I Just Want A Single Ending!

As the song ended, the rest area fell into a profound silence.

Sumida Mana, who had planned to snack on donuts while listening, found herself motionless throughout the entire track. The box of donuts in front of her remained untouched.

"Uika-chan, what do you think of this song?"

After a brief pause, Sumida finally snapped out of her reverie and directed her question to Misumi Uika.

"Do I even need to evaluate it?" Misumi responded with an awkward smile. "It's way beyond my level as a composer."

Sumida tried to comfort her. "But I think your compositions are great too, Uika-chan."

"…Still, the gap is pretty obvious."

With that, Misumi took out her phone and opened the group chat she shared with their manager, scrolling through the messages.

"By the way, why did our manager want us to listen to this song?" Sumida asked as she picked up a donut and nibbled on it lightly. "Could it be that the company is considering buying it for us?"

In their group, Misumi handled most of the songwriting, but producing an entire album with over a dozen tracks was a lot to ask of one person. It wasn't uncommon for the company to reach out to other songwriters or acquire songs through public channels.

"That's probably it. Otherwise, there'd be no reason for the manager to make us listen to it."

Having finished skimming through the group chat, Misumi quickly responded to Sumida's speculation.

"That's wonderful! To think we'd come across such an amazing song," Sumida said with a bright smile.

"Mm."

Misumi acknowledged her sentiment with a faint hum.

After some casual chatter, the door to the rest area suddenly swung open.

"The song I sent you in the group chat—have you listened to it?"

Sumimi's manager, Shizuko Shiraishi, stepped in with a direct question as soon as she entered.

"Ah…"

Sumida hastily placed her partially eaten donut back into the box, trying to hide it with her body.

Though Shizuko noticed her small gesture, she had no time to comment on trivial matters.

"We've listened to it. Both Mana and I think the song is incredible," Misumi answered succinctly, picking up on the urgency in Shizuko's tone.

Sumida nodded in agreement.

"Good. So, how much do you know about Kamigawa Saku?" Shizuko asked abruptly, shifting the topic. "He's the guy you worked with during that snack company commercial shoot—the one who's also an influencer on Instagram."

"Why bring up something from so long ago?" Sumida asked, visibly puzzled.

Misumi didn't respond, but her mind raced with questions of her own.

The name triggered a memory—one she hadn't thought of in a while.

A fake fan.

"He's the composer of the song you just listened to," Shizuko explained. "And, as it turns out, he's also a fan of you two."

"Back when you worked together, you had a casual chat. Do you remember if he mentioned any specific preferences? Like favorite foods or drinks?"

"He's that talented a composer?" Sumida exclaimed, covering her mouth in astonishment.

"It's been so long—I can't recall the details of our conversation," Misumi said, shaking her head.

Their chat back then had been brief and casual, with nothing particularly memorable. It was unrealistic to expect her to recall it after so much time.

"Same here," Sumida added.

"I see."

Shizuko had anticipated such a response and wasn't too disappointed.

"But why are you asking us about this all of a sudden?" Misumi asked curiously. "Is there a problem?"

"Well… let's just say the company definitely wants to acquire that song," Shizuko sighed. "The issue is that Kamigawa Saku might not be willing to sell it. On top of that, the company wants to sign him."

After submitting the song to the company's decision-makers, Shizuko had received clear instructions: buy the song and secure a contract with the composer.

After all, a composer capable of creating such a masterpiece was far more valuable than a single track.

The problem, of course, was how to convince Kamigawa Saku to agree to both.

Top-tier composers were always in high demand, and every music company would want to sign someone like him. This wasn't a simple matter of offering a deal and expecting immediate acceptance.

The task of persuading Kamigawa had fallen squarely on Shizuko's shoulders.

That's why she was here, hoping to gather any insight from Misumi and Sumida's past interaction with him—something that might give her leverage to approach him with sincerity.

As for using Sumimi's fame to entice him?

Their company wasn't desperate enough to resort to such tactics.

Besides, neither Misumi nor Sumida would ever agree to something like that.

"I see."

They both nodded in understanding.

"If you don't know anything, then this has nothing to do with you," Shizuko Shiraishi said, turning to leave the room.

But just as she opened the door, a thought struck her. She turned back and added, "Oh, and Mana, you should cut back on the donuts."

"I will," Sumida Mana replied quickly.

Satisfied, Shizuko left, closing the door behind her.

"Who would've thought Kamigawa Saku is such a talented composer—and our fan, no less," Sumida mused aloud before picking up her unfinished donut and continuing to eat.

"Yeah," Misumi Uika replied absentmindedly.

He's really calling himself our fan? she thought. That's just asking to be roasted.

---

Tuesday Morning

Kamigawa Saku sat in his classroom, diligently listening to the teacher's lecture.

Believe it or not, aside from being an Instagram influencer, a band manager, and a composer, he was also a high school student.

And right now, he was fulfilling his student duties: attending class.

Strange, he thought. I'm a student, but everything I've been busy with lately has nothing to do with what students are supposed to do. Ridiculous.

He mentally grumbled about these unrelated matters as the class ended before he knew it.

