Officer Hidari knocked on the door of the Iroha household. Opening the door was Iroha’s father, Tetsunosuke, who was home on a day off. When he saw an unfamiliar woman standing outside, he froze for a moment before asking:

“May I help you?”

“Hello, I’m Officer Hidari from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police. I’d like to ask you and your daughter a few questions regarding your wife, Yuuha Isshiki.” Officer Hidari took out her badge.

“Yuuha? What happened to her?!” Tetsunosuke’s eyes widened. His wife had been missing for nearly a full day, but since she had previously disappeared for several days without contact, he hadn’t been overly worried.

Although he wasn’t concerned for her safety, her constant unreasonable behavior and increasingly blatant infidelity had left Tetsunosuke utterly disheartened. He had started quietly preparing for divorce, lamenting the misfortune of his marriage.

As early as last year, Tetsunosuke had been considering divorce. However, he didn’t want to upset his daughter and had refrained from raising the topic. He planned to wait until Iroha finished her college entrance exams before bringing it up.

But just yesterday, Iroha had told him, “Dad, even if you and Mom get divorced, I won’t be upset.”

Her words had awakened Tetsunosuke to the truth: a stifling household like theirs wouldn’t make his daughter happy, even if he stayed married. This realization finally firmed his resolve to discuss the matter with his wife.

He had thought it was Yuuha returning when he heard the doorbell, but instead, it was a police officer.

“This matter needs to be explained at the police station. Your wife is connected to a series of murders.”

Clatter.

The phone in Tetsunosuke’s hand fell to the ground. He stood frozen, unable to process what he had just heard. His already weary frame seemed to grow even more haggard. After a long silence, he spoke slowly:

“Does my daughter need to come too?”

“Yes.”

Sigh…

Tetsunosuke let out a deep sigh.

Just then, Iroha, hearing the doorbell, had rushed downstairs, thinking her mother had returned. She had already prepared herself to persuade her mother to stop her irrational behavior, but what she saw wasn’t her mother—it was Officer Hidari.

“You’re the one from yesterday…?”

Iroha stared at Officer Hidari in disbelief. How could the police officer she had encountered in Enoshima be standing at her door now?

Seeing Iroha, Officer Hidari gave a slight nod and brought both father and daughter to the police station.

Meanwhile, Kotomi and Aimi agreed to keep this matter from their parents for the time being. Now that the culprit was dead and the danger had passed, there was no need to cause unnecessary worry.

After lunch, Kotomi opened her computer to work on her novel and received a text message from Merii Hizuki.

[Kotomi-sensei, I’ve sent the recording file from that new singer to your email. If you have time, could you give me some feedback after listening to it?]

“Ah, I almost forgot about composing!” Kotomi muttered.

She remembered promising to compose for Heavenly Spider Productions, but the chaos of recent events had left her mind in disarray, making her forget entirely about the assignment.

Hurrying to log into her email, she saw that Merii Hizuki had sent her the recording from the new singer as early as yesterday morning.

Kotomi happened to miss the email because she was out enjoying her trip to Enoshima with Iroha.

Putting on her Bluetooth earphones, Kotomi began listening to the recording of the new singer’s voice. The total length was 45 minutes, showcasing all the songs she had performed.

After listening, Kotomi came to a conclusion: the newcomer’s voice was light, ethereal, and gentle. Her singing felt like an enchanting, dreamlike love letter, perfectly suited for lyrical ballads.

After thinking for a moment, Kotomi decided what kind of song to compose for her.

But first, she needed to reply to Merii Hizuki’s message. Ignoring the email from yesterday morning until now was making her feel a bit guilty.

[I’ve finished listening. She’s really good at singing! After hearing her, I’ve already got inspiration for a song that suits her voice. I’ll send you the audio file in a few days.]

The response was instant:

[You’ve already got inspiration, Kotomi-sensei?! That’s amazing!! Alright, we’ll wait eagerly for your masterpiece. Looking forward to it!]

