Only Nijika, Ryou, and Bocchi-chan were in the recording studio rehearsing the ensemble.
"Didn't show up here... thanks, sis...", Miura Yumiko's expression was a little complicated; after thanking her she took her drink and turned to find a seat.
If that Hikigaya guy isn't with Nijika, then it's very likely he's with Marin?
Thinking of what Marin had suddenly told her, a bad premonition rose in Miura Yumiko's heart.
Marin wouldn't actually be getting bullied by Hikigaya, would she? In that case she'd have to team up with Nijika to teach that Hikigaya guy a lesson.
"Again connected to Hachiman?"
Ijichi Seika watched Miura Yumiko walk away, glanced at Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui sitting over there, frowned, and fell into thought.
She knew her little sister was warm, outgoing, and popular; even a first-time performance would draw many friends to support her, but the current development seemed a bit beyond what she expected.
Those classmates and friends who seemed close to Nijika and came specifically to support her all appear to have close ties with Hachiman?
The socially anxious guitarist Bocchi-chan's only friend is Hachiman;
The black-haired girl and the pink-bun girl who came tonight speak as if they're very close to Hachiman;
Even now Nijika's good friend Yumiko actively asked about Hachiman.
This Hachiman is clearly fickle and dangerous. After tonight's performance she needs to have a proper talk with Nijika and make sure Nijika keeps her distance, not get too involved.
"Heh heh...", The PA, watching the tsundere sister-obsessed Ijichi Seika worry about her sister Nijika, covered her mouth with her long sleeve and chuckled silently.
The manager really likes to worry about everything, rather than fret about Nijika, she should worry about herself.
Until the manager grows out of childishness and becomes independent, Nijika probably won't be at ease dating anyone.
———
Miura Yumiko sat across a table from Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui, quietly sipping her juice in the dim, oppressive corner by the wall.
Although Yukinoshita Yukino, who knew the school roster, immediately recognized the girl who'd sat down. Miura Yumiko, a student in Hachiman's class, she was here to support Nijika.
But since they weren't familiar, Yukinoshita didn't take the initiative to say hello; she only glanced at Miura Yumiko, then picked up her phone to check Yuigahama Yui's chat records with the others in the group.
She didn't talk much in the group; whenever she popped in to speak, the chatty Hayase Saki and others would say they were going to take a bath or go to sleep.
Still, as vice-president of the Service Club she had to keep an eye on the other members.
Like today: there were many Service Club people, but not everyone would come watch the band. If someone said they'd come but didn't show up and something happened, that would be her negligence.
The Service Club president Hachiman spends his days flirting and ignoring the club; she, as vice-president, could not act like Hachiman.
The Service Club presidency isn't immutable. If she did better than Hachiman, and made everyone respect her more, perhaps Hachiman would resign in shame and she could take over, cleaning up the current mess of problem girls.
Does Hikigaya think that sheltering problem girls counts as solving the problem?
The Service Club is not a shelter for problem girls.
Yukinoshita Yukino quietly schemed about how to take the president's seat, Yuigahama Yui's fingers flew as she chatted with Hayase Saki who was on the way, and Miura Yumiko at the other end was contacting Kitagawa Marin.
Ijichi Seika at the counter and the PA were also quietly talking about Ijichi Nijika's love life; the already dim, oppressive livehouse felt exceptionally quiet.
After a while, a few more masked female customers and some band members with instrument bags arrived, and then Hayase Saki finally showed up with a tall, well-built figure, the shy Miki.
"Vice-president, Yui, good evening. Um, I stopped by Miki's place first so I'm late. Miki said she wanted to come too, so I brought her."
Hayase Saki entered, scanned the room, saw Yukinoshita Yukino and Yuigahama Yui, and hurried over to bow and apologize.
She'd told the group she'd bring her good friend Miki, but Yukinoshita hadn't appeared in the group to confirm, so she wasn't sure if Yukinoshita would be upset.
Though the vice-president Yukinoshita had little power to expel her, her usual cold aura was intimidating; if she got angry she'd be scary.
"Really sorry, I shouldn't have come without asking you first!"
Narahashi Miki, following behind, also looked nervous and bowed.
