"What are you saying, Rikuo-kun? I don't understand."
Soyo's standard smile clearly faltered for a moment when she heard Rikuo's words. But she rubbed her fingers together, perfectly covering it up.
"Can we step aside and talk?"
Rikuo's poker face showed his seriousness. Although his hair was still wet, he was still holding a genuine Bandai toy in his hand.
After speaking, Rikuo got up and walked towards the entrance of RiNG.
Soyo didn't refuse and followed Rikuo.
'What did Rikuo-kun see? No, even if you are Saki-chan's important friend, even if you've helped me, I won't let you affect my plans.'
Soyo organized her thoughts and realized that she had only interacted with Rikuo two days ago, and then she had been waiting for Sakiko at the entrance of Haneoka every day.
'That's right, it must be because I was always at the entrance of Haneoka, so I was suspected, right? If I know the reason, then there's still a way to fool him.'
"Nagasaki-san, you're not serious about forming this band, are you?"
"Why does Rikuo-kun think that? I'm very serious about discussing the band."
"Nagasaki-san, you didn't even mention Anon's name just now. And I thought your next sentence would be, 'A band really needs a keyboardist,' so I interrupted you. Do you understand now?"
"I just accidentally overlooked Anon-san just now, Rikuo-kun is indeed a very careful and gentle person. And why do you think I was going to say the band needs a keyboardist?"
Rikuo watched Soyo's finger-rubbing frequency increase, feeling that he couldn't wake up someone who was pretending to be asleep. He sighed softly.
"Ah, I actually didn't want to say it directly. I originally thought conflicts might be a necessary part of growth, but then Anon would be too pitiful."
"Rikuo-kun, can you just speak directly? Why do you keep mentioning Anon-san?"
Because of Rikuo's intervention, Anon and Tomori didn't have such a deep bond. If Anon struggled continuously under Taki's pressure in the band; Soyo's rejection; the shadow of England; and her avoidance of past friends, and there was no one to redeem her. Then what if...
"You want to re-form Crychic, don't you?"
"Rikuo-kun, why would you think that? Rikuo-kun must also be a fan of Crychic, right? Our new band's name can also be Crychic."
"Forget it, I'll just say it directly. You want to bring back the old Crychic, you want to bring back Sakiko, don't you? Why can't you speak your true feelings? Don't you also want others to be sincere with you?"
Rikuo watched Soyo fall silent, but her rubbing fingers still didn't stop. The pink nail on her index finger already had many grooves. It could be seen that Soyo might have realized that Rikuo knew her thoughts, but she still held firm.
'If I admit it? Rikuo-kun will tell everyone, right? Not only Saki-chan, but Tomori-chan and Taki-chan will also leave then, after all, I'm such a cunning girl...'
"Nagasaki-san, you truly are a stubborn person. Wakaba Mutsumi, although I haven't spoken to you directly, I guess you must be nearby."
Rikuo suddenly mentioned a name that shouldn't have been there, but Wakaba Mutsumi really walked out of a nearby alley.
'How did Kamiyama-san find me? I shouldn't have shown my face.'
Mutsumi didn't say anything after she came out, like a delicate doll. Her hair was light green in the sunlight, looking very fresh, and her small hands were naturally placed on her hips, like a noble young lady from ancient times.
Soyo looked at Mutsumi beside her, her pupils trembling, showing her shock.
"I guess, not just today, but every time Nagasaki-san was at the Haneoka entrance, you were there, right?"
Mutsumi didn't speak, she just didn't dare to look directly into Rikuo's questioning eyes, even though there was no malice in his gaze.
"It seems so. So Nagasaki-san, do you have anything you want to say to Mutsumi now?"
Soyo glanced at Rikuo, then looked at the green-haired girl in front of her who seemed as anxious as she was.
'So, Mutsumi-chan has been by my side all along? Did Saki-chan ask her to monitor me?'
Rikuo looked at Soyo's expression, knowing that she must have activated the legendary world-shattering wisdom.
"Why is it so troublesome? One Mutsumi-chan, one love-starved kid."
Rikuo originally wanted to be as tactful as possible, to let them understand on their own, but it was as if it were a rule of the world. It seemed that if no one gave them a push, the plot wouldn't advance.
Both girls' hearts trembled when they heard Rikuo's address to them, feeling as if a deep-seated scar in their hearts had been exposed.
"Mutsumi, you worry about Soyo, which is why you silently accompany her every day, but because many bad things happened before, you're afraid to speak up, right?"
"Soyo, because of some family reasons, you desire genuine affection, but because you're in a young lady's school, you don't dare to express your true feelings too much. So you especially cherish your bandmates, right?"
Rikuo-kun first looked at the delicate girl in front of him, then at the anxious, head-down brown-haired widow, speaking in as gentle a voice as possible.
"Why does Rikuo-kun know all this?"
Soyo still didn't dare to look up at him, like a puppy that had done something wrong.
"That's not important, just think of me as a private detective. Shouldn't the most important person to you right now be the person to your left?"
"Mutsumi-chan... so you care about me so much? I always felt like I was using you, it must have been very difficult caught between me and Saki-chan, right?"
Soyo's crying face, which should have appeared during the second live performance, came early, but wasn't this a good thing?
"Soyo, it's okay."
Hearing Mutsumi's clumsy comfort, Soyo cried even louder. Mutsumi could only stand there blankly, gently patting her back. This was already a great improvement for Mutsumi. But it seemed to have the opposite effect, as Soyo's cries grew even louder. Ririko, Taki, Tomori, and Anon from RiNG all came out.
"You bastard, you made Soyo cry! You really aren't a good person! Also, why is Mutsumi here?"
Listening to Taki's words, Rikuo chose not to explain too much, nor did he want to interfere further. In his eyes, MyGO's emotions were already perfect and didn't need much intervention. Looking at Anon, who came out last and stood foolishly beside Tomori, because of his involvement, Anon's future would inevitably stray from its past trajectory. Since the cause came from him, he naturally had to take responsibility.
'As for what happens next, that's up to them. If they rely on me for everything, then what do their own feelings count for? I'm not a nanny, I still have to go chase my Sakiko-sensei.'
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