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◎Fei Jia is not good at playing video games◎
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Although Kawakami Wakana doesn't understand Russian very well, she can tell from the context that what the other person said was probably a casual greeting.
"Kong, Kongba wa..." she could only greet him cautiously.
The man paused for a moment, then immediately apologized: "Sorry, I'm just used to speaking Lucia..."
"It's nothing, it's nothing!" Ruoyi laughed heartily. "But speaking of which, your Japanese has really improved a lot."
At least to her ears, the pronunciation of what the other person said was quite standard. She wouldn't even be sure if the person was a foreigner if they hadn't spoken.
If she hadn't experienced it herself, she wouldn't have been able to imagine that three years ago, this person was someone who would even misspell "hello".
"Thank you." A soft laugh came from the other end.
Kawakami Wakana actually quite likes the style of the Lucians. Unlike the boys she'd read about in novels, who, regardless of their skill level, would boast about carrying newbies to high ranks when playing games.
but……
Since we're on a live stream, we can't keep calling each other "Russian."
So she cleared her throat and gave herself a name that sounded a bit like a boy's: "By the way, my surname is Maotian, you can call me whatever you want."
"Can I call you 'Neko'?" the other person asked.
"Of course."
The Luciaman grunted in agreement; then said, "Fega."
Kawakami Wakana: "What?"
"Fei Jia," the other person repeated, "you can call me that."
"good!"
As she spoke, Ruoyi memorized the real name of the Lucia person—no, Fedia—in her mind.
Fedya Raskolnikov.
A few minutes later—
When Ruoyi first connected with Fei Jia on the microphone, she was still marveling at how this person had no "senior airs" at all. But once they actually started playing the game, she realized that she was the one who was more like the "senior."
As for Fei Jia?
He's either waiting to be resurrected, or on his way to find her after being resurrected.
That night, she actually helped Fei Jia gain quite a few points.
But every time he hung up, he would politely apologize, which made her feel embarrassed instead.
Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."
Could it be—
Her friend Lucia is actually the type who's extremely bad at games?
Before they knew it, a sliver of dawn was already visible outside the window. Kawakami Wakana rubbed her shoulders and told Fei Jia that she was going to take a nap and then discuss with her friend when to go home to see her parents.
"I'm sorry," the other person apologized to her again.
“Ah—” Kawakami Wakana grabbed a handful of hair. “Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, just like I’m not good at foreign languages and the only musical instrument I can play is the recorder, which is a compulsory subject in elementary school music class.”
"If you mind, I can take you to play games in the future?"
“Really?” Fedia’s tone sounded somewhat surprised.
Sure enough, as a guy, it would be embarrassing to have someone else carry you through a game, even if you're currently portraying a male character, right? Kawakami Wakana thought to herself.
So she clapped her hands decisively: "How about this? In exchange, you play the cello for me, okay?"
“Of course.” Fei Jia hummed in agreement. “Wait a moment, I’ll go prepare the instruments.”
Kawakami Wakai: Huh?
Is this the right time?
She was a little curious; it should still be early morning in Moscow, so would this really not disturb the neighbors? But considering that Russia is a sparsely populated country, perhaps Fedia's residence wasn't far enough from her neighbors to let them hear the music, so she didn't say anything.
Soft sounds could be heard from over there from time to time, probably Fedia preparing her instruments. After a while, melodious piano music reached my ears.
Kawakami Wakana involuntarily closed her eyes.
She seemed to see a garden in the night, with a stream gently flowing. A young couple, just beginning to experience love, sat on a bench, gazing at each other, too shy to speak. Only when dawn began to break did the boy gently take the girl's hand, revealing a tender smile.
The cello music subsided into silence at this point.
"Waaaaah, it sounds so good—" Kawakami Wakana picked up her laptop, wishing she could crawl across to the other side to see if her friend Lucia was really possessed by some "demon" called music.
"By the way, what song is this?"
“Moscow Nights,” the other person said casually.
After saying a simple goodnight, Kawakami Wakana crawled into bed, but found that she couldn't fall asleep.
Whenever I close my eyes, what appears before me is either a slender man gently moving the bow of his cello, with notes leaping out one by one, eager to form the piece "Moscow Nights," or the most disheartening period of my life when I had to give up volleyball due to a car accident in my first year of high school.
At that time, Fedia said that if she felt she was "about to disappear in the next second," she could come to her.
It was Fei Jia's words, "Actually, your dream is not volleyball, but being needed by others," that made her feel like the clouds had parted and the fog had lifted.
But he was clearly not feeling well at the time either...
Kawakami Wakai:!
So it seems she's never done anything for Fedia!
So she sat up abruptly, grabbed her phone, and took several screenshots from Wikipedia, all of them of musicians who, despite their parents' opposition, resolutely embarked on a musical path and achieved success.
