Chapter 66

However, she hadn't eaten with Sakurakoji Talent many times, so it's understandable that she didn't know much about it.

When Sakurakoji Talent came to Kawasaki last time, the three of them went to Yoshinoya on their first night, and only Inoseri Nina, who hadn't eaten, ate a Beef Bowl.

The second night was treated by Sakurakoji Talent, but Kawaragi Momoka specifically chose an upscale restaurant, so it can't be used as a reference.

Oh right, thinking of Yoshinoya...

"How about we have lunch at Yoshinoya today? It's the same place we went to last time. I haven't been there for days, and I'm really craving the beef bowl," Kawaragi Momoka suggested.

Sakurakoji Talent was taken aback for a moment, glanced at her, and wondered if it was a coincidence. But of course, there was no reason to refuse; rather, it was a perfect opportunity.

"Can."

"Let's go now."

Fortunately, for convenience, when Sakurakoji Talent chose the address, he didn't select a place that was too far from Kawaragi Momoka's previous residence or Kawasaki Station.

After walking for a while, the two arrived at the store with the green and yellow sign they had visited before.

"A medium-sized Beef Bowl with beer, how about you?" After ordering from the tanned waitress, Kawaragi Momoka looked at Sakurakoji Talent.

"Want to drink again? Are you sober from last night's drinking? Medium Beef Bowl with mineral water, please." Sakurakoji Talent nodded gently to the other person.

"Hi, hi! I'll prepare it for you right away!" she said hurriedly before returning to the kitchen.

"?" Was this really her personality? Sakurakoji Talent looked puzzled.

The two found a place to sit down casually. Sakurakoji Talent kept glancing towards the kitchen, and deliberately raised his voice as he spoke to Kawaragi Momoka:

"Speaking of which, the band now has a guitarist, Drum Kit, and vocalist; all that's missing is Bass and Keyboard, right?"

As expected, through the front desk, he saw the two people busy in the kitchen stiffen briefly, and he smiled slightly with narrowed eyes.

"It doesn't have to be Bass or Keyboard, as long as they can be paired together."

"Ideally, someone with some composing and arranging skills would be best. It seems like Nina and Subaru aren't very good at this, so I feel a lot of pressure being the only one here."

"Well, that just depends on luck. Good teammates aren't easy to find."

Kawaragi Momoka rested her chin on her hand, somewhat pessimistic about achieving this goal in a short time.

"I'll help with the search too. After all, I was just appointed Band Manager by the captain, so I have to do something."

"Are you sure you can?" Kawaragi Momoka's gaze was somewhat doubtful. "I'm not saying this to be mean, but if they don't meet my requirements, I won't agree to let them join the team."

"Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm quite picky. Subaru was someone I discovered with great difficulty; his personality and abilities are both impeccable."

"Personality doesn't have to be perfect, but at least don't have the kind of guy who's quick to anger and prone to causing conflict. Also, no trashy guys who only think about playing around with women; those kinds of guys will only affect the band's unity."

"Besides that, the most important things are ability and philosophy. Ability goes without saying, but I don't want anyone who's just playing around or who's eager to debut immediately."

"Leave the rest to me to assess. Can you gauge our initial capabilities?"

"I know, just do it your way." Sakurakoji Talent said calmly, "If it's not like this, there's no point in you leaving the team. Just go ahead and do your best. As the manager, I fully support you."

"What the heck is 'dong dong'..." Kawaragi Momoka felt relieved.

"However, you seem to have some misunderstanding about me. I'm not bragging, but I'm quite talented in music." He crossed his Hands and corrected her with a half-smile.

"Huh? Really?" Kawaragi Momoka was taken aback.

What musical instruments do you play?

"I can play a little bit of most mainstream instruments, but I'm quite busy on my end, so please leave me alone about forming a band." He clasped his hands together in apology.

"Oh... what a pity!" Kawaragi Momoka looked disappointed. She hadn't expected that such a promising talent was so close to her, and she hadn't even noticed him yet! She continued to try and persuade him, somewhat unwilling to give up.

