Chapter 10: Deception

More than ten minutes ago, inside Starry.

“…And so, there are still many, many areas for improvement. As a keyboardist, you are completely unqualified.”

After Ishikawa Hayato finished playing, Yamada Ryo stood with her arms crossed, an arrogant expression on her face, looking like a master.

She corrected Ishikawa Hayato very bluntly, her merciless tone making people feel afraid.

Midway through Yamada Ryo’s lengthy discourse, Nijika had been stunned by her exaggerated tone and only now came back to her senses.

“Ryo, you’ve gone too far!!”

This was clearly not evaluating him at a beginner’s level, but demanding a stage-performance level from Ishikawa Hayato!

Even if she wanted to be strict, this was too much.

After scolding Yamada Ryo, she comforted Ishikawa Hayato, who was standing behind the keyboard.

"Hayato-kun is already amazing! He couldn't do it at all yesterday."

"Right, Big Sister?"

After speaking, to add more conviction, she sought outside help.

"Well, it was a bit strict."

Seika seemed very perfunctory in her spare time, averting her gaze and looking elsewhere, but her tone did imply she was speaking up for Ishikawa Hayato.

Nijika was already used to her sister's attitude, so she immediately turned to Ryo.

"Ryo, be gentle with him!"

Facing these two consecutive blows, Ryo, who had just been very satisfied with her sharp critique, froze, blinked her eyes in distress, and then looked at Ishikawa Hayato.

"How can Nijika-senpai say that to Ryo-senpai?"

Unexpectedly, Ishikawa Hayato actually walked over quickly and shielded Ryo.

"Eh eh eh!?"

Nijika confirmed the expressions of the people around her. She hadn't said anything wrong just now, had she? She was helping Ishikawa Hayato, right?

"People need to constantly undergo sharpening to grow, and a pervert doesn't get hurt. A pervert's mental fortitude is infinite!"

Ishikawa Hayato turned to Ryo and said in a very arrogant tone,

"Please guide me with an even stricter attitude!"

Pervert?

Seika, who was on the side, heard Ishikawa Hayato's words and was full of questions. What happened to this child after he went out just now?

How did he suddenly become like a different person?

She rubbed her eyes to confirm if she was dreaming.

Then she perked up and paid attention to the situation here.

Meanwhile, Ryo pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped away tears of emotion from the corner of her eye with one hand, and patted Ishikawa Hayato's shoulder with the other.

"Mmm, very good. I will make you the strongest keyboardist in all of Japan."

Nijika felt so tired. Did her band have some kind of curse? When Ishikawa Hayato first arrived, he was so normal, but now... weirdo, pervert... what's next?

However, she breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the two of them getting along quite well, and it seemed Ishikawa Hayato would soon be able to play with them. She felt like the band was taking shape step by step.

That's great...

...

Ishikawa Hayato stepped out of the train, and as soon as he exited, he saw Ishikawa Jinpei in the distance.

The two men of the Ishikawa Family looked at each other from afar and then converged.

Ishikawa Jinpei walked over like a good brother, his arm draped over Ishikawa Hayato's shoulder.

"Yo, how's the harem progress?"

Hearing this man's tone, which was like he was waiting for him to make a fool of himself, Ishikawa Hayato curled his lip in disdain.

"Good evening, Dad. Today, a girl stared at me intently, gazing at me with a deep look for a long time."

Ishikawa Hayato disdained lying; he always spoke the truth.

Kita Ikuyo had indeed stared at him (his hands) for a long time.

"Stared for a long time..."

Ishikawa Jinpei and Ishikawa Hayato walked out of the station and headed towards home, their figures, arms around each other's shoulders, moving towards the myriad lights of houses.

The head of the Ishikawa Family walked, constantly thinking, his brow slightly furrowed, listing various possibilities.

Ishikawa Hayato quietly watched his father. This guy's expression went from initial confusion to nervousness, then to panic, and finally, even his hands started trembling.

He didn't even need to think to know what was going through this man's head, so he spoke first.

"Your next sentence is 'Go apologize! Go to their house immediately and apologize! Before they call the police.'"

"Go apologize! Go to their house immediately and apologize! Before they call the police."

Ishikawa Jinpei spoke half a beat slower than Ishikawa Hayato, and when his answer was stolen, he showed a miserable expression like he had eaten a fly.

Ishikawa Hayato smiled smugly.

"At the next family meeting, I will propose to your mother that your allowance be reduced."

Ishikawa Jinpei, showing no martial virtue, resorted to an external tactic. Now the smug smile moved from Ishikawa Hayato's face to Ishikawa Jinpei's face.

This father and son proved with facts the principle that smiles don't disappear, they only transfer.

And Ishikawa Hayato, who originally didn't rely on pocket money, and had barely taken any, now only had a few pitiful coins left in his pocket after buying a keyboard.

He felt his pocket and made a decision.

"If Mom agrees, I'll..."

Ishikawa Jinpei's head tilted higher and higher.

"I'll hug her feet and won't let go until she changes her mind! I swear on my pervert name!"

Ishikawa Hayato spoke with certainty. No one who knew him would take his words as a joke.

"You little brat, get out of here!"

Their shouts attracted the surrounding neighbors.

