Chapter 73: She's My Voice-Box!
"After using so much Cursed Energy tonight, it would be too pitiful if we didn't get any food." Gojo Satoru said to Okkotsu Yuta, thankful that Hachiman knew enough people so they wouldn't have to return to the college hungry. "See? Our Hachiman-nii-chan has connections everywhere."
With a look that implied Yuta had lucked out, Gojo Satoru patted Okkotsu Yuta on the back and instructed, "Follow Hachiman-nii-chan from now on, and you'll be blessed." It seemed this guy planned to hand Okkotsu Yuta over to Hachiman for guidance again.
Hikigaya Hachiman ignored the idiot Gojo Satoru and focused his attention on Nagasaki Soyo. Mutsumi's video call saying that "Soyo is broken" was indeed correct.
Nagasaki Soyo's eyes currently lacked any light.
Her negative emotions were overflowing, and she even showed a slight tendency toward misanthropy. She looked like she wanted to cry, yet her eyes seemed completely dried up from crying.
She was almost like Okkotsu Yuta when Hachiman first saw him, feeling like there was nothing left in the world to cherish. However, Yuta was at least like that because he had been around the Special Grade Cursed Spirit "Orimoto Rika" for six years.
Was Nagasaki Soyo's issue that serious?
"It's fine, Hikigaya-kun, I'm already better anyway." Nagasaki Soyo shook her head and offered a haggard smile.
Hikigaya Hachiman noticed the girl's bowl was empty, looking untouched and brand new.
She clearly had no appetite. Moreover, Nagasaki Soyo spoke without her usual "clutching" (a cutesy, high-pitched voice) today, which made him feel slightly unaccustomed.
"Nagasaki-san, did you come alone?" Hikigaya Hachiman looked at the four dishes and one soup in front of Nagasaki Soyo. It didn't look like a portion for one person.
Nagasaki Soyo shook her head. "I came with my mom, but she had to go back to work."
This small restaurant was where Nagasaki Soyo and her family used to eat when she was little. It was affordable, the food was delicious, and it carried childhood memories.
When she found out that Sakiko had completely blocked her today, her expression could only be described as her entire world collapsing. She could no longer contact Sakiko.
Nagasaki Soyo hadn't even answered the calls from her newly formed band today. She didn't answer anyone's calls and skipped the practice sessions prepared for the live performance.
Her original idea for forming the band was to use this method to bring Sakiko back. But Sakiko completely cutting her off plunged Nagasaki Soyo into despair. Although Nagasaki Soyo's
mother didn't know what happened to her daughter, lacking daily concern for her daughter, she could only suggest going out for a meal to lift her spirits.
However, Nagasaki Soyo's mother was called out for overtime work just before the dishes arrived. Nagasaki Soyo knew her mother was busy with work, and overtime was inevitable, so there was nothing she could do.
As a result, she didn't get to eat, her mood didn't improve, and Nagasaki Soyo, all alone, had no appetite for food.
Her mood only worsened.
Nagasaki Soyo quietly stared blankly at the chat box showing her and Sakiko were no longer contacts, until Hikigaya Hachiman woke her up. Only then did Nagasaki Soyo realize that her behavior seemed to be inconveniencing others. Since the shop was busy, occupying a seat when she wasn't planning to eat was causing trouble for others.
"Enjoy your meal. I'll leave now so I don't disturb you."
"Hikigaya-kun, these dishes were just served. I haven't touched them, and they've already been paid for, so it'd be a waste to throw them away." After speaking, Nagasaki Soyo tried to leave. Suddenly standing up, she felt a momentary blackout and spinning in her vision.
Hikigaya Hachiman reached out and supported Nagasaki Soyo, preventing her smooth forehead from crashing onto the table. This girl's situation was worse than he thought. The haggard-looking girl was shaking and unstable when she stood up, giving the impression of low blood sugar and impending fainting.
"Be careful."
"Sorry." Nagasaki Soyo leaned on the table with one hand, stood for a while, and only opened her eyes when she felt better. "Maybe I stood up too quickly just now." Nagasaki Soyo hadn't eaten much from lunch until dinner, so feeling a little hypoglycemic was normal. The already thin girl now looked like the wind could easily knock her down.
"Hachiman-nii-chan, your friend is in this state. You should take her home later."
