OBS Chapter 37 Mio-chan Mio-chan Mio-chan
Chapter 37 Mio-chan Mio-chan Mio-chan
The clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, and the Osaka sky was once again bathed in sunshine. Nishino Nanase tied her hair back up, her freshly washed face rosy and flushed. She tiptoed and gave Rito a light kiss on the lips, then walked him downstairs and whispered in his ear about their next date.
"Okay, okay, we'll talk about it when I have time." Rito ruffled her hair, casually agreed, and then turned to leave.
Autumn in Osaka is the best time of year. The Kansai dialect, with its inherent humor, rises and falls around Rito, as if he has stumbled into the scene of a comedy competition. The street vendors skillfully use the technique that their Tokyo counterparts have long abandoned—hawking their wares. Each of them acts as if they have known Rito for decades, making him feel both uncomfortable and subtly warm.
Until his gaze swept across the street corner.
A girl in a bright red silk shirt stood with her back to him in front of the vending machine. Black leather suspenders accentuated her slender waist, and ripped fishnet stockings encased her straight calves. On her feet were a pair of worn-out Doc Martens. She raised her hand to brush away the stray hairs damp with sweat from her forehead, revealing a section of pale neck. Her posture and figure were exactly the same as Ye Meiqing from his nightmares.
Rito paused for a moment, then quickly chased after her. The girl in red he had met in the middle of the night had run away too fast, and he hadn't even had a chance to ask her any meaningful questions. He hadn't expected the virus to have spread all the way to Kansai.
"Wait a moment!"
Hearing the shout, the girl turned around in confusion. Rito rushed to her side and examined her closely—sure enough, it was still that classic pair of dark red silver earrings with a skull and diamond pattern.
"Excuse me, may I bother you?" Rito nodded politely. Luckily, this was Osaka, so it didn't seem out of place. "May I ask who you learned your outfit from?"
The girl sized him up, raised an eyebrow, and gave him the classic defiant look of a rebellious teenager: "Want to know? But why should I tell you?"
Rito, not wanting to waste words with her, pulled out his wallet without thinking, slapped a 10,000 yen note on her forehead, and stared at her with a forced smile, asking:
"Is that enough?"
"Enough! Enough!"
Faced with money, any superficial arrogance or coolness vanished in an instant. The spirited young woman stood at attention, quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket, and began to explain earnestly.
"Hey handsome, look at this! This is the outfit of a super popular YouTuber called Meiqingjiang. Lots of people are copying her style."
As she spoke, she opened YouTube and held her phone screen up to Rito's face. On the screen, a girl wearing the same red shirt and black leather pants was singing on the rooftop of an abandoned factory, with a gray sky and rusty iron frames in the background. Her voice was clear and hoarse, singing a song Rito was familiar with—the third-generation song from his dream, "Nightmare Syndrome."
"No wonder I had that dream; it seems I overheard it at some point."
Rito muttered to himself, finally having part of the mystery in his heart solved.
"What did you say, handsome?"
"It's nothing, thanks."
Li Ren nodded, thanked the girl who had helped him, and then immediately went to a quiet corner to make a phone call:
"I need all the information about a YouTuber named Mikoto-chan, the more detailed the better, and I need it before I go back to Tokyo."
---------This is the dividing line for those who have worked tirelessly overtime to conduct this investigation---------
When Rito drove back to Tokyo, it was already completely dark. As soon as he parked the car, his phone vibrated. He initially thought it was a message from his subordinates about Nono Mio, but when he picked it up, it was a message from Meimei.
"Kubo-san, you're back? Did you know that Neru-nee and Sayuri-nee had a fight?"
Rito frowned, suddenly feeling a throbbing sensation in the blood vessels at his temples. He thought for a moment and replied.
"What happened?"
"It's hard to explain on Line. Miho should still be in contact with you at the company. If you want to know, Kubo-san, you should ask her."
After waiting a while, Meimei's message finally arrived, and the content was very much in her style—overtime is impossible. I've already done more than enough by pointing you in the right direction. You can decide for yourself.
"Okay, get some rest. We have filming tomorrow." Rito knew this was just her personality, so she could only smile.
"Seriously, Kubo-san, if you keep nagging like this, you'll never get along with the members~"
As the phone screen gradually dimmed, Rito glanced at the last message, stepped on the gas, the engine roared, and the car cut through the night sky, heading towards the first crime scene.
Upon arriving at the company, only the lights in the practice room were still on in the vast floor. Rito walked over and pushed open the door, and sure enough, she saw Qiuqiu still inside. Perhaps because Meimei hadn't informed her, Qiuqiu seemed a little surprised by Rito's arrival.
"Kubo-san?"
She was holding a sports drink, her hair was soaked with sweat and lay messily on her forehead, her back was hunched and her chest was rounded, and every step she took seemed to take all her strength out of her body, clearly the result of having just completed a high-intensity training session.
"Miho, why are you practicing until now? Is it because I'm not at the company that someone is deliberately making things difficult for you?" Of course, Rihito knew what was going on, but she still asked this question on purpose.
"President, you still have the mind to joke around?" Qiuqiu rolled her eyes at him speechlessly, then casually found a place to sit down. "Neru-nee and Sayuri-nee are arguing, did you know?"
"Meimei told me, so she asked me to come find you. What's going on?" Rito wasn't as casual as her. She pulled up a chair, sat down, and looked down at her.
"It's all because of training." Qiuqiu pouted. "Today we practiced the dance for the third single. Neru didn't do a few small details of the movements right, and Sayuri said that she didn't give it her all during practice. She could have done better, but she always just went through the motions. Neru and Sayuri don't get along anyway, and this provocation made her angry too. The two of them had a big fight, which got more and more heated, and eventually Konno-san got in the way and scolded them both."
After a moment of silence, Rihito asked, "So what do you think?"
Qiuqiu glanced at him but didn't answer immediately.
"To be honest, I do like Neru, but not to the point of unconditionally spoiling her no matter what she does."
Li Ren understood what she meant, shook his head, and dispelled her concerns.
Qiuqiu thought about it seriously and said, "I think Neru really worked hard. If the maximum score is 100, she has at least achieved 90. With so much work in the center position, to be able to do this well is definitely not something that can be done casually. As for the remaining 10 points, every bit of improvement requires much more effort than before, and the average viewer can't really tell. From a cost-effectiveness perspective, I also agree with her approach."
"Besides, everyone's dancing skills are quite different now. Even if she really tries her best, others may not be able to keep up, and some people might even think that she overdid it."
Li Ren nodded and added to her statement.
Just as Takayama-nee said, the president makes no attempt to hide his affection for Neru-nee.
Qiuqiu gave him a deep look, paused, and then suddenly changed the subject: "But actually, I can understand Xiaobaihe's thoughts. After all, Neru is the center, the core of the whole team. If she's willing to push herself a little harder and take the lead, the other members will definitely work harder, and the team atmosphere might be different. Because Xiaobaihe herself does just that. Every time we practice, she's always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Even though she has knee problems, she still presents a perfect performance every time."
"I know, I even specifically asked my agent to keep an eye on her."
Rito sighed, leaned back in his chair, looked at his blurry reflection in the mirror, and suddenly felt a little tired.
Seemingly sensing his predicament, Qiuqiu, though still on Baihe's side, thoughtfully offered a word of defense for Shuishui:
"But you can't blame Neru-nee. Her physical fitness isn't the best among the members. If she had trained like Sayuri-nee, she probably wouldn't have been able to keep going."
"But she is, after all, the center and the role model for the team. If everyone were to follow her example and calculate the ratio of effort to reward so precisely, how could Nogizaka46 possibly have any infectious power? To become a national girl group, being excellent is not enough. Neru has always lacked a do-or-die spirit. I'm not new to this, so you don't need to speak up for her."
Rito took a deep breath and made a decision in his mind: he originally wanted to wait until the second generation of students merged before changing the main character, but now it seems that Neru is not suitable for the task of taking on the task of the main character in the early stages, and changing the main character is imminent.
Looking at his resolute expression, Qiuqiu felt like she had guessed something. However, no matter how good her relationship with Rito was, she didn't dare to ask him directly. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she put on a smile again and said relaxedly, "Okay, President, you know what you want to know. I should go take a shower now. I feel so sticky and uncomfortable."
As she said this, she tried to stand up by supporting herself on the chair, but her legs suddenly gave way and she almost fell to the ground.
"Watch out!" Rito quickly grabbed her arm and shook his head helplessly. "That's why I've always been conflicted. It's great that you guys are working so hard, but I just can't get over it if you really ruin your bodies."
Qiuqiu paused for a moment, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she subconsciously retorted, "Then I know why you like Neru-nee so much."
"It's not like I've treated you badly." Rito vaguely changed the subject, turned around, and bent down slightly.
"What?" Qiuqiu asked, puzzled.
"I feel sorry for you, so I'll take pity on you and carry you to the bathroom. Then I'll take you back to your dorm so you don't twist your ankle and fall into some ditch and have to be fished out." Li Ren muttered, patting his back. His words made Qiu Qiu blush, but not with her eyes, but with her body heat.
"What a bad person! Now I know where Neru learned her sharp tongue. It turns out she was influenced by her surroundings."
"Enough with all this talk, are you coming up or not? If you're not coming up, I'm leaving."
"Hmph, get ready, don't throw me to the ground and then make excuses."
Although she was sharp-tongued, Qiuqiu couldn't resist the temptation to pilot the Riren. She carefully climbed up and gently wrapped her arms around his neck. The moment her not-so-light weight pressed down on him, Riren's steps visibly slowed for a moment, but thankfully, he quickly recovered.
"Don't you dare say I'm fat. I was a basketball player just a few months ago." Qiuqiu, clinging to his back, preemptively and fiercely struck as if she had anticipated what he was about to say.
"I'm not fat at all, I think it looks just right."
Rito turned around, their cheeks almost brushing against each other, so close they could feel each other's breath. So Qiuqiu stopped talking, held her breath, and seemed to be asleep.
Rito didn't say anything, but simply carried her slowly down the long corridor. The motion-activated lights in the corridor turned on one by one, and then turned off one by one behind them, with only the sound of their footsteps echoing in the empty stairwell.
Upon reaching the bathroom door, before Rito could even speak, Qiuqiu jumped down and ran inside.
After some time, the bathroom door opened. Qiuqiu had changed into clean clothes, her wet hair draped over her shoulders, and she looked much fresher.
"Isn't it a little too cute?"
"Shut up, take me back."
The two walked side by side to the parking lot and got into the car. The streets of Tokyo were brightly lit at night, with cars flowing by. The neon lights shone through the car window onto Qiuqiu's face, flickering on and off.
"When does the selection for the second generation begin?" Qiuqiu suddenly asked, turning her gaze away from the window.
"Let's finish the third single. You and Meimei still have to film an audition CM. After that, we should be almost done," Rihito replied casually, looking ahead.
Qiuqiu gave a soft "Oh," paused for a moment, and then lowered her voice: "Although I knew this day would come soon, I didn't expect it to be so soon. The competition among 19 people was already fierce enough. With the second generation joining, the pressure on everyone is even greater."
Rito turned to look at her; the streetlight's light fell perfectly on her eyes, reflecting a hint of confusion. He gently tapped the brakes to control the car's speed and said earnestly, "Miho, do you want me to make you a promise?"
Qiuqiu chuckled lightly: "What promise? A guarantee that I'll always be in the front row?"
"That's too difficult." Rito smiled brightly. "I can only promise you that you will never regret joining Nogizaka46."
"I feel like this one is even harder than the previous one, are you sure, Kubo-san?"
Upon hearing this, Qiuqiu's smile faded. Saitama's detonator now appeared dignified and restrained. Rito observed her through the rearview mirror and nodded vigorously.
"I'm certain, and very confident."
The distant lights, fragmented by the buildings, fell on the girl's flawless, freshly bathed face, even more dazzling than she had imagined. Qiuqiu wiped away her tears of shock and revealed a big smile.
"I'm really looking forward to it, Kubo-san."