She placed the guitar from behind her onto her lap: "What do you want to hear?… But if there hasn't been any improvement since the last time you heard me play, you're not allowed to say anything."
Ah, there's also the issue of a guitar technique bottleneck. If only she could find a great person to teach her.
But hiring a tutor would be very expensive, and she couldn't ask her parents to reimburse her for this expense related to her wish. Moreover, daily matters already filled her time, and she didn't have time to work part-time…
…So annoying, it's all about money. Oh, this world is all about having no money… No, having no money isn't good either. If it were all money… that doesn't seem right either.
If only I were the only one with money… Asaba Ibuki continued to dream.
"Ibuki Senpai, can you play this?" Nanao Akane took out a folded A4 paper from her skirt pocket.
"What? A song you want to hear?"
Asaba Ibuki found it strange. In this day and age, people still write on paper? Shouldn't you just search on your phone…
Asaba Ibuki looked, surprised.
It was not only blank paper, but also black text.
A musical score and lyrics were written in sharp strokes.
The song title was written at the very beginning.
It was called "other than spring, love, and flowers."
"Other than spring, love, and flowers…?" Asaba Ibuki asked, "Whose song is this?"
It should be an obscure singer. To become a professional idol, Asaba Ibuki had always listened to popular new songs… Although she was usually too busy and often missed the most trending things, with her professional quality as a "future idol," she knew from the song title alone that this should be a song released in spring. It was already summer, so even if she missed it, it wouldn't be this outrageous.
"Just play it." Nanao Akane urged with a smile.
Seeing her happy and infatuated expression, Asaba Ibuki felt strange. Had this girl started following celebrities too… and an obscure little idol at that?
"Don't blame me if it doesn't sound good." Asaba Ibuki said. As a future idol, she'd take the blame first so as not to ruin the little idol's standing in Akane's heart: "And playing it for the first time might sound a bit odd."
Asaba Ibuki picked up the guitar.
…
…
Asaba Ibuki put down the guitar.
Playing it for the first time was indeed quite strange… and surprisingly good.
Asaba Ibuki frowned.
…Something isn't right.
She looked at the handwriting; this definitely wasn't Akane's handwriting, it looked more like a boy's. It was reasonable for Akane, as a girl, to follow a male idol, but idols at most sign autographs. There's no reason for them to write out an entire song with a score and give it to a fan, is there?
"…Akane, how much have you invested in this idol?" Asaba Ibuki asked with some concern.
Although her dream was to become an idol, Asaba Ibuki was also devoted to this dream, but she was still aware of some of the dark sides of the industry…
"Hehe." Akane smiled without answering, which made Asaba Ibuki even more worried: "Hey, you need to be careful…"
Akane continued to change the subject,
"What do you think of this song?"
The standard is very high.
This was Asaba Ibuki's first assessment. She had only focused on the score just now, but now she carefully read the lyrics…
"Even if I make up my mind to go out, 'what's interesting about that?'… For me, who doesn't even have someone to hold hands and walk with, those love songs are truly too cruel…."
Asaba Ibuki hummed a couple of lines, then showed a pained expression: "…Ugh… Why do I have to be hurt even when singing a song?"
What was even more painful was…
"I can't write this." Asaba Ibuki admitted her assessment: "The standard is much higher than mine."
If a song of this standard could still fail, then her dream of debuting as an idol would be too distant… Suffocating.
"This is Kobayashi-chan's song." Nanao Akane said.
"…Um, 'Kobayashi-chan' is…"
Wait, wait…
This name sounds so familiar.
Kobayashi-chan… The person Akane would address like that seems to be a boy… And it seems he's also…
"My boyfriend." Nanao Akane said, pointing to her nose, with two parts shyness and eight parts pride.
"An amateur!?"
"Yes."
"Not an idol? Or a singer?"
"No."
"...Wait, wait, wait, wait..." Asaba Ibuki continued to examine the sheet music and lyrics carefully. How? How could an amateur write a song of this caliber, while she, to this day, had no inspiration at all?
"It's amazing, isn't it?"
"..." Asaba Ibuki didn't want to speak. Rather, it was too amazing.
Her lips trembled, and her delicate body shivered with excitement.
"So, this song hasn't been released?"
"Yes, I've only heard Kobayashi-chan sing it."
Oh, there was one more, but Mr. Hayashi's true form was "Mr. Hayashi," so he didn't count as a person for now.
And he sounded too awful... not as good as the two lines Ibuki hummed.
"Can you give it to me..." Asaba Ibuki asked subconsciously.
"You!"
Before she could finish her sentence, a familiar yet strange voice approached.
Asaba Ibuki turned around, startled.
It was the girl who had caused trouble earlier.
She walked over menacingly, her hands clenched into fists, each step heavy.
Asaba Ibuki wanted to protect Nanao Akane.
But she didn't expect this junior to already be standing in front of her.
"What do you want?" Nanao Akane demanded.
The red-haired girl also showed a surprised expression, then gritted her teeth and said loudly, "I... I was wrong! P-Please! You! Can! Forgive me!"
After speaking, she turned her head away as if she couldn't bear to look, cursing, "Damn it..."
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