So it was a matter of numbers. She had thought her entire self had been rejected. What a relief!
"Once the new semester starts, we'll definitely find a complete lineup! Then the band will definitely become really interesting!"
Ichiji Nijika clenched her fists before her chest and gestured grandly with both arms, speaking animatedly as she painted Hoshika a vivid picture of a bright future, like some pyramid scheme leader selling dreams.
But Kanau had no intention of indulging her. Faced with Nijika's passionate enthusiasm, she remained utterly unmoved and replied coolly.
"Then I'll join next semester."
"Ehhhhh?"
Ichiji Nijika dragged out the sound, looking incredibly disappointed. But when it came to Kanau, who refused to budge no matter what, she really had no good options.
At that moment, Yamada Ryo, who had been watching the show from the side, stepped in. She went over and patted Kanau on the shoulder, her expression grave, as though she had made some major decision.
Her taller figure looked rather imposing in front of Kanau. Coupled with the contrast in their expressions, they looked just like a yakuza boss and a little white rabbit.
"Ryo, you can't get rough with Kanau!"
"Even if Kanau doesn't want to join Kessoku Band, you can't force her!"
Thinking Ryo was about to resort to violence, Ichiji Nijika hurriedly reached out to stop her, looking flustered.
"?" Yamada Ryo looked at her in confusion. When had she ever said she was going to get rough?
"I just have something I want to say to her."
"Ah, I see."
Realizing she had misunderstood, Ichiji Nijika awkwardly scratched her hair and obediently moved aside.
"Then go ahead."
After sending away the uninvited guest, Yamada Ryo nodded and met Kanau's eyes again. Kanau tilted her innocent little head, her expression still calm, seemingly unaware of what Ryo wanted to say.
"You've been short on money lately, haven't you?" Looking at the adorable Kanau, who resembled a little white cat, Yamada Ryo spoke confidently.
"..."
"You've been coming here a lot lately. Every time, you buy a 1,500-yen ticket, a 500-yen drink, and the most expensive dessert—a 1,200-yen Matcha Parfait!"
"..."
"With expenses this high every day, your allowance should be nearly gone, right?" Yamada Ryo leaned forward and slung an arm around Kanau's shoulders with a wicked smile, like a demon whispering into her ear.
"..."
Kanau's expression finally changed. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly. It seemed Ryo had hit the mark.
Even Sakurakoji Talent, standing nearby, was stunned by her move. You could do that? You woman from that "baby" meme!
Image: "Woman from the 'baby' meme," location: "Images/1754826993-100446961-113706722.jpg"
Author: Thanks to Fulado, ATTRHT, Spicy Strips and Blades That Don't Need Eyes to Play StarCraft, as well as everyone for the recommendation votes and monthly tickets.
The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies: Kessoku Band Is Finally Complete
Even Ichiji Nijika was surprised by Yamada Ryo's methods. Naturally, keeping a bandmate was best, but using such tactics on such an adorable and innocent child was perhaps a little...
"That kid is incredible. She'll accomplish great things in the future!"
"All I see is a twisted heart that, like yours, was polluted early by filthy society."
Yukino Shita Hiyori and Hiratsuka Shizuka each gave their own opinions on what she had done.
No matter how disdainful the people around her were, Yamada Ryo's persuasion continued.
"How about it? As long as you join us and work part-time at Starry together."
"Not only will you no longer have to pay for tickets or mandatory drinks, you'll also be able to buy Matcha Parfaits with the employee discount."
"The cost will drop dramatically. With money that could only buy one before, you can now buy more than three!"
"Sounds pretty good, right? Want to think it over?"
Yamada Ryo narrowed her eyes and looked "kindly" at Kanau, who was right in front of her, extending the invitation.
"..." Kanau's face was solemn as she fell into rare hesitation.
"Mmm..."
After standing with her arms crossed and thinking hard for several minutes, she finally spoke.
"I understand. I'll join you."
Having made her decision, Kanau looked visibly relieved. Apparently, this choice had truly not been easy for her.
Yamada Ryo's judgment had been accurate. Kanau's allowance really had run dry. Coming to Starry every day was no small expense, especially since she sometimes ordered two parfaits. She had never been in the habit of saving money; she always spent however much she wanted.
Of course, the most important thing was that she did not dislike Yamada Ryo and Ichiji Nijika. She found them much more interesting than ordinary people, and being around them did not bore her. Tonight's band performance had also made her happy. That feeling... wasn't bad.
Her grandmother had said that one had to find one's own place to belong. Had she found hers? Kanau fell into thought.
"Alright! We got Kanau!"
"Ryo! Nice work!"
Seeing Yamada Ryo's plan succeed, Ichiji Nijika happily jumped up. She stepped forward and high-fived Ryo, smiles blooming across both their faces.
Starting today, Kessoku Band finally had its third member!
Image: "Wise Ryo," location: "Images/1754827088-100446961-113706727.jpg"
Seeing that Yamada Ryo had actually succeeded in buying Kanau over, Sakurakoji Talent could only stand silently to the side, unsure what expression he should wear.
The event timeline seemed to have changed. What was he supposed to do?
Without Kanau, would MyGO still be MyGO?
He was so screwed! Kessoku Band had truly come to end the band!
Was this because of him, or because they had influenced one another on their own?
He had not even done anything!
He had merely worked honestly at Starry. Was working a crime? Was working somehow wrong?
His feelings were a tangled mess, and his expression became equally complicated. Things had gotten a little troublesome now.
