Chapter 601

"It's alright, nothing special. Getting a perfect score shouldn't be a problem."

Ogura Asahi stretched lazily in his seat and said softly.

Besides classroom teaching, what's the most comfortable time to sleep at school?

The answer is a classroom on a rainy day.

Especially during self-study or exam periods, the quiet rustling of pens and paper, coupled with the pattering rain against the windowpane—it would be a miracle if you didn't feel sleepy.

He looked out the window at the continuous drizzle. The rain he had mentioned to Okita Sawa yesterday had finally started, and it looked like it wouldn't stop today.

However, he didn't have any objections to this. On the contrary, thanks to the rain, he slept even better. He had been crazy with Kasumigaoka Utaha for so long last night and this morning, and even experienced... well, never mind.

Alright, exams are over. Time for the next activity of the day, even though this boring time will continue for another three and a half days... As Rowing Boat everything imaginable, the exam subjects are also all kinds of things to do.

This week is basically exam week too.

"A perfect score isn't a problem..." Miyako Shizuka pressed her jade-colored cheeks with a gloomy expression, feeling that she shouldn't have asked such a question.

"How did you manage to write so fast? Did you steal the answers?" Shiina Rikki turned around, his arm draped over the back of the chair, questioning.

Ogura Asahi was surprised. "Such a simple question, shouldn't you be able to answer it after just one glance?"

"..."

"No one will fail, right? No way, right?"

"..."

He glanced around the classroom and noticed that many of the girls who had been secretly observing quickly looked away.

It wasn't that they thought they would fail; it was just that the academic genius's intense aura was too overwhelming.

For most Japan schools, exams don't usually have very difficult questions. Some schools are also more lenient in how they calculate failing grades, and some even use the same questions for makeup exams—but this isn't the case for all schools.

"Kairin, how did you do on your exam?" he asked, turning to Hachiman Kairin.

Hachiman Kairin took a sip of her juice and lightly brushed her eyelashes. "So-so?"

If a top student asks you how you did on the exam, even if you feel great, you can't just say, "I think it was pretty good," right?

"Really?" He was just asking casually, not really wanting to know. More importantly, "Rikki, what gift did you buy?"

He looked back at Shiina Rikki.

"Huh? What gift?" Shiina Rikki was stunned, not understanding what he was talking about.

"..." Ogura Asahi raised an eyebrow, not answering directly, but instead probing indirectly, "What are you planning to do after school today?"

"Going to work at RiNG, Kasumi-senpai took the day off today."

"So why do you think they would ask for leave?"

Shiina Rikki frowned in displeasure. "Huh? How would I know?"

"Haven't you heard? Today is Saya-senpai's birthday."

"Uh..." Shiina Rikki's expression froze. "Never heard of it... How do you know?"

"On the contrary, I'd like to ask, why wouldn't you, as their junior colleague, know this?"

"..."

Today is Yamabuki Saya's birthday, Toyama Kasumi and the others plan to celebrate her birthday in the basement warehouse of Ichigaya Arisa's house.

Of course, for him, this was just the first day of a three-year birthday celebration.

Yes, tomorrow and the day after are still other people's birthdays.

He patted her petite and adorable shoulder and offered his suggestion. "Go and congratulate her first, then buy her a gift, and I'll take it to her for you."

"...Let's do it this way," she said, getting up and walking towards the front door. As she left, she turned back to remind her, "Wait for me to get out of school together!"

"Okay, okay~"

She hurriedly left her back view and ran towards the classroom of the senior year A group.

After Shiina Rikki returned, the two said goodbye to Miyako Shizuka and Hachiman Kairin and hurriedly left the school to head to the vicinity of RiNG, where there were many different kinds of shops.

"What are you planning to give as a gift?" Shiina Rikki asked, glancing sideways as they entered a department store.

Ogura Asahi met her gaze and replied, "A limited edition hair accessory from a certain brand. She seems to have a penchant for collecting hair accessories."

"..." Shiina Rikki sighed softly, feeling that it was completely unusable as a reference.

It goes without saying that the hair accessory must have been expensive.

"Don't overthink it, okay?" Seeing her concerns, he added reassuringly, "Even if you give her a hair accessory, as long as it's cute, I think she'll be very happy."

"Never mind..." she shook her head in refusal.

"Since you and she are both drummers, how about you choose something that drummers would use as a gift for her?"

Shiina Rikki's eyes lit up, and she tapped her hands together. "This is a good idea!"

After saying that, she took his hand and left the department store, heading towards a nearby Musical Instrument Store.

"Slow down! Slow down!" he said helplessly.

I was really embarrassed to tell her that there were probably several other drummers who would be giving her gifts today... The probability of getting the same gift as someone else was no lower than getting a hair accessory.

Just before her deadline for going to work, the two finally bought the gift.

After Shiina Rikki confidently handed him a pair of 5B drumsticks packaged in a gift box, he moved to another location and started working.

Today he has some free time, and he will personally take on the role of chef at Starry as well.

However, there are no live Starry scheduled for today, so he can be a little free. He can leave after finishing the food preparation, and leave the remaining sales and cleaning to the part-time kids.

"Then I'll leave early, see you later~"

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Talent!"

"You've worked hard~"

Emerging from the Starry, he climbed the rain-soaked steps and appeared on the streets of Shimokitazawa.

Perhaps due to the rain, there are significantly fewer customers today than usual—at least there aren't many people waiting right now.

However, this is also good news for later customers, because in order to sell out, there may be no limit on the quantity available later.

Walking into the alley between the buildings he usually frequented, he used his spiritual power to change his clothes, transforming back into Ogura Asahi.

