Chapter 17 - Stuck Between Two Paths

                                    

                                          
[Word count - 2,194]
A few weeks later...
Location - Live House CiRCLE, Lobby
Your POV 
I'll admit, when I woke up this morning, I was happy that everything that happened with Ren is finally over. The other day, he made a public announcement saying that he purposely murdered my parents and held Chisato for ransom. Her fans were not happy about that, and of course, that announcement made it's away to the police, who took him away. And to my surprise, Ren was willing to be locked up. I guess he decided to pay for his crimes. 
As for Takeru, he stopped working at CiRCLE now because he didn't want to face me or my girlfriends again. After what he did, though, I guess I can't really blame him. It's going to be hard working at CiRCLE without his help, but I'm sure Marina and I can manage without him. 
Now everything is back normal, I can finally focus on what I was doing before. Focusing on my job at CiRCLE, graduating from Senkai Academy and spending as much time with my girlfriends as I can. Speaking of graduation, I haven't decided what I plan to do next. Do I want to study abroad? Or do I want to continue working here at CiRCLE and stay near my girlfriends? It sounds like I got a decision to make...
But until that day comes, I'm going to be focusing on finishing school and my job. However, while bringing in some equipment for CiRCLE, I walked in on Marina, who was watching something on her phone. 
"Marina-san?" I called out. 
She looked up at me. 
"Oh, (Y/N)-san. I didn't see you there." She said. Of course she didn't, because she was staring at her phone the whole time. 
"I take it you got the equipment we needed?" She asked. 
"Yep. Everything we need is in this bag." I said as I sat it down on the table. 
"That's good. I knew I could count on you." Marina said and smiled at me. 
"I do the best I can." I said and smiled back at her. 
"Say, what are you watching on your phone anyway?" I asked. 
"Oh, you don't know?" Marina asked. "Come check it out." 
I walked over and saw what was on her phone, and I couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was a video of Takeru playing the bass in front of an audience. He was alone, though. Standing next to him was a girl with bright blue hair and matching eyes. 
"Who's that girl next to him?" I asked. 
"That's his girlfriend, Aoi-chan." Marina answered. 
"Hang on, that's Aoi?!" I exclaimed. 
"Yeah, that's what everyone has been saying." Marina answered. 
I guess this means that Takeru was able to get the money he needed in order to save her. I wonder how he did it, though? Could Ren had something to do with it. 
"They do make a good team." I said. 
"Yes, they do." 
While looking at the video more, the girls came into CiRCLE to greet us. It was Maya and Eve from Pastel*Palettes. 
"Hello, Marina-san, (Y/N)-kun." Eve said. 
"Are you two watching something?" Maya asked. 
"Oh, hi Maya-chan. Eve-chan." Marina said. 
"We're actually watching Takeru and his girlfriend performing together as a team." I said. 
"Really? Can we see?" Maya asked.