"Morning, Kazuto!"
Sato set down his school bag and guitar case, greeting Kirigaya Kazuto with a smile.
"Sato, why didn't you come to class yesterday?"
"Something came up that I had to take care of."
Seeing that Sato didn't want to elaborate, Kazuto didn't push further.
Since Saiki Kusuo hadn't arrived yet, the two started chatting about the game called SAO.
Kazuto glanced around cautiously and lowered his voice. "I've been scouring the internet for info on that game, but I still haven't found anything official. I did notice something strange, though."
"What is it?" Sato asked, curious.
To be fair, Sword Art Online did have plenty of mysterious elements. Considering everything else that had been going on lately, he was starting to wonder if it might be connected to that world too.
"I posted a question about the game on a gamer forum," Kazuto explained. "But the post was deleted almost instantly. When I asked the mods why, they said they didn't delete it."
"That's… definitely strange," he said with a frown.
Kazuto nodded, clearly disturbed by the incident.
Sato thought for a moment, then chuckled. "Eh, why overthink it? The game launches next month. We'll know everything soon enough."
"…True," Kazuto muttered.
After school.
The club building at their private mixed high school was massive, the biggest structure on campus. It housed dozens of different clubs.
The Light Music Club was located in the attic, at the very top of the building. The entire attic served as their clubroom, spacious and a bit lofty, literally and figuratively.
"Nohara!"
As he opened the door, several girls greeted him with warm concern, catching him slightly off guard.
Even the two silent members of the Service Club looked over, each with her own curious expression.
"What happened yesterday? Why didn't you come to club?"
"Everyone was worried about you!"
"Mhm! Mhm!"
Seeing them gathered around him, Sato quickly apologized. "Sorry. Something came up that I had to handle, so I couldn't come to school."
"And since I didn't have any of your phone numbers or LINE accounts, I couldn't let you know."
"Oh right!"
He suddenly snapped his fingers as if something had just occurred to him. "Why don't we make a LINE group chat?"
"LINE group chat?"
The girls blinked in unison. Then Ritsu's eyes lit up. She smacked her right fist into her left palm as if suddenly enlightened.
"That's right! How could I forget? We're a club, we totally need a group chat!"
"Let's go! Let's do it!" she cheered, dragging Sato and the others to the table so they could all swap LINE IDs.
The ever-diligent rich girl Mugi served tea with a gentle smile, while Ritsu took charge of the discussion.
"What should we call our group?"
"Obviously, the Light Music Club," Mio answered without hesitation.
"Eh? Isn't that a little… plain?"
Ritsu pouted.
"Yeah, yeah!" chimed in Yui, ever the sidekick.
Mio's expression darkened, casting a sharp glare at Ritsu. This was exactly the kind of nonsense she expected from her.
Ritsu tilted her head in thought, then turned to Yui, who was currently nibbling cookies like a hamster.
"Yui, what do you think we should name it?"
Yui blinked at her in confusion. Then she looked down at her cookie and tea.
Suddenly, her eyes sparkled. Scratching her head, she suggested, "How about… the Afternoon Tea Club?"
"…"
Even Ritsu twitched at that. With a deadpan face, she delivered a classic karate chop to Yui's head.
Bonk!
Yui crouched and hugged her head, looking up pitifully. You asked me, why'd you hit me…?
"What do you think, Sato?"
"I'll leave it to you all," Sato said, sipping his tea with a relaxed smile. Honestly, he thought Yui's suggestion matched their current vibe, but it had absolutely nothing to do with music.
"Hey! You can't dodge this, you're our vice president!"
"…When did I become vice president?" Sato looked up in surprise.
"Yesterday. We voted while you were gone."
"Right, Yui?"
Ritsu gave Yui a meaningful look and winked hard.
"Huh? Oh, right! Totally!"
Yui nodded rapidly and tried to look serious.
You guys are so bad at lying, Sato thought, twitching slightly.
Just then, Mugi leaned in close beside him and said gently, "Why don't you suggest something, Nohara-kun?"
He turned and saw her golden hair falling gracefully over her shoulder. Her beautiful face was filled with curiosity and encouragement.
"…Alright."
He thought for a moment, then recalled something Ritsu had once blurted out to hype up Yui.
"Ritsu, didn't you say we were gonna perform at Tokyo Dome?"
"Ah?" Ritsu blinked, then gave an awkward laugh and scratched her head.
She frantically shot eye signals at Sato, motioning toward Yui.
That was just me talking nonsense, can't you tell?!
Sato stared at her calmly. You said it. You deal with it.
Ritsu sighed in defeat and nodded.
"Well, if we're aiming to perform at Tokyo Dome, then we'll need a band name, right?"
"So why not name our group chat after the band? That way we'll all feel more motivated…"
"Hey! That's a great idea, Sato!" Ritsu exclaimed, thrilled.
Yui, Mugi, and the others all nodded enthusiastically.
"But… we still need to pick a name."
"No worries, I already have one."
"What is it?"
"K-ON!"
"K-ON? As in Keion, Light Music?"
"Exactly."
"Nice!"
"Yosh! It's decided then! From now on, we're the K-ON Band!"
Ritsu raised her arm in triumph, and Yui happily waved hers too.