Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The guys simmered down after a few minutes. Kucha smiled and said, “Seems like you all are not interested in looking around Akihabara anymore, how about we pay a visit to Chiyoko’s house now?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Count me in.”
“Me too.”
All of them could no longer remember their initial plan to visit the Tokyo Animation Centre on the fourth floor since they met up with Kimura Kazuki, let alone visiting other places now.
They could not help but sneak glances at Kimura Kazuki curiously. As authors of light novels, all of their works were created out of their wild imaginations. The swordsmanship performed by Kimura Kazuki on the stage just now was so powerful yet swift, mesmerizing all of them. His skill was beyond what they had come across previously.
Koko was particularly impressed by Kimura Kazuki. Being a Kendo-themed novel author, Koko had immense knowledge about Kendo, and he had lots of questions wandering in his mind after watching the performance. As Koko walked behind Kimura Kazuki, he held his tongue awkwardly when he witnessed Chiba Shiori and Kimura Kazuki sharing an intimate moment. It would be too nonsensical of him to disturb the couple now.
Moreover, Chiba Shiori chipped in whenever someone tried to talk to Kimura Kazuki, bringing those conversations to a halt. It was evident that Chiba Shiori did not want them to ask Kimura Kazuki anything about Kendo.
Eventually, everyone was understanding enough to drop the topic.
They were not familiar with Kimura Kazuki, he was new to the group. Some questions were not appropriate to bring up at this point. Few of them have determined to make good use of the group chat to bond with him in the coming days, though.
“Thank you...” Kimura Kazuki mumbled in a soft voice, but Chiba Shiori still could hear him clearly as she was closer to him, yet he did not mind at all. He could definitely sense the atmosphere, and he knew that they had so many questions to ask him. However, with little acquaintance between them and the help of Chiba Shiori, the group said nothing, and he was glad to keep their questions at bay.
He could simply put on a poker face and ignore them if they threw questions at him, but that would only spoil the mood. Acting as Kimura Kazuki’s girlfriend, Chiba Shiori was indeed a great help by mediating between the group and himself.
“You’re welcome.” Chiba Shiori blinked and played with her hair out of habit. She muttered, “After all, I am your girlfriend now; I should be helping you out of trouble.”
Kimura Kazuki cracked a smile as his silent reply.
Seeing Kimura had looked over to her direction, Chiba Shiori took the advantage and asked sheepishly, “Oh, how does it feel to have a girl kissing you just now?” Kimura Kazuki could not help but notice the unnatural tone underlying in her question. “It was nothing special...” Kimura Kazuki replied after giving it some thought, although it was odd for Chiba Shiori to ask so.
“Really now?”
After a half-hour walk and chattering, they arrived at the Yamaoo Small District.
Yamaoo Small District was a traditional neighborhood.
As Kucha has met Chiyoko in person and visited her house previously, she led the way to Chiyoko’s place, and the group followed behind. As they chit-chatted and strolled through the streets, they came near to their destination without even realizing it.
Soon, they were at the unit of the eighth block.
10 or so of them split up and went into two separate elevators and made their way to the 13th floor in no time.
Following Kucha’s lead, they were already standing in front of the door of unit 1306 before they knew it.
Knock knock knock!
There was no doorbell, and Kucha could only bang on the door while yelling, “Chiyoko, hurry up and open the door! I brought the guys to visit you!”
“Hey Chiyoko, open the door. I am Koumori, when are you going to pay me the 100 yen that you’ve lost in our bet last time!”
“Stop writing and come have fun with us, the route to fame is still unknown anyways!”
From the way they were giggling playfully, it was clear that few of them had a close relationship with Chiyoko. However, there was still no response from behind the door after Kucha’s constant knocking for a while.
“Has she gone out?”
“Maybe she is wearing earphones and could not hear us. Try calling her.”
Kucha was already dialing Chiyoko’s number when the other people dwelled in discussion. The sound of her mobile phone ringing transmitted through the door, and they all could hear it clearly due to the ineffective sound proof system in this kind of traditional neighborhood.
“Her mobile phone is not in silent mode? It seems like Chiyoko is not writing but lazing around.”
“I guess she is playing games with earphones on!”
The ringing sound continued, but all Kucha got was the automated voice informing that the number she has dialed could not be reached, and Chiyoko did not answer the calls up to now.
“Did she really go out and left her mobile phone at home?”
Everyone looked at each other, helplessly. Chiyoko’s phone was inside of her room, but it was just strange that she would not answer the calls. It was almost impossible that she was not at home. She always talked about her vomiting problems in the group chat and how lazy she was to opt for delivery rather than going out for food. She also complained that her habit of staying up all night has ruined her health, worrying that sudden death might come upon her someday.
“Has something... happened to her?” a mystery novel author could not help but say so. As an author that worked on suspense novel all year round, he had the habit of thinking the worst possibilities that could come out of any situations that showed the slightest bit of abnormality.
“Sato, stop talking nonsense!” a middle-aged looking man scolded while tugging Sato’s arm.
Sato chuckled guiltily, “Sorry.”
Just a moment ago, there was no tension in the air. However, what Sato just said made everyone tense up and feel down in the dumps. On the other side, Kucha was still on her phone, calling Chiyoko. The ringing would not stop, and Chiyoko just would not pick up the call.
Kucha almost made more than 10 calls over just 10 minutes. No one picked up the calls on the other side of the door as the ringing continued to pierce through the quiet atmosphere. Restlessness and anxiety overwhelmed everyone at this point.
Kimura Kazuki was calm and waited all this while, he was not worried at all. The ten-minute wait distressed everyone else. Kimura Kazuki thoughtfully suggested, “How about we break into the room...”
“I agree, we cannot just wait here and do nothing.”
“You are right, we should find out what’s happening as soon as possible and put everyone’s mind at rest.”
“Everyone could chip in some money to repair the door later on.”
Kucha had been feeling anxious since she heard Sato’s words. Upon the suggestion, she could not help but let out a deep sigh, “Alright then, let’s do this. Don’t worry about the repair cost, I will handle it.”
Upon hearing this, two men volunteered and came forth, but they were unsuccessful, even after multiple tries. Both of them looked awkward with how powerless they were.
“Let me try.” Kimura Kazuki stepped forward as he knew that these light novel authors were not strong enough to break open the door, due to lack of routine workout.
Both of them made way for Kimura Kazuki. As soon as he was in front of the door, a flying kick struck against the door.
Boom! ——
The door was kicked open and banged against the wall behind it. Everyone was surprised by the sound that came from the impact. They knew this was coming, but it still caught them by surprise.
Kucha was also startled, but she came back to her senses quickly. She sprinted to Chiyoko’s bedroom right after she passed by the entrance, she did not care about taking off her shoes. Kimura Kazuki and Chiba Shiori followed her quickly while the others trailed behind.
As he followed Kucha into the bedroom, Kimura Kazuki saw Chiyoko leaning against her computer desk as soon as he entered her bedroom.
“Chiyoko, Chiyoko...” Kucha shook Chiyoko’s body violently, trying to wake her up as Kucha thought that Chiyoko was asleep.
On the other hand, Kimura Kazuki was not looking at Chiyoko’s body, but his focus was at the corner of the room...
A transparent spirit that looked exactly the same with the body leaning over the desk squatted helplessly at the edge. Fear and vulnerability radiated through her eyes as the spirit could not stop her tears from falling down.
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