The instant reply made it clear how relieved Merii Hizuki was.

It was understandable—after a whole day without hearing back from Kotomi, she’d been afraid of being ghosted. Misaki had spent all of yesterday pacing nervously around her office, unable to sit still, checking the staff area every five minutes.

Her behavior scared the habitual slackers in the company so much that they didn’t dare goof off for the next few days.

After saving her novel draft, Kotomi opened a new Word document. Before composing the melody, she wanted to write the lyrics first.

As for composing music…

To be honest, Kotomi didn’t know how to compose. Since she hadn’t unlocked any music-related abilities, she didn’t even know where to begin creating a song.

Fortunately, she had the ever-reliable divine companion, Kazumi. After several rounds of negotiations with Kazumi, Kotomi finally managed to squeeze some help out of her.

At first, Kazumi said, “I can grant you temporary composing ability for 20,000 Fame Points.”

Appalled, Kotomi lashed out, clutching her metaphorical wallet, “You shameless rip-off artist! Charging me this much is basically daylight robbery. You might as well just sell me off instead!”

The shrewd merchant Kazumi met her match in Kotomi, the haggling master. Their intense negotiation was like a fierce battle, full of sharp barbs and no holds barred.

By the end, both lay on the bed, panting—not from anything suggestive, but simply from arguing themselves out of breath.

In the end, they struck a deal. For a payment of 10,000 Fame Points, Kotomi would temporarily gain the ability to compose music for three days.

Although she managed to haggle the price down, comparing the final 10,000 points to the initial 20,000 left Kotomi muttering under her breath:

“Twenty thousand points? And now it’s ten thousand? So you were planning to fleece me for an extra 10,000 from the start!”

“Hehe~ What bad intentions could I possibly have? I just want to help Kotomi-chan develop good financial habits!”

“Lies! You’re trying to drain my savings dry!”

And so, Kotomi and Kazumi happily reached an agreement.

With that settled, Kotomi no longer had to worry about not being able to compose music after writing the lyrics.

Her nimble fingers danced across the keyboard, typing out the title: “Fly Me to the Star.”

The song came from an anime she’d watched in her second life—”Revue Starlight.” It was the ending theme.

Though the song was mostly sung as a duet or in alternating voices, there were also solo versions.

[You’re the only one in my eyes]

[Loneliness seems to have left me behind]

[Tonight, even the moon smiles down on me]

[Please, turn and look at me]

[Oh, fly me to the star.]

…

When Kotomi had completed 50% of her work on the composition for “Fly Me to the Star,” a message notification pulled her out of the world of music.

Looking at the darkening sky outside her window, she realized it was already 4 p.m.

Immersing herself fully in creativity, she had lost track of time. What she thought was only an hour had actually been half a day.

[Since both father and daughter were unaware of Yuuha’s crimes, there wasn’t much to ask. Iroha’s statement will conclude in ten minutes, while her father’s will take another twenty. As for Yuuha’s remains, we’ve placed them in the forensic department’s morgue. Although the medical examiners are trying to reconstruct the body, the damage is so extensive that when it was brought in, it was practically mixed with the soil.]

[When identifying the remains, Iroha’s father went in and stood silently by the autopsy table. It must be a whirlwind of emotions for him. After all, who could imagine that one’s wife would not only be a serial killer but also meet such an end? As for Iroha, she only glanced from the doorway before turning away.]

These were two messages from Officer Hidari.

Kotomi read them in silence, then sent a reply:

[How is Iroha doing now?]

[I initially thought seeing her mother’s remains might cause her to break down, so I’ve kept officers and medical staff on alert. But since arriving at the station, she’s only shown pallor and low spirits—no extreme reactions. If she truly can move past this, it would be a relief.]

There’s no way she’s already moved past it, Kotomi thought silently.

Iroha was someone who buried her emotions deep. Although she acted carefree, mischievous like a little devil, always loud and lively, she was actually a sensitive and fragile girl. Her devil-may-care attitude was just a facade to mask her true self.

