Ishikawa Hayato sprang to his feet, standing as steadfast as an iron tower.
"Ishikawa Hayato, maximum load capacity: 73.2 kg. At maximum load, I can remain mobile for 156 minutes. Reporting in."
"Good work." Ryo nodded in satisfaction and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Hayato-kun, don't just go along with her!"
Nijika was practically about to cry from anxiety as she shouted. Seeing that Ishikawa Hayato showed no reaction at all, she turned and yelled at Ryo beside her.
"Ryo, enough already!"
With a tearful expression, she grabbed Ryo's shoulders and shook her wildly.
Ryo let herself be shaken, a faintly smug smile on her face.
Only Ijichi Seika, standing some distance away, stared blankly at Ishikawa Hayato as he stood ramrod straight beside them.
Human?
Pervert Outburst Value: 50%
Center
Inside the live house, the three women stared dumbfoundedly at Ishikawa Hayato, who was covered in equipment. He had an amplifier tucked under one arm, two drum cases in his hands, his keyboard slung over his shoulder, and even Ryo's bass on his back.
He looked like a mighty warrior clad in armor, his gaze fixed determinedly ahead.
"Let's go!"
After her initial shock, Nijika hurriedly tried to stop him.
"That's not the point! Why are you carrying everything yourself, Hayato-kun?!"
Always accustomed to taking care of others, she felt deeply uncomfortable seeing Ishikawa Hayato like this.
The moment Nijika spoke up, Ryo tiptoed sneakily down the stairs and out of Starry.
"The world is kind to me, so I'll be kind to the world!"
Ishikawa Hayato shouted that incomprehensible slogan as he followed after her.
The place they had arranged for their Street Live was not far away. Since they had no particular goal or requirement, they had chosen somewhere with convenient transportation so the band's newcomer could get a feel for the atmosphere.
Street performances were fairly common in Japan. As long as performers played in designated places and at designated times, there would be no problems.
Of course, there were also people who ignored the rules and did whatever they wanted.
But that was beside the point.
On the way there.
"Let me carry some of that."
Nijika looked worriedly at Ishikawa Hayato, laden with his heavy load. She always felt that he was forcing himself; the sheer amount of stuff on him made it seem like he was covered in armor.
Though he looked imposing and intimidating, it was impossible not to worry.
"It's fine. I can carry even more."
Ishikawa Hayato resisted the urge to explain his pervert energy and replied casually.
Unable to persuade him, Nijika looked at this somewhat handsome yet strange young man with a faint, helpless smile.
"Hayato-kun, Ryo's going to take advantage of you like this."
"She won't."
Ishikawa Hayato's voice was incomparably resolute. His certainty made doubt impossible.
Nijika had no choice but to move a little closer to him.
Carrying all those instruments, Ishikawa Hayato knew very well that Nijika had not fallen for him. She was merely worried he would be unable to hold on, so she stayed closer in case something happened.
Still, having a cheerful, gentle, beautiful girl close beside him, while catching the sweet and alluring scent around her, made his heart race.
For an instant, he even wanted to keep pretending to be an ordinary person.
But that was only for an instant.
Even if the path of perversion was lonely, he would continue walking it.
As he thought this, Ryo, who had disappeared earlier, quickly caught up. She held three cans of drinks in her hand, and after approaching, she stuffed one into Nijika's hand.
Then she turned to Ishikawa Hayato, who stood between them.
"Good luck."
Without any change in expression, she stuffed a drink into Ishikawa Hayato's pocket.
Sorry for suspecting you of being a piece of trash.
Listening to Ryo crack open her drink, Ishikawa Hayato silently apologized in his heart. At the same time, he wondered whether he would run into her today, whether that opportunity would come.
Pervert Outburst Value: 70%
Kita Ikuyo wandered aimlessly through the bustling streets with her friends, laughing and searching for interesting things, but her mind was elsewhere.
Yesterday evening, as usual, she had followed Ryo-senpai's trail to Starry. There, she had heard Ryo-senpai and her friend discussing their lack of a guitarist.
To clarify, Kita Ikuyo had not been eavesdropping. She had merely happened to hear them while standing less than four meters from their table with her ears stretched out.
It was also purely by chance that she had seen Ryo-senpai visit this place a few times. After that, she had come here every day to look for Ryo-senpai.
Kita Ikuyo felt that she was perfectly normal.
But the important thing was the band!
If she joined the band, she could get closer to Ryo-senpai.
"Kita... your expression is getting weird."
Her friend's reminder brought Kita back to herself. Blushing, she hurriedly waved her hands in denial.
