I, the mastermind behind the scenes at Soubu High, refuse to be caught in a bloodbath.

Himekoji wasn't really familiar with what to do at a girl's house. Although she used to go to Kazusa's house often, her childhood friend was different from ordinary girls. If it were a girl from a social circle, going there would just involve small talk, chatting about anything and everything, and taking a stroll in the garden. Himekoji really had very little experience going to the houses of ordinary girls like this.

But there was nothing to hesitate about; it was a girl's home, not a den of dragons or tigers.

"Saturday, when?"

Around 3 p.m.

"That's too much trouble... I'll go directly to your house on Friday, and then we can go together on Saturday. You don't need to come pick me up."

This is what childhood sweethearts are all about—even if the other person is of the opposite sex, they can casually say things like, "I'm coming over to your house this Friday night."

"No problem, I'll tell my mother you're coming. I'm sure she'll prepare lots of your favorite sweets for you."

Hearing Himekoji say that, Kazusa smiled knowingly and nodded earnestly.

If Kazusa hadn't inherited Yoko's naturally slim physique, she might have weighed around the same as Himekoji, given her lifelong obsession with sweets... Thank goodness. These two can sit at the piano for hours without exercising after indulging in tons of sweets; if they didn't have high metabolic rates, they'd be as round as balloons by now.

On Friday afternoon, as Himekoji and Kazusa were getting into the car to go home, his phone started vibrating. To his surprise, it was a call from Yukinoshita.

"what's up?"

"Sagami-kun came to visit us the other day..."

"so?"

"She wants me to help her organize the cultural festival executive committee meeting... that's about it."

"If it were you, you would definitely take action, right?"

"However, if she wants me to serve as the deputy executive chairman, she will need your authorization."

“I have already given Sagami full authority, so you don’t need to ask me about anything within her scope of work.”

"Is that so? I understand. Goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Yukinoshita closed her eyes and sighed silently.

"who is it?"

"Yukikinoshita Yukino."

"The girls who have been calling you lately are all girls with a lot of admirers at school, like 'school idol' Ogiso Setsuna, and 'ice queen' Yukino Yukinoshita."

Kazusa rested her chin on her hand, leaning against the car door, only glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"And there's also the 'Piano Queen' Touma Kazusa, she plays the piano with me every day... Ouch, that hurts!"

While he was frolicking at the Himekoji intersection, Kazusa mercilessly stomped hard on his foot with her heel.

"Who told you to bring up so much nonsense? Besides, I wouldn't dare to associate with those two influential figures."

She gave Himeko a cold look and crossed her arms.

Back at the Himekoji house, Kazusa had become completely accustomed to having a chubby white duck swaying around them whenever they did anything. This duck, named "Haruto," was quite friendly to Himekoji's mother and Kazusa. Although Kazusa rarely saw it, it liked to rub its head and flat beak against Kazusa's legs.

At 3:10 p.m. on the second afternoon, Himeko and Kazusa got into the car on time. Their mother stood outside the window waving goodbye to them from afar, still holding the duck in her arms. Reiko skillfully stepped on the gas, and the silver Aston Martin sped away from the main gate of the manor.

The Ogiso family home is in the opposite direction from the Kazusa family home. The Kazusa family home is actually quite close to the Kitahara family home. If they were to take the subway, the two of them could ride together for a part of the journey. However, the Kitahara family home is a bit further than the Kazusa family home. But that doesn't matter. Thanks to Reiko's excellent driving skills, at 3:27, Himekoji and Kazusa got off the subway in front of the Ogiso family home.

"Then, Master Haruto and Miss Kazusa, please enjoy yourselves."

After getting out of the car and opening the door for them, Ms. Reiko leaned against the door and bowed to them.

"It will probably take quite a while, so you can go and browse around as you like, Reiko-nee."

"Understood."

She winked at Himekoji, quickly got back into the car, and drove away.

Perhaps the fact that the car was parked in front of their house made the Ogiso family feel a little strange, because before Himekoji and Kazusa could ring the doorbell, their door had already opened, and it was Ogiso Setsuna's younger brother, Ogiso Takahiro, who opened the door.

"Ah, please come in, both of you. My older sister is working in the kitchen. I am Kogiso Takahiro. Nice to meet you."

This is a very energetic young man, two years younger than Himekoji. He is wearing a casual gray-white hoodie and brown trousers, with a smile on his face. He has the same tea-colored hair as Setsuna, which he inherited from their mother.

Hmm...inherited from their mother.

"Himekoji Haruto, nice to meet you."

"Touma Kazusa, nice to meet you."

After bowing slightly at the door, the two followed her younger brother, Takahiro, into the house. They had assumed Yukina's father would be home on Saturday, but he wasn't. Only the occasional question, "Mom, where's the starch?" could be heard from the kitchen. After hearing the door close, Yukina rushed out of the kitchen, still holding a ladle. She hurriedly hid the ladle behind her back after facing Himekoji and the others, and said with a grin, "Welcome! Please come with Takahiro to my room on the second floor. I'm preparing lunch for the three of you."

Kazusa and Himekoji exchanged a glance, thanked him in unison, and followed Takahiro upstairs to Ogiso's private room.

Chapter 185 Unexpectedly, [Setsuna Ogiso] extended an invitation.

Like most girls' bedrooms, the whole room is decorated in a warm pink tone. Everything from the dressing table, small table, wardrobe, bed and curtains looks cute. Even the soft cushions on the wooden floor are heart-shaped and warm in color. When I first came in, I was used to the cool colors of the kimono and felt a little uncomfortable.

Another thing that made her uncomfortable was that Kitahara Haruki, who had been waiting in the room for a while, was forcing a smile and greeting her.

