A real man must have the courage to face a chaotic battlefield!
Although he couldn't remember which senior had said it, Jhin had always kept the phrase close to his heart.
To build a harem, you must withstand the hatchet!
The meaning of this was simple: if you're not prepared to face a girl's hatchet head-on, don't even think about starting a harem.
Jhin was clearly a man who had made his preparations. He held Hitori Gotoh with a resolute expression: "Yes, Hitori is my girlfriend."
My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror!
"It's just a girlfriend, what's with the serious face?" Gabriel quipped with half-closed eyes, stretching lazily. "Looks like the rain outside has stopped. I'm going back to grind in my game's event."
With that, she left with hurried steps, making everyone think she was just a seriously addicted online gamer.
Only Vignette and Raphiel noticed the slight unnaturalness in her words. If she were truly in a rush for a game event, she wouldn't have agreed to come out with Jhin in the first place.
Worried she was hiding something, Vignette politely bid farewell to Jhin: "Jhin, I'm going to check on Gabriel. I'll be leaving now."
"Vignette, I'm going too."
If Raphiel had hidden the look of amusement on her face a little better, she might have seemed more like a concerned friend.
Satania, however, wanted to stay and watch the other bands' performances for a while longer. She felt like she was starting to get into rock music, but unfortunately, everyone she knew was leaving, and it would be a bit strange for her to stay alone. "Huh? Why is everyone leaving? Well, I guess I'll just go home too."
As the person responsible for pushing Jhin into this chaotic scene, Kazami Kazuki didn't deliberately make things difficult for him. This was just a little payback for her younger brother getting a girlfriend without her knowing.
"Little brother, I promised to show Amane and the others around the house, so we'll head back first and not interrupt your celebration."
Jhin had no idea that Kazami Kazuki's reason for suddenly throwing him under the bus was this. If he had known, he'd probably be shouting about how unfair it was.
I got this girlfriend before I even met you!
The seemingly brutal melodrama thus dissipated peacefully (?). The onlookers felt the juicy gossip in their hands suddenly turn tasteless.
What happened? How come it's over before it even started? Where's my favorite classic love triangle drama? You could at least say, "But I was the one who came first!", right?
Never mind the four girls who left first; the six remaining girls clearly had some unusual feelings for the guy engaging in this public display of affection.
Why did they just obediently listen to that young-looking girl and leave? Aren't you going to fight for your man?
Jhin quickly hurried the slow-witted Hitori Gotoh back to the prep room.
Nijika raised an eyebrow at Jhin, teasing him with a mischievous grin: "You're quite popular, aren't you, Jhin?"
"Yeah, I didn't expect all of Jhin's friends to be girls." Kita Ikuyo, however, felt that given Jhin's reputation at school, combined with his handsome looks and considerate personality, it was perfectly normal for him to be popular.
"It's a shame we didn't get to see a chaotic scene."
Ryo, don't you forget that I bought you a meal! Do you really want to see me in a melodrama that badly?
Facing their teasing, Jhin could only change the subject: "Did the manager say where the celebration would be?"
"I think she still chose the izakaya that the drunk big sister recommended."
"By the way... what's that big sister's name anyway?"
"Does Bocchi-chan know?"
"Eh? Um... I don't know."
"Didn't she come specifically to see your performance?"
I did perform with her, and I did ask her to come see the show, but I don't think I ever asked for her name.
Nijika, able to read the expression on Hitori Gotoh's face, was left speechless. The triangular ahoge on her head even stopped spinning.
"That's Bocchi-chan for you... consistent as ever."
"I-I couldn't help it! She was drunk and dragged me around to look for a bass, and then we suddenly started a pop-up street performance."
"Oh, so that's how you got those two cute fans!"
Seika Ijichi poked her head into the prep room. "Hey, it's about time to head to the party."
"Is it okay for me to come too, Manager?"
"Huh?" Seika Ijichi had an expression that said 'what nonsense are you talking about.' "Of course you're coming. Or were you planning on going back to find those girls?"
Faced with this deadly question, Jhin gave a simple and clear response: "Thank you for the invitation, Manager!"
"Come on out once you're done cleaning up in there."
"Okay!"
...
"I'm the genius bassist who loves the bass more than anyone, Kikuri Hiroi!"
Holding a large mug full of beer, a drunk Kikuri Hiroi introduced herself to the members of Kessoku Band.
"I left my bass at a pub yesterday, and I can't remember which one it was."
This person seems to have been drunk since before the show even started...
That was their first thought.
What happened to loving the bass more than anyone?
This was the second thought of Nijika, Ryo, and Kita Ikuyo.
Hitori Gotoh suddenly shivered, recalling a bad memory.
She's not going to drag me all over the place looking for her bass again, is she?
"Bocchi-chan worked really hard today too."
Ever since the live audition, Seika Ijichi knew that Hitori Gotoh actually had a decent musical foundation, but various factors like her social anxiety prevented her from performing properly.
Her performance on the second song today was even better than at the audition, so she really deserved some praise.
With that in mind, Seika Ijichi turned her head with a gratified smile, but she could barely keep it together.
Hitori Gotoh looked as if she had used an ultimate move with a heavy cost to defeat a powerful enemy; now she was sprawled out on Jhin's lap like a toddler, asking for affection.
Jhin was granting her every wish, expertly going through a routine of head pats, cheek kisses, feeding, and praise. The rosy aura the two of them were emitting belonged to a completely different world from their celebration party.
"Click." Kita Ikuyo took out her phone to take a picture of the food laid out on the table. Her action piqued Seika Ijichi's curiosity.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking pictures to upload. Because I'm the Minister of Social Affairs, you see."
"Minister..." Seika Ijichi decided to ignore the strange job title for now. "Is there anything fun about doing that?"
"Huh?" Seeing the manager's confused expression, Kita Ikuyo responded with her brilliant smile: "It feels like I'm sharing my happy feelings with everyone. When you see your friends happy, you become happy too, right?"
In that moment, a rainbow-colored halo even appeared behind Kita Ikuyo. Her straightforward emotions were so dazzling that even Seika Ijichi was a bit taken aback.
"Awesome!" Nijika excitedly moved closer to the sunshine-radiating Kita Ikuyo. "Use your Kita-energy to purify my sister's difficult personality!"
"Eh? Difficult? I think the manager is a very kind person?"
As soon as she said that, the rainbow behind Kita Ikuyo transformed into a holy light so healing that just looking at it could soothe one's soul.
Seika Ijichi felt like she was about to pass on under the glow of this holy light.
Ryo's next sentence, however, transformed the holy light radiating from Kita Ikuyo into a gloomy aura remarkably similar to the one Hitori Gotoh had when she was withdrawn.
__
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