Neon lights flickered throughout the streets as pedestrians hurried by. The occasional, familiar Chinese sign gave Chihaya Kaiser the illusion that he had returned to his home country.
This was Ikebukuro.
His gaze lingered briefly on the Chinese characters before he followed Anon into a live house called "ring."
Just from the outside, you could tell how large the venue was. Stepping inside revealed a full suite of facilities: the first floor had a shop for instrument sales and repairs, rehearsal rooms, recording studios, and a proper live stage.
There were no customers walking around, nor were there any staff to greet them; it seemed most of the work was centered around the stage.
Anon seemed very familiar with the layout and tried to pull him to the second-floor café, but he declined.
"I want to look at the instruments."
"Mhm." She stood behind the young man, staring at his back before her gaze shifted to the second floor.
Chihaya Kaiser's attention was fixed on the wall, where guitar after guitar met his eyes. Looking at their prices, not a single one was under one hundred thousand yen, which made his eye twitch.
He had already returned the guitar he usually used to Anon; he needed one for his own regular use.
But the money he had on hand...
If Yanami Anna would pay him back, and adding the ten thousand from today's mission, he should barely have thirty thousand yen.
He wanted to buy a Tele, but one hundred thousand yen was definitely not enough. He would have to work hard and save up.
His eyes moved to the other models. He wanted a Strat, a Les Paul too, and it would be best if he could get a PRS as well.
Unfortunately, he had no money.
However, since he had a system now, as long as he kept completing missions, he could get anything he wanted.
The young man composed himself, stood up, and went upstairs with her, tucking his desires away into the back of his mind.
There was only one employee in the second-floor café. The two of them ordered and sat in a corner.
"Aww, Taki isn't even here," Anon said, resting her chin in her hands as she sat beside him.
So she knew someone here. No wonder she'd come to this live house just for ice cream when there were clearly better options.
Could it be that meeting her acquaintance was her actual wish?
Chihaya Kaiser watched as the employee brought over the ice cream and a glass of ice water. He took his water and took a sip.
In his peripheral vision, Anon was taking picture after picture of the ice cream. Only after she was satisfied did she take a bite, a contented smile spreading across her face.
As expected, no mission completion notification.
He took out his phone and scrolled through the messages in his part-time photography group. After a few messages, he found that there were either no suitable gigs, or they had already been taken.
Just as he was about to exit, a private message suddenly popped up in his chat window. It was from a gyaru he knew from a previous photoshoot.
Marin Kitagawa: "Are you free tomorrow? I have a set of photos I want to shoot. Is three thousand yen still okay?"
Work's here.
Chihaya Kaiser's eyes flickered up as he quickly typed "Okay" and hit reply.
With a *ding*, the other party replied instantly.
Marin Kitagawa: "It's a date then. See you at the usual spot."
"Yep."
He thought the conversation would end there, and was about to ask Anon what her wish was.
But the other party sent another message.
Marin Kitagawa: "What are you up to, Chihaya-kun? I'm super bored right now."
Chihaya Kaiser: "Busy. See you tomorrow."
Marin Kitagawa: "Okay, see you tomorrow."
It was followed by a cute sticker. After it showed as read, no new messages popped up.
His gaze left the screen. The ice cream on the table was more than half gone, and there was still no notification of the mission's completion.
So it's not working, huh?
From what he knew of Anon, her wish most likely had something to do with showing off. Ideally, the mission would complete automatically after her first live performance, but wouldn't that take too long?
He propped his chin on his hand. "Is it good?"
"It's okay." She smiled, scooping up some ice cream and bringing it to his lips. "Want a bite, Kaiser?"
Seeing the slightly melted ice cream on the outer edge of the spoon, a hint of undisguisable distaste appeared in his eyes. He leaned back a little to avoid getting any on his clothes.
"No."
"Just one bite," she insisted, bringing it forward again, even cupping her left hand under the spoon as her head swayed slightly.
Looking at her puppy-dog eyes and hearing her cutesy, coaxing tone, he really couldn't refuse.
He accepted the spoon into his mouth. The soft, milky flavor melted on his tongue, a thread of coolness spreading through his mouth and into his skin.
"Is it good?" Anon's eyes widened as she leaned in, very close to him.
"Not bad." He felt the spoon slide off his tongue, past his lips, and return to the ice cream.
"Mhm? And you said you didn't want any just now." Anon hugged the ice cream bowl, shaking her head with a grin, the corners of her mouth turning up in a lovely curve.
The young man turned his head to the side, his gaze shifting to the floor-to-ceiling window. His reflection stared back, his lower lip caught gently between his teeth, as if he were trying to suppress some emotion.
"Are you really planning to be in a band?"
"Of course! I already promised them. We're about to have our first rehearsal soon."
With her heels on the ground, she swung her feet and kept eating the ice cream, clearly in a good mood.
Chihaya Kaiser was still thinking about the mission. Perhaps if she didn't embarrass herself during rehearsal and got a few compliments, the mission would be completed.
"Is that so? Do you have the sheet music?"
"I asked someone to write a new song, but I don't have it yet." Anon had almost finished eating.
"Well, when you get the music, I can teach you how to practice the song first. With a few days, we can get you to a point where you can play it through completely."
Chihaya Kaiser's own skill level wasn't actually that high, but he was more than capable of teaching Anon.
Looking at the empty bowl in front of him, he went with Anon to the counter to pay. His allowance dwindled once more.
After leaving the live house, the oncoming breeze was still cool, and the crowds on the street hurried along.
They walked slowly through the night. Chihaya Kaiser matched her pace, but Anon's steps were especially lively and energetic. Sometimes she would get a little ahead of him, then slow down to walk by his side.
The mission completion notice was still stubbornly absent. Even though he knew that just eating ice cream was unlikely to fulfill her wish, Chihaya Kaiser still felt a little disappointed.
He looked up at the night sky. It was a hazy gray, with no moon or stars in sight. Only the city lights illuminated the sky into a dark blue-black.
After mulling it over, he suddenly realized that Anon was right beside him. Just like when they were at home, he could just ask her directly if she had any other wishes.
"Anon."
"What's wrong?" Her pace slowed, her eyes resting on his, noticing his imperceptible disappointment.
He asked, "Besides eating ice cream, do you not have any other wishes?"
"Hmm..."
She tapped her cheek with her finger, wiggling it, then tapped it again. After repeating this a few times, she took a few steps forward, a smile on her face, and took his hand, her fingers intertwining with his.
"I do. Being able to continue spending evenings like this with you, Kaiser... that's my wish too."
[Mission complete. Reward has been distributed.]
The moment she finished speaking, Chihaya Kaiser received the long-overdue notification from the system.
______
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