"But, what if the two of them fight..." Honda Hitomi asked with a worried look on her face.

"No, Sister Mai knows very well what Sakura means to Taki-san, so..."

Nako walked to the stereo and turned on the music again, then jumped up in front of the mirror.

"Perhaps while she is angry, she is feeling a little happy in her heart for the upcoming opportunity..."

"Happy?" Hitomi Honda blinked blankly and put her fingers under her pursed lips.

"Are you talking about the time when Sister Mai confessed to Taki-san but was rejected?"

"Who knows~~Besides, shouldn't there be many people who feel happy because of this matter?"

Nako rolled his eyes, thinking about the beautiful figure standing in the corridor before, feeling a little helpless.

"Don't worry, we can just pretend we didn't see anything about what happened just now.

The operation will definitely issue a gag order later on, but it’s not necessary.

Because it concerns Taki-san, we all have a tacit understanding on this that is unimaginable to the outside world, so let’s train hard.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Nako turned on the music again and continued practicing.

However, her sudden change of attitude and tone just now did not fool Honda Hitomi's eyes.

The girl walked outside the door of the practice room. At the end of the long corridor, there was a man leaning lazily against the white tiled wall.

She was holding a book in her hand, and bent one foot backwards, so that the sole of her shoe was stuck to the wall.

The empty corridor was almost exclusively occupied by her.

A pink headset was placed on the head, as if enjoying the beautiful music, while a pair of starry eyes were staring at the content of the book without blinking.

When she picked up the page with her fingertips and flipped from one section to the other, the novelty brought by the new storyline prompted her to slightly raise the corners of her lipstick-wiped lips.

Transparent, bright, and occasionally cutely pouting her pink lips.

Listening to songs and reading books, you are completely immersed in your own world.

The "unworldly" tranquility exuded from the girl, even though she was far away, Honda Hitomi couldn't help but be impressed by her temperament.

"I see, no matter how angry Sister Mai is when faced with Sakura's inaction, even Nanamin didn't chase after her, which proves that the matter is not serious enough."

"Hello, Hi-chan~~"

While Honda Hitomi was relaxing, someone walked up to her unknowingly with a book in his arms.

When she sensed her surroundings again, it seemed like they were the only two people in this long and narrow corridor.

Those who had come out to watch the excitement were all called back by the teacher and staff in charge of the training.

"Ah~~Hello, Nanamin."

Hitomi Honda said hesitantly, rubbing her scary red face with her hands, "Did I disturb you?"

"No, but your gaze is too strong."

Nana Hashimoto waved her hand, "You don't need to practice? Just run out like this?"

"Ah... that's it." Honda Hitomi scratched her head and hesitated to speak.

"What's wrong?"

"Um...Sister Mai just grabbed Sakura and went to the teacher's office, seemingly wanting to ask about Taki-san.

Her expression looks very angry and excited, why don’t Nanamin go over and take a look?”

She pretended to be "at a loss" and said, "What if the teacher reprimands the two of them severely..."

"Hey~~~" As expected, Nana Hashimoto was not surprised by this statement.

"Mai-chan still can't hold it in. We agreed before we came that I would ask about those things, but she got the better of me."

It seems to me that you are not in a hurry at all, right? You are listening to songs and reading novels...

Hitomi Honda covered her cheeks with an expressionless face, her eyes unconsciously glanced at the books held in Nana Hashimoto's arms.

Um... "The Shape of Sound"?

It turned out to be a novel published by Taki-san... The girl felt relieved.

She remembered when she and other AKB members saw this book. At that time, everyone was strangely attracted by the stories in the book, or burst into tears, or grabbed the boy and asked if he had another one.

A version of the ending and so on.

The stories he writes, no matter what they are, have a magical power that makes people fall into them and cannot extricate themselves.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Hashimoto Nana didn't notice anything strange about her and took out the book in her arms. "Have you seen this too?"

"Hi...Hi~~" Hitomi Honda was a little embarrassed.

