"Are you coming with me to check out the clubs?" Kikukawa Kyo poured another cup of soup for Sakiko. After the third refill, Sakiko finally stopped her.
"Are you going with Tomori and that Chihaya girl?" Sakiko asked in return.
"Her full name is Chihaya Anon, you know," Kyo reminded her. "Yeah, I already made plans with them to check out the clubs later."
"I'm not that familiar with... Anon," Sakiko replied calmly. "If that's the case, you can go with them. I'm not really interested in clubs anyway."
She was telling the truth—spending time on club activities had never been in her plans. Studying more or picking up extra shifts at the bookstore was far more important to her.
"Alright then." Kyo had only asked casually; she hadn't expected Sakiko to say yes in the first place.
After finishing off the last sip of soup, Kyo closed the lid of her thermos and tucked it into her desk. Just as she was about to leave, something crossed her mind, and she turned back to Sakiko.
"I'm thinking of talking to Anon about CRYCHIC."
Sakiko remained as composed as ever. "You don't need my permission for that, Kyo. Even if we do end up having any contact with them again, it certainly won't be through CRYCHIC."
After a brief pause, she added, "Thanks for handling it."
Then, from somewhere, Sakiko pulled out a canned drink and placed it on the desk. "This is for you. I promised I'd bring you a drink now and then."
Kyo raised an eyebrow as she picked it up. It was a rather obscure brand—not something you'd find in an ordinary convenience store, but one of those drinks you had to go to a well-stocked supermarket to get.
I did say I'd find any drink from Sakiko interesting, but she really went out of her way to pick something rare, huh?
"I'm actually a little touched, Sakiko."
"You've probably had something like this before, though," Sakiko pointed out. She was well aware of the difference in their experience when it came to drinks. If she really wanted to find something Kyo hadn't tried, she'd have to venture into the realm of beverages minors weren't allowed to touch.
But, out of a sense of responsibility, she had at least made the effort to choose the drink with the lowest stock on the supermarket shelf.
"Heh." That soft chuckle again. This time, Kyo felt something stir inside her—a warm emotion she couldn't quite name, but she was sure it was a good one.
"Alright, I'm heading out."
...
"Ah, Kyo, you're here!"
Tomori and Anon were already waiting downstairs. Anon was the first to notice Kyo, and the thermos from earlier was now gone, replaced by a canned drink with a completely unfamiliar label. Kyo sipped from it as she walked down the steps.
"What's that? Is it good?"
Seeing Kyo drinking something she'd never seen before, Anon was naturally curious. In her mind, someone who could make such delicious lotus seed soup—and was widely admired for it—must have discovered some hidden gem of a drink.
Niche but high quality? That combination screams class! It's the kind of thing people would go crazy over!
"This?" Kyo lowered the can from her lips, revealing an expression that immediately caught Anon's attention.
Kyo's mouth was pressed into a tight line, her eyes squinting slightly, and even her delicate eyebrows were furrowed like ripples forming and overlapping on water—almost as if she'd just bitten into a lemon.
"Anon, if something is obscure, there's usually a reason for it." Kyo spoke with the weight of experience. "This stuff is not something you can drink lightly. Every flavor in it feels like it was extracted and concentrated to the absolute limit. Whether it's sour or sweet, it's all at maximum intensity, fighting a full-blown war on your tongue."
She felt like every word she spoke carried a lingering taste of acidic rust and cloying syrup.
Anon was stunned by Kyo's description. "Then… why are you drinking it?"
"I'm pretty open-minded when it comes to drinks." Kyo brushed the topic aside. "Alright, let's go."
She downed the last sip in one go and quickly tossed the can into a nearby trash bin, as if that would also get rid of the lingering unpleasantness in her mouth.
Unfortunately, it didn't.
"So, which club should we check out first?" Anon pulled out her student handbook, flipping to the page listing today's club locations. "Why don't we check out the light music club? We were talking about bands earlier, so—wait, there's no light music club?"
"If we don't have a preference, let's just wander around," Kyo suggested. Haneoka didn't have anything like a mixology club, so in the end, she figured she'd probably end up like in middle school—going straight home after class.
"Then let's head to that building over there. Even if there's no light music club, there are still plenty of music-related ones." With Kyo not taking the lead, Anon naturally stepped in to make the decision.
Tomori, as usual, left the decision-making to the other two.
"But it seems like a lot of people at Haneoka are into bands."
As the three of them walked, the conversation continued to flow. Anon picked up where they had left off. "Earlier in class, I heard some classmates talking about forming a band this semester. And both Tomori and Kyo were in a band back in middle school too..."
"Well, there's this whole idea now that we're in the Era of Girls' Bands—it's practically a trend at this point."
Hearing Kyo say that, Anon immediately perked up, planting her hands on her hips with a triumphant grin. "Actually, I was in a band in middle school too! And I was the guitarist and the lead vocalist!"
"Anon, that's amazing...!"
Anon got exactly the reaction she wanted. Tomori gasped in awe, her amber eyes shimmering with pure admiration, completely unfeigned.
"Heh heh~" Anon practically wagged her tail in delight.
Watching Anon puff up with pride again, Kyo thought about saying something—but in the end, she held back.
She figured Anon's middle school band was probably nothing like CRYCHIC, which, despite being mostly for fun, had still reached a pretty solid level thanks to Sakiko and Taki.
"Oh! Since Kyo and Tomori both have band experience, why don't we form a band together?"
Anon took the chance to throw out the suggestion.
"Our roles kinda overlap a lot... but there are bands with two guitarists and two vocalists, right?"