Although he didn't know how his sister had communicated with her band members afterwards, Tetsuya somehow found himself roped into an after-school meeting. At the same time, because he had his own work to do in the evening, the total duration of this meeting was quite limited, only about half an hour—
"So, this is... the live house called [RiNG]?"
Tetsuya raised his head to look at the huge building in front of him, its scale comparable to a shopping mall.
"It feels completely different from what I imagined."
However, the larger the scale, the more legitimate it was.
In a way, it was quite reassuring that Anon would choose to start her band activities in a place like this.
With this thought, Tetsuya arrived at this live house—a place with which his fate would become deeply intertwined in the future—at the time he had previously arranged with Anon.
...
The place Anon had arranged to meet him was a café on the second floor of [RiNG].
And when he pushed open the door of the café and walked inside, he immediately saw the figure of his sister—
"Ah! You're finally here!"
Anon, who was sitting by the window, immediately stood up with a happy expression on her face upon seeing Tetsuya walk through the door:
"Hey! Brother! Over here!"
Following Anon's loud call, the other two girls sitting at the same table also looked towards the entrance.
"!"
Upon seeing Tetsuya's face, a girl with short gray hair immediately showed an expression of utter surprise, while another long, brown-haired girl in a navy-blue sailor uniform, though her reaction was not as intense, still cast a curious gaze towards Tetsuya...
"Anon, don't be so loud in a public place."
Arriving beside his sister, Tetsuya first admonished her with a helpless tone, then nodded slightly to the other two girls and said:
"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Chihaya Anon's older brother, Chihaya Tetsuya. It's nice to meet you... Hm?"
Halfway through his sentence, Tetsuya also noticed the gray-haired girl who was staring intently at him—
"Ah, the girl from the planetarium yesterday?"
"Y-Yes!"
The petite, gray-haired girl with a delicate and cute face immediately stood up from her seat as if she were a student called on by a teacher.
"My name is... Takamatsu Tomori, I'm Anon's classmate. About yesterday... I'm sorry to have troubled you..."
The girl named Takamatsu Tomori said timidly.
In order to calm her visibly nervous and restrained state, Tetsuya replied in as gentle a tone as possible:
"It was just changing seats, it wasn't any trouble at all."
"Eh!? You've already met Tomori, Brother?!"
Before Takamatsu Tomori could respond, Anon let out a cry of utter shock.
"What's this about a planetarium? I've never heard anything about it!"
"It's nothing major. I just accidentally took the seat that Takamatsu-san usually uses yesterday."
To prevent this topic from increasing Tomori's nervousness, Tetsuya first downplayed the whole incident in a single sentence before turning his gaze to the other girl.
"And you... must be the 'young lady' Anon mentioned who has been taking good care of her?"
"Both 'taking care' and 'young lady' are a bit of an overstatement."
The beautiful, brown-haired girl showed a very reserved smile upon hearing this.
"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Nagasaki Soyo. It's nice to meet you, Chihaya-san."
"It's nice to meet you too... by the way, Anon, I remember you mentioned there should be one more member of the band, right?"
Tetsuya asked with some curiosity:
"Has she not arrived yet?"
"The other member has been here the whole time."
At this, Anon suddenly leaned out towards the cashier's counter:
"Hey! Taki, my brother is here, hurry up and come over!"
"..."
Following Anon's call, a girl with long, dark brown hair and a cool aura behind the counter first said something to her colleague, then walked out from behind the counter and headed towards them—
"...Hello, my name is Shiina Taki."
Although her expression seemed a little unhappy, Shiina Taki still bowed slightly to Tetsuya politely and said:
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine."
From the way Anon treated her, and the straightforward look of annoyance on this girl's face, she must be the one with the "terrible personality," right?
Thinking this, Tetsuya then added:
"My sister... seems to have caused you some trouble."
"Eh? I did not!"
Before Shiina Taki could respond, Anon immediately retorted:
"I just made a few slightly immature suggestions... right? Taki?"
"Umm..."
Although Shiina Taki really wanted to say that it was causing trouble, considering that the other party's brother was right there, she didn't know how to answer for a moment.
