Saiki walked behind Gotou Hitori while she explained ahead of him.
"Yeah, so Nijika sent me a message yesterday. It was the first time anyone besides you, Saiki, has ever messaged me, so I just kind of agreed in a daze. But if I come here alone, I feel like it would be awkward to just walk in."
[They're at school, aren't they? Couldn't you just go find them and come together?]
"I can't do that. Going up to the upperclassmen area to call someone... I'm too embarrassed. And messaging them to come would feel awkward too, since we're not that close yet."
[You performed together yesterday. Isn't that close enough?]
"Plus, Nijika said it would be better if I could bring Saiki along too, so I messaged you."
[Why do I need to come? I'm not even part of your band.]
Gotou Hitori looked at Saiki: "We didn't exchange contacts yesterday, and we didn't really talk much..." [The main reason is that yesterday I could only talk normally because Saiki was there. I don't know if I can do it today. No matter the reason, having Saiki along feels a lot safer.]
"Of course, if you're busy, Saiki, it's fine if I come alone. I'm different now."
(I almost believed her.)
[I see.]
Gotou Hitori saw Saiki's obvious "I don't believe you" face, gave a thumbs-up, pointed to her own mouth, and stubbornly declared: "You look like you don't believe me. I'm kidding—I'm super brave!"
[Oh!]
The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the bottom of the Starry stairs. When they reached the door, Saiki spoke.
[Since you can go in alone, why don't you head in first? I'll go buy a few oranges and come back to find you. Just wait for me inside.]
As soon as Saiki finished, he turned around like he was really going to buy oranges. Gotou Hitori hurriedly grabbed him.
"It's just buying some oranges, right? No problem, I'll go with you."
[It's fine. I'll be right back. You go in first.]
Saiki shook her off and walked away, leaving Gotou Hitori standing there. She watched him leave, hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, and stepped forward, reaching for the door handle.
The moment she touched it, she pulled her hand back [If I just walk in alone like this, will the people inside give me cold looks? Will they think "Who is this person?"]
She put her hand back on the handle [But I just bragged to Saiki. What if he comes back and I'm still not inside?]
Gotou Hitori scratched her head in frustration [Okay, decided. I'll wait five minutes. If Saiki comes back and sees me, I'll just say I already went in and came to the door to meet him. Yeah, that works.]
Five minutes later...
Gotou Hitori [Actually, waiting ten minutes is fine too. Then I can say it got stuffy inside, so I came out for some fresh air.]
Ten minutes later...
Gotou Hitori [When Saiki comes back, I'll say I heard something outside and came out to check...]
(Just go inside already.)
Saiki stood on the stairs holding the oranges, watching the painfully hesitant Gotou Hitori below.
That's right—he really did go buy oranges. He just bought them very quickly, so he'd been standing here watching the whole time.
[So why haven't you gone in yet?]
Saiki walked down the stairs and approached Gotou Hitori from behind while she was still scratching her head.
Gotou Hitori: "Sa... Saiki, I was just getting some air, came to the door to meet you, and there was noise outside..."
[You're completely incoherent now.]
[Also, if you'd already gone inside, why is your guitar still strapped to your back?]
Gotou Hitori clung to Saiki and wailed: "Saiki, don't abandon me! You know what kind of person I am. I'm just this useless... I'm sorry. I won't do this again next time..."
[Get off me...]
Saiki tried to pry Gotou Hitori off himself. After he managed to pull her away, she grabbed his other arm and continued crying: "I was wrong..."
[If you're wrong then let go of me already!]
At that moment, on the stairs above, Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo watched the two below.
"What are they doing? Hey, Kusuo..."
Yamada Ryo stopped Ijichi Nijika from speaking: "Wait, I want to observe them a bit longer..."
[Stop treating people like entertainment. Your voices are so loud—they noticed ages ago.]
...
Ijichi Nijika and the others sat down in the band practice room to chat. Saiki went to the front counter and saw Ijichi Seika.
[One coffee jelly, please.]
Ijichi Seika saw Saiki and said: "It's you again. We don't sell coffee jelly here."
[Then one strawberry cake.]
"We don't sell strawberry cake here either."
[You don't sell anything and still dare to run a shop?]
Ijichi Seika slammed her hand on the counter: "Are you looking for trouble? This place isn't a restaurant."
[But I heard from Nijika that you run it like a café.]
"That girl told you, huh? But we mainly sell drinks here. People come to listen to music, not to eat."
[Do you still have that cake from last time? Can you make it? I'll pay whatever the price.]
Ijichi Seika turned her head away: "I don't know how to make it. I bought that one."
[Then give me a bottle of Yor Milk...]
Ijichi Seika handed him a bottle and held out her hand: "One bottle, 500 yen. No haggling."
...
Saiki took four bottles of Yor Milk, walked to the practice room, opened the door, and placed them in front of the group who were sitting at the table discussing.
"Yo! Kusuo-kun, thanks for the trouble."
After distributing the drinks, Saiki pulled up a chair and sat to the side. He took a book out of his pocket, started reading, and asked:
[So how's the discussion going?]
Ijichi Nijika scratched her head: "We haven't really started yet. To be honest, our relationship isn't that close yet, so we don't really know what to talk about."
(Shouldn't you be talking about band stuff?)
Yamada Ryo suddenly pulled out a large die: "Just in case, I prepared this ahead of time."
Saiki glanced at the die. The options on it were: school topics, music, indicators, funny stories, bungee jumping...
[Wait, this die has some really dangerous options on it!]
Yamada Ryo: "Please don't mind it."
[You should mind it!]