The three walked along the increasingly familiar road, heading towards Shimokitazawa.
Along the way, Bocchi-chan noticed that the two people next to her hadn't spoken for a long time.
Realizing something was off, she secretly observed them.
Kita-chan was holding her phone, pressing the screen with a faint smile, while Hayato had his hands in his pockets, observing the street with a very smug expression.
Seeing how natural they looked, Bocchi-chan suppressed her doubts.
However, Kita noticed Bocchi-chan's gaze and leaned forward to look over.
"Gotou-san, let's take a picture together."
"No, no, no, I can't."
Bocchi-chan quickly shook her head in panic.
The horror of almost being scorched by Kita's radiance at noon was still vivid in her memory; how could she dare to get close to Kita?
Kita's gaze shifted to Hayato.
Bocchi-chan, noticing Kita's gaze, realized what might happen next, and a hint of unease suddenly arose within her.
If only they took a picture together, would she be left out?
"Don't make it difficult for Bocchi-chan. Even if I join, Bocchi-chan won't agree."
Hayato said to Kita with a helpless expression.
Kita's expression was peculiar; she said with a touch of coquettishness.
"Eh~ Hayato-kun always says 'Pervert' and such, but he doesn't do anything perverted at all."
Hayato looked up at the sky.
"The clouds are really white."
After he finished speaking, he took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale the moisture from the clouds.
Kita's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Hayato, her face quickly turning crimson. She clamped her legs together, her steps becoming stiff, and she fled to the front as if escaping.
Bocchi, who didn't understand the meaning behind Hayato's words, was full of question marks.
But Bocchi suddenly realized that Hayato-kun seemed to tease others without reservation, yet he was always restrained with her... They arrived at the venue.
"Kita-chan, Bocchi-chan, Hayato-kun... Huh? Didn't Hayato-kun come?"
Nijika looked at the two coming down the stairs, greeting them cheerfully, but when she noticed one person missing, she paused in confusion.
Kita had also intended to say hello, but hearing Nijika's words, she looked back in puzzlement.
She only saw Bocchi, who looked a little uneasy under their gaze.
Bocchi raised her hand, pointing cautiously.
"Th-that, Hayato-kun is over there..."
The three looked in the direction Bocchi was pointing.
Hayato had, at some point, bypassed the others from the back of the group and run over to Seika, sitting on the bar stool next to her, looking at Seika with a brilliant smile.
The three could feel something rising from Seika's calm back.
"Hayato-kun, don't bully my sister!"
Nijika rushed over and pulled him away.
Just as she pulled Hayato away, a drunken voice echoed from the venue entrance.
"Eh~~ It's really lively today, Senior~ Long time no see."
A woman who looked very troublesome, completely drunk, was sprawled over the handrail that Hayato often leaped over.
Her rose-red long hair was styled into a side ponytail draped over her shoulder, and she wore a jacket that, due to her loose movements, revealed the camisole dress she wore underneath.
As if completely unconcerned about her slight exposure, she casually greeted the venue.
Nijika sighed, pressing her forehead, while Seika looked blankly at another troublesome person who had appeared in the venue.
Bocchi and Kita noticed Nijika's expression, and Kita asked curiously.
"Who is this?"
Seika explained first.
"This is my junior from college..."
As she explained, the drunkard, Hiroi Kikuri, came down the stairs and directly put her arm around Seika's shoulder.
"I am Hiroi Kikuri, the genius bassist who loves bass more than anyone~"
She leaned on Seika's shoulder, swaying, and continued.
"But I forgot my bass at an izakaya yesterday, and I don't even remember which izakaya it was."
Seika let her lean, but pinched her nose with a look of misfortune. "You reek of alcohol... And first, go find your bass!"
Hiroi Kikuri looked up, her blurry eyes fixed on Seika's face, and she poked her cheek with a finger.
"Eh~~ I'll go later, Senior. Let's go for a drink together. The bass will come back as we drink."
