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Chapter 81: Hey, Nijika...
🕑 Added 2025-08-12 16:18:02 +0000 UTCManager Seika might have a sharp tongue, but she’s got a soft heart—she’s usually easy to deal with.
When Aoki Kei mentioned that Takanashi Rikka was a friend, Seika didn’t press the issue and swallowed the “We’re not open yet” that had almost left her lips.
Still, while the manager was understanding, Rikka herself was... a bit of a problem.
Kei had planned a quick rehearsal with the members of Kessoku Band, which meant he didn’t really have the time to entertain unexpected guests.
Practice would take at least another two to three hours, and letting Rikka just sit there and wait around that long didn’t seem right either.
People are often walking contradictions—Aoki was decisive when it came to certain things, but in others, he tended to hesitate.
Even though he’d only met Rikka once before, he couldn’t help but want to be considerate of both sides.
Which, unfortunately, made her sudden visit a bit of a dilemma.
There was no way to satisfy everyone here...
He fell silent, brow slightly furrowed, trying to think of a solution.
And just as he was caught in the middle of his own thoughts, Rikka spoke first.
She realized that dropping in unannounced wasn’t the best idea, and could tell that Kei was torn because of her.
So, after a pause and a nervous shuffle, she said,
“B-Being Sealed One... I was just curious, that’s all! You don’t need to worry about me!”
Her voice softened a little as she continued.
“A-and... um... I-I’m sorry... for bothering you...”
Kei opened his mouth but didn’t say anything at first.
He let out a long, resigned sigh.
Rikka was a good kid overall—she just had these impulsive moments where she did things that didn’t always make sense.
Like following him to the train station before, or now, suddenly showing up out of the blue after figuring out where he was.
Still, he couldn’t just ditch band practice to entertain her.
As much as he might waver, there was only one choice right now: put Rikka on hold.
The members of Kessoku Band were free to move in and out of STARRY’s bar area.
Kei got up, walked over to the bar, and pulled some change from his wallet.
After placing it in the drawer for drinks, he grabbed a cold beverage.
He brought it back and placed it on the table next to Rikka.
“You can hang out here for a while, Takanashi-san. STARRY isn’t open yet, so there’s not really much to do... but if you want to leave, let me know—I’ll walk you out.”
“Ah... o-okay.” Rikka nodded quietly.
With that, the unexpected visitor situation was more or less handled.
Then, Kei shifted back to the topic they’d left off on before Rikka’s arrival.
The manager had mentioned that STARRY had an electric keyboard stored in the back.
Kei asked her for the exact location.
It wasn’t exactly light, but compared to a real acoustic piano, the keyboard was definitely manageable.
He found it in the storage room and, without asking for help, wheeled it into the band’s usual rehearsal room.
After giving it a quick wipe and plugging it in, it powered on without a hitch.
And so, the rehearsal began.
Even though it was their first full-band practice of this song, the girls had already been practicing individually since they’d gotten the sheet music days earlier.
Naturally, some of the finer details were rough, but at least no one was blanking on the notes.
Kei was on keys for their performance of “Uchiage Hanabi” (Fireworks), but his guitar skills didn’t go to waste either.
While they played, he listened closely to Kita and Bocchi’s guitar work, catching mistakes and giving helpful corrections.
They practiced for about an hour.
During that time, Rikka stayed quietly by herself and didn’t interrupt once.
Eventually, practice ended—not because they were done, but because Kita suddenly got a call from home.
Kei couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation—she hadn’t put it on speaker but judging by Kita’s face, it seemed like her parents were hurrying her to get back.
After she hung up, she bowed deeply in apology, promised to arrive on time tomorrow, then quickly slung her guitar bag over her shoulder and ran out of STARRY.
Without their lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, it was clearly not the best day to keep practicing ensemble pieces.
Besides, today's situation was a bit unusual—Takanashi Rikka was still outside the recording studio, just sitting there in the STARRY livehouse lobby, doing nothing...
So, after Kita said her goodbyes and left, Aoki hesitated for a moment before suggesting, “How about we call it a day?”
Naturally, Ryo and the others had no objections.
After packing up his electric piano, Aoki stepped out of the studio and returned to the livehouse’s lobby.
He had expected Rikka to grow restless and wander off—or maybe even leave the venue without saying a word.
But the sight that greeted him caught him completely off guard.
The half-finished cold drink he had given her was sitting to the side, while Takanashi Rikka lay face-down on the table, her head turned slightly to one side, eyes gently closed, as if she'd fallen asleep.
Actually—no, not "as if." She really was asleep.
Aoki Kei stood there in silence for a few seconds, then let out a sigh for the second time today.
She had waited here the whole time while he practiced, only to fall asleep...
To be honest, some of Rikka’s behavior really didn’t sit well with Kei.
If it had been anyone else acting this way, he would’ve distanced himself without hesitation.
But Rikka was different.
Not because she was a pretty girl, but because... somewhere in the hazy memories of his previous life, Kei still remembered something about her backstory.
Her father had died suddenly.
Her mother had abandoned her. And in order to cope with that reality, she’d developed her so-called “chuunibyou” delusions.
The impulsive choices, the occasional blunt way of speaking... Most of it stemmed from what she’d been through.
So when it came to Rikka, Aoki had always chosen to be a little more patient, a little more understanding.
Still, as he looked at her now—sleeping with her head resting on the table, he stood in silence again before shaking his head, brushing those thoughts aside.
She probably didn’t have many friends she could really talk to.
And now, after meeting someone who actually understood her, someone who responded seriously to what she said...
Of course she’d clung to that, chasing after him on their first meeting to add him on LINE.
And today, after realizing she might’ve come on too strong, maybe she had wanted to apologize—only to lose the courage to approach him again, choosing instead to sit and wait until she fell asleep...
Maybe having the occasional chuunibyou moment wasn’t such a big deal after all.
Like how middle-aged men can’t help swinging a tree branch around like a sword when they find one on the roadside.
Boys will be boys—even when they grow up.
Lost in thought, Aoki walked over and gently tapped Rikka on the shoulder.
“Takanashi-san, wanna go for a walk? Or should I just walk you home?”
Startled by the sound of her name and the light pat on her shoulder, Rikka blinked groggily as she raised her head.
Still half-asleep and not quite processing his words, she gave a dazed nod and mumbled, “E-Either one’s fine...”
“In that case... let’s talk once we’re outside. Come on,” Kei replied, already heading for the door.
Rikka blinked again, confused at first, but this time she quickly came to her senses.
Grabbing her cold drink, she jumped up and jogged after Kei.
“Ah... mm-hmm!”
A while after the two of them left the livehouse...
Ryo and Bocchi-chan also decided not to stick around.
They wrapped up and left STARRY shortly after.
Soon, the only ones left inside were Nijika and the manager, Ijichi Seika, who was still seated behind the counter.
The manager, as usual, was working on something with her laptop, while Nijika tidied up the space now that everyone else was gone.
She figured it’d be just another normal day.
But just as she was wiping down the tables, a voice suddenly cut through the air—her sister’s voice.
“Hey, Nijika... you like Aoki, don’t you?”
Ijichi Seika didn’t even look up from her laptop as she spoke.
Her tone was casual, a little curious, but calm.