Kazusa merely glanced at him coldly before turning away, while Takahiro warmly instructed, "This is my sister's room. Please make yourselves at home."

"Well, thank you."

Himekoji sat down with Kazusa. Kazusa chose a ginger-yellow round cushion, leaving Himekoji with no choice but to take the heart-shaped cushion.

"Let me make this clear first, I didn't join your boring band because you needed more members, it's for completely different reasons..."

Kazusa straightened her back, closed her eyes, and declared to herself.

"Well... I see. But having Touma here is a huge help. By the way, what did Ogiso call us here for?"

Kitahara asked a puzzled question, feeling somewhat uneasy due to Kazusa's cold attitude.

"He told me he was coming to her house to play."

"I was summoned here anyway."

Kazusa pointed at Himekoji with her left index finger, her expression blank.

"I'm just as confused..."

Kitahara smiled wryly, then the three of them exchanged a silent glance, their shoulders slumped, and they all let out a sigh.

“She’s only been in the light music club for less than a week, yet she’s become so enthusiastic. It’s really strange.” Kazusa’s tone was tinged with doubt as she stared at Kitahara, who kept waving his hands and saying, “I don’t know. I was invited by her.”

"Well, whatever you want, Kitahara, what position do you plan to play in the band?"

Himekoji pushed up her glasses and looked directly at him.

"As for me..." Kitahara's lips twitched, and he scratched his head sheepishly, saying, "Actually, I originally wanted to be the guitarist, but I've only been practicing guitar for about half a year, and even then, I only practiced sporadically... so I'm not really confident."

"Half a year..." Kazusa's lips curled into a cute smile. She nudged Himekoji with her elbow and said, "Guitar player, wouldn't it be more suitable for you to come?"

"Hey, does President Himekoji also play the guitar?"

Kitahara looked surprised, while Himekoji nodded, neither confirming nor denying.

"At the very least, a band needs a guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, drummer, and lead singer. Even with the lead singer and guitarist basically confirmed, if I were to play the keyboard, we would still be short-handed... not to mention that we would need to adjust the personnel according to the songs."

To play the song "White Album" alone, it requires at least three instruments: guitar, piano, and saxophone.

"Um, if I practice hard, could I be the guitarist? Also, Takeya is pretty good at guitar; he taught me, so if he were to come..."

Kitahara volunteered and raised his hand.

"Practice hard... There are only a little over three weeks left until the school festival. How confident are you that you can improve your skills to the point where you can cooperate with everyone?"

Kazusa immediately questioned Kitahara, but she had an unusual trust in Himekoji when it came to musical instruments.

"That makes sense, it is indeed very difficult... I don't think I will give up."

Kitahara clenched his fist and nodded firmly, even though sweat was already beading on his forehead.

"I'm so sorry," Yukina, still wearing an apron, pushed open the door with a slightly embarrassed smile on her face. In her left hand, she held a wine-red wooden tray containing four glasses of freshly squeezed lime juice. She knelt down steadily, placed the tray flat on the table, and looked around at the three of them, saying, "I'm preparing now, it's taken me a little while. What are you all talking about, you seem to be having so much fun?"

Just then, Setsuna's mother called her, saying that her hands were full and she couldn't open the door. Setsuna quickly got up and opened the door, and together with her mother, they placed the food on the small pink square table.

Lime juice, pasta, and a large plate of fried chicken in the center—while not exactly a feast for the senses, it was certainly a delicious and visually appealing meal. In addition, there were some sliced ​​fruit desserts, which, when paired with the lime juice, served as a nice way to cut through the richness.

"Then, let's eat first!"

Setsuna sat down contentedly at the seat near the bed. Directly opposite her was Himekoji, with Kazusa to Himekoji's left and Kitahara to her right. Setsuna clasped her hands together, holding the fork between her thumbs, closed her eyes, and whispered, "Let's dig in."

"I won't stand on ceremony."

The three on the other side immediately followed suit and prepared to eat.

"Kazusa, I have some portable sugar packets here, would you like them?"

"Give it to me."

Kazusa accepted this fact quite naturally and reached out to Himekoji as if it were perfectly natural for him to carry a sugar packet with him.

"Okay, here you go."

Himekoji brought a total of four small packets. Although Kazusa could still eat more, it wouldn't be good for her health. Under the watchful eyes of the two men, she opened the sugar packets one by one, poured three packets into the small cup of lime juice, then poured the remaining packet into the spaghetti, stirred it with a fork, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Um... lime juice, are you sure you want to drink it?"

As Xuecai looked at the lime juice at the bottom of the glass, where some undissolved sugar granules remained, her eyelids twitched.

Is there a problem?

Kazusa held the cup and gently swirled it, asking casually.

"Uh...it's nothing."

Yukina squinted and forced a smile, exchanging a glance with Kitahara. Both of them nodded somewhat embarrassedly.

"By the way, Kogiso, what's going on today?"

"Oh? You mean money? Don't worry about it at all. All of this will only cost around a thousand dollars."

"No, not that," Kitahara said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. "What kind of event are they planning?"

"Of course we're here to discuss something, because Kitahara-kun said he absolutely had to get the two of them to join the light music club."

Setsuna smiled sweetly, giving a vague answer, while Himekoji and Kazusa calmly ate their meal, though Himekoji was guessing that Setsuna must understand the meaning behind Kitahara's words.

Chapter 186 is unusual; [Kitahara Haruki] is not being taken seriously.

"In the end, it was Ogiso who brought this all together..." Himeko swallowed a piece of fried chicken, then gave her a thumbs up and said, "It tastes great, very delicious." But less than a second after she finished speaking, Kazusa's fork seemed about to stab Himeko's outstretched hand. Himeko quickly pulled her hand back, and asked her with lingering fear, "Are you trying to stab me?!"