A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

Although his expression seemed a little unhappy, Shiina Riki still politely bowed slightly to Chihaya Tetsuya and said:

"This is our first meeting, please take care of me."

"Please take care of me."

Judging from Aine's attitude towards her, and the frank displeasure on this girl's face, she must be the one with the "bad personality", right?

Thinking of this, Chihaya Tetsuya added:

"My sister...seems to be causing you trouble."

"Eh? I didn't!"

Before Shiina Riki could respond, Chihaya Aine immediately retorted:

"I just offered a few half-baked suggestions...right, Lixi?"

"Well……"

Although Shiina Riki really wanted to tell them that this was just causing trouble, considering that the other person's brother was still here, she didn't know how to answer for a moment.

But soon, Chihaya Tetsuya's next words directly helped her make a choice -

"You are already causing trouble for others by saying this."

"it hurts!"

Chihaya Aine covered her head and said with a sad face:

"Wow, wow, wow...please give others some respect outside..."

"That will only make you more aggressive."

"why is it like this……"

On the other hand, after seeing this series of interactions between the two, the expression on Shiina Riki's face relaxed a lot.

Compared to the frivolous Chihaya Aine, her brother was far more serious. Furthermore, Chihaya Tetsuya's manner of speaking and his upright appearance in formal attire perfectly matched her idea of ​​what an adult should look like.

Immediately afterwards, Shiina Riki seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly turned his gaze to Takamatsu Deng.

She thought that Takamatsu Deng, who was already shy, would be very scared in front of a strange man. However, when she carefully examined Takamatsu Deng's expression, she found that his face did not show the anxiety and fear she had originally imagined, but rather a slight nervousness and a hint of curiosity as usual.

This was beyond Shiina Riki's imagination...

"Ahem! Well, now that everyone is here, we should get down to business."

After Shiina Riki took her seat, Chihaya Aine clapped her hands and called out naturally:

"Like I said before, my brother is a fashion designer. He came here to check on everyone and discuss the design of our band's uniforms!"

“Um… Aine-san? Regarding this, didn’t we talk about it yesterday? We don’t need to worry about the costumes and stuff. Even if Chihaya-san is a designer, it would be a bit too much for him to design costumes for four people all of a sudden…”

"It's okay, Sushi-san! My brother just happens to be free recently, and this is something he promised me before, so it won't be a big deal for him!"

“…Is that so?”

Nagasaki Suyo tilted her head.

"If you insist...it's not impossible. So, should we each report our body measurements or something?"

"unnecessary."

Regarding this question, Chihaya Tetsuya quickly denied it:

"Not all clothes require such detailed data. It is not necessary to provide such detailed data before the style and design of the clothing are determined."

Not only that, even when facing a fashion designer, these young girls would probably not want to casually give their privacy to a man they met for the first time.

As expected, after hearing that Chihaya Tetsuya did not need detailed data, the three girls' faces showed varying degrees of relief.

"So, as a reference for clothing style, what are your current ideas for the band's main performance style?"

Chihaya Tetsuya asked.

After hearing this question, the four girls present all showed some hesitation.

Chihaya Aine's words were simply due to a lack of ideas, while the hesitation of the other three seemed to be mixed with other emotions.

"As for style... it's not something we need to consider before now."

Nagasaki Suyo lowered her head slightly and muttered in a tone that was difficult to discern:

"After all, she was the one who composed the music before..."

"…………"

After hearing what Nagasaki Suyo said, Takamatsu Deng's expression suddenly became visibly shaken.

Upon seeing this, Shiina Riki immediately spoke:

"In that case, let's first consider the instrumentation of our band... Currently, we have the classic combination of a lead singer, drummer, bassist, and guitarist—"

"Maybe new instruments will be added in the future."

Before Shiina Riki could finish her words, Nagasaki Suyo interrupted:

“So, it’s not enough to just consider existing instruments.”

"what?"

After hearing this, Shiina Riki frowned slightly.

"I said, you... wouldn't you..."

"Mr. Chihaya, if I want to design costumes, do I really need a clear performance style?"

Nagasaki Suyo ignored Shiina Riki's question, but turned to ask Chihaya Tetsuya.

“Is there a kind of versatile costume that can adapt to a variety of performance styles?”

"Of course."

Chihaya Tetsuya nodded, then took out his cell phone and opened the photo album he had prepared in advance.

