"Light Music Girls?"
The five of them looked around at each other, then PA-san was the first to burst out laughing.
"That sounds so... youth-ful."
"Never thought senpai could come up with a name like that."
"Honestly, I'd already given up expecting anything decent."
"Um — I really like the name too!"
Hiroi Kikuri also raised her hand.
"Just hearing 'K-ON' gives it this super rockin' feeling!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka picked up the drumsticks she'd retrieved earlier and launched straight into another solo on the drum kit in front of her. The others hunched their shoulders and covered their ears, laughing as they watched.
"So — what do you all think?"
When Hiratsuka Shizuka finished, Tsushima Kagami looked over at Yukinoshita Shizuku and Ijichi Seika with a smile.
Yukinoshita Shizuku glanced over at Ijichi Seika, who smiled and gave a nod.
"I like the name."
"Then it's settled."
With that said, Tsushima Kagami suddenly felt a pang of something like disappointment.
Watching the girls laugh and enjoy themselves while they messed around with band stuff — that was all well and good.
But honestly — a proper girls' band needs someone like Yukina. Someone who radiates that suffocating, relentless pressure.
MyGO? Yukina would wipe the floor with them in seconds. Swap Rippi out for Yukina, and Anon-chan would probably get kicked out on the spot for not meeting the standard.
Good grief — all these weird girls' bands in recent years have really warped my sense of what's normal.
"...Hey, how come you've got that look on your face like you're not happy?"
Ijichi Seika had noticed the slight droop in Tsushima Kagami's expression.
"No, nothing like that," he said. "Just thinking — good times always feel so fleeting."
"Anyway, I should head back to the Manga Research Club."
He glanced over at Yukinoshita Shizuku.
"You guys go ahead and get to know each other for now."
"I might need to swing by WANI Publishing in a bit."
"Just head home when you're done."
Yukinoshita Shizuku gave a small nod.
"Go on, then."
With that, Tsushima Kagami picked up the box of cake that Hiroi Kikuri had given him and headed back to the Manga Research Club.
He settled back into his seat — and found Sayuri standing at the table with an expression of intense, almost ceremonial focus, watching a siphon pot being heated by an alcohol lamp, the water inside slowly coming to a boil. Sayuri poured the pre-ground coffee beans into the filter of the upper chamber. As the hot water gradually rose from the lower chamber, she produced a thermometer and checked the temperature — approximately 90 degrees Celsius.
Only then did she pour the pre-ground coffee grounds into the upper chamber, pressing down gently with the stirring rod before slowly working it in careful circles. The rich aroma of coffee had already begun to drift through the Manga Research Club.
At that point, Sayuri started the timer again. Fifty seconds later, she removed the alcohol lamp and quickly stirred the upper chamber once more. As the gas was released, the coffee liquid began filtering back down into the lower chamber. Sayuri even produced a cold, damp cloth and pressed it against the lower chamber with practiced confidence — looking very much the part — to speed up the flow. When the extraction was fully complete, she poured the coffee in sequence into the cups that had been laid out in advance.
The Manga Research Club really does have all sorts of hidden treasures tucked away.
Tsushima Kagami stared at the unfamiliar equipment scattered about the table, and found his mind beginning to wander.
When Sayuri set a cup of coffee in front of him, he looked up at her with a smile.
"Didn't know you could brew coffee like this, Sayuri. Pretty impressive."
At what was clearly meant as a compliment, Sayuri's expression immediately crumpled into an aggrieved pout.
"I've been making it for Kosaka-senpai's group for an entire year — of course I'd get good at it!"
Kosaka Akane, who had just accepted her cup, raised it elegantly to her nose and inhaled, took a small, thoughtful sip, then smiled.
"You have me to thank for that. I taught you every single step myself."
"Do you have any idea how many siphon pots you broke when you first started?"
She raised the cup again and took another satisfied sip.
"Little Sayuri back then was such a clumsy thing."
Machida Sonoko, coffee cup in hand, joined in the teasing.
"You two are impossible!"
"Excuse me?"
Both women turned to look at Sayuri, who had been muttering something under her breath while standing beside Tsushima Kagami.
Sayuri immediately smiled and waved it off.
"Ahaha — I was just talking to Kagami, that's all!"
"Isn't that right, Kagami?"
She turned to him quickly, eyes silently begging for backup.
Tsushima Kagami, still smiling, produced the cake box he'd brought.
"Right — this is from the Light Music Club, by the way."
"Goes perfectly with the coffee."
"Oh, wonderful — now it really feels like afternoon tea."
"All my hard work brewing such a delicious pot wasn't wasted after all."
Sayuri quickly produced the strawberry cream cake and distributed slices to Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko.
After accepting their pieces, the two of them looked over at Tsushima Kagami with puzzled expressions.
"Light Music Club?"
"Right — it's the name we just came up with," Tsushima Kagami explained. "Playing music together, lighthearted and fun."
Kosaka Akane scooped a piece of cake with a small spoon, placed it in her mouth, and sighed with a touch of nostalgia.
"How youthful."
"Unlike us — graduation is just around the corner now."
She glanced over at Machida Sonoko beside her.
Machida Sonoko laughed.
"Don't make it sound so bleak — like our futures are uncertain and we'll never see each other again."
"Didn't we all just decide to go develop together at Kagami's company after graduation?"
"Hehe — I suppose Akane-senpai has reached the age where she sighs about other people's youth."
Sayuri said smugly, eating her cake and sipping her coffee.
Kosaka Akane's brow furrowed slightly at that — then she turned a bright, sweet smile toward Sayuri.
"I'm only one year older than you, you know."
"By the way — the extraction timing was still off this time."
"It's still a little sour."
"I knew it — taking a whole semester off from brewing has really set you back. Come to my place this week. I'll put you through special training."
"I cannot have a Tea Committee Chair who can't even brew a decent cup of coffee."
"Senpai, you can't use your position to settle personal scores!"
"Oh? So you're admitting you were talking behind my back?"
Sayuri immediately clapped both hands over her mouth and shook her head frantically.
Machida Sonoko suddenly cut in.
"A lighthearted girls' band, huh?"
"What if we tried drawing something with that theme?"
She looked over at Kosaka Akane, who set down her coffee cup and thought for a moment.
"I've never actually played in a band before, though — piano and violin are about all I know."
She looked at Machida Sonoko.
"What about you, Sonoko?"
"A little, I suppose."
"Then why don't we form a band too!"
Sayuri jumped to her feet with the spoon still in her mouth, sweeping her gaze across Tsushima Kagami, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko in turn.
Tsushima Kagami spoke up.
"What happened to drawing your manga?"
Sayuri pressed on, undeterred.
"Who cares — the School Festival's almost here anyway."
"We'd only keep it going until the Festival."
"You mean you want the Manga Research Club to put on a band performance at the School Festival?"
Kosaka Akane looked at Sayuri. Machida Sonoko smiled and asked:
"So, Sayuri — what instruments do you actually play?"
Sayuri froze.
"...Oh. I don't think I know any?"
She tilted her head over at Tsushima Kagami.
"Kagami, do you play anything?"
"Not a single one," Tsushima Kagami replied, still smiling.
Kosaka Akane fixed Sayuri with a level stare.
"So what you're saying, Sayuri, is that you want the Manga Research Club to embarrass itself in front of the whole school?"
"Okay, okay — I'm sorry, I got carried away."
Watching the three of them bicker and tease each other while polishing off their coffee and cake, with everything just about wrapped up, Tsushima Kagami clapped his hands together to draw their attention.
"Since we're all about done here — and there's nothing else pressing—"
"How about coming with me to WANI Publishing?"
____
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