"What the heck, so it was just a misunderstanding. I thought...", Five minutes later, at the park swings, Ijichi Nijika patted her flat and rather barren chest, genuinely letting out a sigh of relief.
'You can't blame e for overthinking. Those two just now were way too... the morals of society are going downhill.'
'Come to think of it, although Ryou always acts unreliable and scatterbrained in front of people she's close to, she's also the kind of scummy woman who likes to borrow money and not return it, always freeloading off others, with a laundry list of flaws that can't even fit in one basket. But in front of outsiders, she's got that ice-cold beauty image, she won't act so casually.'
'As for Kurumizaka-kun... even though we haven't met many times, Bocchi will occasionally bring him up when talking about the band. Aside from club members, no one has ever said he was especially close with any girls.'
'These two together don't seem like they'd spark some kind of fiery romance no matter how you look at it, right?'
"Thought what?", Scummy Ryou had already gone back to her usual self and said seriously, "You immediately jumped to lewd conclusions. Nijika, have you been secretly peeking at the R18 manga I left at your place, mhm... mmph..."
The red-faced, flushed blond girl clamped her mouth shut with both hands, shouting things like, "How could you slander me like that?"
And "I-It was just during cleaning, I saw it by accident so that doesn't count as peeking,"
And "Wait! I didn't even look at it!", all sorts of confusing stuff, filling the air with a cheerful atmosphere.
The girl's still too naive. Clearly a joke or two would've let her skate past the topic, but instead she had to get all serious about it.
Still, Nijika quickly realized, this kind of denial was pretty much the same as admitting it.
Her delicate features flushed red at a visible speed, like blazing sunset clouds in the sky, and those wine-red eyes seemed to be spinning in circles.
Seeing that she looked like she might faint from embarrassment any second now, Kaito gave a light cough and changed the subject, "Anyway, it's a good thing the misunderstanding's cleared up. But Ichiji-san, what brings you here?"
Gentle, thoughtful, and always smoothing things over, that's always been Nijika's role. It was her first time being the one getting bailed out by someone else.
She let go of Ryou's mouth, now a little embarrassed, and fiddled with the ponytail beside her ear.
"I was out shopping with a friend, but then my sister called and asked me to help out at the store, so I was planning to take a shortcut from here to catch the train home..."
Saying that, she turned to look at her friend, those wine-red eyes flashing with a dangerous glint, "Since I ran into you like this, Ryou, you're coming with me too!"
"W-Wait a sec!"
She hadn't expected karma to strike so quickly.
A rare flash of panic swept across Yamada Ryou's usually calm, pretty face, "I just remembered Kita moved into the ICU..."
"You already used that excuse once! And I literally talked to Kita-chan on the phone just thirty minutes ago to ask her to help at the store!"
Nijika ruthlessly exposed the scummy woman's lie and slammed down the verdict, "No escaping! You're coming with me to the store!"
No one knew where Ryou pulled it from, but she took out a handkerchief and wiped at the corners of her eyes, her fragile look pitiful and tearful.
Unfortunately, Nijika, who knew her true nature all too well, wasn't moved at all. Heart of stone.
After suppressing this scummy Ryou, Nijika once again showed a brilliant smile, turning toward Kaito and inviting, "Kurumizaka-kun, would you like to come along too? There's going to be a super popular band playing at the store tonight, it's a rare opportunity!"
"You're not trying to rope me in as a laborer, right?"
"O-Of course not!"
Nijika waved her hands in a panic, "You're a guest, and also Bocchi-chan's friend, so we have to treat you right."
Kaito thought for two seconds. Since there was nothing to do at home anyway, going to check it out sounded fine, "Then I'll be imposing, Ichiji-san."
———
Forty minutes later.
At STARRY in Shimokitazawa.
The store usually starts selling tickets at 5 p.m. It was currently 4:12 p.m., so there weren't many customers yet.
After descending the stairs and entering the underground live hall, there was a woman with waist-length blonde hair who looked ninety percent like Nijika sitting next to the counter, sipping apple juice through a straw.
Hearing footsteps, the swivel chair under her did a 180, and she turned sideways to greet them, "Yo, you're finally back."
"Let me introduce you," Nijika took the lead but ignored her sister's greeting, instead turning around and introducing, "This is Ijichi Seika, my older sister, and the manager of this place."
Kaito took a quick look at the manager Seika in front of him. He hadn't seen her last time he came here, but now that he did, she looked just like Nijika was made from the same mold. Even the flat chest ran in the family. The only difference was that she was a size taller.
Unlike her charming and gentle younger sister, Ijichi Seika had no expression on her beautiful face and carried an intense aura of world-weariness. She didn't seem easy to get along with.
"Bringing another new friend...", Seika followed her sister's gaze and happened to meet the eyes of the handsome young man on the stairs. The boxed apple juice in her hand—"plop"—dropped straight to the floor.
"Sis! That's so rude!", Nijika hurried to grab a broom and dustpan, cleaning up the trash on the floor.
After finishing that, she put the tools away and then pointed to the long-haired woman sitting at the table nearby, "That's the store's sound engineer—just call her PA-san~"
PA-san was also a stunning beauty, sporting traditional hime-style long black hair, like a princess from the Sengoku era. She wore a loose, ultra-long-sleeved coat and at the moment had her mouth slightly open, revealing a rare sight, her snake-like, forked pink tongue.
"Hello, I'm Kurumizaka Kaito, Nijika's friend."
Kaito only glanced briefly and then looked away, offering a plain and simple greeting.
"Ahem, Kurumizaka-kun, was it?"
Seika came back to her senses and awkwardly coughed. A suspicious blush remained on her cold, world-weary pretty face, "Nijika's friends are my friends too. Want some apple juice?"
'You're already that old, stop acting like a lovestruck schoolgirl, Sis!', Nijika held her forehead in exasperation. Nearly thirty years old and still going all starry-eyed over a hot guy.
'Embarrassing! Get off the battlefield right now!'
But then again, thinking back to how she acted the first time she saw Kurumizaka-kun... maybe she wasn't any better than her sister.
Shimokitazawa's Archangel quickly shifted the topic with a guilty conscience, "Oh right, Sis. Kurumizaka-kun's ticket money can be deducted from my staff pay. Same for any extra drink purchases."
STARRY may be a live house for watching performances, but it actually operated under a restaurant license.
In other words, it was technically a restaurant by name. Customers who wanted to watch a show had to order a drink, basically a clever little legal loophole.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y