Since Kita lived closer to STARRY, Kamijou Mutsuki arrived after her. However, after the two met up at STARRY, a small incident occurred.
"Huh? Mutsuki-kun, you're the senpai Kita-chan was talking about?"
Although Kamijou Mutsuki had already known the three from Bocchi the Rock! for quite some time and had often come to STARRY before, for some reason—coincidence or otherwise—he had never run into Kita here even once.
But considering that Kita had been practicing guitar at home recently and hadn't come to STARRY unless necessary, this was actually quite normal.
And precisely because of this, Nijika and Ryō didn't know that the two had already known each other, and the same went for Kita.
So Senpai already knew Nijika and Ryō-senpai from before?
Recalling what Kamijou Mutsuki had said on LINE earlier, she had thought he was joking—but now she couldn't help feeling a bit flustered.
Could Senpai actually be serious?
Especially seeing how well he seemed to click with Ryō, Kita grew even more uneasy.
"What, Nijika? Disappointed?"
"How could I be? If anything, I feel relieved."
Hearing Kamijou Mutsuki's slightly teasing tone, Nijika quickly waved her hands.
"I was worried Kita might get scammed or something!"
"But if it's Mutsuki-kun, then I'm at ease!"
"Nijika!"
Kita puffed her cheeks slightly. She wasn't that foolish!
As for Ryō, standing at the side, there was a faint hint of regret in her eyes.
She had been hoping to introduce Kita to Kamijou Mutsuki and earn a bit of food money from it!
But since the two already knew each other, there was nothing she could do.
"Nijika, it's your turn!"
At that moment, Ijichi Seika, who had just come in from outside, broke the harmonious atmosphere between them.
The reason Kita had come to STARRY in the first place was to take part in Kessoku Band's first live performance. And now, it was their turn to go on stage.
However, Kamijou Mutsuki felt like Seika had been staring at him the whole time?
In fact, that wasn't his imagination.
As Kamijou Mutsuki and Nijika grew closer through more frequent interactions, the irritation in Seika's heart had been increasing day by day.
After all, Kamijou Mutsuki was the kind of guy who dared to propose with a diamond ring upon first meeting—a weirdo on the same level as Ryō. How could she possibly feel at ease?
As long as she was around, she wouldn't give this troublesome brat any chance to whisk Nijika away.
Unless Kamijou Mutsuki could deal with her first, he could forget about anything involving Nijika.
She was Nijika's defensive line!
"Sorry, it's time for our performance."
After hearing her sister, Nijika ended the small talk.
"It'll probably be pretty rough for our first time, so Mutsuki-kun, make sure to give us plenty of feedback, okay~"
"Don't worry,"
hearing that, Kamijou Mutsuki replied with a serious expression,
"I've already bought earplugs!"
"Hey!"
Even Nijika couldn't help but laugh in exasperation, poking his forehead.
"At least give us some confidence!"
"Nijika!"
However, watching the two banter, Seika's expression darkened slightly.
If they dared to act like this right in front of her, she didn't even want to imagine what they might do behind her back!
"Stop wasting time. If you drag this out, the audience will start complaining!"
"Sorry, sis—we'll head out right away!"
Nijika responded to Seika, then turned back to Kamijou Mutsuki.
"No matter what, we're not that bad. Who knows, we might even surprise you~"
"Senpai,"
After Nijika and Ryō left the practice room, Kita walked up to Kamijou Mutsuki.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but her gaze was incomparably firm.
"Please watch closely—my performance!"
The greatest praise of humanity is courage.
Having overcome her cowardice and urge to run away, Kita felt as if, at this moment, she could do anything!
With that feeling, she stepped onto the stage.
And then…
"Onegai, if I leave Kessoku Band, watashi…"
Backstage at STARRY, Kita clutched Nijika and Ryō's arms, tears brimming in her eyes.
"I'm really sorry for messing up this performance!"
"What do I have to do for Nijika and Ryō-senpai to forgive me?"
"As long as I can do it, I'll do anything!"
Sitting to the side, Kamijou Mutsuki raised an eyebrow.
Wait, there's even a bonus segment?
However, as the scriptwriter of MyGO!!!!!, Kamijou Mutsuki felt he had already seen more than enough of this kind of plot.
"You really are someone who only thinks about yourself, aren't you!"
Looking at Kita kneeling in front of her, Ryō very fittingly shook off her hand.
Paired with her similar hair color to Sakiko and those golden eyes, it actually felt surprisingly on point.
"Alright, you two, stop messing around!"
Seeing this, Nijika couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
There was no doubt—the band's first performance had been a complete mess, almost on par with the one in the anime.
After all, although Bocchi couldn't perform properly due to her social anxiety, her actual skill level was solid.
As for Kita…
Even Anon, although she had mostly forgotten how to play, at least had prior experience with the guitar.
On top of that, with the "prop" experience bonus from before, even if she wasn't outstanding, she wouldn't drag things down.
But Kita—not only had she crammed at the last minute, she had also been practicing alone at home with brute force.
And to hide her true level, she had deliberately avoided practicing together with Nijika and Ryō, meaning their coordination was basically nonexistent.
So for the performance to turn out like this was only natural.
After all, sheer determination alone couldn't overcome the limitations of skill.
Or perhaps… the girl's determination still wasn't enough?
Recalling the failure just now, Nijika secretly glanced at Kamijou Mutsuki, her cheeks slightly flushed.
After all, she had just been talking big, only for the performance to turn out like a disaster—it was simply too embarrassing.
"Alright, Kita, it's not all your fault. We were all the same."
Although Kita was the main source of the failure, neither Nijika nor Ryō had performed particularly well either.
Toward the end, Nijika had completely lost the rhythm, and Ryō had just been playing her own thing without regard for the others.
"No… it's all my fault."
However, this girl—who was usually so bright and outgoing—was now completely swallowed by negative emotions.
After all, she had just said something so cool to Senpai, only to perform like that—Kita felt so embarrassed she wanted to disappear.
And in the end, she had let down Nijika and Ryō-senpai's expectations.
"Actually… I can't play the guitar at all."
At this point, Kita no longer had any intention of hiding it.
"I only joined Kessoku Band because I admire Ryō-senpai."
"And yet I ended up messing up the performance like this… I'm really sorry!"
As she spoke, her mood sank lower and lower.
"Just pretend I never said those things earlier. I lied to Nijika and Ryō-senpai—I don't have the right to stay in the band anymore. I'm really sorry!"
After saying that, Kita turned to leave.
Seeing this, Kamijou Mutsuki followed after her.
"Senpai?"
Kita looked slightly confused.
"If you're trying to stop me—"
"Kita-chan made that decision because of me, didn't you?"
Kamijou Mutsuki's question made her eyes widen.
"After causing such a huge mess, and now that Kita's leaving, Nijika and the others will definitely vent all their frustration on me alone, right?"
"There's no place for me here anymore!"
"So I'll have to leave together with Kita."
"They wouldn't do something that excessive!"
Hearing Kamijou Mutsuki's words, Nijika puffed her cheeks slightly.
"This has nothing to do with you, Senpai!"
Having come to her senses, Kita quickly added as well.
After all, she was the one who hid the truth, and she was the one who made the decision—what happened now was simply the result of her own actions.
In fact, she was even grateful to Kamijou Mutsuki for giving her the courage.
If she had just run away without thinking things through, she would probably regret it even more in the future.
Even a low score was better than not taking the test at all.
Although the outcome wasn't good, at least she had honestly confessed her lie to Nijika and Ryō-senpai—and that alone made her feel much lighter inside.
.....................