"When Taki-san was at AKS, he had a habit that he always adhered to, that is, whenever he wrote a new story, he would let us people be his first readers..."

But then, a look of regret appeared on her face.

"But... since Taki-san's last work, everyone hasn't been able to see a new one for a long time. Maybe it's because of Sakura~~"

"It's not maybe, it's absolutely." Nana Hashimoto finally thought about what she said.

"Taki must be experiencing constant hesitation somewhere in this world now. The state that has been maintained for more than ten years has suddenly been interrupted by a shock..."

At that moment, she touched the cover of the book with one hand. As the first "reader" to get the book, there was Takiichi's autograph and a blessing on it.

In the small circle that prizes his work, it's completely priceless.

Even though she values ​​money very much, she would never think about selling this book one day in the future.

"Speaking of which, you and Nako-chan went to Kagaya to attend Taki-san's birthday party before, so you must have talked about a lot of future things, right? For example... Taki-san's plans for his future...

.”

For some reason, she really wanted to pry out anything valuable about Takiichi from Hitomi Honda's mouth.

Compared with Shiraishi Mai, she grabbed Sakura and broke into Akimoto Yasu's office.

Next, if you are faced with the possibility of being reprimanded by other operators present, you should be more secure by asking someone who has been in contact with Takiichi recently and who knows his status better than you do during this period.

However, Honda Hitomi showed a silent look, opening her mouth first, and then the light in her eyes quickly dimmed.

After returning from Miyama Kimura, Hitomi Honda had a private conversation with Nako.

No third person knows the content, including Sakura and Kanna Hashimoto, who was with her in Kagaya.

The core of this conversation was to determine that in the future, "whenever others ask about Taki-san, we must act completely ignorant."

By doing this, I really hope to give Taki a time that belongs entirely to himself and does not recharge for others.

Also, I don’t want a second Sakura to appear around me.

If one day in the future, the same thing happens to this boy again, being abandoned by his beloved lover.

They couldn't imagine what kind of collapse Takiichi would endure by then, and how such a thing would happen, and how they would deal with the guilt that they were slightly involved.

"Indeed, because there were other people at the dinner table, I waited until everyone had taken a break after the meal to ask him some questions."

Nana Hashimoto's non-serious gaze finally touched a subtle button in Hitomi Honda's heart.

After saying this, she raised her head, and the hesitation in her eyes was replaced by determination.

"It's just that before I answer your question, I have a doubt that I have been enduring for a long time, and I hope you can answer it for me."

"What?" Hashimoto Nana took off the headset and put it on her neck.

"When you met Sakura for the first time, you deliberately asked Taki-san to buy snacks for us. Later, in front of many of us, you said to her, 'I hope you can cherish people like Taki-san.

"Remember what you can't throw away the most,' but now, Sakura has thrown away what we think is her most important thing, what should you do?"

Hitomi Honda said calmly, "Actually, we all heard at the time that you still had something to say, but you stopped in time because Taki-san came back soon."

Hitomi Honda wanted to know what those words were that were not spoken in time and had been forgotten by too many people after so many years.

Hashimoto Nana looked at her calmly, "Why do you ask such a question?"

"Me...and Nako, we have decided that we will not run away anymore." Hitomi Honda reached out and touched her lips. The scene of her first kiss at Starbucks is still fresh in her memory.

Just like poison, the more you experience it, the easier it is to fall for it. No wonder lovers like kiss, let alone her as an unrequited lover.

"I see, then... I am the same, I won't run away anymore." Putting the books back into her bag, Hashimoto Nana raised her feet and walked towards Yasushi Akimoto's office.

"Although I have felt it for a long time,...it feels very strange to hear Nanamin say it with my own ears~~" Hitomi Honda stood motionless, her eyes always watching the figure of Hashimoto Nanami slowly getting closer.

is wrapped in white light reflected from the ground.

"But. I won't admit defeat. Without Sakura's hindrance, everyone is back on the same starting line."

In the practice room, Nako leaned against the door, listening to the footsteps fading away outside the door, then turned up the music again and continued dancing.
Chapter completed!