Band Girls’ Mixology Mission [184]

“Mutsumi, did you suddenly come to Haneoka today to talk about something with me?”

After fooling around enough, the drinks they’d ordered finally arrived at their table, reminding Sakiko and Mutsumi to get back on topic.

“Soyo said…she wanted to see you,” Mutsumi whispered, taking a small sip of her mango juice.

“Soyo?” Sakiko furrowed her brows but didn’t rush to ask Mutsumi exactly what Soyo wanted from her. Instead, she first glanced at Kikukawa Kyo.

Sakiko remembered Kyo mentioning earlier that she’d spoken with Soyo. Although she didn’t know exactly what they talked about, right after that conversation, Kyo—who initially hadn’t wanted to join—had surprisingly agreed to become the keyboardist for the new band.

Sakiko sighed and chose first to drink her black tea, moistening her throat. The taste was disappointingly average.

“Kyo, do you know something?”

“Maybe she just wants to know exactly what happened among the former band members—she might genuinely want to help,” Kyo replied, sipping from her mung bean juice, something she had chosen at random.

“But she might also still be holding onto the idea of bringing back the old band. I guess it’s not unexpected.”

Kyo wasn’t naïve enough to believe Soyo had already moved past CRYCHIC. But she hadn’t expected to find out about this from Mutsumi so casually.

“That girl…” Sakiko rubbed her forehead in frustration. On the surface, Soyo appeared gentle and accommodating, but Sakiko was quite aware of her real personality.

When she had invited Soyo to join the band back then, hadn’t she also hoped she could somehow help Soyo out?

But now the situation was completely different. Sakiko was barely managing to keep herself together—how could she have any energy left to consider Soyo’s feelings?

“Did she say anything else?”

“Soyo said…she’s now in a new band. Rikki-san, Tomori-san, and Kyo-chan are also in it.” Mutsumi lowered her head slightly, adding, “She invited me too.”

“Isn’t she being too persistent?!” Sakiko’s emotions surged, her voice suddenly loud enough to startle the nearby customers.

“Haa…” Noticing the startled look on Mutsumi’s face and Kyo calmly watching her, Sakiko took a deep breath and picked up her teacup again.

“Why don’t you just meet with Soyo clearly once and for all, Sakiko? Even if it’s to thoroughly draw the line—wouldn’t that be exactly what you want?” Kyo suggested.

There was never only one person at fault in situations like this. True, Soyo was overly fixated on the past, but Sakiko’s reactions weren’t exactly blameless either.

“If I make things clear with Soyo, would she really just give up after that?” Sakiko asked back.

Kyo simply shrugged, offering no opinion.

“What does Sakiko want to do?” Mutsumi chimed in quietly.

“Mutsumi, asking you to lie to Soyo isn’t realistic either, right?” Sakiko knew Mutsumi’s personality well—she was too honest. On the day she left the band, even Sakiko had been shaken by Mutsumi’s brutally straightforward words.

“Just tell Soyo directly that I don’t want to see her.”

Even without meeting face-to-face, Soyo was already bombarding her daily with messages. If they did meet, Sakiko was afraid Soyo would outright grab onto her and refuse to let go!

At this point, Kyo stepped in with her opinion. “The band’s meeting today anyway to discuss some things. Why don’t I talk to Soyo again?”

Kyo shook her head, lightly swaying the new little twintails Sakiko had styled for her. Since Sakiko had done her hair, Kyo had been shaking her head playfully several times already—feeling amused at the way both ponytails swung around simultaneously.

“I guarantee Soyo will be completely shocked when she sees me like this,” Kyo chuckled mischievously.

“But in that case, Sakiko, I’ll have to return your hairband tomorrow instead.”

“That’s fine, it’s just a hairband,” Sakiko answered calmly, hardly reduced to counting hairbands yet.

But having only one hairband left made Sakiko’s hairstyle uneven—one side ponytail looked too odd. She decided to tie her hair back into a single ponytail.

“Sakiko, let me help style your hair the way I had it before,” Kyo said enthusiastically. “Swapping hairstyles should be pretty fun.”

“…Fine.”

This time, it was Sakiko’s turn to turn around, offering her back.

“Your hair is really long.” Though not waist-length, Sakiko’s hair still covered nearly her entire back. Compared to Kyo, whose hair barely touched her shoulders, it truly was long.

“Kyo, ever thought of growing your hair out?” Sakiko asked, feeling Kyo’s gentle fingers running through her hair behind her, occasionally brushing against her back or shoulders. To stop her heartbeat from racing so wildly that the person behind her might notice, she distracted herself with casual conversation.

“Long hair would be nothing but trouble for me—I’m always wetting my hair,” Kyo responded lightly.

“True.”

It seemed to take Kyo quite a long while behind her—Sakiko’s overly long hair clearly couldn’t simply be bunched up into a neat bun the way Kyo’s had. Kyo had to experiment a little to find the best style.

Mutsumi sat quietly to the side, unconsciously drinking most of her mango juice. Barely perceptible, a faint glimmer of “envy” flashed in her eyes.

I want to be like them, too… Helping someone style their hair, or having someone else style mine…

But it felt impossible for her to break into the intimacy between the two of them. One was her “sister,” and the other was Kyo-chan—the rare person who allowed her to feel relaxed, who openly accepted her…

Mutsumi suddenly remembered the question she’d asked Kyo once before:

Kyo-chan, have you kissed Sakiko yet?

Immediately after she’d asked it, she’d realized it was another one of those blunt things she shouldn’t have said aloud. But luckily, she’d been talking to Kyo—who not only quickly understood her intentions but had also answered her honestly.

The last time she’d asked, the answer had been no. If she asked Kyo or Sakiko again now, what kind of answer would she get?

“Done!” After wrestling for a while with Sakiko’s long hair, Kyo finally managed to create a small, neat bun behind Sakiko’s head.

“Your hair is so long, Sakiko—this was the best I could do.”

“It’s pretty good.” Sakiko checked her phone, smiling unconsciously at the cute, playful little blue bun now adorning her hair.

Feeling genuinely pleased, Sakiko grabbed the bill and prepared to pay.

“I’ll pay,” Kyo offered.

“No need.” Sakiko firmly rejected Kyo’s offer. Without waiting for Kyo to continue, she headed straight to the counter.

“And she was criticizing Soyo—she’s plenty stubborn herself,” Kyo murmured behind Sakiko’s back.

Then she turned toward Mutsumi, who’d been quietly watching.

“Mutsumi.”

“…?” Absorbed in finishing her mango juice, Mutsumi lifted her head blankly. Did something else involve her?

“I’ll bring a few extra hairbands next time,” Kyo said softly, reaching out gently to brush aside Mutsumi’s bangs.

Mutsumi instinctively closed her eyes, suddenly becoming hyper-aware of every other sensation.

Cool fingertips playfully disturbed her carefully arranged bangs, the smooth nails brushing softly against her forehead, causing the previously unnoticed skin to tingle slightly.

“With how pretty you are, Mutsumi, it’d be such a waste not to try out a few different hairstyles, right?”

Direct praise… really can make someone’s heart flutter, Mutsumi realized.

“Okay.”

—

This is a fan translation of 乐队少女调饮行动 by 林明卿. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!