Hoshino Miru quickly spotted Toyokawa Sakiko standing outside and waved at her, signaling her to hurry in.
Seeing this gesture, Toyokawa Sakiko came back to her senses, smiled with pursed lips, and naturally walked into the coffee shop as if she'd just discovered Hoshino Miru and Wakaba Mutsuki.
When she approached their seats, Wakaba Mutsuki instinctively shifted her body inward, closer to Hoshino Miru, leaving only the opposite seat for Toyokawa Sakiko.
Toyokawa Sakiko's expression stiffened again. She remembered that last time they met here, Wakaba Mutsuki had sat beside her while Hoshino Miru could only sit across from them.
"Long time no see, Toyokawa-san." Hoshino Miru greeted her with a smile. Today he not only wanted to treat Wakaba Mutsuki but also wanted to see Toyokawa Sakiko.
[Target: Toyokawa Sakiko] [Intimacy: 24] [Status: Life is getting better little by little, I won't be weak anymore...]
Her intimacy hadn't changed much. After all, they rarely met - Toyokawa Sakiko had been busy working part-time.
Facing Hoshino Miru's smile, Toyokawa Sakiko pretended to be relaxed and teased: "What 'long time no see' - don't forget, last time we met I even treated you to a strawberry parfait."
Saying this, the girl sat across from Hoshino Miru, her gaze inadvertently glancing at Wakaba Mutsuki.
"You two seem to be getting along well. After practicing guitar, you don't come here to eat often, do you?"
Actually, Wakaba Mutsuki was also stealing glances at Toyokawa Sakiko. Since Hoshino Miru hadn't told her he'd be calling Toyokawa Sakiko today, she couldn't help gently biting her straw, feeling a bit disappointed inside - so today wasn't time alone together after all.
However, noticing Toyokawa Sakiko looking over, Wakaba Mutsuki immediately lowered her head and silently drank her juice.
"Not at all. The practice place has a coffee shop - we don't normally come here." Hoshino Miru said unconcernedly. "To thank you for always teaching me, today's my special treat. Like with Mutsuki, you can order whatever you want."
He said it particularly casually, but Toyokawa Sakiko's whole body stiffened motionlessly. What she'd said just now was merely a probe - she hadn't expected he'd actually say it like this.
So after practicing guitar, they'd have coffee together? Could it be that besides guitar, the two were also chatting about other things?
Also, why suddenly call her Mutsuki?
It had only been about a week. Though she'd also thought the two would become close, it wouldn't be this fast, right?
Wakaba Mutsuki actually allowed a boy to call her by name - this was an unprecedented first.
You should know that even she and Hoshino Miru still addressed each other by surname - they weren't close enough to call each other by first name.
If Hoshino Miru could directly call Wakaba Mutsuki's name, did that mean Wakaba Mutsuki would also call Hoshino Miru by his name normally?
Why could Wakaba Mutsuki do this so easily?
For a moment, Toyokawa Sakiko didn't know what she should be angry about. The better Hoshino Miru and Wakaba Mutsuki's relationship, the happier she should be - after all, both were her best friends right now.
But seeing Hoshino Miru and Wakaba Mutsuki sitting together, an inexplicable emotion surged in her heart, making Toyokawa Sakiko bite her lip somewhat forcefully, forcibly suppressing it.
Her reaction made Hoshino Miru feel strange, thinking she was going to refuse him again.
"Today's just treating between friends - don't think about your favors or whatever."
Toyokawa Sakiko laughed dryly a few times and picked up her menu: "No, it's nothing. I originally agreed to teach you about music theory anyway. As for treating, I actually feel you're being too polite."
Hoshino Miru breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, he'd been somewhat worried Toyokawa Sakiko would refuse, because this girl was very sensitive to others' goodwill.
"It's mainly because I feel like I'm troubling you every night, sometimes discussing until past 11 PM, so I was thinking whether it might affect your rest. I might as well treat you to something to maintain our friendship."
Hoshino Miru deliberately used a joking tone between friends. This way it also fit Toyokawa Sakiko's impression of him - she wouldn't suspect he intentionally wanted to provide for her.
At this moment, Wakaba Mutsuki beside him gently tugged at his sleeve.
"I... I can too." The girl mustered courage. "Music theory, I know it too."
In an instant, both Hoshino Miru and Toyokawa Sakiko froze simultaneously.
Though she shyly released Hoshino Miru's sleeve immediately, Wakaba Mutsuki looked at him with full expectation, her face slightly flushed - this time she'd expressed what was in her heart.
For some reason, Hoshino Miru instinctively looked at Toyokawa Sakiko. The latter pressed her lips together in silence.
Hoshino Miru was slightly stunned because Toyokawa Sakiko's intimacy was actually rising.
[Intimacy: 24→26]
Seeing this increase, Hoshino Miru began to feel confused. What had he just done?
After a moment of silence, Toyokawa Sakiko smiled as if normally making a suggestion.
"Mutsuki's music theory level is also very high. Different from me, she's better at the guitar part. If you want to deeply study guitar, learning together with Mutsuki would be better."
Even though she was still smiling cheerfully, Hoshino Miru could hear the meaning in these words - Wakaba Mutsuki only knew guitar, while she was more comprehensive.
If you want to learn guitar, choosing Wakaba Mutsuki is fine too, since she herself wasn't skilled at guitar.
"If I want to compose, wouldn't it be better to learn both?" Hoshino Miru blinked. Only children made choices - adults wanted everything.
"Sure, whatever you like." Toyokawa Sakiko smiled slightly - you couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Wakaba Mutsuki pressed her lips. As for composition, she could do it too, but just as Toyokawa Sakiko meant, she only knew the guitar part - it was very easy to make guitar-exclusive pieces.
"The reason you're learning all this - are you planning to write your own songs?" Toyokawa Sakiko changed the topic.
"Not entirely. I'm simply curious what this skill can bring me." Hoshino Miru didn't directly answer the question.
Toyokawa Sakiko smiled and didn't pursue it further. Actually, she'd always suspected the relationship between Hoshino Miru and Sumita Mana.
"By the way, is your work going smoothly?" Hoshino Miru asked casually.
Speaking of this, Wakaba Mutsuki also became somewhat concerned, sneaking glances at Toyokawa Sakiko with some worry in her eyes.
"It's okay." In front of her childhood friend and friend, Toyokawa Sakiko didn't want to show any emotions. She pretended to smile relaxedly. "Your friend is actually learning piano quite quickly. Seems like she'll be performing on stage next month."
"She really plans to do this - isn't she afraid the company will reject it?" Hoshino Miru was somewhat surprised.
"Her agent seems to know. Everyone thinks it's quite interesting." Toyokawa Sakiko couldn't help smiling, especially thinking about how Misumi Hatsuka would watch her partner perform piano on stage without knowing anything - her expression would definitely be very interesting.
"Seems she doesn't have any problems for now. Hope her idea succeeds." Hoshino Miru felt that besides his favor, Sumita Mana being able to learn this long probably really wanted to show off in front of her partner.
Wakaba Mutsuki discovered she couldn't interject and could only sit beside them silently listening.
Speaking of which, she had no idea how Toyokawa Sakiko became friends with Hoshino Miru. She only knew Toyokawa Sakiko seemed to owe Hoshino Miru a favor - could it be because of the umbrella back then?
Who was the "she" they were talking about? Was Toyokawa Sakiko teaching piano?
Wakaba Mutsuki inexplicably felt uncomfortable. It wasn't that she was angry, but hearing the two chat about things she didn't know about, people she didn't know - as if only she was being excluded.
Especially seeing Hoshino Miru, who would always look at her normally, now looking only at Toyokawa Sakiko - it was like something kept scratching at her that she couldn't grasp or touch, making Wakaba Mutsuki increasingly irritated.
She was also Hoshino Miru's friend. Today should have been time that belonged to her too.
What Wakaba Mutsuki didn't know was that Toyokawa Sakiko was also occasionally glancing at her.
Perhaps precisely because they were both childhood friends, the two currently shared extremely similar feelings.