Band Girls’ Mixology Mission [172]

Uika’s expression suddenly became extremely strange—like she’d cracked an egg into a bowl and, thrilled to discover a double yolk, had inadvertently dropped half the eggshell in with it.

Or perhaps like someone who’d witnessed the miraculous spectacle of the sun and moon simultaneously hanging in the sky—only for the two to immediately collide and destroy the entire world.

Or maybe like... anyway, it was extremely strange.

“Kyo-chan...when exactly did you meet Sakiko?” Uika asked, voice trembling slightly.

“When did I meet Sakiko?” This happened after Kikukawa Kyo had nearly drowned, so she quickly retrieved the relevant memories from her mind. “It was in my third year of middle school. By coincidence, she saw me playing guitar in a live house and invited me into her band. You probably know about the band, right, Uika-san? From the way you were talking earlier, it sounded like you used to keep in touch with Sakiko quite often.”

Keep in touch often, my foot!

Uika felt as if she'd just swallowed a cup of pure, strong black coffee—bitterness and frustration quietly exploded in her chest.

Though not exactly living like an ascetic, Uika had always strictly disciplined herself to achieve her future goals. Aside from constant practice to improve her skills, the hardest part had been resisting the urge to frequently reach out to Sakiko.

Uika always believed that until she was truly qualified to stand by Sakiko’s side, she shouldn’t contact her. She was afraid Sakiko would again casually offer her generous help without hesitation...

Since coming to Tokyo, the number of times Uika had reached out to Sakiko could be counted on one hand. The most recent was back in her third year of middle school, when she finally shed her trainee status and officially debuted as part of sumimi. Unable to contain her excitement, Uika had texted Sakiko.

Sakiko had warmly congratulated her. Even now, Uika still carefully preserved those messages on her phone, occasionally pulling them out to reread them, soothing the emotional strain accumulated from work.

If she had really kept regular contact, why would Uika need to repeatedly cling to those few text messages?

Incidentally, it was only a few days after Uika had shared that good news with Sakiko that she learned Sakiko had formed a new band named CRYCHIC—without her.

It's fine... it's fine. Just because Sakiko had formed a band didn't mean the lineup wouldn't change. As long as she quickly improved and showed Sakiko her true abilities, surely Sakiko would acknowledge her!

Then, indeed, the band's lineup had changed—but Sakiko herself, the core of the band, had run away.

From then on, Uika had not received a single piece of news about Sakiko.

And now, the first time she finally received actual news of Sakiko again, it was from Kikukawa Kyo, a girl whose importance in her life might only be second to Sakiko herself.

If that was all, it would be fine. But the problem was, Kikukawa Kyo just happened to also be her rival in wanting to play in Sakiko’s band—both occupying the guitarist position.

And now—just now—Uika realized that Kyo might not only be her mentor and rival but also a potential rival in another, entirely different sense?!

Thus, Uika’s current expression could only be described as if someone had knocked over a dye factory—layers upon layers of vivid colors splashed across her face, red, blue, green, all blended together.

“Uika-san?” Kyo stared at Uika in surprise, who at the moment wore no mask at all in front of Kyo.

Thus, Kyo clearly observed Uika’s expression—her slightly puffed-out cheeks, lowered eyes shimmering with a hint of dampness that suggested grievance, yet paired with slightly furrowed eyebrows that held a hint of aggressiveness.

Where was the usual flawless idol? Right now, Uika looked more like a golden retriever puppy who had been wronged—upset, slightly angry, wanting to lash out at whoever had hurt her, yet ultimately too gentle to bring herself to do it.

Kyo rubbed her eyes, confused, double-checking if she'd misread the expression. Each feature of Uika’s face individually conveyed a different emotion, and together they confused Kyo even further—she couldn’t quite figure out which feeling was most prominent or what exactly Uika was thinking.

Uika shook her head lightly and asked again: “Kyo-chan, what exactly is your relationship with Sakiko now?”

“Hmm, back in the band, it was pretty ordinary? Just simple bandmates, not much interaction beyond that,” Kyo answered truthfully. “But now it’s much better.”

“Much better? Exactly how much better?” Uika pressed, stepping forward with a hint of oppressive energy.

Kyo stared at the obviously off-kilter Uika. It was like an invisible second force had manifested behind Uika, causing the air around them to grow heavy.

Yet Kyo remained unaffected. Instead, she clapped her hands together as a realization dawned. “Wait, Uika-san, could it be that you actually like Sakiko?”

Though Kyo had no experience with romance herself, Uika’s reactions were textbook examples of jealousy that Kyo had carefully documented—there was no way she wouldn’t think in this direction.

This move was clearly effective, immediately stunning Uika, who moments ago had been gradually pressing closer to Kyo.

“Eh? Wait, no...no way!” Uika frantically waved her hands. Previously, when her manager half-jokingly asked if she had a crush, Uika could always maintain a perfectly calm smile, responding naturally, “My heart belongs only to my career.”

But Kyo’s acting skills were something Uika had personally witnessed and acknowledged as superior to her own. The reason she allowed herself to show her genuine emotions now wasn’t just because Kyo was a very important person to her—someone she hoped to treat with the same honesty as when they first met—but also because she genuinely believed her own acting wouldn’t fool Kyo for long.

What Uika didn’t know was that, until today, Kyo had always considered her an extremely tricky, flawless person. Without today’s small boost from a bit of alcohol, Kyo probably wouldn’t have even caught Uika’s little slip-up.

Realizing her denials were completely unconvincing, Uika finally surrendered and admitted honestly: “I want to stand beside Sakiko and be in her band. But right now, I don’t even know where Sakiko is or what she’s up to.”

Wow, Sakiko, your sins are really heavy—just how many girls have you led down this path of no return called ‘band life’?

In Kyo’s eyes, the very concept of a band had begun to seem demonically twisted. Why did it feel like everyone who joined—or even thought about joining—a band ended up possessed?

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T/N: yeah its crazy all the girls are hit by that yuri bug

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!