"Hey."
Ijichi Seika, who had been watching from afar, issued a displeased warning.
"Big sis~ We'll be right back after taking a look!"
Ijichi Nijika called toward her sister, sounding half-coquettish and half-stubborn.
A moment later, perhaps noticing something change beneath Seika's calm expression, she said to the two of them.
"Let's go!"
Ishikawa Hayato noticed that Nijika had said "go take a look," rather than the more definite "go buy." Such subtle kindness... was this the great angel of Shimokitazawa?
A girl like her would surely make an incredibly comforting wife.
Yamada Ryo said nothing and stood up as well.
"Come to think of it, what do bands usually do?"
Ishikawa Hayato asked curiously.
The three of them were currently walking toward a used bookstore. Yamada Ryo was on the left, Ijichi Nijika in the middle, and Ishikawa Hayato on the right.
Even in Shimokitazawa, a group of handsome young man and beautiful girls like this was rare, successfully drawing quite a few looks.
"Hmm... make music, play live shows, practice?"
Ijichi Nijika tentatively offered several answers, then scratched the back of her head and laughed a little, seemingly embarrassed by how amateurish she sounded.
"Sorry, it's my first time forming a band too, so I don't really know much about it. But Ryo used to be in a band."
She slowed down so Ishikawa Hayato could look directly at Yamada Ryo.
Yamada Ryo's answer was incredibly concise.
"There's only one goal: have fun."
Ijichi Nijika had clearly not expected that answer and blanked out for a moment.
"Give me a serious answer!"
Her shout attracted a wave of attention.
"That was a serious answer."
Yamada Ryo spoke calmly, as though she truly had been serious, then explained.
"Music is something you play. Music made just for work has no soul at all."
"Don't completely deny music producers!"
Ijichi Nijika transformed into the straight man, firing off retorts without pause. In the end, she sighed and said to Ishikawa Hayato.
"Ryo can lie without changing her expression, so don't trust her too much."
"Mm, but I feel like Ryo... can I call you by your name?"
Ishikawa Hayato asked Ryo beside Nijika with some concern.
"It's fine." Ryo answered directly, not minding at all.
"Mm, I think Ryo is right. Music was born from entertainment in the first place. You shouldn't make music just for the sake of making music—that's the wrong path!"
"Well said."
As Ryo spoke, she gave him a look of wholehearted approval, wearing a proud, self-satisfied expression.
The two immediately formed a united front across the dumbfounded Nijika, playing right into each other's rhythm.
"Eh... eh... eh~~"
Nijika stupidly turned her head from side to side, looking at them both. For a moment, she felt like the extra one.
Dividing the Work
After asking for Nijika's opinion, Ishikawa Hayato started calling her by her given name as well.
No, it probably did not even count as asking.
"Come on, I already call you Hayato-kun directly."
That was what Nijika had said.
At the moment, the two girls were helping Ishikawa Hayato search through the messy piles of books in a used bookstore in Shimokitazawa for instructional books.
Only then did Ishikawa Hayato get a chance to take a proper look at them.
The girl crouching down, shifting through the book spines in a box and checking the titles, was Ijichi Nijika.
Her long golden hair was tied to one side, with light, airy bangs in front. Her red eyes gave off a gentle yet lively impression.
She was around one and a half meters tall, looking especially petite while crouching. Her ever-present confident and gentle smile made her seem small, yet also reassuringly dependable.
She looked like an extraordinarily lovely, gentle-type beauty, and after actually interacting with her, Ishikawa Hayato truly felt that was the case.
Beside her was Yamada Ryo, a cool girl with dark blue hair and bangs covering half of one eye. She carelessly pulled books out, then casually stuffed them back, carrying an aloof air as if she were indifferent and disdainful toward everything.
She was slightly taller than Nijika. That small difference in height, combined with their contrasting temperaments, gave off an almost completely opposite impression.
Even wearing the same school uniform, the white shirt and black pleated skirt seemed far heavier on her, weighed down by her rationality and silence.
