Inside the lounge, Yuki sat at a table with the two girls.
Nijika glanced at Ryo, then at Yuki. "So the person Ryo-chan said could help us… is Yuki-kun?" She looked surprised that Ryo had asked Yuki for help.
She knew exactly who he was. Even though he was still in high school like them, he was already this wealthy—the entire neighborhood around here was practically his. He was the kind of person someone like her could never hope to reach. And yet Ryo had actually managed to get someone like him to help. That was incredible.
Amazing, Ryo-chan! Nijika was genuinely impressed.
"Alright, let's hear it. What's this all about?" Yuki said. "Ryo was being all mysterious, insisting we come all the way here to talk." He already had a pretty good idea, but he wanted to hear it from them.
Nijika and Ryo exchanged a look.
"You explain it, Nijika. I don't feel like talking." Ryo slumped onto the table like a lazy cat.
"What do you mean you don't feel like talking?! And why are you sprawled out like a hibernating panda?! Hey!" Nijika had expected Ryo to explain things, but instead, she'd just been handed the ball.
Now she finally understood why Ryo hadn't said anything earlier—she'd planned to drag Yuki here and make Nijika do all the talking. Nijika didn't even know where to start with that. But since Yuki was already here, she couldn't just leave him hanging.
"Ahem. Well, Yuki-kun, here's the situation…" Nijika took the lead and explained everything.
Just as Yuki had guessed, Nijika wanted to form a highly popular band. So far, she had herself as the drummer and Ryo as the bassist and composer. They still needed a guitarist and a lead vocalist. They wanted to find those missing members, but with just the two of them, they had no clue where to start. So they thought of asking Yuki for help in finding the right people.
"Setting aside Nijika-chan for a moment—Ryo, you agreed to join a band?" Yuki turned to look at Ryo.
Ryo was an incredibly skilled bassist. She'd been in a band before, but her personality clashed with the others, so she left. After that, she rarely joined any other bands. Eventually, she'd more or less given up on the idea. So hearing that she was willing to be part of a new band was surprising.
"Mm." Ryo just nodded, closed her eyes, and said nothing more.
Nijika, as if remembering something, smiled and added, "I've heard a little about Ryo-chan's old band. Now that we're starting fresh and can choose our own members, we should be able to avoid personality clashes."
Nijika's reasoning made sense. Starting from scratch and picking the right people would definitely help prevent conflicts. The hard part, of course, was actually finding people whose personalities fit well together. For Ryo and Nijika, that was a real challenge.
But for Yuki? Not so much. He knew the original story well and already had two perfect candidates in mind. He could just help them form the band with the same lineup as the original.
"That's true." Yuki gave a small nod. "Alright, I get the situation now. I do know some people. I can pick a few and introduce them to you," he offered his help.
"Really?! That's great!" Nijika looked like she might jump out of her seat with excitement.
Ryo lifted her head slightly at the commotion.
"Then we're counting on you, Yuki-kun! Thank you so much!" Nijika didn't forget to express her gratitude.
Yuki waved a hand dismissively. "We're friends. No need to be so formal. Still, you should evaluate them yourselves once I send them over."
"Of course! But we trust your judgment, Yuki-kun!" Nijika thumped her chest with confidence, leaving the rest to them.
Now that he knew what was going on, Yuki chatted with them a little longer, watched part of the live performance, and then left.
After he was gone, Nijika immediately grabbed Ryo and pressed her for details—how did she get Yuki to help, and how did she pull it off?
In response, Ryo suddenly wiped fake tears from her eyes. "To make Nijika's dream come true, I've already been tainted. That night, I became an adult." She acted as if she had made a huge sacrifice for the sake of their goal.
Nijika stared at her, utterly bewildered.
"The way you're saying it makes me feel so guilty…! What exactly turned you into an adult?!" Nijika smacked her lips in disbelief. But then, as if something dawned on her, her face turned crimson. "Wait… don't tell me…" Her eyes went wide with shock and embarrassment as she stared at Ryo.
Ryo nodded firmly, looking dead serious. "Exactly what Nijika's thinking."
"No way! You're messing with me, right?!" Seeing how serious Ryo looked only made Nijika doubt it more. Sure, Yuki was really handsome, but surely not handsome enough for Ryo to just throw herself at him, right?
"..." Ryo didn't bother explaining. What was done was done. From now on, she was Yuki's woman.
The only thing still bothering her was her parents. She'd been avoiding them the past few days, afraid they might notice something. If they did, it'd be a pain to explain—but she'd have to eventually. They were her parents, after all. So she decided to just let things play out and come clean whenever they found out.
Meanwhile, in a simple house somewhere in a residential area of Tokyo.
Hitori Gotoh sat inside a dark closet. Calling it a closet wasn't really accurate—it was more like her room. There was a mattress, a pillow, a computer, and a few small pieces of furniture. Huddled in that cramped space, she hummed along to a guitar tab displayed on her screen, jotting down notes whenever something caught her interest.
Just then, a notification sound blared from her phone. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Who?! Who's looking for me?! Someone like me? No way… Am I hallucinating?!" She spiraled into a moment of self-doubt, even stabbing herself in the thigh with a pen to check.
"AAAAAAAAAH—!!!"
The sharp pain confirmed it—she wasn't dreaming. She grabbed her phone, ignoring the pain in her leg, and opened the message.