Starting from Their Seventeen Years Old

Watching Tsushima Kagami murmur to Hiroi Kikuri in front of the mirror like some silver-tongued devil, effortlessly working his magic on a girl who had completely lost all capacity for resistance — the other girls standing behind them were left utterly entranced, staring in a daze.

It was the first time any of them had seen this side of Tsushima Kagami — the man who was usually either mature and composed or goofily comedic — looking, for all the world, like an absolute scoundrel.

"Um..."

"Does anyone else think that the way Kagami looks right now..."

"...is kind of like one of those host club guys from the news — the ones who lure in girls who've already run out of money to pay for private sessions..."

"...but who keep clinging to him anyway, until he tricks them into doing something they'd never do otherwise?"

Sayuri shrank her neck into her shoulders and said quietly, her voice a little small.

The others glanced over again at Tsushima Kagami and Hiroi Kikuri.

Hiroi Kikuri had taken on the air of a marionette on strings — whatever Tsushima Kagami said, she nodded along to.

One by one, they each swallowed hard, then turned to Sayuri and nodded in solemn agreement.

So it was true, then. Toying with the tender, sensitive heart of an innocent girl — was that simply a gift all handsome men were born with?

And then, all at once, a thought crept into their minds.

If... if Kagami turned that on them — could they resist?

The answer was obvious. Each of them harboured her own private thoughts, but without exception, a faint blush crept across every single face.

They caught each other blushing and looking around awkwardly, the atmosphere suddenly going stiff. Sayuri quickly laughed it off.

"Ahaha, I was just kidding, obviously."

"There's no way Kagami is actually that kind of guy."

"Even we in the Manga Research Club — and we've spent plenty of time with him — have never seen him act like this before."

Ijichi Seika stepped in to add her piece.

"Right. Kagami..."

"He's only doing this to help Hiroi Kikuri rebuild her confidence, that's all."

"Exactly, exactly!"

The other girls quickly laughed and nodded along.

Yukinoshita Shizuku, who had been standing off to the side smiling quietly without a word, thought to herself:

Hmph. You all have no idea just how wicked Kagami can really be.

He's always been the very best at playing games with a girl's heart.

And that side of him — that's something only I know. Hmph, hmph!

"If Kagami really were a scoundrel..."

"...honestly, that might not be so bad."

Kosaka Akane murmured under her breath — then caught herself, clapped a hand over her mouth, and waved dismissively at everyone.

"Ahh, just kidding, just kidding."

Kosaka Akane's sudden offhand remark made everyone pause and look at one another.

It was true — Kagami had so many girls around him.

Never mind the ones who had already fallen for him; nearly all of them felt something for him, at least.

And what if, someday, he actually started going out with one of them?

What would the rest of them do?

It would be hard to imagine things staying the way they were now — all of them sitting together, talking about the weather, about food, about music, about whatever funny thing happened at school.

Because whoever ended up with Kagami surely wouldn't allow the other girls to keep hovering around him.

And would the others really be willing to quietly slip away from his side?

Because someone like Kagami — it was hard not to be drawn to him.

If that day ever came...

Would these easy, carefree, warm days together simply be gone forever?

It was a question none of them had ever thought to ask before — and now, all at once, it surfaced in every one of their minds.

One by one, the girls felt their moods quietly sink.

But none of them could think of any good answer.

So...

Just as Kosaka Akane had said — was the only solution really for Kagami to be a scoundrel?

But then...

Would they — would anyone — actually like a Kagami like that?

No. That wasn't right.

Why was she even tormenting herself over something like this?

It wasn't as if she liked him so much she couldn't imagine being with anyone else, was it?

The girls snapped back to their senses.

Then they looked back over at Tsushima Kagami, who was still busy building up Hiroi Kikuri's inner confidence.

If...

If the one standing there right now were herself, and the words Kagami was saying were a confession of love —

She'd probably say yes on the spot, wouldn't she?

The moment that thought took root, the girls' imaginations began to bloom and branch and spiral completely out of control.

Without a word between them, every gaze drifted over to Yukinoshita Shizuku.

Yukinoshita Shizuku blinked, caught off guard by the sudden unified stare.

"Why is everyone looking at me?"

Ijichi Seika scratched her cheek and asked with an air of total nonchalance.

