Ryo was slightly taken aback, then a faint smile appeared on her face before vanishing in an instant.
"Eh? Is that so?"
Kita Ikuyo's comment also seemed to prove why Ishikawa Hayato had been called a pervert—namely, that outrageous string of remarks just now.
Nijika immediately breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment, she had had no idea what to do.
Though they had known each other for less than two days, she felt that everything Ishikawa Hayato did carried a sincerity that came from the heart. He was not a bad person.
When that female classmate had said those things, Nijika had worried that Ishikawa Hayato might have gotten himself into some kind of trouble.
"Don't scare me like that..."
She still made a small complaint.
"Sorry."
Ishikawa Hayato rubbed the back of his head and smiled as he asked for forgiveness in a very unserious manner.
But then he grew a little more serious.
"Still, if you call me a pervert, I'd be very happy."
After he said that, the relaxed atmosphere suddenly froze again. Amid the constantly flowing crowd, the three girls standing still all wore strange expressions.
The three looked at each other.
Nijika stared at Ishikawa Hayato in astonishment, then looked at the other two.
Ryo's eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Kita Ikuyo looked annoyed, as if to say, What nonsense are you saying in front of Ryo-senpai?
However, a moment later, Ryo walked over to Ishikawa Hayato. A faint, gentle smile appeared on her calm, expressionless face, and to Ishikawa Hayato, it made her seem a little more playful.
She held out her hand.
"Oddball. If you call me that, I'd be very happy."
She spoke in a similar phrasing. Beside them, the usually easygoing Miss Kita Ikuyo froze at the sight.
Ishikawa Hayato took her hand and accepted her goodwill.
"Oddball."
Ryo nodded in agreement and replied.
"Pervert."
Nijika, sitting on a box, wailed as she clutched her head.
"My band..."
Kita Ikuyo stared blankly at their joined hands and muttered.
"She actually... she actually used such a tactic!"
After the farce ended, the two began tuning their instruments. The thump-thump of drums and the twang-twang of the bass rang out across the open space.
Ishikawa Hayato walked over and sat beside a flower bed, watching the two tune their instruments with great interest.
His keyboard did not need tuning like theirs did, so it was quite interesting to watch.
But someone's gaze was making his scalp tingle.
Ishikawa Hayato turned to look. Kita Ikuyo immediately shifted her gaze elsewhere, and the scalp-tingling feeling vanished.
He looked away again, but less than two seconds later, that feeling of being stared at returned.
He turned around once more.
Then the two of them began a battle of redirected gazes.
This exceptionally brutal war lasted twenty seconds. Their eyes went to the sky and the ground, over mountains and across ridges, until finally...
Ishikawa Hayato won.
Naturally. As a former socially anxious person, he was extremely sensitive to other people's gazes.
And not to brag, but his greatest strength now was having no shame. He could even stare a girl into blushing.
Of course, whether the police would approve was another matter.
Following the gaze of this usually easygoing young lady, Ishikawa Hayato found where her eyes had landed: the hand he had just shaken Ryo's with.
At once, he understood everything.
Pushing aside the smug thought of buying a bag of chips, eating one, and licking his hand every time, Ishikawa Hayato looked toward the two who were nearly ready and waited for the show to begin.
"Then, we're starting."
Nijika leaned forward and glanced in Ishikawa Hayato's direction. A gentle smile filled her beautiful red eyes, and her swaying side ponytail brimmed with energy.
She exchanged a glance with Ryo and nodded.
The next moment, the drums began.
The band's solid foundation dropped into place, and a grand stage unfolded.
Yet this time, the bass, which usually formed the foundation alongside the drums, changed roles. It leaped out from the low rhythmic base and became the protagonist of the music with its powerful groove.
There was an uncommon carefree flair to the bass-led performance. The deep rhythm seemed to dance atop the drumbeats, and gradually, people nearby began stopping to enjoy the small ensemble.
There was no promotion, no special gimmick. Just music, just the performers immersing themselves in their playing, and people stopped, people listened, people...
Ishikawa Hayato glanced at Kita Ikuyo nearby, whose eyes sparkled like stars.
Following her gaze, he looked toward Yamada Ryo at the center of the crowd, expressionless as she threw herself fully into the performance.
She held her bass, casually swaying with the rhythm as she played. There was a special beauty to her while performing, like Erato gently brushing the strings of a harp.
The instrument seemed to be an amplifier for her heart, drawing peaks along the edges of the thoughts of this girl who rarely spoke.
It was cool, but even cooler was playing one's own sound.
