Yukinoshita Haruno: "Hello, Ryo-kohai. Why the sudden open-air performance? Are you planning to form a band?"
Uchiha Ryo packed up the guitar sent by the Shinomiya family. "Not at all. I'm just doing a favor for a friend as a classmate."
Yukinoshita Haruno stepped forward and put her arm around Uchiha Ryo's shoulder.
"Is that so.... Then Ryo-kohai is really gentle. In that case... want to help your big sister out too?"
Uchiha Ryo was very casual. "If I can do it, I'll consider it."
"Then how about helping me deliver something to Yukino?"
Uchiha Ryo: "Delivering a gift? Can't you just give it to her yourself? Why ask me?"
Yukinoshita Haruno sighed. "You know there's a teeny-tiny conflict between us sisters. Yukino barely talks to me, so she probably won't accept anything I give her. So I'll ask you to pass it on to her!"
"I can deliver something. So what does Haruno-senpai want me to give to Yukino-san?"
Yukinoshita Haruno tapped Uchiha Ryo's chest.
"My heart... is that okay?"
Uchiha Ryo: "If senpai is just joking, then forget it. Our open-air performance is over, and we're heading back to STARRY."
"Hahaha, well~ Ryo-kun is no fun at all. But as a student of Shuchiin, haven't you heard of it at all?"
Shuchiin Academy's unique cultural festival, also known as the Devoted Hearts Festival.... and dedicating one's heart represents eternal love.
Uchiha Ryo looked at Yukinoshita Haruno speechlessly. "You want eternal love with your sister? Haruno-senpai, I didn't know you were that kind of person."
A corner of Yukinoshita Haruno's eye twitched. That's why I can't be the one to give it!
"Ahem, anyway, Ryo-kohai, do you want to help me deliver it or not?"
Uchiha Ryo didn't agree, but he didn't directly refuse either. Shuchiin only had a few events each semester. First was the sports festival, then the student council election, summer vacation, the cultural festival, the school trip, and winter vacation.
That meant the Devoted Hearts Festival Yukinoshita Haruno mentioned was at least two months away. And who could say what would happen in two months?
Inside the STARRY bar, Bocchi-chan walked over holding her guitar, under the incredulous gazes of Ijichi Nijika and Kita.
"No way! Bocchi-chan actually attracted a dozen or so audience members? And sold all the tickets?"
Yamada Ryo nodded. "In that case, we should be close to meeting the quota for our first performance, right?"
Kita Ikuyo suddenly went to Hayasaka Ai's side. "This is thanks to Hayasaka-san inviting her friends from Shuchiin. We've sold over thirty tickets for our first time."
Bocchi-chan looked expectantly at the other members of the Kessoku Band. The efforts of the four of them during this time were finally bearing fruit!
Hayasaka Ai: "Well.... Although I don't want to dampen your morale, it's best to check the weather forecast."
The performance was the day after tomorrow, and a typhoon seemed to be landing in the Tokyo area recently.... Which meant there probably wouldn't be many people willing to brave the typhoon to come.
Ijichi Nijika, Kita Ikuyo, Bocchi-chan: "Ehh!!"
Yamada Ryo: "....Should we make teru teru bozu?"
Ijichi Nijika: "I guess we have no choice! I hope the typhoon won't come the day after tomorrow!"
Katou Megumi patted Bocchi-chan's shoulder. "It's okay. Even if it rains, I'll come to see your performance."
On the other side, the store manager was pouring drinks for Hiratsuka Shizuka and Yukinoshita Haruno.
"Encountering this kind of situation for their first band performance... I hope they can hold on."
Yukinoshita Haruno sighed. "I get it, I get it. It's like preparing for a performance for a long time, only to have few people pay attention. If they see a dismal turnout, they probably won't feel good."
Hiratsuka Shizuka put down her glass. "Didn't you sell all the tickets? Even if the audience doesn't come, you still made money. Relax.... you're not losing anything."
Ijichi Seika rolled her eyes at Hiratsuka Shizuka. "What a new band like them wants isn't money, but popularity and recognition. No matter how the first performance goes, if they can't even gather a few audience members, they're bound to be disappointed."
The young girls were cheering each other on, and the adult women were discussing whether the typhoon would crush this small band. In the corner, a white cat jumped onto Uchiha Ryo's shoulder.
Enyun-chan: "Can you help?"
Uchiha Ryo: "Are you kidding? That's a typhoon.... Even if I unlock the Eternal Mangekyo within two days, I can't directly disperse a natural disaster like a typhoon, at least not quietly."
He didn't want to be known by the whole world in some form. That would be more trouble and would affect his desire for a peaceful life.
Enyun-chan: "What about dojutsu?"
Uchiha Ryo sighed. The power to alter reality sounded unbeatable, but this reality would consume a corresponding amount of ocular power depending on the magnitude of the change.
To put it bluntly, even if Uchiha Ryo stared until he went blind, he couldn't erase the entire typhoon.
"Just let nature take its course. And if there are too many people, Bocchi-chan will probably be nervous to death."
....
The day before the performance, Uchiha Ryo called the Maki siblings out and met them at the cafe.
Currently, the siblings were, just as Uchiha Ryo had guessed, very short on money! After all, they were youkai disguised as humans entering human society. Their setting was that they were orphans, and apart from that house, they had nothing.
As for that house, it was said to have been given to them by a senior youkai.
Whether it was Maki Ryuko's expenses at university, or Maki Chi currently studying at Shuchiin.
Although Shuchiin had many subsidies for students with excellent grades, like Shirogane Miyuki, who could even have his tuition waived if he ranked in the top three of his year.
At first, Maki Chi didn't want to come when Uchiha Ryo mentioned introducing a job. After all, the other party was a strong human, and they were youkai. They were on opposite sides no matter what.
But hearing that a cat youkai wanted to open a cafe, the fox siblings' interest was immediately piqued.
We youkai are all working at the bottom, and this little cat youkai has opened a shop?! Is the youkai world this competitive now....
That afternoon, the Maki siblings signed an employment contract with Enyun-chan. Maki Ryuko was a long-term service staff, and Maki Chi was part-time.
Their task was simple: take care of the cats. That's right! Become cat-herding foxes!
After all, Enyun-chan didn't plan to fire the pastry chefs and other staff in the cafe kitchen. Although these ordinary employees knew they had a new boss, their salaries hadn't dropped anyway.... so they just worked as usual.
The cafe entered a one-week renovation period, and Enyun-chan renamed the cafe to (Cloud Cat Cafe).
Uchiha Ryo stood up and rubbed the cat's head. "Alright. Since you wanted to start your own business, I won't help you. If your business fails.... you'll have to pay back the affinity points you loaned from me."
Enyun-chan: "Thank you so very much...." (Note: The Chinese characters used for 'thank you' here, 屑屑, sound like 'thank you' but mean 'scumbag/crumbs', implying sarcasm.)