Ijichi Nijika was delayed for a while because she had to contact the guitarist who had suddenly disappeared.
Yamada Ryo had already gone to Fanxing Concert Hall in advance.
Since Hiratsuka Shizuka's car was parked nearby, she drove them there.
There were five seats. Hiratsuka Shizuka was in the driver's seat, and Tanaka Masao wanted to sit in the middle of the back row.
But Yukinoshita Yukino mercilessly refused him, assigning him to the front passenger seat, which ultimately went to Goto Hitori.
Goto Hitori: Why me?
She was sandwiched between the two, feeling very nervous. This feeling of being squeezed from both sides with no room to move was truly terrible.
Goto Hitori glanced at Tanaka Masao, who was in the front passenger seat, feeling a bit envious.
"How I envy Tanaka for being able to sit there. I wish I could switch with him. If not, even switching with the Guitar in the trunk would be fine."
Tanaka Masao: How I envy Bocchi-chan being sandwiched between two people. How I wish I could switch with her.
Both of them envied each other's situations.
After things quieted down, Goto Hitori couldn't help but fall into her fantasy time again.
"Speaking of which, both of them smell so nice. They both have a fragrance."
With the car swaying, Goto Hitori's body inevitably came into contact with the two. She took advantage of this, gently sniffing with her nose.
"Nijika's side smells like oranges, a very sunny scent.
Yukinoshita's side has a faint floral scent, somewhat elegant and noble.
As for me, will I have a strange musty smell? Will I be disliked?"
Thinking of this, Goto Hitori felt a bit nervous, wanting to make her body as small as possible and create distance from the other two.
However, the space was only so big, so she couldn't create distance even if she wanted to.
Soon, Goto Hitori's unusual state was noticed by Ijichi Nijika, who asked with some concern.
"Bocchi-chan, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?"
"I... I'm fine."
"You don't look fine. Are you carsick?"
Yukinoshita Yukino also asked about Goto Hitori's condition.
Goto Hitori shook her head quickly.
"I'm really fine. Everyone, please don't worry about me."
Seeing Goto Hitori say this, the two stopped asking, only telling her to be careful and to speak up immediately if she felt unwell.
Seeing that the two were no longer asking her questions, Goto Hitori finally let out a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Fanxing Concert Hall was not far, and Goto Hitori was finally freed from the torment and agony.
Tanaka Masao: If this is torture, then let me bear it all.
After all, if I don't go to hell, who will?
"Everyone, follow me."
Coming out of the parking lot, Ijichi Nijika walked ahead, leading the way for them, and soon entered the underground Fanxing Concert Hall.
Hiratsuka Shizuka looked around and exclaimed.
"This kind of underground Concert Hall has a very rock and passionate feel. I feel like I've become much younger, and I have a desire to play a song."
"Heh, that sounds like something an older person would say when reminiscing about their youth."
Tanaka Masao retorted.
"Who are you calling old?!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka was a bit gritting her teeth. She just made a remark, and how did she become an old person? At twenty-six years old, she could be said to be at the most charming age for a woman.
"Did I just say something? Hiratsuka-sensei, are you hearing things? And...
Who said Hiratsuka-sensei is old? Hiratsuka-sensei is amazing.
She is the most beautiful, gentle, and kind teacher I have ever met."
As a teacher, Hiratsuka Shizuka always believed in convincing people through virtue. Seeing Tanaka Masao actively admit his mistake and sincerely repent, she decided to mercifully forgive him.
As soon as Tanaka Masao breathed a sigh of relief, he met Yukinoshita Yukino's somewhat playful gaze.
"Heh, as expected of Tanaka-kin. To survive in this cruel world, he has evolved his own way of survival.
However, this weak and incompetent appearance of yours is really cute."
Tanaka Masao chose to ignore her directly.
"What do you mean by weak and incompetent? This is clearly being a sycophant...
Ah, no, it should be bullying the weak and fearing the strong...
Hmm? That's not right either. Seeking advantage and avoiding harm? Assessing the situation?
Yes, that should be it. This shows that I have wisdom and know when to advance and retreat.
