Ai felt all eyes on her and said, "I agree with them. I also think it's better to take photos after the performance outfits are ready."
"Since you've all decided, let's wrap it up for today. Leader, you'll come with me to Shibuya to scout suitable locations and give me your input."
After receiving replies from the five, Hiko openly announced that he would be heading to Shibuya with Ai.
"I want to go scout locations too," Niino said, raising her hand.
"You can't. If you insist on coming, it's not impossible, but you'll have to cover the expenses yourself, they won't be reimbursed."
Hiko continued, using a "retreat to advance" tactic. "Shibuya is just the first stop for scouting. We might go to other places later, like Shinjuku, Akihabara, and so on. After all, this is about exploring options."
Takamine felt something was off when Hiko mentioned several places.
They were a completely unknown new group, B-Komachi. There was no need to scout that many locations, was there? It wasn't like they were a famous group holding a concert.
Despite her doubts, she suppressed the urge to question him.
Arisa had a similar thought to Takamine, but she asked directly, "Why do we need to scout so many places?"
"That depends on the specific situation. For now, we're just considering a few," Hiko replied.
At that moment, Ichigo opened the door to the dance practice room and walked in.
"Oh? I thought you weren't coming today," Ichigo said, somewhat surprised to see Hiko.
Hearing this, Hiko felt like Ichigo was gloating and mocking him. Remembering that it was Ichigo who had forced him to pull an all-nighter to finish the plan, anger surged in him. "Oh, who do we have here? The President who even needs to hand over his plans to minors."
"Can't you just act normal?" Ichigo said, feeling his dignity slipping away in front of the young girls after hearing Hiko's words.
"I am normal," Hiko replied flatly. "And what I said is the truth. I haven't exaggerated or spread any rumors."
Ichigo felt frustrated that he couldn't refute Hiko's words, but he quickly remembered that Hiko was supposed to be making an exchange with him. "But you-"
"But it's a fact that you use child labor, isn't it?" Hiko interrupted. "I've already sent you the plan. You're not going to tell me now that you don't need it, are you?"
Ichigo recalled that he had only given Hiko the task yesterday. Normally, it would take several days to complete something like that.
This time, it was far too fast.
Hearing Hiko say the plan was already finished, Ichigo had no choice but to turn around, intending to go back to his office and check it on his computer.
However, as soon as he stepped out of the practice room and closed the door, he suddenly remembered that he had come here for a reason, but for a moment, he couldn't recall what it was.
'Never mind, I'll check Hiko's completed plan first.' Ichigo had no choice but to return to his office.
"The President just left like that?" Ai blinked in surprise. After only two or three exchanges with Hiko, Ichigo had walked away without hesitation.
From her understanding of the President, he rarely came by after four o'clock. He must have had something to do, but why did he just turn and leave?
"Otherwise, what would he stay for? To supervise your practice?"
Hiko glanced at the surprised Ai and said, "You'll all be heading home soon anyway. He probably came just to slack off."
Takamine looked at the door, then back at Hiko, and remained silent.
"Aren't you two going to Shibuya yet? If you wait any longer, the train will be super crowded," Watanabe reminded Hiko.
"Yes, let's go now," Ai said, recalling the scene yesterday when she and Hiko had to squeeze together on the train. "Saito-sensei, let's go quickly."
"Alright," Hiko nodded, then walked toward the door. Before leaving, he turned to the other four and said, "Exercise in moderation, too much is as bad as too little. If you get sick tomorrow from overdoing it and need several days of rest, it won't be worth it."
"Got it!" ×4
The four members responded in unison.
Ai then followed Hiko out of the dance practice room.
After the two left, Niino looked at the door and said, "Are they on a date?"
Takamine felt there might be a connection between Hiko and Ai, but she thought it best not to let Niino and Arisa know, or they'd definitely get the idea to follow them.
If Ai really did have an unusual relationship with Hiko, if she became leader and got performance opportunities because of that, it could become a serious issue.
To nip that possibility in the bud, Takamine said, "They're going to work, not on a date. Besides, Ai and Saito-sensei's relationship is distant. How could they possibly be dating?"
"What you said makes sense," Niino admitted, recalling that Ai always treated Hiko with respect but not familiarity. In fact, she interacted with him less than Arisa did.
"I think Takamine's right; Ai couldn't possibly have that kind of relationship with him," Arisa agreed.
"Is that really true?" Watanabe looked at the door, then at Takamine, sensing she might be hiding something.
"Instead of gossiping about pointless things, you might as well practice more," Takamine said, turning back to practice.
"Why are you so competitive?" Niino grumbled.
But when she saw the other two silently follow Takamine, she sighed and said, "Don't leave me behind!"
On the train.
"Still so crowded…" Ai complained, looking at the people packed into the carriage.
"It's normal. It's almost five o'clock, and Shibuya's a bustling area. It'd be strange if it wasn't crowded," Hiko replied, taking out the ticket he had bought the night before and looking at the address on it.
There was still some time before the concert he'd bought tickets for started, but… where exactly was this address?
He stared at it, a bit puzzled.
"Do you know where this is?" Ai asked, pulling out her own ticket.
"It should be near where we bought them," Hiko replied with confidence.
He took out his phone, opened the map app, entered the address from the ticket, and quickly found the destination.
'Good thing I can use the map… otherwise that would've been awkward.'
After checking and confirming, Hiko said to Ai, "Don't worry about finding the place. I know where it is."
"That's good. I was worried you weren't familiar with Shibuya and might not be able to find it," Ai said, putting her ticket away.
The train soon arrived in Shibuya, and the two got off together.
Hiko was worried that the store might be hard to locate, so he decided to take Ai there first.
Maybe they'd even run into the person from yesterday.