"Hm? Everyone's here pretty early."
After school in the afternoon, Sato arrived at the club room and looked at the already full room with some surprise.
"Sato, look, Gitah! It's Gitah!"
Suddenly, Yui jumped out excitedly, holding up a guitar and showing it off in front of him.
"You went to the instrument store this week?"
Sato walked to his seat, set down his bag, and took the guitar from Yui. After examining it for a moment, he quickly looked at her in astonishment.
"Isn't this the one you liked last time?"
"Yep! It's that one. I told you it was definitely going to be mine!"
Yui looked rather pleased with herself, though to Sato, she looked especially like an airhead at that moment.
"That doesn't sound right. I remember this guitar being pretty expensive, around 250,000 yen. Even with a discount, it shouldn't be this cheap."
Sato did a quick estimate. Yui only had 50,000 yen herself, and even adding the club funds and her part-time earnings, it would only come to around 60,000 to 70,000 yen. Her parents probably would not give her more money either.
"Hehe, well…"
Yui scratched her head awkwardly and laughed.
"It was me! I used the bargaining method that Ritsu taught me!"
Kotobuki Tsumugi suddenly raised her hand and smiled gently, a hint of satisfied excitement in her eyes.
"What?"
Sato froze.
Bargaining?
What kind of bargaining method was that to cut the price by nearly three quarters?!
He instinctively looked at Ritsu. She was lying on the table, and when she noticed his gaze, her mouth twitched slightly. After a long sigh, she said, "I'm not that capable."
At some point, Mio had walked up behind him with a cup of steaming black tea. After taking a light sip, she said with a complicated tone, "That instrument chain store is actually one of Kotobuki-san's family businesses."
Sato: "…"
Alright, the question in his mind disappeared in less than a minute.
He was not particularly surprised. After all, it was already common knowledge among the light music club that Kotobuki Tsumugi was a wealthy young lady.
This was basically her way of saying, "Fine, I admit it, I really am a rich girl."
Now that her identity was fully revealed, even if the store had given the guitar to her for free, Sato would not have been surprised.
"Since the guitar is bought, Yui needs to practice properly from now on."
"Got it!"
"Wait!"
Mio suddenly interrupted, rubbing her temples with a headache. "Right now, what Yui should focus on is her make-up exam, right? If she fails, she won't be allowed to participate in any club activities!"
"Huh?!"
Yui froze.
"Don't tell me… you forgot about that?" Mio had a few more dark lines on her forehead.
"Uuu…"
Sato glanced at Yui, who had collapsed onto the table making pitiful noises, then turned to Mio. "By the way, since we're planning to perform at the school festival in a few months, shouldn't we prepare a song?"
"A song?"
Mio paused.
"Yeah, the performance piece."
Sato nodded with a smile. "Whether we find one online or write one ourselves, we should start preparing early, right?"
"That makes sense!"
Ritsu suddenly stood up, stroking her chin. Her gaze gradually shifted toward Mio, and a smile slowly formed on her lips.
"W-What?"
Mio stepped back a few steps, clutching her collar as she looked at Ritsu warily.
"Hehe!"
Ritsu's presence suddenly rose as she stood up and raised her arm high. "How about we make an original song?!"
"Huh? That sounds interesting!"
Kotobuki Tsumugi's eyes lit up as she looked at Ritsu.
Sato had no objections, though he looked at Ritsu with some surprise. "Why are you suddenly so enthusiastic?"
Mio felt uneasy.
Ritsu laughed. "I just suddenly felt like we should leave something of our own here."
"What do you all think?"
She looked around, asking for everyone's opinion.
"I don't mind."
Sato nodded without much thought.
"Me too!"
"I think it's a good idea."
Kotobuki Tsumugi and Yui voiced their agreement one after another.
Finally, Ritsu looked at Mio, who seemed conflicted. Mio felt like there was some kind of scheme behind this and hesitated.
"Ahem, since most people agree, we'll go with the majority. Whether Mio agrees or not doesn't really matter. I hereby declare it decided, we're doing an original song!"
"Huh?!"
Mio cried out, and that strong sense of unease grew even stronger.
Soon, her intuition was proven right.
"Since it's decided, let's settle the roles. If I remember correctly, Mio, you were originally planning to join the literature club, right?"
"Y-Yes…"
"Great! Then we'll leave the lyrics to you!"
Ritsu finally revealed her true intention. With a bright smile, she patted Mio on the shoulder, her whole expression saying this is all up to you.
"M-Me? Writing lyrics?!"
Mio was completely stunned. She had actually been assigned to write lyrics.
"Ahem, we'll all support you. I'm sure you can come up with something everyone will be satisfied with, right?"
Sato looked a bit amused. Letting Mio write lyrics?
Although Mio was diligent, she was actually quite shy. What kind of lyrics would someone like her come up with…
He suddenly found himself a little curious.