Chapter 534

"Of course, of course~"

"Ah!!!"

Suddenly, Toyama Kasumi let out a scream.

"Kasumi!! What happened?! You scared me!"

"No, it just suddenly occurred to me..."

Toyama Kasumi slid to her knees, moved to his side, and shook him worriedly, saying, "What about Asahi-chan? We can't get our team together!"

"What's wrong? Aren't there exactly ten people? We can make two teams."

Ichigaya Arisa asked.

"Wait a minute! Besides Poppin'Party, Kokoro-chan are vocalist, Bass, DJ, Keyboardist, and guitarist, but there's no drummer!"

"Is it alright?"

Ogura Asahi looked through her to Okusawa Misaki behind her. "We can have Misaki- senpai's DJ play the electronic drums."

"Hmm, that works too."

Okusawa Misaki nodded.

"Although, even so..."

Toyama Kasumi pouted and pointed her finger repeatedly.

Yamabuki Saya, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Seeing her hesitant expression, he whispered, "Could it be that Kasumi-senpai is saying that for such a large event, two bands are still too few?"

Toyama Kasumi's purple eyes lit up. "That's right! That's exactly it!"

How many do you want?

Ichigaya Arisa rolled her eyes at her indifferently. "Don't even think about calling Roselia or Pastel Palettes, they have to work and go to class too, right?"

"The more the better!"

"Listen to what people are saying..."

Are you short-staffed?

With Tsurumaki Kokoro large, golden eyes fluttering, her exceptional mind only hesitated for a second before providing the answer.

"In that case, let's invite Kaoru and Kanon over too! It's more fun when everyone's together!"

"Huh? Are you alright?!"

Ichigaya Arisa, a "common sense person," gaped.

"It's alright! They're college students! They're free at lunchtime, and Yotsuba and Keio don't live far from here!"

"Oze-kun?!"

"Well, since it's Shin's decision..."

A smile of resignation appeared on Okusawa Misaki's face.

Struggling is futile; that's what she was trying to say.

She was already thinking about when to send the emergency assembly message to Seta Kaoru and Matsubara Kanon.

"..."

"In that case, shall I also invite Aya and Chisato over? It would be so nice to play together in a place filled with memories, it would truly be Bushido Desu."

As the only member of the band fighting alone besides Ogura Asahi, Wakamiya Eve also felt it necessary to call on her teammates.

Maruyama Aya and Shirasagi Chisato from Pastel*Palettes are both graduates of Hanasakigawa. The other two, Hikawa Sayo and Yamato Maya, are graduates of the neighboring Haneoka. All four are currently first-year students.

"... Are you alright?"

"It's okay, Desu. After all, they usually don't have any gigs to do when I'm around."

"..."

That makes a lot of sense.

"Great! Now we have three teams!"

Toyama Kasumi jumped up and happily ran around the area.

"What should we do about Asahi?"

Yamabuki Saya covered her forehead, reminding the others that they hadn't forgotten what the original purpose of this live performance was, had they?

"In that case, wouldn't only Asahi be left alone?"

"Ah..."

The group of people, who had been extremely excited, froze instantly.

Ogura Asahi exhaled deeply, her red eyes closing and then opening again, filled with fighting spirit. Things had come to this—

"I'm fine! In that case, I'll just call all my new teammates over!"

Now that things have come to this, he can't afford to lose face. Everyone has teammates they can rely on, and as the arrogant and domineering leader of Hanasakigawa, he can't let them down!

Rikki! Aine! Deng! Sōse! Your dear teammates need you!

Cha! Great Summoning Spell!

However, it looks like I'll have to stay up all night practicing with them tonight. I can't possibly play "KASUMIKAGE" tomorrow, can I?

Poppin' Party, Pastel Palettes, Hello, Happy World!, and MyGO—that's four bands now.

This scene was comparable to a paid live performance.

"Then it's decided!"

Tsurumaki Kokoro stood up, hands on her hips, and declared, "Let's hold our campus live tomorrow at noon! Right in the courtyard!"

"Oh!!!"

X N.

During the afternoon home economics class, Ogura Asahi poked Shiina Rikki's soft waist.

