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Chapter 82: Ijichi Seika’s Love Compass
🕑 Added 2025-08-13 15:00:17 +0000 UTCInside STARRY.
After Ijichi Seika made that unexpected remark to Nijika, a brief silence settled over the livehouse.
Nijika froze mid-wipe, staring at her sister with wide eyes, clearly caught off guard.
Thinking Nijika hadn’t heard her the first time, Seika finally looked up from her laptop after a few quiet seconds.
Turning to her sister with a hint of curiosity, she asked again, “Why’d you suddenly go quiet? I said—Nijika, you like that Aoki kid, don’t you?”
“...”
The surprise on Nijika’s face deepened.
Her expression stiffened—and in the blink of an eye, her cheeks turned bright red.
And when Seika tilted her head, genuinely confused, Nijika finally snapped out of it but now she was flustered beyond saving.
She quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact entirely.
Her voice trembled slightly as she stammered, “W-What? N-No way! I don’t... like him or anything! W-Why would you ask that all of a sudden?”
“I figured it out just by watching you,” Seika said flatly, clearly unconvinced by her sister’s denial.
“Your ringtone’s been that song Aoki sang—‘So I Gave Up on Music’, right? And during practice, even though I didn’t watch closely, I noticed you sneaking glances at him. Just now, too you looked like you were upset seeing him talk to another girl...”
She paused, blinked slowly, then added, “So even if it’s not ‘like,’ you at least have a crush on him, right?”
Everything Seika said was spot on.
Nijika had planned to deny it all outright, but hearing her sister’s cool, logical breakdown made it impossible to argue back.
Besides, even if she did admit it, it’s not like it would change much...
Still blushing furiously, her gaze remained glued to the floor.
After a long hesitation, and another stretch of silence, she finally mumbled in a tiny voice, “I-I guess... I might have a little crush...”
And almost immediately after saying that, she added in a rush, “A-And it’s just admiration for a senpai! It’s not like I like him or anything!”
Seika completely ignored that last part.
After hearing her sister’s response, she went quiet for a moment, then gave Nijika a thoughtful look.
She stared for so long that Nijika began to squirm under her gaze—until Seika finally spoke, voice calm and slow:
“When it comes to love, it’s not about who gets there first. If you keep hesitating, someone else is gonna beat you to it.”
“...Huh?”
Nijika blinked, completely thrown.
After a few seconds, the words clicked—and her face turned even redder.
She looked like a kettle about to whistle, steam practically rising from her head.
She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get a word out, Seika beat her to it:
“If you keep hesitating, Nijika, you will regret it. Aoki’s a pretty decent guy. Sure, he’s a bit stubborn sometimes, but nobody’s perfect.”
It hadn’t even been that long—barely two months but Seika had seen enough of Aoki to get a sense of his character.
He was generous with people he trusted, he always lent Ryo money when she asked.
He couldn’t bear to watch his friends struggle like when Nijika messed up their first live due to health issues, he was the one who stepped up to comfort her.
And he’d been helping out at the livehouse regularly, never once asking for pay.
Yeah—his personality wasn’t the problem.
But even that wasn’t the main point...
After another brief pause, Seika added, “Well—anyway, personality’s not everything. What matters is mutual attraction... Er, wait. That came out wrong—cough...
I mean, it’s about having mutual feelings, or at least a mutual ‘crush.’ That’s how relationships actually start...”
“Nee-chan!” Nijika finally cut her off, voice cracking as she grew more and more embarrassed. “I-It’s not like that! It’s just a small crush, not actual love...”
But the line between a crush and something deeper was paper-thin.
And Nijika’s flustered voice, paired with her burning red cheeks, made her denial sound especially weak.
Seika knew her sister too well.
She didn’t bother digging further into whether it was “just a crush” or the real deal.
Instead, she shifted the topic entirely.
Acting as if they hadn’t just had a full-on love confession analysis, the manager continued casually:
“By the way... that girl earlier with the eyepatch? She’s only met Aoki once, and yet she came all the way here just because of some comment. And then there’s that Yukinoshita girl from his club that Kita mentioned...”
