"Ishikawa-kun was right… I really am such an idiot…"
Kita Ikuyo hugged her knees as she crouched in the corner of STARRY, staring blankly at the dark gray wall while silently wiping away tears.
Beside her, Nijika and Bocchi were desperately trying to comfort her.
"Th-this… this is the kind of mistake anyone could make…" Nijika said, forcing out whatever words she could come up with.
Bocchi, startled, nearly jumped out of her skin. That was definitely not the kind of mistake just anyone would make.
After hesitating for a moment, Bocchi nervously offered,"Um… i-if you just sell the bass, you can buy a guitar with the money…"
On the other side of the room, Ishikawa Hayabusa stood next to Ryo, right in front of the bass in question.
He gave the bass a long look. Its slightly over-the-top design and its reserved yet showy color scheme made him raise an eyebrow.
"Kita's more rock 'n' roll than I thought—choosing a bass like this," he said, surprised.
Then he glanced sideways at Ryo, who was staring silently in Kita's direction, her calm expression carrying a quiet kind of cool. Suddenly, Hayabusa understood.
This silly girl had chosen her instrument just to match someone else.
Most likely, when she saw this bass and thought it looked like something that fit Ryo's image, she bought it on the spot.
He stood up and nudged Ryo's shoulder."So, Ryo, what do we do now?"
Ryo shot him a sidelong glance, completely unfazed by the younger boy's casual gesture toward her.
Hayabusa could tell there was an emotion in her gaze—something unspoken, directed not at him, but at the foolish girl sitting in the corner.
It seemed that what Hayabusa had just figured out, she had realized too.
At last, she walked over.
…
Hearing another pair of footsteps approach, Kita slowly lifted her tearful eyes.
But when she saw that it was the senpai she admired, Ryo, her heart didn't leap with joy as it usually did—on the contrary, fear gripped her even harder.
What would a cool, aloof band girl like Ryo say to her now? Would she kick her out on the spot?
She panicked, whispering in a trembling voice:"Senpai…"
Ryo looked down at her from above, her tone calm, her slightly husky voice steady.
"I'll buy this bass. After that, I'll lend you one of my guitars."
Kita blinked through her tears, stunned. Her brain took a moment to process what she'd just heard.
Ryo-senpai was buying her bass… and lending her a guitar.
This was… this was basically… a symbolic exchange!
This was proof of love!
She suddenly sprang to her feet, fingers laced together in front of her chest, her entire body radiating a blinding glow that made poor Bocchi yelp and shield her eyes.
"Ryo-senpai, thank you so much!"
"Mm. I'll go get it now," Ryo replied calmly with a nod, then turned and walked unhurriedly toward the shop's exit.
Since she lived nearby, there was no point waiting a few days to bring it over.
As she passed by Hayabusa, she heard him murmur softly,"You're really kind, Ryo. Especially since you don't even like someone like Kita."
Ryo's steps halted.
She turned to look at the boy who had only just started learning an instrument after joining their band—and yet had mastered it fast enough to perform on stage.
Beneath all his teasing and playfulness, his eyes were clear.
Her lips curved ever so slightly, forming a smile that was somehow both proud and mischievous. Her tone was different from usual when she replied,
"You sure are bold, talking like that to your senpai."
Without another word, she walked past him.
Hayabusa couldn't help glancing back at her fleeting, effortlessly cool smile, at the small beauty mark under her eye that made her seem even more refined, at the subtle glint of her earrings.
He had to admit, this girl was seriously cool.
Still, why had her attitude toward him shifted so suddenly?
He had the uneasy feeling that something bad was about to happen.
…
When she returned, Ryo handed Kita the money for the bass.
But then she also pulled out the rest of the money from her pocket, looking gloomy as she said,"This is everything I have left. From now on, I'll have to live off eating grass."
Kita, shocked that Ryo could part with such a sum so easily, was left panicking over how to respond.
Suddenly the money felt too heavy to even put in her pocket.
Nijika, already used to Ryo's "completely broke" state, just sighed.
To her, this wasn't the first time she'd seen this look on Ryo's face—and she knew exactly what the unspoken message behind it was.
She sighed again, resigned."Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll make your lunch for you from now on."
"Yay."
Ryo smiled faintly, then turned her calm gaze toward Hayabusa and Bocchi.
Bocchi shivered under that cool stare, while Hayabusa simply patted his now-empty wallet and flashed a carefree grin.
…
"So now, Kita-chan's got a guitar too…"
Nijika trailed off, her expression suddenly hesitant.
She had been planning to ask Kita to show her current skill level, but considering this was a girl who couldn't even tell the difference between a bass and a guitar, she felt like the band's progress had just been set back several steps.
Seeing Nijika's hesitation, Hayabusa quickly walked over.
Without warning, he put his hands on her shoulders from behind and gave her a light shake.
"Have some confidence, Captain."
Startled by the sudden "attack," Nijika stepped aside and turned her head, her red eyes filled with exasperation as she glared at him.
Hayabusa ignored the look and grinned at Kita.
"All right then—let's welcome the greatest guitarist of the century—pfft—our guitarist, to show us her amazing guitar skills!"
"Hayabusa-kun, that's too much!" Nijika snapped, the first to react since she was standing closest to him.
But Hayabusa's confident grin made her pause. Instead, she turned toward Kita.
It was the first time Kita had ever held a guitar.
Feeling the strings—so much thinner than the ones on her bass—she hesitated under everyone's gaze.
She didn't know what to do.
Six strings, just like the bass, yet it felt completely different in her hands.
Maybe she should just forget it.
But the word "forget" echoed in her mind like a cruel reminder.
That was her biggest regret lately—running away from Ijichi-senpai, Ryo-senpai, and Ishikawa-kun's band without even trying to explain herself.
It was the thing she regretted most in recent memory.
Now she was being given a choice again, and this time—
She raised her head and looked forward.
Behind the worried Ijichi-senpai stood Ishikawa Hayabusa—the one with the rotten personality who had been teasing her constantly lately—smiling at her.
There was no mockery in that smile.
She remembered what he had said to her earlier that day: "Good job, Kita—you've grown."
If she backed down now, he'd definitely think less of her.
And if she didn't play the guitar Ryo-senpai had lent her, she'd only disappoint her.
Clutching the guitar, she looked around at everyone and said firmly,"Then let me try."
As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu—like she had confidently said almost the exact same thing not too long ago.
And just like back then, panic started to set in.