"A really beautiful song," Yui commented as an outsider to the world of music.
Yukino nodded in agreement,
"The performance technique is quite exceptional."
"I'm a little curious about the pianist. Should we go take a look?"
Yukino wasn't fond of getting caught up in crowds, so she looked hesitant at Yui's suggestion.
Iroha, who had been glancing at her phone, noticed Yukino's reaction and stepped in to support her,
"Let's not, Yuigahama-senpai. I'm starving. After watching the cute penguins, let's hurry to eat."
"If I remember correctly, Yukinoshita-senpai has an electric piano at her apartment. She can just play for us later."
Yukino nodded,
"I don't mind."
With things settled, Yui gave up on the idea, looking satisfied.
"Alright then, it's a promise! You have to play for us next time. I don't really understand music, but I think people who can play piano are amazing."
"You're exaggerating, Yuigahama-san. It's really not that impressive. Once you understand basic music theory, learning piano isn't as difficult as you'd think."
"If you're interested, I recall the school has a piano club. You could check it out when you have time—"
As Yukino was speaking, her right arm was suddenly tugged.
Iroha had stopped in her tracks, standing completely still.
Seeing her frozen expression, both Yukino and Yui followed her gaze—and instantly understood the reason for her reaction.
The crowd around the piano performance had opened up slightly, revealing a clear view of the pianist.
One of them was someone they all recognized—Suzumiya Chisato.
Beside him sat another woman with an elegant appearance. The two of them were playing the piano together, each using one hand, while their other hands remained tightly clasped.
Their posture and expressions exuded an unmistakable sense of intimacy.
Yukino retracted her gaze, turning back to Iroha, whose previously cheerful expression had faded into something more subdued.
For a moment, Yukino wasn't sure what to say.
Yui scratched her cheek awkwardly,
"Ha… Haha~ What a coincidence, running into someone Iroha-chan knows here."
She tried to break the awkward atmosphere with an upbeat tone, but it didn't really help.
Iroha pursed her lips.
She watched the two at the piano—how effortlessly they played together, how they never broke eye contact, how they smiled at each other.
Her grip on her phone tightened.
Her expression flickered between different emotions, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
By now, the piece was already more than halfway through.
Finally, Iroha spoke.
"Yukinoshita-senpai, Yuigahama-senpai… would you mind waiting for me a little?"
Although her words carried a tone of request, she left no room for the two of them to refuse.
Without waiting for their response, Iroha let go of Yukino's arm and walked straight toward the opening in the crowd.
"So this is the third girl, the new one you were talking about, right, Yuki-chan? The one besides those two girls we saw at the supermarket that day!"
Yui was genuinely stunned. How could someone be this shameless, dating multiple girls at once while acting so calm and composed?
Sure, he was really handsome, but that didn't give him the right to toy with people's feelings.
What worried her even more was Iroha's current state. She had never seen Iroha-chan, who was always cheerful and smiling, show such a complicated expression before.
She had no idea what Iroha was going to do next.
"There's no use overthinking it now. Let's just follow her for now."
Their originally fun and relaxing outing had suddenly taken an unexpected turn. Even Yukino had to mentally prepare herself for whatever might happen next.
She had seen Iroha's expression just now, and based on her understanding of her, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on.
Iroha had never believed what Yukino had said before. She didn't think her neighbor was the type to two-time or play around.
But now, seeing the reality with her own eyes, her fantasy had been shattered, and she was emotionally shaken.
This kind of emotional shift wasn't too different from a diehard fan witnessing their idol's downfall.
Realizing this, Yukino understood that her and Yui's role was simple.
If Iroha, who was so infatuated with Chisato, could use this opportunity to see his true nature and calmly accept reality, then everything would be fine.
But if she got swept up in her emotions and acted irrationally, then they had to step in and stop her—no doubt about it.
Meanwhile, at the center of everyone's attention, Chisato sat at the piano, completely unaware of the brewing storm.
He was genuinely happy to see Kazusa showing that serious, deeply immersed expression again after so long.
Their hands danced over the piano keys in perfect harmony.
As the final notes slowly faded, the two of them lifted their hands from the keys. The crowd surrounding them erupted into enthusiastic applause, filling the air with excitement.
Only then did Kazusa snap out of her trance and take in her surroundings.
She had been so completely engrossed in playing the piano again, so absorbed in Chisato's dark eyes, that she hadn't noticed the changes around them.
