After letting Shinomiya Kaguya experience the complex and thorough taste of defeat from the closest possible distance,
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, the instigator, didn’t bother to care about what level of complex emotions or worldview collapse his violent actions would cause her.
Acting like nothing happened, after school in the afternoon, right on schedule at four o’clock, he pushed open the door of the recording rehearsal room that Toyokawa Sakiko had booked in advance.
At this moment, two figures were already standing inside the room.
“Ayanokoji-kun…
You’re here.”
The moment she saw Ayanokouji push the door open and enter, Takamatsu Tomori, who was hugging her knees and sitting curled up in the corner of the floor, looked as if she had seen a savior, hugging her lyric book and taking small, hurried steps toward him.
“Good afternoon, Takamatsu.”
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka nodded in response, then cast his gaze to the other side.
Shiina Taki, who had also arrived early, was sitting on the drum stool with her head lowered, her fingers sliding across her phone screen.
The long black-haired girl with a tear mole seemed to have all her attention focused on her phone, but in reality, she was completely absent-minded.
Before Ayanokouji arrived, she had been wanting to strike up a conversation with Takamatsu Tomori, who looked nervous and somewhat afraid of her.
She didn’t want Tomori to look at her with that cowering gaze, making it seem like she had done something wrong or was bullying someone.
However, due to her personality, when the words reached her lips, she swallowed them back down.
At this moment, seeing Ayanokōji Kiyotaka look at her, Taki finally found an out.
“Yesterday…
how was your practice with Tomori?
As a man, since you said those words, you should be able to fulfill them today, right?”
Although Taki’s voice still sounded a bit awkward, judging from her slightly flickering gaze when looking at Ayanokouji, she was actually trying her best to soften her attitude and actively seeking an opportunity to communicate.
She really is trying.
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka silently gave a favorable evaluation in his heart and replied: “Yeah, we had a good talk.
Yesterday, Takamatsu was just a bit nervous because it was our first time meeting, and there won’t be any problems today.”
“Is that so?
That’s for the best.”
Seeing that Ayanokouji gave a positive response, Shiina Taki didn’t say anything more to doubt or discourage anyone.
She naturally had a stubborn mouth but a soft heart.
The reason she made the atmosphere somewhat stiff yesterday was just because she felt anxious about wasting time, and she never thought about actually driving Takamatsu Tomori away or changing the lead singer.
At this moment, Ayanokouji’s phone vibrated.
The other three young ladies from Tsukinomori Girls Academy sent a message saying they had just boarded the train, expressing apologies for being late and asking the others to wait patiently for a bit.
Thus, seeing the atmosphere in the rehearsal room fall into silence once more, Ayanokouji glanced at the identical uniforms worn by the two girls and actively brought up a topic.
“By the way, Shiina, both you and Takamatsu are students at Haneoka Girls High School, right? Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Did you run into each other on the way here?”
Honestly speaking, finding topics to liven up the atmosphere was completely not Ayanokōji Kiyotaka’s forte.
But since he had already taken on the manager’s role and made a promise to Takamatsu Tomori yesterday, he had to fulfill his responsibility.
Moreover, through deep communication like the one with Takamatsu Tomori, gaining a further in-depth understanding of the other members was also an indispensable part of achieving his ultimate goal.
“We didn’t run into each other at all.
When I got here, this guy was already standing here blankly.”
Although Shiina Taki acted a bit impatient, she still obediently answered Ayanokouji’s question.
“Because…
I wanted to come early to get used to the atmosphere of the rehearsal room.
So, right after class, I came straight over…”
Takamatsu Tomori hid beside Ayanokouji and whispered her explanation.
Hearing her say this, Shiina Taki’s fingers, which were unconsciously rubbing against her drumsticks, paused slightly for a moment.
The other party didn’t look like someone who would lie to curry favor.
Since she said that, it proved that this seemingly weak girl actually valued the activities of this Band enough deep down.
Taki had never resented people who worked desperately hard and did things seriously for their goals, because she herself was like that.
Tomori’s explanation quietly added a lot of approval and goodwill toward her in Taki’s heart.
Ayanokōji Kiyotaka took in all of Taki’s subtle behavioral changes without pointing them out.
To prevent the topic from breaking off, he began recalling his interaction patterns with Toyokawa Sakiko and Nagasaki Soyo over the past few days, and tried joking with Shiina Taki:
“Shiina, you seem to really like using some rude personal pronouns.”
“If it’s addressing me, that’s fine.
But you shouldn’t use words like ‘this guy’ to address a girl like Takamatsu.”
“Ha——?”
Shiina Taki blinked, then stared at Ayanokōji Kiyotaka as if she had seen a ghost.
“Really?
Ayanokouji, preaching words like this actually came out of your poker-faced mouth?”
“Besides, are you my mom?
You even care about how I usually talk?”
Ayanokouji replied without changing his expression, “Actually, Nagasaki preached this to me yesterday, and I think it makes some sense.
Seeing that you, a girl, always use biased wording when speaking, I wanted to use it to remind you.”
With the image of the gentle and ladylike Bass player floating in her mind, Shiina Taki let out a soft huff:
“That really sounds like something that young lady would say…
“I don’t plan to force it either.”
Ayanokouji said, “If you’re playing in a Band, a slightly thorny personality like yours might actually be a unique trait.”
Diverted by this topic, the irritability on Taki’s body unconsciously dissipated quite a bit.
She looked up and down at Ayanokouji’s uniform: “Put that way, it actually feels surprising that you agreed to come here and be logistics for Sakiko.”
“You’re a student at that noble school called Shuchiin or something, right?
I heard the students there care a lot about their academic grades.
With entrance exams coming up soon, you still have the leisure to come play in a Band with us?”
“Um…
Ayanokoji-kun’s…
academic grades are very good.
He’s…
the second place in the whole year.” Takamatsu Tomori added weakly from the side.
“Second in the whole year?!
Really?”
Shiina Taki slightly constricted her pupils.
She never expected that this seemingly unmotivated boy in front of her could rank at the top in such a fiercely competitive noble school.
As she thought this, her mind couldn’t help flashing back to the scene a few days ago when they ran into each other by chance, where Ayanokouji, to help her out of a tight spot, instantly subdued those two drunk harassing men with swift methods…
Isn’t this both scholarly and martial?
The Band she joined actually hides such an incredible figure?
While feeling slightly shocked inside, Shiina Taki quietly realized something.
She apparently originally intended to use the waiting time to look at the sheet music nearby.
As a result, unconsciously, she had actually chatted this much with this seemingly harmless man.
This was an extremely rare occurrence for her, who had extremely strong guard up.
Even at school, she rarely spoke this much with her classmates.
What was even more incredible was that in the casual chat just now, Tomori, who couldn’t even dare to look at her just before, had also naturally joined the conversation.
The relationship among them had unconsciously drawn much closer.
“The three of you, sorry to keep you waiting.”
Just as Taki was recalling the reasons for her abnormal behavior, the door of the rehearsal room was pushed open.
Three girls wearing the uniform of Tsukinomori Girls Academy walked in.
“My, it seems the few of you were chatting very harmoniously while we were away.”