"I wonder what onee-san wants to talk to Shin about......"
Ijichi Nijika, who had just come out of the break room, was somewhat curious. She remembered that Ijichi Seika and Shin didn't have much contact, so the two of them shouldn't have any common topics to discuss.
"Could it be that Nijika's sister wants Shin to join Kessoku Band too?"
As the most imaginative member of Kessoku Band, Gotou Hitori, based on her long experience of social anxiety and wild thoughts, offered a possibility.
"I agree. If that's the case, Kessoku Band's afternoon tea would be more secure from now on."
Upon hearing Gotou Hitori's speculation, the first to express agreement was actually Yamada Ryo—though her motivation was clearly not pure, purely aimed at Shin being able to treat them.
"That probably won't happen though. After all, Shin-kun doesn't seem to have any intention of joining a band. Didn't we invite him several times before......"
Kita Ikuyo waved her hand, thinking this idea was a bit too fanciful—they had invited Shin before, but he clearly wasn't interested.
Although Ijichi Seika had formed a band before and was also the manager of LiveHouse, her personality was actually quite laid-back, so she probably wouldn't be interested in persuading Shin to join a band.
Katou Megumi didn't speak, just looked at Ijichi Nijika with slightly narrowed eyes.
Although Katou Megumi didn't talk much, her thoughts were quite delicate. From Ijichi Seika's expression just now, she seemed to have guessed something.
That is, Ijichi Seika specifically keeping Shin behind was most likely related to her sister Ijichi Nijika. Perhaps she had discovered Ijichi Nijika's feelings for Shin?
Although it might not be appropriate to say this, Katou Megumi was also very clear that Shin's behavior appeared to others as nothing short of a complete playboy, having ambiguous relationships with a large number of girls.
It was just that all these girls had fallen into it, with emotion overriding reason, which made them choose to continue staying by Shin's side.
As "a sister who cares very much about her younger sister," Ijichi Seika was obviously more rational than emotional, so she might have her own views on the relationship between Ijichi Nijika and Shin.
However, Ijichi Nijika clearly hadn't noticed this point.
"Let's go greet the customers first. Tohru-san is also watching the performance right now."
Completely unaware that Ijichi Seika might want to talk privately with Shin because of herself, Ijichi Nijika still wore her usual smile.
"So what do you think about Nijika?"
In the break room, Ijichi Seika could be said to be getting straight to the point, directly asking the question she was most concerned about.
Originally, Ijichi Seika wanted to prevent Ijichi Nijika from developing excessive feelings for Shin as much as possible, but unfortunately, her approach seemed to have backfired.
Ever since the last time Ijichi Seika asked Ijichi Nijika about Shin, Nijika seemed to become even more concerned about Shin instead.
Sometimes Ijichi Seika would inadvertently catch sight of Ijichi Nijika texting Shin on her phone.
Although the message content was fairly normal, mostly Ijichi Nijika asking when Shin could come to LiveHouse, about Kessoku Band's new song progress, and what he talked about with Katou Megumi and such.
But Ijichi Seika could tell that when Nijika was chatting with Shin, the expression on her face was exactly like that of a girl in love.
Although Ijichi Seika was also single with her age equaling her physiological age, she had seen others in love before, so she still had that much experience.
"Nijika ah... she's quite a cute girl."
Shin smiled as he looked at Ijichi Seika—he could probably guess what kind of mindset Ijichi Seika had come with.
But he could understand it too. With so many girls around him, most parents would be worried about whether their child could receive good treatment while staying with Shin.
Ijichi Nijika was indeed a cute girl, not only outstanding in appearance but also with a quite good personality, cheerful and considerate, even someone as socially anxious as Gotou Hitori could be melted by her.
In the original work, she was even called "the great angel of Shimokitazawa" by others, showing how likeable her personality was.
"So... you're not thinking of asking me to stay away from Nijika, are you?"
Although Ijichi Seika was just her sister, since Ijichi Nijika's mother had passed away and her father was often away for work, Ijichi Seika could be said to have taken on a role similar to a mother.
As a "mother" figure, Ijichi Seika would naturally care about Ijichi Nijika's romantic issues.
Shin even had strange scenes like "Here's this check, leave my daughter" floating through his mind.
"What are you thinking about? I somehow feel like you're imagining something strange about me."
Although Ijichi Seika didn't have mind-reading abilities, she still sensed Shin's odd gaze and couldn't help but shiver.
She sighed and said to Shin:
"I wouldn't do something like excessively interfering with Nijika's choices... Although I think your overly playboy personality isn't good, who told Nijika to really like you..."
Saying this, Ijichi Seika raised her head to look at Shin, her tone becoming more serious:
"I kept you here alone mainly to tell you, Nijika likes you so much, you must not break her heart... occasionally spend more time with Nijika too. Don't you know how much she usually wants to see you?"
Shin understood. So Ijichi Seika wanted him to spend more time with Ijichi Nijika.
Come to think of it, that made sense. Because Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo weren't at the same school as him, he didn't have many opportunities to meet these two.
Yamada Ryo was carefree and didn't mind, but Ijichi Nijika was actually quite sensitive inside.
Previously, Shin would occasionally receive proactive contact from Ijichi Nijika, and the two had chatted quite a bit on their phones.
But now it seemed that Ijichi Nijika probably wanted him to spend more time with her.
"Ah, Shin, you're out?"
After coming out of the break room, Shin happened to meet Ijichi Nijika, who was moving equipment at the door.
She didn't know what Shin and her sister had talked about in the break room, and sensibly didn't ask, just said to Shin:
"I'm just about to move these things to backstage. Could you help me?"
"Leave it to me."
Shin smiled and walked forward, taking the equipment from Ijichi Nijika's hands—it was a speaker of a model he didn't recognize, probably needed for the next band's performance.
Looking at Nijika following behind him with small steps, a happy smile on her face, Shin suddenly spoke:
"How about we go on a date alone sometime?"
"...Eh eh eh?"
Ijichi Nijika seemed not to have expected Shin to suddenly say something like this. She was stunned for a moment, then completely dumbfounded.
Her face turned bright red all at once, with a hint of pleasant surprise in her expression, and she even stuttered when speaking.
"That... that, although I'm very happy, but... but wouldn't it be better if everyone went on a date together?"
The "everyone" she mentioned naturally referred to Kessoku Band—even for something as important as dating the person she liked, Ijichi Nijika would still unconsciously think of her friends.
Being too considerate wasn't necessarily a good thing—if Shin wasn't already a philanthropic playboy, with Ijichi Nijika's personality, it would probably be very difficult to make progress with a lover.
To be continued…