Normally they wouldn't come to such a crowded event; both Saki and Miki weren't good at dealing with strangers and weren't familiar with most people here.
But it was the weekend, no early class tomorrow, and there might be something special tonight, so she'd come along with Saki.
Besides, she rarely had chances to meet the president; only on weekends could she and Saki get the president's attention.
"Don't be nervous. This is a public place; the Service Club didn't rent the venue. If your friend wants to come, I can't stop her."
Yukinoshita Yukino looked at the shy, athletic duo whose loose clothes couldn't hide their waves beneath. Hayase Saki and the timid, tall Miki, her eye twitched. She said nothing, only nodded coldly and handed Saki a single person's cash.
"But your friend isn't a Service Club member yet, so your friend must pay for the ticket herself. This is your ticket and drink money. Go buy your tickets."
"Okay, okay, I understand. Thank you, vice-president!", Hayase Saki hurriedly accepted the cash, exchanged a look with Miki, and rushed to the bar to buy tickets.
Of course she didn't expect the stern, aloof Yukinoshita Yukino to cover Miki's expenses as a Service Club cost.
Although Miki sometimes ate at the clubroom and sometimes called Nijika "senpai," she hadn't formally joined the Service Club; she was still on the volleyball team, not a club member like Saki who helped the women's swimming team as an external aid.
Still, as long as Miki could eat lunch with Saki and join club activities on holidays, that was enough.
If Miki weren't so timid despite her tall figure, Yukinoshita might have made her skip volleyball practice.
After all, several months of training can't match a whole day training under the president; in the swimming team's main and preliminary rosters only Nanasaki Ai had skipped practice due to shyness, the others all wanted the president to give them more training time.
"Saki's friend is so tall... truly a volleyball club member...", Yuigahama Yui looked at Hayase Saki and the noticeably taller Miki with some amazement.
Saki was already tall; her friend Miki was taller. Saki said Miki's real height was 1.82 meters? With sport shoes and fluffy hair she might be close to 1.9?
Too bad Miki looked as timid in real life as Saki. It wasn't clear how the president had pulled them into the Service Club.
But Miki and Saki were just shy, insecure social-anxiety types, far from Gotou Hitori's severe, near-psychotic social phobia.
To this day Yukinoshita still couldn't look Gotou Hitori in the eye and finish a single complete sentence, yet the president was her only friend and even brought Gotou Hitori along to help the band fulfill the request.
Maybe that was the president's strength: skipping class and flirting with girls all the time, yet making Yukinoshita willingly be vice-president and manage the whole Service Club.
Yuigahama Yui glanced at Saki and Miki's backs, then at Yukinoshita Yukino's usual cold face, secretly admiring Hachiman, whom she didn't know well but had learned about from rumors.
Yukinoshita Yukino glanced at Yuigahama Yui, who seemed to be daydreaming again, frowned, and said nothing.
If she hadn't been watching, Hayase Saki might have tried to pull Miki into the Service Club.
But with Miki's temperament, if she joined she'd probably only be a cheerleader. At best like Hayase Saki being sent back to volleyball practice for training and matches.
Isn't that pointless?
As long as she was around, the Service Club wouldn't become a shelter for problem girls because of Hachiman's laziness and incompetence.
After Hayase Saki and her friend Miki arrived, it was close to showtime. Guests came in to have tickets checked and buy drinks, and two campus bands with instruments came and chatted with the sparse fans, breaking the dim, oppressive silence.
At that moment, Iris, Vignette, Lala, Kaede and the others appeared at the stairway. A group wearing masks and hats to hide their faces and hair, entering Livehouse STARRY together.
Sakurase Shino, Vignette, Kaede and the others were ordinary people; even if pretty, they wouldn't attract a stir in the dim lights.
But Iris and the Iris twins were Elf Princesses, and singer idol Elio and a few mermaids were also present. Being demi-humans made them highly recognizable, so everyone decided to wear hats and masks.
Although they could hide with magic, since they weren't currently active in aid, it was better to save magic and conserve energy: wear masks and hats, and enjoy the evening.
"Yumiko~ sorry, I had dinner at Rurikawa's house and kept you waiting~"
Kitagawa Marin, who had come with Iris and the others, saw Miura Yumiko and hurried over to remove her mask and greet her.
