Inside a certain third-rate rehearsal room in Tokyo, the girls were poking and prodding everything in the room with full curiosity, their lack of worldly experience written all over their faces.
"So this is a rehearsal room! It looks so cool, but..."
Stretching her arms to try and fill the room with maximum volume, Busujima Akiko turned around and spoke in a "green tea" piteous tone: "I thought Yu-oniichan would bring us to a bigger rehearsal room. I guess I was wrong about you after all?"
"Kid, stop learning to talk like your sister. If you want a big one, pay for it yourself. I haven't received my allowance in ages, and here you are trying to 'eat the rich'!"
Unloading the drum kit, Yu didn't take his eyes off the assembly process but spared a hand to knock on the small head that had delivered itself to him, prompting a dissatisfied hum from Akiko.
The truth was, with his current financial situation, he was no different from a poor peasant. There was no chance for these little things to "eat the rich" and "redistribute the land."
"Rin! Oniichan hit my head!"
"There, there. Let's just ignore this big meanie, okay?~"
Helplessly patting the head of Akiko—who started acting up whenever there were more people around—Miyazawa Rin sighed, wearing the same calm expression as her older brother.
But since she had chosen these teammates, she had to endure them even if it was difficult. Perhaps this was the true essence of life: there's no save button, so everything has to move forward.
"Speaking of which..."
Adjusting the strap length, Busujima Sakurako turned around, pouted, and snatched up her un-affectionate sister, burying her in a hug and mercilessly rubbing her!
Enjoying the process of life energy turning from vibrant to withered, she wore the comfortable smile of an old witch draining someone's lifespan, while simultaneously looking over at Miyazawa Yuu.
"Yu, are you sure about this? Being the drummer?"
A band wasn't like playing house at a school music festival. She had practiced bass for a long time due to her social withdrawal, and even she had to re-adjust to find her old touch.
These little kids had drafted Yu without any rhyme or reason. As far as she knew, this guy didn't know how to play instruments, right?
It wouldn't be good to lose face on stage. She couldn't guarantee that when faced with boos from the audience, she wouldn't just flip them the double middle finger and start cussing them out!
"Totally fine. Even though I've never touched this thing before..."
He really had never learned any instrument, but Yu just smiled, not worried at all!
Patting the well-maintained drums that hadn't lost any tone, he revealed two rows of shiny white teeth and tapped the "backup hidden energy" tucked under his jacket. "Stuff like this! Just leave it to muscle memory!"
"Muscle memory isn't meant for that, is it...?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Sakurako's forehead. She felt like "muscle memory" was being abused at the hands of the PaB Club.
First, there were the muscular men who drank by instinct—even when their brains blacked out, their bodies would honestly shout "More! More!". Now, there was Miyazawa Yuu trying to crash-course drummer muscle memory in two or three days.
Honestly, the field of biology should establish a new category and classify these strange muscle-men directly as the "PaB Species"!
"Um, I say, you guys... don't just start talking to each other and leave me aside!"
A vein popped on Yukiko Hayashi's forehead. Seeing the scene of mutual affection in front of her that she couldn't join no matter what, she narrowed her eyes, her hands trembling slightly!
She had been dragged here by nonsense about "friendship," "bonds," and "bands." Were they trying to show off how deep their friendship was?!
"Eh? Is Yukiko-san lonely?"
"I am not!"
Being poked in the heart again, Yukiko's eyes turned red instantly. Luckily, her thick lenses masked it perfectly, or she wouldn't have been able to keep up the tough act!
Even though it was a bit much, she really didn't want to be excluded. She could only brace herself and shout accusations: "Xuena! Even during summer break, you should prioritize your studies! How can you lose your ambition to such distractions! Come home with me right now!"
"..."
The whole place fell silent instantly. The silence lasted for several minutes, to the point where Yukiko herself was starting to crack.
Just as she began to feel that her words might have been a bit self-centered, she realized in a daze that the others had calmly huddled together, seemingly unaffected by the sudden crisis.
"See! I told you that once a band is formed, a breakup plot will definitely occur within two episodes!"
"Stereotypes are really hard to ignore sometimes. What should we do? Who's going to use the power of friendship to slap the closed-minded parent awake? Rin, how's your condition?"
"Mmm..."
Rubbing her cheeks to assemble a teary-eyed, heartbroken little expression, Miyazawa Rin gave a thumbs-up to Busujima Sakurako, indicating she was ready to go at any time!
