toru stared at her photo with a heavy heart. Over the years, he had long regarded your mother as his own. Humans are not stones without feeling. In this life, the first person who gave him warmth was you, and the second was your mother.]
[Little Shio looked at her grandmother's photo in silence.]
[She didn't cry until the funeral ended, when she buried her face in her father's chest, holding back for a few seconds before bursting into loud sobs.]
[More than twenty years ago, your mother surviving that car accident was a miracle, but no miracle can defeat the relentless passing of time.]
[One day, you too would leave the people you loved and go to another world.]
[The next year.]
[Your father also left you. He had always been a few years older than your mother, and her passing was a heavy blow. His elderly body weakened year by year, and he finally did not make it through that winter.]
[Your parents were buried together.]
[The loss of your loved ones made you treasure your remaining family even more.]
[In the next two years.]
[Your life did not change much.]
[You continued running the live house, guiding generation after generation of young people as they chased their dreams.]
[Your younger sister recently left her civil service career and became a full time housewife.]
[Toru reached an executive position in his company. For a man still in his prime, life was going smoothly.]
[Kitahara Shio practiced bass with Yamada Ryo. She now had a strange teacher, and you could only hope she wouldn't grow into a strange kid.]
[Speaking of which.]
[All these years, your sister's friends remained single. Ryo inherited her family's private hospital. Kita became an ordinary influencer. Hitori gained over ten million followers online but still had fewer than ten friends in real life.]
Poor Bocchi.
So pitiful.
[After turning fifty.]
[Your strength waned, and you sold the live house as a whole. You deposited the money into the bank as your niece's future dowry.]
[At this age, you no longer feared gossip. Following your sister's suggestion, you moved into her home.]
[Thanks to years of good care, your appearance remained intact, still looking like someone in their thirties.]
[Toru stayed as handsome as ever. Time had left no mark on his face.]
[That year, Kitahara Shio entered an all girls high school.]
[In the blink of an eye, the little girl who once ran behind you had grown up, no longer needing your protection.]
[Now it was her turn to protect you.]
[In the autumn of the same year.]
[You began writing literature.]
[After so many years, your mind held countless stories.]
[Many legendary bands had performed at your live house. The place called STARRY had completed its mission.]
[Now you would compile those stories into a book.]
[A year later, your memoir was published.]
[Unexpectedly, the response was mediocre, selling only a few thousand copies.]
[The following year, unwilling to accept defeat, you released a new work.]
[This time you did not fail.]
[Your novel based on real experience, Snowbound Youth, became extremely popular among female readers, selling over one million copies in a year.]
[It told the story of a runaway band girl who encountered a homeless boy on a winter night. The emotions were sincere, and the writing was excellent.]
[In the end, the boy and girl parted ways, each running toward their own dream.]
[And your story with Toru.]
[Was also approaching its final note.]
————