In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since school started. Hitori Gotoh's daily life was no longer just a straight line between school and home. During her lunch breaks, she would go to the Problem Child Countermeasures Club to be all lovey-dovey with her boyfriend (in reality, it was just practicing guitar and chatting with Jhin). Her social life had changed in ways she couldn't have imagined before.
First year of high school, and she'd successfully gotten a boyfriend (though the boyfriend himself hadn't realized his new status yet). Previously, whenever she saw comments from couples showing off on the videos she posted to her social media account, the sickeningly sweet scent of youth would make Hitori Gotoh grind her teeth in frustration. Now, those comments didn't faze her at all, because she had a boyfriend too!
Not to mention, this boyfriend liked guitar just like her, would play along with her cool-sounding dialogues from time to time, was an amazing cook, and had flawless looks. He was much more composed than the boys in her class, and when they talked, his sky-blue eyes would always look at her with a gentle expression.
Sitting on a park swing, Hitori Gotoh became more and more convinced that Jhin was the model of a perfect boyfriend. She pulled out her phone and habitually checked the subscriber count on her "guitarhero" account. "Ah... it's already over thirty thousand subscribers."
"I should head back. What should I talk to Jhin about tomorrow?" Hitori Gotoh racked her brain, trying to think of topics to raise her boyfriend's affection level, and couldn't help but look forward to seeing him at lunch the next day.
"Ah! A guitar!" A cry came from the roadside. A yellow-haired girl with a side ponytail, a red ribbon tied into a bow at her collar, and a school bag on her back hurriedly hopped over the railing and ran up to Hitori Gotoh, asking in an excited tone, "Is that a guitar on your back? Can you play it?"
"Uh-er..." Hitori Gotoh stood frozen stiff. Although she had gradually become able to talk normally with Jhin and Gabriel, who always came to the club for lunch, that was limited to those two familiar people. Now, faced with a stranger striking up a conversation, her brain immediately shut down, too nervous to even speak.
"Ah, sorry if I scared you." The girl smiled and introduced herself, "I'm Nijika Ijichi, a second-year at Shimokitazawa High School."
"Ah... Hitori Gotoh, a first-year at Shuka High School." Completely unable to make eye contact with the person in front of her, Hitori Gotoh averted her head and spoke timidly.
"By the way, Ichi-chan, how good are you at guitar?"
She's already calling me by my first name? Hitori Gotoh was startled. This person is the exact type of social terrorist I'm worst at dealing with.
"Um... just so-so." Not good at lying, Hitori Gotoh answered with a guilty conscience. Her intuition told her that answering truthfully would lead to trouble.
"I see. Actually, I'm in a bit of a bind right now. It's okay if you don't want to, but..." Nijika Ijichi said, conflicted. "Even if it's okay, I'm still in trouble."
It definitely doesn't sound okay, Hitori Gotoh thought, wanting to get out of there even more. However, with her social anxiety, she was equally bad at refusing people. Her legs felt rooted to the ground, completely unable to move.
"Please!" Nijika Ijichi begged, clasping her hands and bowing. "Could you be a temporary guitarist for our band for just one day? We have a show coming up, but our guitarist suddenly quit! As long as you can play, you'll pick it up quickly. Please, please help us!"
"Eh? Eh?!" Hitori Gotoh was stunned when she heard the word "band." The girl in front of her, who looked even shorter than she was, had already formed a band, while she didn't have a single friend who shared her hobby besides Jhin.
Seeing that the other girl didn't answer, Nijika Ijichi took it as a yes and directly grabbed Hitori Gotoh's hand. "Thank you! Let's go to the live house right now."
But I haven't said anything yet! Screaming internally, Hitori Gotoh was forcibly dragged away by Nijika Ijichi, whom she had just met.
Dragged all the way to Shimokitazawa, a helpless Hitori Gotoh could only follow behind Nijika Ijichi. Looking at the energetic figure walking ahead of her, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
Nijika is such a pretty girl. This is what a band girl should look like. In comparison, I'm wearing a tacky tracksuit, I'm hunched over, and I have dark circles under my eyes...
The more Hitori Gotoh thought about it, the less confident she became, and she started thinking about backing out again.
"The live house we're going to today is called STARRY. My older sister is the manager there," Nijika Ijichi explained to her temporary companion as they walked.
Hitori Gotoh had already drifted off into her usual fantasy about her first live performance. In her fantasy, she was a rock star who could sell out the Budokan. Thinking of the packed arena, a dark and eerie smile spread across her face.
