Lunch break.
I headed to the Rock Club studio to pick up the drumsticks I had left behind during yesterday's after-school practice.
Honestly, I forget my sticks way too often. I have to be careful... I walked down the hallway, suppressed the bitter memory of the last time I forgot them, and arrived at the studio.
The lights were on, so someone must be practicing.
Despite that, I couldn't see anyone through the window on the door...
"Excuse me..."
Intending to just step in for a second, I clicked the studio door open.
"Hie...!"
For some reason, my small-animal-like junior, who was crouching in the middle of the studio, jumped with her shoulders twitching before slowly turning toward me.
"K-Konuma-senpai..."
Taira-chan let out a pleading voice, her face pale and her eyes teary.
Wondering what was wrong, I observed the situation.
On the carpeted floor by her feet was a black stain about the size of a CD.
And in her hand was an open can of Calpis Water.
"...Did you spill your Calpis?"
"Yes... I thought I'd hydrate between practice sessions, but my hand slipped..."
Taira-chan hung her head despondently.
"Did you get any on your guitar or uniform?"
"No, I managed to avoid it perfectly... Though if I had that kind of agility, I shouldn't have spilled it in the first place..."
"No, I wasn't really thinking that... Anyway, that's good."
It's a big deal if it gets on the instruments. It goes without saying that it's bad for an acoustic guitar, and with an electric guitar, you'd have to check if it seeped into the circuitry, which is a total pain.
"...Senpai, aren't you angry?"
"Not really, I'm not Taira-chan's mother. But you should have used a plastic bottle. Why did you pick a can, which spills so easily..."
Actually, whether a singer should be hydrating with a high-sugar drink like Calpis is also a bit questionable. I didn't say it out loud, though, since that would be meddling.
Then, Taira-chan fidgeted, stroking the can with both hands, and spoke hesitantly.
"According to Azuma-shishou's teachings, Calpis should be drunk from a can..."
"Oh, I see..."
Yeah, as expected of the former president, her points of obsession are beyond comprehension. Come to think of it, the Calpis she treated me to after Rock-On was also a can.
For now, I knelt down beside Taira-chan to take a closer look at the stain.
"This is a pretty big stain..."
"Um, um, if Amane-buchou saw this, she'd be veeeeery angry, wouldn't she...?"
"Probably..."
I feel like she'd say something about drinking from a can rather than the spill itself. Even Sako avoids drinking because her usual carton of jasmine tea has a chance of spilling. They should just buy plastic bottles.
"W-What should we do...?"
"Let's look it up."
As I reached into my pocket for my smartphone—
"Ah, searching is my job! I'll look it up right away!"
Saying that, Taira-chan began operating her phone with rapid speed.
"'Carpet stain'... Ah, it came up! What we need is lukewarm water, a towel, a spray bottle, tissue paper, and neutral detergent... Ugh, finding those in school will be very difficult...!"
"We'll just have to ask the janitor... Let's settle this during lunch break."
"Understood! In that case, I will head to the janitor's office!"
Saying that, Taira-chan stood up with a start.
At that exact moment.
"Excuse me, is anyone here?"
A dignified and clear voice rang out.
Looking back, Ichikawa-buchou was opening the studio door.
"Whoa!?"
Crap! She'll see the stain!
In a split-second decision, I plopped my butt down on top of the stain to hide it. Yikes, my butt is cold...!
"K-Konuma-senpai!?"
Seeing my action, Taira-chan cried out in a high-pitched voice.
"O-Oh, Ichikawa. H-How's it going? Are you doing well?"
Yeah, even I think that was a terrible way to play it off... We were just in the same classroom taking lessons normally until a moment ago.
"I'm fine, but... what exactly is this situation?"
Ichikawa's voice sounded bewildered.
"Ah, no, it's nothing, I was just talking to Taira-chan about the future of the music world. Right, Taira-chan?"
Trying to get her to play along, I looked straight up from my sitting position...
"Wait, wait, Konuma-senpai, don't look this way!"
I ended up looking up at Taira-chan, who was holding down the front of her skirt with a bright red face.
"S-Sorry!!"
Crap! She was closer than I thought! ...I almost saw something!
I quickly snapped my head back to its original position.