Gojo Satoru couldn't stand seeing Nagasaki Soyo like this. Although he didn't know what exactly happened to the girl, her current state of overflowing negative emotions and extreme mental distortion would attract countless Cursed Spirits if she wandered the streets.
She might end up dead in some corner by tomorrow morning, leaving only a pool of dried blood and a mutilated corpse.
Gojo Satoru wasn't exaggerating. The number of missing persons in Japan is over ten thousand annually, and that number is constantly rising.
Nagasaki Soyo's condition was already very serious. Before Gojo Satoru and the others entered the shop, he saw numerous low-level Cursed Spirits swirling around the girl.
The nearby streets were unusually active with Cursed Spirits compared to other areas. Many Cursed Spirits were lurking not far away, clearly targeting the brown-haired girl.
However, these Cursed Spirits were unlucky to run into three Special Grade Sorcerers: Gojo Satoru, Okkotsu Yuta, and Hikigaya Hachiman. The Cursed Spirits were automatically crushed by the Cursed Technique field emanating from Hikigaya Hachiman as they approached.
Seeing Gojo Satoru wink at him, Hikigaya Hachiman gave him a cold look.
He understood the situation, but he wasn't familiar enough with Nagasaki Soyo to walk her home. However, it was true that in Nagasaki Soyo's current state, she should only travel home around noon. If she went in the morning or evening, something was bound to happen.
Hikigaya Hachiman shook his head and said, "I'll take you back later." Hikigaya Hachiman's tone left no room for Nagasaki Soyo to refuse.
"No need, I can manage alone." Nagasaki Soyo quickly waved her hand. She didn't like troubling others.
"No. It's on my way anyway." Hikigaya Hachiman gently pressed Nagasaki Soyo back into her seat. He sat on the outside, effectively trapping Soyo inside. "Resistance is futile." Hikigaya Hachiman used his body as a barrier to prevent Nagasaki Soyo from trying to leave and potentially getting herself killed.
"You have more strength than Rikki-chan." Nagasaki Soyo, unable to resist Hikigaya Hachiman, was pressed into her seat and felt a mix of tears and laughter.
"You haven't eaten anything. Eating a little will help you feel much better," Hikigaya Hachiman said to Nagasaki Soyo. "Also, I don't know what problem is bothering you.
If you can't figure something out, thinking about it constantly won't solve anything.
You might as well eat."
And although it was rude, Hikigaya Hachiman couldn't help but feel a strange sense of amusement looking at the listless Nagasaki Soyo now, compared to the aggressively challenging way she confronted Mutsumi in the storage room earlier.
After all, Hikigaya Hachiman currently had a better relationship with Wakaba Mutsumi. And what Nagasaki Soyo didn't know was that the fundamental reason why Sakiko cut her off completely was the boy sitting in front of her.
"Exactly! Exactly!" Gojo Satoru chimed in. "Thinking by yourself will only lead you into a dead-end loop. Life is already hard enough. Stay away from people who cause you pain, or you'll become unhappy." And if you waste food, the "Inari God" will cry."
Hikigaya Hachiman introduced Gojo Satoru and Okkotsu Yuta to Nagasaki Soyo. "Rest assured, although they talk a bit strangely, they are both my friends, not bad people."
"Right! Right!" Gojo Satoru didn't mind Hikigaya Hachiman's description. He smiled and said, "Hello, lovely young lady.
We are both Hachiman-nii-chan's subordinates, definitely not suspicious characters.
Right, Yuta-kun."
Okkotsu Yuta felt embarrassed saying it, but he had successfully been led astray and finally nodded. "Yes... Hachiman-nii-chan."
"Can you please stop calling me Hachiman-nii-chan?" Hikigaya Hachiman frowned, looking at Gojo Satoru and Okkotsu Yuta.
Gojo Satoru was so unpredictable, which was why his students constantly called him an idiot. This man was good in every way, except for his mouth.
"Yes!" Okkotsu Yuta, the startled "little white rabbit," immediately stood up straight when Hikigaya Hachiman glared at him. Gojo Satoru raised both hands in a gesture of innocent surrender.
"I got it. Don't look at us with such terrifying eyes.
Look how scared Yuta-kun is."
Okkotsu Yuta realized he had been so scared he stood at attention, and everyone around was staring at him. Feeling extreme social embarrassment, Okkotsu Yuta's face flushed red. He sat down immediately and dared not speak again.
Nagasaki Soyo watched their interaction, and the melancholy in her heart lessened somewhat.
