Band Girls’ Mixology Mission [187]

“Kyo-chan!”

Kikukawa Kyo’s sudden arrival rattled Soyo far more than it did Sakiko. Panic flickered across her face—she’d been scolded by Kyo at home once over the band, and now here she was, repeating the same mistake on purpose.

Seeing Kyo knocked the air out of her. The sadness already lodged in her chest went pale, almost hollow.

Sakiko’s beyond saving… and now I’ve made Kyo angry too?

If Kyo’s first words right now were to scold her—say she’d had enough, didn’t want to deal with her anymore—then…

Soyo might really drop to her knees right here on the street.

“Kyo…” Sakiko’s tone hadn’t softened either.

Moments ago, she’d said, “You can’t help me,” in that final way of hers—but Soyo’s shaking, tearful voice had gotten under her skin.

Did my choices… hurt them that much?

“If you’re wondering why I’m here,” Kyo said, lifting one finger and wiggling it as if the storm on their faces didn’t exist,

“My first guess was that Soyo followed Mutsumi—and found you, Sakiko.”

Soyo blanched, but Kyo’s voice held no accusation. She kept going.

“And since you already went as far as tailing someone, I figured you wouldn’t just let Sakiko slip away. You’d find a place to talk.

“At first I wasn’t going to jump in. This is between you two—you have to work it out yourselves. I’m not your mom.”

She heaved a dramatic sigh, shoulders rising in a showy arc. “But I worried you’d get so awkward you couldn’t talk at all, so I came anyway. I was praying I wouldn’t walk into a fistfight.”

Neither Sakiko nor Soyo spoke. Honestly, they probably had come close.

So yes, Kyo had arrived just in time to keep things from getting messy. But now what? How was she supposed to bridge this gap?

That thought drifted by, and Kyo found herself humming, a bright little tune bubbling up. Even with the scene in front of her, tension wouldn’t stick.

It hadn’t rained in a while. Wasting it on worry felt wrong.

Her rain-bright eyes flicked between Sakiko and Soyo. “Want to walk with me?” she asked, clasping her hands behind her back and turning ahead. “It’s that rare kind of weather—rain soft enough to feel gentle, not heavy. Even people besides me can feel a little ‘romance of walking in the rain,’ right?”

Before either of them could react, Kyo set off at an easy pace.

It was hard to tell what she’d come for. She’d said she was worried they’d fight, then showed up, did nothing, and started strolling like this was just another walk.

A sunshower isn’t just sun and rain at once; it’s light caught in falling water. Each drop is a tiny prism, catching daylight and breaking it into threads of color.

A faint halo shimmered above Kyo’s head. Maybe it was just a trick of light, but the colors seemed to follow her—as if a piece of sky had come down with her, an angel walking through the rain.

Kikukawa Kyo, hands behind her back—one hand loosely holding her wrist, the free hand swinging gently—like Lucy and David’s slow lunar walk, a silent invitation they couldn’t ignore.

An invitation.
Whether to accept it was up to them.

Almost together, Sakiko and Soyo stepped forward. Realizing it at the same time, they traded a complicated glance.

Both had places to be—the band was waiting for Soyo, and Sakiko’s shift was coming up.

Hearing their quick steps through the puddles, Kyo smiled. A moment later they caught up—Sakiko on one side, Soyo on the other.

The rain had thinned to a finer veil, cool against their skin.

Maybe the drizzle cooled their tempers, or maybe it was Kyo’s quiet field—the calm that always seemed to spill from her—but somehow the two who’d been bristling minutes ago were walking side by side again.

There were fewer pedestrians now; the ones who remained didn’t spare a glance at three girls in the rain.

In the noisy city, the rainfall had carved out a pocket of stillness.

“I honestly thought you’d both grab my hand,” Kyo said lightly, not turning her head—maybe to keep admiring the rain, though to the other two it felt more like she was keeping neutral.

“Kyo-chan, who did you want to grab your hand?” Soyo’s soft voice carried an edge.

“Besides,” Sakiko said evenly, “you’ve only got one free hand behind your back.”

Their words boxed Kyo in neatly.

But not this Kyo. Not today. She wasn’t getting cornered by wordplay.

Kikukawa Kyo remains unbothered~

“Oh? So you both want to hold my hand?” she chimed, swinging her arms out from behind her and offering them openly to each side.

“Shall we? I usually walk alone in the rain—I’ve never gotten to do the classic ‘hand in hand in the rain’ scene.”

“…”

“…”

Sakiko and Soyo met eyes again. Each already knew what the other would do.

And so—one small hand, cool with rain; one slender pianist’s hand; one with neat, rounded, polished nails—linked together.

Sun and rain bore quiet witness to the fragile moment and, in return, offered a single, long, graceful arc of rainbow.

---

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!