Then, I locked eyes with Ichikawa-buchou, who had a cold, judging stare. Oh man, it's a flood above and a wildfire in front...
Rather than being angry, Ichikawa looked somewhat repulsed. It's been a while since I've seen that disgusted face of hers.
"...Please, take your time."
Ichikawa closed her eyes unpleasantly, picked up her guitar case—which seemed to be what she came for—and walked away with rather loud footsteps. Yikes...
Once Ichikawa was gone, Taira-chan came over and knelt in front of me.
"Konuma-senpai, I'm sorry... I've made you look like a total pervert..."
She apologized apologetically.
"Ah, no, I'm the one who should be sorry..."
"N-No, you did it for my sake..."
After saying that, she flushed red, turned slightly away, and peeked at me with just her eyes.
"U-Um... d-did you see?"
"I-I didn't see anything!"
I straightened my back and defended myself against her bashful voice.
Actually, this situation where she was crouching in front of me at this eye level was far more likely to result in seeing something, so I looked away.
"W-Well, I'll tell Ichikawa later that I tripped or something. Anyway, it's good that the stain wasn't found out."
"More importantly, didn't your pants get stained, senpai?"
"No... it's fine, isn't it?"
"It's not fine...! This isn't just normal kindness, senpai...!"
I soothed Taira-chan, who looked like she was about to cry, and we both stood up.
"In any case, let's go to the janitor's office."
So, as a temporary camouflage, I moved a nearby guitar amp over the stain, and the two of us headed to the janitor's office.
At the janitor's office, Taira-chan asked, "Could we please borrow lukewarm water, a towel, a spray bottle, tissue paper, and neutral detergent?" but the janitor simply asked, "Will this work?" and lent us a specialized stain remover (apparently called a 'stain remover.' Sounds like a special move). Convenient things exist, don't they...
Returning to the studio and using the stain remover, we succeeded in removing the stain quite easily.
"Great, it's back to normal...!"
As I wiped my forehead, Taira-chan bowed deeply beside me.
"Thank you so, so much...!"
"No, no, it's not something you need to bow that much for..."
When I waved my hand, Taira-chan put her fist to her mouth, her cheeks reddening again.
"Um, um, Konuma-senpai, why are you so kind to me...?"
She asked with slightly moist eyes.
"No, it's not that I'm being 'kind,' anyone would stay and help in that situation."
Did she think I was that cold-hearted?
Taira-chan continued to send a passionate gaze toward me while I frowned. ...What is it?
"C-Could it be that Konuma-senpai feels... about me...? It's not that it's completely out of the question, but I'd feel bad for Shishou, and, um..."
"Huh?"
What is this junior even talking about?
"I'm not mentally prepared since it's so sudden, and I don't really know those kinds of feelings myself... but if that's your intention, senpai, I thought it would be rude not to consider it seriously..."
...Sigh. I let out a deep breath.
"Taira-chan, are you jumping to conclusions again?"
Her tendency to overthink is a bad habit.
I gave Taira-chan a deadpan look.
After we locked eyes for about five seconds while she looked blank—
"............Ah!"
Taira-chan let out a realization.
"I just said something incredibly, incredibly embarrassing, didn't I!?"
"Yeah..."
"Wawa, what have I done...!"
Taira-chan fidgeted with her bangs using both hands, her cheeks becoming even redder than before. The movement reminded me of a hamster grooming itself.
"...S-Senpai, you have a younger sister, right?"
Eventually, she asked something seemingly unrelated to hide her embarrassment.
"Yeah, well, I do..."
"I-I see, I understand now!"
She clapped her hands together.
"I'm jealous of your sister! She must be so happy to have a kind older brother like you, senpai!"
And so, Taira-chan smiled bashfully.
By the way, when I returned to the Class 2-6 classroom after this.
"Oh, Konuma-kun, is that a stain on your butt...? Ah, so that's what that was earlier... A badge of honor, I suppose?"
"Wait, Ichikawa-san, aren't you a bit too quick to catch on?"
Furthermore, when I got home that day.
"A junior I talked to today said she was jealous of Yuzu for having a kind older brother like me."
"Hah? What's there to be jealous of in a brother who comes home with such an embarrassing stain on his pants? Is that person okay in the head? Takkun, go take those to the cleaners yourself, okay?"