"Oh, well... my mother said she'd love to make Kagami a bento."

"So I was going to ask what he likes to eat."

Yukinoshita Shizuku's brow furrowed slightly.

"Kagami loves the breakfast I make for him."

Ijichi Seika let out an awkward laugh — and before she'd even had time to look disappointed, PA-san jumped in from the side.

"Shizuku-senpai, does Kagami-senpai prefer girls older than him or younger?"

"Kagami likes mature, settled women."

PA-san's smile froze.

Hiratsuka Shizuka, who felt she'd grown quite close to Shizuku and Kagami after they'd all stayed together that one time, leaned in right next to Yukinoshita Shizuku's ear.

"Hey, um..."

"What colour pyjamas does Kagami like? Let's do another sleepover next time~"

Yukinoshita Shizuku took a quiet sip of her tea, then smiled over at Hiratsuka Shizuka.

"Kagami likes the colour of the pyjamas I wear at night."

"And what colour are your pyjamas, Shizuku?"

"Oh dear, I can't quite remember which ones he said he liked."

"Sorry about that."

Hiratsuka Shizuka shot her a look that said she didn't believe a single word.

"So — do Sonoko-senpai and Akane-senpai have any questions?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku turned to look at Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko, who had both been hovering on the verge of saying something.

In the end, the two of them just laughed and shook their heads.

My goodness — the older girls really did play their cards much closer to their chests.

Finally, Yukinoshita Shizuku looked over at Sayuri.

"Sayuri — what about you?"

"Oh! Have Kagami and Shizuku ever bathed together?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku's teacup gave a small jolt. She looked at Sayuri.

"Why on earth are you asking that?"

"Well, isn't it totally normal for siblings to bathe together? That's what everyone says."

"I was just curious."

The others all looked over at Yukinoshita Shizuku with equal curiosity.

Yukinoshita Shizuku thought for a moment, then slowly set down her teacup. She gave a serene smile.

"That's a secret!"

"Then why did you even let me ask?!"

"Hmph — even as Kagami's big sister, you can't be that sneaky!"

As Sayuri said this, she shot an almost imperceptible glance over at Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko.

The two of them quietly gave Sayuri a covert thumbs-up.

Critical intelligence obtained: judging from Shizuku's reaction, they almost certainly hadn't bathed together.

Hmph, hmph. Unlike a certain someone.

This round goes to us!

Nice work, Sayuri!

Now they could all see it clearly.

Kagami's older sister quite obviously did not want her little brother to get a girlfriend.

At least, not yet.

Well — they supposed they could understand that.

They felt a small pang of disappointment, yet somehow also — for reasons they couldn't quite explain — a small, inexplicable sense of relief.

Didn't this mean they could all keep spending time together like this, in this easy, happy way, for quite a while longer?

That didn't seem so bad, actually.

Just then, Tsushima Kagami finally finished building up Hiroi Kikuri's inner world.

He glanced over at the girls, who were all chattering away excitedly about something-or-other, and was just about to wander over and join in —

When a chime suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Random Quest Triggered]

[Quest Description: A tailor who doesn't moonlight as a psychologist is no true warrior! Craft a battle garment with your own two hands!]

[Quest Reward: Traditional Martial Arts Random Gift Pack!]

Tsushima Kagami blinked at the notification.

A Traditional Martial Arts Gift Pack? What on earth is that supposed to be?

Is this thing about to shuffle me off into some high-powered cultivation world out of an infinite-flow crossover novel?

Please, anything but that.

Besides, I already have a system.

Granted, it's a bit useless.

But slowly grinding out pure-love points — who knows, maybe one day I'll be the sole master of my own fate. Isn't that way better than getting dragged through an infinite-flow world fighting for your life at every turn?

Still, a quest is a quest. He'd have to do it.

Tsushima Kagami recalled that the school's home economics room had sewing machines and materials ready to use.

Worth stopping by to throw something together and see if it counted as completing the quest.

After all, the quest hadn't specified any particular requirements for what he had to sew.

Maybe even hemming a torn bag would be enough to clear it?

With that thought, Tsushima Kagami opened his stat panel, found the entry for sewing and handicrafts, and added just enough points to reach a comfortable cost-efficiency threshold — roughly beginner level — then stopped.

