Nijika stared blankly at the departing Kita. Stop! No more 'working hard'! This misunderstanding is going to kill me!
"Kita, listen! It's not like that! We aren't one of those 'anything goes' slutty bands!"
"I know!" Kita replied. "Ryo-senpai just fell for a playboy who already has a girlfriend! Being unaccepted by society is part of the band experience! Loving one person isn't being a slut!"
"I..." Nijika wanted to argue, but she didn't know how. She knew Ryo liked him, but was it love or just a desire to be a "kept woman" like Bocchi? Ryo's parents liked him, he was honest about his girlfriend... if Ryo wanted to steal him, Nijika had to back her up. But the reputation damage!
"We should head back. Bocchi is trying so hard; I need to be brave too!"
Kita charged back into the room. When she opened the door, the expected "orgy" wasn't happening. Rin had his pants back on, and a sticky Ryo and Bocchi were posing on the bed.
Their messy faces were pressed together. Bocchi's large, soft breasts were squashed against Ryo's flat chest. They were both using their fingers to pull open their own pussies, exposing their most private, wet depths to the camera.
The blank-faced Ryo and the trembling, blushing Bocchi looked like a "bad older sister" selling her sister out to a pervert. Mashiro and Sagiri were frantically sketching the scene.
Kita's heart skipped a beat. I'm so jealous! If I hadn't run away, I'd be the one rubbing against Ryo-senpai right now! But the reality of a man's load hitting her face was still too much for a virgin high schooler to process.
Rin noticed Kita and Nijika returning and raised an eyebrow. He thought they would have left, especially Kita. But she looked... enthusiastic? He wondered if Nijika had talked her into it.
"President, I'm so sorry I got scared," Kita said, bowing slightly to Rin before rushing to the bed. "Lady Mashiro, Ryo-senpai, I'm ready to work hard!"
Work hard at what!? Nijika screamed internally.
"Lady Mashiro, what pose should I do?"
"Just like Bocchi," Mashiro said.
"O-okay." Kita reached for her stained collar. She'd made up her mind, but exposing her body to a man was still a massive mental hurdle.
Seeing her struggle, Rin smiled and left the room. Kita staying was already a win; he didn't want to rush her. He patted Nijika's shoulder on the way out. Nijika followed him downstairs to the living room, sitting on the sofa and pressing her hands against her thighs.
"What's with Kita?" Rin asked. "I thought she'd bolt."
Nijika sighed. "She thinks we're a 'sex band' now. She admires Ryo so much that she thinks she has to adapt to the 'rock and roll lifestyle' to keep up."
"And Ryo?"
"Ryo likes you. She isn't the type to work hard—not even at music. Seeing Bocchi trying to get sponsored made her realize she could just be a kept woman and never have to work a day job again."
"You know them well," Rin teased. He noticed something in her hair. "You're always looking after them, like a mother... Mama Nijika?"
"I'm not their mother!" Nijika blushed and looked away. Rin reached out and cupped her face.
"Eh—!" Nijika stiffened. Why is he doing this? This isn't what 'just friends' do! Does he like me? But he has a girlfriend!
Rin felt the heat rising in her cheeks. He reached up and plucked a strand of hair. "You worry too much. You have white hairs, Nijika. More than one." He held two white strands in front of her.
"Eh?" Nijika was shocked. Between her job, the band, her studies, and Ryo's antics, the pressure had been immense.
"But... if I don't work hard, what will happen to Ryo?" she whispered, her eyes downcast.
In the next second, Rin pulled her into a gentle hug, whispering into her ear, "You don't have to force yourself to be the mother."
Nijika froze in his arms, and a single tear escaped her eye.