After a quick wash-up, Chisato, who was yawning, headed out with the dark wing.
It was the first time he had gone to the STARRY store so early. He hadn't expected that just one night would be enough to finish the arrangement work.
Although he didn't know much about music, he knew that arranging wasn't easy, and he found himself a bit impressed with Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo.
He arrived at STARRY around nine o'clock. The store door had a "Closed" sign, but Chisato ignored it and walked in.
The store was empty, with only dim lighting providing basic illumination.
The ventilation system was off, and the air was filled with a strange smell of mixed alcohol and beverages—neither particularly pleasant nor outright unpleasant.
As part of his job habits, Chisato casually set an overturned chair upright before walking into the recording studio.
As he pushed open the door, lively and vibrant music played, accompanied by a somewhat awkward but endearing and lively singing voice trying to blend into the music.
It was Ikuyo-chan's voice. Has she started already?
Chisato walked in.
He sat down on the small sofa, watching the four band members performing together.
However, as soon as he sat down, the previously smooth rehearsal came to a halt due to a major mistake by someone.
"Buzz—"
The harsh sound of the guitar made the other three members of the band turn towards Hitori.
She looked off, her lips and arms trembling, and her pick had fallen to the ground. The discordant noise just now was caused by her.
"Hitori-chan, are you okay?"
The band leader, Nijika, was the first to come out from behind the drum set and approached her with concern.
The singer, Ikuyo-chan, also hurried over and stood by her side.
Yamada Ryo sighed softly and walked up to Chisato.
Chisato looked at her indifferent expression, confused.
"How is it?"
"How is what?"
"Did the arrangement we worked on all night meet your expectations?"
"It's hard to say; I haven't heard the full version."
"Well, how about the part you've heard?"
"It's a bit different from what I expected, but it's still good."
Chisato carefully chose his words, not wanting to disappoint Ryo.
Hearing this response, Ryo nodded thoughtfully, pinched the bridge of her nose, and rubbed her eyes.
Then she reached out, pulling Chisato up from the sofa, then flopped down onto the sofa herself.
She put on her hood, pulling the strings tight to cover the upper half of her head, leaving only her mouth and nose exposed.
Watching her series of actions, Chisato felt a bit speechless but still wished her good night.
As he turned to look at Hitori, who was huddled on the sofa, Ryo rolled over.
"Ah… I'm so tired after a whole night and didn't have supper or breakfast."
Chisato paused, considering that Ryo had indeed worked hard all night for his ideas. He couldn't just ignore her words.
"Nijika also worked all night with you, right? I'll get some takeout for you. What do you want to eat?"
Ryo rolled to the other side.
"Takeout isn't good. Nijika doesn't like takeout."
"She prefers the small dumplings, pan-fried dumplings, mapo tofu, and shrimp fried rice from the Chinese restaurant at the end of this street."
"…"
Chisato looked at Ryo after she finished speaking, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"… I'll go buy it later."
Given that she had indeed worked hard all night, he didn't have the heart to point out her excessive demands.
He walked over to the other three.
Seeing Chisato approach, Hitori showed a panicked expression and hid behind Nijika.
"Bocchi-chan, what's wrong? It's so strange."
"Just… just give me a moment."
Because upon seeing him, she felt both happy and sad, wanting to laugh and cry.
Please just block me for a moment… just for a little while…
Chisato thought about the unexpected affection prompt from the pure love system last night, and seeing Hitori's extremely unusual behavior now, his confusion grew.
He tilted his head, his gaze crossing Nijika as he examined Hitori hiding behind someone.
Unusually, she wasn't wearing her usual plain pink sportswear but instead wore a feminine white shirt with a blue pleated skirt and white knee-high socks, with a pair of clean, artistic sneakers.
"Unusual to see you in a different style, Hitori-san. You look very pretty."
Chisato offered a sincere compliment.
Hitori, who already had a delicate appearance, looked even more softly adorable in this outfit.
Being someone chosen by the pure love system from a sea of people, she naturally had a remarkable base.
After this compliment, Hitori slowly raised her eyes from behind Nijika, looking timidly at Chisato, their eyes meeting.
Just that one glance made Chisato momentarily dazed, feeling an inexplicable ache in his heart.
However, Nijika and Ikuyo-chan's exaggerated reactions interrupted his feelings.
"Wow! Bocchi-chan, you changed your clothes today!"
"Really, really, so cute!"
Both of them, one severely sleep-deprived and the other excited about singing a new song for the first time, hadn't noticed Hitori's difference until Chisato pointed it out.
Hitori clearly couldn't handle the overly enthusiastic reactions of her two bandmates and showed a familiar panicked response to Chisato.
Was it just an illusion?
Hitori took a small circle and hid behind Chisato.
"Bocchi-chan, how about a photo? I'll give you some candy."
Ikuyo-chan wasn't ready to give up, her eyes full of determined enthusiasm.
Chisato felt his sleeve being tugged down, and to help out, he said,
"Forget it. Let's take a photo later. I'm going out to buy something to eat."
He turned to Hitori.
"Will you come with me?"
Hitori nodded.
Ignoring the disappointed Ikuyo-chan, Chisato led Hitori out of STARRY.
The moment they stepped outside, Hitori released her hold and slightly increased the distance between them.
However, Chisato could still feel her occasionally sneaking glances at him.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
Chisato's casual question made Hitori instantly tense up.
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