If someone shows a level of maturity far beyond their age, then psychologically, there's definitely something wrong somewhere.
Her childhood experiences made Soyo instinctively compromise herself again and again for the sake of others. That continued until one day, someone brought light into her heart. In that instant, it was like a fledgling opening its eyes for the first time—one glance that would last a lifetime.
"You actually… don't care about bands at all. About CRYCHIC either."
Kamijou Mutsuki's words directly peeled back the "truth" buried deep inside the girl's heart.
"What you care about is just a sense of belonging. Whether you play in a band or not doesn't matter at all. You just want everyone to be together… like before."
"Don't talk like you understand me so well!"
Having her inner thoughts dissected face-to-face felt awful, and Soyo's attitude naturally turned sharp.
"No, no, no—what I mean is, why does your sense of belonging have to be CRYCHIC? Why does it have to be Sakiko?"
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Soyo—who had been stung by his words—froze on the spot, her mind failing to keep up.
What was he talking about?
"…I can be your belonging too."
The boy's words confirmed her suspicion.
This guy… was he confessing to her?
For the first time, the girl looked at Kamijou Mutsuki through the lens of the opposite sex.
She had to admit—the looks on this jerk were, admittedly, pretty good.
His family background was even better than hers, a certified rich girl. Aside from his terrible personality, he was the very definition of a high-quality human male.
For some reason, she couldn't help but recall that feeling of relief when he had found her earlier. Her cheeks flushed slightly.
But Bang Dream people absolutely could not be romance-brained. Soyo quickly snapped back to her senses, putting on a businesslike smile, ready to reject him.
She had no plans to date—especially not this annoying jerk who made her grind her teeth in anger. If they actually got together, she'd probably shave years off her life.
But very quickly, she realized she was still too naïve.
"You may have lost your father, but you still have me!"
Kamijou Mutsuki smiled at her, but the words he spoke were completely different from what she had imagined.
"Why chase after Sakiko Togawa? I can become your emotional support instead, can't I?"
"I can give you a new place to belong—love you like a father!"
"Go die!"
Soyo's face completely darkened.
I thought you were confessing to me—and you want to be my dad?!
At this moment, Soyo finally understood how Taki had felt before.
"Don't worry, Daddy definitely won't work overtime every day like Mommy—"
"Shut up!!"
She was really angry now (▼皿▼＃).
Soyo felt that Kamijou Mutsuki would be much better off staying quiet—otherwise, she really might not be able to stop herself from hitting him.
She seriously suspected that she must have been possessed back then to have boarded this guy's pirate ship in the first place.
Faced with a girl on the verge of exploding, Kamijou Mutsuki wisely chose not to push things further.
Like always—if it really came to blows, he might not even win. That would be truly embarrassing.
There was no Tomori here to protect him now. Then again… for Soyo, maybe "Sakiko-sensei" would be more effective?
Still, his body really was in bad shape lately. Should he hire a couple of bodyguards?
Each lost in their own thoughts, neither of them spoke again until they arrived downstairs at Soyo's apartment.
"…Thank you."
Though extremely displeased inside, she still stiffened her face and thanked him out of politeness.
"Hey, wait—there's one more thing!"
Seeing Soyo give such an insincere thanks and immediately try to leave, Kamijou Mutsuki reached out and stopped her.
"What is it?"
Soyo turned around, looking thoroughly impatient. Kamijou Mutsuki didn't reply, instead taking out an envelope and handing it to her.
"This is?"
She didn't take it, frowning as she asked.
"Your pay for today."
"Oh…"
Soyo showed little interest. After all, Mrs. Nagasaki—perhaps out of guilt for always working overtime—had never been stingy with money. This rich girl had genuinely never lacked pocket money.
Compared to that…
She cared far more about Sakiko.
However, she quickly came to regret her carelessness.
"Soyo?!"
A completely unexpected voice rang out beside her—filled with disbelief and shock.
Soyo turned her head, only to see a familiar figure standing there, looking at her with an expression full of complicated emotions.
"Mom?!"
That's right—the person in front of her was none other than Soyo's mother.
"Soyo, why would you do something like this? Is the allowance I give you still not enough?"
Soyo was still confused about why her mother was making such a strange expression, when Mrs. Nagasaki's next words left her even more bewildered.
What did she do?
But then—looking at the boy standing in front of her, the envelope in her hand that was obviously stuffed with cash, and the fact that it was pitch-black night, a very suspicious time for doing bad things…
"Mom, what are you even thinking?! It's not what you think at all!"
The rush of anger sent blood surging to the girl's head, her face flushing bright red.
-----------------------------------
"Sorry, sorry!"
After figuring out the truth, Mrs. Nagasaki scratched her head and gave an awkward smile as she apologized to her daughter.
"I misunderstood you, Soyo…"
"Geez!"
But Miss Soyo still looked like she hadn't fully cooled down.
"Why would you even come to that kind of misunderstanding? In Mom's eyes, am I really that kind of frivolous person?"
Being misunderstood by her own mother as having made some kind of shameless transaction with Kamijou Mutsuki left Soyo feeling both wronged and angry.
"Soyo, I'm sorry, it's my fault…"
You had to know—before this, Soyo had always treated her with a gentleness and tolerance that was almost motherly. Seeing her show this kind of expression now meant she was genuinely upset.
"It's already so late and you still hadn't come home, and then earlier you two were like that… Soyo, it's Mom's fault. Please forgive me~"
Mrs. Nagasaki directly clung to Soyo's arm and started acting cute. In response, Soyo showed a helpless yet gentle expression, making it hard to tell for a moment who was the mother and who was the daughter.
"Ahem, and this gentleman is…?"
Noticing Kamijou Mutsuki's gaze, Mrs. Nagasaki finally realized there was still an outsider present. She cleared her throat twice and put on a serious expression, trying to reclaim her authority as an adult.
"Kamijou Mutsuki, Soyo-chan's friend."
This time, Soyo didn't expose him or interrupt, only turning her head away with visible displeasure.
"Boyfriend?"
"Absolutely not!"
Soyo hadn't expected to get emotionally wrecked by her own mother like this.
"Why would you even get that idea, Mom?!"
She genuinely couldn't understand it—where exactly did she and Kamijou Mutsuki look like a couple?
"It's just that it's the first time Soyo's ever been this close with a boy, so I thought…"
........................