"By the way, Jousuke. I wanna tell you something." said Kenshin.
"About what?" Jousuke asked.
"You two, keep this to yourselves. It's about a music competition." said Kenshin.
"Okay." said Jousuke and Leah.
Jousuke thought to himself "Is this what Natsu and Asa told me last time?"
Kenshin whispered to Jousuke and Leah "I already told Asa, Natsu, Ryuusei, and three more people about this. There'll be an upcoming music competition next year. To be specific, 20th of January. The grand prize is ¥100,000, free trip to Kyoto, and a trophy. Actually, things have changed. Instead of each highschool classes in the entire Japan will be competing for the prize, like I've told Asa, Natsu, Ryuusei, and others, the supervisor changed her mind that we should do a national competition, which means each school will only have 1 band as the participant. In that way, we'll have less participants, and possibly, more qualified musicians. Our school will be competing. Jousuke, you're one of the best musicians I've ever met, so this will be great opportunity to you. I'm telling you about this in advance so you can prepare."
Jousuke and Leah was surprised and they thought to themselves "What!? Kyoto!? That sounds amazing!"
Jousuke cleared his throat and replied "Hmmm, lemme think about it. I think that's great though." Despite the seriousness, Jousuke happily thought to himself "I badly wanna go to Kyoto!"
Leah thought to herself "Come on, Daikuhara-san! That's a lovely prize, accept it!" as she looked at Jousuke.
"How about you, Boutsuki-chan?" Jousuke asked.
"U-uhm, music competition, you say? I love music, but I think I'll be a burden, since I'm just a beginner." said Leah.
"I know. But I think, you still have approximately three months to prepare. You'll be able to practice and train yourself." said Jousuke.
"Yeah, you won't be a burden, don't worry. Besides, I heard from Junna-chan that you know how to play the guitar." said Kenshin.
"Y-yeah, just the basics. Don't get your hopes too high from me!" said Leah.
"Well, I'll train you. I believe in you!" said Jousuke as he held Leah's hands. He thought to himself "Anything for Kyoto."
Leah blushed and thought to herself "D-Daikuhara-san? W-what are you doing?" and then said "S-sure!"
"Okay! What days are you available?" Jousuke asked.
Leah thought to herself "He really is dedicated. What's with this man?" as she blushed. She said "Every s-saturday."
"Very well then! I'll meet you on saturday!" said Jousuke.
"Already?" Leah screamed in her thoughts.
-OKABAYASHI'S POINT OF VIEW-
*Okabayashi's phone rang*
:Good morning, Shinohara-sama.
;Good morning, Okabayashi-sama.
:Have you decided yet?
;Yes, I'll attend later. Is there anything I need to prepare?
:No, everything's prepared.
;I meant not just material stuff.
:Hmmm, maybe your announcement about the upcoming national schools' music competition.
;I guess I'll leave that announcement to you, Okabayashi-sama.
:Is that so...? Okay.
; Anything else except for that?
:No, I think everything's fine for now.
;Well then, I'll be going now. I'll see you later.
:Okay, I'll see you later.
*Okabayashi hung up on the phone. Daimon knocked*
;Okabayashi-sama, are you inside?
:Yes, come in.
*Daimon came in*
:Is there any problem, Daimon-sama?
;No, but I do need your opinion, Okabayashi-sama. You see, about the upcoming music competition, I think I want to recruit some students.
:Oh, interesting. Tell me about it, Daimon-sama.
;As you've said last time, the supervisor changed the competition from local to national. Therefore, we will have to make the best line-up of musicians in our school. Here are the musicians I know: Akinori Asakura, Joutarou Deguchi, Kousei Chikafuji, and Jousuke Daikuhara. All of them were so skilled in terms of music, especially Daikuhara-kun. But the only problem is we need another member to fill-up the band.
:I get your point. They really are skilled in terms of music. Well, about the problem that you've mentioned, I think let's allow them to pick their last bandmate so they'll trust that person. However, there's two more problems. First is we still don't know if all of them will agree to join. Second and the biggest problem is we have to do an audition to be fair.
;I see, you're right. I think we'll settle it sooner. Sorry for interrupting you.
*Daimon walked away*
:Hey, Daimon-sama.
;Yes, Okabayashi-sama?
:Thank you for your great work.
;Thank you for your great work as well. I'm sorry I forgot!
:No worries, it's fine. See you later.
*Daimon left the office. Okabayashi spoke on the speakers*
:Everyone, it is now 11AM. Please go back to your places. We will begin the contest within 2 hours. Please prepare yourselves, rest, and enjoy!
"Okay! Everything's settled."
-FINANCIAL GROUP-
"Oh, I think we have to go back now." said Leah.
They all stood up and cleaned up their table. After that, Jousuke drank water. In all of a sudden, Jousuke offered his water to Leah.
"Here, you want some?" Jousuke asked.
Leah blushed as she was shocked. She thought to herself "W-what? If I accepted it, it'll be an indirect kiss! If I refused it, I'll look like a rude person, which I am not! What shall I do!?
"Is something wrong, Boutsuki-chan? You look so red." said Kenshin.
"N-nothing! It's just hot out here!" said Leah and then she thought to herself "Crap! Am I blushing?"
"If that's so, you really should drink water." said Jousuke.
"W-well, I guess I'll take it." said Leah and then she took the water from Jousuke.
The moment she drank from it, Leah thought to herself as she was shocked "It's so sweet. Why?"
-MANGA CLUB'S ROOM-
"All right, the customers' already lined up. I think it's time to sell again, Jousuke." said Kenshin.
"Yeah, but Boutsuki-san doesn't have any customers?" Jousuke asked.
Leah thought to herself "I'm all done!"
"It's because Boutsuki-chan already spent all of the budget. It's a good thing if you sold all the mangas as well, Jousuke." said Kenshin.
"Yeah, I agree. But will I be able to sell 300 mangas until before 1PM?" Jousuke asked as he was holding a manga.
"That manga was my favorite, rest in peace!" said Leah.
"Oh it is? I have one, I can give it to you tomorrow." said Jousuke.
Leah once again blushed but didn't say anything.
"To answer your question, Jousuke, it's simple. You two will have to work together." said Kenshin.
The two of them were shocked. "Eh!?" they offered as a reply.