They all have hidden attributes!

She pointed to the center of the rehearsal room and roughly gestured the position of the net. This spacious room had been used for badminton training before it was converted into a rehearsal room.

Unlike Nekoya Hina, Hanakawa Kaori genuinely dislikes badminton, so she sounded a bit sullen when she talked about it. Takahashi Makoto patted her head to comfort her.

Seeing the two of them displaying such a loving brother-sister relationship, Uesugi Maya rubbed her temples with a headache and sighed helplessly, saying:

"I didn't mean to expose you, I just wanted to explain the upcoming itinerary to them so they would understand your plans and agree with them."

"Expose me? I haven't done anything wrong."

Makoto Takahashi frowned, expressing his dissatisfaction with her choice of words, but his expression remained frank:

"I'm only staying in Izu for a day because I need to gather materials. This is art. As my assistant, Reiko naturally has to stay and keep me company, running errands and such."

His words were righteous and forceful, and although they were irrefutable, Uesugi Maya considered them to be utterly sophistry.

She rolled her eyes at Takahashi Makoto speechlessly, crossed her arms, and twirled a strand of black hair that fell along her shoulder with her fingertips:

"I want to save as much time as possible. Zhushan Private College closes at 7 pm during the cultural festival, which is enough time to explore."

"We'll go back to Tokyo with Tatsumi tomorrow morning. Once he's back, we'll start our regular club activities after school."

When she spoke her second sentence, Uesugi Maya's gaze was fixed only on Hanakawa Kaori and Shiraishi Junka. The former nodded obediently, while the latter bit her lower lip and looked down at the ground.

"..." Kashima Reiko seemed to realize something, her blue eyes brightening as she nodded in agreement with Uesugi Maya's arrangement without making a sound.

"I also want to stay and gather material," Shiraishi Junko said timidly.

She turned to look at Makoto Takahashi, her eyes softening, her hazy, wine-red eyes seeming to well up with tears.

Her alluring face was tinged with vulnerability, her pitiful expression was so tender and moving that it made one's heart race and instinctively want to agree.

We must refuse.

Makoto Takahashi shook his head firmly without saying a word. Junko Shiraishi met his gaze for a few seconds and nodded like a fanatical believer.

"Let's go." Uesugi Maya turned and walked out of the rehearsal room.

Makoto Takahashi quickly caught up with her, lowering his voice to scold her: "You know perfectly well that Junko is very fragile, yet you still said it to her face."

"That's just how awful I am."

Cats are vengeful creatures, and Uesugi Maya is no exception. She still remembers Takahashi Makoto saying that he has a bad personality when they went to the Kamakura training camp.

He wouldn't forgive Tachibana Yuki for his personal grudge of inviting him to his house for dinner and watching him make a fool of himself, even for the sake of the blue octopus.

"Why?" Takahashi Makoto asked.

"For the band."

"For the band?"

“You know I’m not interested in socializing, but I need to show my social skills so that Shiraishi can stay in the band even if you leave.”

Maya Uesugi smiled confidently, while Makoto Takahashi's forehead creased with annoyance: "Why are you considering my leaving the band? I'm part of the creative team, after all, and aren't your social skills a bit strange?"

“I know Lijian better than you do; she’s my enemy.”

"You probably already know that I won't leave the band."

"Ha, how naive."

Hearing the mocking sneer, Makoto Takahashi felt a headache coming on.

Well, at least Uesugi Maya is willing to find a way to get along with Shiraishi Junka, and even if it's for the sake of her value, it's not a big deal.

The five band members still traveled to the private Takeyama Gakuin in two cars. Hanakawa Kaori, Shiraishi Junka, and Kashima Reiko rode in the van they had used to come to Izu, while Takahashi Makoto and Uesugi Maya rode in the white chauffeured car. Their instruments and equipment were loaded in a special van.

Upon arriving at the stadium, Makoto Takahashi was about to get out of the car to move his musical instruments when Maya Uesugi reached out and grabbed his wrist as he pushed the car door open, handing him a black disposable mask.

The distance between the two closed, and the warm scent of cedarwood wafted over.

Makoto Takahashi took the mask, put it on, and got out of the car. Maya Uesugi also got out from the same side and joined the other three.

The bassist was still responsible for moving the instruments.

Uesugi Maya was in charge of communicating with the cultural festival executive committee of Takeyama Academy, while Hanakawa Kaori ran off in a flash, probably to show off to her former classmates.

Kashima Reiko noticed that Shiraishi Junka was acting suspiciously and kept a close eye on her.

About 10 minutes before the show, the band gathered backstage at the stadium. On stage, two girls were performing manzai, a type of stand-up comedy similar to crosstalk.

Makoto Takahashi was listening intently from behind, thinking that this was much more interesting than the violin solo performance at the Tsurumizawa Cultural Festival, when his cell phone in his pocket started buzzing.

I took out my phone; the caller ID showed [Nekoya Haruna].

It's currently the afternoon performance time of the Tsurumizawa Cultural Festival. After experiencing the outdated version, Nekoya Hina has decided to give the badminton club a day off this afternoon.

Even if she couldn't come to Izu, she still wanted to read the [Version Update Announcement] carefully, so she called Makoto Takahashi during the performance.

