Outside STARRY, Hayato and Ryo walked unhurriedly along the streets of Shimokitazawa.
One of them had a calm and aloof expression, as if his face declared 'do not approach,' while the other wore a slight smile, lighthearted as if humming a little tune.
They looked as if they were awkwardly forced together, yet their side-by-side walk gave the impression of a good relationship.
As they walked, the scenery around them shifted.
Hayato glanced at Ryo, who was calmly walking beside him, and sensing that she had no intention of conversing, he didn't speak first.
The two continued in silence.
As Hayato casually looked around Shimokitazawa on a May afternoon,
He suddenly heard a voice beside him.
"Hayato-kun, aren't you in a hurry?"
He took a moment to realize that Ryo had spoken, and he turned his head to look at her.
As Ryo spoke, she still looked straight ahead, her steps and gaze as steady as ever, her dark blue side hair, adorned with a clip, swaying slightly with her steps.
Hayato was puzzled.
In a hurry? Did she mean walking so slowly?
As if noticing Hayato's gaze, Ryo tilted her head and looked up at him, her golden eyes giving off a strong sense of pressure.
Seeing Hayato's puzzled expression, she explained,
"About the Band."
Hayato understood, but was also confused.
Was Ryo starting to get anxious? But it didn't seem like her; she should be the type of person who enjoys the feeling of playing music.
So, it must have been a simple inquiry.
That really was... not many people or things caught Ryo's attention, and he actually had this honor, which was truly flattering.
He chuckled, met Ryo's gaze, and said,
"Not at all. I learned from elsewhere that not taking shortcuts is the true shortest path."
He turned his head to look ahead, watching the passersby who approached, then vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Rushing towards success is meaningless. Life isn't meant to be speedrun; it's fun to play slowly, just like a game."
Ryo nodded, as if understanding.
"That's good."
It seemed she had considered the possibility that Hayato, having been eager to join the Band before and now having learned an instrument, might leave due to the Band's slow progress.
Hearing her words, Hayato chuckled playfully and retorted,
"Ryo, are you worried I'll leave the Band?"
"Yes," Ryo looked at him and nodded decisively.
"You're very interesting."
...The short exchange ended, and silence returned between them.
And for two people who vaguely sensed each other's essence, even without communication, they weren't worried about the other overthinking things.
Nor was there that awkwardness of wanting to say something but being unable to.
"We're here."
Ryo stopped in front of a modern-style mansion surrounded by a black wall. She very casually pressed a button by the gate, and as the main gate opened, she walked in.
Hayato also very naturally followed her into the mansion, then, under her stunned gaze, he casually closed the courtyard gate behind her.
Hayato looked at the dazed Ryo, feigning ignorance as he asked,
"What's wrong?"
Ryo tilted her head slightly, with a proud smile, and said to Hayato, as if a little uneasy,
"It seems I've brought in a very dangerous person."
Hayato smiled and walked towards her, stopping shoulder-to-shoulder with her, and with the arrogance of an expert, he introduced himself,
"Professional Pervert, madam."
...Nijika, who had rushed home, didn't notice the notification on her phone.
She returned to her room, closed the door, and sat on her bed, looking at the practice pad beside her.
When Hayato had just guessed her thoughts, she didn't know why she had run so fast or why her heart was pounding so rapidly.
Nervousness, shyness.
These two emotions welled up in her chest.
She always felt as if she was hiding something extremely subtle that even she didn't know about.
She temporarily paused her movement of preparing to take the practice pad downstairs, a little curious to follow this train of thought.
Was that thing related to Hayato-kun?
She didn't know.
She thought about her impression of Hayato.
He was very special; among all the people she had met, he could be ranked in the most unique category.
And for a month, he had come to STARRY almost every day, making him the male she interacted with most frequently among those her age.
This inevitably made her gaze linger more on this male who was one year younger than her.
He.
'Reckless.'
Their first meeting was incredibly unexpected; before the poster was even put up, Hayato-kun suddenly ran out and said he wanted to join.
However, such reckless people are not uncommon in Bands; many musicians make sudden choices and embark on this path.
'Diligent.'
Although Hayato-kun learned things at an incredibly fast pace, what was even more remarkable was his relentless effort, not wasting a single second when he studied.
And facing Ryo's various tricky criticisms, he would happily correct them quickly.
Like a hero, smiling as he constantly charged at the Demon King, only to be repeatedly defeated.
However, recently, after receiving a perfect evaluation, he immediately stopped his seemingly constant efforts in studying.
'Reliable.'
Honestly, when Kita ran away, she felt her heart sink.
She didn't have much hope for the subsequent performance either.
However, the subsequent developments exceeded her expectations; Hayato-kun's actions pieced together the broken story into the best possible ending.
These past two days, too, he had been helping her to keep the communication within the Band lively.
If he weren't here, everything would probably be much worse.
'Pervert.'
...As she was spacing out, her phone, as if not having received a reaction from her for a while, emitted another notification ring.
A message now?
Did Hayato-kun and the others have something going on?
She pulled out her phone from her pocket and checked it.
There was a very ominous-looking message in Line.
It was from her sister.
"Nijika, Ryo invited that Pervert to her house."
There was another one below it.
"What happened?"
Nijika looked up; the message above had been sent ten minutes ago.
The Pervert must mean Hayato-kun... They went to Ryo's house... The two of them... A drop of cold sweat appeared on Nijika's forehead.
The next moment, she desperately complained loudly,
"Sister, why didn't you call?!"
Her sweet voice, despite her panic, echoed in the space, but before the echo had faded, the sound of a door being urgently pushed open and then heavily slammed shut interrupted everything... At Ryo's house.
"Please come in."
"I'm very grateful."
Hayato said with a serious expression.
Across from him, Ryo, standing in her room, let her gaze linger on Hayato's face for a good while.
Hayato, knowing his words might be a bit ambiguous, explained,
"This is my first time in a high school girl's room."
Ryo rested her hand on her chin, thought for a moment, then put on a businesslike smile and extended her hand.
"Then pay up, admission fee."
"You invited me here!" Hayato couldn't help but retort.
But then he revealed a sly smile, directly pulled out his wallet, and showed it to her.
"A Pervert's wallet is just like his integrity; it doesn't exist at all."
Ryo looked at the empty wallet, and her professional smile instantly faded as she silently turned and walked into the room.
Hayato followed her in...
"Hoo... hoo..."
After seeing Ryo's extremely obvious mansion, Nijika's last breath of strength completely dissipated, and she gasped for air, clutching her knees.
But after only two seconds, her restless heart urged her to pick up her phone again.
She dialed Ryo's number.
The wait before connecting was extremely long and anxious.
Holding her phone, she walked towards the mansion's main gate. By the time she reached the door, she was about to enter Ryo's house without notice when the call connected.
"Nijika."
Ryo's slightly deep voice, processed electronically, sounded a bit hoarse.
Nijika felt a little relieved upon hearing her voice, but she thought since she was already here, she might as well check on the situation of the two of them interacting privately.
So she said to Ryo,
"Ryo, I'm at your doorstep now."
"Oh, come on up."