[After entering university.]
[Kessoku Band's activities went much more smoothly. Without the burden of heavy coursework, you all increased how often you performed.]
[Your traces began appearing in live houses all over Shimokitazawa.]
[During your first year, you released your first album. Because of your terminal illness, your savings were nearly gone, and your share of the funding was covered by Toru. He had earned plenty of money in his early years, and he still had a lot left. Supporting your dream was simple for him, effortless.]
[You did not refuse.]
[Deep down, you hoped that after being cured, you could spend your life with Toru and repay him for everything.]
[You were not officially a couple, but more than a couple in everyone's eyes. At least, everyone in Kessoku Band thought that your relationship with Toru was already set in stone.]
Great!
Another win!
[Ryo watched the two of you being close...]
Hmm, Ryo-senpai, are you jealous?
[She was afraid that you would become obsessed with men and cause the band to fall apart.]
Huh?
"Ryo-senpai, you're acting really weird." Kita muttered.
In all the previous simulations, Ryo had been infatuated with Toru. Why didn't she like him this time?
Did the timeline change?
[Ijichi Nijika smiled and stayed quiet, quietly blessing you.]
[Gotoh Hitori, as your friend, sincerely hoped the two of you could finally be together. She had watched you and Toru dance around each other for years and was simply waiting for the day she could drink your wedding wine.]
"Something's off."
Kita didn't feel thrilled at all.
In her imagination, she stood out alone and took the crown while the other members of Kessoku Band were wildly jealous.
So why were the game's NPCs all offline?
Like a hero cutting down enemies and finally reaching the demon lord's castle, only to find the demon lord had run away.
Everything smooth, no obstacles, rescuing the princess without the slightest difficulty...
That feeling of punching cotton, all force dissipating, made Kita miserable.
[That year, Toru published several top journal papers and entered Todai's affiliated laboratory through special qualification.]
[He was working hard to save you.]
[Sometimes, the two of you would video call on your phones. His face was full of exhaustion, his hair messy as if he hadn't taken care of it in a long time.]
[Toru was starting to look like a mad scientist.]
"So familiar."
The more Kita watched, the more familiar the rhythm felt.
This kind of slow buildup before the fall.
[In the second year, your condition did not worsen. Toru's reputation in academia soared, and Kessoku Band became a rising sensation.]
[You all had bright futures ahead.]
"No matter how I look at it, my future doesn't sound bright at all."
Half a foot in the grave already.
[In summer, Kessoku Band finished a small music festival performance. At the celebration party, your teammates teased you about your relationship with Toru, asking when you would officially start dating.]
[Because they had no idea you had been taking medication, they did not understand your real worry.]
[You might not be able to stay beside Toru until the end of his life, so how could you dare confess to him?]
[You vaguely expressed your thoughts.]
[Ryo asked, "You're afraid that once you start dating you won't be able to give him happiness? But you haven't even tried, Ikuyo, so why are you so certain?"]
[Gotoh Hitori felt the same.]
["Ki-Kita san, you should try your best." Even after all these years, she still hadn't fixed her habit of speaking too quietly.]
["Kita-chan, fight!" Ijichi Nijika cheered with full energy.]
[You were moved and decided that with the time you had left, you wanted to give Toru a love he would never forget.]
The sun must have risen in the west.
Kessoku Band wasn't Kitahara's harem this time?
A strange development indeed.
[You picked a chance and confessed to Toru.]
[He shook his head slightly and did not accept.]
[You did not give up and confessed again, and this time, Toru wavered.]
[Seeing his conflicted expression, you said...]
[1. "I like you, Kitahara kun. Not as a friend, but as someone I want to love. Haven't you noticed how I feel?"]
[2. "Kitahara kun, if you refuse, I'll kill myself right now!" (Runs to the kitchen, grabs a fruit knife, points it at her chest)]
[3. "I have a terminal illness and I'm about to die. You won't even give me a little love?"]
[4. Personal simulation]
"!!"
Kita froze at the second option as if facing a mortal threat.
This was the culprit.
The reason she was hated by Toru in another route.
Rejected immediately.
After thinking carefully for more than ten seconds,
Kita chose the first one.
The third felt too pitiful, almost manipulative.
[With your sincere confession, Toru accepted.]
[You and Toru became a couple.]
['Ikuyo-san, I hope you won't regret it.' A hint of apology flashed in Toru's eyes.]
Apology? Regret...
Wait, don't tell me.
"Short-lived fool, please live longer than me this time, don't die first, I'm begging you!"
Kita grabbed her head.
The memories, those dead memories, were attacking her again.
How could two storylines be so similar?
"I'm the one with the illness this time, so why are you the one saying lines like that?"
Shouldn't she be the one saying it?
[Of course, you would not regret it. If anything, it would be Toru who would regret things in the future.]
[When you were gone, he would probably cry terribly.]
[If you could live, you would much rather spend many years by his side.]
[For the next six months.]
[You noticed that Toru's mental state was becoming strange. He muttered professional terms you couldn't understand.]
[As lovers, you did all the things couples normally do.]
[Toru spent every day buried in the lab. One morning, after spending the night together, you woke to find large clumps of his hair had fallen out. It was a sign of extreme mental strain. Toru joked he might go bald by middle age, but you couldn't laugh at all.]
[Toru was a genius. You had never met anyone smarter. Yet he pushed himself to the edge like this for your sake, until his body became so fragile.]
[Life continued like this for half a year.]
[One day, you finally found a matching hematopoietic stem cell donor. The surgery had a high chance of success, but afterward there could be rejection, a brush with death.]
[Even surviving that did not guarantee complete recovery.]
[And in front of you was the huge surgical cost. Your parents couldn't gather it in time. While you were at a loss, Toru paid the medical bill again.]
[The money he had spent on you over the years was astronomical. You didn't know how to repay him, only hoped that if you survived, you could use the rest of your life to return his kindness.]
[After he paid the bill.]
[Toru disappeared from your world. You didn't know where he went or what he was doing.]
[When you saw him again, it was the night before surgery. He wore a white lab coat and his face was lit with excitement.]
["I made the special medicine, Ikuyo-san. Hurry and take it." Toru said, stumbling a little as he walked to your bedside and placed the medicine in your hand.]
[You had no reason to doubt him, so you swallowed it as he instructed.]
[After you took the medicine, a few traces of apology surfaced on Toru's face, though you didn't notice.]
[The next moment.]
["Cough, cough." Toru covered his mouth and coughed a few times.]
["Toru kun, what's wrong?"]
["Nothing, just a small issue. I've been in the lab too long. My brain is a bit overworked." He shook his head lightly and continued, "I'll head back now. Get some rest."]
[You comforted him several times, and Toru accepted it all.]
[His weakened figure soon vanished at the entrance of the room.]
[The next day, your condition miraculously recovered. The stem cell transplant was canceled. The doctors had never seen anything like it. You did not tell them about the medicine, letting them scratch their heads in confusion.]
[On the third day, you were discharged.]
[You called your boyfriend immediately, but he didn't answer.]
[On the fourth day, you went to his lab and learned he had not shown up the previous day.]
[On the fifth day...]
[On the thirtieth day...]
[After that, your boyfriend vanished from your world.]
"Va... vanished?"
Kita stared blankly at the simulator.
The thing she feared most had still happened.
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