Finally, Tanaka Masao was released before he screamed his throat hoarse.
Yamada Ryo needed to focus on composing, which would take several days. This period without rehearsals was perfect for Kita Ikuyo, a beginner, to practice guitar.
Goto Hitori taught Kita Ikuyo guitar while practicing "the sea" along with a recording.
And Tanaka Masao, before leaving, also received a promise.
If he could write a song suitable for their End Band's performance, Tanaka Masao would receive a small reward.
As for what the reward was, no matter how Tanaka Masao asked, they wouldn't say.
Tanaka Masao didn't press the issue. When the time came, he would present a good song and let them have a look.
If the conditions they offered weren't satisfactory, he wouldn't give them the song, leaving them anxious.
To get this good song, they would surely be willing to make a small sacrifice.
At that time, Tanaka Masao would use a strategy of picking them off one by one.
"Nijika, as the leader, you wouldn't want your End Band to lack good songs to perform, would you? For your band members..."
"Kita, you see, you left the End Band before, but everyone invited you back without holding a grudge and taught you to play guitar from scratch. Shouldn't you repay them..."
"Ryo, if you can get this song, the End Band's fame will surely grow, and performance fees will be countless. Everything you do is for Music..."
However, the End Band members were completely unfazed. If Tanaka Masao could really write a good song, they would just give Goto Hitori to him.
After all, Goto Hitori would probably be quite happy about it.
After Tanaka Masao left, Ijichi Nijika looked at the room filled with the atmosphere of Music and nodded in satisfaction.
"This is how an End Band should be."
"But I always feel like I forgot something."
Just then, she saw the song written by Goto Hitori on the table and suddenly realized.
"Oh, right, today was supposed to be Bocchi-chan's public execution..."
"Ah, no, today was originally meant to clarify the relationship between Tanaka, Bocchi-chan, and Yukino, and I completely forgot."
"Maybe I should just ask Tanaka-kun privately."
...
Meanwhile, Tanaka Masao and Yukinoshita Yukino were heading back towards Chiba.
Tanaka Masao rode his bicycle slowly and said to Yukinoshita Yukino beside him,
"Yukino, it's getting late. Are you coming to my house for dinner tonight?"
After tutoring ended, Yukinoshita Yukino hadn't come to Tanaka's house for dinner. The entire previous week, due to Yukinoshita Haruno's presence, Tanaka Masao had no opportunity to invite her.
Upon hearing this, Yukinoshita Yukino recalled the warm dinner atmosphere at Tanaka Masao's house. Although she was a bit tempted, she maintained a calm expression and said,
"No interest."
It was just "no interest," but she hadn't directly refused, which meant there was still a chance.
Tanaka Masao pressed on.
"Actually, my cat can do a backflip. Are you sure you don't want to come to my house to see it?"
Hearing this, Yukinoshita Yukino was amused and looked at Tanaka Masao as if he were an idiot.
"Tanaka-kin, do you think I'd believe what you say?"
"You don't even have a cat at home!"
...
An hour later.
"I'm home."
"Excuse me for intruding."
"Oh, it's Yukino! Long time no see, come in, come in!"
Tanaka Kazumi saw Yukinoshita Yukino arrive and immediately greeted her warmly.
"You haven't been coming over for dinner much lately. I thought Masao had made you angry."
"No, I've just been spending time with my family recently, so I haven't had time."
"I see. Spending time with family is very important. Come, sit down and rest for a bit. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Thank you, Auntie."
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all."
Seeing Yukinoshita Yukino, Tanaka Kazumi suddenly felt more motivated to cook and couldn't help but add two more dishes.
Yukinoshita Yukino sat in the living room and looked at Tanaka Masao, asking,
"So, Tanaka-kin, where's the cat that can do a backflip that you mentioned?"
That's right, Yukinoshita Yukino still came to Tanaka Masao's house. She wasn't there to have dinner with Tanaka Masao's family.
She was entirely there to expose Tanaka Masao's clumsy lie. She wanted to see where Tanaka Masao would find a cat that could do a backflip.
Tanaka Masao remained calm and called out,
"Kashi!"
"What is it?"
Hearing someone call her, Kashi walked over.
"What do you want from me? I am very busy."
"Come on, do a backflip."
"Hmph~"
Hearing Tanaka Masao order her, Kashi looked very displeased.
"Who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?"
"Here, take a hundred yen. It's your pocket money."
...
Five minutes later.
In the Tanaka's yard, Kashi successfully completed a backflip, landing steadily.
"Give me the money, give me the money!"
After her performance, Kashi eagerly went to Tanaka Masao for her money.
Looking at the hundred yen in her hand, Kashi was quite happy, but still put on a displeased expression.
"I just did two consecutive flips in the air, you should give me two hundred."
"I didn't ask you to do two flips, only one hundred."
"Darn it."
Kashi was somewhat angry but dared not speak. There was nothing she could do; she was a bit short on money now.
Because she had just joined this family, Tanaka Kazumi and Tanaka Kenji had given her a lot of pocket money.
But Kashi was a bit extravagant with her spending, besides the snacks she bought every day.
Since she had just arrived in the human world, she also liked to buy all sorts of strange, never-before-seen things.
The result was that she found them useless after buying them and couldn't return them.
Kashi, who had wasted a lot of money, often cursed that humans were too cunning, trying every possible way to drain her wallet.
Thus, her wallet went empty several times, and the Tanaka only gave her a little assistance.
Because they wanted Kashi to develop the habit of managing her money properly, rather than spending lavishly, which was not good.
So they had already warned Kashi that they would only give her pocket money once a month.
Without logistical support, Kashi looked at the money she had left, counted on her fingers, and realized that her daily disposable income was less than half of what it used to be.
Then, a few days passed, and her disposable money was gone.
Seeing that there were still several days until the next pocket money distribution, she couldn't imagine the terrible days of not being able to eat snacks every day.
She could only go to the Tanaka and play the pity card.
In the end, the Tanaka couldn't withstand Kashi's pestering offensive and gave in, agreeing to give her pocket money if she helped with chores every day.
However, this pocket money was only enough for Kashi to buy a few of her favorite snacks, which was far from satisfying her.
So, as soon as Tanaka Masao said she would get money for doing a backflip, Kashi immediately became interested.
To earn money, Kashi could do anything.