It was dark, the outlines of the buildings blurry.
The quiet was broken by the sound of a key turning in the lock. The faint, crisp sound pierced the door and entered his ears.
Chihaya Kaiser was lying on the sofa and looked up just in time to meet the gaze of the pink-haired girl who had just pushed the door open. She flashed a little fang and threw herself at him, crashing onto the sofa.
"Ahhh~ Ahhh~ Kai."
"You haven't changed. Go take off your outerwear and get in the shower," Kaiser said, pushing at her face. With Anon pinning him down, he couldn't really muster any strength.
She kept pressing down. "Just listen to me! It's really important. You're my big brother, right? It's a heart-to-heart, you can't refuse your super pretty and cute little sister."
"Fine. Go take your shower, and we'll have our heart-to-heart when you get out. You're filthy, now go."
He held Anon's shoulders, catching a faint scent of coffee and black tea mixed with her natural fragrance.
As his palms pushed her away, the corners of Anon's mouth turned down in a pout. She braced her knees on either side of the sofa and got up.
"Okay, I'll tell you when I get back."
"Hurry up and shower." He nudged Anon along, watching her enter the bathroom before pulling out his phone to scroll through videos while he waited.
The thin door couldn't block the sound of the shower, nor could the frosted glass block the light. A faint shadow was visible, hands holding a towel, rubbing her head.
The door opened, and steam billowed out.
Wrapped in a bath towel, she raised a hand and tossed the hairdryer into his lap, holding another towel with her other hand.
"Kai, help me dry my hair."
"Do it yourself." He plugged in the hairdryer. Anon sat down beside him, her back to him.
They both had the same pink hair, though Kaiser's was shorter with slightly bleached tips.
"Aww—but I need to tell you about what happened today! C'mon, good big brother, dry your cute little sister's hair, pretty please?"
Anon turned her head, her cutesy voice sickeningly sweet.
Kaiser could only sigh and turn on the power. He gathered a lock of her long hair in his hand as the breeze from the side blew the strands about.
"Hehe."
Realizing he'd started to help, the girl giggled and leaned back, resting completely against his chest.
"So, Kai, remember that classmate who gave me the band-aid?"
"I remember. You told me."
Kaiser's memory wasn't exceptional, but he hadn't forgotten a conversation from just a few days ago.
Something about how she'd fallen and a girl gave her a band-aid—several different kinds, in fact.
Anon held up a finger, waving it back and forth as she spoke slowly in an emphatic tone.
"Turns out, she used to be in a band with Taki and Soyo! And she was bandmates with that Mutsumi Wakaba, too. I saw a video."
Hearing this, Kaiser frowned slightly. He threaded his fingers through her hair, picked up a new lock, and continued drying.
The scent of shampoo filled his nose. The two of them, brother and sister, used the same shampoo and body wash, so even their scents were very similar.
Her other bandmates having been in a band together before... that was not a good thing.
It would be easy for cliques to form within the band, and they might even fight over things from the past.
When that happened, Anon would be the one to get hurt.
He listened in silence, wondering how he could get his sister to avoid those rotten people and find some friendlier bandmates, if he couldn't stop her from playing in a band altogether.
Anon continued, "They used to have a band called crychic, and Tomori was the lead vocalist. That means I can't be the guitar-vocalist."
"So are you going to give up the spot? At your skill level, you'd be lucky to get a chance to perform as just a guitarist."
Kaiser knew his sister well. She was most likely forming a band just to show off. It was the same when she first bought the guitar; she said she wanted to perform at school, but after playing it once, she dropped it completely and let him take over.
He figured this time would be the same. Once her three-minute passion faded and she couldn't be the center of attention, she'd naturally be done with it.
Anon pouted, her shoulders leaning back. "Kai, you're so mean! How can you say that? We haven't even rehearsed once yet, there hasn't been a chance."
"Hmph, I'm serious this time," she declared, puffing out her chest, full of confidence. Her voice took on that high-pitched, cutesy tone again as she stretched her hands forward as if to hug someone.
"I think they're all really nice people! Especially Soyo-san, she's so elegant, like a real lady. I guess everyone at Tsukinomori is a rich girl, huh?"
The hairdryer lifted her long hair, releasing the fresh scent of shampoo. Kaiser's fingers moved nonstop, weaving through the long strands as the warm air wicked away the moisture.
Maybe he should just be direct and tell her her skills were too poor, that she should wait until she got better before joining a band.
Perhaps if he didn't bring it up for a few days, Anon would just give up on her own and forget about forming a band.
Or maybe... he should just stay out of it.
Being in a band meant dealing with all sorts of trouble, but it was precisely because of that trouble that finding the right bandmates and performing on stage together made the whole rocky journey worthwhile.
Just then, text popped up before his eyes, drawing his attention to the milky-white light.
[Quest Start]
[Please help Chihaya Anon complete her band]
[Quest Reward: One Skill Point]
Kaiser stopped moving. The hot air blew continuously on the same spot. Anon looked up, seeing him spaced out.
"Kai, my hair's going to burn."
"Sorry." He snapped out of it.
"What are you thinking about?" Anon noticed something was off. She looked up at him, her entire body leaning back into his arms, meeting his gaze.
"A band like that will be a lot of trouble. Anon, you'll get caught in their vortex, dragged into their unresolved issues from their previous band. Have you considered joining a different one?"
Kaiser hesitated for a moment. "My old bandmate came to see me today. She wants me to join her band."
"Who? That Ryo Yamada?"
Anon loved talking things over with Kaiser. She held nothing back, always using 'heart-to-hearts' as an excuse to vent her recent frustrations.
Kaiser, on the other hand, never initiated these talks. Anon had to ask him about things, and he'd answer whatever she asked.
She didn't actually know much about his former band. She had tried to probe a few times, but he always dodged the subject.
She had only managed to get Ryō's name out of him; otherwise, Kaiser probably wouldn't have said anything at all.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Are you going to rejoin, Kai?" Anon broke into a wide, happy smile. She was thrilled at the thought of him playing in a band again.
"When the time comes, my band will definitely be more famous than yours, Kai. I can even give you a little boost!"
"No, I'm not joining."
Kaiser looked at the quest. The fastest way to complete it was right in front of him. He continued drying her long hair and said,
"What I mean is, why don't you try their band? I can recommend you for the guitar-vocalist spot."
"Really?!" Anon clasped her hands together, leaning to one side, her eyes practically sparkling with little hearts.
For a second, she was genuinely tempted, imagining herself as the guitar-vocalist, standing center stage before a massive crowd of fans.
"Wouldn't that be great? Want me to introduce you?" The corners of Kaiser's mouth slowly curled upwards, like a hunter laying a trap.
This had to be the fastest way to complete the quest.
______
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