"I say, you people!"
A burst of pure black flames erupted behind her. Staring at these people who didn't even bother to act—openly conspiring to her face without even a hint of trying to trick her—the veins on Yukiko's hands spread all the way to her neck.
Fine! If those were just words of anger before, she was going to be serious this time!
Dad and Mom were "Nerd Plus." Their expressions would be quite interesting when they heard their dear imouto wanted to play music! Jie-jie-jie-jie-jie!
"Ah~ Sister seems to have blackened. What should we do?"
"Hmm... actually, I have an idea I've been wanting to try~"
Rolling his neck, Yu pushed aside his sister and stood up, walking toward Yukiko Hayashi with a wicked, scummy smile. He stopped only two steps away.
In an instant, the atmosphere changed. Two powerful auras began to clash. In the eyes of the girls, the "Scumbag Power" and "Blackened Power" transformed into black-red and pure black lines constantly colliding!
"Huh? Chisa's boyfriend? Don't think you can convince me with just that status!"
"I already said I have nothing to do with Chisa. If we're talking about sister-complexes, I'm shipping a different pair. And besides..."
Striking a classic JoJo pose, Yu turned sideways and pointed at Yukiko Hayashi. His art style suddenly shifted, becoming sharp and angular, with heavy "Araki-esque" shading vividly depicting his arrogant facial expression!
"This is! Is Yu-oniichan going to use force? Like beating Sister Lin until she kneels... Ouch!"
"Impossible~ Yu might be a scumbag, but he won't hit a woman without reason... psychic attacks excluded."
Sakurako knocked on her sister's head again. Now Akiko had to use both hands to cover the sides of her head; the symmetrical composition made Sakurako very satisfied.
However, she soon couldn't smile anymore. The memory of being "baited" on the train surfaced. She gritted her teeth, trying desperately to hold back from rushing up and backstabbing Yu with her bass!
"Is that so? That's good then..."
"Sigh~ is Xuena worried about her sister?"
"Well, if Onee-chan and Yu-oniichan go head-to-head, the win rate is probably 2-8!"
Pushing up her glasses, Lin Xuena added rigorously upon seeing Rin's skeptical look: "Oniichan takes two punches, and Onee-chan is basically 80% dead!"
"You're killing me, Xuena. Don't use your sense of humor like that!"
"Shh, look! Yu-oniichan is making his move!"
Firmly pressing down on Rin's and Xuena's chatter-filled mouths, Akiko now had stars in her eyes as she focused all her attention on Yu.
The first crisis had crushed her previous band like rotting wood. How far could this second, painstakingly assembled band go under the protection of the "adults" (Yu and her sister)?
"Yukiko, I'm sorry. Don't blame me for being despicable!"
"Bring it on, man brainwashed by Chisa! I will mercilessly destroy everything associated with PaB!"
Whoosh—!
Since words were useless, Yuu mouth curled into a sinister arc as he exploded at his top speed!
Quickly crossing past her, amidst the expectant gazes of everyone, he clearly did nothing—not even physical contact. But with just a slight movement of his lips, Yukiko Hayashi's eyes suddenly widened.
"You... what did you say! Despicable!"
"Sorry, Yukiko Hayashi-san. This is a life-or-death battlefield!"
Opening his arms to catch the unwilling Yukiko Hayashi, who was clutching her heart and toppling forward, Yu increased his volume and output frequency this time. Now, even the confused onlookers could faintly hear a bit of his secret weapon!
"Wonderful~ you're truly wonderful, Yukiko. No one in the world is more wonderful than you!"
"Ugh..."
"Everyone will love you. Everyone is watching over you, so..."
His malicious expression made his sinister intentions clear, yet even so, he continued to hold Yukiko's shoulders and mix in his "private goods" under the horrified gazes of the sisters!
"You'll help us keep the secret, right?"
"Yes!"
"And you'll help our band perform?"
"No problem!"
Her eyes were already hazy. Yukiko was blushing and practically giving in to every demand. In a short while, she had signed a bunch of "unequal treaties."
"Hmm... that's about it."
Ten minutes later, finally satisfied, Yu turned around and delivered his victory speech to the huddling, trembling sisters: "See! Simple, right!"
"Simple, my ass! What is this? Hypnosis?!"
Sakurako picked up Rin to shield herself, her pupils shaking. This guy wouldn't hypnotize me and then make me do embarrassing, bad things, would he?!