Chapter 186 – Not Just Aoki Kei, but Nijika Too — On the Matter of Pretending to Be Strong

Pretending to be strong is something most people do.

Maybe it’s subconscious, maybe it’s unintentional but sooner or later, everyone’s done it.

When it came to the discussions online, to say Kei didn’t care at all… wasn’t entirely true.

The truth was, words like “orphan” or “grew up without parents” didn’t wound him.

He understood that things like your birth or background aren’t something you can choose.

So, no matter what kind of life he was born into, he tried not to complain, not to dwell on it.

But every coin has two sides.

Sometimes—just sometimes when he came across words like orphan, family background, or something similar, Kei couldn’t help but wonder:

If he hadn’t been brought to Japan for some inexplicable reason…

If he hadn’t ended up in Tokyo…

If he’d just lived an ordinary life like so long ago…

What would he be doing right now?

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November 20th. The cold hadn’t let up.

Two days had passed since Kita had come rushing to Kei’s apartment.

Not much had happened in between.

If you really had to name an event—

On the afternoon of the 19th, Kei had dropped by the livehouse and happened to run into Store Manager Seika.

When their eyes met, Kei could clearly feel she wanted to say something to him, but in the end, she kept it to herself.

It struck him as odd at the time, and after returning to his apartment, a thought or two crossed his mind about it.

But other than that brief exchange, the past few days had been uneventful.

Of course, life doesn’t stay calm forever—

Ever since KL Studio released that short film, the online chatter had started to spread bit by bit.

By now, there was no way Kei could completely avoid being swept into it.

And unlike past controversies, this time all the attention wasn’t aimed at Kessoku Band as a whole—

It was squarely, blatantly, aimed at Aoki Kei alone.

After that police officer leaked details about his background that day, Kei’s life story had started spreading almost everywhere online.

Almost everywhere—not literally everyone knew, but over 60% of the fans were aware by now.

Still, because the original posts had been deleted early on, most of the discussion could only be found in private fan groups or in the comment sections under certain videos.

And in this situation, aside from Kita, Nijika and the others still hadn’t caught wind of it…

The chatter kept growing.

And once it started surfacing again on Twitter, certain people with less-than-kind intentions began to take notice.

Right now, Kessoku Band and Kei in particular, were like the brightest streetlamp in the middle of a dark road.

Ordinary passersby might ignore it, but lurking vultures in the business world? They’d be all too eager to saw it down.

And so—

Naturally, before anyone knew it, some unfriendly “theories” started appearing here and there across Twitter and other platforms.

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If he really had that kind of past, why didn’t it come out earlier?

And right after this new song drops, suddenly his background is exposed?

Sounds like a PR stunt.

Honestly, it feels like a publicity grab…

How does a high schooler named Aoki Kei manage to write so many songs in such a short time? I’m starting to think something’s fishy…

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Little by little, comments like these—designed to steer public opinion—began to pop up everywhere.

And now—

Ever since Kita had brought up the matter the other day, Kei had been keeping an eye on Twitter and other platforms.

Which was why, the moment these “theories” appeared, he spotted them immediately.

For himself, he didn’t care much.

But Kei wasn’t exactly on his own anymore.

Even just having his background posted online was enough to make Kita worry so much that she ran all the way to his place in a thin jacket, her small hands red from the cold…

So he thought—this time, maybe it’s better to explain things.

Easier said than done, though—

First, aside from Kita, the rest of the girls clearly had no idea about his past.

Telling the whole story from the beginning would be a hassle.

Second, whether or not he explained was one thing… but whether they’d believe him when he said he didn’t care—that was another matter entirely.

The more he thought about the trouble it’d cause, the more irritated he became.

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November 20th, Afternoon

After mulling over possible solutions all morning and still coming up empty, Aoki Kei—feeling frustrated and deciding to put things off for now and start to headed out.

His destination: STARRY.

If you don’t practice for too long, your hands start to feel rusty.

Kei wanted to keep himself in top shape, so every two or three days he’d drop by the livehouse to work on either his keyboard or guitar skills.

With the idea of both improving himself and ticking off his “daily quest,” he caught the train, letting it rattle along until he arrived.

Down the stairs, through the door—and to his surprise, Starry’s manager, Seika, wasn’t there.

It was about four o’clock. The venue wasn’t open yet, so it made sense for the manager to be elsewhere.

But… why was the door unlocked?

The thought flickered briefly in his mind, but he didn’t dwell on it.

After a quick glance around, he set down his bag, pulled out his guitar, and headed toward the recording room he usually practiced in.

While unpacking and setting up, his mind wandered—back to a couple of days ago, when he’d seen Seika give him that hesitant, almost “about to say something” look.

If he thought about it… she probably wanted to talk about something related to Nijika, didn’t she?

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Lost in thought, Kei reached the recording room door.

Just as his fingers brushed the handle—

He heard the steady beat of drums.

The room had good soundproofing, but from this close, he could hear it clearly.

He didn’t know the name of the rhythm, but it sounded… good.

He paused for a moment, then quietly pushed open the door.

The drumming stopped instantly.

Nijika’s head turned toward the sound, eyes landing on him.

When she realized it was Aoki, a faint, almost imperceptible nervousness passed over her face.

Her grip tightened slightly on the drumsticks; she pressed her lips together.

Two seconds of silence passed before she spoke:

“Ah… Aoki-senpai? G-good afternoon…”

A simple greeting.

Kei nodded, holding his guitar, ready to reply—

But then, his voice caught.

Because in that moment, meeting her eyes, he noticed it—

Just the faintest redness around them.

The kind that lingered after you’d been crying for a long time.

For some reason, the sight made him think of Seika again, and that same unfinished expression from the other day.

His breath hitched for a moment before he looked away.

“Afternoon,” he replied softly, moving to sit down and start tuning his guitar.

Strings adjusted, fingers in place—

That’s when Nijika suddenly stood up.

“Um… I just finished practicing for a while, so I’ll take a break now. I won’t bother you…”

She set her drumsticks aside and moved toward the door.

The room was very quiet now.

Without the drums, all he could hear was the faint sound of his own breathing.

Kei lifted his gaze again, watching her back.

She’d taken two steps when he let out a small sigh, set his guitar down, and called out—

“Hey… Nijika. Your condition lately… it’s okay, right?”

Her hand twitched slightly against the door handle.

She gripped it tightly, pushed the door open, and let go.

“Huh? My condition? I’m fine,” she answered without turning back.

Her tone sounded exactly the same as always—like a reply she would’ve given a month ago.

And maybe that was fine. Maybe just leaving it at that was okay.

At least, that’s what Nijika told herself.

And so, November 20th passed.