They all have hidden attributes!

Through the clean, bright glass, the dazzling summer sunlight fell on her chestnut-colored ponytail.

Makoto Takahashi stared at Hina Nekoya's clean-cut and handsome face with a playful look; her blushing expression was especially adorable.

[Secret Admirer: After the Assist Card is loaded, the trigger probability of all Friendship Training is increased to medium.]

Are you dreaming?

He closed the system panel that suddenly popped up in front of him, smiled and opened his arms to Nekoya Hina: "Good luck, don't put too much pressure on yourself. If you fail this year, you can try again next year."

"Oh," she replied, her body frozen in place without making any movement.

"Yina, that's too much."

"What? Acheng is acting really strange today!"

"This is to encourage you."

"I won't lose." Nekoya Hina took two steps forward, unable to resist the temptation.

Makoto Takahashi gave her a gentle hug and asked in a tender tone in her ear, "When you first started playing badminton, wasn't it to win the national championship?"

"of course not."

Hina Nekoya breathed in his scent and muttered softly, "Actually, I'm quite rebellious. When I was little, my coach in Hokkaido wanted me to play badminton, but my mom was firmly against it, saying that playing badminton would cause injuries and that I would definitely have other dreams in the future. But the more she said that..."

As she spoke, the pressure and heavy mood that had accumulated over the past few days began to dissipate.

Nekoya Hina had little guard against Takahashi Makoto to begin with, and under the intense summer sun, their close contact caused the bright air in the elevated corridor to gradually warm up.

Sensing that something was wrong, she quickly pushed Takahashi Makoto away, looking around frantically, afraid of being seen by others.

"Um, Cheng, I should probably head over to the meeting point and head out."

Seeing that Nekoya Hina's expression had become more lively, Takahashi Makoto breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Okay."

"Then I'll go?"

“I probably won’t have time to take you.” He raised his wrist, glanced down at the cobalt blue dial, and saw that there were only three minutes left until 8 o’clock.

I hope Shiraishi Junka won't be late today.

"See you in August, Acheng."

Hina Nekoya flashed a bright smile, waved, and then hopped and skipped to the other side of the elevated corridor, looking like she was in a great mood.

After watching her figure disappear around the corner, Makoto Takahashi turned and walked towards the special building, stepping up the stairs back to the rehearsal room of the Light Music Club on the 5th floor.

Today, Shiraishi Junko was not late. When Takahashi Makoto returned, she was already preparing to rehearse at the electric piano in the corner.

Upon his return, Maya Uesugi immediately announced the start of rehearsals.

Makoto Takahashi picked up the bass, sat down on the bar stool, pressed his fingers on the fretboard, and watched as Maya Uesugi transformed into a cold and domineering leader.

Her gaze was even colder than usual.

Kashima Reiko and Shiraishi Junka, at his prompting, unconditionally cooperated with Uesugi Maya's arrangements, and the morning rehearsal began in a tense atmosphere.

During lunch break, Makoto Takahashi did not have lunch with Maya Uesugi.

Shiraishi Junka's emotions needed to be taken care of, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hold on until the day of the live performance. Uesugi Maya also hoped that the keyboardist's emotions would be stable to avoid making basic mistakes such as missing notes due to distraction, and let Takahashi Makoto act according to his ideas.

After calming down Shiraishi Junka, Takahashi Makoto had a brief discussion with Kashima Reiko about learning music theory.

Following the advice of Maya Uesugi and Reiko Kashima, he finally decided not to learn it. Reading light novels was much more relaxing and enjoyable than reading music theory books.

Only someone like Maya Uesugi, who is incapable of teamwork, needs to do everything herself.

In the afternoon, before rehearsal began, Maya Uesugi suggested changing the chorus of a song to a more complex and dissonant chord progression in order to increase the tension of the melody.

Keyboardist Junka Shiraishi, in response to her disapproval, tried playing a section.

The tireless chirping of cicadas seeped in from outside the window, and the gentle notes flowed in the sunlight. Shiraishi Junka's slender, fair fingers danced on the black and white keys, her ethereal and otherworldly beauty almost unreal.

The melody stopped.

Something doesn't feel right.

She tossed her long, black hair aside, slowly raised her face, and met Uesugi Maya's gaze with a troubled look in her wine-red eyes, gently lecturing her:

"Music is about expressing feelings, not solving math problems. The warm yet lonely undertones before the changes are very important."

"You feel that the keyboard error rate is highest during morning rehearsals?"

Uesugi Maya asked a cold question, leaving Shiraishi Junka speechless, then turned her gaze to Kashima Reiko, asking for her opinion.

“A new chord might be too difficult for Makoto,” Kashima Reiko said coolly, her blue eyes casting a worried glance at Takahashi Makoto.

Of the four members of the band, only Makoto Takahashi was a true novice, having only been learning bass for a little over a month, and he was prone to making mistakes with overly complex chords.

“I’m fine.” Makoto Takahashi shook his head at her, then put his index finger to his lips, signaling Junka Shiraishi to be quiet.

Uesugi Maya wouldn't care about their opinions at all; saying more would be pointless and would only displease her.

—In short, the current situation is still under Makoto Takahashi's control.

"Practice the new chords this afternoon, Makoto. I'll practice with you tonight," Uesugi Maya said coldly.

