The competition format for PVC Records' "Original Rock Band Project" was different from most music contests.
Submissions were open for two months, June and July. During this time, any band, famous or not, could submit their work.
On August 1st, submissions would close.
Some time after that, PVC Records would open a voting function on their official website, posting the approved songs for the public to vote on.
The public vote and the company judges' votes were weighted 3:7. Voting would last for two days. After the voting closed, because online submissions could involve audio editing and tuning, the top ten bands chosen by the judges and the public would be required to travel to a specific venue for a final live judging round. The on-site judges would determine the final score and ranking.
This final live round would be open to the public; anyone who bought a ticket could attend.
This PVC project was strange. The more fans a band had, the greater their advantage.
Because of this unique format, rallying votes was essential.
Although the judges' scores carried more weight, Aoki couldn't ignore that 30% from the public.
He stayed home from STARRY that afternoon. Alone in his apartment, he mulled over ways to get votes, finally deciding to post a video on his "suki-san" Yutube account.
He recorded a simple video introducing his band, Kessoku Band, and explaining that they had entered the PVC project. He edited in a short clip of their "Loser" performance and, at the end, asked his fans to visit the official website and vote for them in a few days.
He didn't have a computer, so making a video on his phone was incredibly tedious. Between recording and editing, it took him a full four hours. It was around eight o'clock at night when he finally published his account's third video.
Lately, between band practice and recording, Aoki had been busy until late every night. Although he was getting more sleep than when he was working part-time, the mental exhaustion was much heavier.
Now that the vote-rallying video was finally done, he could relax. He skipped dinner, took a quick shower, laid out his futon, and went straight to sleep.
...
The next day, Monday.
He woke up early. Because he hadn't eaten last night, he was starving.
But it wasn't good to eat before his morning run. He endured the hunger, ran two laps around the park, and only then went to a breakfast shop to eat.
On the way back, he idly bought a morning paper. He returned to his apartment and read it until 7:30.
He packed his school bag, slung it over his shoulder, and took the train to Shuka Private High School.
The morning passed with classes as usual.
During the lunch break, Aoki didn't go to the first-year classrooms to teach Kita guitar as he usually did.
After finishing the "Loser" recording, they had all agreed to take a short break. For the first time in a while, Aoki's lunch break was free.
He stayed in his classroom, working on math problems, until the afternoon bell rang, and then until the final bell signaled the end of the school day.
He didn't go to his club. Aoki followed the main crowd of "go-home club" students out of the school gates.
He boarded the train to Shimokitazawa and headed for STARRY.
During the train ride, Aoki opened Yutube to check the comments on his new video.
However, the comments under this video were very different from the overwhelming praise his first two videos had received.
The train was a bit crowded. Standing in a corner, Aoki scrolled through the comments.
[Sigh... I listened to the preview... How do I put this? The music is great, but... I feel like the vocalist's skill is a bit lacking compared to suki-sensei's. Well, I'll vote for you anyway (Good luck!)]
[Doesn't matter what the song is, I'm voting just for the chance to see suki-sensei play guitar live if you make the top ten!]
[Ah... this band... haha. It feels like apart from suki-sensei, everyone else's skill is... well, not quite there.]
Many comments pointed out that the band and the vocalist weren't particularly outstanding. Aoki scrolled through a few, his expression darkening.
Then, he sorted the comments by "Top" and saw the highest-rated one.
[NEW·world Band: Suki-sensei, all of us at NEW·world have loved your music from the beginning, both "Lemon" and "That's Why I Gave Up on Music." We've been wanting to extend a sincere invitation for you to join our band, but we never found the right time. Now we see from your new video that you've already joined a band...
It's a shame, but all of us at NEW·world wish you and your band the best. And well... no matter what happens, there will always be a spot for you at NEW·world!]
NEW·world was a band that had maintained a decent level of popularity in recent years.
Underneath their comment, many replies were urging Aoki to consider switching to another band.
Aoki fell silent for a moment, then sighed and put his phone away.
In truth, the skill level of the girls in Kessoku Band wasn't bad at all.
The problem was that his "suki-san" account had set an incredibly high bar with two back-to-back, high-quality singles. By comparison, this new track made the rest of the band seem average.
That was why this version of "Loser," with Kita on vocals, was getting so much criticism.
If the girls saw these comments, it would probably put a lot of unnecessary pressure on them.
A spike of worry hit him. He tried to think of a solution, but in the end, he could only hope that the Kessoku Band members hadn't seen the comments yet.
The train rattled on. He got off at Shimokitazawa Station, walked for a bit, and arrived at the live house.
He stood at the entrance, took a shallow breath, and then pushed the door open.
Inside STARRY, the girls had all arrived earlier than him.
The four of them were sitting together, but they weren't practicing or chatting like usual. They were all just... silent.
The air was still. The atmosphere was strangely heavy.
Aoki instantly knew.
They had seen the comments.
The pressure in STARRY was low. Aoki walked in, saw the scene, and for a moment, he also didn't know what to say.
As the lead vocalist for "Loser," Kita Ikuyo's mind was a mess.
She had definitely seen the comments.
She knew very well that her skills were far inferior to Aoki-senpai's.
She also understood why Aoki-senpai had asked her to be the lead vocalist.
Aoki-senpai was a very kind person.
'My role as a rhythm guitarist is too minor. Aoki-senpai must see the band as a whole, so he didn't want me to be the only one not contributing.'
But it was precisely because of this that Kita didn't know how to refuse his kindness. She didn't know how to tell Aoki-senpai that, for this song, "Loser," she wanted him to sing lead...
...
Aoki stood at the entrance for a moment. The silence persisted. He finally cleared his throat.
He decisively avoided mentioning the video. He looked at the girls and said:
"I think we should have no problem getting into the top ten with 'Loser.' So... how about we start preparing for the live performance? Maybe we should practice a bit more..."
-------
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