"Is it just my imagination? I feel like the atmosphere between Asakura and Bocchi has become a bit different~"
As Yamada Ryo spoke, she lazily stroked her chin with her eyes half-squinted, as if observing some interesting little animal, an ambiguous smile playing on the corners of her lips.
"Should I say that hard work pays off, or that Bocchi-chan is currently climbing a high mountain..."
Nijika stood to the side with her arms crossed, her eyes resting on Hitori with a tone tinged with relief, yet also mixed with an indescribable complex emotion.
She tilted her head, feeling almost like an overprotective mother whose 'daughter seems to be getting married', unable to refrain from looking a couple more times while still feeling somewhat uneasy.
After all, back when she saw Hitori force herself to hand over the live tickets to Asakura despite her deeply ingrained social anxiety instincts, Nijika had already faintly sensed something.
That display of summoning up courage was clearly not something an ordinary friend would do.
This made the girl feel a subtle sense of loss in her heart, but she didn't particularly want to dig deep into what kind of mindset that feeling of loss stemmed from.
"Asakura-senpai and Gotō-san?"
Kita Ikuyo held the guitar provided by Asakura with both hands, leaning her body forward slightly to look over there. Her gaze happened to fall right on Asakura's action of reaching out to pat her head—as well as Hitori, who was frozen in place as she was being patted.
For some reason, this scene constantly brought an image of 'a master petting a pet' to her mind.
...From the perspective of a boyfriend and girlfriend, it felt a bit subtly mismatched.
Is it because Asakura's presence is too strong, or is Gotō-san just a bit too meek?
She subconsciously puffed out her cheeks, thinking this in her mind, though a natural smile still remained on her face.
As the only normie in Kessoku Band, she understood very well what it meant to read the room—it was fine to think these thoughts in her head, but actually saying them out loud would be a total buzzkill.
"I used to think Bocchi would be completely immune to romance..."
Yamada Ryo let out a soft sigh. After speaking, she sluggishly turned her head, looking at Nijika, and then looking at Kita Ikuyo.
Her gaze drifted back and forth between the two of them as if comparing something, before finally dragging out her voice to let out a meaningful sigh.
"What do you mean by that..."
Nijika narrowed her eyes, glaring at her like a cat, her eyes gradually becoming dangerous.
"Just an observation," Yamada Ryo spread her hands, looking completely as if it were natural, "I didn't expect Bocchi to be the most rock 'n' roll among us."
"Even though I'm not really sure what you're talking about, Ryo, it's still better not to say those kinds of things."
Nijika frowned, feeling vaguely offended for reasons she couldn't quite pinpoint, leaving her with no choice but to suppress her annoyance for the moment.
On the other side, Asakura leaned down slightly, looking at Hitori.
"Hitori, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"
"Tom-tomorrow afternoon..."
Hitori's body visibly stiffened, like a small animal suddenly being called on. Her fingers unconsciously tugged at the corner of her shirt, her eyes wandering, looking completely at a loss.
"Ah, that won't work. Tomorrow, Gotō-san shouldn't be free."
Seeing her stuttering for half a day without being able to utter a complete sentence, Kita Ikuyo simply stepped forward, smiling bright as she spoke on Hitori's behalf: "Because our band has things to do..."
"...To reclaim ownership of Hitori, do I have to defeat Kessoku Band first?"
Asakura muttered under his breath, frowning slightly with an expression of serious contemplation.
"No, no, no, you've definitely gotten something wrong!"
Kita Ikuyo immediately retorted, gesturing exaggeratedly in the air with a dramatic expression: "Don't say such dangerous things!"
And considering that a professional-level player like Momoka was also working part-time at the Rabbit House, Kita Ikuyo always had a feeling that if Asakura actually wanted to do that, he might really be able to pull it off...
"Doesn't Asakura-kun already know that we're going to perform at another live house?"
Nijika also quickly interjected, walking over as she spoke in an attempt to pull the conversation back on track.
She waved her hand, her tone turning serious: "To be honest, that place is quite far. Considering that we still need to adapt to the venue and facilities, even though the performance is the day after tomorrow, we'll probably have to prepare to head out around noon tomorrow."
"So you're saying, the date can only consist of brushing our teeth together..."
Asakura frowned slightly, showing a somewhat troubled expression.