"it is good."

Makoto Takahashi had no objections, but Junka Shiraishi and Reiko Kashima showed a hint of something unusual in their eyes when they heard about the extra practice sessions.

By the time the afternoon rehearsal ended, the rehearsal room had completely turned into a pressure cooker.

The summer heat outside is like a furnace that keeps getting hotter. The wall-mounted air conditioner tries its best to blow out cold air, but the cold air cannot circulate in the stagnant air.

Outside the narrow window, the noisy cicadas had stopped chirping sometime earlier. Inside the quiet rehearsal room, Uesugi Maya was flipping through sheet music with a blank expression.

"Shiraishi, your keyboard is always playing too fast. If the coordination isn't good, I won't allow you to go on stage."

"Kashima, don't try to fix things for Makoto. I'll help him with extra training."

As she spoke, she looked up and met Takahashi Makoto's gaze. Seeing his look, she said, "Makoto, don't just follow your feelings when it comes to chords. I still suggest you learn some music theory."

"Okay, I'll stabilize the pace."

Hearing Takahashi Makoto say this, Uesugi Maya turned and walked out of the rehearsal room, intending to go to the club office to wait for him to go home together: "Dismissed today."

Makoto Takahashi put down his bass, stood up from the bar stool, stretched languidly, and then turned to Junko Shiraishi with a smile:

"I'll walk you home."

"Mmm." Shiraishi Junka nodded gently, a happy smile appearing on her charming face.

It was said that he was taking her home, but in reality, he only took her downstairs. The Shiraishi family would send a car to pick her up, and Takahashi Makoto only needed to wait with Shiraishi Junko on the bench in the courtyard.

Under the setting sun, the girls from the wind band club, carrying instruments of all sizes, walked along the tree-lined path from the direction of the student council.

Seeing Makoto Takahashi and Junko Shiraishi chatting intimately on a bench, showing no regard for social distancing, several girls lost their sparkle.

"What instrument is that small girl carrying? It's huge," Takahashi Makoto asked.

Shiraishi Junka's gaze briefly shifted from him for two seconds: "Large."

"He seems bigger than her."

"Ah."

"It looks like the car that's picking you up has arrived."

When Takahashi Seiji saw the white sedan from yesterday drive into the academy gate, he was about to stand up when Shiraishi Jun took his arm and sat down, wanting to chat a little longer.

"Chitose brought orange juice. Drink it before you leave to replenish your vitamins," she said softly.

"also."

"You can't drink coffee after drinking orange juice, it will upset your stomach."

Shiraishi Junko gave the instructions with great seriousness, and seeing her trying to put on a serious expression, Takahashi Makoto decided to believe her for the time being: "Okay."

A little bit of cunning can actually be quite cute.

Chitose refers to Shiraishi Chitose, Shiraishi Junko's personal driver. Takahashi Makoto met her yesterday; she's a woman with short black hair who looks very capable and elegant.

After finishing his orange juice and watching Shiraishi Junko get into her car and leave, Takahashi Makoto walked unhurriedly toward the special building.

Arriving on the 5th floor, I pushed open the door and entered the Light Music Club office.

"Uesugi-senpai, let's go get some coffee."

Hanakawa Kaori, a petite figure, stood beside a makeshift desk and, oblivious to the danger, extended an invitation to Uesugi Maya: "I know a highly-rated coffee shop, I'll treat you."

"Not interested."

As if she thought further words were pointless, Uesugi Maya abruptly cut off her invitation.

Generally speaking, normal people would choose to lie, making excuses such as "I'm going to buy something next" or "I have an appointment with someone else" to decline.

Only Uesugi Maya, who clearly desires to be alone, will explicitly express her refusal.

Hanakawa Kaori, with her hands behind her back, still maintained her smile: "I see... then I'll invite you again next time."

"Don't invite me anymore, it's bothering me." Uesugi Maya picked up her coffee, swallowed a sip, and responded coldly.

She's always like this in class, isn't she?

No wonder I always get into conflicts with classmates, teachers, and the like.

Thinking to himself, Takahashi Makoto coughed lightly to attract Hanakawa Kaori's attention: "Kaori, give up. Maya can't possibly become friends with you."

In this world, besides him, probably no one else has the ability to gain Hakiye's trust.

"Ah, Makoto-senpai, good afternoon... good evening?" Hanakawa Kaori turned around gracefully, giving him a bright smile.

She didn't wear pigtails today; her medium-length black hair was loose, and a large red bow was tied on top of her head, making her look pure and lovely.

The light-colored sailor uniform was a long skirt style, and under the evening sunlight, her bright purple eyes sparkled, and her youthful face exuded a feeling of vitality.

"good evening."

Makoto Takahashi nodded to her, but seeing Maya Uesugi giving him a look that seemed to tell her to leave, he made up an excuse: "Maya and I have to practice more tonight. The band's first live performance is so close, we don't have time for coffee."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry."

Hanakawa Kaori clasped her hands together in front of her, bowed to Uesugi Maya, and showed a slightly lonely expression: "I will invite you again, Uesugi-senpai."

"What is your purpose?" Uesugi Maya asked coldly, shooting him a sharp gaze.

"Purpose?" Hanakawa Kaori was a little confused, and blinked blankly at Takahashi Makoto, hoping he could help translate.