Now that she had come back to reality, she realized they were completely surrounded by people. Some had even taken out their phones to record them.
Given the competitions she had participated in since childhood, Kazusa was used to being in the spotlight and in front of cameras. The current situation should have been nothing to her.
And yet, today, she felt unusually shy.
Because this wasn't just her performance—her boyfriend was sitting beside her.
They had played together in perfect sync, their free hands clasped tightly from start to finish.
Appearing in public like this, how could she not feel embarrassed?
Blushing furiously, she gripped Chisato's hand and tried to pull him away from the scene.
As for the bold spectators playfully chanting, "Kiss! Kiss!"—that only made her want to flee even faster.
But just as she was about to leave with her boyfriend, a cute girl with short ash-blonde hair stood in their way.
Not only did she not step aside, but her originally cold expression suddenly transformed into a bright, almost eerie smile as Kazusa approached.
And with deliberate steps, she began moving closer.
What… does this mean?
Did she recognize me?
Kazusa couldn't help but have such thoughts.
It wasn't that she was full of herself, but this kind of thing had happened before.
After competitions, there had been times when people would wait along her path to ask for autographs.
Though the number of such fans had decreased over the years as she competed less, it wasn't impossible for a dedicated one to show up now.
Just as Kazusa was figuring out how to politely decline, the girl in front of her suddenly opened her delicate lips and spoke.
Her voice was so sweet, even Kazusa, a hardcore sweets lover, found it overwhelming.
"Senpai~ ❤️~~~"
Kazusa froze for a moment.
Just as she was trying to figure out what that kind of address meant, the cute girl in front of her, lightly panting and clutching the sleeves of her long-sleeved top, walked right past her.
With an overly sweet voice, she spoke again.
"Suzumiya-senpai, what a coincidence! I really didn't expect to run into you here."
"..."
Listening to that honeyed tone, combined with the girl's expression and movements, Kazusa felt an inexplicable irritation.
A sense of hostility arose out of nowhere.
However, she suppressed it almost instantly, not letting it surface enough to be noticed at a glance.
She chose to ignore the unfamiliar girl and instead turned to look at her boyfriend.
Chisato's eyes widened slightly.
He appeared calm and composed on the surface, casually extending his free hand with a relaxed smile and responding.
"Yeah, what a coincidence."
Although only he himself knew just how panicked he really was.
Danger!
Huge crisis!!!
Iroha suddenly appearing was absolutely the last thing he wanted to see!
As far as he knew, first, she wasn't aware that he was dating Kazusa. And second, she had always been suspicious of his motives.
Now that she had already learned about his relationships with Eriri and Utaha, who knew if she would blurt out something inappropriate in front of Kazusa?
And just when he was already on edge, spotting Yukino and Yui in the distance made his head hurt even more.
While those two were technically outsiders who shouldn't have much influence on the situation, they had still witnessed his intimate interactions with Eriri and Utaha back at the supermarket.
Ever since Chisato decided that he wanted everything, he had been carefully balancing things between all the girls around him, making sure no side tipped over.
But now, three unpredictable elements had appeared all at once, shattering the equilibrium he had worked so hard to maintain. It felt like everything was about to collapse at any moment.
There was no way he wasn't panicking.
And to make matters worse, Kazusa was now looking at him with an extremely suspicious and dangerous gaze.
In any case, he needed to say something—anything—to dispel Kazusa's doubts.
And most importantly, they needed to leave.
The curious stares of the surrounding crowd felt like needles on his back, adding unnecessary pressure!
"Isshiki, let me introduce you. This is Kazusa, my girlfriend."
"Kazusa, this is my junior, Isshiki."
Taking the initiative, Chisato smoothly introduced the two while holding Kazusa's hand and leading her out of the crowd.
Iroha followed along with a cheerful smile, even extending a hand toward Kazusa in greeting.
"Nice to meet you, Touma-senpai. I've heard Suzumiya-senpai bragging about how beautiful his girlfriend is for a long time now."
"I never really believed him, but seeing you today, I realized he wasn't lying at all."
Receiving a small compliment, the wariness and dislike Kazusa had felt earlier eased slightly.
"He exaggerates too much. I'm just an ordinary person you can find anywhere."
Kazusa wasn't great at social interactions, and the only person she really opened up to was Chisato.
Hearing him introduce this unfamiliar girl as nothing more than his junior allowed her to relax a little.
But soon, two girls who came over arm in arm and were equally cute made her look alert again.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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