Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330662545387095/episodes/16817330666558416524
Around the time Kingo burst into a bandman spirit for Ari on campus…….
Nobuhiko spent what little money he had and jumped on a train bound for Tokyo.
However, he had to take a conventional train instead of Shinkansen because of the limited amount of money. It took him a tremendous amount of time, and by the time he entered Tokyo, the sun was setting over Mount Hakone.
The sun was about to set as we entered the city. It was as if his skin had peeled off.
“Ah, shit. My ass hurts. I hate traveling in poverty.”
Nobuhiko swore in relief when he finally arrived at the station nearest the apartment he shared with Yua. It has been a long time since he visited the area near his residence, and despite the fact that he is not familiar with the area, he is strangely deeply moved. It’s like if you live there, that’s your home.
Nobuhiko exchanged a passionate promise with Kingo to be a bandman. His mindset is…..
“Damn it ! That Kingo guy, all he had to do was just shut up and sign it ! What’s with the bandman, he acts like a kid !”
He wasn’t reformed at all ! ! ! !
“What’s the matter with me, I’m not worthy of your music? The reason I had a hard time in Tokyo was because you forgot to put it on paper. You should at least give me all the rights to them to make up for it.”
In fact, he had gotten nothing out of the deal, which made him more frustrated, and his arrogance was getting worse. Does he really feel no remorse?
“Whatever. If you want to hear a new Lyconess performance so badly, I’ll let you hear it. Think whatever you want about Lyconess has no value without you. That pride will make you realize your own inadequacy.”
A wicked smile escapes the corners of his mouth.
No, he’s changed his mind a bit. Nobuhiko uses an arrogant tone and ridicules the bandman’s spirit as a beautiful thing, but now Nobuhiko has the will to show Kingo his performance. He took pleasure in imagining Kingo biting his navel when he heard his perfect performance.
Ironically, when Kingo mocked Nobuhiko as being naive, it awakened Nobuhiko’s buried bandsman’s spirit.
But for that to happen, Lyconess must be reunited. First, he had to make up with Yua. There had been a gap in their relationship since Yua and him had a fight the other day and she kicked him out of the room. After that, they exchanged messages little by little, and there were signs of repairing the relationship. However, she has been so busy lately that she has neglected it, but he’s sure that they will reconcile.
(It’s about time we made up.)
Since things have cooled off, he’s sure they will be able to get back to their original relationship. After he puts her in a good enough mood, he’ll get her to listen to his promise to Kingo. If he lets her listen to his performance, he is forcing her to reunite with her ex-boyfriend, but Yua wants to be a professional as well. She will accept it.
With this blueprint in mind, he hurried to his room. He climbed the crumbling tin stairs of the rundown apartment and stood in front of the room. Then he pressed the doorbell.
“Yua, it’s me. It’s Nobuhiko. Please open the door. I want to talk to you.”
There was no intercom, so he called out through the door, but there was no answer.
“It’s strange. Her part-time job is supposed to start at night…….”
He was suspicious and pressed the doorbell again, but there was still no response.
Nobuhiko had no choice but to use his key to enter the room. Although he was kicked out of the room, she did not take away his key. He did not use his own key because he was not allowed to use it until they made up with each other.
“Yua, I’m coming in. I came here to see your face.”
He entered the room, trying to sound calm and choosing words that would put him in a good mood. But Yua was not there.
“Hm, she’s working after all.”
Scratching his head, he looked around the room. At that moment, he was struck by a strange feeling.
There were fewer things in the room.
Yua’s clothes, cosmetics, suitcase, and the electric bass case that was propped up in the corner of the room were gone.
He was horrified……
Nobuhiko’s whole body broke out in goosebumps.
(No way…….)
It can’t be, he told himself. Yua, who is lonely and can’t do anything on her own, would never do such a thing…….
Suddenly, he noticed a white envelope on the tea table. On the front of the envelope, it was addressed to [Nobuhiko] in girlish round letters.
“…….”
He felt suffocated, as if he were being strangled. Just imagining the horror became so real that he felt the urge to tear open the envelope and throw it away. But despite his heart, his hands trembled as he reached for the envelope.
Inside was a piece of letterhead on which was an authorized letter.
＊
Dear Nobuhiko.
This is the first time for me to write a letter like this.
Please forgive me that this first letter is a farewell message.
We came to Tokyo together, but we are not going to be able to make our debut by ourselves.
Nobuhiko could neither compose nor sign a contract. But even though you couldn’t, you did your best and tried your best to make the debut. I respect your attitude.
I, on the other hand, could do nothing. Even after moving to Tokyo, I still left it to others and could not be of any help. I’m sorry.
I wish I could have helped you in some way.
I wanted to do something useful for Nobuhiko.
But I was too slow and stupid to do anything. I’m really sorry.
I’m sure that even if I stay with Nobuhiko, I will not be able to help. On the contrary, I will be a drag.
I don’t want to be a burden to Harada Nobuhiko, the bandman, any more, so I will go my separate way.
Please forget about me.
But I will not forget you.
I still clearly remember how you warmly welcomed me to the light music club when I was a freshman in high school.
If you had not invited me to join the club at that time, I would have grown up without knowing the joy of music. I shudder to think of that.
I’m truly grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to discover the joy of music. Please succeed in Tokyo and be happy with another wonderful woman.
Please give my best wishes to Gojo kun as well.
Yua
P.S.
I will put some money aside for your immediate needs.
It is not much, but please make it work carefully.
＊
“No way…….Yua……”
My hands shook and the letter made a crinkling sound.
He couldn’t believe it.
The Yua that has been with him as a band mate since high school, the Yua that he has been in love with….and finally took from his best friend…….
“She’s gone……?”