Then she posted: "Feijia, it's okay if your aunt dislikes you playing the cello. You're an adult now, not your parents' property. If you want to, strive to achieve your dreams!"
Finally, he sent a message to Hinata Natsu.
【Xia-chan, what should we do?!】
I think I've become... really concerned about someone.
…………
At this hour, Hinata Natsumi should still be asleep. Kawakami Wakana didn't expect her to reply quickly, so she simply tossed her phone aside, wrapped herself in the blanket, and went to sleep.
She slept soundly through the night without any dreams, and she didn't know how long she had slept. When she regained consciousness, she felt her phone vibrate a few times next to her pillow before stopping.
Rubbing her sore eyes, Kawakami Wakana finally picked up her phone and glanced at it.
It was 11:30 a.m., and there were 99+ new messages.
More than half of them came from Hinata Natsumi.
They practically bombarded her with calls.
Kawakami Wakai called back and heard Xia's disappointed voice.
"Meow-chan, what's wrong with you! You suddenly sent me that message first thing in the morning, and then you didn't reply to messages or answer the phone. I thought you'd been tricked into going abroad!"
"..."
"No!" Ruoyi protested loudly, "I was just asleep!"
Hinata Natsume: "..."
"You really are—" she said, somewhat exasperated, but after a long pause, she couldn't finish her sentence.
Then he said, "Never mind. I just checked the Shinkansen tickets, and there's a pretty good deal on one that leaves for Sendai at 4 PM today, with reserved seats still available. If you want to go back together, see you at Shinagawa Station."
"Yes, Lord Xia—"
Around 3 PM, Kawakami Wakana and Hinata Natsu successfully met at the Shinkansen ticket office at the station.
Hinata Natsumi didn't say anything at the time, but after the two of them got into the car and sat in their seats, she opened a bottle of green tea and said, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Kawakami Ruoyi: "..."
She had no choice but to confess honestly.
She talked about everything from when she went to Tokyo to avoid Hinata Natsu’s regional tournament after her car accident that year, where she met a strange bandage spirit who was described as “about to disappear in the next second”, all the way to her heartfelt online confiding of her troubles with Fei Jia.
“He said that if I felt like I was about to disappear again, I could talk to him… He also helped me realize my true thoughts when I got out of that shadow.”
"And," Ruoyi's eyes lit up, "Feijia's cello playing is really beautiful!"
Hinata Natsume: "..."
She looks like a girl deeply in love!
Kawakami Wakana originally thought that Natsumi would continue to press her about whether she had figured out the other person's background. After all, when they were still in high school, even if Shoyo went to a convenience store and chatted with a female clerk for a few minutes, Hinata Natsumi would pull her aside to test whether the other person was interested in that girl and how much she knew about her.
But unexpectedly—
Hinata Natsumi was silent for a moment: "This is just too... sweet!"
She grabbed Kawakami Wakai's hand.
"Meow-chan, please don't be fooled! If this couple's relationship falls apart, I'll cry all day!"
"...?"
Kunikida Doppo was supposed to go on a business trip to Sendai today. The Shinkansen he booked happened to be right behind the two girls. Listening to Hinata Natsu's incredibly excited words, Kunikida, who had originally planned to take advantage of the free time on the Shinkansen, couldn't help but rub his temples.
Girls at this age should be pursuing their dreams, so why don't they talk about "ideals" at all, and instead only talk about love?
But he didn't know—
Meanwhile, inside the Armed Detective Agency.
"Dazai?" Oda Sakunosuke finished processing his work documents and patted Dazai Osamu, who was lying on the sofa wearing headphones. "Kunikida-san reminded me not to slack off while you're working."
"Okay—" Dazai Osamu took off his headphones, stretched and sat up from the sofa, casually adding, "Oda Sakunosuke's mother."
Oda Sakunosuke: "..."
He prefers to be called "Dad".
Dazai Osamu returned to his workstation with a yawn, but a smile was on his lips.
He was just bored, so he secretly planted a listening device on Kunikida when he wasn't looking, wanting to see if his partner would have any romantic encounters in Sendai. But he didn't expect to hear something so amusing.
Wakai-chan, and Dostoevsky...?
That evening.
Kawakami Wakana, who hadn't been home for a semester, was fussed over by her parents for a long time before finally returning to her room to rest. Picking up her phone, she was about to let Hinata Natsumi and Fei Jia know she was safe when she received a message from someone she hadn't expected.
[Dazai Osamu sent me a picture.]
Upon opening it, I found a membership card. Judging from the photo and name, it belonged to Osamu Dazai.
The company name is: Armed Detective Agency.
"...?"
[Author's Note]
Dazai, why are you always in this? Hahahaha
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