She felt that the current Hikigaya-kun wasn't so aloof and felt very human. As for the two people she didn't know, although the white-haired man seemed a bit frivolous, he still looked somewhat reliable when he wasn't talking.
The timid-looking boy with heavy dark circles was just an ordinary male student. Nagasaki Soyo had assumed that Hikigaya-kun's friends would all be like heirs from financial conglomerates, so their ordinariness was surprising.
She had no idea that she had met some of the strongest people in the entire Sorcery world in one day.
Gojo Satoru started calling the Owner to order some of their usual dishes. Since he was sitting next to Okkotsu Yuta, he could see the menu directly and didn't need to ask for Okkotsu Yuta's opinion. Only Hikigaya Hachiman and Nagasaki Soyo, who were opposite them, couldn't see the menu.
"What do you want, Hachiman?"
"Anything is fine." Hikigaya Hachiman didn't forget Nagasaki Soyo. "Get a bowl of red bean mochi soup for Nagasaki-san."
"Yuta-kun, what would you like to drink?"
"Just plain water, please." Okkotsu Yuta had just woken up from a coma and only wanted to eat something light.
"Okay, got it."
"Oh, Owner, can you get me a serving of the special drink I always order?" After Gojo Satoru finished ordering, he put down the menu. Besides, the young lady opposite them hadn't finished the food she already ordered, so there was no need to order too many stir-fry dishes. A little grilled food would suffice.
Gojo Satoru couldn't steer the conversation toward Nagasaki Soyo, so he asked Okkotsu Yuta, "Yuta-kun, do you need to tell your parents about transferring schools?"
On the way here, Gojo Satoru had already told Okkotsu Yuta that the place he should go to control his power was the Tokyo Jujutsu High School. There, he would learn how to become a Sorcerer and control Orimoto Rika's power, so he wouldn't cause trouble for others anymore.
"It's alright; I'm not in touch with them anyway." Okkotsu Yuta had rarely been in contact with his parents since six years ago. The only person he connected with more was his sister.
"Then come back to the school with me tonight."
"That fast?" Okkotsu Yuta thought there would be some paperwork, but he was enrolling immediately.
Gojo Satoru was afraid of things changing. Tokyo Jujutsu High School was the safest place. It not only had Master Tengen's barrier but also high-grade Sorcerers like them guarding it. Even Sorcerer Association personnel needed to report to enter.
"Yes, the school has many dormitories, and your new classmates are very friendly and excited to have anew student."
Indeed, Tokyo Jujutsu High School's freshman class would now have four students, making it the most prosperous class ever.
"Do I need any procedures for the transfer?" Okkotsu Yuta suddenly thought of his previous school.
"No need. I'll take care of everything with one phone call. You just need to move in."
Gojo Satoru was truly dedicated to nurturing the next generation of Sorcerers. Even when he saw an ordinary person, his first thought was whether they had Sorcerer talent and if he could recruit them to Jujutsu High. Naturally, he provided an all-inclusive, one-stop service with no worries.
He was from the Gojo family, one of the Three Great Families, so intervening in education was just a matter of making a simple call.
"Transferring schools?" Nagasaki Soyo was a little surprised. The school term had already been underway for a while.
"This Yuta-kun is transferring to the school of this white-haired sensei." Hikigaya Hachiman said to Nagasaki Soyo. "Although this white-haired guy looks unreliable, he is indeed a sensei."
Gojo Satoru smiled. "If you, young lady, also want to transfer schools, I can help you switch to another school in Tokyo for Hachiman's sake."
As a sensei, Gojo Satoru still knew that student depression and self-isolation were usually caused by bullying. Gojo Satoru thought Nagasaki Soyo was being bullied at school.
This was quite common, and Okkotsu Yuta also suffered from bullying. Such bullying often led to students becoming depressed, reluctant to go to school, or simply dropping out. However, Gojo Satoru merely brought it up casually.
"No, thank you." In fact, Nagasaki Soyo didn't quite believe it, as transferring from "Tsukinomiya" to another school in Tokyo would be quite difficult.
"Gojo-sensei, the food and the special drink are here." The Owner placed the ordered dishes, drinks, and water on the nearby table. The red bean mochi soup also arrived.
Hikigaya Hachiman placed the red bean mochi soup in front of Nagasaki Soyo. "Drink something warm. It's good for your body."