"Marin, glad you're here. But where's that Hikigaya guy?"
Miura Yumiko nodded and stood, looking puzzled at the group of masked girls who'd come with Marin. Were these girls all here to support Nijika?
But why was Hachiman's figure missing?
Nijika's sister said she hadn't seen Hachiman come by, Miura suspected he might be with Marin and bullying her.
"Uh...", At those words, Kitagawa Marin's face tensed with embarrassment; she mumbled, unsure how to respond.
Yumiko really cares about Hikigaya-kun and asked about him as soon as they met.
But what could she say? Right now Hikigaya-kun was probably over at Nijika's...
Well, Nijika was rehearsing, so in theory Hikigaya-kun wouldn't be doing anything at a time like this.
Since Marin had done something wrong to Yumiko today, she couldn't guarantee Nijika wouldn't be the same; Marin was worried that Yumiko might open the studio door and see Nijika "rewarding" Hikigaya-kun, that would be bad.
Even if all three had rewarded Hikigaya before and Yumiko hadn't said anything (instead passing on tips), doing it openly in front of Yumiko was one thing; secretly doing it behind her back was another.
"Yeah, where's the president?", Yuigahama Yui and Yukinoshita Yukino also stood up to scan for Hachiman.
For a big Service Club group event with so many members present, how could the president not show up?
"He came early. He's already in the studio checking on Bocchi-chan's practice; maybe you didn't notice."
Seeing Yukinoshita Yukino and Miura Yumiko worrying about Hachiman's absence, Iris smiled warmly and smoothed things over without a hint of panic.
"Came early?"
Miura Yumiko hesitated. Nijika's sister said she hadn't seen Hachiman come in.
But he might have just arrived; she had been looking down messaging Marin and hadn't noticed anyone go into the studio.
Yukinoshita Yukino watched Iris handle them with ease, neither confirming nor denying.
She hadn't seen anyone go into the studio after she arrived, but she could only guarantee Hikigaya hadn't gone in after she arrived — she couldn't say whether he'd been there before.
Either way, the show was about to start; whether Hikigaya had helped or not would be obvious soon.
Although she didn't want Hikigaya to ruin Nijika's request, if he truly didn't take Nijika's request seriously, she'd unite everyone to pull the idle, useless Hikigaya down from the presidency and together finish Nijika's request properly.
"Strange... why are there so many people...", At the bar, Ijichi Seika had taken maid Shion's money, made drinks, and was watching the masked girls like Iris and Elio, her brow also tightly knit.
As a sister-obsessed manager, how could she not consider that tonight Nijika's band was performing for the first time, and since the lineup was incomplete and they were essentially thrown on stage, she took even unofficial shows seriously.
She'd intentionally scheduled other low-profile campus bands with few, mostly female fans to play the same night, ensuring the warm-up band wouldn't face overwhelming crowds.
She expected Nijika to maybe bring a few classmates and that would be enough support to complete the performance.
Who knew Nijika would bring twenty or thirty people at once; now half the audience were Nijika's crowd.
But that wasn't the point. The point was that those who came to support Nijika were mostly girls, even masked you could tell they were pretty and elegant, and most wore wristbands and neck collars.
It's normal for band members or fans to sport weird accessories, but the black collars on their necks and the pink wristbands looked like the same set. Only the first few girls who arrived didn't wear them.
'Is this pairing fashionable now?'
Ijichi Seika kept examining Nijika's friend circle while the PA, a bit older but more mature, sat at the soundboard ready.
When a few figures appeared on the dim stage and got ready, the PA doubled as the lighting tech and turned on the lights.
———
On stage, Gotou Hitori with a cardboard box and Yamada Ryou each held guitar and bass on either side, and Nijika sat behind the drum set in the middle.
"Hello~ nice to meet you, we're the Kessoku Band~"
Spotting Miura Yumiko and Kitagawa Marin in the crowd, Ijichi Nijika shifted her gaze away subtly, pressed her legs together, blushing, and raised her drumsticks.
"Tonight we'll play a few songs everyone knows."
"Please enjoy!"
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