The smile on the doll's face was like a flower blooming on an iron tree—something rarely seen in this world.
Even Kamijou Mutsuki had to admit the charm of Mutsumi at this moment.
Cute. Like. Marriage!
So she was his fiancée, huh?
Then there's no problem!
Kamijou Mutsuki even felt a bit puzzled about why that Wakaba old geezer was so enthusiastic about marrying off his daughter. If it were him, if he had a daughter as cute as Mutsu-chan, and some blond punk dared to have any ideas about her, he'd definitely have them exiled straight to the Amazon rainforest—locked in a cave that no detector could observe—for a few months first.
Still, even if that Wakaba old geezer wasn't much of a human being, his taste really wasn't bad.
The Kamijou family was in no way inferior to the Togawa family, and he himself had once been hailed as the number one violinist in the country, overflowing with talent…
Kamijou Mutsuki looked at his own hands.
Not anymore—but that wasn't a big problem.
Even without miracles or magic, didn't he have a system~
In every sense, he was a top-tier high-quality human male. Having a fiancé like him, Mutsumi could say she'd struck gold for this lifetime.
"Mutsu-chan!"
Kamijou Mutsuki suddenly grabbed Mutsumi by the shoulders, making the girl's body tremble slightly.
"From now on, you don't need to suppress your own thoughts. In the band, you can cling to whoever you want, because you're the fiancée of me, Kamijou Mutsuki!"
Mutsumi: No, I don't want to!
Mutsumi was actually very curious—how exactly did Kamijou Mutsuki see her?
After calling over the lady driver to take the things back, the two of them set off together for RiNG. After all, this was Tomori-chan's invitation, and also MyGO!!!!!'s first group hangout—something that absolutely had to be savored.
Because they arrived rather late, the girls were no longer practicing, but were instead in the middle of a break.
Shiina Taki was, as usual, applying pressure over there, while Anon, the victim, had a slightly unpleasant expression on her face.
"Mutsuki."
Tomori-chan was the first to notice Kamijou Mutsuki. That gaze made him feel as if he'd been hit by a gravity spell.
Then there was Soyo.
Nagasaki Soyo noticed Mutsumi beside Kamijou Mutsuki, and her mood grew a bit complicated.
After all, the two of them had basically fallen out last night, and she wasn't quite sure how to get along with Mutsu-chan anymore.
But very quickly, Soyo no longer had to worry about that—because she noticed the two of them holding hands.
"Mutsu-chan!"
Miss Soyo's pupils shrank, her mind going blank in an instant.
What just happened?
Why are these two holding hands now?
Soyo felt like she'd missed an entire season.
After all, even though they were both girls, she'd never held hands with Mutsu-chan in such an orange-in-the-orange way.
Hearing Soyo's murmur filled with complicated emotions, Mutsumi subconsciously pulled her hand back.
But soon, she felt that doing so made no sense.
So she held it again—gripping even tighter than before.
"..."
The heart Soyo had been holding onto finally died.
Was Mutsumi… showing off to her?
Things that are easily obtained are never cherished—this is humanity's inherent flaw.
Between Soyo and Mutsumi, things were actually just like this.
Mutsumi had always silently stayed by her side, and so Soyo came to believe that all of it was only natural.
Because of that, she buried her grievances in her heart and vented her CPU without restraint, all for the sake of that former white Sakiko.
Wasn't the way she recklessly poured out her negative emotions yesterday also because, deep down, she believed that Mutsumi would never leave her?
And in fact, that was indeed the case. Even after being treated that way, Mutsumi still asked Kamijou Mutsuki to come over and comfort her.
But today, the girl who had always been by her side was holding someone else's hand!
When Mutsumi was beside her, she had never truly cared about her—she only kept complaining about why Mutsumi wouldn't help her.
It was only when that girl finally left one day that she understood…
Just what kind of mark that inconspicuous figure had left in her heart.
But of course, Soyo would never admit it.
So after Sakiko, Mutsumi, are you leaving me too?
After all, something like that had just happened yesterday, and Mutsumi's actions today were already a statement to her.
If she's leaving, then so be it. She'd long since grown tired of it anyway—tired of how Mutsumi was always silent like a doll, never truly helping her.
She didn't care at all!
Even so, despite thinking this way, the resentment on the girl's face was completely impossible to hide.
And faced with Soyo's gaze, like that of a resentful divorcée, Mutsumi seemed somewhat hesitant, as if she wanted to speak but couldn't.
Seeing Soyo like this, she should have felt worried.
She did feel that way—but why was there also a strange sense of relief in her heart?
Mutsumi: When she was sad, she silently stayed by her side, yet in her heart there was only that former white moonlight. It was only when she finally left one day that she felt regret…
Was the doll going to break too?
Mutsumi couldn't understand her own feelings at this moment, and in the end could only tighten her grip on Kamijou Mutsuki's hand.
"Kids, I'm back!"
Just as both girls were feeling emotionally conflicted, Kamijou Mutsuki smiled and greeted Tomori-chan and the others.
"What's going on with Chihaya?"
The moment Shiina Taki saw Kamijou Mutsuki, she shifted the spearhead over to him.
"Her level during today's practice was completely different from yesterday. She said it had something to do with you?"
Although Anon's performance yesterday could be described as dazzling, the two of them both knew it was thanks to some miraculous system item.
Once the item's duration ended, she immediately reverted to her true form.
Of course, Anon hadn't gained nothing at all.
After all, having reached that realm once, even after the time passed, some knowledge and feeling would still remain.
At the very least, compared to before—when even her basic knowledge was half-baked—Anon could now play normally.
But compared to yesterday, the difference was still worlds apart. Naturally, Taki felt dissatisfied and suspected that Anon was messing with her.
As for Anon, she could only suffer in silence.
What could she even say?
That she'd been "on" last night, but now the buff was gone so she couldn't do it anymore?
Leaving aside how embarrassing that would be, Taki would have to believe it! So in the end, Miss Taki only vaguely obtained information related to Kamijou Mutsuki from the stammering Anon.
Noticing Kamijou Mutsuki's gaze, Anon also showed a look of pleading for help.
Your item—shouldn't you be responsible for the after-sales service?
Who would've thought that thing actually had a time limit? Yesterday, when recording the accompaniment, she'd had a blast. Today, with her real skill exposed, she could only panic helplessly.
"Because yesterday I let Anon use a miraculous item that gave her guitar skills beyond her level."
No—wait. You were supposed to help smooth things over, and you just say it straight out like that? Did you really have to be this honest?
Also, what exactly was that sticker yesterday? Was it high-tech, or does magic actually exist in this world?
"Hah?"
Anon was the one who'd truly experienced the effect of the sticker, but there was no way Taki would believe such an outrageous explanation—even if it was the truth.
...................