Chapter 207: The Bitterly Envious Ishikawa Tooru

Singing their anime's theme song right in front of Miyuki-nii and Ojou-sama Kaguya... Tsk, tsk, I can't take it, I can't take it. The more he thought about this scene, the more thrilling it felt.

If he didn't know that Miyuki-nii's singing talent was on par with Karthus the Deathsinger, Miyahito would definitely egg Miyuki and Kaguya, this pair of male and female leads, into singing the anime theme song on stage themselves.

This play? What do you call this play? This is called a cross-dimensional projection.

"...."

Looking expressionlessly at her boyfriend's face, which was itching with mischief and clearly spelled out "troublemaking," Utaha sighed helplessly in her heart.

Great, my man is secretly planning something again.

And judging by the upward curve of the corners of his mouth, this guy definitely wanted to stir up something big.

Huffing, she raised her hand and smacked Miyahito's forehead, snapping him out of his scheming. With a slightly serious expression, she admonished the defiant Miyahito.

"Know your limits."

Seeing the surprised look in Miyahito's eyes that screamed 'How did you know?!', Utaha shook her head helplessly.

How do I know?

I'm not blind. You've practically written your little thoughts all over your face! If I couldn't even see that, would I still be your girlfriend?

While mentally roasting her boyfriend, Utaha raised her index finger, gently pressing the tip against Miyahito's chest, right over his heart, and spoke word by word.

"Know your limits! You are not allowed to cause trouble for Miyuki-senpai and Kaguya-senpai, got it?"

".....I wouldn't cause them trouble." Miyahito muttered softly, but as he spoke, he saw his girlfriend widen her eyes slightly, glaring at him threateningly.

The next second, he reflexively shut his mouth, covered it with his palm, and nodded very obediently.

Seeing this, Utaha finally retracted the threatening look on her face with satisfaction.

"Do you have anything prepared?"

"Yeah." Having his mischievous heart firmly suppressed by his Utaha, Miyahito became much more well-behaved for the moment and nodded. "I have a song that fits Miyuki-nii's requirements quite well."

Saying this, Miyahito recalled the scene just now in the Shuchiin Student Council office, where Miyuki had solemnly explained the requirements of the commission to him.

"In order to align with the recent campus atmosphere at Shuchiin, and because we want to turn around Shuchiin's current public reputation, Kaguya and I hope, Miyahito, that you can try to compose a song that fits the themes of youth, school life, liveliness, and spirit..."

"Romantic elements? That's fine. Although Shuchiin doesn't encourage student romance, current mainstream social topics revolve around love. Of course, elements of impure relationships with the opposite sex are absolutely out of the question..."

"Mhm, after all, the President and Vice President of our Student Council are a boy and a girl, so we also hope the sports festival song can have some related elements..."

"No, no, the song style doesn't need to be serious. Rather, we hope the song you provide, Miyahito, is of a lively, youthful pop style..."

...So, synthesizing the suggestions from Miyuki-nii, Kaguya-senpai, Fujiwara-senpai, and Ishigami Yu (whose suggestions were suppressed by the two senior girls several times) in the Shuchiin Student Council today.

Isn't it obvious they want me to sing one of Masayuki Suzuki's three theme songs?

So, when the time comes, should I choose the first season's "Love Dramatic"? Or the second season's "DADDY! DADDY! DO!"? Or maybe the third season's "GIRI GIRI"?

Hmm..... This is really giving me a headache.

...

The next day, more than an hour before the designated school arrival time.

"Good morning....." Having played games too late last night and suffering from excited insomnia, Ishikawa Tooru rubbed his sleepy eyes and groggily slid open the classroom's sliding door.

Thinking, 'If I oversleep at home later and end up being late, I might as well come to the classroom early to catch up on sleep,' Tooru, who thought he was the first to arrive, opened the door and his first sight was a certain salted fish that had been sun-dried for over 180 days, now peacefully resting its head in the morning sun with a serene expression.

With a blank expression for a few seconds, Tooru raised his hand to rub his eyes. He looked at the unconscious Miyahito in disbelief for a few more seconds, then backed out into the hallway to seriously check the classroom nameplate hanging on the wall.

Yeah... this is definitely Class 1-B.

Turning around again, he looked out the hallway window at the familiar school gate, the familiar sports field, and the familiar courtyard.

Yeah... I didn't go to the wrong school. This is Private Toyogasaki Academy.

His mind growing more and more confused, Tooru scratched his head, then walked into the classroom with a highly puzzled expression.

Approaching the salted fish that was sleeping like a dead pig, he reached out and gently pushed the other's shoulder.

"Hey, Miyahito."

After a good while, Miyahito slowly woke up and lifted his head. Sporting a pair of dark circles identical to a certain national treasure, radiating utter decadence and exhaustion, he looked at his good brother beside him, weakly tugged at the corners of his mouth, and greeted him in a tone as if his energy had been completely drained.

"Ah... Tooru... good morning.... (Thud—!)"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Watching Miyahito collapse back onto the desk with a thud right after greeting him, Tooru was instantly so startled that his sleepiness flew away.

"Miyahito, are you okay?!"

Pushing Miyahito several times and finding he couldn't wake him up at all, Tooru subconsciously took out his phone.

Just as he was about to call the hospital to come pick someone up, a familiar, slightly helpless voice came from the back door of the classroom.

"Don't worry about him, Ishikawa-kun."

"Eh?" Turning around, Tooru looked blankly at Utaha, who had her arms crossed and was looking at him like a wife looking at her disappointing husband. He carefully confirmed again.

"Really don't need to?"

"No need."

Unlike Miyahito, who was utterly decadent and looked as if his spirit had been completely drained.

Utaha, who had just walked into Class 1-B and came over to observe Miyahito, was in a mental state that, compared to his, was like heaven and earth.

Without exaggeration, today's Utaha was even more... hmm... refreshed and radiant than her usual self.

'Masaka! (No way!)'

Noticing that Utaha's condition was much more bright and captivating, Tooru's mind unconsciously connected this with his best friend's current "drained dry" appearance, plus the romantic relationship of this "shameless couple."

'This guy Miyahito... has he already crossed that threshold in life!?'

Stepping back a bit, Tooru looked at Miyahito, then at Utaha, with an extremely complex gaze, and then couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh.

Hmm... with this single sigh, he exhaled all the 'bitterness', 'injustice', and 'envy and jealousy' in this world.

"Hmm?" Noticing the strange behavior of her boyfriend's good friend, Utaha removed the palm she had placed on Miyahito's forehead to roughly check his temperature, and looked at Tooru with some confusion as his expression rapidly switched between "gnashing teeth" and "bitter envy."

Um, excuse me....

Is this some new emerging performance style? Or did you, Ishikawa-kun, go learn some traditional art?