Band Girls’ Mixology Mission [190]

In truth, Soyo’s answer didn’t matter to Kyo anymore.

Here, in this kind of moment, in this setting, the words Soyo would say were almost painfully predictable. Kyo even caught herself thinking playfully about reciting them in her head, half a beat before Soyo spoke.

She could already picture the desperate explanation, the anxious eyes, the small fidgeting gestures trying to prove sincerity.

A rain like this—straightforward, clear, almost painfully honest.

But there was one thing Kyo hadn’t seen coming. For all that Sakiko and Soyo were completely different in temperament, together with her, the two somehow produced an odd chemistry.

For example—they’d quietly made her the object of their rivalry.

When Kyo admitted she and Sakiko had grown closer, Soyo immediately grew uneasy, wondering about her own place in Kyo’s heart. And just now, when Kyo lifted Soyo’s hand and blew gently across her fingers, she’d felt her other hand—Sakiko’s—tighten almost imperceptibly.

Kyo remembered all of it. Every small detail.

After listening patiently to Soyo’s answer, she simply acknowledged it with a soft hum and turned her head the other way.

“What about you, Sakiko? What kind of person do you think I am?”

No immediate reply. Instead, Sakiko stared at her, eyes sharp.

“Kyo, what exactly are you trying to do by asking that?”

The unease that had been nagging Sakiko earlier finally took form. Ever since Kyo started asking Soyo those questions, the feeling had been building—slowly at first, then gathering weight.

It was clear now: Kyo herself was the source.

At first, the feeling had been faint, like spider silk brushing her skin. But as Kyo kept speaking, it thickened into a tangible suspicion—that Kyo was steering them somewhere on purpose.

“No special reason,” Kyo said easily. “I just wanted to confirm something before deciding what to do next.”

Neither Sakiko nor Soyo had a chance to ask what she meant before Kyo continued, tone calm and almost cheerful.

“I just wanted to confirm that, sure enough, neither of you really knows me very well at all.

“And yet, you both care quite a lot about me—don’t you?”

The word care was deliberate. Kyo had paused to choose it. Calling it love felt too presumptuous—too self-flattering, maybe.

The two girls said nothing. Their silence was quiet confirmation.

“As for what I really wanted to say…” Kyo’s words trailed off mid-sentence.

She’d noticed they’d wandered into a small park emptied by the rain. A modest pavilion stood ahead, quietly waiting, its roof offering shelter.

Kyo led them inside.

She sat first in the corner, and the straight line of three walking girls naturally shifted into a triangle.

Now, face-to-face again, both Sakiko and Soyo felt a flicker of embarrassment—but the walk through the rain had steadied them enough to keep their emotions in check.

The pavilion’s rough stone patterns blurred softly in the mist. The rain still whispered outside, but sunlight slanted in, warming the air.

Kyo had chosen the outer edge of the shelter, sitting where the drizzle could still reach her, while Sakiko and Soyo remained in the light—comfortably warm, the chill slowly easing from their clothes and hair.

While walking, their focus had scattered—on rain, on scenery, on one another. Now that they’d stopped, it all converged on Kyo.

She perched lightly on the stone railing connecting two pillars, hands braced on either side. Tiny patches of moss dotted the rough gray surface, glistening with moisture. From the eaves above, a string of wind chimes swayed and sang, delicate and silver against the rain.

The railings, pillars, and roof framed Kyo perfectly in a neat square. Within that frame: a quarter of green leaves, a patch of bright sky tangled with cloud, a few passing birds, and the patterned stones beneath their feet.

It was a living painting.

“Well then, let’s pick up where we left off,” Kyo said, brushing back damp bangs that clung to her forehead. A bit of moss-stained dust smeared onto her cheek where her fingers had touched the railing, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Sakiko—and Soyo too—you don’t really understand me. My interests are obvious enough that even people who barely know me can name them after a few conversations,” she said evenly.

“But the things I really care about, the things that actually trouble me—I doubt either of you has seen even a sliver of them. On the other hand, while I can’t claim to know everything about you, I do know at least some of what you’re struggling with.”

Coincidentally, Kyo had once tasted things each of them had made with care. From Sakiko—a cup of black tea. From Soyo—a bowl of soup.

Through those small gestures, she’d learned what words never said aloud. Sakiko’s pride—knotted but unbending. Soyo’s longing for warmth—gentle, desperate, tender as spring light.

“Of course, I’m not blaming either of you,” Kyo added quickly, noting their startled expressions. She smiled and waved her hand lightly. “That might’ve sounded unfair. You’ve both shared your feelings with me before—but I’ve never really opened up in return. So it makes sense that things ended up this way.”

Her words only deepened the question echoing in their minds: Has Kyo-chan… never been sincere with us?

“And you probably don’t understand each other, either,” Kyo went on. “It’s funny—you treat me and each other completely differently.”

Her gaze flicked between them, calm but sharp. “And because I understand some of what each of you holds dear, I can tell—you’ll probably never reach full agreement. Even now, though you’ve calmed down, if I let you resume your earlier conversation, it’d just circle back into another fight.”

Kyo paused, then offered her proposal:

“If direct talk only leads to arguing—why not exchange thoughts another way?”

She tapped her own chest, smiling lightly. “You could use me. A neutral third party, someone who cares about both of you, someone who’ll listen carefully. I’ll carry your words clearly to the other.”

Her tone softened into something that almost felt like an invitation.

“It’s simple—no arguing, no raised voices. Just say what you really want to say, and I’ll be the one to pass it along.”

---

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!