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On the way to the Service Club activity room, Yukinoshita Yukino walked with a cold expression, saying nothing.
Asakura, who had spent some time with her and understood her somewhat, could tell that this was actually Yukinoshita Yukino's way of masking her embarrassment, but Gotō Hitori was clearly unaware of this.
She would occasionally glance at the other person's tall back with a very sneaky look, feeling uneasy in her heart, thinking that she had probably unintentionally offended the other person with her words just now, and was already mentally calculating when a dogeza would earn her forgiveness.
"Hitori."
Asakura suddenly spoke.
"Yes, yes!"
Caught off guard, Gotō Hitori's heart jumped, and she quickly replied.
"I must state beforehand, according to Soubu High School's rules, dogeza is prohibited."
Asakura spoke with a serious expression, exaggerating to scare her. To increase his persuasiveness, he even performed a bodybuilding pose for Gotō Hitori to better display the armband with the chicken bun tucked under his arm. "If caught by disciplinary committee members like us, it's a major disturbance of discipline that needs to be reported to the entire school!"
"How could this be..."
Gotō Hitori's eyes lost focus: "Then, in that case, isn't the only way for me to seek forgiveness by licking Yukinoshita's shoes?"
Yukinoshita Yukino, who had originally sneered at Asakura's clumsy lie and even disdained to correct it, couldn't maintain her composure.
"Leaving aside why you need to apologize, but if it's just an apology, aren't there better options than dogeza and shoe-licking?"
...In my next life, I want to be a clam.
Gotō Hitori said, looking at the ceiling.
"Don't skip straight to the last words!"
Yukinoshita Yukino rubbed her forehead: "Where did you find this child? She's more like a comedian than a guitarist. Is this what they call birds of a feather flock together?"
"Let me remind you, by Miss Yukino's standards, you should also be counted among those who 'flock together,'" Asakura said with a leisurely smile.
"Strictly speaking..." Yukinoshita Yukino proudly lifted her head like a white swan, "I am merely an innocent party dragged in due to Hiratsuka-sensei's capriciousness."
"It's no different, anyway, to Hiratsuka-sensei, you're all problem students."
Asakura was unfazed by the girl's resistance.
He stopped, and Gotō Hitori, who was still looking at the ceiling, didn't notice and bumped directly into Asakura's back. But Asakura didn't move; instead, the girl almost fell on her bottom.
Fortunately, Asakura reacted in time, turning around and pulling her up: "This is our destination."
Gotō Hitori looked in the direction he pointed, only to see an unused classroom. Where the class number should have been hung at the door, something else was written.
"Service... Club...?"
As soon as Gotō Hitori read these words, her cheeks immediately turned red, and she became inexplicably flustered: "Eh eh eh? Although I did entrust the latter half of my life to Asakura-kun... but do I have to serve now...? Isn't it a bit too early...?"
"The 'service' in Service Club isn't what you're thinking."
Yukinoshita Yukino brought out her peculiar theory again: 'Those who have, with a compassionate heart, give to those who lack, and people call them volunteers. Extending a helping hand to those in need is the activity of this club,' which made Gotō Hitori even more confused. If this were a manga, the girl's eyes would surely have turned into mosquito coils by now.
"You're actually explaining it to Hitori seriously. I thought you'd first give her a look like she's trash after hearing her words."
Asakura clicked his tongue in wonder.
"Although you are indeed someone who only thinks of himself and has a considerable degree of bad taste, objectively speaking, at least on a moral level, I have no reason to criticize you."
Yukinoshita Yukino said seriously, glancing at the not-so-smart-looking Gotō Hitori: "There must be some misunderstanding."
"Sometimes I really like your 'one thing at a time' personality."
Asakura, who hadn't expected such a high evaluation from the other party, said happily.
Gotō Hitori mumbled beside them. If one listened carefully, they might hear things like, 'Eh? Is this being fickle?', 'It's not even the third year, or rather, only three hours, isn't that a bit too fast...?', 'Come to think of it, am I the third party? Then there's no reason to stop it, is there?'
Because the girl's self-inflicted confusion, like a cat chasing its own tail, was simply too cute, Asakura decided to pretend he didn't hear.
Yukinoshita Yukino, whose senses were no different from a normal person's, truly didn't hear Gotō Hitori's mumbling. Otherwise, given her serious personality, she would most likely have a good argument with the other party, although from an outsider's perspective, it would probably look like she was bullying the timid Gotō Hitori.
"Anyway, let's not talk in the hallway. Let's go inside first."
Asakura said, pushing Gotō Hitori into the activity room.
"Eh? I haven't prepared myself mentally..."
The girl said flustered, but she was pushed into the room without much resistance.
Unlike the unused classroom she had imagined, the entire activity room showed a remarkably strange state of polarization. One end had several tables and chairs, a computer, and a cabinet that looked nothing like something found in a school. She even saw a safe next to the cabinet. In short, it was inexplicably full of a sense of life...
The other side was simply empty except for desks and chairs, giving it a desolate feeling. She must have seen this half from outside the window earlier, which led her to mistakenly believe the entire room was an unused, empty classroom.
While Gotō Hitori was in a daze, Yukinoshita Yukino had already returned to her exclusive seat and sat down, looking at her leisurely.
Gotō Hitori looked pitifully at Asakura for help, but Asakura just handed her a guitar: "Alright, first play the song you'll be performing at the Founders' Festival."
"But..."
Gotō Hitori held the guitar, still somewhat at a loss.
"Don't be afraid..." Asakura patted her shoulder, his tone devoid of any jest, but rather quite serious, "I believe in Hitori, so Hitori must also believe in me, who believes in you. Trust that my judgment won't be wrong. Don't forget, you are that one."
...Mm!
Gotō Hitori nodded vigorously, her eyes becoming a little more resolute. She bravely picked up the unfamiliar guitar. Her determined appearance was completely different from when she performed live at STARRY!
...Of course, it's also possible because there were only two audience members this time.
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