"Everybody, move out!"
Of course, he meant putting on the mascot costumes.
"Yeah!!!!" ×4
Everyone shouted in unison, and Bai Qiu found himself caught up in the excitement before he even realized it!
"Yui, that's my head."
Bai Qiu reminded her. He'd chosen the penguin costume, but Yui Hirasawa had taken his headpiece.
"Huh? Is it? Maybe you got them mixed up, Qiu-chan?"
Yui Hirasawa gave the headpiece in her hands a thoughtful look.
Bai Qiu's mouth twitched.
"Have you really gotten so airheaded that you can't tell a penguin from Mr. Pan anymore?"
"Mmph... They're both black and white."
Yui put on a wounded expression, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Qiu-chan, Aki-kun, you're picking on me!"
"Hmph! Aki-kun, I won't let you bully my team member Yui!"
Captain Ritsu, who had been the first to put on the brown bear costume, leaped out and pointed at Bai Qiu.
"Captain Ritsu!!"
Yui Hirasawa was deeply moved.
"Besides, Mr. Pan with a penguin head might be even more fun."
Yui Hirasawa immediately perked up. "Oh, yeah!"
She actually dropped Mr. Pan's headpiece and ran over to snatch the penguin head from Bai Qiu.
But thanks to their height difference, Dumb Yui couldn't reach the penguin head in Bai Qiu's hands.
"Qiu-chan, give it to me!"
"Pleeease!"
No matter what Yui said, Bai Qiu firmly refused.
If I give you the penguin head, it'll be a betrayal of Little Tomo!
Wait! Why did I come up with something so heavy?
Bai Qiu froze for a moment. While his guard was down, Yui Hirasawa managed to grab the penguin head.
Captain Ritsu got excited and started cheering.
"Go, Yui! Go, Yui!"
Kotobuki Tsumugi's eyes lit up too. She had put on the White Rabbit costume.
"Then I'll cheer for Bai Qiu-kun."
"Go, Aki-kun!"
"Go, Yui!"
Who would've thought they'd start horsing around just because they'd changed into mascot costumes?
Akiyama Mio sighed helplessly.
"All right, stop fooling around. We're the only ones who haven't joined the group yet."
Akiyama Mio finished putting on the Black Cat costume and pointed toward the large group of other part-time workers, already gathered up ahead.
Bai Qiu gave her a grateful look. Mio really was dependable!
"Huh? Already?"
Yui Hirasawa was startled. She hadn't even put on the bottom half of her costume yet.
Tainaka Ritsu stopped fooling around, too.
So everyone hurriedly helped Yui get into her costume, then ran over to the meeting point.
Saw Me Looking So Miserable Again
Amusement park, central plaza, in front of the fountain.
Bai Qiu and the girls from the Light Music Club were working here.
At first, everyone was full of energy.
But before long, they all started to feel like something wasn't quite right.
"Um..."
"I... think... I'm getting... hotter and hotter?"
"What about you guys, Qiu-chan?"
Yui Hirasawa, who was most sensitive to the heat, spoke haltingly. She already wanted to take off her headpiece.
"I'm a little hot, too."
"My face is covered in sweat."
Akiyama Mio and Tainaka Ritsu chimed in with their own complaints.
This part-time job was a lot tougher than the one they'd had in Shimokitazawa a while back!
"That's only natural. These headpieces are so thick, and we're all sealed up inside. There's no way for us to get any air."
Bai Qiu explained between breaths.
"And the sun seems to be getting stronger, too."
He'd expected it to be hot, but it was much worse than he'd imagined.
At that moment, Bai Qiu suddenly realized:
Working at Starry had been downright luxurious.
A cool basement, free air-conditioning, a free drink, and free live performances.
Nijika had said the drinks used to be unlimited, since they didn't cost much anyway.
But after Yamada Ryo started guzzling them—and even taking home oversized bottles from time to time—Ijichi Hoshino had no choice but to introduce that rule.
Nijika had also said that having a little extra was actually fine.
The rule was mostly aimed at Yamada Ryo.
Still, try not to drink too many carbonated drinks!
Nijika, I miss you!
"I can't take it anymore!"
Tainaka Ritsu was the first to remove her headpiece.
Yui Hirasawa followed suit.
"You idiot, they'll catch us."
Akiyama Mio warned them.
"They'll dock our pay," Bai Qiu added.
At the mention of a pay cut, Captain Ritsu and Dumb Yui hastily put their headpieces back on.
Yui had put hers on backward, too.
"Come to think of it, Little Tsumugi hasn't said a word this whole time."
Bai Qiu suddenly remarked.
As soon as he said that, everyone turned to look toward Kotobuki Tsumugi.
"Could she have passed out from the heat?"
Captain Ritsu guessed.
"Waaah, Tsumugi, don't die!"
Yui Hirasawa wailed.
"Don't say things like that!"
Bai Qiu tapped Yui through her mascot costume.
Akiyama Mio asked worriedly, "Little Tsumugi, are you okay?"
Kotobuki Tsumugi didn't move.
"L-Little Tsumugi, don't scare me..."
Akiyama Mio was starting to get frightened.
Bai Qiu stepped forward and took off Kotobuki Tsumugi's headpiece.
Kotobuki Tsumugi blinked her big, innocent eyes.
Everyone looked at her, baffled.
"Little Tsumugi, you're okay?"
"Why didn't you say anything?"
Kotobuki Tsumugi explained, "I was trying to scare you."
"But it doesn't look like it worked."
Yui Hirasawa asked, "Little Tsumugi, aren't you hot?"
Kotobuki Tsumugi thought about it for a moment. "I'm fine. It's dark in here, and it feels really interesting."
Everyone looked at her face and saw that she didn't have a single bead of sweat on it. They couldn't help feeling envious.
Bai Qiu couldn't help wondering if the system could exchange for a body that stayed warm in winter and cool in summer.
Finally, it was time for a break.
Everyone quickly took off their headpieces.
The heat that had built up around their heads dissipated, and they finally felt a little cool.
Except for Little Tsumugi, all the girls were drenched in sweat.
They all took out tissues and wiped the sweat from their brows.
"I can... feel smoke coming off my head..."
"Yeah..."
Clearly, none of them had the energy to talk much.
Bai Qiu spotted a vending machine and said, "What would you like to drink? It's on me."
Captain Ritsu's eyes lit up. "Aki-kun! I knew I was right about you!"
Ahem, Bai Qiu couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.
On the one hand, they really did need some cold drinks to cool down.
On the other hand, he figured the system would probably reward him for treating everyone to drinks.
Yui: "Cola!"
Before you continue