[Can I pick her up now? There’s still some time before her father’s statement concludes, right?]

[Since he was Yuuha’s husband, there are additional matters to address at the station after the statement. It’ll take a bit longer.]

Officer Hidari, worried Kotomi might not know the location of the station, kindly sent her the address via text.

When Kotomi opened the location link, she remembered that the Metropolitan Police Department wasn’t in Chiba but Tokyo.

While the distance wasn’t far, it was her first time heading to Tokyo for the sole purpose of visiting the police station. She was about to leave alone when she remembered Aimi’s insistence earlier that morning to come along.

Knocking softly on Aimi’s bedroom door, she didn’t even have to ask if Aimi wanted to come; as soon as the door opened, there was Aimi, dressed for going out, holding a folding umbrella and ready to leave.

“Are we heading out, Onee-chan?”

“I was just about to ask if you wanted to come,” Kotomi replied with a chuckle.

As soon as they stepped out of the house, the rain continued to fall, though much lighter than earlier in the day. After tomorrow’s drizzle, it seemed the weather would clear up.

However, Kotomi realized she had forgotten her umbrella as soon as they stepped outside.

“Really, Onee-chan? Didn’t you know it’s been raining all day? How could you forget something as important as an umbrella?” Aimi lectured, sharing her umbrella with Kotomi. Despite her words, Aimi was secretly delighted to be under the same umbrella as her sister, imagining little red flowers blooming with joy on her cheeks.

—This is basically a love umbrella moment between me and Kotomi!

“Haha, sorry about that. I was in a rush and forgot,” Kotomi admitted sheepishly. Since she was holding the umbrella, she tilted it slightly toward Aimi, letting one of her own shoulders get wet.

It wasn’t an attempt to mimic a romantic comedy trope; the folding umbrella was just too small.

For one girl, it was fine, but with two, the center placement left both of their shoulders exposed to the rain. Kotomi decided to angle the umbrella to keep Aimi dry. At that moment, Kotomi felt she deserved a shining “Best Sister” title over her head.

Boarding the train to Tokyo, they were lucky that the lighter rain hadn’t disrupted the train schedule, allowing them to travel as smoothly as on a sunny day.

“This is my first time taking the train to Tokyo at 4 p.m.,” Aimi said, sitting down and putting away her umbrella, her gaze filled with excitement as she looked out the window.

Normally, they took morning trains. Riding a train at 4 p.m., especially to Tokyo, was a novelty for her.

“When we pick up Iroha, don’t wander around. Let’s head home early and try not to let Dad and Mom find out we went to Tokyo,” Kotomi reminded her, glancing at the time. The trip from Chiba to Tokyo wasn’t long, so the round trip shouldn’t take too much time.

“Okay.”

Aimi nodded, but her expression darkened slightly at the thought of what her friend Iroha had been through. She wanted to greet Iroha with her usual smile, but every time she thought about what Kotomi had told her earlier, her nose tingled, and her eyes welled up.

“Onee-chan, do you think I’m being overly dramatic for crying about this so many times?” Aimi asked softly, looking down at her shoes.

Kotomi shook her head and softly said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Of course not. Being able to cry over a friend’s sadness is a wonderful quality.”

“Is that so? I understand now. Thank you, Onee-chan…” Aimi leaned gently against Kotomi’s shoulder, her voice trailing off like a sigh.

When they arrived in Tokyo, they followed the location Officer Hidari had sent and made their way to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Standing before the imposing police headquarters, a sense of indescribable authority rose within them.

“Onee-chan, it’s my first time seeing the Metropolitan Police Department in real life. It feels so different from seeing it on TV,” Aimi remarked.

“It’s my first time too,” Kotomi admitted with a nod of agreement.

Although Officer Hidari had informed them beforehand, the police headquarters wasn’t a place anyone could freely enter. Kotomi and Aimi could only wait outside.

Before long, Officer Hidari appeared, accompanied by Iroha.