Then, after opening the Wormhole, he went home to get some things and crossed over to a certain place in Shinjuku.

The surrounding area is a residential area with a crisscrossing network of roads and alleys, but there aren't many people around. And with the rain, the number of people is even more sparse.

Holding an umbrella and various items in one hand and a mobile phone for navigation in the other, he arrived at his destination without walking too far.

It was a combined building with a sloping roof in the front and an almost cube-shaped roof in the back. The shop sign at the front read "Ryuseido"—it was actually a rare pawnshop.

In front are shops, behind are storage rooms, and further behind and to the right are a spacious courtyard and several residential buildings.

If he had taken a few more steps, he would have seen the actual main gate of the courtyard.

He glanced at the front of Ryuseido a few times, but instead of continuing forward, he walked straight to the small path surrounded by a wall—a side path that led directly to the back courtyard.

To the left are other people's houses, and to the right belongs to the Ichigaya Arisa family. The two-story building at the end of the alley is the former warehouse, now a PPP activity base.

The walls on both sides of the path were covered with gold star stickers, numbering in the dozens or even hundreds at first glance, but they had faded slightly due to rain and the passage of time.

Speaking of which, I occasionally saw the same stickers on my way here—how come they haven't all been torn off by itchy hands after all these years?

By the way, these stickers are all the best proof that Ichigaya Arisa received back in music school, which is quite impressive.

When he reached the end of the side path, he didn't go straight to open the swing door, because it might be locked.

He turned to the right, and a large courtyard came into view. Facing the wall, there were many trees and green plants. In the open space in front, the many potted plants placed on the plant stand immediately caught his eye.

Its unique shape, healthy leaves, and pine-like and peak-like posture show that it has been well cared for—and of course, it is also very valuable.

As a bonsai connoisseur, Ichigaya Arisa can support herself just by selling these plants. No wonder she is the most outstanding genius in Hanasakigawa.

Because of this, she and the flower arrangement artist, Mizutake Ran, also share some common topics.

The price of selling a potted plant... could roughly buy a regular Keyboard or a shoulder-mounted Keyboard.

Poor "Tonegawa" and "Chikumagawa"...

He paused for a few seconds to mourn the two potted plants whose whereabouts were now unknown. Then he glanced at the Japanese-style main building on the side, where warm, diffused light shone through the rain. Presumably, his grandmother was inside.

The building is surrounded by a wooden-floored veranda, giving it a natural and grand overall appearance.

He withdrew his gaze and entered the sparsely populated first floor through the side door of the second-floor warehouse.

To the side was a wooden staircase leading up and down, pitch black at the top, from which came a noisy commotion and light.

"I'm hungry~ Can I eat now?" Hana-dono Tae, her eyebrows naturally furrowed, her expression filled with sorrow.

Smelling the aroma of bread and cakes that filled the entire basement, her firm, flat stomach kept making groaning noises.

The underground room wasn't large, but its exact dimensions remained a mystery. Rumors circulated that "a powerful being had installed spatial folding technology here, making it like entering a maze where you could wander for hours without finding the right spot..."

Putting aside these urban legend-like rumors, there are indeed quite a few items displayed inside.

Sofa, various professional audio equipment, Keyboard, Drum Kit, Small Table for several people to study... Well, it's actually quite large to be able to fit all this stuff.

"I'm hungry too... but it's not time yet, Asahi-chan said she's coming over later~" Toyama Kasumi rested her head on the low tea table, tears streaming down her face, her voice strained.

Like Hana-dono Tae, she had long been tantalized by Yamabuki Saya's body odor—which was also the aroma of Yamabuki Bakery.

In particular, her parents brought her a lot of freshly baked bread today to celebrate her birthday, and the aroma was especially tempting in the ground.

"Where is she? Can she find this place?" Ichigaya Arisa asked doubtfully. "Is this her first time here?"

"It's not like it's Kanon- san and the others... If we have a map, it should be fine, right?" Yamabuki Saya chuckled dryly.

"What if it's another Chisato or one of them?"

"... I don't think so, do you?"

The group remained silent, unwilling to consider this dangerous conclusion.

They couldn't bear to go out searching for missing children on a rainy day.

Chapter 544 Birthday Celebration in the Basement

"Speaking of which, Rikki-chan and Saaya just congratulated each other, and they said they'd have Asahi-chan bring over a gift later!" Toyama Kasumi suddenly looked up, using a different topic to cover up her hunger.

Yamabuki Saya smiled and nodded softly, "Yes~ I received so many congratulations today, I really want to thank everyone."

"I received so many gifts from Kokoro, Misaki, Ran, Tomoe, Natsuki, Mayu, and others. I'm so happy!"

[Note: Natsuki Umino, Mayu Kawabata, and Fumika Morifumi were Saaya's bandmates in "CHiSPA" during junior high school.]

"Wow, that's incredible! We all had to help deliver it to your house... As expected of Saaya, you have so many acquaintances." Ichigaya Arisa exclaimed.

Yamabuki Saya, who has been studying at Hanasakigawa since junior high school, has many close friends because of her kind personality.

To say how impressive her social skills are or how extensive her network is—she was the first friend Toyama Kasumi made in Hanasakigawa.

"I want to celebrate my birthday too~~~"

"Let's wait two more months. Aren't you due in July?"

What gift will Arisa give me~?

"I'll send it... saying it now won't be a surprise anymore!"

Hehe~~

"..."

"Sorry I'm late!" As the group was talking and discussing, Ogura Asahi stepped up the stairs and entered the basement under their watchful eyes.

"Oh! Here it comes!"

"Good evening, Ogura-kun. I'm amazed you managed to find this place."

"Asahi-chan! I was just talking about you!"

"Um, good evening..."