After the two of them arrived home, apologizing and greeting people, they saw Ishikawa Shizuka standing at the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry!"

Ishikawa Hayato bowed his head without hesitation and apologized solemnly.

This reaction startled Ishikawa Jinpei, who was still hesitating beside him. Do you have no dignity at all, you guy?

...After studying music theory and related knowledge with his sister, it was already very late.

Ishikawa Hayato walked back to his room contentedly, and upon opening the door, the first thing he saw was a poem written in Chinese characters.

'From tomorrow on, be a happy person... From tomorrow on, write to every loved one. Tell them of my happiness.'

He wrote this in his elementary school calligraphy class. When the teacher suggested writing a favorite sentence, he wrote this poem and kept it to himself.

He reviewed it every day, asking if he had achieved it, and if he had made his relatives and friends feel happy.

Today, without a doubt, was another happy day.

"Tomorrow, I must also work hard and sprint wildly on the path of a pervert!"

Ishikawa Hayato walked lazily and relaxed to his bed, lay down lazily, and on the bed filled with his scent, his body and mind didn't want to move due to the sense of security.

But Ishikawa Hayato hadn't stopped thinking.

"No... Today I received so many opinions, I need to correct them one by one, and then greet tomorrow with an even more perfect pervert posture..."

The next moment, his eyes snapped open, and the two characters for pervert flashed in his left and right eyes respectively.

"Let's start practicing!"

...

"This is a pervert's goodbye kiss, I'm off."

Ishikawa Hayato, as always, expressed his feelings directly to his family, then picked up his bag, ready to leave home.

"Wait, Big Brother."

Hibiki came trotting over in her slippers, holding out a piece of paper. From the look of the paper, it was one Ishikawa Hayato had given her before.

"I found a dessert shop. Treat me after school."

She tucked the note into Ishikawa Hayato's hand.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at his sister silently clenching her fist, knowing he couldn't just brush it off.

He took out his wallet, checked the amount inside, then swallowed, and with tears in his eyes, tucked the note inside.

To reiterate, he was the biggest failure as a transmigrator. He even had to calculate when to treat his sister to snacks.

"I still have band practice today. How about the weekend?"

Hibiki only remembered that her brother had spent all his savings on musical instruments when she saw him reach for his wallet. Her anticipation immediately dropped, and she held out her hand.

"Never mind, give it back to me."

"No, there are no regrets in the choices made before a pervert. When do you plan to go?"

Ishikawa Hayato, completely disregarding his almost empty wallet, said righteously,

"As a pervert, there's no retreat!"

Hibiki's tone perked up, and she said lightly, "Then tomorrow~"

"OK."

Ishikawa Hayato made a gesture and walked out of the house coolly...

...

He walked onto the main road near the school, and Ishikawa Hayato casually looked around, searching for a very conspicuous pink figure.

As someone with social anxiety, daring to act differently was what he found interesting about Gotou Hitori.

It should be said that this girl was clumsily trying to change but couldn't figure out where to start, or she went too far, which made her even more withdrawn.

She had great value for teasing.

This pervert thought so.

And today was his lucky day. He successfully spotted a particularly striking pink amidst a crowd of students in beige school uniforms.

Today was his lucky day.

Ishikawa Hayato didn't call out to her directly but quickened his pace to approach Gotou Hitori, only speaking when he was close.

"Gotou-san."

Hearing someone call her surname, Gotou Hitori didn't realize it was for her.

Her first reaction was to curiously glance around to see the person with the same surname as her.

However, when she secretly turned her head and saw a cheerful, handsome guy behind her, who had left a deep impression on her, looking at her with the curious gaze of someone observing a small animal...

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!!"

Startled, Gotou Hitori let out a silent shriek, covering her face and trembling as if she had been stretched straight.

A moment later, she came to her senses, ignoring the frequent flow of students around her, and desperately bowed her head in apology.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't notice, I'm really sorry!"

Hmm... if it were anyone else, being apologized to so exaggeratedly on the street, especially in such a crowded place, they would probably be a bit embarrassed.

But who is our protagonist?

Ishikawa Hayato!

Let alone this extent, even if someone were to do a samba dance here, he could keep up.

"Alright, alright."

He waved his hand to indicate it was fine and said with a smile,

"Let's go to school together."

"Ah, yes."

The words hadn't even gone through Gotou Hitori's brain before they leaped out of her mouth.

And by the time she reacted, she was already walking to school with a man she had only met yesterday.

She secretly glanced at Ishikawa Hayato beside her. His delicate yet not effeminate face glowed in the sunlight, and he effortlessly carried his schoolbag with one hand, his steps slowing as if to match her pace.

'It's a human! Too close!'

Realizing this, she blinked blankly, the expression in her eyes disappearing as her thoughts rapidly sank into the depths of her consciousness.

When Ishikawa Hayato accompanied Gotou Hitori to school, he didn't speak. Rather, he didn't even have an opportunity to converse.

Because... he watched Gotou Hitori beside him with interest, looking like a zombie, with a broken expression, mumbling "Ah.. ah ah.. ah..." as she walked.

He finally understood why such a fair-skinned and beautiful girl didn't have a boyfriend.

Never mind her habit of hiding from people without a word. Just her current appearance was enough for him to use as a meme for the intellectually challenged.