“Uugh, it’s cold...!”
“Yeah...”
It was lunchtime in early November.
Under a clear autumn sky, across from me at an outdoor table in the cafeteria—a terrace seat, if you wanted to be fancy—Ichikawa Amane rubbed her palms together.
“Don’t be selfish, Ichikawa-san. It can’t be helped, the inside was full,” Sako Hasu, amane’s blonde bassist, pointed a thumb toward the glass windows of the school cafeteria behind us.
“Sorry, it’s because I said I wanted to talk during lunch... By the way, Amane, isn't it about time you started wearing tights?”
Yuri Azuma, the lyricist sitting next to Ichikawa, gave a regretful smile as she glanced at Ichikawa’s legs from the side.
...I felt like her mouth was grinning a bit too much, but I decided to ignore it for now.
“Hmm, I guess so...”
“Hehe... last year you wore tights every day once November started.”
“Why does Yuri know so much about my lower body situation...?”
“Ichikawa-san, your phrasing is a bit much... Also, Yurisuke, that was a creepy laugh just now.”
Sako, busy with the retorts, looked on with a slight, 0.1-millimeter exasperation and tilted her head.
“Anyway, you’re not wearing tights either, Yurisuke. Aren’t you cold?”
“It’s cold, definitely cold. But look, these socks are called ‘school socks,’ right? I can’t NOT wear something with the word ‘school’ in the name.”
“Hah, I see...”
The obsession of the Seishun Club President is as intense as ever...
“Sako-san looks warm, doesn't she? Maybe I should dress like that starting tomorrow...”
““Let’s not do that.””
Yuri and I spoke in unison to stop her.
Because Sako’s current outfit was...
“Hah, what’s wrong with it? It’s a sukajar. You got a problem?”
A sukajar. Judging by the sound and the context, it referred to Sako's current style: wearing jersey pants under her school skirt.
“Is it a no-go for Yuri? Sukajar? I thought you’d like it.”
“No, this is a gray zone... Certainly, in the sense that it’s a look you can only pull off during high school, it’s wonderful. But it also breaks the most perfect form, which is the uniform itself, right? I mean, the uniform isn’t intended to be worn like that... Besides, the goal isn't to wear the uniform cutely, but rather a total focus on functionality... Though, I suppose you could say that carelessness itself is quite ‘seishun’...”
“Ah, right...”
Yuri-neesan, you gave ten answers for every one question, and now Ichikawa is backing away.
“I think the sukajar style is actually quite fitting for Sako Hasu, though. It suits her, and it gives off that North Kanto vibe.”
““Hey!””
Sako and I, both being from that area, retorted at the same time.
“But for Amane to do it... well, it might actually be okay in a roundabout way...”
“Sorry, you don’t have to worry about it that much...?”
“No, this is a life-or-death matter...”
How is it life-or-death? Whose life is on the line?
“Hey, what do you think, Konuma? Tights or school socks?”
“Either is fine, but...”
“‘Either is fine’ is the most troubling answer!”
Are you Yuzu when she’s thinking of the dinner menu?
“Takuto is a bare-legs fan. More importantly, we’re having a meeting, right? About the future schedule?”
Hey, could you please not just expose my fetishes like that...? For the record, I’m a tights fan.
“Huh? Bare legs? Does that mean school socks?”
“Or maybe bare feet in shoes?”
And could you guys please not show so much interest...? Especially Ichikawa-san, stop looking so serious... Also, I’m a tights fan.
“...Ahem, let’s just have the meeting, since we’re all here. Come on, Manager Azuma, you have urgent news, right?”
I cleared my throat to get us back on track.
“That’s right! I think we’re going to be quite busy from now on. Wait a sec, let’s see...”
Yuri opened the notebook she brought and stood her pen up on it.
“First, we need to record a demo to send for the audio screening of Seishun Rebellion, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
Seishun Rebellion. It’s a band contest for high school students. In other words, the Koshien of the band world.
The main event is in March during spring break, but before that, the audio screening and preliminaries take place between December and February.
Since it’s hosted by someone named Daikoku-san from ‘Buddy Music,’ the label the singer-songwriter amane originally belonged to, we could have entered the finals with a seed slot if we caught her eye, but we just missed that chance the other day.
“By the way, did Butter make it to the finals in the end? Yuri, have you heard anything?”
“Hmm, nothing specifically, but they probably will. I mean, Maika-bucho is all fired up and seems to be practicing like crazy...”
Yuri gave a wry smile.
Butter is the three-piece band made of three third-year students from our school that we played against recently. They are super good. It’s insane.
The drummer and likely leader of that band is Kanno Maika-san. She’s the former-former president of the Instrument Club and also staff at ‘Octa Studio,’ the rental music studio in Kichijoji we often use. She’s super good. It’s insane.
“Well, anyway, we have to climb up through the ‘regular route,’ right? Since *someone* went and rejected Ariga-san’s offer on their own?”
“Are you still mad...?”
When Ichikawa looked at her anxiously, Yuri laughed, “Ahaha, just kidding, just kidding.”
“Well, we did win that free recording coupon at the last live.”
“Yeah, there’s no reason not to use it. So, first, we’ll record in November and submit the audio. That’s the first thing to do.”
“I see. So, what about being busy?”
“We have to prepare for the December Lock-on too, don’t we?”
“““Ah...”””
The three of us let out sighs of realization at Yuri’s obvious point.
“Hey, don’t you forget, Amane, you’re the president of the Rock Club...”
“Sorry, you’re right... Ah, no, I didn’t forget! I properly submitted the application for the multi-purpose room for the day of the second semester closing ceremony! I just forgot for a split second!”
“You forgot.”
I see. There’s the July Lock-on on the day of the first semester closing ceremony, the September School Festival Lock-on, and the next one is the December Lock-on on the day of the second semester closing ceremony.
“And before that, of course, we have final exams.”
“Uwaah...”
We just finished midterms, please don’t bring up unpleasant topics...
“So, I thought we should plan properly so we don't end up with regrets.”
“I see...”
As expected of Manager Azuma, she’s capable...!
“To summarize,” Yuri held up her index finger. “1. Making the audio to win at Seishun Rebellion.”
Then she added her middle finger. “2. Giving the best performance at the December Lock-on. These are amane’s goals until the end of the second semester!”
Neesan, with her bright smile, really is reliable.
“Got it. Then we need to decide on the song to record and the setlist for the December Lock-on. I’m thinking the recording should basically be ‘Watashi no Uta’ (Omamori).”
“Well, yeah. That’s why we went and won the free recording coupon.”
“No objections!”
“I think that’s fine too.”
The three of them nodded.
“Then, all that’s left is the Lock-on setlist. Ichikawa, how many songs can we play this time?”
“Let’s see...”
Just as Ichikawa opened her mouth.
‘Second-year, Class 6, Rock Club, Ichikawa Amane-san, Ichikawa Amane-san. Please come to the staff room.’
A teacher called out our band’s guitarist and vocalist through the school broadcast.
“Look, Ichikawa-san, you’re being summoned for impure heterosexual association.”
“No, no, if that were the case, Konuma would be called too.”
“Hey...”
This is a total rumor, and it’s hard to react to.
‘Repeating. Second-year, Class 6, Ichikawa Amane-san, please come to the staff room.’
“...Huh?”
The actual Ichikawa stood up, tilting her head while uttering a word I’d never heard from her.
“I’ll clean up the dishes, so you can go, Miss Impure.”
“I said that’s not it! But thanks, I’ll be back soon.”
“We’ll head out soon too.”
As we stood up, watching Ichikawa walk away, a first-year girl sitting in the seat right next to us was staring up at us. Blonde hair, with eyes that gave off a fierce impression.
“Hm, is something wrong?”
When Yuri-neesan asked her kindly.
“...Nothing.”
She turned away abruptly.
“Really? Okay then.”
Sako said as she carried the dishes into the cafeteria. “That blonde girl was pretty blunt.”
““Yeah.””
When Yuri and I gave knowing responses, Sako glared at us.
“...Is there something you want to say?”