V3 Chapter 14: At this point, we’ll have to call in backup

"Now?"

Start right now?

Kazami Haru almost thought he was back on the Wall Rose.

"Now," Ryo confirmed.

He stared at her, visibly confused, his dark eyes locked on Yamada Ryo's expressionless face.

She gracefully dabbed at the corner of her mouth with a napkin, then reached over and lightly tapped her black instrument case beside her. There wasn't a hint of mischief in those gleaming golden eyes.

She was… serious?

"Ryo, don't tell me you're planning to do a street performance?"

"Mm and we can sell some tickets while we're at it."

As she said that, Yamada Ryo pulled out a fanned stack of STARRY live tickets, decorated with stylized lettering. The way they unfolded like a fan of feathers… if they were ten-thousand-yen bills, it might've looked even more ridiculous.

"With a pretty face like yours that easily tricks women, I bet you could sell these ¥1,500 tickets for ¥5,000 each. Then we split the profits—"

"Do you want to be murdered by Seika-nee?" Haru rolled his eyes and snatched the tickets from her hand, though he didn't actually reject the idea.

That was when he realized Ryo's true intent.

From the beginning, she had planned to do a street performance just to sell tickets, but maybe she'd thought a bass solo alone wouldn't be impressive enough, so she had to drag him, the keyboardist, into it too.

"You in?"

Ryo casually set down her now-empty white porcelain coffee cup. Propping her delicate chin on one hand, she gave Haru a subtle smile, those golden eyes calm and unreadable.

Such depth in her gaze was strangely captivating.

Moments ago, they'd been chatting about nonsense while munching on sweets and now suddenly: Let's play on the street.

Only Ryo could have a brain wired like this.

Guess that's rock and roll.

"You in?"

Haru let out a soft snort. Like he even had a choice.

…

Later that afternoon, near Usayama Shopping Street.

Haru expertly set up his keyboard stand along the spiral-patterned sidewalk, unpacked his keyboard, and powered it up with a large portable battery. Once plugged in, the soul of the instrument awakened.

Beside him, Yamada Ryo took out her gleaming bass and cradled it in her arms.

It seemed there was some kind of promotional event happening nearby. Housewives carrying shopping baskets strolled by, and groups of after-school JKs in black-and-white sailor uniforms passed as well, eye-catching in their own way.

"Hey, hey, look over there…"

"Those two are so cool. I kinda wanna go talk to them."

Even if they didn't say a word, just tuning their instruments was enough to draw curious glances, their looks alone were attention magnets.

"Ooh, are they getting ready to perform?!"

Some Tsukinomori girls nearby whispered excitedly, giggling as they watched cautiously from a distance.

Haru was already used to this kind of attention. It didn't faze him.

"So, since you're all ready to perform out here, I assume you brought an amp or speaker system, yeah?" he asked, still facing his keyboard. Once he played a few clear notes, he gave a satisfied nod.

Unlike his battery-powered keyboard, bass guitars and electric guitars needed an amp to be heard.

But Ryo had nothing with her except her bass.

"Doesn't matter if it's plugged in or not, no one can hear bass anyway," she replied dead serious.

"Bassists shouldn't joke about bass," Haru sighed.

Watching her warm up with a few slap bass riffs, he pulled out his phone with a chuckle.

Thankfully, he had already called for backup.

A few minutes later, their "backup" arrived.

Just as Ryo was finishing a handwritten sign on plain white paper, a small figure in a Tsukinomori school uniform appeared.

Petite and delicate, she carried a massive guitar case and a small brown amp the size of a radio. Most striking of all was the full-face black cat mask completely covering her head.

"…Who?"

Ryo stared, intrigued. The bizarre outfit caught her attention immediately.

That wide-eyed, grinning cat mask was unsettling… yet weirdly funny.

"Thanks for coming, Mutsumi. Want to play with us?" Haru asked.

"..."

Mutsumi Wakaba, her face hidden beneath the cat mask, gave Ryo a subtle glance, then nodded at Haru.

As the daughter of two A-list celebrities, Mutsumi couldn't appear in public just like that. Haru had asked her to wear something to hide her face.

He thought she'd come with a mask and sunglasses or something… not this.

But, well, it was effective. No one would recognize her.

"Seven-string guitar?"

Ryo eyed the pale pink instrument Mutsumi carried and made a strange noise.

Seven-string guitarists were rare.

Yes, they allowed for a broader range of technique, but they were much harder to play. That one extra string made a world of difference.

You only used one of those if you wanted attention… or if you had serious skill.

"Thanks for bringing an amp. I'll make Haru buy you croquettes later," Ryo added casually.

"Don't make decisions for me without my permission," Haru muttered, pulling her back from Mutsumi.

He had to keep Ryo away from the innocent and adorable Mutsumi.

Even Raana had been corrupted by Ryo's subtly chaotic personality. If she got too close to Mutsumi too, and she started picking up bad habits…

He'd be devastated.

"..."

Mutsumi was quiet, but she gently tugged on Haru's sleeve.

Even though her face was covered and even if it weren't, her expression wouldn't change, Haru could feel her mood.

She wasn't worried about the croquettes.

She was worried about whether he would be the one buying them.

But Mutsumi had changed. She'd learned to express her needs and when something bothered her, she let Haru know immediately.

That alone made her adorable enough to occupy his whole brain.

"Don't worry!"

"I'll buy you anything you want later!"

Only after he said that did Mutsumi let go of his sleeve.

"Yay~ I get to eat as much as I want later."

"I never said I was buying for Ryo too," Haru added, glancing sideways at Ryo's smug grin.

But he sighed again.

Might as well treat them both.