Kita and Bocchi stared dumbfounded at this person.
Isn't this the bassist who loves bass less than anyone?
"There's a LIVE today, go by yourself."
Seika flatly refused her.
Hiroi then turned to look at the others in the venue.
"Why is there also a young man here? Is he performing today?"
"I am here for love and peace, to save..."
Hayato crossed his arms over his chest, his expression serious, like a hero appearing in a tokusatsu show. He had just finished a sentence and was about to change his pose when...
"He is Hayato, our Band's keyboardist."
Ryo directly interrupted him.
Hayato turned his head in disbelief, looking at Ryo.
"Hayato-kun, this person is already drunk, don't make her even more confused."
Nijika, uncharacteristically impolite towards someone, said, pointing at Hiroi Kikuri, whose thoughts seemed to be stuck.
And Hiroi Kikuri, hearing the keyword, instantly snapped back to reality and shouted loudly.
"I'm not drunk, I'm not drunk."
She said, pulling out a glass of alcohol.
"Just a little sobering drink... Senior, what are you doing?"
Seika snatched the drink from her hand, extending her arm.
"Go outside to drink."
"Eh..." Hiroi Kikuri also seemed to sober up quite a bit from this.
She looked at the five again, "Ah, a Band. Nijika did say she wanted to form a Band before. Are all five of them Band members?"
"Yes, Kessoku Band."
Nijika responded.
The drunkard smiled, saying in a dreamy voice.
"That's great. Ah, then Ishikawa is like a harem protagonist."
Hayato was quick to interject this time. He grandly waved his hand with a confident air.
"My surname is Ishikawa, but you're right, everyone here is part of my harem."
He looked around at PA-san, who was hunched in a corner playing on her phone, as well as Hiroi Kikuri and Manager Hoshika, who was being leaned on.
Amidst the stunned expressions of the four Band members, he spread his arms and declared loudly.
"And by harem, I mean all of you adults included, you are no exception!"
"I'm going to be the King of Harems!"
Hiroi Kikuri once again began to doubt reality.
"A dream?"
But Seika, who hadn't been drinking, was very sober. She had a menacing smile, as if to say 'you've got guts, kid,' and gritted her teeth.
"Quite bold, aren't we?"
PA-san, sitting in the corner, slightly raised her head, blinked in confusion, then showed an amused smile and walked over.
"Wow, I'm so happy, to be pulled into a cool and amazing high school boy's harem."
She smiled, her eyes narrowed, and covered her mouth with her hand, pushing up her loose sleeve.
Amidst the others' incomprehensible expressions, she walked over to Hayato, who had suddenly started sweating profusely.
She leaned close to his ear and said.
"So, would you like to come to Big Sis's apartment tonight?"
Hayato looked at the lip piercing under her lips, shining in the light, and her seductive gaze, along with the faint scent of perfume. He could feel it.
She was serious!!
Hayato's expression instantly became serious. He took two steps back and bowed deeply at 90 degrees, saying.
"I apologize, I overstepped."
PA-san's eyebrows suddenly drooped. She turned around, wiping the corner of her eye with her sleeve as she walked past Seika.
"I was rejected... Is it true that when you get older, no one wants you anymore..."
"Yes, yes." Seika sighed.
Feeling the atmosphere instantly return to normal, Nijika also breathed a slight sigh of relief and stepped forward to Hayato.
"Hayato-kun, stop saying such strange things."
Hayato turned around, his expression serious.
"Indeed, the age limit for the harem should still be set at 25."
Nijika was helpless.
"You're saying strange things again."
"No, no, it's not. I'm serious."
As Hayato's words fell, exclamation marks seemed to pop up above the heads of Nijika, Bocchi, and Kita, who were all stunned, looking at him in surprise.
Kita's mouth twitched as she exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"
Ryo quietly looked at this person who she didn't know if he was talking nonsense or being serious.