"Even if it's only the morning, there are still plenty of things you can do, right?"
Kita Ikuyo looked at him, her face filled with confusion over 'why the date content was strictly limited to brushing teeth'.
"I-I'll have to go buy a new toothbrush..."
Hitori spoke in a small voice, tightly clenching her fist as if she had made a major decision.
"Gotō-san, don't inexplicably go along with Asakura-senpai on something like this either!"
Kita Ikuyo couldn't help raising her voice, slapping both hands on the table, "Can't you just change the date time to today or something!"
"Today won't work."
Asakura shook his head decisively, "I need to catch up on late-night anime episodes I recorded over the past few days."
Nijika's face went dark as she turned her head to stare at Hitori, her tone turning somewhat heavy: "Hey, Bocchi-chan, what's so great about a guy who thinks watching anime is more important than his girlfriend..."
"Zzz-boing zzz-boing"
"Enough, stop plucking your guitar like that already!"
"As expected of Bocchi, so rock 'n' roll!" Yamada Ryo was still fanning the flames from the side.
The entire practice room descended into utter chaos.
"Since the performance is the day after tomorrow, there's no need to depart tomorrow afternoon at all. Wouldn't leaving tomorrow night work?"
Asakura looked at the two who had already started grabbing and pulling each other's faces over there, stepping slightly to the side as he asked Nijika.
At this moment, Nijika was pulling Yamada Ryo's cheek outward with one hand while holding her hip with the other, her face filled with annoyance.
"We wanted to leave at night in the first place, but we couldn't find a ride at all."
She spoke while pulling with force, only then letting go of her fingers.
Yamada Ryo's face bounced back into place, yet her expression remained entirely nonchalant.
It looked like it felt great to touch.
Kita Ikuyo was eager to try it out.
"The fees for working overtime at night are higher, and to be honest, our band doesn't have that much budget."
Nijika ignored Yamada Ryo's resentful gaze and continued explaining, "After all, too many chaotic things have happened recently—spiriting away, natural gas explosions, mass addiction..."
"Mass hallucination?"
Asakura frowned, his tone carrying a bit of doubt.
"It's about that incident in Chiba the day before yesterday; it even made the news, so it should be pretty famous."
Nijika nodded, and after finishing, looked at him with a slightly odd expression: "Though, shouldn't the news about spiriting away and natural gas explosions be much more shocking?"
"I've heard about both of those."
As a direct eyewitness in a sense, Asakura took out his phone, swiped down a few times, and quickly found the news report.
The news reported that late the day before yesterday, many people in Chiba experienced hallucinations of 'seeing deceased relatives.'
The explanation given by experts was quite straightforward—the local shrine used sub-standard materials when making lanterns for its festival, which induced hallucinations to a certain extent. Coupled with the fact that it happened to be the Bon Festival, which naturally carries the traditional concept of 'meeting with the deceased,' under such psychological cue, people's hallucinations naturally aligned with the image of 'deceased relatives.'
The text on the screen slid down line by line.
Asakura watched for a moment, his thumb stopping at the edge of the screen, and couldn't help but nod.
Very reasonable.
Or rather, for Japan's government to fabricate a story like this after just one day is already considered a rare display of efficiency.
"In that case, let me drive you guys over."
As Asakura spoke, he put his phone back into his pocket with crisp, decisive movements, as if he had already treated this as a settled matter: "That way, leaving at night will still leave plenty of time."
"Asakura-kun..."
Nijika subconsciously frowned, gently tapping her chin with her finger with a thoughtful expression: "But we still have to bring musical instruments and some equipment..."
A picture of drum sets, speakers, and stands crammed together automatically began floating in her mind, and the expression on her face grew more and more conflicted.
"Nijika only needs to bring drumsticks, right?"
Yamada Ryo chimed in lazily from the side, her tone light and airy.
The next second, a drumstick struck her head without mercy.
A head that makes a crisp sound is a good head.
"Playing on a different drum kit always feels a bit awkward."
The blonde girl puffed out her cheeks, drumstick still in hand, staring at Yamada Ryo with clear dissatisfaction before continuing, "Anyway, as I recall, Asakura-kun's car is just a small sedan, right? It shouldn't be able to fit that much stuff."
"Rest assured, I guarantee it will fit."
