"Has Bocchi-chan replied?"
In the rehearsal room, Ijichi Nijika tilted her head, resting her small face on the snare drum, looking listless. Her right hand was lazily refreshing the Line interface.
Since this morning, Bocchi-chan's Line had been stuck on "Read but no reply." Could the pressure of selling tickets have caused her CPU to crash?
"I remember, before Kita-chan ran away, it was also like this—Read but no reply..."
Turning around silently with her bass, the lead bassist of Kessoku Band, Miss Yamada Ryo, delivered a sentiment completely at odds with the band's name.
"We might need to recruit a new guitarist!"
"Senpai!!!"
"Ryo! You can't say that! Bocchi-chan must have a reason for not replying!"
Standing up and waving her drumsticks with dissatisfied, puffed-out cheeks, Nijika refused to believe Little Bocchi would abandon them and run. They were comrades who finally managed to gather together; saying that was too much!
"Sorry. It was just a joke..."
"Even for a joke, that's too dark!"
"Oh! Chotto! Bocchi-chan seems to have replied!"
Just as Nijika and Ryo were having their usual disagreement, Kita Ikuyo—the rhythm guitarist and promotion manager—was failing to break up the fight when the phone in her pocket vibrated twice.
Familiarly pulling out the phone and lighting up the screen, she saw the sender on the locked page and immediately called a halt to the seniors' bickering. Little Bocchi, who had been missing all day, actually sent a message! Hopefully, it wasn't a resignation letter...
"Should we look?"
"Of course. Actually, I also trust Bocchi very much..."
"Your 'after-the-fact' talk is too ugly, Ryo. You were clearly prepared for the worst!"
Though they didn't spare each other's feelings verbally, two small heads quickly crowded around Kita's cheeks, one on each side. If they had a green-haired person, the three color schemes would be enough to cosplay a traffic light.
Being leaned on by Ryo-senpai, Kita Ikuyo had little stars in her eyes, moved that the surprise came so suddenly. But she didn't forget to unlock the phone and open Little Bocchi's message.
[Although the process was very winding, we held an outdoor performance, so all the tickets are sold. Don't worry...]
"Oh! Bocchi-chan actually did it! Amazing! But didn't Kita-chan say Bocchi didn't have any close friends at school?"
"That should be right. Could she have asked her family?"
"That won't work in the long run. Money should flow into the band, not out of the band!"
Seeing the message, the band girl trio breathed a sigh of relief. After all, for someone with social anxiety, selling tickets alone was too much of a burden for Bocchi-chan.
Why hadn't they thought of helping her out? Giving Bocchi too much pressure wouldn't be good!
"Hmm? There seems to be a photo attached at the back..."
Relieved that the band wouldn't suffer the disaster of disbanding, Kita's finger moved slightly. She was surprised to find that besides this message, Little Bocchi seemed to have sent her a separate private message!
Wondering what couldn't be shown to the seniors that required a DM, she opened the private message page without reservation.
Without half a second of delay, as her finger pressed down, a photo with the night sky as a background burst into view. Little Bocchi was seen pitifully making a peace sign, standing in front of a laughing muscular man and a drunken female delinquent, foaming at the mouth.
[Save me! Kita!]
"Bocchi-chan!!!"
...
On the other side, at the Shirogane household, Shirogane Miyuki didn't relax even though it was the holidays. To maintain his top rank, he was still using ultra-short sleep cycles to squeeze himself.
With deep dark circles under his eyes, he drifted through the living room under his sister's disgusted gaze to fetch barley tea from the fridge, then silently prepared to return to his room like a ghost.
"Wait a moment, brother..."
"Hmm? What is it, Kei?"
His cheeks were so gaunt he looked like a corpse out of a horror movie. Seeing her brother like this, Shirogane Kei felt a bit bad despite her teenage grumpiness.
"Someone named Hayasaka just delivered two tickets to an underground Livehouse. Said they were sent by a 'Master Yu' or something."
"Yu? Could it be a thank-you gift for that matter?"
His sister's attitude was poor, which Miyuki could only attribute to teenage rebellion, but hearing Yu's name, he finally summoned his spirit to turn on his switched-off phone.
This was his little trick: eliminate all distractions while working. Otherwise, just that guy Fujiwara alone could fill up his entire schedule.
As for Kaguya, she never took the initiative to message him, so he wasn't afraid of missing important chats.
[Met a guy very similar to Miyuki. If you have time, why not take Kaguya to a Live show? Currently being chased, will reply to messages later...]
Looking at the series of selfies Miyazawa Yuu had sent him—from drunkenly hugging a girl's neck, to the girl foaming at the mouth while being stared down by the police, to the muscular man in nothing but underpants making a peace sign with police chasing him in the background.
With a dark face and two seconds of silence, Shirogane Miyuki finally digested the truth that his senior had fallen to the point of drinking with a minor and resisting arrest.
He silently dialed the report number for the Metropolitan Police Department. He knew the other party's address; such social vermin absolutely could not be tolerated!
[Ah~ By the way, I knew you'd probably call the police after seeing the message. Actually, I'm already on the train back to Izu!]
[The police station can't enforce the law across regions, so, don't worry about it!]
On the night train to Izu, looking at the message on his phone that had turned to "Read," Miyazawa Yuu tucked the phone back into his pocket after finishing the last line.
