บท 24: 24. Scammer

Extra in the Student Council

24. Scammer

1st place: Shirogane Miyuki

2nd place: Shinomiya Kaguya

"As impressive as always," Kaguya said as she looked at the result of the final exam.

"You did just as well, Shinomiya." Miyuki replied, "Sometimes luck is also important; we didn't know what would happen next time."

"No at all; I'm well aware of the effort you put in, President," Kaguya calmly said. "I'll have plenty more chances, so I'll accept this outcome with grace."

They both mask their real emotions quite well.

On the other hand, there's one who was shocked by the test result enough to even think she was dreaming…

3rd place Katsuragi Shuu

4th place Shijo Maki

A smile emerged on Shuu's face as he looked at that. While his friends were congratulating him for entering the top three, Shuu acted humble and said it was only luck for them. before he quickly finds an excuse to avoid all those troublesome matters.

and before long, the one he awaited finally came to him.

"What did you do?" A girl with short brown hair and solid purple eyes stood in front of him and confronted him.

Shuu observed her before he made a confused face. "Who am I speaking with?" he asked politely.

As expected, the heat quickly rose. "It's Shijo Maki!" she exclaimed.

"Ah~, fourth place, Shijo Maki-san, right? I'm sorry, but I didn't care about those below me."

Maki was speechless when she heard Shuu use her words. She quickly understood he held a grudge over what happened last time and was 100 percent picking a fight with her.

While the truth is that Shuu is just teasing her. "Haha," Shuu laughed a bit. "I'm lucky this time, but you also need to do better next time." Shuu left satisfied. Meanwhile, Shijo Maki swore to herself to never lose to Shuu again.

***

(Chika said she had something today all of a sudden, so she couldn't come.)

(Both Ai are busy, one is busy with her idol work, the other is busy with her master's plan.)

Starry

Shuu read the sign above the door. And when he turned back, he saw a thunderstorm brewing outside.

Shuu entered the place, and after exchanging his ticket with a coupon for one free drink, he observed the place.

On the stage, there are four girls; the guitarist is the girl he met before on the street, which is also the reason why he made his way here even in this weather.

The others are also cute girls; the bassist gave out a cool vibe, the drummer was the next-door friendly girl, and the last vocalist/guitarist was exceptionally cuter than others and looked like a Chika type without her eccentricity.

Shuu turned and saw that there were only a few people around him. (This situation might be better for me.) Shuu thought (And with her being the first one to perform, it also saved me a lot of time.)

After they finished checking and setting their instruments, the red-haired outgoing vocalist/guitarist started her opening emcee.

"Nice to meet you; we're a Kessoku band!" She spoke with a slight trembling tone, it's obvious she was nervous. "We appreciate your kind presence despite the inclement weather."

Then they made a few jokes among themselves, trying to liven things up, but they failed and made the stage even more awkward than ever. Luckily, they didn't try to salvage that anymore and just started their performance.

....

After watching their performance for a while, (Am I mistaken?) Shuu thought. It was bad… Like very bad, there's almost no harmony in their performance. The sounds from the instruments didn't match well and clashed with each other instead.

(However, if this was their first performance, then it was acceptable.) Shuu's excuse to assure himself that he doesn't waste his time coming here.

Then, when their first song ended, the few viewers inside immediately made a criticism in a casual voice, but because of the small space, the people on the stage could hear it clearly.

Their already downed mentality was bashed again, like pouring salt over wounds. Thankfully, their drummer isn't easily influenced by the bad situation and is quick to encourage their friends to continue their performance, and when the second song starts….

Shuu let out a slight smile. His intuition wasn't wrong. They are, or at least their guitarist alone was a diamond in the rough. And now he has found a raw diamond waiting to be polished. There's no way he will let go of it easily. Just like a normal person finding a treasure, the chance that he will share it with a stranger is abysmally low.

***

Other bands took over after their performance ended, but Shuu lingered for a while. And the opportunity eventually materialized as anticipated.

He already inspected some of the viewer reactions, and some of them were familiar to them on a personal level.

He had the bait; now he just had to wait while carefully observing his bait until the fish caught on the hook.

When the four girls appeared, Shuu waited for the right moment and made his move.

"Excuse me," Shuu said to the guitarist girl he aimed at from the start. Shuu had already observed her for a while. It wasn't perfect, but he could guess what kind of personality she had, especially after what he saw on the street that day.

The girl looked to her sides carefully, looking for the one who Shuu spoke with, and when she realized it was her, the one Shuu spoke with, she froze instantly and didn't know how to reply. Her friends also turned their attention to Shuu, but he wouldn't let them interrupt him, at least for now.

"I saw your performance just now; you're so cool!" Shuu acted like a fan. It was basic to praise the other side before the start of negotiations. And it was hard to say whether it was unexpected or as expected, but it worked spectacularly for her, as the timid girl suddenly bloomed with light. Shuu ignored her creepy laugh and took another step. "I wonder if you are interested in debuting; you could gather prestige, become wealthy and popular, or even have power."

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself; my name is Katsuragi Shuu, and I'm with this..." He gave her his name card like a salaryman. Engulfed by Shuu's pace, the girl took the card. "By the way, what should I call you?"

"I'm Gotoh Hitori–"

"W, Wa, Wait! Bocchi-chan!!" When she was about to introduce herself, her friend, the drummer girl, quickly interrupted her. She quickly pulled her back far from Shuu's reach. Then she stood in front of Shuu.

"He sounds like a scammer," the bassist girl said frankly. while the vocal girl asked about Bocchi's well-being.