Makoto Takahashi walked to a quiet corner backstage and answered the phone.

"Acheng, I'm so bored."

The phone was playing Nekoya Hina's deliberately lowered voice, with background music that sounded like wind instruments.

"Compared to the cultural festivals I attended in Hokkaido, the cultural festival in Tsurumizawa was so boring. It was all wind instruments, violins, pianos, and more pianos."

After listening to her lament, Makoto Takahashi said with a laugh, "You can't expect young ladies to learn manzai. I do have manzai performers here to warm up band performances."

Manzai is better than wind instrumental music; at least it's more fun, and the audience won't feel sleepy when they laugh.

"Damn it, I really want to go to Izu too!"

Nekoya Hina stomped her foot in frustration, suddenly regretting leaving the light music club. Otherwise, if she had been a little more shameless, she could definitely have joined them.

Actually, she could have quit; Makoto Takahashi wouldn't have refused her. But her responsibilities as department head kept Hina Nekoya busy.

Thinking of the high expectations her seniors had placed on her, Nekoya Hina calmed down and started talking about the recent gossip in the badminton club.

"Acheng, do you still remember Senior Okada?"

After a moment of recollection, Takahashi Makoto asked uncertainly, "The senior who sneaked out with her boyfriend that night?"

"Yes, yes, it's her. Listen to me, she had a fight with Coach Shirakawa today and just packed her bag and left."

"She must be a specially admitted student, right?"

"Yes, Coach Shirakawa thinks her relationship is affecting training, which is strange. Amamiya-senpai's last year is next year..."

After discussing the gossip, Nekoya Hina asked about things in Izu.

"The hot spring inn owned by Hanaori's family is pretty good, isn't it? We stayed there during our training camp. There's a skin-soothing hot spring there, and Rina-senpai spoke highly of it..."

Makoto Takahashi chatted with her for a while, and a few minutes later, Maya Uesugi came over and gestured to him with her eyes that he should get ready to go on stage.

Makoto Takahashi nodded, ending his conversation with Hina Nekoya.

"I'm about to go on stage."

Hearing him say that, Nekoya Hina suddenly fell silent, realizing that she was being a bit of an idiot.

He clearly wanted to gather information, but he ended up talking so much that he didn't have a chance to ask anything...

However, no matter what I say, I just can't bring myself to ask!

There's no other way but to wait for Acheng to return to Tokyo, then surprise him at his apartment, or invite him out for meat or something.

Practice teaches, and you'll learn it in one go.

Having learned a painful lesson, Nekoya Hina made up her mind. After chatting with him for a couple more minutes, she decisively hung up the phone and started searching online for good yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurants in Tokyo.

Makoto Takahashi put away his phone, took his bass out of the case, went on stage, stood in a corner, and plugged in the cables.

Hanakawa Kaori stood in the center of the stage, greeting her former classmates and teachers with great enthusiasm. When she talked about why she liked Tokyo, there was a hint of boasting in her voice.

As the drumbeats began and the melody filled the air, her soft, clear voice accompanied the music as she tossed colorful candies to the audience below the stage.

?しがみついた青いsworn?

?好きなことを続けること?

?それは楽しいだけじゃない?

......

The singing echoed through the microphone in the stadium, and more and more people gathered, with countless glow sticks waving like waves.

When the performance ended, shouts came from below that made Makoto Takahashi feel a little ashamed.

"Takahashi-senpai, I'll come to Tokyo to see you!!!"

"Me too!!!"

In addition, there are some guys with strange fetishes.

"Takahashi-kun, please show me that you look down on me!"

"Me too!"

Those who shouted "One more song!" were actually in the minority.

Makoto Takahashi touched his cheek to make sure he was still wearing his mask, and began to suspect that they didn't actually want to be given the middle finger, but just wanted to see the mask-removal part after the middle finger.

"Everyone, thank you so much..."

Hanakawa Kaori thanked them familiarly, the lights dimmed, Takahashi Makoto packed up his equipment and left the stage. Next up was the light music club from the private Takeyama Academy.

The five high school girls, just like in a manga, had brightly colored hair, their eyes lit up when they saw him, and they were incredibly cute.

"Takahashi-senpai, we've decided to apply to Tsurumizawa. See you next April!"

"We'll train you no matter what, please let us join the Light Music Club!"

While Takahashi Makoto was signing their instruments, the two energetic girls said something strange. Kashima Reiko, who was carrying a drum set off the stage, suddenly appeared and blocked them with her arms outstretched like a bodyguard.

With the maids on high alert, the cute girls who couldn't find a chance to get close could only regretfully carry their musical instruments onto the stage.

"Reiko, want to go for a stroll around the cultural festival together?" Takahashi Makoto asked.

Kashima Reiko turned to face him, her gaze sweeping past his side and landing on his back, and she gently shook her head.

Makoto Takahashi turned to look at where her gaze had fallen, where stood Junka Shiraishi, wearing a black dress and with long, flowing hair.

Kashima Reiko left quietly; she had plenty of time tomorrow.

"Makoto, can you come with me to the cultural festival?" Shiraishi Junka asked softly.

Makoto Takahashi hesitated for a moment, then nodded. She walked over naturally and wrapped her arms around his, blurring the boundary between them at that moment.