CH 41

I Want An Autograph Too

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by

We went down the stairs and headed towards the basement.

In the studio me and my band members usually used for practice, I could see the drum, piano, guitar, and bass had all been neatly put away.

I opened the door to the studio specially used for dancing that was set up next to it.

Xerena, one of the members of our group, had ordered and built this room.

The floor was made of smooth wood: a cushy and high-grade material that didn’t put too much strain on your feet.

Well, our band never dances, so we hardly ever use this room.

Shiorin and the others’ eyes lit up at the sight of the dance studio.

“Woooah! The floor and the mirrors are sparkling! And the room is so spacious!”

“The speakers are huge too! They also sound really good!”

“There’s this huge monitor over here too! We can practice a whole ton while we watch videos on it!”

Then, with her eyes sparkling, Akarin energetically ran around the room.

Holy moly, an idol from my favorite idol group is running around right in front of me!

As I watched her, I placed the bag that Hasumi had given me on a small desk.

“Really great work, Ritsuki. Are your shoulders tired? It was really manly of you to carry a girl’s bag for her; it made my heart skip a beat.”

“No, Rinka… This isn’t anything special, you know?”

Just carrying a bag was enough to make Rinka this overprotective of me.

I felt like an elementary school student who was just praised for carrying their mother’s shopping bag at the supermarket.

Perhaps it was because she’d never had a friend of equal standing as her before, but Rinka was very sensitive to matters concerning me, even though I myself didn’t let it bother me.

The cross-dressing incident further exacerbated the issue, causing her to see me as a weak little creature.

I need to show her my manly side and make a comeback so that she doesn’t look down on me anymore…!

“―By the way, what’s in this bag that Hasumi was carrying?”

“Umm, I’d also wondered if I could do something to help… But seeing this amazing studio makes me feel embarrassed to show it to you guys…”

Hasumi then proceeded to take out instructional books on dancing and singing from her bag.

When Shiorin and her friends saw them, their eyes instantly lit up.

“Y-You picked these out just for us?!”

“It even has a video disc included inside! Now we can study them by watching on that monitor!”

“Thank you so much! Ah, and I’ll make sure to pay for these!”

The three of them crowded around Hasumi, which made her cover her face with the bag in embarrassment. She then softly replied to them, saying:

“R-Rather than money, I’d prefer a handshake with you… T-That would make me much happier.”

Owing to her being an otaku, Hasumi’s answer netted her a perfect score of 100.

““Hasumi-san, you’re so cute…!””

Shiorin and the other three looked adoringly at the praiseworthy and lovable Hasumi as their voices combined into a chorus.

Rimka’s mouth also slackened when she saw Hasumi looking so flustered.

Perhaps having decided to return the favor with all their might, Shiorin and the others gave Hasumi a hug and an autograph, and paid her a handsome amount of money as well.

“Ehehe… I got another autograph. I’ve been nothing but happy lately…”

Hasumi looked like she was over the moon as she held the autograph close to herself.

Damn, this girl really is cute as hell.

Also, I want Shiorin and the others’ autographs too…

I wonder if I can exchange Shion’s autograph for theirs…

【Extra】

A collection of rough sketches of the characters will be published in chronological order, from the first appearance to the latest one!

・Hikage Rinka

First up is Rinka!

It’s still a rough sketch, so it’ll get much better in the future!

The illustrator working on this series is Misumi-sama (@z3_cut)!