"Alright! We're going to walk all the way to the top!" Kita Ikuyo enthusiastically reached out her hand and pointed at the blue-gray stone brick staircase that snaked its way up to the summit.
"Huh?" Ryo looked at Kita Ikuyo with a face full of disbelief. "Take the stairs?"
Kita Ikuyo closed her eyes in blissful anticipation, already imagining the beautiful scenery that would appear before her when she reached the top.
"The most beautiful view in the world is the one you reach with your own strength, isn't it?"
"No way!" Ryo crossed her arms over her chest in protest. On a hot day like this, climbing the stairs from the foot of the mountain to the top would kill someone!
"Miss Gotoh and Jhin, you have to do your best too." Kita Ikuyo cheered on Hitori Gotoh, who clearly didn't want to climb, and then turned to Nijika. "Nijika, you should be able to make it, right?"
Nijika forced a helpless smile. "Actually, I'm not that interest—"
Before she could finish, the seven-colored radiance of the Kita-aura, shining brighter than ever, pierced her eyes.
Nijika quickly raised a hand to shield herself. "Wh-what's happening? Kita has never been this dazzling before!"
Ryo and Hitori Gotoh couldn't withstand the light either and quickly hid behind Jhin.
"Why..."
"Her usually restrained cheerful aura, under the sunlight..."
"Has her limiter been removed?"
Stars twinkled in Kita Ikuyo's eyes. Boosted by the Kita-aura, the power of her sweet smile reached a new level. "Come on, let's go!"
The soles of her light gray leather shoes tapped lightly on the hard stone bricks, making a crisp "taka" sound. Her navy-blue skirt danced up and down with gravity, revealing the girl's fair, flawless, long, and slender thighs.
Kita Ikuyo was like an energetic rabbit hopping along a forest path. In just the blink of an eye, she was far ahead of the others. She turned around halfway up the slope and waved to them. "Everyone, hurry up!"
"I can't... I can't walk anymore..."
"Kita's getting farther and farther away."
Nijika and Ryo dragged their heavy legs, exhaustedly and slowly making their way up the stairs, one step at a time.
Hitori Gotoh lagged far behind at the very back. She wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve and looked up, studying the seemingly endless staircase under the glaring sun.
With the blinding white light at the top as the focal point, everything around her began to spin, as if it was about to suck her in.
"Bocchi-chan, do you want me to carry you?"
Jhin's words were like a lifeline extended to Hitori Gotoh, who was about to be pulled into the distorted space.
Without a second thought, Hitori Gotoh answered, "Yes!"
Exhausted, Nijika and Ryo collapsed against the red pillars of the giant shrine's torii gate.
"I can't go on!" Nijika gasped for air, wanting nothing more than to sit on the ground and rest her aching legs.
"I don't care about some beautiful view... It doesn't matter at all." Ryo already wanted to go back.
Just then, Jhin, carrying a comfortable Hitori Gotoh on his back, stepped onto the last stair, making them grind their teeth in frustration. They all condemned this as cheating.
"Bocchi-chan, that's against the rules!"
"Having your boyfriend carry you up the stairs, doesn't your conscience hurt? Hurry up and struggle with your own two legs like us!"
As expected of the cheerful girl with a packed schedule, Kita Ikuyo was still full of energy after jogging all the way up. She put her hands on her hips and said to the two sitting on the ground, "You two, pull yourselves together. We've only just started climbing."
"Let us catch our breath..."
"I don't know what to do with you two..."
"Kita sure is full of energy."
Hitori Gotoh, perched on Jhin's back, turned into Sherlock Holmes and keenly spotted a ticket booth in the distance for an elevator that went straight to the summit.
"An elevator! It looks like we can take an elevator up!"
"Ooh~"
Ryo and Nijika looked as if they had seen an elevator bathed in holy light, sent to save them from their suffering.
Before she could even get on the elevator, Ryo was stopped at the gates of heaven.
"Huh? You need a ticket to ride the elevator?" Looking at the price on the ticket machine, her expression grew grave.
She didn't have a single yen on her right now.
"You have to buy a ticket for the Enoshima Escar, so let's just take the stairs." Kita Ikuyo still couldn't let go of the idea of climbing the steps to the top together.
"I am absolutely not taking the stairs!"
Ryo went to the ticket inspector's window. "I... I don't have any money right now, but I have lots of beautiful bass guitars! I'll give you one!"
"Huh?" The ticket agent stood there stunned. It was the first time she'd ever encountered such a situation.
"Um... please buy a ticket first."
"Is one not enough? How about two? Or three?"
"I'll pay, I'll pay!" Jhin hurriedly stopped Ryo, who had produced a bass from who knows where, and pulled out money to pay for five tickets.
Not having to climb the long, dreadful stairs, Nijika felt much more relaxed.
"Ah, this is so nice..."
Kita Ikuyo complained, "But taking the stairs would have been more touching."
Nijika decided to ignore Kita Ikuyo's minor complaint. "Jhin, sorry for making you spend so much today."
"Huh? This little bit of money is nothing."
How much is this? The record label I'm preparing for you guys hasn't even launched yet. That and the company Kazami Kazuki is preparing to establish are the real money pits.
"Hey? The ice cream, octopus crackers, and ticket money, that's almost 3000 yen, isn't it? That's not a small amount."
"It's really not that much money for me." Jhin's casual tone made Nijika even more curious.
"Could it be that Jhin's family is especially rich?" As she said this, Nijika glanced at Ryo, whose family was also rich, yet who was always broke.
Jhin felt there was no need to hide this from them.
"I'm just good at making money, that's all. Before summer break, I had about two million in savings."
"Two million?!"
"Wha?!"
"!!!"
Compared to the other three who were too shocked to speak, Ryo's reaction was the quickest.
She decisively hugged Jhin's shining golden thigh. "Please, be my best friend, the kind I can always borrow money from."
"Are you treating me like an ATM?!" Jhin pulled Ryo off his leg.
It was a good thing he only mentioned his savings from before the summer break. If he were to reveal his actual current savings...
He was afraid he'd wake up one day to find Ryo lying next to him, dabbing the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, and saying pitifully, "Lend me money."
"Hey, you have so much money, can't you just lend me a little?"
"No!" Jhin refused Ryo righteously, even as she put on a pitiful act. "This money is for establishing a record label for you guys."
Jhin's words were like a bomber, dropping explosives in their minds over and over.
"Jhin, you're not kidding, are you?"
"I wouldn't joke about something like this with you. As a fan, what's wrong with setting up a company for my favorite band? This is what you call dedication!" Jhin crossed his arms, and a golden light burst forth from behind him. This was the confidence that came with having money!
"I will tell the whole world that I am Kessoku Band's number one fan!"
Kita Ikuyo glanced at Hitori Gotoh with envy, an irrepressible thought popping into her head.
If Jhin were my boyfriend, maybe Mom and Dad wouldn't object to my dream of being in a band.
___
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