"Mind if I order another serving?"
(When you said wait, this is what you meant? And you're still not full? That portion was huge.)
[Whatever.]
"Thanks."
After ordering another, Yamada Ryo looked at Saiki with a cool, icy gaze.
"Bocchi-chan, how's she doing? How are the lyrics coming along?"
[You can just ask her directly about that. Why ask me?]
"I feel like asking you would be more useful."
Saiki was silent for a moment.
[The lyrics are done. Mm… they're really good.]
"Let me see."
[I already said, go ask her. What's the point of telling me? I didn't write them.]
"Got it."
No sooner said than done. Yamada Ryo immediately pulled out her phone and typed a quick message at lightning speed.
Then she set the phone down and started enjoying her second serving of curry rice.
Maybe because the curry rice was so delicious and spicy, she'd already finished her water and even choked a couple times.
Yamada Ryo pointed at the water in Saiki's cup: "Can I have some?"
[No.]
"Stingy."
[Waiter.]
…
Gotoh Hitori arrived very quickly. She stood hesitating at the entrance.
She would never normally come to such a fashionable place to eat. Even going to a convenience store took courage.
Gotoh Hitori [What should I do when I go in? How do I enter?]
(Just open the door and come in.)
Gotoh Hitori [Should I do it like they do on TV? How do they do it again? I think it's acting really tough, striding up, stepping on the table, and yelling to bring out the best food here…]
(What kind of TV is that? Stop watching that.)
In the end, Gotoh Hitori still went in. After opening the door, too afraid to meet anyone's gaze, she averted her eyes, slightly raised her hand, gave an awkward smile, and said in a very small voice: (╯^╰) "Ah! Hi, boss, how's business?"
"…"
The shop was very quiet. The owner and many customers looked at this person greeting thin air and didn't know what to say for a moment.
(What is this? I can feel the secondhand embarrassment through the air.)
Gotoh Hitori [I want to die.]
Yamada Ryo noticed Gotoh Hitori enter and immediately spoke up to break the awkwardness: "Bocchi-chan's here!"
…
Gotoh Hitori [Arigatou, Ryo-san. Thank you.]
If she hadn't remembered there was an invitation, Gotoh Hitori probably would have pretended she walked into the wrong place and left while muttering to herself.
Gotoh Hitori thanked them as she walked toward the table where the three were. Only when she got closer did she notice Saiki sitting across from them.
"Saiki, you're here after all!"
(Yeah, I got to see quite an interesting scene.)
Gotoh Hitori chose to swap seats with Saiki, letting him sit on the outside while she sat on the inside after folding a few paper cranes.
Oh~
Suddenly Gotoh Hitori felt the gazes from earlier lessen quite a bit.
Saiki looked at Yamada Ryo, who was still eating curry, and knew they'd have to wait until she finished before talking about it.
He also glanced at Gotoh Hitori beside him, who had only sipped a little water and was hesitating whether to keep folding paper cranes and frogs or not.
[Want to order something?]
Saiki found Gotoh Hitori's unsure look a little amusing.
"No thanks, Saiki. I'm not hungry."
Gotoh Hitori [Are you kidding? I already don't like eating out, especially in a place like this. What if they've already paid? If I order something and have to go up to the counter alone to pay later…]
(Living while caring so much about others' gazes must be exhausting!)
After seeing Yamada Ryo finish her curry rice, Gotoh Hitori, bolstered by Saiki's presence, suddenly had a wild idea in her mind to practice talking with other girls.
Gotoh Hitori's mind heated up. She showed a simple, not-too-awkward smile: "The photos earlier were really fun, huh."
"(ー`´ー) Meh."
Gotoh Hitori [Alright, failure!!]
(Heh.)
Saiki tried hard not to look at Gotoh Hitori's expression and inner thoughts. He was afraid he'd burst out laughing the next second.
[Didn't you say you wanted to see the lyrics?]
Yamada Ryo: "Oh right, the lyrics. Show me."
"Oh, oh."
Gotoh Hitori rummaged in her bag for a bit, then took out a notebook and handed it to Yamada Ryo.
"Th… This is the lyrics I wrote. I… I wrote two in different styles. Please take your time looking!"
"Oh~"
Under Gotoh Hitori's expectant gaze, Yamada Ryo flipped to the first page and, sure enough, showed a trace of shock.
Gotoh Hitori [She actually got shocked. Is this a success or a failure?]
"Gulp."
Gotoh Hitori swallowed nervously: "This is my masterpiece."
Yamada Ryo spread the notebook open on the table and pointed at the familiar signature: "Personally, I think a rock musician using this kind of signature is too childish."
Saiki chimed in agreement.
[Right? I thought the same, but everyone's different. We should respect her.]
"Yeah, I will."
Yamada Ryo nodded to show understanding.
"It's not this page!"
Gotoh Hitori flipped to another page and handed it to Yamada Ryo again, then sat back down pretending to be calm, turning her head toward the window.
Right now she didn't even want to look at Saiki's face. Even though he was expressionless, Gotoh Hitori could still imagine him holding back a cheeky mysterious smile.
Yamada Ryo turned to properly face the notebook, reading page by page, line by line at a leisurely pace.
Saiki ordered coffee for himself and Gotoh Hitori and said he'd go pay.
(Pretty good, but way too expensive.)
…
A long while later… Yamada Ryo closed the notebook, set it on the table, stared at Gotoh Hitori calmly, and asked,
"These two sets of lyrics have completely different styles."
Gotoh Hitori: "Y… Yeah."
"So which one are you more satisfied with?"
Yamada Ryo's question struck straight at Gotoh Hitori's heart.
"I feel like both are ones I put my heart into, so they're both good. That's why I want to hear your opinions."
Hearing Gotoh Hitori say something that went against her true feelings, Yamada Ryo simply replied: "I think the second one has more of Bocchi-chan's style. It can show your personality."
"Really? Really?!"
Gotoh Hitori got so excited she stood up and slapped the table. She instinctively wanted to blurt out a ton of words agreeing, but the moment she saw Yamada Ryo's eyes, she quietly sat back down.
"I… It's okay, I guess!"
Gotoh Hitori [So happy.]
(Hey!)
Gotoh Hitori's mind recalled past memories. Her eyes unconsciously lowered, then she looked at Gotoh Hitori's notebook again, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved into a slight smile.
She looked up at Gotoh Hitori and said