Seeing her expression, Nijika Ijichi began to wonder if she'd picked the wrong person. But since she'd already brought her all this way, she had no choice but to see it through.
The two soon arrived at the staircase leading down to STARRY. Looking at the flashing, colorful sign with the club's name and the dark passage leading down, Hitori Gotoh gulped hard.
Is this... the path to the demon world?
"Help me!" Finally remembering she had a boyfriend, she sent a message to Jhin with the address attached.
"Hm?" Back at home, Jhin saw the message and the attached Shimokitazawa address. He understood that Hitori Gotoh must have been roped into a band by the Great Archangel of Shimokitazawa—Nijika Ijichi.
This was a rare opportunity. He had to go see Kessoku Band's first performance and show his support. With that thought, Jhin immediately set off for STARRY.
His neighbor, Gabriel, heard Jhin leave and assumed he was going out for groceries, so she went back to her game. She was already scheming to go over to his place to freeload a meal later. Although her living allowance for the month had arrived, it was much less than before, so it was best to save where she could. Besides, the takeout she ordered was never as good as Jhin's cooking. Why spend money on it? Wouldn't it be better to save the money from freeloading for in-game purchases?
Feeling awkward in a new place, Hitori Gotoh was introduced by Nijika Ijichi to the other band member, the bassist Ryo Yamada—an expressionless girl with short blue hair, a beauty mark under her left yellow eye, and androgynous clothes.
"Don't be fooled by how Ryo doesn't show much emotion. She'd be really happy if you called her a weirdo."
"I wouldn't be happy about that," Ryo Yamada said, smiling shyly.
No, no, you already look pretty happy, Hitori Gotoh retorted in her mind.
After getting acquainted, the three of them went into the recording studio to practice before the actual performance. Hitori Gotoh was ready to show the other two what she could do. This was going to be an instrumental performance without a vocalist, so the playing was even more important. She glanced at the music and saw it wasn't too difficult. As the "guitarhero" with thirty thousand fans online, she was filled with confidence.
Reality is always cruel. When the final note faded, Nijika Ijichi and Ryo Yamada looked at each other, speechless. Finally, Nijika blurted out, "That was terrible."
"Pfft." Ryo Yamada couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing, covering her mouth.
Hitori Gotoh was crushed, even beginning to doubt her own skills. She suddenly remembered that in a band, you have to coordinate with each other. She had always played alone in her closet, so naturally, she had no habit or ability to play with others. Realizing this, she said dejectedly, "Hello, I'm a guitarist who's worse than a water flea."
"Miss Gotoh, come on out! The show is about to start!" Nijika Ijichi said anxiously to Hitori Gotoh, who was curled up in a large bin labeled "Combustible Trash."
"I... I can't do it!" Feeling unable to sync up with the other two, Hitori Gotoh refused to come out.
"It's okay! We're just a temporary band, after all. I'm not that great at the drums either!"
"Hmph, well, my bass playing is pretty good," Ryo Yamada said smugly.
"Is this really the time to be smug?"
Between Nijika's comforting words and Ryo Yamada's banter, Hitori Gotoh gradually calmed down. She also received a message from Jhin on her phone: "I'm here. Looking forward to your performance." It included a picture of the STARRY stage.
"I... I've decided to perform." Clutching the hem of her clothes, Hitori Gotoh summoned her courage and stood up, to the surprised delight of the other two. Then, her tone shifted, and she became timid again. "But... but I'm still scared of playing in front of people. I can't face the audience's gaze."
"If you're scared, how about playing inside this?" Ryo Yamada grabbed a cardboard box from the side that said "Ripe Mangoes."
"Oh!" Hitori Gotoh exclaimed as she swiftly slipped into the box. "It's exactly like the environment I usually play in! I can do this!"
When Jhin, who had been waiting for a while, saw a large cardboard box standing incongruously on the stage, he just chuckled softly as he had expected something like this. It seemed that even after spending all this time with him and Gabriel, Hitori Gotoh still wasn't ready to face an audience's gaze.
"Hello everyone, we're Kessoku Band! Today we're going to play a few well-known songs for you. Please enjoy our performance!" Nijika Ijichi greeted the audience with an energetic voice, then exchanged a look with Ryo Yamada and raised her drumsticks.
Although the trio chose popular songs for their first performance, they made frequent mistakes due to their lack of chemistry. The absence of a vocalist only magnified this flaw, causing many in the audience to shake their heads.
After the performance ended, Jhin finally found Hitori Gotoh in the prep room, completely burned out and slumped inside the cardboard box.
___
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