The moment they entered STARRY, the oppressive darkness was immediately dispelled by several lights.
The wall on one side of the staircase was tightly plastered with colorful concert posters or album covers. At the bottom of the stairs, a small empty space was used as a storage room. To the right, there was a cabinet filled with drinks, and on top of the cabinet was a bookshelf piled with a few comics or magazines. The rest of the space was filled with paper boxes of various sizes.
The main hall adopted a deconstructivist-like decor, with black grid walls and orange-red geometric frames converging in the center towards a large wall clock encased in orange-red iron bars.
Opposite the wall clock was a stage displaying spotlights and a series of sound equipment. On the stage, there was a drum kit and a large pile of effect pedals stored in cardboard boxes.
Kurusu Akira observed the Livehouse with interest.
Upon entering the hall, one could immediately feel the extraordinary atmosphere.
"Let go." At this moment, a faint voice came from behind him.
Kurusu Akira felt his sleeve being tugged.
Then the voice grew a little louder, "Please let go of me."
He remained unmoved, "Since you're already here, there's no reason to flee without a fight."
"Amamiya-san, you're really too much."
A hand suddenly slapped Kurusu Akira's arm with a force that far exceeded a "joke." Iseri Nina was attempting to make Kurusu Akira release her in this manner.
Kurusu Akira's eyes, hidden behind his plain glasses, immediately focused, "What, are you giving up on yourself?"
Iseri Nina said nothing, merely clenched her fists and angrily punched Kurusu Akira's back.
The Phantom Thief casually turned sideways and raised his left arm to parry the punch. "Are you angry?"
Freed from his restraint, Iseri Nina immediately pounced on him, flailing her arms and legs.
Then Kurusu Akira leisurely began to parry the girl's chaotic "flailing punches," perfectly blocking all her attacks.
"You, you cheater who deceives girls' feelings... liar!" Iseri Nina wildly swung her fists at Kurusu Akira, but her eyes inexplicably began to blur, and then a moist, warm sensation appeared on her cheeks.
Finally, her movements stopped, and she started crying and trying to run outside.
How did she end up crying while fighting?
Kurusu Akira finally understood why his old friends who had started families early in his previous life always said that taking care of children was troublesome—
Indeed, it was troublesome; children always had too many reasons to cry.
But in the adult world, tears have always been one of the cheapest things.
Tear glands, stimulated internally or externally, secrete a liquid that moistens the cornea and conjunctiva, and also has certain disinfecting and sterilizing abilities... That's what tears are, worthless.
If a person wills it, she can let her tears flow endlessly, expressing "heartbreaking" sorrow.
Crying never solves problems; it only delays the best time to solve them.
In this world, only two types of people are moved by a child's tears.
Heroes, or parents—though there isn't much difference between the two.
Just like Ultraman, after the lights go out, will angrily burn his life because of the children's crying, then stand up again and again to continue fighting; Kamen Rider will also endure the poisoning of various conspiracies and tricks to save children kidnapped by monsters, even if he is bruised and exhausted, he will still stand in front of the children and firmly say "henshin"...
Kurusu Akira considered himself a hero.
Although he had never uttered a chuunibyou-filled line like "henshin," the similar-sounding "persona" had already been muttered thousands of times.
So he almost didn't hesitate to chase after her, grabbing Iseri Nina's arm in the stairwell and forcefully pulling her back.
"I don't know which of my words you're allergic to, but I won't allow you to just run away like this."
"Don't bother me!" the girl cried out at Kurusu Akira, blindly venting her inner anger and sadness, and trying to infect him with these emotions.
She didn't want to hear grand reason; she just wanted to have a big fight with Kurusu Akira.
But Kurusu Akira was no longer a child.
The layered difficulties, misunderstandings, confusion, and pain that Iseri Nina had experienced before and was experiencing now... Kurusu Akira had already tasted them all in his own past.
Kurusu Akira gripped Iseri Nina's shoulders and, without explanation, pressed her onto a chair. "You really haven't grown up at all."
Taking care of children is truly exhausting.
He thought sincerely.
Kurusu Akira scanned the hall, then continued, "You must have run away many times, haven't you? Every time you calm down, you hide in your bedroom or some corner no one can find, crying your eyes out."
"Your body is always faster than your thoughts, always making choices you regret, then constantly running away, constantly regretting—"
"But Iseri, you are a hard-won club member of mine, and from now on, I cannot allow you to act so recklessly. No matter how many times you try to run away, I will catch you and bring you back to school, do you understand?"
Kurusu Akira pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose,
"Chuunibyou! Human trafficker! Kidnapper!..." Iseri Nina kept wiping away her tears, simultaneously using the only words she could think of to insult Kurusu Akira, but she was no longer wildly venting her emotions.
Kurusu Akira paid no mind to the direction of these words. He looked at his little follower's red-rimmed eyes. "You actually look perfect for rock and roll right now."
"Rock and roll is about expressing all sorts of emotions through music, isn't it?"
He patted Iseri Nina's shoulder, then quietly and quickly walked towards the room on the right side of the hall.
----------------
"So rock, so youthful..." The girl with short blue hair covering one eye, carrying a bass, sighed from behind the door crack.
"Ryo... should we really not go out and stop them? They're probably here to sign up for a band, right?" The girl with a yellow side ponytail cautiously asked, shrinking beside her.
