As he spoke, he glanced at everyone present. Nijika sat by the table, wearing a sailor-style dress with a wool cardigan over it today. She looked cute, but even more childlike.
But... sixteen was already plenty young. Why dress like that?
Could it be because he had said she would become a good mother someday?
Ryo was still dressed in dark, androgynous clothing. She stood beside the table with the fashionably dressed Kita, while Seika sat by the bar as if she had not noticed the commotion here.
"Good afternoon, Hayato-kun." Nijika turned sideways in her chair and greeted him.
"Yeah."
Ryo merely responded simply.
But for some reason, there was a trace of dissatisfaction in her gaze.
Ishikawa Hayato looked at her, then noticed Kita sighing, and immediately understood.
He picked up his phone, quickly took a screenshot, and sent the image to Ryo through LINE.
At that moment, Nijika stood up and smiled at everyone.
"Now that Hayato-kun is here..."
Before she could finish, Ryo, who was holding her phone beside her, let out a cough-like laugh.
Then she said to Ishikawa Hayato, "Very good, but no sneaking ahead next time."
Nijika looked wary as she glanced at those two conspirators.
Compared to sheep-like Kita and Bocchi, these two who occasionally revealed their nasty natures were the most troublesome members of the band.
For the sake of the band, she had to take on the responsibility of keeping an eye on them.
Bocchi also came downstairs, maintaining her faint sense of presence as she softly greeted everyone.
Nijika and Kita energetically responded to her, while Ryo calmly greeted her as well.
In this atmosphere, Bocchi's bright eyes showed a dazed look. Then, as though she were happy, she quickened her pace slightly and moved closer to the four of them.
Seeing Bocchi come down, Ishikawa Hayato smiled faintly. He looked at Kita, who had arrived carrying a guitar, and said to everyone,
"Let's take a look at Kita's guitar first."
Ryo, whose smile had already faded, calmly glanced at Ishikawa Hayato. Her usually emotionless eyes seemed to carry a faint hint of admiration.
Kita heard the teasing in Ishikawa Hayato's tone. As if to prove herself, she immediately set down her guitar case and pulled open the zipper.
"Sure."
She was very confident in the guitar she had checked several times.
She opened the guitar case, revealing the instrument inside. With a smile on her face, she turned sideways and said to everyone,
"See? It has six strings, right?"
Hearing Kita's voice, Bocchi looked forward. From where she stood, she could clearly see exactly what kind of instrument it was.
As a guitarist, seeing this scene made her heart jolt. Her expression complicated, she looked at Kita.
Thinking that she might have to teach Kita guitar later, she timidly and tactfully said,
"Basses can have six strings too."
"That's a multi-string bass," Ryo reminded her, using the more professional term.
Kita still had a smile on her face as she looked at the two girls who had spoken, then back at her "guitar."
For some reason, a chill ran through her heart. The smile vanished from her face like lightning, and she uncertainly looked once more at her bandmates.
Among their expressions of sorrow, indifference, unease, and one person's gloating, she looked once again at her "guitar," which she only knew how to make go thump-thump.
In an instant, she understood everything.
"Guh..."
As if petrified, Kita heavily toppled to the side.
The four of them stared blankly at her. A little soul drifted from her tearful mouth as she wailed pitifully,
"I bought this with two years' worth of allowance and New Year's money that I borrowed in advance from my dad!"
"Kita-chan!"
Nijika desperately shouted, trying to call back Kita, who was beginning to drift away.
Conversion
"Ishikawa-kun was right. I really am an idiot..."
Kita Ikuyo hugged her knees as she squatted in a corner of STARRY, staring blankly at the dark gray wall and silently wiping away her tears.
Beside her, Nijika and Bocchi were trying hard to comfort her.
"Th-this kind of thing is a mistake anyone could make..."
Nijika's desperate nonsense startled Bocchi, who had no idea how to comfort Kita. This probably was not a mistake everyone could make, was it?
Bocchi hesitated, then carefully said to Kita,
"Um... y-you can just sell the bass and buy a guitar..."
On the other side, Ishikawa Hayato and Ryo stood beside the bass.
He examined the bass. Looking at its somewhat exaggerated design and its understated yet flamboyant color scheme, he said in surprise,
"Kita is unexpectedly pretty rock and roll, choosing a bass like this."
After saying that, he looked at Ryo beside him, who was watching Kita's side of the room. Looking at her calm yet cool appearance, he suddenly understood why Kita had chosen this bass.