It was only then that he noticed his pure-love points had already accumulated past the one-million mark.

And that was after spending a good chunk of them earlier on music-related skills: instruments, arrangement, ear training, transcription, and the like.

It was all thanks to the tankobon sales of "My Neighbour's Wife" and the recent momentum from "Listen to the Wind Sing" — that's what had finally pushed him this far. It hadn't been easy.

Still, it was a good sign. As he put out more works, the snowball effect would only grow stronger. Ten million points didn't feel so impossibly distant anymore.

Just then, another chime rang out in his mind.

[Detected: your pure-love points have met the upgrade condition]

[Upgrade now?]

"No."

Tsushima Kagami declined the upgrade outright. He had things to take care of right now — this wasn't the time to be exploring new system features after a level-up.

He'd upgrade tonight when he got back.

With that, Tsushima Kagami withdrew from his inner mindspace.

"Why is everyone suddenly staring at me like that?"

Tsushima Kagami looked back at Yukinoshita Shizuku and the others, who had all been watching him intently.

Hearing him say that, everyone exchanged glances, then looked to Yukinoshita Shizuku.

Yukinoshita Shizuku spoke up.

"We could see you were about to say something to us."

"Then you suddenly zoned out, so we got a little worried."

Tsushima Kagami had indeed been about to join the conversation — he'd completely forgotten. Then the system quest had pulled him into his mind palace, and from the outside it must have looked exactly like he'd blanked out mid-thought.

"I wasn't drooling, was I?"

Tsushima Kagami hurriedly patted his chin.

"No, nothing like that."

"So what were you spacing out about?"

The girls stared at Tsushima Kagami with renewed curiosity.

"I was just thinking — maybe I should head over to the home economics room and try making a band uniform."

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Kagami — don't tell me you actually know how to sew?"

Yukinoshita Shizuku asked before she could stop herself.

"Are you seriously thinking about making our band uniforms by hand?"

"Is that really true, senpai?"

"Does that mean you'd have to measure our three sizes?!"

Hiroi Kikuri, standing by the mirror, finally came back to herself — catching the tail end of Tsushima Kagami's words just in time.

At that, some eyes lit up, some faces turned red and dipped down — but not a single person raised any objection to the idea of Tsushima Kagami measuring them himself.

"Then Kagami has to measure me first!"

Sayuri leapt forward and did a little spin in front of Tsushima Kagami.

"Me too, me too!"

"You'd better not leave me for last again!"

"Every time something good happens, I'm always the last one you think of!"

"That's not a good hobby to have!"

Hiratsuka Shizuka quickly latched onto Tsushima Kagami's arm, terrified of being forgotten again this time.

With Sayuri and Hiratsuka Shizuka having charged ahead as the advance guard, the other girls all looked on with barely-concealed eagerness to follow suit.

Yukinoshita Shizuku clapped her hands together, drawing everyone's attention, then smiled at the group.

"Kagami is already very busy, so everyone should just measure yourselves at home and pass the numbers along."

The restless energy that had been building in the room was doused like a fire hit with a bucket of cold water.

At this, Ijichi Seika spoke up.

"Can you actually... do this?"

"I seem to remember sitting through the same home ec classes as you, and I never once saw you produce anything decent."

Ijichi Seika thought back to the handful of handicraft lessons they'd had last semester and this one — Tsushima Kagami had always seemed to just coast through them like everyone else.

How was it that the same person who'd somehow become a band producer was now setting himself up as a tailor?

Sure, in the live house world there were people who spent their days as high-end bespoke tailors and their nights as rock band guitarist-vocalists.

But somehow that image didn't quite fit Tsushima Kagami...

"Oh, it's really just button-sewing and patching-up-torn-bags level stuff."

"I just suddenly felt like giving it a try."

"Then let's go right now!"

Sayuri grabbed Tsushima Kagami's hand and started pulling him toward the door of the Light Music Club.

Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko exchanged a look with the others, then laughed and hurried after Sayuri and Tsushima Kagami.

The rest of the Light Music Club members shrugged and simply tagged along as well.

____

👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻

🔥 New history: Danmachi: Summoning Ruri Gokou, And other Chuunibyou Brats

Let's hit these goals:

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