Strings of mysterious silver characters, arranged neatly yet distortedly, flowed slowly across the smooth blue shell of unknown material. From time to time, blurry pixelated squares would drift up leisurely, only to dissipate invisibly into the light.
"Master, the personal terminal you wanted is ready."
In her small, fair hand, Nymph held a ring that possessed both a technological and mysterious beauty, and passed it to Jhin.
"It has all the functions currently available on a mobile phone, such as photography, storage, positioning, and so on. It also has a small storage space of 20 square meters."
Jhin put on the personal terminal bracelet, and a virtual light screen, similar to his personal attribute system page, was projected into his field of vision.
"Can other people see this page?"
"The personal terminal is equipped with a Stealth and Anti-Cognition System, which the Master can turn on or off at will."
"Nymph, you did a great... no, a terrible job." Jhin patted Nymph's little head, which felt wonderful to the touch, causing her cheeks to blush slightly.
"Was this bracelet difficult to make?"
"Some of the materials were not easy to acquire, but luckily, Master's sister provided a lot of help."
"Hmm..." Jhin thought for a moment. He would eventually have to make these personal terminals as gifts for the girls. If the materials were hard to get, it wouldn't be good if someone was left out.
Having Kazuki and Nymph establish a related company could solve problems like material procurement or any other matters that required a front.
"I'll go talk to Kazuki. We can set up a company and let you two run it. Besides, she needs a company as a cover for herself, right?"
Jhin wasn't worried about the company's operating funds at all. Not to mention the ten-plus million in his account, couldn't Nymph make money in minutes?
As long as she had Jhin's permission, she could make a fortune in the stock market and throw up a middle finger to mock everyone else.
The little angel didn't hide the fact that Kazami Kazuki had asked her to create a hacking system that could breach any firewall; she told Jhin about it right after it was finished.
Knowing his sister as he did, Jhin was also aware that this priceless system would, at most, be used for 24/7 surveillance of him, her little brother, so he let it be.
Recently, Kazami Kazuki probably wouldn't be activating the system for a while. She was like an exquisite doll that had been played with too much, resting obediently in bed.
She had gone a little too wild before.
With his new toy, Jhin was eager to try out the function he cared about most: the camera.
Inside the Kessoku Band group chat.
Jhin: "Hey everyone, are you free?"
Nijika: "Jhin, you've come at just the right time."
Jhin: "What's wrong?"
Kita: "Um, Miss Gotoh seems a little off."
Ryo: "She's outside the store making a grave for a cicada."
Jhin: "Let me just ask, did any of you hang out with Bocchi-chan during summer vacation?"
Nijika: "Eh?! On my days off from rehearsal, I was either cleaning the house or working part-time at STARRY..."
Kita: "My days off from my part-time job were all booked, and besides, Miss Gotoh wouldn't be comfortable around strangers, would she?"
Ryo: "I thought you two would ask her to hang out."
Jhin: "Ah, my girlfriend. Because her three best friends didn't ask her to hang out, she was so upset that she had an internal breakdown, sulking and crying. Sniffle, sniffle, how pitiful."
Jhin: "So, you're all at STARRY right now, right? I'm on my way over! Let's all go out and have some fun!"
Nijika: "Okay, we'll wait for you."
On the cracked, dry yellow earth of the greenbelt, scraggly plants, withered and listless from the scorching sun, grew in disarray. Atop three orderly little mounds of dirt, three flat wooden sticks inscribed with "Thank you for your patronage" were inserted.
These were the graves Hitori Gotoh had erected to commemorate the dead summer cicadas and her own soon-to-be-departed vacation.
A thick, dark purple aura of resentment was nearly solidifying into a physical form, continuously emanating from the top of Hitori Gotoh's head.
Her hands were covered in dirt, with dark soil embedded in her nail beds. She held her hands together piously, constantly whispering the word "goodbye."
Jhin walked up behind her, slipped his hands under her arms, and lifted her up, successfully interrupting her bizarre ritual, which looked like a class change into a sorceress.
"Bocchi-chan, what are you doing?"
"Burying my departed summer vacation..."
Even while being held by Jhin, Hitori Gotoh still looked listless, on the verge of ascending to the heavens. It seemed the approaching first day of school was really taking a toll on her.
Jhin took her inside STARRY to wash her hands. The cool, clear tap water rinsed the layer of dirt from her skin.
Because she plays the guitar, Hitori Gotoh never had a habit of keeping long nails. Each one was trimmed neatly and roundly, and Jhin patiently cleaned the dirt from under her nails.
Squeezing out a bit of hand soap, a fine foam quickly formed like cotton candy, enveloping their hands as they rubbed them together, only to be devoured bit by bit by the clear water, leaving only a faint scent on their skin as proof of its existence.
Jhin wiped the remaining water from Hitori Gotoh's now-clean little hands, then brought them to his nose and sniffed lightly, only letting go after confirming there was no more smell of dirt.