"Hey hey~ Rikki Rikki ~"

What are you going to do now?

Shiina Rikki her eyes at him, her tone impatient.

"What would you do if I told you that we're going to have a live show tomorrow?"

"... Are you kidding me? There's still some time before the live performance."

"Unfortunately, I wasn't joking."

He sighed softly, resting his chin on his hand, "You know I had lunch with my seniors at noon, right?"

"The whole school knows, right? You guys were so conspicuous in the courtyard."

Her needle and thread never stopped as she sewed the task for this lesson.

The task for this home economics class is to use the provided fabric to sew any item you like, whether it's a scarf, handkerchief, bag, or shirt.

He vaguely remembered that back then, Toyama Kasumi and Hana-dono Tae, two "great geniuses," both chose to sew cloth bags for guitar cases.

Fun fact: Guitar cases are designed to hold guitars.

As a result, because they set their goal too high, they not only didn't have enough fabric, but they also didn't finish on time. Later, because they were still distracted by playing guitar during tutoring, it took them many days to sew it properly.

"Really? Is it that conspicuous?"

He lay listlessly on the table.

"With all the most prominent seniors in the school there, it's hard not to stand out."

"What if I told you that this afternoon, Tsurumaki Kokoro and Kasumi-senpai decided to hold a live performance in the courtyard tomorrow... what would you think?"

Huh?

Not only her, but also Hachiman Kairin and Miyako Shizuka beside her stopped what they were doing and stared at him blankly.

"... Why did they suddenly decide to do a live performance?"

Miyako Shizuka asked, puzzled.

"Who knows? It was just a whim, but ostensibly for my own good—but I swear, it really has little to do with me."

"..."

Upon hearing that it was related to him, the three fell silent again, surprisingly finding it quite reasonable.

"Don't look at me like that..."

He buried his head in his arms.

"Huh?"

Shiina Rikki suddenly froze, grabbed his head and lifted it up, asking in astonishment, "Then what do you mean by 'we need to perform live too'?!"

"... Hehe~"

He stuck out his tongue, closed his eyes, and struck a cute pose.

"Hey, what the hell?!"

Shiina Rikki's heart was pounding so hard he just wanted to punch him twice!

How could you suddenly agree to something so big all by yourself? And the deadline is tomorrow!

"Where would we find the time to prepare songs?!"

"Yes, why not just sing 'God Knows'?"

"They've only practiced for one day!!!"

"Then let's practice one more day."

"Ugh~!"

She cried out in anguish and collapsed onto the white table, her delicate body trembling uncontrollably.

She never expected that they would have another exhibition match before the official live performance.

How did I end up with such a troublesome person as a teammate?

"Relax, it's just singing for fun anyway. It's a good warm-up for the next formal occasion, isn't it?"

He pulled the fabric from under her body, representing her unfinished work, and sewed it up for her.

The item she planned to make was a simple cloth bag. The key was sewing the two pieces of cloth together and sewing the loose thread at the top—it couldn't be simpler. When he first learned his craft, he probably started with this.

He untied all the messy threads she had already strung, then, holding the needle and thread, he flew the needle like flowing water, leaving afterimages in front of Miyako Shizuka and the others.

He doesn't even need to look; he can make blind stitches just by feel, with the error between the two stitches being so small as to be negligible.

Three to five minutes later, a sturdy and practical cloth bag was finished.

Next, he began working on his own work.

"Little Asahi, you really are good at sewing..."

Witnessing the entire process, Miyako Shizuka was amazed, and her hands stopped moving for a while.

"This is beyond what you're good at, isn't it?"

A hint of confusion crept into Hachiman Kairin's expression.

Seeing his movements, she felt like a college student had come to her kindergarten. It was at the level the teacher had just demonstrated on stage—probably that of an elementary school student.

"That's what I do for a living, just like how Shizuka sings really well, don't be surprised."

He pressed his palm down, indicating it was basic procedure.

"So you really do sewing work?"

"What are you saying? I've always said this, haven't I? Otherwise, who do you think I am?"

"A pampered young lady?"