Unlike Hiroi Kikuri, who was yawning lazily and looked like she was about to drown herself in milk while eating breakfast, Asakura, as a high school boy in peak physical condition, finished his breakfast in a few bites and prepared to head out.
"Did you forget to bring anything?" Hiroi Kikuri asked listlessly, squinting her eyes like a well-fed cat.
"Why the sudden question?" Asakura asked.
"Last time, I thought I was perfectly prepared and went out without a second thought..." Hiroi Kikuri said for some reason with a chuckle: "Only when I got to the livehouse did I realize I hadn't brought my bass. Oh man, that was truly a masterpiece, Shima-chan's face went totally crooked with annoyance."
"You actually have some self-awareness about being a nuisance to others." Asakura stared with a look of disdain at this parasite who was freeloading at his house.
"Humans are imperfect; one is bound to stumble once or twice on the path of life."
"The number of times you stumble is arguably a bit too many."
"It's because I'm afraid of stumbling that I use alcohol as a makeshift wheelchair to speed along the path of being a degenerate, yo~"
"That sounds like some kind of rock song lyric."
"It is precisely because of this that people need mutual help; that is what's called Help & Help."
"So you just don't have a 'give' step?"
"Because my English is terrible, so I don't."
"I can tell."
After all, "give help" is actually providing help, while "give and take" is the meaning of mutual benefit.
"Anyway, young man, it's best to check if you've forgotten anything before you head out~"
"Why do you have that smug expression like you've just made some grand concluding statement?" Asakura couldn't help but roast her.
Hiroi Kikuri pretended not to hear and just kept slurping her milk.
Asakura sighed helplessly, but his footsteps paused slightly as he was about to leave.
It seemed he really had forgotten something.
He rubbed his temples and walked quickly back to his bedroom, taking a ticket for STARRY out of the desk drawer.
That was the ticket Hitori gave him for Kessoku Band's first live during the Sobu High Cultural Festival - before this, Kessoku Band, though not without live experience, mostly appeared as a filler or warm-up "small fry" band. Performing as one of the main bands was a first.
Asakura had already confirmed the time. It was likely that Manager Seika, considering that the members of Kessoku Band were all students, had scheduled their live for the weekend, which happened to clash with the dinner time of the Happiness and Peace Cult.
However, while it was a clash, there was still a difference in actual starting times. As long as Asakura moved a bit faster, he should be able to make it to his official girlfriend's band's first live after dealing with the Happiness and Peace Cult matter.
He tucked the ticket into his pocket and, after briefly confirming he had no other forgotten tasks, said goodbye to Hiroi Kikuri - who was still half-buried in her milk bowl, bubbling away and unable to win the battle against her sleepiness - and headed out.
Amen, I hope she doesn't drown in the milk.
Weekend was the time when the streets had the highest foot traffic. Although the sidewalks were wide, Asakura had no intention of driving himself.
He took the train to the agreed-upon location, but he didn't see the girl wearing the black Gothic Lolita long dress he had expected.
Could it be she hasn't arrived yet?
Asakura took out his phone to check the time. Although it was indeed a few minutes earlier than the scheduled time, in his impression, she wasn't the type to arrive just at the deadline.
Could it be she encountered something unexpected?
Asakura couldn't help but worry.
"Takuma-senpai?"
Suddenly, a girl's voice sounded by his ear.
Asakura turned his head in surprise and found a girl standing not far away from him. She was wearing a white dress and a lady's straw hat, radiating a frail and pure aura. She was looking at him sideways, with a faint smile in her moist eyes.
The so-called "modest beauty" was probably like this.
"Ruri?!"
Because the impression was so completely different from usual, Asakura didn't even recognize her when he first saw her. Only now, seeing her face, could he be sure the person was Gokou Ruri: "I almost didn't recognize you in normal clothes..."
"Please don't say it like I don't usually wear clothes, okay?" The girl's small face, which originally had a slightly mischievous smile, slumped slightly.
"There is a difference between clothes!"
"I'm really sorry that my family doesn't have the money to buy cosplay outfits and can only wear handmade skirts..."
"No, no, in a certain sense, being able to restore it to that degree just by hand is already very impressive, okay?"
Asakura had once searched for the cosplay outfit of the Demon Queen from the girl's favorite anime, Maschera, out of curiosity. Putting aside those in the display windows which were outrageously expensive because they weren't mass-produced, in terms of craftsmanship alone, Asakura felt they weren't as good as the one Gokou Ruri made herself - or perhaps those in the shops would be more brilliant in color due to the materials used, but in terms of character accuracy, the one the girl made herself felt stronger.
"Alright, stop talking about these useless things. Don't we have other business to attend to today?"
The girl seemed very happy to be praised by Asakura for her handicraft skills, but she had a bit of a stubborn personality and didn't want to show this happiness, so from an outsider's perspective, the girl looked like a Samoyed who was calm on the outside but whose tail was already wagging like crazy, cute with a hint of coquettishness.
"You're right, follow me." Asakura didn't see through her little thoughts either, but led the girl toward the large shopping mall at the end of the busy street.
It was called a shopping mall, but in reality, it was somewhat different from the common ones. The merchants settled inside were high-end brands focused on luxury goods - the cosplay outfit mentioned just now was already outrageously expensive compared to ordinary clothes, but some of the clothes sold here that looked like quite common styles had to have a zero added to that price, enough to make most of the working class recoil in fear - perhaps precisely because of this, even though it was the weekend, the customers in this shopping mall were quite sparse, completely incomparable to the outside.
It could be seen that for Gokou Ruri, this was also a completely unknown territory.
The girl was clearly not very used to this kind of atmosphere, feeling slightly constrained while walking inside, and her pace slowed down unconsciously.
Asakura couldn't help but shake his head. He reached out and grabbed the girl's soft hand, leading her quickly forward inside the mall.