Besides, with all the "Wife's Savings Passbook" rewards from his simulation stash already going to other girls, what was a few dozen ¥800 mango juices for someone who'd come to help?

"Hmph~"

Ryo gave a smug little smile and a thumbs-up.

But after watching Haru and Mutsumi interact, her fingers stiffened slightly as she plucked her bass. Her golden eyes darted toward the masked girl.

Haru had mentioned another guitarist was coming, but she hadn't expected a girl she didn't recognize at all.

Unlike Kita Ikuyo or Chihaya Anon, this new seven-string guitarist radiated a quiet but unmistakable threat, even with her face hidden.

Not normal.

"Ryo, let me introduce you two."

"This is Wakaba Mutsumi, first-year from Tsukinomori. She's the guitarist I mentioned. She's wearing that ridiculous headpiece because it's hard for her to be seen in public. I'll get you both properly introduced someday."

"And Mutsumi, this here is Yamada Ryo, the deceptively charming bassist from Kessoku Band. We also do arrangement work together."

Neither Ryo nor Mutsumi were the type to introduce themselves, so Haru stepped in to play the go-between.

"Nice to meet you," Ryo said softly, blinking and observing the girl in front of her.

She felt an odd… resemblance.

Not in looks or personality, something deeper.

Bzzz—

As soon as the amp was plugged in, the raw, distorted hum of a seven-string guitar filled the air.

Calmly holding her pastel-pink guitar, Mutsumi didn't need more than a glance at the score to memorize it. This was nothing for her.

"…Cat…"

A silver-purple-haired girl passing by stopped and stared at Mutsumi in the cat mask.

Beside her, a brunette with soft curls blinked in confusion.

"Oh~ a street performance!"

And they weren't the only ones watching.

On the sidewalks of Usayama Shopping Street, a sudden burst of music rang out—like an invisible hook pulling people to a stop. Elementary schoolers laughing with ice cream in hand, or fashionable gyaru high school girls chatting as they walked—

Everyone, without exception, turned their heads.

"Up next, we'll be playing an original song by Kessoku Band: 'Guitar, Loneliness and Blue Planet.'"

The piercing scream of guitars tore through the air. Bass and guitar surged into the prelude at once, unleashing a raw, jarring roar—an emotional outcry, as if from someone drowning in loneliness but still refusing to give up.

Fingers raced across fretboards at speeds barely visible to the naked eye, a dazzling display of technical mastery.

Kazami Haru narrowed his eyes. The moment the intro ended, his long index finger slid gracefully across the keyboard—each note light and clean, as if stroking the keys themselves.

Those elegant rhythms floated into the air, adding warmth and brightness to the sharp edges of the guitar.

"..."

Yamada Ryo continued plucking at the bass strings, but the longer she played, the more shocked she became.

That girl with the seven-string guitar—

Her technique was incredible.

Listening closely, it was obvious that she wasn't playing the simplified arrangement that Haru had revised.

She was playing the original, uncut, full-difficulty version of the song.

The same version even Kessoku Band members struggled with during rehearsal.

And yet, this complete outsider, someone Ryo had never seen before, was pulling it off flawlessly?

She instinctively turned to glance at Haru, who now wore a faint smile, totally absorbed in the performance. His fingers danced across the keyboard with even more fluidity and finesse than before.

The music continued.

…

Every day after school, Wakaba Mutsumi would "clock in" at Tsukinomori's gardening club like clockwork.

But today was different.

When Nagasaki Soyo had invited her to tea to chat, Mutsumi had quietly said, "I have something to take care of," and turned around and walked off.

Flat-out rejected Soyo's offer.

Her decisiveness was so unexpected, Soyo had been left stunned.

Even more shocking was that Mutsumi hadn't gone to the gardening club either, she had grabbed her guitar and left Tsukinomori altogether!

Nagasaki Soyo was bewildered and deeply suspicious.

What on earth is Mutsumi doing?

"Soyo-kun~ Want to come to wind ensemble with us later?" a friend nearby asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Ah~ sorry! I've got something I need to do today~" Soyo gave her usual gentle, friendly smile, the one she used all the time around her music club friends.

"Ehh? Is it that 'band' thing you mentioned before? So you really are forming a band again, Soyo?"

"Mm~ So I'll have to pass today. Next time, okay?"

Soyo's delicate brows furrowed slightly, though her smile remained soft and motherly. It was the kind of sincere apology no one could stay mad at.

But Soyo already knew—

She wasn't going to be able to focus on anything else today.

Because the situation in front of her was too serious to ignore.

Mutsumi… what's going on with you?

Saying her goodbyes to her friends, Soyo muttered to herself in growing anxiety.

It was too deliberate. Too unnatural.

She always doted on the cucumbers in the gardening club—yet today, she skipped everything and left school?

That meant whatever "thing" she had to do was more important than even her beloved cucumbers?

But what could that possibly be?

A feeling stirred in Nagasaki Soyo's chest.

If she let this go, she would regret it.

"What could matter to Mutsumi this much…?"

"Don't tell me—"

As if struck by a realization, Soyo's watery blue eyes widened dramatically, her voice trembling, breaking from its usual carefully maintained softness.

Come to think of it, Mutsumi didn't really have any friends.

If she was willing to abandon even her cucumbers, there could only be one reason—

It had to be related to her one and only close friend.

Mutsumi might have gone to see Sakiko.

"If it's about Sakiko… that would explain everything!"

Soyo's thoughts clicked into place all at once.

Suddenly, everything made sense... Mutsumi's strange behavior, her abrupt departure from school. Her woman's intuition screamed that her hunch was almost certainly right.

"If Mutsumi really is going to see Sakiko, then—"

This is my chance.

I can't afford to miss this opportunity.

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