I Just Want A Single Ending!

[Agree]

[Decline]

She wants to walk home together again? What's she up to this time?

Kamigawa Saku looked up at her and, out of habit, smiled. "Of course."

He decided to see what she had in mind this time.

[Stamina +5]

"Thanks. Just give me a minute to finish packing up."

After saying that, Soyo went back to gathering her things, acting as though she hadn't asked him anything at all.

…

"How are you feeling?"

After finding Gotoh Hitori, who had just finished her practice for the day, Saku asked her with genuine concern.

"With you… and Nijika here, I'm starting to get a little more comfortable."

Hitori almost let her real feelings slip out.

"That's great. If you keep it up, I'm sure you'll be able to perform at your best in front of an audience at the live show," Saku praised.

"Hehe…"

Blushing, Hitori responded with a shy, embarrassed smile.

"But we still have a long way to go until the live," Nijika pointed out, counting on her fingers. "Writing an original song and everything will take some time."

"No need to rush. These things don't happen overnight."

Saku thought that every band likely faced similar challenges. Even his current band was already thinking about writing originals.

In fact, they were even a step behind since they hadn't decided on a name yet.

"Oh, right, Bocchi, you should keep coming back here to practice," Saku reminded her. "Your performance is still a bit inconsistent, so you need more time to get used to it."

"Ah? Oh, alright."

Hitori instinctively agreed, glancing at him with something more to say.

"Nijika and I will be here with you, just like today," Saku reassured her, easily reading what she'd left unsaid.

"That's good, then."

With that reassurance, Hitori felt a lot more confident.

"You can do it, Bocchi! Keep going!" Nijika encouraged her.

"Right!"

…

After saying goodbye to the girls at RiNG, Saku went back inside to meet up with Soyo.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's no problem. I'm the one who invited you, so really, I should be apologizing."

Soyo smiled warmly, standing up from her chair, showing no signs of impatience.

"Shall we?"

"Yes."

And so, they started their walk home together once again.

After a while, Soyo's gaze drifted to the bandages on his fingers. "By the way, Saku-kun, have you been teaching yourself bass lately?"

"Pretty much."

Saku had expected her to wait until they were nearly home to bring up whatever she wanted to talk about. But her tone suggested she wasn't holding back this time.

"Oh, I think I saw you heading home with a girl once. Wasn't she carrying a bass case? Was she teaching you?"

It was almost like Soyo had only just remembered this.

"Yes. I asked her to help me with bass, but we've both been so busy lately that I've mostly been teaching myself."

Saku was a little surprised by how well she'd remembered that small detail.

They'd only exchanged quick greetings when they'd run into each other by chance.

"You're really into bass, aren't you?" Soyo's tone was particularly gentle.

"I just thought it might be fun to learn."

Saku didn't feel the need to explain any further.

Soyo turned to him, asking softly, "In that case, would you like me to teach you bass?"

[Sure]

[No thanks]

Saku hesitated for a moment, staring at the two options in front of him. Instead of choosing right away, he asked, "Why?"

"I just thought you were pushing yourself a little too hard, especially without thinking about your health." Soyo gestured at the bandages on his fingers.

There were a few reasons she wanted to teach him bass.

First, to thank him for helping her find Togawa Sakiko.

Even though her request had been full of holes and easy to decline, he'd agreed anyway.

She wanted to do something within her power to repay him for that.

The second reason was guilt.

Thinking back on how she'd planned to use him and then cast him aside, she couldn't help but feel bad.

Especially now that she knew more about his background.

The third reason was sympathy.

Though he'd told her not to pity him over his parents' deaths, it was impossible not to feel something.

Seeing his fingers bandaged up from his self-taught bass practice made that sympathy bubble up.

As Chihaya Anon had pointed out, since their band already had a bassist, he didn't need to push himself so hard.

She'd heard that some people used music to channel their emotions.

Maybe he was one of those people?

"Sure."

After a brief pause, Saku agreed.

Even though his bass skills no longer needed guidance, he didn't have a reasonable way to show it yet.

It would seem unrealistic for someone who'd only practiced a few days to suddenly reach a high level.

Agreeing to let Soyo teach him gave him a believable explanation for his progress.

More importantly, it was an opportunity to get closer to her and strengthen their friendship.

It was a win-win situation.

[Stamina +50]

What's going on? Why so many points all of a sudden?

Saku frowned, sensing something unusual.

The most he'd received in one go before was ten points—now he'd just gained fifty.

That seemed odd.

But after giving it some thought, he decided it wasn't an issue.

He recalled that the system had rewarded him with a special ability when he agreed to form a band with Anon.

That band had come together smoothly, and every member was a character he could build bonds with.

When he'd told Gotoh Hitori that they were friends yesterday, he'd received a three-hour Study Boost card.

There hadn't been any negative consequences; in fact, Hitori was now able to perform in front of an audience.

All of these had been positive outcomes.

So there was no reason to be alarmed by a large stamina reward.

Maybe he'd just gotten lucky with a high random reward today.

"Alright, it's settled, then."

Soyo's gaze drifted from his bandaged fingers, her warm smile as gentle as a big sister's.

"Settled." Saku replied, equally pleased.

---

T/N: I really prefer the simple rewards! I was reading this one story where the rewards for things were shown and you can clearly see what he's going to pick because the reward for option was something like big booty slap? or salted fish then the other reward would be 100% physique increase it kinda frustrated me