"Change? Change to whom?"
Ijichi Nijika looked at Gotou Hitori with surprise, not having expected her to possess such a connection. However, after a quick glance at the clock on the wall, she abandoned the idea of finding a last-minute replacement.
"Please! Time is already very tight—we have less than an hour left… Even if someone else were willing to help, it's simply too late now. Please, I'm begging you!"
"Let's just practice again! I'm sure it'll be fine!"
Ijichi Nijika pressed her palms together in a pleading gesture. A thought then occurred to her, and she continued, trying to sound reassuring, "Besides, the people coming to see our band tonight are probably all my friends anyway."
"Normal high school girls won't be able to tell the difference between good and bad playing!"
"I can tell, you know~." Yamada Ryo interjected, hiding the lower half of her face behind her sleeve, a note of misplaced pride in her voice.
"Don't undermine me here, Ryo!"
Is this really the time for you to be showing off?
Ijichi Nijika shot a weary glance at her bandmate. She wasn't asking for help, but she certainly didn't need anyone adding to the difficulty!
At the remark, Yamada Ryo turned her face away slightly, her gaze drifting elsewhere with a faint hint of guilt.
'If the audience sees our terrible performance, our awful lack of coordination… we'll probably be ripped to shreds, won't we?'
The moment this thought crossed her mind, images of the audience's disgusted, disappointed, and accusatory faces after a botched performance flooded Gotou Hitori's imagination. She couldn't help but shrink her neck into her shoulders. With half her head still buried in the trash can, only a pair of timid, peering eyes visible, she looked at Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo and said in a feeble voice:
"Um… the person I'm talking about… is actually right outside… The song you're playing isn't that difficult. Kasumigaoka-kun should be able to pick it up just by looking at the sheet music once."
"How about… you go and ask him?"
Her two eyes, as if by some miracle, repositioned themselves to the top left and bottom right corners of her vision, a physical manifestation of her desire to avoid reality.
"He's outside?"
"Is it that boy?"
Hearing Gotou Hitori's words, both Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo showed expressions of surprise.
"Yes." Gotou Hitori gave a small, gentle nod. "He's much, much better than me… No, there's really no comparison between the two of us at all."
"So…"
"…How about we go and ask him?"
After exchanging a quick, meaningful glance with Yamada Ryo, Ijichi Nijika voiced the question, feeling a flicker of temptation. At this moment, her primary goal was simply to ensure the upcoming performance happened without complete disaster. Gotou Hitori was clearly unreliable and highly resistant to the idea, and the substitute was, after all, her own recommendation…
"Let's go ask him," Yamada Ryo stated plainly.
"Hitori-chan, you'll come with us, right?" Ijichi Nijika looked sideways at Gotou Hitori.
This time, Gotou Hitori did not refuse again. She gave a silent nod of assent, then, with a complex mixture of relief and a strange, hollow sense of loss, she slowly extracted herself from the trash can…
****
Inside the main performance area, where the number of early arrivals had grown slightly—
Kasumigaoka Touji and Kato Megumi were scrolling through their phones, Kasumigaoka Utaha was engrossed in a light novel, and Kumin Tsuyuri was already fast asleep, her head resting comfortably on her little sheep-shaped pillow.
This girl truly was in a league of her own. Pull out a pillow, lie down, and be asleep within three seconds! The speed and quality of her napping inspired both awe and envy in the three who were still awake.
Suddenly—
Kasumigaoka Touji turned his head, sensing movement. He saw Ijichi Nijika, accompanied by Yamada Ryo and a reluctant-looking Gotou Hitori, making their way directly toward him. Their target was unmistakably him, as all three sets of eyes were firmly locked on his position.
"Um… Excuse me!"
Ijichi Nijika's hands hung naturally in front of her, and she offered an embarrassed, hopeful smile.
"Hmm? Is something the matter?"
Kasumigaoka Touji tilted his head slightly, regarding them with a hint of curiosity. He couldn't fathom why they weren't holed up in the practice room and had instead come out to seek him…
Hearing the exchange, both Kasumigaoka Utaha and Kato Megumi looked up from their respective activities to watch.
"It's like this."
Ijichi Nijika raised a hand, beginning to explain with a combination of words and gestures.
"We just finished practicing with Hitori-chan, and the results were… a bit rough. Then she became very reluctant to continue cooperating with us, and she… recommended you instead…"
Upon hearing this, Kasumigaoka Touji's gaze shifted to Gotou Hitori. Caught, Gotou Hitori guiltily averted her eyes, staring intently at a spot on the floor to her side.
"If it's at all possible… could you please be our temporary lead vocalist and guitarist, just for this one performance? Please!"
Ijichi Nijika executed a deep, ninety-degree bow brimming with sincerity. Beside her, Yamada Ryo also offered a slight, respectful bow and echoed, "Please."
At that moment, a tall, long-haired woman with tea-colored hair, carrying a shopping bag, entered from the main entrance. Seeing the scene unfolding, she raised a discerning eyebrow but said nothing, choosing instead to stand calmly to the side and observe.
As for Kasumigaoka Touji, the subject of this earnest plea, he brought a hand up to thoughtfully pinch his chin. After a moment's consideration, he replied, "It's not impossible for me to step in as a temporary vocalist and guitarist… but I have two conditions."
He changed his tone, holding up two fingers toward Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo.
The hopeful smiles that had begun to form on the two girls' faces immediately froze.
"Two conditions…?"
Ijichi Nijika felt a sudden headache coming on. This boy was proving more difficult to negotiate with than expected.
Good news: He agreed!
Bad news: He attached two conditions!
"Specifically… what are the conditions?" Ijichi Nijika asked, mustering her patience.
Kasumigaoka Touji raised his index finger and began to lay out his terms.
"First, I want to perform one of my own songs. Second, I want to bring Gotou-san with me. She will also be on stage as a guitarist."
"Eh?"
Gotou Hitori, who had been nervously wondering what demands Kasumigaoka Touji would make, was instantly stunned upon hearing his words. She looked at him with a jumbled expression of surprise, shock, distress, confusion, and hesitant uncertainty.
Ijichi Nijika frowned upon hearing the conditions. Although she had braced herself for some form of request, she couldn't help but feel a wave of frustration.
She responded in a serious tone, "The second condition is fine, as long as Hitori-chan agrees… But the first one is impossible. The program has already been submitted and publicized; we can't change it now."
"Aren't you the manager's little sister? Just exercise your privilege as the manager's younger sister!" Kasumigaoka Touji looked at her, stating the idea as if it were the most obvious solution in the world.
"…" Ijichi Nijika was momentarily speechless. She then said with a sullen expression, "I don't have that kind of privilege…"
"Don't make it sound like I'm someone who exploits her sister's position. I've already paid a huge personal price just to secure this performance slot…"
She began to mutter her complaints aloud.
"Really now… Please don't make me sound like such an unreasonable older sister."
Ijichi Seika chose that moment to interject, making her presence known with impeccable timing as she stepped fully into the scene!