When it's time to advance, I go in, and when it's time to retreat, I come out immediately.
Knowing when to advance and retreat."
What kind of degree? Scale?
Goto Hitori was also surveying her surroundings.
"This dim lighting, this cramped space...
It's so reassuring."
She found that she had fallen in love with the place in just an instant, and couldn't help but exclaim.
"This is my home."
Some people had already gathered inside Fanxing, all from other bands, and there was also a sound engineer, a mature older sister who looked a bit gloomy.
Tanaka Masao pinched his chin and said.
"Ijichi-san, I've found a big problem here."
Ijichi Nijika tilted her head, a little puzzled.
"What problem?"
Tanaka Masao's expression was quite serious.
"Why are all the people making Music here girls, and beautiful girls at that?
Could it be that these days, you can't make Music if you're not a beautiful girl?"
Hearing this, Ijichi Nijika smiled.
"There are no such conditions as you say; it's probably just a coincidence."
Her eyes darted, and she enticed him.
"By the way, Tanaka-kun, boys who make Music these days are very popular with girls. Do you want to try?"
Tanaka Masao raised an eyebrow.
"Now that you mention it, I'm interested."
While they were chatting, Yamada Ryo walked over.
"Nijika, you're back. And Bocchi-chan and Tanaka-kun. Oh, the manager was very angry about you being late just now. She stormed out to buy something and told us to practice well before we go on stage."
"Oh, really? Then let's hurry and practice."
Ijichi Nijika, hearing that her sister was angry, frantically pushed Yamada Ryo towards the practice room.
She turned her head to the others and asked.
"Bocchi-chan will practice with us, but what about you, Tanaka-kun? Will you look around the store, or come with us?"
Hiratsuka Shizuka waved her hand.
"You go ahead. I'll look around the store and get something to drink."
"I'm a bit interested in your practice. You don't mind an extra audience member, do you?"
"Of course not. Tanaka-kun, just come along."
Goto Hitori: I do mind having an audience, but if it's Tanaka-kun, it should be fine for him to come in.
Yukinoshita Yukino hesitated for a moment, then decided to go to the practice room with them, as she was not quite used to the environment outside.
Entering the performance room, Ijichi Nijika took out a piece of sheet Music.
"This is the song for today's performance, Bocchi-chan. Take a look and see if there are any problems."
Goto Hitori took the sheet Music and, after just one glance, breathed a sigh of relief.
"The difficulty of this song is not a big problem. My Guitar seems to be played very well, so it should be fine.
If they heard me play the Guitar, they might be very surprised, after all, it's quite popular online..."
A sense of confidence suddenly welled up in Goto Hitori's heart.
A confident woman is the coolest!
...
A few minutes later.
The performance ended, and Goto Hitori looked at everyone with some anticipation, hoping for their affirmation and praise.
Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo exchanged glances and gave a fair answer.
"Terrible."
"Eh~"
Goto Hitori was a bit incredulous.
"W-why is this happening? I'm Guitar Hero, you know, with over thirty thousand followers!"
She looked at the other two, hoping for a different answer.
Goto Hitori seeking out Tanaka Masao and Yukinoshita Yukino was indeed finding the right people.
As is well known, Yukinoshita Yukino is a straightforward type, so her evaluation was this.
"Band performance places great emphasis on coordination. Gotou-san clearly lacks this, so even if you play well, when put together with others, it becomes very chaotic.
The originally beautiful and harmonious Music turned into noise, which can only be described as unbearable."
Yukinoshita Yukino's well-reasoned evaluation had a much higher attack power, directly clearing Goto Hitori's HP bar.
Goto Hitori fell into self-isolation, lying on the ground, muttering.
"Hello everyone, I am the plankton Gotō."
Seeing this, Tanaka Masao proactively stepped forward, extending his arms to shield Goto Hitori behind him, looking at the great demon lord Yukinoshita Yukino like a hero.
"W-wait... please don't hurt Bocchi-chan."
Goto Hitori, who was about to turn to ashes, had light rekindled in her eyes.
"Help me, Tanaka Masao-san."