"Sigh."
It was morning at school, and Nero hadn't even settled in when she caught Aine slumped over her desk, letting out a dramatic sigh.
Aine was the kind of girl who radiated sunshine, so seeing her this down in the dumps meant something big had gone wrong—maybe even bigger than that failed study-abroad stint a while back. Nero sauntered over, leaning down beside Aine's desk with a gentle, "What's up? Something eating at you?"
Aine lifted her head, mustering a weak wave. "Nerooo~ What am I gonna dooo?" she whined, her face a perfect picture of misery.
With those golden locks spilling over her shoulder, Aine knew it was Nero checking in. But instead of her usual show-off energy, she just looked… defeated. That was enough for Nero to know something serious had happened.
Not many things could knock Aine out of her groove this fast. Nero's eyes narrowed as she ventured a guess. "Bad test score?"
Though, honestly, picturing straight-A Aine tanking an exam was a stretch. Nero figured it was probably something else.
Sure enough, Aine's eyes darted around, scrambling to cover up whatever she'd almost let slip. That confirmed it—whatever was bugging her was something she didn't want Nero privy to.
Something about demons.
After a moment of mental gymnastics, Aine landed on a safe excuse, minus any demon talk. "So, uh… here's the deal. Me, Tomori, and a couple others were planning to start a band…"
Okay, sure. Lights, dancers, fireworks, and a poet walk into a bar—why not call it a band? Nero bit back a grin and nodded. "Didn't know you were into that. Sounds pretty badass."
"That's the problem," Aine groaned, slumping further. "We tried jamming yesterday, and I got chewed out for my guitar skills—or lack thereof."
"Ouch," Nero said, picking her words carefully before siding with Aine. "That's kinda harsh. If someone thought you weren't up to snuff, they shouldn't have signed you up in the first place."
No need to guess who the critic was. Among their crew, only Rikishi would dish out a verbal beatdown like that without blinking.
"Exactly—wait, no, no!" Aine shook her head furiously. "I'm not quitting! I promised Tomori I'd stick with it."
Nero smirked, not surprised in the least. "Then you gotta step up your game. Changing yourself is easier than changing someone else, y'know."
Aine's face turned thoughtful, but before she could respond, Nero added, "Hey, I know a guy who's a total beast on the guitar. Want me to hook you up with some lessons?"
Aine's expression shifted to panic. "No, no, no! That's way too much trouble, Nero! I'll just, uh, practice on my own."
"Alright," Nero said, her tone dipping just enough to sound a little disappointed. "Do what feels right, Aine."
With a nod, Nero started toward her own desk but paused, tossing over her shoulder, "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."
She wasn't joking, either. Whether it was shredding a guitar or wielding demonic gear, Dante was the guy to call. And getting him on board? Easy. Just dangle a strawberry sundae in front of him. Sweet, tangy, ice-cold dessert was usually enough to seal the deal for anything short of a world-ending crisis.
The dude was on vacation, after all. Plenty of time to kill.
Case in point: Runa had pulled it off last night. Armed with a parfait voucher, she'd bribed a world-class demon hunter into being her coach. Sure, Dante's "coaching" was mostly showing off and asking, "You get it?"—but still. For him, a free parfait was a steal. Runa, with her knack for picking things up fast, got a masterclass. And Nero? She scored a free parfait just for tagging along.
Triple win.
Though, yeah, the mental image of a grizzled old dude eating parfaits on a park bench with two teenage girls was… something else. Nero wasn't eager to revisit that scene.
"Huh?"
Aine made a small noise, but Nero didn't turn back. She could guess Aine was kicking herself, probably realizing her little white lie had forced her to turn down Nero's help, maybe even hurting her feelings.
Lesson learned. Maybe next time Aine wouldn't blurt out something she couldn't take back.
Speaking of bands—something clicked in Nero's head. There was some intel she needed to dig into.
Settling at her desk, Nero glanced over as Tomori shuffled in late, giving Aine a tiny wave. Looked like her anti-social streak wasn't going anywhere soon. Ignoring the two, Nero pulled out her phone.
From what she remembered, the last unaccounted-for member of the Manfool Carnival, "Doloris," was not only a first-year student but also part of the idol duo sumimi. That group—just two members—had apparently been big enough to plaster their ads all over the city's trains.
A quick search should turn up something. If sumimi was that huge, the info would be easy to find.
And it was. The search results hit like a sledgehammer. The top headline—and most of the page—was screaming the same thing.
"Graduation Concert."
In other words, sumimi had announced their disbandment over half a year ago and officially called it quits after one final show. For a duo that was still new, climbing fast, and doing well, that was… weird.
"So, this is when it happened, huh?" Nero scrolled, landing on the first article.
The initial announcement of sumimi's breakup.
Right around that time, Shoko Toyokawa had extended an invitation to Chuuka Mitsukaku.
Nero's gut picked up a faint whiff of a shadow war between Little Ace and Shoko. The question was:
Who pulled the strings to break up sumimi?
If it was Little Ace, then Shoko's move to recruit Chuuka was likely a direct middle finger to its plans. But if Shoko was behind it, then everything she did was probably playing right into Little Ace's hands—otherwise, it wouldn't have stayed quiet.
Figure that out, and Nero would finally get a clear picture of what Little Ace was scheming.
That was a massive step toward pinning down this elusive, shadowy enemy.