Okkotsu Yuta curiously looked at the bottle of special drink. Although he didn't know why it was the color of ordinary Oolong tea, he had a feeling it wasn't that simple.
"Here, Hachiman." Gojo Satoru took a cup, poured it full of the special drink, and gave it to Hikigaya Hachiman. Seeing Okkotsu Yuta's curious gaze, he chuckled. "Yuta-kun, would you like a glass?" Okkotsu Yuta thought, looking at the beautiful color, it probably wouldn't be a problem, right? Okkotsu Yuta was slightly hesitant.
"What is this, Gojo-sensei?"
"You can tell by the color, it's Oolong tea." Gojo Satoru was truly speaking nonsense with his eyes open. Apart from the color, this beverage had no Oolong tea components.
Hikigaya Hachiman's nose was very sensitive. He took a slight sniff and, under Gojo Satoru's gaze, drank it all in one go.
"Alright, I'll let you taste just a tiny bit." Gojo Satoru gave a glass to Okkotsu Yuta. Okkotsu Yuta, seeing Hikigaya Hachiman drink it in one gulp, was curious and took a sip. However, as soon as his lips touched the Oolong tea-like liquid, a burning sensation immediately spread through his mouth, and he started to choke.
"Gojo-sensei!" The coughing Okkotsu Yuta bent over, patting his chest, and protested to Gojo Satoru. "Isn't this alcohol?"
"Yuta is so lame. Look, Hachiman finished it without even frowning."
"Whiskey mixed with vodka is the adult drink, isn't it?" Gojo Satoru swirled the glass and said with a smile. "For adults, Oolong tea that can be ignited is the real Oolong tea." Of course, despite saying that, Gojo Satoru has a very low tolerance for alcohol. This action was merely a case of putting up a brave front and pretending to be an adult in front of his student.
Okkotsu Yuta thought it would be something delicious, but the sip almost made him throw up.
"But if Hikigaya-sensei drank alcohol, how can he drive?" Okkotsu Yuta saw Hikigaya Hachiman drink that highly potent liquor in one gulp. He thought Hachiman drove here today.
Hikigaya Hachiman didn't speak but placed his hand on the cup. When he moved it away, the previously empty cup was full again.
"It's just a distraction trick." Yes, he didn't actually drink Gojo Satoru's "Oolong tea." He was about to take Nagasaki Soyo home, and Gojo Satoru was trying to make him make a mistake by offering him a glass of highly potent liquor. Hikigaya Hachiman appeared to drink the whole cup foolishly, but he actually stored it all in his ring's space, giving the impression that he had drunk all the liquor in the cup.
"Damn it, Hachiman is still Hachiman." As Gojo Satoru thought this, he immediately heard commotion from the next table.
"Whose kid is that?" Gojo Satoru muttered softly.
Hikigaya Hachiman saw the wine-red-haired young girl stand up completely, as if questioning her friend. "Why did you quit Diamond*Dust? That was clearly your old band!" Hikigaya Hachiman only knew that girl bands were popular; he just didn't pay attention.
"That was the band you, MMK, once poured your soul into!
Did I misunderstand? Was Diamond*Dust an irrelevant band to you, MMK?"
Just three simple sentences completely caught Nagasaki Soyo, who was sitting next to Hikigaya Hachiman, off guard.
Band, quit.
These keywords, especially those three sentences, hit Nagasaki Soyo's heart directly. If she replaced "Diamond*Dust" with Crychic, it was exactly what she wanted to say to Sakiko but dared not say for fear of ruining their relationship.
'That's literally me!'
Sakiko was the same way. Crychic was a band Sakiko built from the ground up, so why could Sakiko say those heartless words, "I'm here to end the band," that day? Did Sakiko not value
the wonderful and precious days the band members spent together at all? Nagasaki Soyo's hands were completely clasped together, beginning to twist unconsciously. Hikigaya Hachiman and Gojo Satoru both noticed the fierce emotional turmoil of the girl beside them.
But after the wine-red-haired "little potato" said this, the blonde girl she was confronting only replied, "Shut up."
The black-haired female high school student in school uniform caught between the two was the most uncomfortable one, caught between her two best friends. Especially when she noticed the customers at other tables staring at them, the black-haired girl felt extremely embarrassed and said to everyone, "Um, sorry everyone, sorry."
"You two, please calm down a little."