“Whether it’s a crush or something more doesn’t really matter. Nijika, just think about what I said—if you keep dragging your feet, someone else is going to swoop in and take him first.”
Seika’s tone was hard to read and whether she was teasing or offering genuine advice, even Nijika couldn’t quite tell.
But hearing her sister’s words, Nijika hesitated.
Even though she was still extremely shy whenever the conversation turned to Aoki, she didn’t try to interrupt or deny Seika’s observations this time.
Instead, her cheeks flushed a faint pink, and she quietly fell into thought.
“Love isn’t about who gets there first,”
“If you hesitate, someone else will take the lead,”
“There’s a difference between having a crush and falling in love”...
Seika’s words stirred around in Nijika’s mind, but none of it made perfect sense to her.
To be honest, she wasn’t even sure what she really felt about Aoki.
But... there was one thing she did understand: her sister was probably right.
If she kept standing on the sidelines, always watching from afar, then every now and then—deep in her heart she would feel a strange, uncomfortable emotion bubble up…
“Going out to eat with a friend during your free time... that’s not weird, right?”
Seika shifted her gaze back to the laptop screen, speaking with a casual air.
Then, after that one offhand remark, she fell silent.
Nijika didn’t respond, and Seika didn’t press further.
Their conversation—unexpectedly deep and oddly timed fizzled out as abruptly as it had started.
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Meanwhile, elsewhere...
It was around 3:50 p.m.—not quite rush hour yet—so the train was fairly empty.
The sun was beginning to sink, casting the sky outside in soft shades of orange.
Aoki sat in the nearly vacant carriage, gazing out the window at the fading light.
After they left [STARRY], Rikka had seemed reluctant to bother him any further.
She hesitated briefly but ultimately declined his suggestion to walk around a bit.
That was fine with him.
Still worried she might get lost or something on the way back, Kei had insisted on riding the train with her to make sure she got home safely.
It wasn’t a super long ride, just a bit of a trip—not far enough to be inconvenient.
By the time he’d dropped Rikka off at her front door and made his way back to the station, it was already past 3:40.
He bought a ticket, boarded the train, and now—rocking gently with its rhythm—the sky outside was deepening into dusk.
The view outside was decent, but somehow... a little lacking.
Tokyo in the afternoon couldn’t hold a candle to Tokyo at night.
The neon lights, the chaotic crowd, the vibrant energy—at night, the city came alive.
Aoki once heard someone say: “Tokyo’s nightlife is where the real elite live.”
Whether that was true or not, he couldn’t say.
But one thing was certain: even though he’d been living in Tokyo for about a year now, he still hadn’t experienced a proper “Tokyo nightlife.”
Well... at least not the real kind.
He had experienced the fake version—back when he worked part-time at a bar before joining Kessoku Band.
He used to be on his feet until after midnight, every single day...
The train clattered along, and Kei’s thoughts drifted aimlessly until a sudden vibration buzzed from his pocket.
A message?
Frowning slightly, wondering who’d text him at this hour, he pulled out his phone and unlocked it.
After a slight bump in the train, the screen came into focus.
It was from Takanashi Rikka on LINE:
———————————————————————
[Evil King’s True Eye]: Sealed One, do you receive my transmission?
[Evil King’s True Eye]: Thank you for escorting me safely back to base.
———————————————————————
She’d already thanked him once before.
And now she was doing it again—in full chuunibyou mode. Was she... testing to see if he’d reply?
Kei considered it for a moment, couldn’t quite figure it out, and ended up just sending back a “nodding Sliding Lizard” sticker.
The moment the sticker went through, the familiar little “Read” mark appeared beneath it.
But that was it.
No follow-up.
Maybe she really was just testing to see if he’d respond.
Thinking that, Kei was about to lock his screen and put his phone away when—
Buzz.
Another message lit up his screen.
This time, it wasn’t from Takanashi Rikka.
It was from someone who had almost never sent him a direct message before.
Ijichi Nijika.
———————————————————————
[Nijika]: Aoki-senpai.
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