It was late, and it would take another two hours for the train to arrive in Izu. Most people chose to sleep through the grueling train journey, except...
"Diving gear... and activity fees. It costs a lot, so we have to plan well, or our living expenses might go over budget!"
Two people had left, but four came back. Having bought tickets in advance, Miyazawa Yuu managed to get four seats facing each other across a table without pressure.
But frankly, when did the relationship between Nanaka and Busujima become so good? And what was with Busujima's "underclassman" aura? Did he time-travel after being drunk for a night?!
"What? Jealous? It's okay, Azusa-senpai will take good care of you, Yu-chan~"
"I don't believe you. Azusa-senpai, have you seen the Tokyo sky at 4:00 PM? I have! So what exactly happened last night?!"
"Well, how should I put this..."
Holding Yu's arm, Hamaoka Azusa leaned her head on his shoulder, eyes closed in deep thought. She wore the "how should I make this up?" expression of a little devil.
In fact, what happened last night was simple. Yu had unexpectedly had his motherboard fried by a mere liter of sake. In front of all the bands, he went berserk, playing drinking games with Hiroi Kikuri and couldn't stop!
Fortunately, perhaps a final shred of logic remained, and he didn't force the girls into "Strip Rock-Paper-Scissors," but as a member of the Pab club, he led by example!
After his jacket and pants were successively trashed, the shop owner truly couldn't stand the two drunks and kicked both him and Kikuri out onto the street. As a result, the two turned around and familiarly vanished somewhere to catch the next round.
She and Nanaka were just two weak women. Being treated as "after-dinner dessert" was barely enough; how could they stop an otherworldly demon that even multiple Pab muscle-heads couldn't suppress!
"That's the general situation. Yu ran away, and the only person we knew was Busujima. Now you see it~"
Pointing at Busujima Sakurako and Nanaka, who were like sisters after giving up the war for dominance, Hamaoka Azusa spread her hands helplessly. "Nanaka has been snatched away! Hurry up and comfort your senpai, little junior!"
"Yes, yes~ Poor Azusa-senpai~"
Cooperatively hugging Azusa-senpai for mutual warmth, Miyazawa Yuu was very satisfied to confirm he hadn't been abandoned, so he fully provided the emotional value.
As for Busujima's attitude—few could resist Nanaka-san gentleness. She was likely just another ignorant junior who had fallen for her charms, just like Azusa-senpai.
She couldn't possibly be a suspicious stalker who gave up on the surface but actually wanted to use contact with Nanaka to indirectly complete an invasion of his life, Hahaha!
"Hiss..."
A sudden shiver ran through her body. Busujima Sakurako felt as if someone had seen through her. But turning to look at Miyazawa Yuu and Hamaoka Azusa, seeing nothing unusual, she felt temporarily at ease.
In any case, she was just carving out a small piece of land for herself to heal her wounds; she wasn't "stealing a man," so there was no moral shame to it!
...
"Eh? In the end, Shiori still gave the passport to Iori. Why?"
On the other side, at the Grand Blue drinking party, to welcome back Iori and Yu from their victory, the seniors had prepared a large amount of Spirytus for a "Happy" time.
After draining a whole glass of "Oolong tea," Kitahara Iori, completely unaffected, rested his chin on his hand and thought for a few seconds. Finally, he shook his head in confusion, unable to solve Kotobuki-senpai's puzzle.
In the end, he had just been nearly killed by Kohei and a foreigner working together. Although he didn't think his own sister would have a sense of gratitude, that seemed to be the only barely plausible explanation...
"..."
Knowing that Iori had somehow ended up engaged to a foreign woman, Kotegawa Chisa and Yoshiwara Aina collectively lost their voices, not wanting to tell the cruel truth to the simple-minded Iori.
Yes! That's right! Compared to that strange woman, Iori and Kohei were perfectly normal!
"By the way! How about that guy Yu? Did he get the passport? Rin-chan should be much harder to handle than Shiori, right?"
"He said it was safely in hand, no problem. And it seems he even added new members to our club while he was out. Truly a reliable next-generation president!"
"That's right. Already carrying around club application forms and such—he's definitely got the Pab spirit!"
At this, Tokita Shinji and Kotobuki Ryujiro nodded in unison, their faces solemn and full of hope for the Pab club's future!
In half a year, the number of people Yu had "captured" was as high as two. He had already tied the record of these seniors. Truly, the newcomers were crushing the old-timers!
"Carrying club application forms?"
"Because he's stood in the rain himself, he wants to tear up everyone else's umbrellas too? That guy Yuu!"
Looking up simultaneously, Kitahara Iori and Imamura Kohei both mentally visualized Yu, covered in muscles, grinning as he forced innocent family members to press their thumbprints. They both shivered.
They didn't want to recall such a demonic scene a second time! Although they were annoyed that Yu had reserved the president's position, they could only wish him luck.
"Eh? A new member? What kind of person will it be? A girl?"
"Aina, what are you thinking? That guy Yu wouldn't force a girl!"
"Exactly! Exactly!"
"Minna-san! We're back! Did you miss me!"
Just as Yoshiwara Aina was muttering about wanting a junior girl, the door was pushed open. Miyazawa Yuu, having already shed his "armor" in advance, shamelessly and calmly pushed the door and entered.