"Hmm? Why stop them? That cool dark-haired guy is right, that's what rock is all about. Arguing, fighting, then venting all accumulated emotions through a performance, and finally making up."
The bass girl gave a thumbs up.
The next moment, the slightly ajar door was pulled open from the outside!
Two very beautiful girls fell to the ground with a thud.
"Eavesdropping is a very uncivilized behavior." Kurusu Akira looked down at the two, then pointed to Iseri Nina, who was once again trying to escape in the stairwell.
...
"We are truly very sorry." The girls bowed deeply to the flushed Iseri Nina.
Kurusu Akira, who had achieved the "Three Captures of Iseri" achievement today, plopped down onto a high stool next to the counter. He would rather go on a rampage in the Mementos than take care of a sulking child in reality.
It was simply too mentally exhausting.
Kurusu Akira sighed inwardly. He was only 23 or 24 in his previous life, so why did he have to start experiencing the vicissitudes and melancholy of an old father so early now?
At this moment, the cool-looking girl with the bass approached, curiously looking at Kurusu Akira, "You must be very good at playing the guitar."
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Kurusu Akira adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Because you look very reliable. Generally, the 'reliable' characters in a rock band are the most skilled lead vocalists and leaders."
"That's an interesting way of putting it, but you're wrong. I'm actually not very good at playing the guitar." Kurusu Akira extended his hand to her. "Amamiya Ren, second year at Shujin High School. Nice to meet you."
"Then I'm Yamada Ryo, second year at Shimokitazawa High School... Oh, nice to meet you too."
Yamada Ryo shook his hand openly, "But there's one thing different about me; I'm actually very good at playing the bass."
"Hello, hello! I'm Ijichi Nijika, second year at Shimokitazawa High School!"
The girl dressed very cutely, with a golden-yellow side ponytail, quickly approached, gripping Kurusu Akira's hand with both of hers and shaking it, then revealing a gentle and brilliant smile like the sun, "I'm the band's drummer! Please take care of me from now on!"
Kurusu Akira looked up and saw that Iseri Nina, sitting opposite him, was no longer crying.
Her tears had completely stopped, when did that happen?!
"Nina-chan has already introduced herself to me," Ijichi Nijika proudly pressed her hand to her chest, "Although I'm the drummer, I'm actually very good at taking care of others!"
"Nijika, you're boasting." Yamada Ryo tiptoed closer, winking at Ijichi Nijika.
"Now the band has four people, that's great," Ijichi Nijika pushed Yamada Ryo away somewhat embarrassedly, then awkwardly changed the subject.
"Can Nina play keyboard or guitar?" Yamada Ryo even started calling her by her first name.
The cool beautiful girl leaned close to Iseri Nina, "Guitar? Keyboard? Or... vocalist?"
"She probably can't do any of those things you mentioned."
"Darn it, you interrupted me." Yamada Ryo frowned, glaring at Kurusu Akira with slight displeasure, "Even if you're dating, you can't ignore the feelings of other members in the band!"
"Da-dating?!" Iseri Nina's voice rose sharply.
"You've misunderstood. She and I are in the same club; I'm the president, and we're broadly speaking 'neighbors.' Besides that, there's no other relationship."
"What, it's not that kind of youthful and rock-and-roll setup?" Yamada Ryo was instead greatly surprised, stepping back a few paces and staring at Kurusu Akira with cautious eyes, "This is bad. A single handsome guy like you mixing into our band full of beautiful girls, you must be thinking of 'starting a harem,' right?... Although that sounds very rock and roll."
"Ryo, you can't talk nonsense like that!" Ijichi Nijika quickly pulled Yamada Ryo's sleeve.
"Nijika, we must be vigilant—look at him, he deliberately hunches his back, wears large square-framed glasses, his hair is messy and long enough to cover his eyes, and he deliberately doesn't button the top button of his shirt, and he plays guitar... He's clearly an experienced 'rocker.'"
"What do you mean by an experienced 'rocker'?" Ijichi Nijika showed a puzzled expression.
"Smoking, drinking, tattoos, fighting, and playing with high school girls." Yamada Ryo blurted out very inappropriate lines, making both Ijichi Nijika and Iseri Nina turn pale.
At this moment, a series of uncontrolled laughter came from the stairwell.
A woman very similar to Ijichi Nijika walked down, leaning on the wall. "Ryo, don't scare them."
She greeted Kurusu Akira somewhat enthusiastically, "You're that 'star server' who works in Yongen-Jaya, aren't you?"
"What kind of strange nickname is that?"
"You're very famous on the high school forums around Setagaya Ward. Young people are promoting you as the 'once-in-a-millennium handsome young man hidden in a back-alley coffee shop.'"
The woman introduced herself, "Ijichi Seika, the manager of this Livehouse, and also her sister over there."
The manager looked at Ijichi Nijika, "Now you can start your first rehearsal as a rock band here."
Yamada Ryo took off her bass and hugged it. "Now? I don't mind."
"Wait a minute!" Kurusu Akira interrupted their conversation, then pulled out the carefully folded promotional flyer from his pocket.
He pushed up his glasses, the thick lenses reflecting the light.
"Could you perhaps disclose the 'salary and benefits' for future band work?"
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