"You really don't even have time for regular rehearsals? Aren't you my fan?"

"Although I really want to join, don't let my appearance fool you, I'm usually very busy," he explained earnestly, mimicking her words.

"Ha~ I thought I could save time finding teammates, oh well, there's nothing I can do about it." She leaned back weakly, giving up.

"I'm so sorry, but I'll try my best to help you with this, don't worry."

"Since you put it that way, then it's up to you. I'll continue the search."

As they were talking, the food they had just ordered was brought to the table.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, this is your order." The tall, healthy-looking waiter took turns bringing the food to the two of them.

"Oh, thank you!"

"Thank you," Sakurakoji Talent returned a polite smile.

"No, you're welcome! Please enjoy your meal!" She bowed stiffly and then returned to the kitchen.

"..."

Something feels off. Is it just his imagination?

However, without any clues, he and Kawaragi Momoka started eating together.

"Ah~ A sip of this before a meal is the best!" Kawaragi Momoka picked up the bright yellow glass, her face filled with delight.

"Let me give you a suggestion. If you can't hold your liquor, why don't you try quitting? Alcohol tastes awful, so there's nothing to miss about it, is there?" His eyes were complicated as he tried to persuade her to quit drinking, though the chances were slim.

"Who says I can't hold my liquor! I can hold my liquor really well, okay? Don't believe me? Let's have a contest next time!"

"Then forget it, I'll just be at a disadvantage no matter whether I win or lose." He sighed helplessly.

If he wins, he'll be responsible for taking her home and calming her down when she's drunk and acting crazy. If he loses, he doesn't want to experience that decadent feeling of being hungover and losing his mind.

"Young Master like you wouldn't understand~ Alcohol is really effective when you're in a bad mood." Kawaragi Momoka had the arrogance of a gangster.

"Stop spouting nonsense, it'll only make you feel worse the next day. Don't run away from it." He took a sip of the mineral water he ordered.

No one is more qualified to speak on this issue than him. According to her logic, shouldn't he be taking tranquilizers and anesthetics every day?

If he actually did that, whether it would have any effect is unknown, but he must be completely gone now.

"It's nothing, it's just a cup, it won't make a difference at all." Kawaragi Momoka waved her hand, indicating that he shouldn't worry.

"That is, assuming you can control yourself to drink only one glass..."

Ten minutes later, the two finished their meal. Kawaragi Momoka, full and satisfied, leaned against the wall and asked Sakurakoji Talent, "How about we go back now?"

"You can go back first, I still have some things to do. Oh, and don't forget to pay first, I didn't bring my wallet today."

"I really want to see you forced to stay and wash dishes..." Kawaragi Momoka stood up, placed the meal payment on the table, and said, "Okay, I'll be going now."

"Okay, see you later."

After watching her leave the store with her Hands in her pockets, looking effortlessly chic, he looked away, took out his phone, and started playing a popular music game. If he remembered correctly, it was the same one as Little Bocchi's.

What he's doing here for now is like Jiang Taigong fishing—wait and see if anyone is willing to take the bait.

If that doesn't work, then shamelessly take the initiative to ask around, using your good looks as an excuse to build a relationship.

A short while later, he heard a voice.

"Um, guests, have you finished eating? May I take back the tableware?"

"Okay, thank you for your help."

"Okay, then I'll excuse myself." She began to collect the plates he and Kawaragi Momoka had left behind. "By the way, it seems like it's been a while since you last came, guest. It was more than a week ago, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that's right. I don't usually stay in Kawasaki; I only come here occasionally."

"Eh?! Is that so..." She was somewhat shocked, with a hint of regret.

"Yes, I usually live in Tokyo, but I was invited yesterday to become the manager of my friend's band, so I might come here more often afterward." After clearing the checkpoint, he put down his phone and replied warmly.

"It's that woman from earlier. She left her previous band a while ago because she couldn't stand the commercialization of the business. She's currently looking for new teammates, and she's found two so far."

"Miss, are you interested in bands and music?"

He looked directly at the exotic girl with yellow-green hair in front of him and spoke with a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm not interested." She hesitated for a moment, glancing at her colleague in the kitchen.