"In fact, many bands don't pay much attention to matching their costumes with their performances. Take this band's outfits, for example: simple, solid-color T-shirts with giant logos. While they give off a student club vibe, to some extent, they also reflect their style. And then there's the idea of ​​simply basing your outfits on your personal style, using highly polished individual designs without considering the overall integrity of the band. It's also a good choice..."

Amidst Chihaya Aine's smug look and the increasingly dazed expressions of the other three girls, Chihaya Tetsuya provided them with many different clothing styles and matching ideas in detail.

After this detailed and clear explanation, the instinctive doubts in the hearts of the three girls disappeared.

"So...so awesome..."

The first person to express his thoughts was Takamatsu Deng.

"Mr. Chihaya, you really thought a lot about us..."

"After all, this is my sister's band, so as her brother, I have to be more attentive."

Chihaya Tetsuya said:

"If you're having a hard time deciding, you don't have to make a decision today. After all, a band isn't a short-term activity that can only happen in a day or two. For the sake of long-term considerations, it doesn't hurt to be cautious."

"!Yes!"

For some reason, after hearing what Chihaya Tetsuya said, Takamatsu Deng nodded very vigorously.

"It's not a short-term thing...it's something much longer-term, a lifetime thing..."

"Well, before you make your official decision, I'll continue to help you find some costumes from other bands as references. Even if you can't decide on a specific style, you can just pick the one you like."

Chihaya Tetsuya said as he put his phone back into his pocket.

"Although I would like to introduce you to more, I still have work to do next, so I have to excuse myself for now."

Takamatsu Deng: "Well, see you next time, Chihaya-san!"

Nagasaki Suyo: "Thank you very much for your explanation, Chihaya-san."

Shiina Riki: "Thank you for your hard work."

"Eh!? Is it time already?!"

Unlike the other three, Chihaya Aine made a sound of great surprise.

"Really, time flies by when I'm with my brother... Please wait here for a moment, I'm going to see my brother off first~"

"You have to send me off even for such a short walk?"

"Oh, just leave it alone..."

Just like that, Chihaya Aine followed Chihaya Tetsuya closely and left the cafe with him.

........................

“…It’s unbelievable.”

After the Chihaya siblings left, Shiina Riki couldn't help but shake his head.

"Such a quirky guy actually has such a serious brother."

“Perhaps it’s because Chihaya-san is so reliable that Aine-san is so… ‘innocent’.”

Nagasaki Suyo looked at the door, rubbing her fingertips and said:

"What an enviable brother-sister relationship."

"Compared to that... Su Shi, if I understood correctly what you said just now... you don't want to find Xiangzi back, do you?"

Shiina Riki turned his head and stared at Nagasaki Suyo.

After hearing this, Nagasaki Suyo continued to look in the direction where the Chihaya siblings left without making any comment.

"Even if she did something like that?"

"Things like that...don't say such petty things."

Nagasaki Suyo smiled and said:

"Xiangzi must have had her own difficulties at the time. Once she has resolved her problems, she will be able to come back to us... Deng thinks the same, right?"

"I……"

When asked this question suddenly by Nagasaki Suyo, Takamatsu Deng's face suddenly showed a complicated expression.

And Shiina Riki immediately continued:

"Even if you really wanted to bring her back, didn't any of us manage to contact her after that? Before that, were we supposed to just keep waiting for her to come back on her own initiative?"

"…………"

The smile on Nagasaki Suyo's face froze for a moment, and then she slowly looked away.

"I'll...find a way to get back in touch with her."

As if to cheer herself up, she gradually raised her tone.

"When she comes back, Mu will definitely come back too. Then we can be together again, so—"

"I'm back!"

At this moment, Chihaya Aine, who had just sent her brother off, returned to the cafe with brisk steps.

"Hey, what do you think? Isn't my brother super handsome?"

Chihaya Aine asked impatiently as soon as she returned to her seat.

Nagasaki Suyo was silent for a moment, then raised her head and replied with a smile:

"He is indeed a very mature and steady gentleman, and his insights into clothing are worth learning from."

Shiina Riki also followed up:

"Yeah, I'm totally different from you."

"Hmph~ No matter what you say, the fact that he is my brother will not change, and I am his only sister!"

Chihaya Aine raised her chin proudly.

"Forget it, forget it. I'm in a good mood today, so I won't argue with you. Let's go to the recording studio first! I must show you the results of my Golden Week practice... Deng, let's go!"

"……kindness!"

"Hey, Deng! Tsk, you really are...Su Shi, you go with them first. I'll go ask for leave from my senior."

"understood."

And so, the four girls prepared to begin their first rehearsal together.