"No way, it isn't."
"Hehe, do you have a boyfriend?"
Another friend grinned mischievously and latched onto her.
Unable to deal with her teasing, Kita Ikuyo smiled awkwardly. "He's not my boyfriend..."
The two girls beside her watched her with sparkling, teasing eyes, clearly unconvinced.
"He's not!"
Left with no choice, Kita Ikuyo half-explained, "It's a senior I admire."
As she spoke, her gaze landed on Ryo-senpai ahead, holding a drink and passing through the crowd. Beside her seemed to be a tall instrument-transporting robot.
Never mind the transporting robot.
Ryo-senpai! Instruments! So much equipment!
Street Live!
Without hesitation, she abandoned her two friends and began a righteous tailing operation.
"Tamako, Megumi, I have something to do. See you tomorrow~"
She waved her hand and followed after them without another word.
"Eh? Kita?"
The two girls stared in surprise at Kita Ikuyo's abrupt departure, blinking in confusion. Then they seemed to think of something and broke into sly smiles.
It was after school, in that stretch of evening still some time before dinner. The setting sun poured its increasingly rich light across the streets, while the passing students made that sunlight feel as vibrant as morning.
But for Kita Ikuyo, who was trying to find someone, the crowds of students made her search much more difficult.
After nearly losing them several times, Kita Ikuyo saw the three of them stop in an open space near the station.
Ryo-senpai was there. She took the bass from the back of a man facing away from this direction and slung it over herself, while the man set down the amplifier and other equipment.
Ryo-senpai's friend opened the cases, took out the drums inside, and began assembling them.
The man went over to help as well.
Kita Ikuyo had initially thought that man was only there to transport the instruments, but seeing them interact, she realized that did not seem to be the case. They appeared quite familiar with one another.
A sense of crisis!
Could he be approaching Ryo-senpai with the same idea as me?!
How awful!
Kita Ikuyo clenched her little fists.
Then she saw the man pull an electronic keyboard from the long bag on his back.
Just as I thought!!
He definitely had his sights set on Ryo-senpai!
But after he took it out, Ryo-senpai and her friend stopped him.
Kita Ikuyo no longer cared about what was happening over there. She circled around from the side, preparing to get a look at the man and observe the atmosphere between them up close.
As Kita Ikuyo approached, she discovered that, for some reason, the man had been facing away from her the entire time. She had never once seen his face.
Still, she was going over to listen anyway. It was perfectly natural for an audience member to move a little closer.
When she reached a spot roughly five or six meters away from them, the man put away the keyboard and walked aside to set it down. Only then did Kita Ikuyo finally see his face.
"Pervert?!"
She was too shocked, too incredulous. He was completely different from the pervert she knew, and Kita Ikuyo cried out.
Honestly, Ishikawa Hayato had not expected to hook Kita Ikuyo so easily. He had thought he would run into some classmate with a big mouth, but this worked out just as well.
At that moment, Ryo and Nijika looked in confusion at the girl who had suddenly pointed at Ishikawa Hayato and called him a pervert.
She wore the same school uniform as Ishikawa Hayato. Was she one of his classmates?
Did that mean Ishikawa Hayato had done something, or was he actually a pervert?!
Though they could both tell Ishikawa Hayato was a good person, they could not help feeling tense.
"Um, Hayato-kun, who is she?"
Nijika asked cautiously.
Ishikawa Hayato nodded calmly, not worried in the slightest about Nijika misunderstanding him. At this moment, when everything seemed to be headed for collapse, his face remained serene.
"She's my classmate."
After saying that, Ishikawa Hayato looked around.
Facing the tension of the two women in the band, Kita Ikuyo's worried expression as she covered her mouth, and the curious gazes of the surrounding crowd, beneath the plaza blanketed in fiery sunset clouds—
Ishikawa Hayato opened his arms as if embracing the world.
"Also, she's right. I'm a pervert!"
"A pervert who likes everything regardless of gender or age; organic or inorganic matter; life forms, chemical composition, physical properties—even whether it's alive or not."
Without caring about the time, place, or surrounding crowd, he declared it loudly and sincerely.
At that moment, it was as if he had become the center of the world.
A few seconds later, the frozen crowd began moving once more.
The three girls participating in this spectacle stood there stunned. After a brief, awkward silence, Ryo calmly rubbed her chin, her tone carrying a hint of confusion.
"You love the world?"
The End
"Correct!"
Ishikawa Hayato turned back with a thumbs-up and a radiant smile.
Before you continue