On Friday night, the show "Who Did Yuu-chan Invite Today?" had already begun promoting the upcoming Kessoku Band episode on its official Twitter account.
The comment section was lively with discussion.
Some users who had never heard of Kessoku Band were leaving comments like, "Never heard of them—are they even popular?"
Naturally, passing fans jumped in to passionately recommend the group.
Aoki Kei noticed this while scrolling through Twitter, and casually liked the promotional tweet using Kessoku Band's official account.
After that, he kept browsing aimlessly for a while.
Around ten o'clock, since he had plans with Kita the next morning, Aoki wrapped up early, got ready for bed, and turned in for the night.
The night passed uneventfully.
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The next day — Saturday.
Kei woke up, went through his usual morning routine, including a jog, and had breakfast.
After staying in his apartment for a bit, he left at the time they had agreed on the day before and hopped on a train.
Since they were going to look for an apartment near Kita's neighborhood, they'd decided to meet around her place to save her the trip.
It was about a twenty-minute ride. When Kei arrived, there were still ten minutes to go before 8 a.m.
Unfamiliar with the area, he relied on Google Maps and found Kita waiting at a corner near the station.
"Kei-senpai, over here!"
As soon as she spotted him, even from a distance, the girl enthusiastically waved and called out.
She jogged over to him with a bright smile.
"You're early! Good morning, Kei-senpai!"
Even early in the morning, she was full of energy—her greeting practically radiated cheerfulness.
"Morning. Just got here on time," Kei replied.
Kita nodded quickly, replying, "Mhm!" without missing a beat, then got straight to the point:
"Have you had breakfast, Kei-senpai? Want to grab something to eat? Or should we head straight to check out apartments?"
"I've already eaten. If you haven't, I can wait. No rush on the apartment search."
"Then let's go look for an apartment first—I've eaten too~"
Since both of them had already eaten, they headed out right away to check out potential places.
Naturally, Kita took the lead, being more familiar with the neighborhood.
They made their way toward the apartments her mother had mentioned the day before.
As they walked, Kita asked Kei about what he was looking for in a place, and what his budget was.
Kei had already given this some thought, so he gave her a clear and straightforward answer.
Kita fell silent in thought for a moment—then suddenly remembered one of the apartments her mom had introduced that seemed like a perfect match for Kei's needs.
So she led him over to check it out.
It was a small standalone building.
The lot wasn't big, but since it had two stories, the room sizes inside looked quite decent.
Using the number on the building's entrance, they called the landlord.
About thirty minutes later, a middle-aged man arrived in a rush by car.
After a brief introduction and hearing Kei's preferences, the landlord smiled confidently.
"You're gonna love it," he said, unlocking the door and inviting them in for a tour.
Whether it was the furniture, the interior design, or the overall space, everything matched the landlord's words—it really was impressive.
For a single person, it was almost too spacious: one master bedroom, two additional rooms, and even a dedicated storage area.
As for the rent...
It was a little on the pricey side, but given the quality, Kei found it acceptable.
Without much hesitation, once he'd made up his mind, he nodded and agreed to take it.
However, things like ID verification and signing the contract would take time, and Kei didn't want to keep Kita waiting any longer.
So he arranged to come back and handle the paperwork with the landlord the next day.
All in all, from arriving at the apartment to finishing up the conversation, it only took about an hour.
By 9:30 a.m., the apartment-hunting task was already complete.
Now, according to their original plan, it was time to go shopping with Kita.
They switched trains and headed to a nearby mall.
Once inside, Kei followed Kita around without much of a goal in mind, letting his thoughts wander.
He had no idea what Kita was planning to shop for—all he knew was that she'd asked him to come along.
But since they were at the mall anyway, and the weather had begun to cool with the arrival of autumn, Kei figured it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few jackets suited for the season.
Kei vaguely remembered seeing where the clothing stores were when they entered the mall—he figured he could swing by later to look for some autumn jackets.
With that in mind, he came back to the present, intending to bring up the idea with Kita.
But before he could say a word, a voice interrupted him from behind.
"E-Excuse me! Please wait a second!"
The voice came from slightly behind and to the side.
Kei didn't know who they were calling out to, but both he and Kita instinctively turned around.
It was a girl calling out to them.
Kei was sure he didn't know her, and judging by the puzzled expression on Kita's face, she didn't recognize her either.
But it was clearly directed at them—there wasn't much distance between them, and the girl was running toward them, slightly out of breath.
"Haa... I-I knew it... it really is Kita-san... and... S-Suki-san!"
The moment Kei heard her call him "suki," he realized who she likely was.
A fan.
After all, there weren't many people outside of fans who would casually call him that without knowing him personally.
He exchanged a glance with Kita, then stopped walking to wait for the girl to catch up.
Once she reached them and caught her breath, Kita hesitated briefly before speaking up politely.
"Um... hi. May I ask who you are?"
"Kita-san! I'm a huge fan of Kessoku Band! I really love your music! I've been following you guys since suki's first song was posted.
From the very beginning with Lemon to your latest, Fireworks—especially the duet version—I've listened to all of them on repeat!"
The girl beamed as she spoke, clearly excited.
Just as he suspected. Kei gave a slight nod and sincerely thanked her.
"Thanks for your support."
"U-Um, if it's not too much trouble, could I ask for your autograph? Kita-san, Suki-san—sorry to bother you!"
Clearly flustered, the fan quickly pulled a pen and notebook from her bag and handed them over to Kei with a bow.
It wasn't something they could refuse.
Kei took the pen and signed his name, along with "Kessoku Band," then passed the notebook to Kita.
Kita added her own signature, then took a moment to carefully draw a small, cute doodle of a bear on the floral-patterned page.
"Thank you so much!" the fan bowed deeply again, then seemed to remember something.
She paused, then added, "Ah, and... um... would it be okay to take a photo together?"
The three of them took a picture.
Afterwards, the fan asked if she could upload the photo to social media.
Kei didn't really mind—it wouldn't make much of a difference to him either way.
As for Kita...
She was about to agree right away but paused for a moment as if something had just occurred to her.
After thinking it over, she still nodded in the end, though she added a small request with a polite smile:
"If you're going to post it, please don't write any weird captions, okay?"
The fan blinked in surprise but quickly nodded, promising she wouldn't.
She tucked the notebook away carefully, clearly cherishing the moment.
Realizing she'd probably taken up enough of their time, the fan politely decided not to linger.
Before leaving, she bowed once again, then looked up at Kita.
After a brief moment of hesitation, her expression turned serious.
She glanced at Aoki, then returned her gaze to Kita and said something Kei didn't quite understand:
"Kita-san, please... please do your best!"
"...?"
Kei tilted his head slightly, confused.
Kita froze for a moment—then it clicked.
A faint blush crept across her cheeks as she snuck a glance at Kei beside her.
Then, she nodded with determination. "Ah... yeah! I'll do my best!"
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