Provoked, Aoki accepted the wager.
They set it: measure by next exam's rank; if Yukinoshita lost, she'd also apologize formally.
The apology didn't matter; he accepted for dignity's sake.
If someone denied what you pour your heart into, any normal person would balk.
"I accept," he said, then left the club.
It was around 3:40.
Summer days were long; the sun hadn't dipped at all when Aoki slung his guitar and left Shūka.
He trained at STARRY—tutored Kita, played some ensemble.
Around seven, with dusk settling, he headed out.
Before returning home, he hit a convenience store.
He was low on toiletries; it'd been a while since last restock.
He bought shampoo, toothpaste, and summer-essential mosquito coils—and, after a moment's thought, a copy of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
Back in his apartment, he set the bags down, changed, and cracked his textbooks for homework.
Homework was easy now. While cruising through it, he thought band thoughts.
Kessoku had made fast progress. Bocchi's ensemble had improved; Kita's guitar level was climbing.
Barring surprises, they could pass Seika's screening.
But they were still shy of contest-placing caliber.
He'd tried playing full-tilt with them; they couldn't keep up. Dropping to match them sounded worse.
Long road.
Even so, he was enjoying the now.
He had to admit: just being around these pretty girls, watching them interact, was strangely healing.
His phone buzzed.
A LINE from Yamada Ryō: first a Kumamon-with-bass sticker, then: [suki-san are you free tomorrow?]
Weekend. With no jobs, he was free. He replied:
[Free. What's up?]
Her reply came quick.
[Weird Bassist: I haven't eaten in days. I'm starving. Can you buy me lunch tomorrow?]
He was speechless. If memory served, before leaving STARRY, Ryō had decided to eat at Nijika's tonight.
"Haven't eaten in days" was nonsense. She just wanted a free lunch.
Buying her lunch wasn't a big deal. Money was tight, but not that tight. Between system rewards and YouTube money, and no more tuition, he'd started eating better.
He typed:
[Sure… but didn't you just have dinner at Ijichi-san's?]
This time she didn't reply instantly.
After thirty seconds:
[Weird Bassist: Mainly it's convenient. Eat, rest a bit, then go straight to the livehouse to practice…]
Dodging the question with a thoughtful "analysis."
Aoki chuckled and played along.
[Fair. What do you want to eat?]
On her bed, Ryō paused. I can pick?
[Weird Bassist: There's a place in Minato called Flaose No.1. I hear their wagyū is fresh.]
"…"
Aoki went silent for a few seconds.
[How about omurice?]
[Weird Bassist: Omurice is good too…]
[Eleven o'clock? Meet by that instrument shop where we ran into each other last time?]
[Weird Bassist: Okay—thanks, suki-san.]
...
He put the phone down and resumed homework.
He also reconsidered finances.
He had ~700 points left—enough to trade for a few more lyrics/scores.
Even if they won PVC's project, fame wouldn't cash out instantly. He still needed a plan for rent in two months.
YouTube? He'd been thinking about it. But now wasn't the time for another original.
Lemon was still peaking; the algorithm wouldn't push two viral videos in quick succession from the same channel. To keep "suki-san" hot, he needed patience.
Still, it had been half a month. He decided to move a new upload up the schedule in a few days.
He wrote the last answer, set his pencil down.
Homework done in about thirty minutes.
It was early. He tidied up, stretched, stared out at the street, then sat and cracked open Haruhi.
...
Around nine, he cleaned up, washed, and went to bed.
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (390 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (166 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (190 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (150 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (168 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (180 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (120 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (160 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (50 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (70 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (60 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it