"Congratulations, congratulations. You're another step closer to forming the band!" Having watched the excitement, Yukino Shita Hiyori applauded them.
"Thank you, Miss Yukinoshita!"
"It's getting late, so we should be going too. I had a wonderful time tonight."
"Ah, that's true. It is quite late already. Did you two come by train?"
"No, we drove here from Chiba. It'll still take quite some time to get back, haha."
"What are you laughing for? You're not even the one driving!" Hiratsuka Shizuka teased from the side before continuing:
"Do you girls live far away? Want to come with us? I can drop you at your doors."
"Thank you for the offer, but I'll pass. The manager is my older sister, and our home is right upstairs." After expressing her thanks, Ichiji Nijika waved and declined.
"Then sorry for the trouble!" Yamada Ryo immediately spoke up, then turned to Kanau.
"Kanau, you're coming too, right?"
Kanau eyed her warily. Once she decided Ryo was probably not plotting anything bad again, she nodded lightly.
Yamada Ryo secretly rejoiced. She had saved another train fare!
Hiratsuka Shizuka turned her attention to Sakurakoji Talent. She had just taken out a cigarette case from her pocket and was about to light one, but remembered that they were indoors and reluctantly put it away.
"What about you? Want to come with us?"
"I'll pass too, thank you. I'll head back by myself later. Drive safely."
Hiratsuka Shizuka nodded without saying anything. If this had been the first time she had seen Sakurakoji Talent looking like this under ordinary circumstances, she probably would have forced him to accept a ride. But now that she knew he was a boy, she did not care as much. There should not be any problem... right?
After all, this world was rather complicated.
"Then be careful tonight, you two. Have a safe trip!"
"Mm, bye-bye~ If I have time, I'll come again."
"Goodbye."
After saying their farewells, the two mature-looking older women strode away with the two comparatively young middle school girls.
After watching them leave, Sakurakoji Talent cleaned up behind the counter once more. Once everything was done, he said goodbye to Ichiji Nijika and the others before clocking out and leaving as well.
On his way to the train station, Sakurakoji Talent counted today's gains, his delicate brows curving upward.
The band performance he had improvised had brought him much closer to Hiratsuka Shizuka. Though they were not yet as close as he was with the people at Starry, he had still gained some points and pushed his treatment progress forward a little.
There was nothing much to say about that. It had all been within his expectations.
What truly surprised him was that Hiratsuka Shizuka and Hiyori had not been the only ones to give him points tonight.
The other person who had given him treatment points... was Ichiji Hoshika.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Sakurakoji Talent's teeth chattered. He felt as though his heart had shattered, and his body walking down the lively, steaming night streets seemed about to freeze into an ice pop.
He admitted that he had been testing the waters a little. Back then, he had deliberately chosen a somewhat ambiguous way to drag Ichiji Hoshika into the game between himself and Yukino Shita Hiyori.
The result was partly unexpected and partly within his expectations. After he had done that, Ichiji Hoshika, who had long been stuck at a bottleneck and had given him no feedback, really did provide him with some progress again.
Over one night, the three of them had given him a total of another two or three thousandths of progress points.
The most absurd part was that the points Ichiji Hoshika had provided by herself were actually comparable to the combined total of the other two new characters!
"Can Love Infinity work here too? Are you kidding me?!"
Sakurakoji Talent swallowed. The body that had felt comfortable due to his improved treatment effect now only felt icy cold, as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.
Good news: his guess had come true. He no longer needed to painstakingly search for hundreds of Dragon Balls in the future.
Bad news: overusing the Dragon Balls might cause them to explode and kill him, and it might even set off a chain reaction.
The light also vanished from his eyes. He kept muttering a two-character mantra under his breath as his dazed figure gradually disappeared into the night streets of Tokyo.
The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies: Aoyama Nanami Playing on Her Phone During Class
Three mornings later,
After waking up in the top-floor bedroom of Ten no Yashiro, the first thing he did was pick up his phone. Thus, Sakurakoji Talent saw a message from Aoyama Nanami.
[Mr. Sakurakoji, this is Aoyama Nanami. Thank you very much for taking care of me the other day.]
[I have something I'd like to trouble you with today. Um, is the proposal you mentioned last time still valid?]
They had added each other as friends a few days ago. After several days of hesitation, it seemed that Aoyama Nanami had finally made up her mind today after recovering from her illness and decided to accept his proposal.
This outcome did not surprise him. After all, the conditions he had offered were truly generous to an ordinary person.
Aoyama Nanami was both a top student and an incredibly disciplined Part-time Job Superman, so strictly speaking, she could not exactly be considered ordinary... but given her current situation, it was even harder for her to refuse than for most people.
Even Superman could be stumped by a single penny. Sakurakoji Talent could not help sighing at that, while also thanking his own background for three seconds.
Although he had said that she could answer within a week or two, as one of the rare normal people in the Omni-Anime world, Aoyama Nanami clearly would not really drag things out for ten days or half a month before replying.
Still, for such a major decision, three days was remarkably efficient. Then again, it suited her personality.
"Heh~"
Sakurakoji Talent chuckled softly, his hands beginning to type on the screen.
There are, little sister. There are.
[Of course. I said you could do so anytime.]
[When are you free, Miss Aoyama? I'll arrange an interview and get you started.]
Less than a minute after sending the message, he received her reply.
Sakurakoji Talent glanced at the time in the top-right corner of the screen. 9:25. Emmm...
Before you continue