"Thanks!"
After taking the cup of water, Fujimiya Konomi softly thanked him.
Sato sat down beside her and casually asked, "Have your exam results come out yet?"
Fujimiya Konomi shook her head and took a small sip before replying, "Probably another couple of days."
"How do you think you did?"
"Probably... okay?"
She blinked at him, her tone oddly questioning.
"Why are you asking me? I'm asking you!"
Sato looked at his childhood friend with exasperation.
Konomi was a current-year graduate, and she was staying at his place temporarily to prepare for the upcoming university entrance exams.
Her goal was Chiba University, so after the unified exam results came out, she would head there in February for the university's independent admissions test.
Asahigaoka was too remote and inconvenient in terms of transportation. If she waited until the actual exam period to come over, too many things could go wrong. Besides, arriving early would also help her get used to the environment, and Sato happened to already be living there anyway.
"So... probably pretty good?"
"Be a little more certain!"
"Then pretty good!"
"You're seriously going to drive me crazy."
Sato looked helplessly at his childhood friend.
Honestly, Konomi was great in every way. Pretty, gentle, excellent at housework, but every now and then her mischievous side surfaced and left people utterly powerless.
"Hehe, are you mad?" she asked with a grin.
"Not enough for that."
Sato glanced at her before standing up.
"Besides clothes, you didn't bring anything else, right?"
Fujimiya Konomi sat on the sofa and smiled while shaking her head.
"Then rest for a bit. Later I'll take you to the nearby convenience store to buy toiletries."
"I'll leave it to you."
...
At the convenience store near Aoyama Apartments.
"Welcome!"
As soon as they entered, Sato heard a familiar voice. Looking toward the register, he unsurprisingly spotted Aoyama Nanami.
She had practically always been working there part-time as a cashier. You could often run into her.
"Nanami, huh."
Sato greeted her, then remembered her performance in Hero Throne and casually added:
"Your voice acting improved a lot."
Although Aoyama Nanami had only voiced a supporting character, it was still a role that interacted with the protagonist. The protagonist's VA was a major industry veteran, and the fact that Nanami could keep up without sounding awkward was honestly impressive.
After all, she was still basically a newcomer in the voice acting world. Before this, she hadn't even managed to land roles in ordinary anime productions.
If anything, it was Sato's suggestion that she change direction which truly set her onto the path of becoming a voice actress. Things like this really only started improving once you took the first step.
Hearing his praise, Aoyama Nanami shyly bowed deeply.
"I should be the one thanking you. Without your recommendation, I never would've gotten this opportunity."
When she straightened up, she noticed another figure standing behind Sato, confusion flickering through her eyes.
At the same time, Fujimiya Konomi also peeked out from behind him.
The two girls' eyes met.
After silently staring at each other for a moment, both of them simultaneously shifted their gazes toward Sato, who stood between them.
Seeing this, Sato introduced them.
"This is Aoyama Nanami, a friend I made here. This is Fujimiya Konomi, basically my childhood friend. She's staying at my place temporarily for school admissions."
"Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
After the introductions, Fujimiya Konomi smiled and grabbed Sato's arm, pulling him further inside.
"Let's hurry up and buy our stuff."
Sato was forcibly dragged deeper into the convenience store.
Aoyama Nanami watched their backs as they left, her brows slowly knitting together.
So she's his childhood friend?
Deep inside the store—
Fujimiya Konomi looked at Sato in surprise.
"I didn't expect you to actually have some game."
"What do you mean, 'have some game'?"
Sato scanned the shelves filled with cups and toothbrushes. After staring for a while, his indecisiveness kicked in, and he helplessly gestured for Konomi to choose instead.
Konomi rolled her eyes at him, then continued browsing toothbrushes while saying:
"I've only been here a short while, and I've already met two people you know. Both of them are cute girls!"
After selecting a toothbrush, she suddenly turned to him with a smile.
"Are there really that many beautiful girls in Chiba City?"
Sato glanced at her, then nodded very seriously.
"Yes! Absolutely!"
With a solemn expression, he declared:
"Chiba City produces beautiful girls. You'll definitely meet even more later."
"Really? Then I'll look forward to it."
...
"Whew, I'm exhausted!"
After returning to the apartment, Fujimiya Konomi collapsed onto the sofa with a huge sigh, as though she had just done something incredibly tiring.
"All we did was walk to the convenience store. Since when did you become this fragile?"
Sato gave her a strange look while putting the snacks into the storage cabinet.
Back in Asahigaoka, everyone spent their free time climbing mountains and wandering around the countryside. He distinctly remembered Konomi leading everyone hiking all afternoon without even breathing hard.
Before Fujimiya Konomi could respond, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Ding dong!
"Who is it?"
She curiously peeked toward the entryway.
Sato rolled his eyes helplessly.
"The door isn't even open yet, how would I know? I don't have x-ray vision."
He walked over and opened the door.
The moment he saw who was standing outside, Sato froze briefly. Then he fell silent, his expression turning slightly strange as he glanced back toward the living room.
Fujimiya Konomi was already walking down the hallway, but the instant she saw the figure outside the door, she too was visibly stunned.
Sato shrugged and welcomed the visitor inside.
"Come in, Yukinoshita."
You wanted to know how many beautiful girls there were in Chiba?
If Chiba's beauties make up ten parts, I alone possess eight of them!