(Riku POV)
***
".....I think it suits you very well!!"
My smile widened at her reply, and I could feel the genuine sincerity in her words.
But I paused for a second.
'.....Is that good or bad?'
It somewhat felt like a veiled insult, but her kind expression made me swallow all the suspicions as I nodded inwardly.
'How could I doubt Yuzuki-san?'
"Thank you! I was skeptical at first, but it doesn't seem that bad, right?" I chuckled.
When Spice told me that I could only shave everything completely after next week, I didn't think I would be able to make it without losing my dignity.
But now I have that reassurance.
"Yes, I can't think of a better haircut for you," Yuzuki-san replied, still sporting an inconspicuous smile.
"Ahahaha....."
And then the conversation paused awkwardly.
I didn't know how to continue talking to her because of how much I feared her favorability points dropping even further.
'...Spice, a little help?'
[DING]
[Natural Incompetence Detected]
[Administering Options:]
1. The weather is pretty great today!
2. What are your plans for the weekend?
3. Want to touch my hair? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
4. I like trains!...Do you like trains?
***
My face twitched, both at Spice's uncalled-for jab and the options that were practically spoon-feeding me the correct choice.
Let's not even mention the latter two.
The first was simply too boring, a choice only used by the people who don't know how to continue conversations (not including me).
So.....
"Yuzuki-san, what are your plans for the weekend?" I asked, refocusing on the girl in front of me who was tilting her head in confusion.
"Huh? Oh.....I have some stuff planned out with old friends," she replied after some hesitation.
"Nice! Like what?"
".....I'm not sure yet, they're the ones planning it out."
"I see, then I hope you guys have fun!"
Yuzuki-san looked a little relieved for some reason, and she nodded in response.
[DING]
[+6 Favorability]
'.....YESSIRRRRRRR!'
Progress, Progress, and Progress.
That's all that mattered.
Even if it was still in the negatives, this gave me a bit of a platform to aid my recovery.
However, before I could continue talking to her, the words got stuck in my throat because Yuzuki-san turned towards the door, and her eyes lit up for some reason.
I followed her line of sight and frowned when I saw the lanky prick enter the classroom, which was quite irritating.
When I had seen that he wasn't in class, I thought he might be skipping as he sometimes did, which would've given me a great opening to improve my relationship with Yuzuki-san.
'Screw this asshole!'
Thankfully, she wasn't able to get up and go talk to him because Higashino Sensei arrived right after Yagami did to conduct homeroom.
But this also meant that I had to return to my seat.
'No hurry...I can't rush things like I did last time with the President. I need to be careful this time and get a lot of information before I act.'
The priority right now was to improve our relationship back to the point where she would trust me to help her with her issues, and that would take a little longer.
As I sat down, I felt someone staring at me, and looked over to see Hina straighten up and look forward again.
Come to think of it, I hadn't paid much attention to her lately...
But I needed to focus on Yuzuki-san right now, so maybe I'll just walk home with her after school and catch up with her.
'Hehe...+6 already!'
***
"How are you feeling?"
".....Nervous? A little excited, maybe?"
"Haha, that's to be expected."
Reiji and Haruna were walking alongside each other, their bags slung over their shoulders as the cars on the street whizzed past them.
They were heading to his place to finally get started on the recording for her debut, a moment that he'd been planning for all week.
She'd be coming over tomorrow as well to record a few more songs and check on the progress of everything.
Granny wouldn't be joining them today because she was still at work, but she'd come along with Haruna later.
"Did you practice well without overexerting yourself?" he asked.
"I guess so? I watched quite a lot of videos, and I feel like I've improved....But I still don't know if that'll be good enough."
Her expression was tense, and Reiji could feel how stressed she was even though he was just standing next to her.
He reached out and pressed down on her head, making her look up in confusion.
"What're you getting so freaked out for? Don't treat this as a way to earn money, because that's the absolute worst mistake you can make. If you let that get to your head, you won't be able to perform properly, no matter how hard you try."
Haruna pouted slightly, kicking a small rock away from her path.
"Then what else am I supposed to do? Isn't that why we're doing this?" she complained.
"Tell me something. Do you enjoy singing? Was all this practice and studying fun or exhausting?"
"I....Well, it was tiring for sure, but...I was having a lot of fun. There's a reason why I lost my voice on Monday, and it wasn't just because I wanted to do well."
"Then there's your answer! As I said before, we still have plenty of time to pay off that debt, so even if this doesn't work out for some improbable reason, you don't have to worry. Just treat this as an extra hobby, something to play around with, if that makes sense," Reiji grinned, ruffling her hair a little."
Haruna didn't say anything back.
She simply lowered her head and nodded, as if she was deep in thought.
For the rest of the journey, she didn't speak much, and Reiji could see that even though his words helped her relax a little, there was still a trace of worry on her face.
'...Should I bake something for her?'
***
*CLICK*
Reiji took off his shoes and put on his home slippers once they both entered his house, and he handed her an extra pair to do the same.
Instead of going to the living room, he walked into the kitchen right away and opened his pantry to see what he had.
Haruna walked in behind him and stood in place out of puzzlement.
While still rummaging through his ingredients, he spoke up without looking back.
"What do you feel like eating? Something sweet or savory? Or do you have a specific request?"
"Ah? I thought we were recording right away because we needed to do a few practice runs first?"
Reiji glanced back at her and chuckled.
"In your current condition, how on earth do you plan to sing properly?"
"...."
After a moment of silence, Haruna burst out into laughter.
"Pfft!! Hahahah!" she giggled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I need some sugar pretty bad right now!"
Reiji smiled at her reaction, happy to see her loosen up a little.
"Alright, cookies it is."
It didn't take him long to whip up the cookie dough, since he'd made the recipe enough times for it to become second nature.
He placed the dollops of dough onto a tray and placed it into the oven, and all they needed to do now was wait.
Haruna had been sitting at the stool by the kitchen counter, her legs dangling freely as she watched him work.
"Do you like baking more, or cooking?" she asked.
"I don't particularly have a preference, but I guess it depends on the mood."
"That's great for me!"
"Huh?"
"Nothing.....Just that I can eat more, hehe," she shrugged.
"Oh, yeah. Let me know anytime. But while we're waiting for it to bake, let me show you where we're recording the songs."
Reiji took off his apron and smirked, a strange glint in his eye going unnoticed by the perplexed girl.
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't think we were going to record on a phone, did you?" he rolled his eyes.
Haruna blushed with embarrassment, clearly showing that that's exactly what she had thought.
Reiji beckoned her to follow and walked towards the corridor of rooms beyond the living room, and she jogged to catch up to him.
He reached for a door handle, and Haruna's eyes flickered when he did so.
"Isn't that the study?"
"Well...It was."
And then the door opened, just as wide as Haruna's mouth did when she saw what was inside.
They both walked into the room that looked nothing like the study it used to be, with strange-looking black panels installed on the walls that looked like they were made of foam.
Haruna, who had been studying up on the basics of singing, instantly realized what they were.
"Are these....Acoustic panels?"
"Yep!"
These panels helped control echoes and reverberation, which could help improve speech and sound clarity when recording.
But that wasn't all.
On the back, where the desk was placed, there was a bunch of equipment added on.
Haruna could see a condenser microphone with a pop filter, an audio interface, speakers, and headphones.
While she was gawking at the scene in front of her, Reiji walked over to the PC and turned it on, opening up a few programs on it.
"I've got everything set up already, including the digital audio workstation and some vocal plugins. Of course, we might need to make some adjustments for it to fit your voice better, so that's why the practice sessions will be important."
Just as Haruna had been practicing singing, Reiji had been neck-deep in researching everything else needed to record songs.
He looked back to see if Haruna had understood, but frowned when he saw her frozen in place, almost like she was in a daze.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"....Are you serious? You show me all this and ask me what's wrong?? How much did it cost to set all this up??"
"It's fine, it was an investment after all."
Reiji scratched his chin awkwardly when he realized what she meant.
"But.....How am I supposed to pay you back??" she groaned, her tense expression returning.
"Eh? Isn't it obvious?"
Haruna stared at him blankly, so Reiji continued to speak.
"What, you thought this was all for free? Hmph! Don't take advantage of me! When you become a star, then you'll need to pay me back tenfold for all of this, or I'll sue you in court!"
"....Seriously, what is wrong with you?"