"Speaking of which, Bocchi-chan also performed at Soubu High School last time—" Ijichi Nijika said, as if remembering something when the Founders' Festival at Soubu High School was mentioned.
"If Bocchi had accepted those big companies' management contracts back then, maybe we would have already debuted."
Yamada Ryo said indistinctly, eating pasta in large mouthfuls.
"It's more likely Bocchi-chan would have been asked to go solo, and the two of us would have been directly dropped."
Ijichi Nijika said rather pessimistically.
"Speaking of which, Kessoku Band still doesn't have a vocalist, do you?"
Asakura asked curiously, "Can you still perform live like that?"
"This is where our secret weapon comes in!"
The golden-haired girl's self-regulation ability was clearly excellent, and her expression immediately became lively again: "I've named it 'Hum, Bocchi'!"
"What's with this name that sounds subtly like some kind of hint…"
"The manager first suggested it—" Yamada Ryo said, her mouth stained with ketchup, a red circle around it looking strangely comical. The first impression Asakura had of her being a cold beauty had long flown to the clouds. The manager the girl referred to now should be the manager of Starry, which was Nijika's older sister, Ijichi Seika: "She told Bocchi, 'If you can't sing, just hum it.'"
"As a result, Bocchi-chan is wonderful even if she just hums. Although it can't compare to the Soubu High School performance, she has received a lot of praise at Starry!"
Ijichi Nijika said excitedly, clearly happy that Kessoku Band had finally moved past its awkward phase and was starting to get on track.
Asakura then suddenly understood.
Because of his previous instructions, to prevent any accidents with the Curse [Song], Gotō Hitori generally wouldn't sing—of course, considering the girl's personality, even if she could sing, she probably wouldn't.
But if it was just humming softly along with the music, that obviously bypassed the restriction of 'not being able to sing' and the girl's social anxiety that prevented her from singing in front of others. It was a completely different approach.
Humming obviously wouldn't activate the Curse [Song], but just like Asakura could maintain reactions and infrared vision far superior to ordinary people even without using the Curse [Snake], Gotō Hitori would also trigger some passive effects of the Curse [Song] when humming softly. Considering the street performance yesterday, it was probably something like 'Charm +20'?
"I see—" Asakura nodded thoughtfully, "Hum, Bocchi, not bad!"
"That's what I said—" Ijichi Nijika said, resting her chin on her hand, "but without singing, just humming still feels a bit off. If possible, I really hope Bocchi-chan can sing normally."
"Regarding that, if you don't want to end up in that miserable state again, Nijika, you should give up."
Yamada Ryo said, wiping her mouth with a napkin, her tone sounding somewhat traumatized.
"What happened?" Asakura asked curiously.
"Ah haha… it's nothing big."
Ijichi Nijika scratched her head awkwardly, her cowlick also swaying left and right as if embarrassed by her movements: "It was when Ryo and I went to Bocchi-chan's house to discuss stage costumes. During our chat, Ryo and I were curious and asked Bocchi-chan to change into her casual clothes…"
"Casual clothes?" Asakura was startled: "Isn't that kid's casual clothes that pink tracksuit? I think I've seen enough of it daily, haven't I?"
"No, Bocchi-chan actually has many other casual clothes, and many cute dresses among them—" Nijika said excitedly: "Reportedly, Bocchi-chan's mom bought them all for her, but Bocchi-chan feels more secure wearing that tracksuit, so she never wears those casual clothes, only that tracksuit…"
"What?!" Asakura was astonished: "So, you two saw Hitori's casual clothes mode earlier than me, her boyfriend?!"
"Hehehe, Bocchi's casual clothes mode is super cute, you know. How much do you want to pay for photos of her casual clothes, sir?"
Yamada Ryo leaned in front of Asakura with a mischievous smile like a delinquent and asked.
"Gulp, w-within ten thousand yen…" Asakura struggled to take out his wallet.
"Thank you for your patronage~"
"Don't actually take the money!"
Nijika slapped away Yamada Ryo's hand reaching for Asakura's Fukuzawa Yukichi, then said to Asakura: "Asakura, don't be so shaken! Pull yourself together!"
"But… Hitori's first time…"
"Don't say it so ambiguously! It's just her casual clothes… Don't look so sad, even I feel a little sorry for you."
Nijika looked helplessly at Asakura, who was slumped on the table with an expression of utter despair.
"In that case, compensate me."
"You suddenly perked up? Well, if it's just treating me to a meal or something…" the kind girl said.
"Please, Miss Nijika, work at my store dressed as a beast-eared, glasses-wearing maid!"
Asakura sat up straight and stated his demand.
"The demands became very specific?! And what's with this feeling like a long-premeditated request?!"
A blush spread across the golden-haired girl's face: "I have to work at my sister's place, so I can't…"
"I'll add a hundred yen to Miss Seika's hourly wage."
Asakura tried to negotiate.
"Nijika isn't that cheap of a girl—" Yamada Ryo began to haggle: "You need to add at least another thousand yen."
"Eh? What about my personal wishes?"
The golden-haired girl with a side ponytail looked speechlessly at the two people discussing the sale of her personal freedom.
"Adding another thousand yen on top of the normal hourly wage is a bit high."
Asakura pondered.
"What if I said I could also include services like Nijika giving you a massage, shoulder rub, serving tea, and even an 'Ah~' lunch service?"
Yamada Ryo propped her chin and added to the bid in a low voice.
"Stepping back a bit, what about my personal freedom?"
The golden-haired girl looked blank, like someone who had been sold by human traffickers.
Asakura scrutinized the girl's appearance, making her face flush crimson with shyness, then nodded towards Yamada Ryo: "Deal."
"Deal my head! I didn't agree!"
Ijichi Nijika protested: "Since those were Ryo's conditions, then Ryo should go!"
Asakura scrutinized Yamada's appearance, making her expressionless face contort into a feigned shy gesture, then nodded towards Nijika: "Deal."
"So, any girl will do?!" Nijika retorted.
"No, specifically—" Asakura corrected: "It has to be a cute girl."
Ijichi Nijika was speechless, her expression unclear whether she was shy because he called her cute or helpless about his thick skin.