Once lively and mischievous like a playful little devil, Iroha now seemed pale and frail since learning about her mother’s crimes. Her cold, trembling hands were tightly clenched, as if suppressing an overwhelming storm of emotions. She followed Officer Hidari silently, her head bowed.

“Your friends are here to pick you up,” Officer Hidari said gently.

She had been too busy earlier to mention that Kotomi and Aimi would be coming to pick up Iroha.

“Friends? There’s no way anyone would come for me…” Iroha muttered hoarsely, her head still bowed.

She had learned of her mother’s unforgivable crimes, seen her mother’s unrecognizable remains, and faced the cruel truth that her mother had never viewed her as a daughter. Worse, she had been one of her mother’s intended targets. That reality had utterly shattered the last remnants of hope Iroha had held for her mother.

Since childhood, she had longed to feel a mother’s love.

But Yuuha had never shown her any affection. From as far back as Iroha could remember, her mother was cold, bitter, and quick to find excuses to scold or punish her.

Now, Iroha felt the crushing weight of the world on her shoulders, as though it could collapse her at any moment. Panic and anxiety consumed her heart.

Would she now bear the label of “the murderer’s daughter”? Would her friends abandon her and avoid her like a plague?

“Senpai, Aimi…”

She murmured their names in a trembling voice. They were the first people she thought of.

When she learned from the police that her mother had followed Kotomi the previous night, intending to harm her, it felt as though her heart had been plunged into ice and ceased beating.

What would Aimi and Kotomi think of her now?

Just imagining them looking at her with disgust was enough to make her feel as if her throat was being squeezed, like the suffocating grip her mother had once held around her neck during childhood. Breathing became unbearably difficult.

Would her best friend Aimi leave her? Would she be left all alone?

Of course she would, Iroha thought bitterly.

Her mother had nearly killed Kotomi just last night.

The only solace Iroha could find was that Kotomi had escaped unharmed.

“Iroha, if you keep walking with your head down, you’re going to trip.”

A gentle voice entered Iroha’s ears, warm and comforting, like a fire kindling in a freezing winter, dispelling the cold and wrapping her in warmth.

Her eyes trembled as she slowly lifted her head to see Kotomi and Aimi standing in front of her.

“Iroha, if you keep walking with your head down, you’re going to trip.” The gentle voice came again, soft and soothing, a balm to her aching heart.

Iroha stared at them, stunned.

“Senpai, Aimi… why are you here?” she asked, her voice shaking with disbelief. She hadn’t expected them to come.

“Didn’t Officer Hidari tell you? Of course, we’re here to…” Kotomi flashed a radiant, healing smile. “Take you home.”

Without hesitation, Aimi stepped forward and hugged Iroha tightly. Just as Kotomi had once comforted her as a child, Aimi gently patted Iroha’s back.

“Iroha, it’s okay now. I don’t know when you’ll be able to smile like before, but I’ll stay by your side as your best friend. I’ll help you gradually let go of the sadness in your heart. You’re not just my best friend—you’re my lifelong dearest friend!”

Kotomi’s warmth and Aimi’s heartfelt words shattered the fragile dam holding back Iroha’s emotions. Tears streamed down her beautiful face, hot and unstoppable.

“But my mother did such terrible things. Last night, she even wanted to hurt Senpai! I… I don’t know how to face you both after knowing all this,” Iroha sobbed.

“None of this is your fault, Iroha,” Aimi said, her own tears welling up as she held Iroha tightly.

The two friends, once inseparable and bound to remain so, embraced each other, crying and offering comfort.

“Iroha, don’t cry. It’s all over now. We’ll always be best friends.”

“Mm… Aimi, you stop crying too. Your face is all streaked like a little kitten.”

“Did you learn that line from my sister? Hmph, your face is streaked too. Neither of us can laugh at the other.”

The rain continued to fall from the sky, but now it felt like it was washing away all the sadness.

When the rain finally stops, the sun will shine brightly again.

————————————————————————————————————–

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep