However, amidst the laughter...
The smile on Kita Ikuyo's face slowly faded.
Because she found the street oddly familiar.
"H... hey," Kita Ikuyo said stiffly, "how about we stop here for today? I think I forgot to turn off the gas at home."
Yukima Azuma had been prepared for this.
Before Kita Ikuyo could flee,
he swiftly grabbed the back of her collar.
"If it really is a coincidence, then take this opportunity to explain everything and apologize!"
Hearing this, Kita Ikuyo stopped struggling.
And so...
.....
Inside the live house STARRY.
"Ahh! It's the runaway guitarist!"
The one who exclaimed was Ijichi Nijika, the drummer of the band.
She had blonde hair tied in a low ponytail and was dressed in a high school uniform, giving off an approachable and adorable vibe.
Next to Nijika was a short-haired girl with blue hair, Yamada Ryo, the bassist of the band.
This was the senpai that Kita Ikuyo admired.
Ryo had a neutral beauty with a cold, alluring aura.
Kita Ikuyo's expression looked like her soul had left her body.
But, after a brief silence, she seriously explained her previous runaway incident to Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo.
"Did you really buy a bass by mistake? That's impressive."
"Ryo, don't say things that unintentionally hurt people!"
The two girls clearly bore no grudge over Kita Ikuyo's past runaway episode.
After hearing her explanation, they quickly forgave her.
"So, Kita-chan plans to learn guitar from Bocchi-chan and rejoin the band?"
Ijichi Nijika asked curiously.
Kita Ikuyo nodded with determination.
Ijichi Nijika turned to Yukima Azuma and Kato Megumi.
"We're friends of Bocchi and Kita-san, just here to watch the band's practice," Yukima Azuma explained.
"Eh? Really? Yukima-san doesn't know how to play an instrument?"
Ijichi Nijika glanced at the two instrument bags on Yukima Azuma's back and asked curiously.
"Yeah, I don't. One of them is a bass that Kita sold to me at a bargain price."
"The other one I just saw at the store and liked, so I bought it."
Hearing that, Ijichi Nijika was at a loss for words.
Who buys a guitar just because they like it?!
"Oh, oh! I totally get it!"
However, Yamada Ryo completely understood.
Ijichi Nijika held her head, helpless.
She had forgotten that her own band already had an Oujou-sama who frequently visited music stores and bought whatever caught her eye.
The cheerful atmosphere continued as the band's practice began.
Bocchi took out some instructional videos she had watched before to self-learn guitar.
She showed them to Kita Ikuyo while demonstrating the techniques.
After all, teaching was incredibly challenging for Bocchi.
Yukima Azuma stood quietly in the back, observing.
"Azuma-san seems very interested in the band," Kato Megumi remarked casually.
"Umu, not really. But since I'm here, I might as well learn. It's always good to pick up a new skill."
As he replied, Yukima Azuma took out the guitar he had just bought.
Kato Megumi gave a small nod, as if understanding Yukima Azuma's attitude.
Following Bocchi's demonstration, Yukima Azuma tried pressing a few chords.
How should one describe it?
Playing the guitar was much harder than he had imagined.
Ijichi Nijika noticed the scene.
Just by watching Yukima Azuma play a few times, she immediately realized that he really didn't know anything about the guitar.
It was obvious that the guitar Yukima Azuma bought was of high performance, and quite expensive.
Ijichi Nijika quickly shifted her focus back to the band's practice.
Yukima Azuma kept glancing at the guitar, playing a little, repeating the movements basically copying Bocchi's motions.
Before long, a message appeared in front of him:
"Skill Learned: Instrument (1v1)."
After all, his intelligence stat was eight.
The higher the intelligence, the lower the threshold for learning basic skills.
Afterward, Yukima Azuma stopped playing and turned to Kato Megumi:
"Megumi, do you want to give it a try?"
He handed her the guitar.
Kato Megumi took it and tried to mimic the movements Yukima Azuma had just made.
However, it was clear that Kato Megumi wasn't particularly talented at playing instruments.
She exhibited the classic "the brain understands, but the hands won't cooperate" struggle.
After trying for a while, Kato Megumi put the pick down.
"Maybe I'm not cut out for this. It seems like I don't have a natural talent for it. I'm just average."
Her voice was soft, with no particular emotion in it.
