I Just Want A Single Ending!

The brief weekend passed, and a new week began.

With band practice on hold, Kamigawa Saku couldn't deliver the cosmetics to his own bandmates.

So, he decided to start by giving the sets to the members of Kessoku Band.

Plus, he'd previously promised Chihaya Anon that they'd go together to help Gotoh Hitori with her studies.

Now that he finally had the time, it was time to fulfill that promise.

Since Chihaya would also be there, he planned to hand her set over at the same time.

As for Takamatsu Tomori's cosmetics set, Saku intended to give it to her at their next band practice, making sure Shiina Taki was there to see it.

This way, if Tomori accepted hers, it would make it harder for Taki to refuse.

And as for Ikuyo Kita?

That wouldn't be an issue—she'd accept it with no trouble at all.

After school that afternoon, Saku returned home. As he gathered the cosmetics, he suddenly noticed a potential issue.

Kessoku Band had four members, and with Chihaya included, he needed five sets, which made sense.

But at STARRY, there were more than just five people he was acquainted with.

There were people like Nijika Ijichi's sister, Seika, and the PA technician. They were people he knew fairly well, too.

Wouldn't it be odd to gift cosmetics to just five of them and leave the others out?

For the record, he only knew the PA technician as "PA-san," since her real name was still unknown to him.

"Good thing I picked up a few extra sets yesterday, or I'd be short on gifts."

With that thought, Saku added two more sets to his load.

Even if some of them weren't potential "target characters," it was only fair to treat everyone the same.

After all, they're all my friends!

---

A little while later, Saku entered STARRY carrying a large box.

"Good afternoon, everyone."

Setting the box down, he greeted the others in the room.

It was still well before opening hours, and the band members were gathered around a table, hard at work studying.

Nearby, Seika Ijichi and the PA technician were lounging, engaged in casual conversation.

There was also a girl dressed in a green one-piece with a black-and-white jacket, wearing wooden sandals, with long, lavender hair tied in a loose braid hanging over her shoulder.

She was drinking alone, surrounded by a faint smell of alcohol.

Her name was Hiroi Kikuri, Seika's former schoolmate and the bassist for the band SICK HACK.

Her love for drinking was obvious, evident from the box of alcohol she kept close.

Though she'd occasionally shown up at STARRY before, it wasn't very frequent.

Lately, it had been quite some time since he'd last seen her.

This meant he'd only met her a few times, so while they were on decent terms, they weren't particularly close.

Since Kikuri wasn't marked by the system as a potential "target," Saku hadn't made any particular effort to deepen their relationship, treating her just as he would any other acquaintance.

"What's all this?"

As soon as Chihaya Anon saw him walk in as promised, she hurried over, her eyes on the box with obvious curiosity.

"Well, I guess you could call it a gift," Saku replied after a moment's hesitation, deciding "gift" was the best way to frame it.

After all, he really did want to give them these cosmetics—the bit about "testing them out" was just a convenient excuse.

"That's so thoughtful of you, bringing such a big box all this way,"

Nijika Ijichi said, putting her tutoring session with Yamada Ryo on pause as she walked over to him.

"It wasn't heavy at all,"

Saku assured her, unbothered by the weight.

For someone who was always working on leveling up, carrying the box had been effortless.

Ikuyo Kita followed, peering at the box. "What's inside?"

Gotoh Hitori, too, looked over with curiosity, especially after hearing that it was a gift for "all of them."

If it was for "all of them," that probably included her too, right?

"They're cosmetics. I hope you'll accept them."

As he spoke, Saku opened the box.

Nijika peered inside, noticing the sheer number of items. "Why'd you suddenly decide to buy all this for us? And so much of it?"

"Wait a minute, this is…"

Before Saku could answer, Chihaya Anon spotted something that caught her attention, picking it up to take a closer look.

Although the brand was immediately recognizable, she double-checked it just to be sure.

"What is it?"

Ikuyo asked, puzzled by her reaction.

"Look for yourself," Chihaya said, passing the item to her.

"This is SK-II facial essence?"

Ikuyo recognized it too.

"No way!"

Nijika hurried over to confirm as well.

"Yep."

Saku nodded.

The name might sound unfamiliar, but to those who know it by its other name, it'd be more recognizable:

—Pitera Essence.

He didn't know much about cosmetics himself, so Togawa Sakiko had picked these items for him.

According to her, Pitera Essence was widely known, making it a great choice for reviews due to its popularity and the reputation of the SK-II brand.

Perfect for testing.

"This…"

Chihaya Anon was about to say something when she glanced at the other products in the box, realizing that they were all a bit… unusual.

She picked up a few more items, confirming each brand as she went.

Chanel, Dior…

All of them were luxury brands.

"What are you all talking about?"

Gotoh Hitori couldn't follow the conversation at all.

Her lack of social experience and zero knowledge of makeup meant she was completely clueless about cosmetics.

"Bocchi, try guessing the price of the bottle in Ikuyo's hand—guess on the higher side," Nijika suggested, snapping out of her shock with a playful guessing game.

"Um… five thousand yen?"

Hitori guessed, hesitant.

"A little higher," Ikuyo hinted.

"Fifteen thousand yen?"

Hitori hesitated to even say it out loud, the price sounding absurd for such a small bottle.

"The correct answer is twenty thousand yen,"

Chihaya said carefully, setting the luxury cosmetics back in the box and announcing the answer.

"This is…"

Hitori looked lost for words.

"What are you all talking about?"

Hearing their conversation, Seika Ijichi picked up on something unusual and came over, intrigued.

---

T/N: I need a friend like Saku where's my cosmetics!

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