He looked at the room in dismay. He looks around the room and sees that there are still traces of Yua here and there.
Fashion magazines, cotton for makeup, paper bags from some boutique. There were traces of Yua’s presence in this room. But they were insignificant, things she had discarded as unnecessary.
All that was left in the room were things that she had thrown away. Even herself.
He doesn’t want to admit it.
“You’re here, aren’t you, Yua !?”
He believed she’s still in the room. She must be hiding somewhere to scare him. Nobuhiko, convinced of this, searched all over the room.
In the closet, in the storage room under the kitchen. He was sure that he couldn’t find her in such a place.
“Yua…..please come out, Yua…. I’ve got a chance ! So come on, let’s be in a band with me again !”
He crawled around the room like a pig looking for truffles, but Yua was nowhere to be found.
Of course not. She is no longer here……
Tears streaming down his face, Nobuhiko admitted the unacceptable fact.
His life has been full of ups and downs. All of this was due to his own shallow thinking.
He stole his friend’s dreams and lover, and threw his lover around as well. It was inevitable that people would leave him.
Nobuhiko finally realized his own foolishness.
“Ugh,……Kingo, Yua,……I’m really sorry. I’m so sorry…… So please come back…….”
A loud lamentation echoed through the four-and-a-half tatami mats. Nobuhiko was finally left all alone.
Ding-dong.
That’s when the doorbell rang. The doorbell rang, announcing a visitor.
“Yua……? Is that you Yua !?”
It must be Yua. She had left her farewell in a sullen scrawl, but had come back because she felt lonely.
(Damn you, you made me worry ! I’m going to give you a big hug tonight !)
Nobuhiko, with a premonition of this, opens the door with a big smile on his face. But there was…..
“Yo, Nobuhiko.”
“U-Ushimine san……”
It was the debt collector, Ushimine. He had his usual expressionless expression, but he seemed to be more irritated than usual.
“Nobuhiko…bastard, why haven’t you come to the office? You said yesterday that you had to come to the office because you have to pay the debt today, right? Don’t tell me you forgot already?”
Last night, he had been so delighted to pick up his Shinkansen ticket that he clearly forgot.
“You made me go through all this trouble. You see, today is the due date. Pay the principal and interest in full.”
The repayment amount was about 190,000 yen. It was too much for him to pay.
Nobuhiko was frightened by the crisis that had unexpectedly appeared and backed away, falling on his buttocks. Ushimine took off his shoes and went up to his room to follow him.
“It’s a very lonely room. I thought you were living with your girlfriend.”
“Erm…..there are a lot of things going on. More importantly, about the repayment……”
“Yeah?”
“I-I don’t have the money right now and can’t pay you ! Can you please wait !?”
He pleaded with all his might on his knees. He had gotten down on his knees to Kingo in the morning, and now he was going to do the same to Ushimine. He never thought he would have to get down on his knees twice in one day.
Ushimine did not say anything. Nobuhiko was suspicious and asked him. He picked up the letter from Yua that Nobuhiko had dropped and read it intently.
Then, he slowly picked up the envelope on the table and pulled out all the banknotes that were enclosed.
“This is enough for the interest. But not the principal. Nobuhiko, contact the woman right now. Make her pay for it.”
“Y-yes…….”
Nobuhiko called Yua on his phone as he was told. But no matter how many times he called, Yuai didn’t answer. The call was blocked.
“N-no answer…….”
“That woman’s workplace……”
“It’s a cafe and a girl’s bar. But I didn’t ask her what the name is……”
He did not ask for details because he wanted Yua to earn money for him. He was able to preserve his pride by turning away from the guilt of relying on her, but it backfired.
There was no money in his wallet, let alone in his bank account. It would be some time before he would be paid for his part-time job, and even if he hit the full amount, he would not be able to pay it off in full. At last, Nobuhiko couldn’t get his head around it.
Ushimine looked down at Nobuhiko with horrified eyes and said coldly.
“Nobuhiko, come to my office. I need to talk to you.”
–
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I’m guessing mc’s ex really never really liked him and liked his friend first despite going out with mc? Her dialouges really shows how much she cares about this guy while almost never having mc on her mind.
I don’t really think we can draw any conclusions about Yua and the mc. it is quite possible she fell out of love, it happens. We don’t get to see any if there interactions and Yua feels like someone who goes with the flow.
Though it does feel like she never really had any feeling for Nobuhiko, given all we have seen. Feels like he convinced her he was better, screwed up, then she found an opportunity and took it.
I hope there are more Yua chapters down the line.
Even on the chapters about her, she showcases worries and felt bad for thinking about leaving the band because she thinks it’s betrayal to her current bf. It looks like she likes him and this chapter implies with her note that she was introduced to the band by mcs friend, so they probably knew each other before her and mc. Contrast to that, she almost never thinks about mc in a regretful or sorry way and treats him barely as an afterthought even when kicking him out and finding out that he’s the main reason why they got signed up in the first place.
People being focused on current relationships makes sense. It is true that the few chapters we have had make her seem focused on for her current bf rather than the mc, i find it super unlikely that the mc and yua dated for like 2ish years and they didn’t have mutual feeling at the beginning.
Also she made her choice at the beginning of the novel. She didn’t feel bad about dumping the mc because she thought the new bf would be better and it aligned more with what she wanted/was conviced she wanted to do.
Rereading the letter, i really don’t think she likes him that much. More like admiration. She thanks him for introducing her to music and apologises for not being able to do more to help him (and i read this as help him as a band member, first and foremost). Tbh it feels like a letter saying thanks for getting me here, i’ll remember your help, cya.
But i guess thats upto interpretation. I don’t think that yua will really ever think of nobuhiko again, just like how little she seems to think of the mc.