"Honestly, I feel like most things are like that. No special talents, just average. I wonder if that's why I've always been so low presence. Nothing stands out about me. Haiz."
A light, almost imperceptible sigh escaped her.
It sounded like a casual lament, with no real sorrow behind it.
But Yukima Azuma, at that moment, took Kato Megumi's hand.
"Megumi is very special. Don't get discouraged over small things like this. Come on, let me teach you."
Saying this, Yukima Azuma took Kato Megumi's hand.
The two of them were almost pressed close together, trying to play the guitar together.
Ijichi Nijika accidentally glanced over at them.
Immediately, she felt as though she'd just been force-fed a huge piece of "dog food."
Seriously, enough already!
Inside, Nijika silently groaned.
After all, Yukima Azuma didn't even know how to play, and yet he was teaching someone else.
Looking at the scene, it gave the impression that he was just taking show off of Kato Megumi.
But just as Nijika was about to turn back and ignore this scene
From the direction of Yukima Azuma and Kato Megumi, a guitar melody rang out.
It was the song that their band had been practicing.
Though their guitar skills were still amateur level, it was...
Ijichi Nijika looked at Yukima Azuma and Kato Megumi in surprise.
She saw Yukima Azuma holding Kato Megumi's hand, earnestly teaching her how to play the guitar.
The two were playing the complete melody of the song together.
A huge question mark seemed to appear above Ijichi Nijika's head.
Wait a minute, hold on!
Wasn't he the one who couldn't play?
Ijichi Nijika could be sure that the notes Yukima Azuma had pressed earlier weren't fake.
He truly didn't know how to play.
But now...
The two of them were playing the song together, and their skills were improving with each strum.
No matter how slow their progress was, but...
Who could possibly increase their guitar skills within just one short lesson like this?
Wait a minute! Who could look and listen, and play the entire song perfectly the very first time?
Ijichi Nijika felt like she was screaming inside like a stunned mole.
Chapter 76: The Youth of a Lonely Boy Will Not Dream of a Passerby Heroine
"Wonderful."
After finishing a song, Kato Megumi softly exclaimed in amazement.
Clearly, both of them had no knowledge of playing the guitar at first.
Yet, Yukima Azuma only studied for a short period of time,
And now he could hold her hand, guiding her to play through the entire song.
Even though she wasn't familiar with the instrument,
Kato Megumi understood that this was truly remarkable.
"It's also thanks to Megumi, don't underestimate our connection!"
Yukima Azuma smiled and said.
Kato Megumi poked lightly at Yukima Azuma's side.
She knew she didn't really know anything about it.
So, it was definitely just a tease earlier.
It was just like when he said, "Megumi is very special."
However, Yukima Azuma seemed to be able to read Kato Megumi's thoughts.
He took her mischievous hand in his.
His serious eyes stared deeply into her clear tuberose-like gaze.
"I'm not joking or comforting Megumi, I really think Megumi is very special."
"In this world, there's only one Megumi."
"And there's no need to try and change anything. It might sound like a roundabout way of saying it, but Megumi is just Megumi."
"Hmm, it still doesn't feel like enough to say these words, so let me show you that Megumi is the most captivating girl in the world, okay?"
Halfway through his words, Yukima Azuma realized that he was getting a bit tangled up in his own speech.
But an idea had already blossomed in his heart.
Kato Megumi blinked her sparkling tuberose eyes.
"Show me? How?"
"I can't tell you for now."
Yukima Azuma raised his hand to gesture "shh."
Kato Megumi nodded slightly.
However, within her heart, a feeling of anticipation stirred up like never before.
It wasn't the usual kind of interest, like a "let's see how it goes" curiosity she typically felt when she cared about something.
It was a genuine sense of expectation, even a yearning.
Her heartbeat began to quicken little by little.
Even Yukima Azuma's hope of proving what he said, she now hoped it would unfold right in front of her within the next 30 seconds.
Her other hand, which wasn't held by Yukima Azuma, instinctively placed itself on her chest.
Kato Megumi carefully savored this new feeling.
....
The band practice ended when it was starting to get dark.
Ijichi Nijika looked at Yukima Azuma with eyes full of horror, as if looking at a monster.
Kita Ikuyo was holding Bocchi in a sorrowful embrace, crying loudly.
She was still saying things like "What if we bought the wrong one this time?" "This is actually a bass, right?" "It's too hard!" and similar remarks.
Clearly, the practice session didn't go smoothly.
But at least they were back with the band.
There would be many more practice sessions in the future.
The more they practiced, the more skilled they would become, and in the end, they would achieve something.
.....
Home
Yukima Azuma smiled brightly as he approached Kasumigaoka Utaha.
"Senpai, I want to learn how to write light novels."
Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at him.
There was something odd about him today, as if he had something up his sleeve. It felt like a mischievous child trying to do something good before their parents noticed, hoping to lessen the punishment later.
Though she was a little suspicious,
Kasumigaoka Utaha still dedicated herself to teaching Yukima Azuma the skills of writing light novels.
Yukima Azuma's literary foundation was clear.
He wrote just as well as Kasumigaoka Utaha.
In fact, his writing was arguably a bit better.
As for the storyline, there was no need for any guidance.
What was needed were the techniques of writing a light novel, such as controlling the pacing and cliffhanger
After hearing the lecture from a genius light novel writer,
Yukima Azuma confidently took out his laptop.
He started typing!
Kasumigaoka Utaha turned her head to glance at the content in Yukima Azuma's document.
"'Seishun Kodoku Shounen wa trisugari no heroine no yume o minai,' what a ridiculous title!"
(t/n: I spent 30 minutes searching but couldn't find anything on google, it only brought up Bunnygirl-senpai but clearly it wasn't, chatgpt gave answers about a LN and Author does not exist. May be original he writing for Megumi, English title is "The Youth of a lonely boy will not dream of a passerby heroine")
Kasumigaoka Utaha looked at him with a skeptical expression.
Yukima Azuma just smiled and said nothing.
....
That evening,
"Senpai, can we have ribs for dinner tonight?"
"Ribs, is it?"
"Just make soup! Don't eat anything too fatty tonight."
"Alright, that's fine."
The two of them conversed casually.
Yukima Azuma placed the defrosted ribs on the cutting board.
He pulled out a meat cleaver and started handling the ingredients skillfully.
But after only a few cuts,
Skill: Cooking skill maxed out, level increased.
Skill: Cooking (6->7).
Yukima Azuma stopped his hand.
He pulled up the system panel.
[Owner: Yukima Azuma]
Body: 7
Intelligence: 8
Charm: 8
Skills:
Language Proficiency (lv6) Literature (lv6) Cooking (lv6->7) Programming (lv4) Shogi (lv8)
Notes: Skills below level four (i.e., beginner skills) are hidden and not displayed on the panel.
Looking at his list of skills, his cooking skill had reached level seven.
Yukima Azuma smiled.
Finally, he had a skill that had reached master level.
At least it was worth the effort of cooking for himself every day.
Now, it was time to test it.
Was Shogi truly special?
Or would all skills that reached this level have a special effect?
Yukima Azuma closed his eyes.
In an instant, his eyes opened again.
He casually placed the meat cleaver next to the cutting board.
Yukima Azuma placed his hand on the rib on the board.
His finger glided over the bone beneath the meat, feeling the contact with the flesh.
The moment after, his finger moved slightly.
The bone, which normally would require a strong cleaver to cut, simply split into two pieces with just a light press from Yukima Azuma.
His movements didn't stop.
Before long, the rib was broken down into small pieces suitable for cooking.
He turned on the faucet.
After washing his hands, Yukima Azuma looked at his left thumb joint.
He gently pressed his thumb joint with his right hand.
Immediately, his left thumb naturally dislocated.
With just a slight pull, the dislocated thumb instantly returned to its original position.
Yukima Azuma took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.
The truth had been confirmed.
All skills that reached level seven, the master level, had a special transformation.
This allowed Yukima Azuma to possess a supernatural ability related to that skill.
The ability that came with Shogi allowed him to influence the real world as if it were a chessboard.
The ability that came with the cooking skill allowed him to see the entire world of ingredients.
As long as the ingredients were within his special line of sight,
Yukima Azuma could easily analyze any creature, like a professional butcher.
The muscle fibers, the weakness of the bones, how the joints connected.
All of these things became transparent in Yukima Azuma's eyes.
And he could easily separate them into the shapes he desired.
Yukima Azuma took a few deep breaths before dismissing the ingredients vision.
Whenever he activated this vision, he always felt the urge to dismantle everything.
....
Cook, Cook, Cook.
Dinner was ready.
