In the evening, Hayato had just finished one hundred push-ups when his phone conveniently chimed with a 'ding-dong' notification.
He opened it to see a message from Nijika.
"Hayato-kun, do you have any plans for tomorrow?"
He looked at Nijika's profile picture on LINE, which featured her own cowlick, and quickly replied,
"If Nijika calls me Pervert in a soft voice, I'm free. If she doesn't, I'm also free."
After sending the message, he held his phone and waited for a while. Just as he was wondering why Nijika hadn't replied, Nijika sent an audio message.
Hayato tapped it open, and Nijika's voice came from the phone. Her voice was not as vibrant as usual, tinged with hesitation and shyness.
"Per... vert..."
From the voice, Hayato could imagine the scene: Nijika holding her phone, her face flushed with shyness and helplessness, clutching her hands, and after a long hesitation, finally pressing the record button, blushing in a small corner, and softly saying "Pervert" to her phone.
Rip.
Hayato's white T-shirt was directly torn to shreds by the surge of energy that erupted from his body. He stepped onto a chair and let out a long cry to the sky.
"Oh, woah woah woah~~!!"
"Brother, don't make strange noises!"
In the room next door, Hibiki yelled angrily, and at the same time, Hayato's phone chimed again with a 'ding-dong'.
Ignoring his sister for the moment, he first looked at his phone.
Nijika had sent another LINE message.
"Wait! Doesn't that mean you're free either way? Hayato-kun!!"
Hayato looked at the words on his phone, and Nijika's angry, shouting face appeared in his mind. But even so, he still felt it was a great pity not to see it in person.
"Nijika is so cute. I really want to see you right now."
"Stop making such teasing remarks! Also, come to Starry at 1 PM tomorrow afternoon."
"Understood!"
After replying, he put down his phone, then rushed out of the room and pushed open the door to the adjacent room.
"Little sister, how dare you speak to your older brother like that."
"It's because you're too loud... Why are you running around without clothes on! Get out, Pervert!"
..."Hayato-kun, really..."
Nijika emerged from the restroom, her face still faintly flushed, sighing.
Although it was her own oversight, not looking behind her.
But Hayato's ingrained impression on her was also to blame, making her think he was just teasing, so she honestly played along.
Walking into the now quiet Starry, only her older sister remained in the cleaned-up shop.
Seika sat on a chair by the bar, confirming the schedule for the upcoming performance.
Noticing Nijika had come out, she looked back at her younger sister, paused slightly, and asked,
"What's wrong? Your face is a little red."
Nijika didn't want to see her sister and Hayato in a big fight at Starry tomorrow, so she guiltily pressed her face.
"Is it? It's probably your imagination, ahaha..."
After speaking, she waved her hand, her golden ponytail swaying, and quickly walked towards the rehearsal room.
"Sister, I'm going to check on those two."
"Oh."
Seika responded as if she didn't care.
Then, after Nijika entered the rehearsal room, she looked at the computer and said with certainty,
"That Pervert must have done something."
...Opening the door to the rehearsal room, Nijika quietly walked in and closed the door behind her.
She watched Kita, who was currently learning from Bocchi-chan in the Band.
Kita was playing the Guitar with full concentration, and Bocchi, the moment she entered, immediately looked up at her.
As Bocchi began to panic, Nijika smiled and waved her hand, signaling her not to mind her.
Only after some hesitation did Bocchi lower her head and resume her own rhythm.
Afterward, Nijika leaned against the wall, quietly listening to Kita-chan play at a slower tempo.
Kita-chan has excellent talent and works very hard, and with Bocchi-chan's dedicated teaching, she truly learns quickly.
However, seeing the dark circles under Kita's eyes that even makeup couldn't cover, Nijika, while hoping to get the Band on track soon, also didn't want Kita to overwork herself.
After smoothly finishing a song, Kita exhaled the breath she had been holding, smiled faintly, and wiped her forehead.
At this moment, Nijika clapped softly, praising with a smile,
"Kita-chan plays wonderfully."
Kita was slightly surprised to see Nijika, who had entered unnoticed, but hearing her words, her expression became a bit more serious.
"No, I'm still far from it. I need to work even harder to keep up with everyone."
After saying that, she smiled brilliantly, as if affirming her resolve.
Immediately, light radiated everywhere.
Kita!