However, the black-haired girl's attempt to mediate did not work. Instead, it only made the two angry girls angrier.
"Listen up," the blonde girl, about 20 years old, said. "Bands, like people, grow and change. What used to be right for you can't be right forever."
"Is that your reason for quitting?"
"Then what about the song I heard?"
Nagasaki Soyo focused all her attention on the next table, listening to their conversation. She even subconsciously filtered out irrelevant information, actively replacing it with the words she wanted to hear. This made Nagasaki Soyo's heart tremble even more intensely.
'Oh my god, that's literally my voice-box!'
Everything the "little potato" wanted to say was everything Nagasaki Soyo wanted to say.
Nagasaki Soyo truly wanted to ask Sakiko, "What was Harukage to you?" Sakiko was the one who said that after they formed the band, they became a community of fate, yet why did she so heartlessly end the band all by herself, splitting everyone apart?
Unlike the silence when Crychic disbanded, this girl, although short like a little potato, simply poured out all the thoughts in her heart. "I just liked the Diamond*Dust that Momoka was in."
"Because I love Momoka's songs, because it was the Diamond*Dust of that time, it was Momoka... that deeply touched me..." Nagasaki Soyo truly only liked the Crychic that Sakiko was in. Everyone was so happy back then. In Nagasaki Soyo's heart, this sentence was a deadly blow. In her memory, Sakiko created Harukage with tears in her eyes. She said it was everyone's song, and they would be in the band forever.
"!" But the long-haired blonde girl became even more irritated after hearing this. She didn't hesitate to splash the liquor from the cup in her hand directly onto the other girl's face.
But everything ended on that rainy day.
This treatment reminded Nagasaki Soyo of her own grief. Was she the only one who missed those beautiful times? Did none of them cherish it? A wave of anger welled up in her heart. Nagasaki Soyo hadn't done anything wrong, yet why were they so opposed to her simply missing the band?
"No!"
So, what surprised everyone was that the person who cried out "No" was not the parties involved, but Nagasaki Soyo next to Hikigaya Hachiman.
"You won't let me speak? I will speak!"
Emotionally agitated, Nagasaki Soyo stood up due to the familiar scene.
Her manner was completely different from her usual gentle self.
Furthermore, to steel her nerves, the girl, to Hikigaya Hachiman's astonished gaze, drank the entire cup of non-flammable "Oolong tea" in front of her in one gulp. After drinking, she slammed the cup heavily onto the table, as if to vent all her absolute dissatisfaction and all the grievances she had harbored these past few days.
"Why can you always so easily say the band is over without considering the feelings of the other members?" Nagasaki Soyo shouted loudly, yet she looked so helpless and pitiful. "I truly loved Crychic! Writing lyrics together, studying together, I loved the time we spent practicing for live shows..."
Nagasaki Soyo tightly gripped the cup, her body trembling. Drinking the bitter liquor burned her throat, but her heart ached even more than her throat.
Nagasaki Soyo was the most deeply wounded by Crychic's disbandment, precisely because she valued the entire band, the entire group, the most. When Togawa Sakiko announced the band's breakup, it was like stabbing Nagasaki Soyo's heart with a knife. To this day, the wound Sakiko inflicted showed no sign of healing. Instead, it tore Nagasaki Soyo's heart even further apart.
"As for the 'growth' you talk about, I simply don't understand it!" Nagasaki Soyo didn't understand why, after graduation, school became a barrier between them, causing everyone to go their separate ways and lose contact. If she hadn't formed the new band, she wouldn't even know where Tomori was going to school.
"Why could you so resolutely cut off your relationship with us, your former bandmates?
Did you completely disregard our feelings?"
Thinking this, Nagasaki Soyo covered her mouth, and tears fell uncontrollably. "I really loved the time we spent together in the band." Nagasaki Soyo bent her body, sobbing. The girl's breathing hurt, but the emotions pouring out of her heart couldn't be suppressed. "I only know that you were the one who said we would be in a band forever, and you are also the one who suddenly said the band was over. I truly don't understand at all."
"Why could you be so heartless to say those words about ending the band...?
Even if we couldn't be band members, we could still be friends, but now you won't even give me the chance to be friends..." Nagasaki Soyo choked as she spoke, unable to say anything more.
The two people who were arguing were astonished by this scene. The only thing they knew was that this girl had also been hurt by a friend who had actively left their band.
Only people who had been in a band could understand this pain.
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