Sakurakoji Talent understood immediately, and then loudly explained to himself, "My friend is rather stubborn, but he Aine so much that he can't live without it."

Image: "Short-haired older sister", Location: "Images/1757427471-100446961-113830757. jpg"

Volume 1: The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies: Chapter 97 On Why the Empty Box is a God

"Therefore, her goal in forming this team is more about meeting high standards and creating music according to her own preferences, rather than achieving immediate results; everything else is secondary."

"But precisely because of this, it's harder to find teammates, since most people these days just want to use music to get attention."

"Or some people have ulterior motives. They rarely encounter people with real ability and ambition, and they care more about whether they can achieve results quickly, even at the cost of abandoning their own personality and ideals."

"As you just saw, we're struggling to find the next band members."

"Ah~ it would be great if a suitable person could suddenly appear at this moment, but there's probably no such coincidence in the world, right?"

He rested his chin on his hand, sighing into the air, looking helpless and unable to do anything about Kawaragi Momoka.

The girl glanced behind her and noticed that her companion had also stopped what she was doing. Wearing a mask, her cute face was furrowed as she looked over.

It seems she wasn't uninterested, the girl judged based on her own experience.

Finally, she made up her mind and turned to Sakurakoji Talent: "Um! Does your band need Bass and Keyboardist?"

"RUPA!" the short girl behind exclaimed, realizing what her companion was about to do.

He'd taken the bait. A glint flashed in Sakurakoji Talent's eyes as he inwardly laughed, but he didn't show it on his face.

"That's right—is something wrong?"

"Well, actually... Tomo and I are Bass and Keyboard respectively, and we're also looking for suitable teammates." Since she had already brought it up, she had no choice but to explain the situation.

"Huh? Ma Ji? What a coincidence?" He looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Yes, I also think it's quite a coincidence. Maybe it's fate." She smiled shyly—or perhaps it was a smile—"So, if possible, I hope we can get to know each other better first."

"Wait, wait, wait!" A short, short-haired girl rushed up from behind. "Don't make decisions on your own! At least discuss it with me first!"

"Is this one also?" Sakurakoji Talent asked with his eyes.

"Yes, this is our band's Keyboardist, Tomo." RUPA then looked at Ebizuka Tomo. "Tomo, I didn't say you have to join them, but I think it wouldn't hurt for us to get to know each other first. What do you think?"

"If that's the case... But I feel like RUPA was a bit too forceful today. Is it just my imagination?" Ebizuka Tomo was a little uneasy.

"It must be your imagination," RUPA said with a calm, older sisterly smile.

"Ah, it's back to normal."

"Never mind that, let's introduce ourselves first, where's the politeness?" RUPA changed the subject, facing Sakurakoji Talent, her hand on her ample chest, and began her self-introduction:

"I'm RUPA, the Bass for beni-shouga. These are our business cards, please take a look."

She handed over a gradient purple-red business card, which Sakurakoji Talent took, glanced at, and exclaimed in surprise, "Red Ginger, so you guys are in a band?"

"Yes, this is..." She nudged Ebizuka Tomo with her elbow.

"I am Ebizuka Tomo, nice to meet you." Ebizuka Tomo Hands, looked to the side, and said reluctantly.

"Oh, hello everyone, I'm Sakurakoji Talent, nice to meet you."

"Mr. Sakurakoji Talent..." RUPA murmured to himself.

"That's it. So, could you please tell us more about the band later?"

"I couldn't be happier. You can decide the time and place; I'm free today."

"Could you please wait here a little longer? It's almost lunchtime, and we'll go ask if we can leave early this afternoon."

"Of course, no problem."

After they finished speaking, they went back to the back. He picked up his phone again, opened the music game, and continued to the next level.

An hour later, Ebizuka Tomo and RUPA finished work, changed into their everyday clothes, and the three of them went to a nearby afternoon tea house.

"These are some of our previous works, please take a look." RUPA opened his phone and showed Sakurakoji Talent the interface of a video software.