Watching this sudden, serial-broadcast "forced-kiss spectacle," Chihaya Anon, standing off to the side, was completely thrown into chaos. She stood there blankly, her pink eyes trembling as violently as if they were in an earthquake.
Wait! What was going on?!
Was this some kind of mysterious band ritual too?!
Nijika-senpai was one thing, but why had Ryo-senpai kissed him too?!
Could it be that, as the band's guitarist, I had to kiss him too in order to show our team spirit?! If I didn't, would that mean I wasn't fitting in?!
Driven by overwhelming "fitting-in anxiety" and "peer pressure," Anon had no time to think. She abruptly squeezed her eyes shut, lashes fluttering wildly, puckered her lips slightly, and leaned toward Qianyi as though marching to her death.
However, just as she was about to get close, a warm palm pressed ruthlessly against her forehead, forcibly stopping her advance.
"Calm down." Qianyi raised his hand and steadily held Anon back, amusement and helplessness in his voice. "I understand that you're all excited right now, but getting too excited isn't good."
Chihaya Anon: "..."
She slowly opened her eyes, looking at the hand pressed against her forehead, then at the flushed Nijika and the utterly satisfied Ryo beside her.
Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt that Qianyi's smiling eyes had already seen through her ridiculous thought of forcibly demanding a kiss just to fit in. That was why he had deliberately stopped her.
Though reason told her that not having to kiss a boy like Nijika and Ryo had—and keeping her first kiss intact—was clearly something worth celebrating.
But...
But for some reason...
Looking at the trio who seemed to have formed some irreversible bond, then at herself—the only guitarist who had been physically shut out—a powerful sense of