"Finally, class is over."

"I'm so tired…"

"What's next on the schedule?"

As soon as the teacher left, the classroom was filled with the usual chatter.

Kamigawa Saku pulled out the textbook for the next class, placed it on his desk, and then took out his phone to check his Instagram.

His follower count had already reached 630,000.

Not bad, he thought. Things are going well.

Just as he was about to put his phone away, a message popped up.

Instinctively, he opened it.

Chihaya Anon: Do you have time this afternoon?

"Huh?"

Seeing the sender's name, Kamigawa Saku immediately turned to look behind him and met Chihaya Anon's gaze.

It was clear she'd been watching him.

Turning back around, he started typing.

Kamigawa Saku: What's up?

Even though he couldn't understand why she chose to message him when they were sitting so close, he responded honestly.

Chihaya Anon: My friends have all disappeared, and now I have nothing to do this afternoon.

Her message puzzled him, so he glanced over at Kita Ikuyo and the others.

They're all here. Not a single one of them is absent.

Kamigawa Saku: What do you mean, "disappeared"? They're all here.

Chihaya Anon: Lately, Kita-chan's been busy every afternoon and can't join us. Isn't that as good as disappearing?

"…"

Oh, so that's it.

He understood the situation. Kita Ikuyo had been spending her afternoons practicing karaoke, making her unavailable for social plans.

But hadn't she said she was planning to take a break on Sunday? Why was she still unavailable?

Maybe Sunday's jam session at Starry with Hitori Gotou counted as her "break"?

Kamigawa wasn't sure what Kita was thinking.

Kamigawa Saku: Even if Kita's busy, don't you have other friends?

Kamigawa Saku: Surely she's not your only one.

Chihaya Anon: Unfortunately, all of them are busy today.

Kamigawa Saku: So, when you said "disappeared," you meant all of them?

Chihaya Anon: Exactly!

Chihaya Anon: Since our band isn't rehearsing today, it'd be such a waste to just go home and do nothing!

Chihaya Anon: So, I wanted to ask if you have time this afternoon.

Chihaya Anon: If you do, let's hang out somewhere.

[Available]

[Not Available]

As soon as her messages came through, the familiar system prompt appeared in his vision.

Scanning the two options, Kamigawa instinctively began weighing his decision.

To be honest, he didn't have any pressing plans for the afternoon, so technically, he was available.

Should I agree to hang out with Anon?

After recalling the last time they'd gone out together, he made up his mind.

Kamigawa Saku: Sure, I'm free this afternoon.

Truth be told, he could barely remember the last time they'd spent time alone together—it felt like ages ago.

To maintain their friendship, it made sense to say yes.

[Stamina +5]

Chihaya Anon: Great, let's go somewhere together this afternoon.

Kamigawa Saku: Sounds good.

Ending the conversation there, Chihaya Anon smiled contentedly.

She then opened another chat window to text her classmates:

Sorry, I already have plans with someone else today. I can't join you.

---

At lunch, she casually explained to Kita Ikuyo and her other friends, "I've got something to take care of this afternoon, so I won't be able to join you."

"No worries. Take care of your stuff," Kita said, unconcerned.

"Okay then."

"So, Kita-chan, where should we hang out this afternoon?"

"Hmm…"

As the group chatted and planned, Chihaya Anon maintained a calm, neutral smile.

True, Kita's been unavailable a lot lately, she thought. But today's an exception—she's finally free.

Not that it matters to me.

After all, she had plans to hang out with Kamigawa Saku this afternoon.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the afternoon arrived.

"Let's go, Saku!"

Having packed her bag, Chihaya Anon approached Kamigawa Saku.

"Mm."

He grabbed his bag and followed her out of the classroom.

"So that's what Anon meant by having plans—going on a date with Kamigawa!"

Seeing the two leave together, Chihaya's friends naturally began gossiping.

"They're such a cute pair!"

"Do you think Anon's actually dating Kamigawa?"

"Probably not."

"Then what's with her saying she's busy but going out with Kamigawa instead?"

To prevent rumors—especially those involving her friends—Kita Ikuyo stepped in to clarify.

"They're probably working on band stuff. Didn't Anon mention they're in the same band?"

"But Takamatsu is still here," someone pointed out.

"If it were band-related, Takamatsu Tomori would've joined them."

"They probably have something else to discuss. Let's not spread baseless rumors, okay? Kamigawa really hates that kind of thing," Kita reminded them.

"Huh? What's Kamigawa's deal?"

"Wait, do you mean Saku-senpai?"

"Kita, why do you call him 'senpai'? Do you two have a special connection?"

Suddenly, all the attention was on Kita Ikuyo.

"There's nothing special! It's just a title," Kita stammered, flustered.

In truth, she and Kamigawa barely interacted at school.

She had her circle of friends, and he had his.

The most they did was exchange greetings in passing.

So naturally, no one had ever noticed her calling him "senpai." She hadn't thought much of it either—until now, when it slipped out by accident.

"…"

Faced with her nosy friends, Kita felt a pang of regret.

I just wanted to stop the rumors—not like this!