Chapter 41: Conversion

Taking the train, the two headed directly to STARRY.

Walking down the sunken stairs in front of STARRY, Ishikawa Hayato saw the half-open door. He said to Bocchi beside him.

"It seems everyone has arrived."

Bocchi, who had somehow become reserved, answered a beat late.

"Ah... yes."

Ishikawa Hayato didn't pay too much attention. He pulled open the door, thinking about how to make a dramatic entrance, and walked in.

Bocchi followed behind him.

But as soon as the two entered, they coincidentally heard Kita's voice.

"Ryo-senpai, I'm so sorry, I lied about my favorite music genre that day."

Ishikawa Hayato heard the voice, a satisfied smile on his face. He walked around the corner, flipped over the railing, and jumped down.

After landing steadily, he spread his arms and, with a proud expression, as if congratulating Kita, said.

"Excellent, Kita, you've grown!"

"And whose fault was it?!"

Kita, hearing the voice of the culprit, turned her head without a word and complained to him.

Ishikawa Hayato showed a thoughtful expression, pinching his chin, and said.

"That's a good question."

"It's you, Ishikawa-kun!" Kita cried out, on the verge of tears.

Ishikawa Hayato, whose joke had been ruined, chuckled, then greeted the others in the room.

"Good day, everyone~"

He said, taking note of the people present. Nijika was sitting at the table, wearing a sailor-style dress with a wool cardigan today, looking cute and even more childlike.

But... 16 is already a very young age, why dress like that?

Could it be because he said last time that she 'would become a good mother in the future'?

Ryo was still wearing neutral dark clothing. She and the fashionably dressed Kita were standing at the side of the table, while Seika sat by the bar, seemingly oblivious to the goings-on.

“Hayato-kun, good afternoon.” Nijika turned from her chair and greeted him.

“Mm.”

Ryo simply responded.

But for some reason, her gaze held some dissatisfaction.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at her, then saw Kita sighing, and immediately understood.

He picked up his phone, quickly took a screenshot, and sent the picture to Ryo’s Line.

At this moment, Nijika stood up and said to the group with a smile.

“So, Hayato-kun is also here...”

Before she could finish, Ryo, holding her phone next to her, chuckled as if clearing her throat.

Then she said to Ishikawa Hayato, “That’s wonderful, but don’t run off on your own next time.”

Nijika’s eyes became wary as she glanced at these two conniving individuals.

Compared to the lamb-like Kita and Bocchi, these two, who occasionally revealed their mischievous nature, were the most troublesome existences within the band.

For the sake of the band, she had to take on the responsibility of supervising these two...

Just then, Bocchi also came down, maintaining a faint presence, and quietly greeted everyone.

Nijika and Kita responded to her with enthusiasm, and Ryo also gave a calm greeting.

In this scene, Bocchi’s bright eyes showed a bewildered expression, and then, as if happy, she quickened her steps towards the four.

Seeing Bocchi come down, Ishikawa Hayato smiled slightly, looked at Kita, who was carrying a guitar, and said to the group.

“Let’s take a look at Kita’s guitar first.”

Ryo, who had already reined in her smile, calmly glanced at Ishikawa Hayato. Her gaze, which showed little emotion, seemed to carry a hint of admiration.

Kita heard the teasing in Ishikawa Hayato’s tone. As if to prove herself, she immediately put down her Guitar bag and unzipped it.

“Alright.”

She was very confident in her guitar, which she had checked several times.

Opening the guitar bag, revealing the guitar inside, she turned to the group with a smile and said.

“See? This one has six strings, right?”

Bocchi listened to Kita’s voice and looked at the instrument in her hand. From her perspective, she could clearly see what kind of instrument it was.

As a Guitar player, seeing this scene made her heart tremble, and she looked at Kita with a complicated expression.

Thinking that she might have to teach Kita Guitar later, she said softly and tactfully.

“There are also six-string basses.”

“That’s a multi-string bass,” Ryo reminded her using the more technical term. 

Kita still had a smile on her face, glanced at the two who spoke, and then looked at her ‘guitar’ again.

She inexplicably felt a chill in her heart, the smile on her face vanished like lightning, and she looked at her band friends again, uncertainly.

Amidst their expressions of either lament, calmness, uneasiness, and one of schadenfreude, she looked again at her ‘guitar’ that only made a low ‘boing-boing’ sound.

Suddenly, she understood everything.

“Gulp...”

Kita seemed to be petrified, falling heavily to the side.

The four stared at her blankly, only to see a soul float out from her crying mouth, lamenting in a pitiful and mournful voice.

“I bought this with two years’ worth of pocket money and New Year’s money I advanced from my dad!”

“Kita-chan! —”

Nijika desperately called out loudly, trying to call back Kita, who was starting to drift away.

“Ishikawa-kun was right, I really am an idiot...”

Kita Ikuyo squatted in the corner of STARRY, hugging her knees, gazing blankly at the dark gray wall, silently wiping away tears.

Beside her, Nijika and Bocchi tried hard to comfort her.

“This... this kind of mistake is something anyone can make, really...”

Nijika’s desperate fabrication startled Bocchi, who didn't know how to comfort Kita. This shouldn’t be considered a mistake anyone would make, right?

Bocchi hesitated, then carefully said to Kita.

“W-well, you just need to sell the bass and buy a Guitar...”

On the other side, Ishikawa Hayato and Ryo stood beside the bass.

He examined the bass, looking at its slightly exaggerated shape and its low-key yet somewhat flamboyant color scheme, and said in surprise.

“Kita is surprisingly quite rock and roll, choosing a bass like this.”

After speaking, he turned to Ryo, who was looking towards Kita, and seeing her calm yet cool demeanor, he suddenly understood why Kita chose this bass.

'This silly girl even chose her instrument to conform to others.'

She probably saw the instrument, felt it best matched Ryo’s vibe, and immediately bought it.

He stood up and nudged Ryo with his shoulder.

“Ryo, what should we do?”

Ryo glanced at him, completely unbothered by the disrespect this junior of hers was showing.

Ishikawa Hayato could sense an inexplicable emotion in her gaze—it wasn’t directed at him, but at that little silly girl over there.

It seemed she had also noticed what Ishikawa Hayato had just picked up on.

Finally, she walked over.

Upon hearing another set of footsteps approaching, Kita, with tears in her eyes, slowly looked up.

But seeing the Ryo-senpai she admired walking over, she wasn’t happy at all. Instead, she was even more afraid.

What would a cool band girl like Ryo-senpai say to her? Would she just kick her out?

She fell into a panic, whispering softly.

“Senpai...”

Ryo looked down at her, and in her slightly low, calm voice, she said.

“I’ll buy this bass, and then I’ll lend you a guitar.”

Hearing these words, which were beyond her expectation, Kita’s tear-filled eyes blinked. Ryo’s words were rapidly processed in her mind.

Ryo was going to buy her bass and lend her a Guitar.

Isn’t this an ex-...exchange... This is an exchange of tokens of affection!

She had won her senpai’s love!

She suddenly stood up, intertwined her fingers, and glowed brightly, a light that made the innocent Bocchi beside her cry out, covering her eyes.

“Ryo-senpai, thank you very much!”

“Mm, I’ll go get it now.”

Ryo nodded calmly, then turned and walked unhurriedly towards the shop entrance.

Her home was nearby, so there was no need to wait a few days to bring it.

However, as she passed Ishikawa Hayato, she heard the young man speak softly.

“Ryo is truly gentle, even though she doesn’t like people like Kita.”

Ryo’s steps faltered, and she came to a halt.

She looked at the young man who had only started learning an instrument after joining their band—the young man who had mastered it in record time and was already performing on stage.

She looked at his clear eyes beneath his playful demeanor.

Her lips inexplicably curved slightly, with a smile that was both proud and triumphant, and she said in a tone completely different from her usual one.

“You’re quite bold to say that to your senpai.”

After speaking, she passed Ishikawa Hayato without further pause.

Ishikawa Hayato recalled her cool, fleeting smile, and the tear mole at the corner of her eye that made her seem more elegant, along with her delicate ear stud decorations.

He couldn’t help but feel that this girl was indeed quite cool.

But why had her attitude towards him suddenly changed so much? He had a feeling something bad was about to happen...

Upon returning, Ryo gave Kita the money for the bass, but at the same time, she also pulled out the remaining money from her pocket and said to Kita with a gloomy expression.

“This is all my remaining wealth. From now on, I’ll have to live on grass.”

Kita was surprised that Ryo could so readily pull out such a sum of money, and hearing Ryo’s words, she looked panicked and didn’t know how to respond to her.

She immediately felt that she couldn't accept the money.

Nijika, who was already accustomed to Ryo’s negative financial state, sighed.

For Nijika, this wasn't the first time this girl had acted this way. Nijika knew exactly what her subtext was.

She helplessly expressed understanding and sighed.

“I know, I know. I’ll make Ryo’s lunch bento from now on.”

“Yay.”

Ryo said with a smile, then glanced at Ishikawa Hayato and Bocchi.

Her calm gaze sent shivers down Bocchi’s spine, while Ishikawa Hayato very casually patted his wallet, which was completely empty, and gave her a happy smile.

“So, Kita-chan also has a Guitar now...”

Nijika said, showing a hesitant expression.

Originally, she had planned to let Kita demonstrate her current skill level, but thinking that this was someone who couldn't even distinguish between a bass and a guitar, she suddenly felt that the band’s progress had been set back quite a bit.

Ishikawa Hayato saw her hesitation and quickly walked over. As she looked at him with a puzzled expression, he walked behind her, placed his hands on her shoulders, and gently shook her.

“Be more confident, Leader.”

Nijika was surprised by his sudden action. She moved aside and turned her head, looking at him with a hint of helplessness in her red eyes.

Ishikawa Hayato ignored her gaze and said to Kita with a smile.

“Then, let’s invite the most outstanding guitar, oops, I mean guitar player of this century, to demonstrate her current guitar skills.”

“Hayato-kun, you’re going too far with the teasing!”

Being the closest, Nijika, who was the first to hear Ishikawa Hayato’s remark, cried out in annoyance.

But Ishikawa Hayato’s confident smile, as if saying “leave it to me,” made her pause and turn to look at Kita.

It was Kita's first time holding a guitar. Under the gaze of several people, she held the guitar Ryo-senpai lent her, touching the strings that were much thinner than before with a look of hesitation on her face.

For a moment, she didn't know what to do. Although both had six strings, the different feel gave her a completely different sensation.

'Maybe let's just stop here.'

The moment that thought crossed her mind, it felt incredibly familiar.

It was a thought that led to a decision she’d most regretted recently.

Running away from Ijiichi-senpai, Ryo-senpai, and Ishikawa-kun's band because she didn't dare to explain was the most regrettable thing she had done in a long time.

Now, when she was given a choice again... she lifted her head, facing the members watching her.

Behind Senpai Ijichi, who wore a worried expression, stood Ishikawa Hayato—the guy with the terrible personality who’d been teasing her nonstop lately—watched her with a smile.

There was no mockery in that smile.

Thinking of what he had just told her today, "Excellent, Kita, you've really grown!"

She felt that if she backed down now, she would definitely be looked down upon. At the same time, if she didn't dare to play the guitar Ryo-senpai lent her, Ryo-senpai would surely be disappointed.

Holding the guitar, she looked around at everyone and said firmly.

"Then let me give it a try."

After she finished speaking, she inexplicably had a sense of déjà vu. It seemed she had said something similar with such confidence not long ago.

Suddenly, she began to panic.

Kita Ikuyo understood that not everything could be done well just by thinking about it.

Although she had diligently practiced the guitar on a bass, carefully following online tutorials.

The two instruments, which looked not too dissimilar, were fundamentally different.

Moreover, this was the first guitar she had ever held.

After barely playing a short passage that she often practiced, she nervously looked up at the others, asking tentatively in a low voice.

"...How was it?"

Facing her unease, Nijika looked at her and said in surprise.

"For a beginner, that's really impressive!"

"Really?!" Kita Ikuyo's face lit up with a smile.

"Ah... mm."

Bocchi-chan also nodded weakly.

Indeed, she could tell Kita had practiced diligently, and for a beginner, being able to play an entire passage was already very impressive.

But after she spoke, she quickly glanced at Ryo and Ishikawa Hayato beside her.

Hayato-kun was fine... although his kindness was always roundabout, he would never make anyone sad.

But Ryo would be very strict... and contrary to what she expected.

Ryo said very objectively.

“You’re still a long way from being ready to perform, but...”

She paused, then showed a slight smile, as if satisfied.

"Not bad."

"Senpai! I will definitely practice hard and never let the guitar you lent me be shamed!"

Kita radiated with brilliance!