Asakura and Kita Ikuyo joined forces to stuff Momoka, who was still drunk and mumbling about high-end mineral water, into the back seat of the old Ford.
Asakura sat in the driver's seat, while Kita Ikuyo, because she didn't feel comfortable leaving the drunk Momoka alone, also sat in the back to look after her during the journey.
After all, she had vomited before; if she vomited "rainbows" in the car this ti, cleaning it up would be a living hell...
Asakura started the engine but didn't drive off imdiately. The long wait eventually made Kita Ikuyo think the vintage car had broken down.
"Asakura-kun, is there sothing else?"
In the end, the girl couldn't help but ask.
"Actually, I'm warming up the car..." Asakura said matter-of-factly. "It's bad for the engine if you just drive off without warming it up first".
"That's sothing you do in winter, right? It's already July now..." the girl complained.
"...This is the pride of an old vintage car, you wouldn't understand..." Asakura argued seriously.
If it were people like Asagumo or Chihaya who were more familiar with Asakura, they could probably tell this guy was just talking nonsense. However, Kita Ikuyo and Asakura hadn't known each other for very long, and since he usually acted quite serious in front of her, the girl couldn't tell for a mont if he was lying.
The vintage car's gearbox let out two "clunk" sounds, as if protesting Asakura's act of making it take the bla, but after Asakura slamd the gear lever twice... I an, shifted into reverse, the old car honestly crawled backward.
Kita Ikuyo even thought she slled a faint scent of engine oil.
"If this really won't work, the train station doesn't seem too far from here..." Seeing Asakura use such forceful actions to shift the gear lever twice as if repairing a bad electrical contact, the girl couldn't help but worry about the quality of the old Ford. She said as if she feared it would fall apart halfway: "Momoka-san's expression looks a bit uncomfortable too. Maybe taking the train would be better? After all, it's not as bumpy..."
Asakura pondered for a mont. When he finally confird sothing through the rearview mirror, he said with a sigh of relief: "There's no need for that. We can set off right away, but before that..."
He pointed outside the car.
Kita Ikuyo looked out the car window and saw Nijika running toward them, out of breath.
She rolled down the window and looked at the other party in confusion: "Ichiji-senpai, what's wrong?"
"...Even though you're carrying a drunk person, why can you move so fast?" The blonde girl first complained in a small voice, then straightened her expression and said to her: "Kita-chan, I have sothing I want to say to you".
"...I don't like girls other than Ryo-senpai, you know?"
Kita Ikuyo hesitated.
"No, no, no, my orientation is very normal. Rather, that guy is obviously very unreliable, but according to my observations, she's also not... no, the problem isn't that!"
Nijika was unconsciously led off-topic.
However, after noticing Asakura's half-smiling expression in the front seat, she imdiately snapped out of it.
"Um, Kita-chan, can you co down and have a proper chat with ?"
"Eh?" Kita Ikuyo finally seed to notice that Nijika was serious about this.
She looked at Asakura subconsciously.
"You don't need to mind ..." Asakura gripped the steering wheel with both hands and said with a solemn face: "Just treat as a passing Shaolin Abbot. This old monk is not interested in worldly gossip~"
Liar! You clearly had a face full of interest just now!
Nijika complained in her heart.
But what she had to do was sothing Asakura had already guessed during the celebratory banquet. In a sense, it could already be considered an open secret between them. Although having a "bystander" present was a bit awkward, at this point, she couldn't afford to back down anymore.
"Kita-chan, you're a 'super-sized cup' singer, right?" Nijika asked.
"Is there sothing wrong with that adjective?" Kita Ikuyo's expression was a bit subtle.
"Sorry, I was a bit nervous and accidentally said the word from the ssage Asakura-kun just sent ..." Nijika took a deep breath to calm herself down slightly.
As she spoke, the phone in the girl's pocket rang—clearly she was a very cute girl, but perhaps because being a drumr required sitting all the ti, whenever there was a live, Nijika would always wear sowhat rustic-looking suspenders. She was a "Suspenders Powerhouse"—she pulled it out to check the screen and found a text ssage from Asakura.
[NOT A TYPO]
Who would understand that!
The blonde girl's cowlick swayed irritably.
"Kita-chan, you're a 'super-tier' singer, right?" After re-organizing her emotions, Kita Ikuyo asked once more.
"It hasn't reached that level yet."
Because of the information revealed in Nijika's words, Kita Ikuyo already knew she had been "sold out." She couldn't help but cast a resentful and helpless glance at the front seat: it was clearly because she trusted you that she told you those things, yet in the blink of an eye, you sold yourself out to Ichiji-senpai. Doesn't your conscience ache, Asakura-kun?
And our "Shaolin Abbot" at this mont seed to have noticed absolutely nothing of the gaze coming from the girl. He just stared intently at the roof of the car, as if he had developed an imnse interest in a wonderfully horn-shaped stain on the ceiling.
"In short, I hope you can serve as the lead singer and join Kessoku Band once more." Nijika forcefully pushed the progress of the conversation.
"I can't do it, soone like who can't even tell the difference between a guitar and a bass..." Kita Ikuyo's expression beca sowhat gloomy, looking very depressed.
"There's no such thing! Everyone starts out like that! I think Kita-chan is actually very full of potential! Don't worry so much about these trivial matters!"
"Soone like who lied to Ichiji-senpai and Ryo-senpai..."
"Didn't Kita-chan practice desperately too? It was only because of various reasons that things didn't go as planned. Besides, you've already apologized sincerely, and Ryo has forgiven you too, so it's fine!"
"Soone with a na like mine that sounds like a joke..."
"..."
"Why don't you have a rebuttal for this point?!"
"U-Using it for warming up the crowd or sothing might be pretty good..."
Nijika's eyes shifted like those of a cat; this was her look when she was feeling sowhat guilty, which was quite common.
"Don't affirm my na from another perspective!"
Kita Ikuyo almost cried out in the car: "I can't be happy about this at all!"
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