But soon, Tetsuya's next words made the choice for her—
"Saying it like that is already causing trouble for others."
"Ouch!"
Anon clutched the top of her head and said with a tearful face:
"Waaah... at least leave me some face when we're outside..."
"That would only make you push your luck."
"How could you..."
On the other side, after seeing this series of interactions between the two, the expression on Shiina Taki's face relaxed considerably.
Compared to the unreliable Chihaya Anon, her brother was far more proper. Not only that, but Tetsuya's manner of speaking and his dignified appearance in a formal suit also fit perfectly with her image of what an adult should be like.
Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, Shiina Taki hurriedly turned her gaze to Takamatsu Tomori.
In her view, Tomori, who was already shy, would surely be quite frightened in front of a strange man. However, when she carefully examined Tomori's expression, she found that her face at this moment did not show the anxiety and fear she had imagined. Instead, it was the usual slight nervousness, along with a hint of curiosity.
This was really beyond Shiina Taki's imagination...
"Ahem! Well then, since everyone is here, we should get down to business."
After Shiina Taki sat down, Anon very naturally clapped her hands to call everyone to order:
"Like I said before, my brother is a fashion designer. He came here this time to check on everyone's situation and discuss the design for our band's uniforms!"
"Um... Anon-san? About that, didn't we say yesterday that we don't need to rush with the costumes? Even if Chihaya-san is a designer, it would still be too much trouble for him to suddenly design outfits for four people..."
"It's fine, Soyo-san! My brother happens to have some free time recently, and besides, this is something he promised me before, so it's not troubling him!"
"...Is that so?"
Nagasaki Soyo tilted her head.
"If you insist... I suppose it's alright. Then, should we start by giving our measurements or something?"
"That's not necessary."
Tetsuya quickly denied this question:
"Not all clothes require such detailed measurements. Before the style and design of the outfits are decided, there's no need to provide that kind of detailed data."
Not only that, but even if they were facing a fashion designer, these girls in the prime of their youth would probably not want to casually give their private information to a man they had just met for the first time.
And as expected, after hearing that Tetsuya didn't need detailed data, the faces of the three girls each showed varying degrees of relief.
"Well then, as a reference for the costume style, do you have any thoughts on your band's main performance style?"
Tetsuya asked.
Upon hearing this question, the four girls present all showed somewhat hesitant expressions.
Anon was simply clueless, while the hesitation of the other three seemed to be mixed with some other emotions—
"As for the style... that wasn't something we needed to consider before."
Nagasaki Soyo lowered her head slightly and muttered in a small voice, her tone difficult to read:
"After all, before, the person in charge of composing was her..."
"..."
Hearing Nagasaki Soyo's words, the expression on Takamatsu Tomori's face visibly wavered.
Seeing this, Shiina Taki immediately spoke up:
"In that case, let's start by considering our band's instrument composition... right now, we're a classic combination of a vocalist, a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist—"
"In the future, we might add new instruments."
Before Shiina Taki could finish, Nagasaki Soyo cut her off:
"So, it's not enough to just consider the existing instruments."
"What?"
Shiina Taki frowned slightly upon hearing this.
"You... you couldn't possibly be..."
"Chihaya-san, do we absolutely need a clear performance style to design costumes?"
Nagasaki Soyo ignored Shiina Taki's questioning and turned to ask Tetsuya.
"Are there any versatile types of outfits that can adapt to multiple performance styles?"
"Of course."
Tetsuya nodded, then took out his phone and opened a photo album he had prepared in advance.
"Actually, many bands don't pay special attention to coordinating their outfits with their performances. For example, the costumes used by this band are the simplest solid-colored T-shirts with a huge logo. Although it gives off a sense of a student club's immaturity, it can be considered a manifestation of style in a way. There are also these kinds of outfits based purely on individual aura. Without considering the band's overall unity, using highly polished individual styles is also a good choice..."
With a proud look on Anon's face and a gradually dazed expression on the other three girls' faces, Tetsuya provided them with a detailed explanation of many different costume styles and coordination ideas.
And after this detailed and clear explanation, the slight, instinctive doubts in the three girls' hearts also vanished.
