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Yukinoshita’s gaze grew a few degrees colder.
”Just kidding, just kidding,” Hiroto Tachibana waved his hand, putting away his unprincipled expression.
“I have a perfectly legitimate reason for knowing all this so thoroughly.”
Ikuyo Kita asked cautiously, “What kind of legitimate reason…?”
”We’ve known each other since middle school.”
”And I’ve already met her parents.”
”Eh?” Kita blinked.
”But that’s not the most important part,” Hiroto’s expression suddenly turned deadpan serious.
“The most important part is…”
Both girls subconsciously leaned in, waiting for his next words.
”That fellow still owes me money right now.”
The Service Club room fell into a brief, stunned silence.
”…Owes money?” Kita repeated, her tone shifting from sheer terror to complete bewilderment.
Yukinoshita Yukino closed her eyes, gently massaging her temples with her fingers.
She suddenly felt that rather than worrying about whether Hiroto Tachibana was a stalker, she should be worrying about whether there was something fundamentally wrong with his communication skills.
Meeting the parents and a debt—would a normal person really leave those details for the very end?
”So,” Yukinoshita opened her eyes, her voice returning to its usual chilly calm.
“What you mean to say is, you’ve known this Yamada Ryo-senpai since middle school, your families have associated with each other, and she currently owes you money that she hasn’t paid back.”
”Correct.”
”And you deliberately withheld these details just now solely to terrify Kita-san.”
”How can you call it terrifying her?” Hiroto replied with absolute righteousness.
“This is what you call a step-by-step introduction.”
Yukinoshita didn’t even want to look at him anymore.
She turned to Ikuyo Kita, her tone even and serene:
”Kita-san, this is my classmate, Hiroto Tachibana.
He is mentally unhinged, but he shouldn’t be a criminal.
You can slide your chair back a bit now.”
Only then did Kita realize she was practically glued to Yukinoshita’s side.
She hurriedly nudged her chair back, feeling a bit embarrassed.
”S-so Tachibana-kun actually knows Ryo-senpai…
That really gave me a fright.” She patted her chest, and then a sudden thought struck her.
“Um, exactly how much money does Ryo-senpai owe you?”
Hiroto thought for a moment.
“Not that much.
Back in middle school, she went to an instrument shop to buy an effects pedal but forgot her wallet, so I advanced the cash for her.”
”An effects pedal worth how much…?”
”80,000 yen.”
Kita fell silent.
An effects pedal worth 80,000 yen…
Ryo-senpai truly was Ryo-senpai.
”Therefore,” Hiroto clapped his hands, a smile returning to his face.
“I can help you contact that deadbeat Ryo.
She might be terrible at paying back debts, but she certainly knows how to play the guitar.
What do you say, want to meet her?”
Kita froze for a moment.
Meet Ryo-senpai?
She hesitated.
After all, she had just skipped town from the band; turning right around to ask them to teach her the guitar felt incredibly awkward no matter how she thought about it.
Watching the two before her, Yukinoshita Yukino had also pieced together a rough understanding of the situation from their brief exchange.
”So looking at it this way, the reason Kita-san wants to learn the guitar is because of this Ryo-senpai.”
”Ah?” Kita was startled.
Had she said anything to that effect?
How on earth did she see through it?!
”In that case, regardless of whether you think you can learn it or not, it would be best to just go and see this Ryo-senpai.”
”Ah, I can’t do that!” Kita frantically waved her hands, her voice spiking half an octave.
Taking a deep breath, she lowered her head.
”Actually…
it was because I saw Ryo-senpai’s performance that I wanted to be in a band.
When I heard Ryo-senpai’s band was recruiting, I was worried I’d be too late, so I pretended I knew how to play the guitar…” Her voice grew smaller and smaller.
”But I know absolutely nothing about the guitar.
When they mentioned we had a live performance coming up, I got scared and ran away.
I’ve wronged them so much…
so I really can’t go.”
She clenched her fingers tightly.
”As for guitar talent or whatever, I definitely don’t have any anyway.
No matter what I do, I just can’t get the tone I want.”
Hiroto watched from the side.
He knew Kita had genuinely put in the effort, but effort required the right direction!
The incredibly expensive instrument Kita had bought wasn’t a guitar at all—it was a bass!
”If you want to resolve this, the only path is effort,” Yukinoshita spoke up, her tone serious.
“Kita-san, you claim you have no talent, but have you tried?
Have you truly put in the effort?”
Kita lifted her head, meeting Yukinoshita’s earnest eyes, and instinctively sat up perfectly straight.
”I did put in the effort,” she said.
“I cut out so much of my free time just to practice.”
She extended her hands.
The outer edges of her index fingers and thumbs bore thick, heavy calluses.
Now it was Yukinoshita’s turn to be surprised.
She knew how to play a bit of guitar herself.
If someone wanted to play the guitar, effort could indeed solve most problems.
If Kita had worked this hard and still couldn’t manage it…
just how exceptionally high were that band’s requirements?
Furthermore, whether someone knew how to play the guitar or not was incredibly easy to spot.
A person like Ryo-senpai couldn’t possibly have failed to notice it all this time.
Yukinoshita furrowed her brow in deep thought for a long while.
”Since that is the case, the problem does not lie with Kita-san.” She lifted her head.
“Kita-san, do you have time this weekend?”
”I don’t have much free time…
but if there’s something important, I can clear my schedule.”
”Then this Saturday and Sunday afternoon, we gather.
Bring your instrument along, and we will go meet this Ryo-senpai.”
”Ah?
But…
I ran away, so they must absolutely hate me by now.
Plus, I lied to them; I don’t know the first thing about the guitar…”
”Setting aside the fact that Kita-san has already put in sincere and rigorous effort,” Yukinoshita cut her off.
“Since the other party plays music, whether you can play the guitar is actually very easy to see.
They likely knew the fact that you couldn’t play from the very beginning.”
”Eh?” Kita was stunned.
“Is that true?”
”Also, Tachibana-kun,” Yukinoshita turned her head.
“Likewise, do not be late.”
”I have to go too?” Hiroto pointed a finger at himself.
”Otherwise?” Yukinoshita cast a flat glance at him.
“I recall Tachibana-kun is very strapped for cash, aren’t you?
This Ryo-senpai has owed you 80,000 yen since middle school and hasn’t paid it back to this day.”
”Oh, you mean that,” Hiroto waved his hand lightheartedly.
“Actually, there’s no rush to make her pay it back.”
Yukinoshita stared at him.
”Human beings inevitably catch minor illnesses now and then.
Plus, deadbeat Ryo’s family runs a hospital, so every time I get sick, I just drag her along with me, and I don’t have to pay a single yen.”
Hiroto counted on his fingers.
“Calculating it carefully, my medical expenses have probably already exceeded 80,000 yen.
So right now, I’m in no hurry to have her pay it back.”
Hearing this, Yukinoshita Yukino began to introspect and question herself for the very first time.
Why did she feel like she couldn’t quite distinguish his character anymore?
Was this person incredibly shrewd, or just completely oblivious?
Was he genuinely kind-hearted, or…
did he have alternative motives?
She stared intently at Hiroto’s innocent face.
”In that case, you do not need to go.”
Yukinoshita uttered these words in a manner that felt half like a compromise and half like pure resignation.
Then, she lowered her head and scribbled another line in her notebook.
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