She was an androgynous beauty with a firm sense of self and a very independent streak.
"Guitars... basses... electronic keyboards... digital pianos... they're all mixed together."
Nijika complained lightly.
"Found it."
There was delight in Ryo's normally even voice.
The other two quickly gathered around her.
"Thank—"
Nijika's happy voice caught midway. She stared at Ryo with dead-fish eyes.
Ryo was holding a magazine and said happily.
"Sekitan Band's debut interview. Someone online is collecting it..."
A moment later, Ishikawa Hayato looked at Ryo, who was calmly searching for books with a small bump on her head, and felt a jumble of emotions.
Was this the chemistry between a drummer and a bassist?
For some reason, he wanted to offer them blessings for a hundred happy years together.
Ishikawa Hayato found the silence a little uncomfortable. His hands did not stop moving, and his gaze continued passing over the books.
But he spoke at the same time.
"By the way, Nijika and Ryo are both really kind. We only just met, and you haven't even officially let me join the band, but you've already helped me so much."
"Because Hayato-kun doesn't look like someone who only wants to mess around. You're seriously planning to learn, right?"
Nijika shifted her gaze from the book spines and gave him a bright smile as she spoke.
Pervert Outburst Value 20%.
Ishikawa Hayato silently nodded.
"The band." Ryo's emotionless voice sounded behind Nijika.
Nijika turned around to look at her, then slightly raised her head in thought. Realizing something, she immediately wore a dazed expression.
"I never said Hayato-kun could join the band?!"
"Not at all."
Ryo's voice came from slightly farther away.
"I really am something else, ahahaha..."
Watching Nijika laugh awkwardly like an idiot, Ishikawa Hayato added another trait to her in his heart: a klutzy girl.
But just as he thought that, Nijika's gaze sharpened. She sized Ishikawa Hayato up, but did not react much further.
"Then, Hayato-kun, welcome aboard."
She smiled and held out her hand.
Ishikawa Hayato smiled and took her slightly rough little hand.
"It's an honor."
Just as the atmosphere could not have been better, a calm voice suddenly shattered it all.
"Found it."
Ryo stretched out her arm and handed the book over from a distance.
He had become a member of Kessoku Band!
Ishikawa Hayato wanted to play some background music to match the mood.
La, lalala, lalalala~
Something like that, but on second thought, he should stay a little more normal for now.
The three of them headed to the station.
When Ishikawa Hayato reached the area near the station, he did not notice anything and continued walking straight ahead until Nijika reminded him.
"Hayato-kun, this way."
He turned his head, stared at the station blankly for a moment, then asked the two waiting in front of it.
"There isn't a specialty store in Shimokitazawa?"
"Mm, we need to take the train."
Ryo said without looking up, staring at her phone.
Ishikawa Hayato had a bad feeling. Japan was not large, and its many towns and cities made it feel easy to get from one place to another.
But precisely because of that, even places that did not seem far away could take a long time for a round trip.
"Where is it?"
He walked over to Ryo and asked.
"Shinjuku."
Ryo raised her phone and showed him the map.
Ishikawa Hayato estimated that accompanying him to buy things, from leaving until returning, would take nearly an hour and a half in total.
It was hard for him to imagine someone spending so much time for a band member who had only just joined.
Ishikawa Hayato took a deep breath. Not caring in the slightest that they were in public, he bowed deeply and shouted.
"I will remember this kindness for the rest of my life!"
Ryo silently put away her phone.
"Mm, I know. I'll make you repay it."
Nijika had long since gotten used to Ryo's personality and merely sighed helplessly.
"We're going to miss the train."
That evening, Ishikawa Hayato returned home carrying a long bag over a meter in length in his left hand and a box in his right.
Protecting the brand-new equipment that had cost nearly a million yen, he pushed open the door and entered.
When he reached the entryway, Ishikawa Hibiki came out after hearing movement at the door.
Before you continue