Her face red, she squeezed her eyes shut and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Ahhhhh!"
Meanwhile, Bocchi took two glances, blushed, and shrank back into the cardboard box as if she were drowning.
"This is... acceptable..."
Ishikawa Hayato even felt the impact was not strong enough. He slowly pinched a corner of his fundoshi and began pulling it upward.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
Ryo staggered backward as though utterly shaken.
"Our band is going to become famous across Japan in a single day!"
Noticing that the commotion outside had grown even stranger, Bocchi could not help peeking out.
"Ah!"
The instant she saw Ishikawa Hayato, she covered her eyes. Yet the next moment, her middle and ring fingers parted, and her bright blue-green eyes kept watching him through the gap.
"Enough already!"
In the end, Nijika's forehead veins bulged in fury. She grabbed a piece of cardboard from nearby to shield herself from Ishikawa Hayato, then punched him.
"Hayato-kun, even if you do not cherish yourself, you cannot do something this illegal!"
"Yes, I'm sorry."
Having changed into ordinary clothes, Ishikawa Hayato sat kneeling on the floor, obediently listening to Nijika's lecture.
With her hands on her hips, Nijika sternly told Ishikawa Hayato,
"Do you realize you've committed indecent exposure? It's fine here, but if you did that onstage and someone called the police, Hayato-kun would get arrested!"
"I am guilty."
Ishikawa Hayato bowed his head and meekly agreed, repenting obediently. But after saying that, he suddenly thought of someone.
No longer wearing the expression of someone meekly accepting a lecture, he took out his phone and searched.
Hmm, there it was after all.
Under Nijika's puzzled gaze, he held the phone out for her to see.
"But performing in underwear is rock, right?"
Nijika stared blankly at the packed concert shown on Ishikawa Hayato's phone, along with those striking white shorts. Her red eyes were filled with enormous confusion.
Ryo did not even need to look to know what Ishikawa Hayato meant. She stated with certainty,
"Yeah, it's rock."
Beside her, Bocchi had already hidden inside the cardboard box and gone silent.
"Hey!" Nijika hurriedly stopped Ryo from encouraging Ishikawa Hayato.
But after receiving Ryo's affirmation, Ishikawa Hayato decided he had done nothing wrong and stood up.
With Nijika and Ryo both focused on him, he stared at his pants, slipped a hand into his waistband, and wore a conflicted expression.
"What are you doing?"
Nijika hurriedly asked, on guard.
"Since it's rock, and I'm a pervert, then it should be okay to go a little further. I can..."
"No, you can't!"
Nijika was so frantic that tears welled up in her eyes as she screamed, her entire face bright red.
Kita Ikuyo hesitated beside the station in Shimokitazawa.
Her cheerful expression had vanished completely as she gazed toward STARRY from afar.
She was afraid that Ishikawa Hayato might upload her apology to the internet, then pay to boost it to the top.
After all, Ishikawa Hayato always seemed like the kind of person who would dare to do anything.
But more than that, she cared about... the performance going wrong.
If Kessoku Band's performance was ruined because of her, she would feel guilty for the rest of her life.
After struggling with it, she could not help thinking of Ishikawa Hayato's sly grin.
Honestly!
Ishikawa Hayato, just you wait!
As the performance was about to begin, Seika, who had finally become free, leaned against the bar and watched Kessoku Band as they prepared to go onstage, her expression tense and uneasy.
A hastily recruited guitarist, going onstage after barely any time practicing together.
It just felt... deeply unsettling.
And though Nijika looked cheerful, Seika knew that her younger sister was unexpectedly fragile inside.
She was starting to regret it.
She should not have agreed so casually to let Nijika perform.
As footsteps sounded from the stage, her gaze toward it went vacant for a moment.
Ryo and Ishikawa Hayato were helping carry a cardboard box decorated like a ripe mango onto the stage. From beneath the lifted box, it was clear that someone was inside.
Seika covered her face.
But then someone wearing a mask, sunglasses, and a hat, looking like they were about to rob the place, appeared at the bar in front of her and startled her.
Why were there so many weird people today?
"I want to watch Kessoku Band perform."
The strange person spoke as she handed over money.
The moment Seika heard her voice, she recognized her.
She did not get angry or upset. She simply accepted the money, took out a yogurt drink, and waved for her to hurry inside.
After helping connect the power and briefly testing the sound, Nijika gave the lighting technician in the corner a signal.
The lights came on.
The audience, already murmuring in surprise, could now see clearly and began exchanging amused whispers.
"A mango box?" / "A new style of performing?"
Just as Nijika was about to begin introducing them, she suddenly saw Ishikawa Hayato walking over and immediately watched him warily.
Yet when Ishikawa Hayato approached, he merely asked,
"Leader, can I open things up?"
Nijika warned him,
"No weird stuff!"
"Trust me."
Ishikawa Hayato said with a dependable smile.
Nijika considered it briefly, and her expression relaxed a little. But then she heard Ishikawa Hayato say,
"Nijika, Kita is still a member of the band, right?"
Nijika blinked. Not understanding what he was thinking, she simply answered, "Of course."
"Good evening! Nice to meet you, we're Kessoku Band."
Ishikawa Hayato walked to the front of the stage, picked up a microphone from the side, and addressed the audience.
"It might be a little strange, but let's introduce the members right away."
With a broad sweep of his arm, he gestured to the side and pointed at Nijika, who was startled and at a loss behind him.
"Our leader and drummer—energetic and cheerful, yet as gentle as a mother—Ijichi Nijika~"
Nijika instantly blushed from what he had done, glaring at him with an expression that said, What the hell are you talking about?
She really should not have agreed to this!
Then, noticing the audience's eyes on her, she awkwardly waved at them.
The audience's mood seemed to have been stirred up by Ishikawa Hayato's antics.
Quite a few of Nijika's friends among them even teasingly shouted, "Nijika~!"
By the bar, Seika smiled a little and switched hands to prop up her face.
Ishikawa Hayato continued his introductions. Holding the microphone, he walked over to Ryo and leaned against her shoulder.
"On bass, the cool and aloof lone weirdo—Yamada Ryo~~"
And just as he had described her, even in such an embarrassing situation, Ryo's expression did not change in the slightest. She gave a small nod, then launched into a solo that stunned the audience.
When she finished, Ishikawa Hayato said with a smile,
"By the way, she quite likes being called a weirdo."
Then he walked to the center of the stage and pointed his thumb at himself.
"On keyboard, the free-spirited and happy pervert—Ishikawa Hayato. Well, there's no need to say much about a guy."
He smiled, then walked toward the cardboard box that had been trembling since earlier.
I-it's... my turn?
Bocchi had just been imagining the thunderous cheers of "Bocchi, Bocchi!" from the audience when she was introduced.
But now that the moment had actually come, she became scared.
Please, please skip me.
Tap, tap.
The sound of someone knocking on the cardboard box.
It was similar to how he had knocked on the wall before.
Then came Ishikawa Hayato's lowered voice.
"Gotou-san, it's just the two of us now. Please play something for me. Give me something cool."
Liar, we're obviously onstage right now.
Bocchi hesitated. Inside the dim cardboard box, she pressed down on the strings and held her pick.
While she wavered, she heard no urging at all. Yet she thought of Ishikawa Hayato's gentle expression during lunch break.
Gradually, she felt as if a false but walkable road had appeared before her, steadily waiting for her to move forward.
Nijika-chan, Ryo, Ishikawa-san.
In such a short time, she had met so many kind, gentle people.
Gotou Hitori tried deceiving herself a little.
The guitar solo that left the audience utterly silent came to an end.
Clap, clap, clap.
Before you continue