The next day, at a certain integrated commercial complex near Sendai Station.
Gojo Satoru had taken Fushiguro Megumi and Itadori back to Tokyo the previous night to handle the follow-up matters concerning Itadori, while Uchiha Ayato, having gotten exactly what he wanted, had arrived at the venue of sumimi’s promotional live show.
Of course, his primary purpose wasn’t to enjoy beautiful-girl idols singing and dancing, but to scout for intel and map out his next strategy by observing Misumi Uika up close.
That’s right, kids—Uncle Ayato is a heartless mission-execution machine; weak emotions simply don’t exist for him.
When Uchiha Ayato walked into the hall, the very air throughout the venue trembled faintly with the screams of the fans.
On the stage, two girls stood within the dazzling light, every gaze in the house focused on them.
Mana, the lead vocalist, was the first to open her mouth; her voice possessed a magical penetrating power, able to cram emotion directly into the minds of those who listened.
Uika stood beside her, plucking at the guitar strings, low yet crystal-clear, meshing seamlessly with Mana’s vocal line.
Uchiha Ayato stood among the crowd, quietly savoring the performance.
Not bad.
[Tangyuan.jpg] He had no further commentary—those two words, coming from him, already counted as quite a high score.
The autograph session began half an hour after the performance ended.
The line wasn’t long—it was a small-scale promo event, after all—and Ayato reached the table after roughly twenty minutes of waiting.
Mana spotted him first, and her eyes immediately lit up: “Ah!
It’s Uchiha-kun!
You really came!” “I keep my word and follow through on what I say—that is my ninja way.” As he said this, Uchiha Ayato’s face was the very picture of resolve.
Domo, Uchiha Ayato desu.
“Pfft——” Mana took the CD with a laugh and began signing, her mouth never stopping: “A ‘ninja way’ and all that—sounds awfully heavy~” “I feel like you’d really hit it off with Wakamiya-senpai from Pastel*Palettes.” “Maybe so.” Ayato gave a little laugh, then pushed forward a second CD he’d bought: “Could I trouble the two of you to write, on this one, besides your autographs, one more line—’May Chihaya Anon be happy every day’?” He’d originally wanted them to write ‘Chihaya Anon is a big idiot,’ but on second thought he let it go.
At his words Mana paused her pen, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes: “Chihaya Anon…
is she Uchiha-kun’s girlfriend?” “Just an ordinary friend.” Ayato answered cleanly and crisply, without a shred of hesitation: “She’s a devoted sumimi fan too.
It just happened to cross my mind while I was here, so I’m grabbing one for her on the side.” “Ohh——” Mana drew the trailing note out long, then turned her head to look at Uika beside her: “Uika, did you hear that?” Uika was signing with her head bowed; at his words she lifted her gaze and shot Ayato a glance.
She gave a soft little smile, then earnestly wrote out, stroke by careful stroke, the bold characters ‘May Chihaya Anon be happy every day.’ Once finished, she pushed the CD back and gave a wink.
“Uchiha-kun…” Uika’s voice wasn’t loud, carrying just the faintest trace of mirth: “Subconsciously thinking of the other person, taking their preferences into account, looking out for them…
that’s already not ‘just an ordinary friend,’ you know?” Uchiha Ayato: “?” What’s that supposed to mean?
I…
I bought two because I promised little Chihaya I’d bring her back a souvenir—there’s absolutely no other meaning to it.
Sigh, what a decline in public morals—it’s nothing but pure, innocent friendship, and yet it has to get twisted like this by you Neon idol girls!
Cornered.
Truly backed right under the eaves.
“N-no, it’s nothing of the sort.” Uchiha Ayato kept up a more-or-less dignified expression as he said, guiltily: “It really was just on the side.” Off to the side, Mana covered her mouth and laughed, her shoulders trembling: “Mhm, mhm, ‘on the side.'” “On the side bought two completely identical CDs, on the side even remembered that she likes us…” Mana nodded, her eyes curving into crescents with laughter.
