Chapter 123: Splash
After meeting up with Hitori, who had been waiting, the three walked together towards STARRY.
They hadn't even reached the storefront when heavy rain poured down, but fortunately, they were just two steps from the store's eaves, so they hurried under cover.
Inside the shop, Nijika and Ryo were already waiting.
As soon as the three walked down the stairs, they came into view from the main hall.
The three suddenly heard Ryo’s calm voice, tinged with displeasure.
“You’re so slow. Did you go off and play somewhere?”
Ishikawa Hayato saw an opportunity to show off, and quickly covered the mouths of the two girls beside him.
He stopped, a proud expression on his face, as if saying, “No need to praise me for this,” and began, “As members of the Super Squadron, we just encountered an entity attempting to destroy the world, and bravely fought a decisive battle against it, in…”
“That’s enough, Hayato-kun, please come and sit down.”
Nijika sighed, interrupting his seemingly endless monologue, and patted the table, urging him.
“Unfortunately, the exciting part is yet to come. I still wanted to describe in detail the scene where Bocchi bravely stepped forward when everyone was in despair.”
Ishikawa Hayato walked down with a look of regret.
“Eh!!”
Hitori, hearing her name, gasped softly.
...
The five of them once again sat around the table. It had been a while since they had casually chatted like this.
Though musicians, they couldn't escape the pressure of studying for exams.
Except for their part-time jobs, they hadn't gathered much during this period.
Nijika looked at everyone gathered, clapped her hands with a smile, and joyfully said.
“Final exams are finally over! Now let’s continue our band activities!”
“Regarding our future band activities, everyone can directly voice any suggestions they have.”
“Me!” Ishikawa Hayato raised his hand first.
“Alright, Hayato-kun.” Nijika extended her hand to him in satisfaction.
“I want to start by explaining our current situation.”
As Ishikawa Hayato spoke, he familiarly walked to a corner of the shop, and in front of Nijika, whose expression showed she didn’t know how to complain, he dragged over the whiteboard as if it were his own home.
He spoke and drew on it simultaneously.
“First, everyone needs to understand our strengths and weaknesses.”
“For example, I’ve found that we perform better when the performance atmosphere is heated, which is evident from our street performances and the latter half of our in-store performances.”
“Conversely, when the atmosphere is cold, our skill level is only at our usual practice level, and can even be worse if we are affected by it.”
Nijika anxiously glanced at the others.
She hadn't expected Ishikawa Hayato to so openly state this fact.
However, completely contrary to her expectations, everyone listened attentively and didn't dwell on the previous setback because of it.
“From this, we can see that we are not the type to practice in seclusion and then just play when a performance comes up. Instead, we should actively seek out more performances and hone ourselves through them, a strong goal-oriented type.”
“The previous not-so-perfect performance was a form of tempering, like the soreness a person unaccustomed to exercise feels after their first day of activity. Now we can boldly start running.”
Hearing Ishikawa Hayato’s words, which implied they should prepare for performances as soon as possible, Nijika quickly tried to dissuade him.
“Hayato-kun, won’t that be too hasty?”
Ishikawa Hayato clearly understood Nijika’s thoughts; after a series of failures, she planned to take a breather, let everyone relax, and then start looking for opportunities to perform.
“No, this is just right.”
Before Ishikawa Hayato could speak, Ryo already rejected Nijika’s idea.
She said.
“What we need now isn’t rest, but recognition. There are many performance opportunities in the summer. We can’t let them pass by in vain.”
Nijika looked at Ryo, then at the others.
She noticed that although Kita and Hitori said nothing, their expressions revealed they shared the same sentiment as Ryo.
She realized she had worried too much and had become the one dragging the team down.
However, she didn’t mind at all, and instead smiled happily.
“Then!” With a radiant smile, she suddenly pulled out a poster from her backpack beside her.
Holding it high, she showed it to the four.
“Let’s all participate in this summer’s Circuit Festival!”
The four stared blankly at Nijika.
Her attitude had changed too quickly, they felt like their necks would twist off.
Then the three looked at Ishikawa Hayato.
They suspected that these two had already communicated privately to set up a trap for them.
Ishikawa Hayato met the three’s gazes with a shocked expression.
He shook his head, indicating it had nothing to do with him.
After Ryo learned it was Nijika’s own idea, she complained to Nijika.
“Nijika, you’re so troublesome. Do you want to go or not want to go to the performance?”
Nijika quickly stated her stance.
“Of course I want to go!”
Ishikawa Hayato looked at the slightly wrinkled poster in Nijika’s hand, and the neat creases on it, and speculated.
“Could it be that you were hiding under your covers late at night, looking at the poster, thinking about participating, but then worried about what the others would think, and then with a look of unwillingness, neatly folded the poster and stuffed it into your backpack?”
*Gulp*
In the shop, all four clearly heard a choked cough from Nijika’s throat.
Nijika’s expression froze, then quickly turned into a smile, her eyes, curved in a smile, showing no color.
“Hayato-kun.”
“Hmm?”
“Shut up.”
‘He actually hit the mark, as expected of a pervert.’
Seeing Nijika’s reaction, the three onlookers complained in their hearts, but then heard Ishikawa Hayato shamelessly say.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. If you want me to shut up, you have to give me kisses and hugs.”
The four girls’ gazes lingered on his face for a moment, and all except Hitori sighed in unison.
Kita was quite interested in such an event, and she asked curiously.
“Ijiichi-senpai, can we participate in this Circuit Festival too?”
She still remembered being criticized by the audience for being an unknown band before.
“It’s fine. This is a stage specifically for young bands like us to showcase themselves. Just record the performance audio and send it in. As long as it’s not too bad, it’ll pass.”
Ryo said in a flat tone.
“If it’s not too bad…” Kita felt a pang in her chest, thinking of the disastrous performance that day.
Ryo heard her words, her expression grew a little more serious, as if she too thought of the consequences of failure, and said without an ounce of integrity.
“How about we use a pre-recorded audio source to sneak through?”
Hitori, extremely nervous, nodded repeatedly like a pecking chick, as if she had seen a savior.
“Ah, that sounds good!”
Even Kita seemed to be tempted.
Nijika stared at the scene for a long time before snapping back to reality, and loudly complained.
“Don’t you have any self-respect as musicians?!”
“This will be exposed during rehearsals immediately! Hayato-kun, you should help me stop them now!”
Ishikawa Hayato wouldn't bother with this scene.
He was delighted inside.
He suppressed a laugh and said with a serious expression.
“That’s a good idea…”
He hadn't finished speaking when Nijika, hearing the first half, knew whether Ishikawa Hayato was serious or joking.
She walked up to Ishikawa Hayato with a blank expression, striking down with a hand chop that gleamed like a blade, as if performing an execution.
Ishikawa Hayato flinched, pulling his head back, successfully making him retract his words.
Making an example of someone was very effective, as Ryo closed her mouth, Hitori sat trembling in her seat, and Kita straightened up embarrassed for going along with the idea.
Nijika returned to her seat, clapped her hands together with a cute smile, and asked the four of them, “Then, those who agree to go, raise your hand.”
The perfectly soundproofed underground space couldn’t hear the noisy rain outside.
Inside the quiet, embracing space, a relaxed and joyful atmosphere spread.
After she spoke, she saw Ishikawa Hayato, Ryo, and Kita raise their hands without much hesitation, agreeing.
Hitori was a beat late, but still shakily raised her hand high.
She smiled and raised her hand last.
Seeing that everyone agreed to the goal, Nijika stood up, pressing on the table.
“Then, without further ado, let’s go record the audio for the audition now!”
Her ignited vitality and joy were captivating.
She was as boisterous as a child.
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