Three little heads—red, yellow, and blue—peeked from behind the doorframe, spying on the scene.
Nijika's triangular ahoge, which looked like a Bugle snack, spun around and around.
"Bocchi-chan's in a bad way... she's really sick..."
"I'm suddenly curious what kind of face she'll make on the first day of school."
Kita Ikuyo didn't comment. The conversation she'd had with Kazami Kazuki was still swirling in her mind.
She had already promised Kazami Kazuki she'd keep it a secret from Jhin, and she didn't want to ruin the current good atmosphere in Kessoku Band.
But these secrets were like a sharp thorn buried in her heart, constantly reminding Kita Ikuyo of its presence at a high volume.
Jhin emerged from the washroom, holding the hand of Hitori Gotoh, half of whose soul was still floating outside her body.
"About going out, do you guys have any good suggestions?"
"Why don't we go to the beach?"
"Kita, great idea! We can get to Enoshima directly from Shimokitazawa."
"Then let's head out right away."
Jhin lifted the neither-heavy-nor-light Hitori Gotoh in a princess carry and strode after Nijika and the others.
On the subway, Hitori Gotoh was completely limp, leaning on Jhin's shoulder and continuously emitting an inky black, dense aura of resentment. Her lips were pale as she muttered incessantly: "This is a black hole. A black hole that can swallow a person's life whole."
"My life is going to end after school starts."
"I don't want that! School starting? I want it to happen at least ten years after I drop out!"
"She's turned into this... Looks like she really hates school." Nijika was very worried about Hitori Gotoh's current mental state.
Ryo turned her head curiously and asked Kita Ikuyo, "Are the school rules really strict?"
"No, I feel like the school's atmosphere is relatively free..." At least Kita Ikuyo didn't find it very strict. Then, remembering the culture festival that was coming up soon after school started, she said with some excitement, "I heard the culture festival is going to be really lively too."
"That's nice. Our school is stricter," Nijika's eyebrows drooped slightly, a light of envy in her eyes, and the ahoge on her head lost its vitality. "Even things like the culture festival are really rigid. The posters are all about research presentations and stuff."
"Well, Shimokitazawa High School is a college-prep school, after all," Jhin said with a mischievous grin, gloating a little. "Don't worry about it."
Kita Ikuyo looked at Nijika and Ryo with admiration. "Eh, you two must be really smart then?"
Nijika laughed awkwardly, waving her hands. "Not at all, I'm just average."
"As for Ryo..." Then she looked somewhat helplessly at Ryo, whose grades were neither good nor bad. "You failed all your previous exams, didn't you?"
"Eh?" Kita Ikuyo's thin eyebrows shot up, her eyes widened, and she couldn't maintain her slight smile. She was a little surprised.
"Yeah."
Ryo nodded and admitted to her failing grades without a change in expression, which made Kita Ikuyo's brow furrow. The image of Ryo as a cool beauty, originally held deep in her heart, began to show a tiny crack.
"And the reason you went to the same high school as me was just because it's close to your house, right?"
"That's right."
"But... how did you get into Shimokitazawa High School then?"
"Ryo is totally the type to cram at the last minute. She studies really hard right before exams, but she forgets everything right after they're over."
Ryo said with a straight face, "If I study too hard, I'll forget how to play the bass."
Could it be that Ryo-senpai isn't a mysterious and meticulous person?
Nijika placed her hand on Ryo's head and shook it back and forth. Ryo's head swayed with the movement, and you could almost hear the sound of her walnut-sized brain rolling around in her empty head.
Kita Ikuyo covered her ears, on the verge of a breakdown. "Nooo, don't shatter my image of her!"
With that rattling sound, the image of the cool beauty shattered as abruptly as a building being demolished.
Reborn from the destruction was a Ryo with a single-threaded brain, who yelled about eating grass and chewed it forcefully.
Jhin was very curious how Ryo was making that sound. It was surprisingly rhythmic. He placed his hand directly on top of Ryo's head and tapped it twice.
"Gururu, chang, uh, chk..."
Jhin clicked his tongue in amazement. "Oh~ what a curious melody. Have you considered adding it to one of your new songs?"
Kita Ikuyo's expression became even more pained. The new image of Ryo in her mind was growing rapidly, as if it were absorbing a massive amount of nutrients from this melody.
"Please don't be loud on the subway," Ryo said calmly, turning her head to Kita Ikuyo. A faint blush flashed across her cheeks.
"Speaking of which, Bocchi-chan's dream right now is still to drop out of high school."
Kita Ikuyo said worriedly, "Can that really be called a dream!?"
"No, my dream now is to drop out of high school and marry Jhin." Hitori Gotoh, as if a keyword had been triggered, sat up and said this, then promptly went back into standby mode, flopping limply onto Jhin.
Nijika chuckled and said to Kita Ikuyo, "Now that can be called a dream, right? "
I suppose it can, but Jhin is cheating with six different people right now!
Kita Ikuyo bitterly swallowed those words.
___
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