"What's with that disappointed look on your face?"
Yui Hirasawa puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. They were old friends reunited, and Qiu-chan wasn't even happy to see her!
Oh, Qiu-chan must be a tsundere.
"Yui, if you don't mind, could you please not shout 'Qiu-chan' so loudly in front of everyone?"
Bai Qiu glanced around. The new students were busy getting to know one another, and for now, no one seemed to have noticed them.
"Huh? But Qiu-chan is Qiu-chan!"
Yui looked utterly innocent.
"If you call me Qiu-chan again, I might pretend I didn't hear you."
Bai Qiu said it as if he meant it, though he was only joking. It showed just how close he and Yui were.
He was a grown man, after all. He didn't need such a cute nickname.
"But Qiu-chan sounds so cute!"
That was exactly the problem. It was too cute...
Bai Qiu was speechless, but when he saw Yui gazing at him with her big, round eyes, looking adorably vacant, he let out a soft sigh.
"Fine, I get it."
Yui giggled.
"By the way, I didn't expect you to be at this school too, Little Qiu. But you got here so late! I've been here since eight."
Yui looked smug, waiting for him to praise her.
"Oh, but classes don't start until nine. You came early because you got the time wrong, didn't you? You're such an idiot."
Bai Qiu didn't hesitate to tell her the truth.
"Huh! How did you know?"
Yui covered her face with both hands.
Then she realized Bai Qiu was still standing, so she pointed to the empty seat in front of her.
If Qiu-chan sat in front of her, he could block the teacher's view of her.
Then she could sleep in peace.
Bai Qiu had no intention of sitting there. Instead, he took the seat to Yui's right.
It wasn't by the window, but at least it was in the last row.
"Ugh... Sheesh, Little Qiu."
Yui said that, but didn't seem to mind.
Just being in the same class was enough to make her happy.
"Let's slack off together for the next three years too, Little Qiu!"
Yui enthusiastically invited Bai Qiu to join her.
Bai Qiu's cheek twitched. He was amazed by what Yui had just said.
Yui Hirasawa, his classmate and desk mate for three years.
She'd daydream in class, sleep, and snack. She was a regular visitor to the teachers' office, never joined any clubs, and always went straight home after school...
And yet, none of that had stopped her from getting into this school.
Maybe that was talent!
Bai Qiu immediately gave her a smug look. "Sorry, Yui, but I'm not the same person I used to be."
"I've found a new goal."
"Huh? What is it?"
Yui asked curiously.
Naturally, it was to start a band,
play with girls... Ahem! Play instruments,
and start a mus... No, put on live shows!
"I don't mind telling you. I'm planning to start a band."
Bai Qiu said. Maybe telling Yui would inspire her to join the Light Music Club sooner.
Yui pondered the somewhat unfamiliar term.
A short-haired girl sitting to Bai Qiu's right glanced over, looking a little sad.
But she soon looked away again, retreating into her own world.
"Ahaha, Little Qiu, you're making that kind of joke again!"
"Just last year around this time, you said you were going to become a light novel expert."
Yui waved her hand and laughed dismissively.
In Yui's eyes, Bai Qiu was her fellow slacker and trusted comrade.
They both avoided joining clubs, went straight home after school, and slept or played on their phones during class...
Honestly, Qiu-chan still loved making jokes as much as ever.
"Tch. Just you wait."
"Okay~"
Seeing that Yui didn't believe him, Bai Qiu decided not to explain.
He wasn't going to tell her he'd already become a somewhat well-known light novelist.
Light novelists couldn't go around revealing their true identities.
Especially authors like him, who didn't have the best reputation in the industry at the moment.
To ease his financial pressure, Bai Qiu had chosen the traditional route of rewriting existing works.
In Yui's eyes, they were good friends who slacked off together.
In reality, that wasn't the case.
He was quietly getting stronger.
Setting Yui aside for the moment, Bai Qiu sat down and looked around.
Everyone was trying hard to make new friends, afraid of ending up at the bottom of the class's social hierarchy.
But the atmosphere seemed pretty nice.
Maybe that was one of the perks of living in a Music Anime world.
Everyone was so nice!
The seat in front of him was still empty.
To his right sat a girl who looked quite quiet.
It was the first day of school, and while everyone else's desks were completely bare, hers had all sorts of strange little objects on it.
That piqued Bai Qiu's curiosity.
Stickers? Band-aids, a notebook, even little stones?
What an interesting girl.
The thought popped into Bai Qiu's mind.
The gray-haired girl seemed to notice him looking at her. She turned her head and greeted him first.
"Hel... hello. My name is Takamatsu Tomo. P-please be kind to me."
Takamatsu Tomo turned toward him, and Bai Qiu finally got a good look at her.
Amber eyes and pale cheeks.
Her voice sounded a little timid, but it was pleasant to the ear.
"Hi, I'm Bai Qiu. Please be kind to me."
Bai Qiu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and returned her greeting.
What a cute girl. She was like a little animal.
She'd probably become the class mascot!
Though Yui had a good chance too.
As expected of a Music Anime world: even a random girl sitting next to him was a beautiful girl.
At the same time, Bai Qiu had a hunch. Could it be...
Could this girl be trying to get everyone's attention in this unusual way, like Goto Hitori, so she could make friends?
Yes, that had to be it.
Leave it to him to make friends with cute girls.
Takamatsu Tomo nodded gently, remembering how Bai Qiu had been looking at her desk.
She picked up a Band-aid and asked hesitantly,
"D-do you want this?"
"Huh? Is that okay?"
It was a little unexpected, but Bai Qiu took the Band-aid.
Seeing him accept it, Takamatsu Tomo looked happy and nodded like a pecking chick. "Mm-hmm!"
"Thanks. Is this a macaroni penguin?"
Bai Qiu looked at the Band-aid and identified it using his extensive general knowledge.
"Huh! You know what it is?"
Takamatsu Tomo's voice rose with excitement. She looked as if she'd found someone who shared her interests.
"Yeah. It has a crest on its head that looks like a hat, and it's really cute, so I remembered it."
Seeing how happy Takamatsu Tomo was made Bai Qiu feel good too. At the same time, he silently marveled at his own wealth of knowledge.
Takamatsu Tomo picked up the other Band-aids on her desk.
"This one's an Adélie penguin... This one's a gentoo penguin, and there's an emperor penguin, a rockhopper penguin, and a Magellanic penguin. Do you want them?"
Like an anime fan enthusiastically sharing her passion, Takamatsu Tomo introduced Bai Qiu to the penguin designs on her Band-aids.
Seeing Takamatsu Tomo like this,
Bai Qiu was a little surprised. Ahem! He took back what he'd thought earlier.
It seemed this girl wasn't a social phobe like Bocchi-chan.
"Wouldn't that be a bit much...? You must have gone to a lot of trouble collecting all these."
A gentleman didn't take what others cherished.
Band-aids weren't worth much, but Bai Qiu knew it must have taken a lot of effort to collect so many different designs.
Much like collecting cards.
"Mm, but! It's okay."
Takamatsu Tomo looked at Bai Qiu expectantly.
Looking at Takamatsu Tomo's cute face and her little-animal eyes.
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