That silly girl had even chosen her instrument to match someone else.
She had probably felt that this instrument best matched the impression Ryo gave off and immediately bought it.
He stood up and bumped his shoulder against Ryo's.
"Ryo, what should we do?"
Ryo glanced at him, completely unconcerned by the disrespect of this boy younger than her.
Ishikawa Hayato could sense some unclear emotion in her gaze. It was not directed at him, but at that little idiot over there.
It seemed Ryo had realized the same thing Ishikawa Hayato had noticed just now.
At last, she walked over.
When she heard another pair of footsteps approaching, Kita slowly raised her tear-filled eyes.
But when she saw her admired Ryo-senpai walking toward her, she was not happy as usual. Instead, she became even more frightened.
What would a cool band girl like Ryo-senpai say to her? Would she just kick her out?
Panic consumed her, and she softly cried out,
"Senpai..."
Ryo looked down at her and spoke in her slightly low voice, her tone calm.
"I'll buy this bass. After that, I'll lend you a guitar."
Hearing words far beyond her expectations, Kita blinked her tearful eyes as Ryo's words rapidly processed in her mind.
Ryo-senpai was going to buy her bass and lend her a guitar.
Wasn't that an exch... exchange... this was an exchange of tokens!
She had received her senpai's love!
She abruptly stood up, clasping her hands with her fingers interlocked. Her entire body radiated a dazzling light, making the innocent Bocchi beside her cover her eyes and wail.
"Ryo-senpai, thank you so much!"
"Yeah. I'll go get it now."
Ryo calmly nodded, then turned and unhurriedly walked toward the shop entrance.
Her home was nearby, so there was no need to bring it over another day.
However, as she passed Ishikawa Hayato, she heard the boy softly say,
"Ryo, you're really kind. Even though you don't like people like Kita."
Ryo's steps paused, and she stopped in place.
She looked at the boy who had only begun learning instruments after joining their band, the male member who had rapidly learned how to use instruments and could even perform onstage.
She looked into his clear eyes beneath his playful behavior.
For some reason, the corner of her mouth rose slightly. With a smile that seemed both proud and smug, she spoke in a tone completely unlike her usual one.
"You really dare say that to your senpai."
After saying that, she passed Ishikawa Hayato without pausing again.
Ishikawa Hayato recalled her cool, fleeting smile, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye that made her look even more elegant, and her subtle stud earrings.
He could not help feeling that this girl really was incredibly cool.
But why had her attitude toward him suddenly changed so much? He had a bad feeling something unpleasant was about to happen.
After returning, Ryo gave Kita the money for the bass. But at the same time, she emptied the remaining money from her pockets and said gloomily to Kita,
"This is the last of my assets. From now on, I'll have to survive on grass."
While Kita was surprised that Ryo could so readily take out such a sum of money, hearing her say this left her so flustered that she did not know how to respond.
She suddenly felt like she could not put the money into her pocket.
Nijika, who was long used to Ryo's negative-asset state, sighed.
To Nijika, this was not the first time Ryo had acted like this. Nijika knew perfectly well what she was really implying.
She helplessly indicated that she understood and sighed.
"I know, I know. I'll make Ryo's lunch from now on."
"Yay."
After saying that with a smile, Ryo glanced at Ishikawa Hayato and Bocchi.
Her calm gaze made Bocchi shudder, while Ishikawa Hayato casually rubbed his completely empty wallet and gave her a happy smile.
"So, Kita-chan has a guitar now..."
Nijika's expression became hesitant as she spoke.
Originally, she had planned to have Kita show everyone her current level. But thinking about how Kita could not even tell a bass from a guitar, she suddenly felt the band's progress had been pushed back by quite a bit.
Seeing her hesitation, Ishikawa Hayato quickly walked over. Under her puzzled gaze, he moved behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and gently shook her.
"Be more confident, leader."
Nijika was startled by his sudden attack. She moved aside and turned her head, looking at him with a hint of helplessness in her red eyes.
Ignoring her gaze, Ishikawa Hayato smiled at Kita and said,
"Then let us invite this century's most outstanding guitar—pfft, guitarist—to demonstrate her current guitar skills."
"Hayato-kun, you've gone too far with the teasing!"
As the closest person to him, Nijika was the first to hear Ishikawa Hayato's words and angrily shouted.
But Ishikawa Hayato's confident smile, as if everything were in his hands, made her pause before turning to look at Kita.
Before you continue