Ishikawa Hayato confirmed his thoughts. He wanted to keep going like this. This was what he wanted to do.
At the same time, Kita Ikuyo beside him also made up her mind.
A guitarist, right?
She would definitely become a woman who could stand beside Ryo-senpai!
When the two finished playing, scattered applause rose from the surrounding crowd.
Nijika and Ryo gave shallow bows. The audience, knowing the performance was over, began to disperse, and the bustling street quickly turned cold and empty beneath their indifferent footsteps.
Ishikawa Hayato looked back and saw that Kita Ikuyo, who had just been wearing an intoxicated expression, had vanished at some point.
"Hayato..."
But when he heard Ryo's lazy call from over there, he quickly walked over.
On the way back, Ishikawa Hayato was still responsible for carrying the equipment.
The two girls also did not seem to have become much more distant because of Ishikawa Hayato's self-revelation.
They walked beneath the night sky along streets where neon lights constantly flashed and changed. The two who had just performed at the center of the crowd were now beside Ishikawa Hayato.
With dinner time approaching, the people around them became more hurried. There were far fewer students than before, while office workers rushing home, couples passing by now and then, and people wandering without purpose gradually became more common.
After seeming to think about something for a long time, Nijika finally spoke beside Ishikawa Hayato.
"Sorry. We always make Hayato-kun carry everything."
Ishikawa Hayato could tell Nijika wanted to ask him something, but had kept it to herself out of concern for various reasons.
But rather than explain directly, he said,
"That fits the idea of perverts helping each other, doesn't it? Besides, shouldn't band friends support each other and stand together?"
Nijika's expression was very easy to read.
First she froze, then she looked as though she were thinking, Could it be like that? It does seem like that. Oh, then it's fine. Then she realized she had not responded yet and hurriedly nodded.
"Mm-hm."
Nijika was so cute.
Ryo glanced at the two of them and brought up Ishikawa Hayato's earlier intention to join the Street Live.
"Hayato, you said before that you also planned to join the Street Live, right?"
"Yeah... I want to perform too. It just seems really interesting."
Ishikawa Hayato's words made Ryo raise an eyebrow, but he hurriedly continued.
"Still, your performance was amazing. My skills are indeed still a little lacking, but I've improved a lot."
"Don't underestimate music."
There was a hint of sharpness in Ryo's calm tone.
"Then listen to my current level first?"
Ishikawa Hayato smiled without showing the slightest hint of backing down. The heavy equipment seemed weightless to him.
Vehicle lights swept across his face, making the confidence that had never left it shine brightly.
"Eh? You two... Hayato-kun, Ryo is very strict when she gets serious!"
Nijika quickened her pace and moved in front of them, doing her best to mediate and trying to calm them down.
"It's fine. Criticism helps people find flaws they can't see themselves. Besides, let me say this first: perverts are very strong."
"Mm, I'll be very strict."
Along a street that was beginning to feel like night, a pervert carrying instruments and two girls walked unhurriedly toward the stars.
Facing the Sky
Ryo really did not hold back at all...
Ishikawa Hayato sat on the train home, using his phone to record the advice Ryo had given him just now.
On the train outside rush hour, even the sound of his fingers rapidly tapping the screen could be heard clearly.
He quite liked the feeling of being able to hear every one of his own movements.
Looking back on today, though things had not become especially harmonious yet, their relationship had moved a step forward, and he had successfully exposed the fact that he was a pervert.
It was a day Ishikawa Hayato was satisfied with.
Though there had never been a day he was dissatisfied with.
It was just a pity he had not been able to rub his sense of accomplishment in their faces.
Still, Sister Ijichi Seika's reaction after he returned had been quite interesting.
Ishikawa Hayato smiled, slipped his phone back into his pocket, and gazed calmly at the houses and scattered lights streaking past outside against the black curtain of night.
Inside STARRY more than ten minutes earlier.
"...That's all. There are still many, many things you need to work on. As a keyboardist, you are completely unqualified."
After Ishikawa Hayato finished playing, Ryo crossed her arms and wore an arrogant expression, looking every bit like a master.
She bluntly pointed out Ishikawa Hayato's flaws. Her utterly merciless tone was frightening.
Halfway through Ryo's lengthy speech, Nijika had been stunned by her exaggerated tone. Only now did she finally come back to her senses.
"Ryo, you've gone too far!!"
She was not evaluating Ishikawa Hayato by the standards of a beginner at all. She was demanding standards high enough to perform onstage!
She had said she would be strict, but this was way too much.
After scolding Ryo, she comforted Ishikawa Hayato, who stood behind the keyboard.
Before you continue