"So... amazing..."
The first to voice her thoughts was Takamatsu Tomori.
"Chihaya-san, you've really thought about so much for us..."
"It's my sister's band, after all. As her brother, of course I have to be more attentive."
Tetsuya said as such:
"If you find it really difficult to choose, you don't have to make a decision today. After all, a band isn't a short-term activity of a day or two. For the long-term, there's nothing wrong with being a little cautious."
"! Yes!"
For some reason, after hearing Tetsuya's words, Takamatsu Tomori nodded her head with great force.
"Not short-term... but for much longer, for a lifetime..."
"Well then, before you make a final decision, I will continue to help you find some other bands' costumes as references. Even if you can't decide on a clear style, you can just pick the types you like from them."
As he spoke, Tetsuya put his phone back in his pocket.
"Although I'd like to introduce you to more, I have work to do next, so I'll have to take my leave for now."
Takamatsu Tomori: "Mhm, s-see you next time, Chihaya-san!"
Nagasaki Soyo: "Thank you very much for your explanation, Chihaya-san."
Shiina Taki: "Thank you for your hard work."
"Eh!? Is it time already?!"
Unlike the other three, Anon let out a voice of utter surprise.
"Jeez, time passes too quickly when I'm with you, Brother... Everyone, please wait here for a moment, I'm going to see my brother off~"
"You're going to see him off when it's just a few steps?"
"Oh, just mind your own business..."
Just like that, Anon stuck close to Tetsuya's side and left the café with him.
...
"...That's unbelievable."
After the Chihaya siblings left, Shiina Taki couldn't help but shake her head.
"That such an unreliable person would have such a proper brother."
"Perhaps it's precisely because Chihaya-san is so reliable that Anon-san can be so... 'innocently cheerful'."
Nagasaki Soyo gazed at the entrance, rubbing her fingertips as she said:
"What an enviable sibling relationship."
"More importantly... Soyo, that way you phrased it just now, if I'm not mistaken... you couldn't possibly be thinking of bringing Sakiko back, could you?"
Shiina Taki turned her head to stare at Nagasaki Soyo.
Hearing this, Nagasaki Soyo simply continued to gaze in the direction the Chihaya siblings had left, noncommittally.
"Even after what she did?"
"What she did... don't say such petty things."
Nagasaki Soyo said with a smile:
"Sakiko must have had her own difficulties at the time. When she finishes dealing with her issues, she'll be able to come back to us... Tomori thinks so too, right?"
"I..."
Suddenly questioned by Nagasaki Soyo, a complicated expression appeared on Takamatsu Tomori's face.
And Shiina Taki immediately interjected again:
"Even if you really want to bring her back, none of us have been able to contact her since then, right? Are we just going to wait for her to come back on her own?"
"..."
The smile on Nagasaki Soyo's face froze for a moment, before she slowly withdrew her gaze.
"I will... find a way to contact her again."
As if psyching herself up, her tone gradually grew stronger.
"When she comes back, Mutsumi will definitely come back too, and then, we can be together again, so—"
"I'm back!"
Just then, Anon, having seen her brother off, returned to the café with a light step.
"Hehe, what do you think? Isn't my brother super cool!"
As soon as she returned to her seat, Anon couldn't wait to ask.
Nagasaki Soyo was silent for a moment, then she looked up and replied with a smile:
"He is indeed a very mature and steady person. And his insights on fashion are quite worth learning from."
Shiina Taki followed up:
"Yeah, he's a completely different kind of person from you."
"Hmph~ no matter what you say, the fact that he's my brother won't change, and I'm his one and only sister!"
Anon lifted her chin proudly.
"Whatever, whatever, I'm in a good mood today, so I won't argue with you. Let's go to the recording studio! I'm definitely going to show you the results of my Golden Week practice... Tomori, let's go!"
"...Mhm!"
"Hey, Tomori! Tsk, you're really... Soyo, you go ahead with them. I'm going to ask my senior for a leave of absence."
"Got it."
Just like that, the four girls prepared to start their first rehearsal together.
And as they each departed, at another table not far from them, a girl with silver hair was watching their retreating backs with great interest...