“Casually picked up two identical ones, casually dashed all the way from Tokyo to Sendai, casually—” “All right, all right.” Ayato cut her off, resolutely snatched up his little backpack, and bolted: “Thank you both.
The performance was wonderful.” Ah, holy crap, how is this sumimi so wicked?
Did they really have to keep chasing down my openings just to poke at them?
Especially you, little Misumi—truly worthy of being Uchiha Obito!
Uncle Ayato is never being your gachi fan ever again!
Run!
Mana watched Ayato recede into the distance, then tilted her head and quietly poked Uika’s arm: “Uika, you did that on purpose just now, didn’t you?” Uika shook her head, the curve at the corner of her mouth refusing to fade: “Not at all~ It’s just that, seeing how lost he looked, I couldn’t help wanting to give him a little push, that’s all.” After that, Misumi Uika picked up the lottery-qualification ticket that Uchiha Ayato had left behind on the table in his overly hasty flight, waved it toward Sumita Mana, and pointed to the bottom of the ticket: “Mana, look at this.” Sumita Mana leaned her head in and looked toward the spot Misumi Uika was pointing at.
There, there was a row of tiny golden numbers.
“This serial number…
it’s a complimentary ticket, isn’t it?” Sumita Mana’s tone was a little hesitant.
“Mhm.” Misumi Uika gave a nod: “Agency complimentary tickets are usually the kind the higher-ups set aside for their own relatives and close friends—the sort that doesn’t get circulated out.” “Uchiha-kun…
seems rather out of the ordinary, doesn’t he?” ………..
On the Shinkansen back to Tokyo, Uchiha Ayato sank into an unprecedented bout of inner turmoil.
‘Subconsciously thinking of the other person, taking their preferences into account, looking out for them…
that’s already not just an ordinary friend, you know?’ ‘Listen up, Ayarin—if you like me, you can totally just come right out and say so openly and boldly~’ ‘Uchiha Ayato!
Just what kind of person do you take me for?!’ …
Misumi Uika’s words, together with all the bygone moments shared with Chihaya Anon, echoed and crisscrossed through Uchiha Ayato’s mind.
Even though beautiful scenery was streaking past outside the window, before his eyes he kept hallucinating that stinky pink-haired girl’s face.
Goofily grinning, angry, sad, proud…
As if guided by some unseen force, Ayato drew his phone from his pocket and opened LINE.
His conversation with Chihaya Anon had stopped at yesterday afternoon.
After he’d clarified that he wasn’t sick but had come over to Sendai to handle private matters, the girl had immediately fired off a string of messages—— [So it was private matters—here I was worrying over nothing.] [But, Sendai?
What’s Ayarin going over there to do?] [Whatever, never mind—as long as you’re not sick, Ayarin, that’s all that matters.] [I don’t need a souvenir or anything either, so just focus and get your stuff done!] [As for band practice…
heh heh, you just wait and watch this Madam President shine dazzlingly at the culture festival!] At the time, Ayato hadn’t thought anything of it and had merely replied with a perfunctory “Okay.” The reason Uchiha Ayato had grown close to little Chihaya, apart from being able to fleece her for freebies, came down to one other important factor: she was comfortable to be around.
She said what was on her mind and never hid or held anything back—utterly unlike those troublesome women weighed down with secrets, who make you guess for ages at the meaning of every single sentence.
When exactly had this relationship begun to change in nature?
The absolute strongest, the loneliness born thereof, the one who taught you ‘love’ is…
By the time Uchiha Ayato came back to his senses, he’d already been staring at his chat log with little Chihaya for half an hour.
Uchiha Ayato: ???
Oh no—I’ve turned into Misumi Hatsune!
____ 👻🔥Here: Walnut-chan🔥👻 🔥 New history: Uchiha Reborn in Jujutsu Kaisen: The System Thinks I’m in Konoha, but I’m Not We have set new community milestones: