After that, Ootsuka and I swapped message app IDs and made arrangements for a private dance lesson later. I told her I’d get in touch again once I ran through the plan with the other members of the Shibuya Gang, and for now, our business was finished.
Shiika and I waved good-bye to Ootsuka and tried to make our way out of the courtyard.
“Bye-bye, Shi! I can’t wait to dance with you again!” Ootsuka shouted after us, waving her hands unreservedly.
Shiika hung her head low as she turned back around.
Slowly lifting her head like a rusty gear clanking into place, Shiika managed to turn her gaze toward Ootsuka and look at her from behind her thick curtain of bangs. With her hand in front of her chest, Shiika gave a small wave.
“…Yeah. Bye-bye, Tatsu.”
…Okay. Good job, Little Sis.
Call me an overly devoted big brother if you wish, but I found myself smiling and nodding.
Shiika must have reached her limit, surrounded by unpleasant colors, under the scrutiny of the public eye. Despite that, she summoned the guts to respond properly to Ootsuka’s good-bye. Shiika, too, was slowly changing under the influence of Ryouran High School’s environment.
Later, after school.
Immediately after the end-of-day bell rang, the students all got up from their desks and began to walk down the hallways.
I grabbed Shiika by the collar as she staggered out of the classroom, practically swept along by a wave of sound.
“Where are you going?”
“Um… Home.”
“No. You promised to take Ootsuka’s dance lesson after school.”
After getting permission from the fellow members of the Shibuya Gang, I sent a message to Ootsuka to confirm our schedule, and she replied within seconds. We decided to start immediately and have the first lesson after school that same day. Popular kids really move fast. Caught in my grasp, Shiika shot me a resentful look, like a dejected cat.
“…Gak. So mean.”
“I have to be mean! I may be your big brother, but I’ll turn into a true demon if it means we can make some money!”
“I might end up hating you at this rate.”
“Guh! Hey! Don’t say that! You’re not allowed to play that card!”
Shiika’s words stabbed me like a knife, and the look in those glistening eyes just further rubbed salt in the wound. I fell to my knees, throwing up blood. (By which I mean in my mind, not physically. Physically, I was suffering zero damage, but mentally, I was wrecked.)
“Don’t…don’t blame me. But if you really, really don’t want to do it, Shiika, then…I’ll let you off the hook!”
“Don’t talk nonsense, you sister-loving freak!” Shibuya shouted.
“Ouch! Hey, don’t punch me! Violent heroines aren’t popular in fiction these days! Are they?!”
“What heroine are you talking about? Just accept it, Shiika. And you too, Mana!”
“…Ugh, you caught me.”
Akiba was about to sneak out of the classroom, but Shibuya’s resonant voice stopped her.
Slipping between a still-complaining Shiika and Akiba, Shibuya slung her arms around their shoulders as if to bind them together, and she dragged them both along in a way that reminded me of a charging dinosaur…or a bulldozer.
“I don’t like moving around. I wanna go home and nap.”
“Gah, give me a break, please! If you were to decide to run us into the ground, Shibuya, I’d expire for sure! Expire, I say!”
“Oh, pipe down. Just come along and spare me the complaining. You really think you’ve got a chance of reigning at the top of the Music Department with that kind of attitude?!”
“Listen, I’m the type who believes there’s no one who’s a lost cause. That’s why I’ll help my friends with whatever when they’re in a tough spot! Maybe that time hasn’t come yet, but when it does, I’m gonna be ready!”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Listen, you fools! Don’t just stand around grinning. Get your butts to the dance studio!”
“Whoa, scary. All right, all right. We’ll do it. Just stop scowling, Erio,” Komae said.
“…Hey, Komae. Is she always this forceful?”
After checking that Shibuya and the others had gone out into the hallway first, I whispered into Komae’s ear so I wouldn’t be overheard.
“No, no, not at all.” Komae shrugged jokingly.
Right… I was relieved to know that the scene from earlier was probably just emotions running high. Meanwhile, Komae gave me an evil grin, as if he’d just read my mind.
“That was her at only about eighty percent of her true power. When her motivation is cranked up to max, she’s even more formidable than that.”
“That’s what I call overpowered! Just thinking about it gives me heartburn.”
“It’s going to be a lifelong friendship. So get used to it.”
“Hey, I’m an ex-shut-in. Don’t expect too much.”
But despite my complaints, this wasn’t a bad social setup.
Shiika was the exact opposite of Motivation Monster Shibuya. She was a lazy, slovenly downer of a girl.
A girl like Shibuya was just what we needed to prod Shiika into action.
And that way, I didn’t have to force myself to fake a positive attitude.
I wouldn’t even need to try, if Shibuya swooped in like she did just now and ushered Shiika off to the dance lesson. What could be easier?
How wonderful it is not to have to expend effort. Ah yes, highly motivated friends are a boon to have.
And so we headed to the annex crammed with studios next to the main school building.
We split up into boy-girl groups, changed in the changing room, then reconvened in workout gear before heading to our destination—the fifth floor.
Unlike the floor where our classes were usually held, there were studios here that students could use freely if they made a reservation.
When I entered the room I had reserved, Ootsuka, who had already arrived, was doing flexibility exercises.
She had her legs spread out, her butt and thighs flat on the floor. She was as supple as a cat, and I couldn’t help but think that it might actually be fun to exercise if I could move my body that freely.
Noticing us, she smiled.
“Oh! You’re here, you’re here! I’ve been waiting for you!”
Ootsuka snapped her legs together and leaped to her feet, then jumped up and down on the spot like an excitable dog.
“Are you a cat or a dog? I’m getting confused, here.”
“Well, if I had to choose an animal, I love rabbits!”
“That doesn’t answer my question. I’m not asking if you’re a cat person or a dog person, you know.”
“Seriously?! Then what are you talking about?!”
“…I guess we aren’t talking about anything, are we?”
I had unconsciously voiced my own thoughts. I’d better stop before I dug a deeper hole for myself.