Asakura raised his hand and patted his chest with a look of complete confidence, his tone even carrying a hint of inexplicable pride: "Don't underestimate German automotive engineering! German technology is the best in the world! If a problem arises, you can dig up an oiled paper package wrapping spare parts right by the roadside!"
"Isn't Ford an American company though?"
Nijika couldn't help tilting her head, exposing a look of complete confusion.
"I believe in my classic car, so Nijika, you should believe in me just as I believe in my classic car!"
"The moment you call your car a 'classic car,' your credibility drops significantly, hey!"
"Even if something goes wrong, as long as Hitori resolves it by playing the guitar with her teeth at the live performance, it'll be fine!"
Asakura suddenly raised his volume, acting as if 'the problem has been solved,' even nodding to himself, feeling that his plan was flawless.
"Don't suddenly add such a heavy burden onto Bocchi-chan!"
Nijika retorted almost as a reflex, her voice jumping an octave, her facial expression looking just like an overly anxious mother.
"...Looks like I'll have to change my toothpaste too."
Hitori mumbled in a small voice, keeping her head down, as if seriously contemplating this question.
"Is this a problem with the toothpaste?! Bocchi-chan, don't cooperate with Asakura-kun on this either!"
Nijika held her forehead with her hand, unable to stop herself from rubbing her temples as she felt a faint headache coming on, "Seriously... No matter how you put it, this concerns the band. Even if I agree, Ryo and Kita wouldn't agree..."
"No, I don't mind." Yamada Ryo kept her hands in her pockets, her tone remaining light and airy without a second thought.
"If it's Asakura-senpai, I somehow feel like it's something he might actually be able to pull off."
Kita Ikuyo nodded lightly, a hint of inexplicable expectation on her face, her eyes brightening up.
Hitori was nodding frantically to the side, the motion so exaggerated that even her pink long hair swayed in waves, showing no intention of hesitating—it seemed there was no need to ask for her stance anymore.
"Why is Asakura-kun's trust level so high on Kessoku Band's side..."
Nijika felt like she had completely deflated, her shoulders dropping as she let out a heavy sigh. She raised her head and looked at Asakura with a bit of helplessness, her eyes half-filled with suspicion and half with compromise: "If Asakura-kun can guarantee it, it's not like I can't trust you just this once."
Asakura: "Please."
Nijika: "?"
"The positions have swapped; now you are the one asking me, Nijika," Asakura stood with hands on his hips, acting all high-and-mighty: "You ought to use 'please'!"
"That's right, that's right!" Yamada Ryo stood beside Asakura at some unknown moment, acting like a minion waving a flag for a demon king, clamoring toward the monkey-faced Thunder God... ah no, toward Nijika: "Nijika, hurry up and sincerely beg Asakura! Use the word 'please', I say, 'please'!"
Something bulged on the forehead of the girl with the blonde side-tail—probably veins or something similar.
Asakura imperceptibly moved a step to the side to avoid having Yamada Ryo's blood splatter onto him later.
To his surprise, after struggling internally for a moment, Nijika chose to swallow her anger meekly instead of throwing a rage.
"If Asakura-kun can send us to the inn we booked tomorrow, that would be great," She puffed her cheeks, her wine-red eyes glaring at Asakura as she spoke to him with a slight tone of resentment: "Please!"
Asakura gave her a thumbs-up: "Piece of cake."
"Sigh."
Nijika let out a sigh: "Is it just my imagination? Even though Asakura-kun is very reliable, he always says mean-spirited things."
"Making cute girls troubled is one of the favorite things for guys to do," Asakura said triumphantly.
"Are you an elementary schooler?!" Nijika retorted, then looked at Hitori: "Hitori, your boyfriend is so blatantly teasing other girls, don't you mind at all?"
"If it's Nijika-senpai... it's fine," Hitori said softly.
Nijika froze completely for a moment before realizing that her meaning wasn't 'it doesn't matter even if Asakura cheats with Nijika,' but rather 'because I trust Nijika, it doesn't matter even if Asakura says weird things like this.'
And so, her originally tense shoulders relaxed once more.
"...Seriously, I'm no match for Bocchi-chan," She muttered: "Don't say things that are so easy to misunderstand in the future!"
The others burst into laughter again.
Only Yamada Ryo looked curiously at Nijika, who hid her sense of loss so well.
Was there any element in what was just said that could lead to a misunderstanding?