At some point, without even realizing it, he'd started calling her by her name. It didn't bother him, though.
"Soyo and Rikki are friends from...Crychic."
Takamatsu Tomo suddenly spoke up.
"Huh?" Nagasaki Sosei's smile stiffened. "Tomo... why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"Crychic?"
Bai Qiu looked at the two of them in confusion.
Crychic... He felt like he'd seen that name somewhere before, but he wasn't very familiar with it.
"It's the name of a band..." Takamatsu Tomo explained to Bai Qiu, then looked at Sosei. "Just now, I was talking with Qiu about..."
Sosei managed a strained smile. She'd intended to bring up the subject with Tomo when they were alone.
She hadn't expected Little Tomo and Bai Qiu to have gotten so close. It seemed she'd have to take his importance to her more seriously.
Sensing that something seemed a little off about Nagasaki Sosei, Bai Qiu continued asking,
"So, the band now is..."
He trailed off, but he could more or less guess what had happened.
"We... went our separate ways."
Takamatsu Tomo lowered her head completely this time. "It was all because of me..."
Under the table, where no one could see, Tomo quietly clenched her fists.
"I wasn't good at singing."
"Tomo, that wasn't your fault at all!"
Shiina Rikki suddenly appeared with a plate in her hands, speaking in an unfriendly tone.
"It was that girl! The one who quit without saying a word!"
Bai Qiu's mouth fell open in surprise. There was an even more formidable one?
And maybe he'd misunderstood Shiina Rikki? Compared to that tone, she'd actually been pretty gentle with him just now?!
"Wait, Rikki! Don't say that!"
Hearing Rikki's words, Nagasaki Sosei's heart clenched. She hurriedly defended her.
"None of us... did anything wrong!"
Bai Qiu looked