"Things are looking bad!"
After school, Asakura arrived at STARRY to check on the state of Kessoku Band. To his surprise, he found the four members of the band—including his own "Employee No. 2"—sitting in the corner with long faces, looking quite dispirited.
Nijika had her arms crossed, deep in thought about something. Hitori was trembling, her facial expression becoming completely abstract. Even Kita Ikuyo was clutching her head with a "we're out of options!" look on her face.
Only Yamada Ryo was still munching on grass.
"What's wrong?" Asakura asked, then scratched his cheek. "Wait, why does this opening feel like a weird case of déjà vu?"
Forget it, it's probably just my imagination.
"It's about the end-of-term academic proficiency test, of course!"
Kita Ikuyo said dejectedly.
"...Now that you mention it, other schools are indeed about to start summer break soon."
Asakura finally realized that it wasn't just the students at Sobu High who were suffering because of finals.
"What should I do? Lately, after school, I'm either learning guitar from Momoka-san or working part-time. I feel like I haven't looked at my books at all..." Kita Ikuyo muttered.
"It's okay, Kita..." Yamada Ryo said, contrary to her usual self. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
"Ryo-senpai!" Kita Ikuyo looked at her, moved.
"Once you accept your own incompetence, you become invincible..." Yamada Ryo continued.
"Don't accept such weird things!"
Nijika delivered a karate chop to Ryo's forehead and complained loudly.
"I get it. After we fail the exam, we'll all go out for a drinking party and toast to 'Complete Defeat' (Note)... or something like that..." Kita Ikuyo said in a clear voice.
Asakura felt that ever since her full name was made public, this girl had entered a state of being particularly "laid-back" (or perhaps just giving up) regarding puns like that.
"Asakura-kun seems to be taking it quite easy..." Nijika said, looking at Asakura's relaxed demeanor.
"Speaking of which, didn't this guy mention he was the top of his year?"
Yamada Ryo said while chewing on some... probably wild herbs or something.
"Top of the year! That's amazing!" Kita Ikuyo looked at Asakura in surprise.
"Aba aba..." Hitori didn't seem to have snapped out of her incredibly pessimistic fantasies about the future.
"I'm organizing a study session with some friends from my club. Are you interested?" Asakura asked.
"Yes, yes! Please let us join!" Nijika was overjoyed.
"I'll pass..." Yamada Ryo shook her head, her speech muffled by what she was eating.
"Ryo, aren't your grades terrible too? Is it really okay not to go to the study session?" The "Great Angel of Shimokitazawa" asked worriedly.
"If I go and actually study hard, I'll forget how to play the bass..." Yamada Ryo replied.
"Super single-threaded?!" Kita Ikuyo was shocked.
"That's just how Ryo is. But it's fine; once she picks up the bass again, she'll return to her current level in no time."
Having known Yamada Ryo for a long time, Nijika didn't mind.
Just then, Hitori finally woke up from her delusions and looked at Asakura blankly: "Asakura-kun? When did you get here?"
"Right when you agreed to join the study session..." Asakura said with a smile, taking a sip of the cheap syrup-mixed drink from STARRY. He spoke kindly to Hitori: "Remember to come. Even if you don't, I'll come and drag you there myself."
"Eeeeeeek?!"
The girl, who had no memory of ever agreeing to a study session, let out a terrified sound like a small animal being eyed by a predator.
In any case, after confirming they would attend Asakura's study session, the members of Kessoku Band (except for Hitori) seemed to relax a little.
The topic of their conversation shifted from the gloomy final exams toward the brighter prospects of summer vacation.
"Speaking of summer vacation, it has to be that, right? Going to the beach!" Kita Ikuyo said happily.
"Oh, the classic choice..." Nijika nodded. "A beach house and all that... it's definitely something to look forward to."
"Oysters..." Hitori said tremulously. "The ocean... I can only think of a sticky body soaked in seawater, the salty sting of accidentally swallowing water, and sea roaches suddenly popping out from random corners..."
"Uwaa, hearing Bocchi-chan put it like that, I suddenly feel like going to the beach isn't that fun anymore..." Nijika said with a dry smile.
"Ryo-senpai, what do you plan to do?"
Seeing this, Kita Ikuyo turned to ask Yamada Ryo.
"Wilderness survival."
The blue-haired girl replied slowly. With her usual expressionless face, no one could tell if she was joking or serious.
"Then Gotoh-san..." Kita Ikuyo suddenly stalled at this point.
Even with her incredibly bright and sunny brain, she couldn't imagine Hitori doing anything that could be called a "youthful" activity during summer break.
Rather, if this kid didn't spend the entire summer holed up in her closet, it would be a victory.
So, Kita changed the subject using a rather stiff tone: "Asakura-san, do you have any plans for the summer? How about increasing the daily limit of Rabbit Dumplings? You could take advantage of the students' break and expand the scale of Rabbit House in one go!"
"Unfortunately, I won't be increasing the supply of Rabbit Dumplings anytime soon."
Asakura shook his head.
It wasn't that he was doing hunger marketing; it was simply because the materials were limited. Even with a "demon of appetite" like Yanami around, the ingredients provided by the House-elf wouldn't exceed a certain limit. As long as the members of the Magic Club didn't increase, the total amount of ingredients wouldn't change.
Though he could learn to make the dumplings himself using normal ingredients, to be honest, Asakura wasn't optimistic about the results.
Although it hadn't been explicitly stated, based on his experience brewing Dittany—even with the same materials, there were significant differences between "that world" and the real world.
Asakura wasn't naive enough to think ingredients would be any different.
"Ehh~" Kita Ikuyo made a disappointed sound.
"During the summer, I plan to go on a trip." Asakura ignored the protests of his "Employee No. 2" and continued to himself: "If I find any delicious snacks along the way, I'll bring some back as souvenirs for you to try."
Note: In Japanese, "Kanpai" (Toast) and "Kanpai" (Complete Defeat) have similar pronunciations/vibe, a pun similar to Kita's "Kita- Kita-".