Amidst Kita's much-restrained radiance, Bocchi-chan calmly covered her eyes with her hand, seemingly having adapted to Kita's glow.
But the gradually evaporating Bocchi powder on her body proved that she was still far from maximum resistance.
Seeing the two of them acting as usual, Nijika's smile became a little awkward. She thought for a moment and said,
"But Kita-chan already has the level of a regular high school Band, you know. Bocchi-chan, what do you think?"
She spoke to Bocchi as if to wake her up.
"Ah..."
Bocchi snapped back to reality after being asked. She thought for a moment but realized she had no idea what the level of a high school Band was like.
She had previously tried searching for her school's light music club and found their promotional video. After clicking on it, her consciousness vanished.
When she woke up, there was only a recommendation for related videos at the end of the played video on her phone; she had no other memories.
After pondering, she nodded in agreement with Nijika.
"Mm."
After getting Bocchi's agreement, Nijika raised her index finger, seriously reminding Kita,
"Playing in a Band should be fun."
At this point, Kita understood Nijika's meaning. Her expression became serious as she replied,
"Yes."
And after Nijika finished speaking, she suddenly became guilty. Indeed, there were currently two people in the Band who were having a lot of fun.
Kita-chan shouldn't learn from them, right? On the other side, Ryo only returned home after watching a movie and then attending a live performance.
When she got home, she saw her parents sitting in the living room with serious expressions, looking intently at their phones, as if waiting for something.
Beside them was a large suitcase, looking incredibly heavy and full.
Ryo paused her steps and walked upstairs as if seeing nothing.
But her parents looked up after hearing Ryo's footsteps. Their expressions froze for a moment, then they dashed over like lightning, grabbing Ryo's shoulders.
Ryo's Mother: "Ryo, are you hurt!"
Ryo's Father: "How did you escape?"
Ryo's Mother: "Were you asked to do anything strange!"
The two spoke in a back-and-forth manner, but after this sentence, they seemed to suddenly come to their senses.
Ryo's Father sighed, stepping back half a step as if not wanting to put too much pressure on Ryo. He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead, and said,
"It's okay, we won't ask anything. I'll go find a friend to help deal with it right now."
Ryo's Mother also said with a grim expression,
"It's time to use Yun-chan's favor."
Looking at her scatterbrained parents and the suddenly complicated situation, Ryo couldn't maintain her calm demeanor and raised her voice, yelling,
"Don't do anything strange!"
She said, feeling she hadn't explained clearly, and her mood calmed down a bit as she said,
"He's my friend."
Listening to the subtly changed appellation, Ryo's parents both froze... After Bocchi and Kita parted ways, she walked alone on the road to the station.
In the night, Bocchi, walking alone with her Guitar on her back, gave off an exceptionally desolate feeling.
She looked at the couples on the road and sighed.
Today... was terrible.
Because she was too concerned about why Hayato suddenly skipped work to go watch a movie, she messed up the drinks several times that night. Thankfully, the customers and Nijika weren't angry.
Also, when she was practicing Guitar with Kita, Kita looked at her many times. That must have been because she thought she wasn't concentrating on teaching.
Without Hayato by her side, she felt like she couldn't do anything right.
Even the lyrics she worked hard to write for Hayato couldn't be shown to him immediately.
And.
There won't be... Hayato's hug tonight either.
Bocchi-chan pulled back her hands, feeling the night wind had grown much colder.
She thought about it carefully again.
But Hayato isn't the type to just ditch work, is he? Could it be...
On the sunny rooftop, the pristine white tiles and railings contrasted with a long, red, gold-trimmed carpet in the center of the rooftop.
The surrounding railings were adorned with pale pink and pale blue balloons, and countless friends watched her and Hayato expectantly from the side.
Hayato knelt on one knee before her, holding a bouquet of flowers, and sincerely offered them.
"Bocchi, I love you, marry me."
The next moment.
Bocchi's brain couldn't sustain this fantasy, and she covered her face, shyly calling out in a whisper,
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah."
After a short while, she tried hard to calm her emotions.
But her calm expression only lasted for a second before the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl upwards.
Looking at the pitch-black night, she suddenly didn't feel cold anymore, and her steps quickened.
"I... I need to go home quickly. I have to wake up early tomorrow, hehehe."
She said, running with delight.