"—!"
The moment Yamada Ryō heard Aoki's firm answer, her face froze.
After turning back to tell the classmates she'd been walking with, "Sorry, something came up—go on without me," she trotted over to the two of them, thump-thump-thump.
"A-are you already… dating, senpai? S-since when?"
She looked at Aoki, then at Yamada, and asked.
Aoki's face put on a row of exasperated lines. He shot a helpless glare at the instigator, Miss Yamada, and explained,
"Yamada was joking. We're not on a date— I'm just buying her lunch."
"..."
Given the situation, Kita Ikuyo clearly trusted the one who'd dropped the "bomb" first—Yamada—more than Aoki. So after Aoki's explanation, she promptly turned her gaze to Miss Ryō.
Ryō's face stayed mostly blank. She met Kita's eyes for two seconds, seemed to weigh the consequences, then—after a heartbeat—nodded and chose to fan the flames.
"We're dating. It's been… about two weeks, I think."
"Ugh!"
The first time she had someone to admire—Ryō-senpai. The first time she had someone reliable—Aoki-senpai. Both happy things, so why…
Kita let out a little wail of "How could I not know for so long?" then hurried on,
"I'll totally support your relationship, I swear—it's just so sudden I didn't process it… s-speaking of which…"
She took half a step back, looked carefully at Aoki, then at Yamada again.
Her voice snagged slightly, curiosity and a touch of shyness in her tone, as she continued,
"W-what stage are you at… holding hands? Hugs? A kiss? Or have you already…"
"..."
The exasperation lines deepened on Aoki's face. He was about to speak seriously, but Yamada again beat him to the punch.
"Holding hands?" the blue-haired girl echoed, almost questioning.
"Y-you've only held hands so far?" Kita blinked and answered.
Kita's reaction apparently didn't satisfy Miss Ryō's expectations. Tilting her head slightly, she paused, then went on,
"Hugging?"
"Y-you've already hugged?!"
Kita's emotions visibly spiked.
Seeing how wildly Kita's expression kept changing, Yamada's interest was piqued all at once. "A kiss?" she added.
"Eh?!" Kita gasped. "You've kissed?! Senpai?!"
The corner of Ryō's mouth curled into the tiniest "this is fun" smile. She cleared her throat lightly.
Putting on a solemn tone, she intoned,
"Ahem… in fact, we already… o—!"
And before the blue-haired girl could finish, her words were cut off by a well-placed flick to the head from Aoki.
Mouth twitching, still wearing exasperation lines, Aoki grumbled,
"Miss Yamada, enough is enough…"
He paused, looked to Kita, and explained more firmly,
"It's really not a date, and I'm not dating Yamada. She was just joking… a bad one… Ahem. Miss Yamada, please explain it to Miss Kita."
Yamada, who'd just been lightly bonked, sat to the side. Holding her head, she hummed an "Mm" in acknowledgement.
"We're not dating. And we're not on a date."
However—
At this point, it was hard to believe either of them. Kita watched Aoki's earnest explanation, then Ryō's nod, still a little suspicious.
She hesitated. "S-so… it's not a date?"
"It's not," Aoki denied cleanly.
"Then… Aoki-senpai, Ryō-senpai—after lunch, are you going to keep hanging around Shibuya?"
Suspicion mixed with curiosity. She decided to probe, albeit gently.
Aoki thought, then answered, "Might stroll a bit more? Then around one we'll head to the livehouse to practice our ensemble."
They'd already agreed to practice at STARRY that afternoon. No fixed time, but Aoki preferred "the earlier the better."
Ryō nodded along.
"I-if that's the case…"
She glanced back toward her other classmates across the shop, then returned her gaze to Aoki and Ryō. After another bit of wavering, she said,
"Then—Aoki-senpai, Ryō-senpai, c-could I tag along later?"
And then, as if something struck her, she added quickly,
"B-but if I'd just get in the way, forget I asked…"
"You wouldn't be in the way," Aoki shook his head. "But what about your classmates?"
"It's fine!" Kita replied.
Having one more person along didn't bother Aoki, so when she answered so readily, he nodded.
"No objections from me."
On the other side, Yamada had already resumed eating her omurice. Shoveling rice into her mouth, she mumbled, somewhat muffled,
"Mm'fine by me…"
"Great! Aoki-senpai, Ryō-senpai—wait for me after this!" Kita beamed.
She then scampered off to explain and apologize to her classmates.
…
By the time they left the café, it was around 12:10.
Though summer had begun, it was early June—Tokyo's rainy season—and midday wasn't too hot.
The temperature was pleasant, and the sun—when it broke through—made you feel a touch languid.
The three stepped onto Shibuya's streets.
Shibuya's scramble crossing isn't that far from Shimokitazawa— even walking doesn't take that long. They had said "let's stroll," but since it was already around noon, Aoki suggested they aimless-stroll toward STARRY in Shimokitazawa instead.
Even though it was lunchtime, there were still a fair number of people out.
After a bit of walking toward Shimokitazawa, Aoki revised his earlier mental note—"Having one more person won't affect me."
With the crowds and the three of them together, they drew stares like a magnet.
Even just standing, Kita radiated sunshiney energy. And Miss Ryō's stylish fit made her pop even more. Add in both girls' absurdly perfect looks, and the guy walking between them—Aoki—became a topic of conversation for passersby.
Snippets like "What's with that guy?" or "Why does he get two girlfriends?" popped up five times in the space of a few steps.
Aoki found it a bit distracting, but maintained a "none of this concerns me" face and kept walking.
If Aoki could hear it, the girls could too—
Ryō didn't really care. But walking beside them, Kita's cheeks gradually flushed.
With both companions wearing "not my problem" expressions, she had no choice but to pretend she didn't hear either.
They walked on.
There are lots of street performers in Shibuya—duo comedians doing manzai, stunt types doing "smash a rock on my chest," or singer-songwriter buskers.
After a while, the sound of a decent voice—but so-so guitar—rose from a busker. Yamada suddenly stopped.
"Oh… 'Lemon.'"
She looked toward the guitarist.
Aoki nodded.
The tone was nice, pitch solid, no obvious off-notes. Aside from weak guitar chops, it was a perfectly serviceable street performance.
Kita blinked, listened a moment, then reacted,
"Ah! That song that's super viral online lately! I've heard tons of covers!"
Aoki hesitated.
He shot Ryō a "Doesn't Kita know?" look.
No response—just a puzzled little "Hmm?" and head tilt from Ryō.
Aoki's eye twitched. Abandoning eye-talk with the occasionally spacey Miss Ryō, he asked Kita,
"Kita—have you never heard the original?"
"The original? I've heard lots of covers but not the original…" she admitted.
"I see." Aoki nodded.
Most folks don't go out of their way to find "the original." Aoki didn't expect everyone to know where a song came from. And if it didn't hinder him making money, he actually hoped the music he "ported" into this world would blow up everywhere.
So he let the topic drop.
But Miss Ryō didn't catch his drift.
"Kita, you haven't heard the original? The original is by suki-san."
She said it flatly.
-------
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