Time reached the afternoon of that day.
Hayato, who was at home idly playing with his synthesizer, received a LINE message from Nijika.
'Are you free to come to STARRY to discuss the performance arrangements and setlist?'
He replied, 'Coming right away.'
Only this time.
After Hayato arrived, and even after Ryo arrived just in time, Kita was still nowhere to be seen.
No one had expected that the meeting that morning would be the last time they saw Kita before the performance… Saturday passed, and Sunday arrived.
Kita still hadn't appeared at STARRY, and she hadn't even replied to LINE messages.
It was as if she had met with an accident, leaving only a shadow in the Kessoku Band's LINE group chat.
"Namu…"
Ryo clasped her hands, silently praying for the disappeared member.
Nijika, who was usually cheerful and lively, sat quietly at the table, showing no sign of distress, nor any hint of a smile.
She displayed a sense of powerlessness, like stumbling just as she started on a journey.
But only for a moment, she perked up again and said to the two in an energetic voice,
"Kita-chan might have something going on. Let's start our meeting."
But Hayato didn't just go along with her words. Instead, after she spoke, he comforted her.
"Nijika, don't be so nervous. Tomorrow, I'll go to class and ask about the situation."
Nijika looked at Hayato. Only he maintained a calm expression from beginning to end, as if no negative emotions could touch him.
"Nervous? No, no, I'm always fine."
She waved her hand, smiling as she denied Hayato's words, but she still accepted Hayato's help.
"Then, Hayato-kun, I'll leave this to you."
"Mm."
Subsequently, the three began to discuss the songs for the performance, stage details, MC interactions, and other matters… By Monday, Hayato was indeed curious about Kita's situation.
Had she really run away, or had something happened to her?
Also, what would she say if he saw her?
That morning, he didn't specifically look for Bocchi, walking quickly towards the school.
However, Bocchi, who was a dozen steps behind him, stopped her hesitant steps. Her somewhat expectant greenish-blue eyes slowly became calm, and she looked down at the ground with a dejected expression.
Arriving in the classroom, Hayato looked around and saw that Kita hadn't arrived. He wasn't in a hurry to ask anyone, and he casually returned to his seat.
Completely ignoring the atmosphere in the classroom that totally disregarded him.
He picked up the textbook he bought with Nijika and the others that day, feeling the real paper pages, but he didn't have much desire to read it.
Kita only arrived late, close to class time.
She walked into the classroom, the usual smile gone from her face, and only managed to force out a difficult smile when greeting her friends.
Sitting down at her desk, she furtively glanced at Hayato with a guilty expression, like someone who had done something wrong, but her gaze suddenly met Hayato's, which startled her, making her tremble. Then, she calmly placed her school bag in the drawer.
Hayato, however, knew the reason.
He had just noticed that Kita's hand had more severe bandages, and her face seemed to have very faint dark circles, as if she had used some makeup to cover them.
Although she always hid it, she still couldn't escape the Pervert's gaze.
She really is an idiot. Speaking of which, while the bass hurts the hands more than the Guitar to practice, it's not that easy to cut one's fingers. It must be quite hard to get to this extent.
When class ended.
Hayato took out his phone, sent a message to Kita's 'playing dead' LINE, and then walked out.
He went to the school's rooftop; almost no one came here during break time.
The school Hayato attended was in the lower tier in terms of academic deviation.
It emphasized happy learning and wonderful living, focusing on having an easy student life, though it wouldn't completely neglect studies.
The school environment, like its founding philosophy, was clean and beautiful.
Brightly painted protective netting surrounded the spacious rooftop, rough granite reflected some sunlight, and a few evergreens grew vibrantly in the flowerbed at the center of the rooftop.
Hayato waited for a long time before hurried footsteps approached from the stairwell...
Kita had never muted messages from the other three members of the Band.
But every time she saw messages from them, she would quickly turn off her screen.
Seeing them go from asking when she would come, to wondering why she hadn't, and then to worrying.
She felt like she had done something unforgivable.
But in her hand, her Guitar couldn't produce the correct sound no matter how much she practiced. She had watched so many instructional videos, practiced for so long, and didn't feel an ounce of improvement.
And she had injured her hand, which Ryo-senpai had told her to be careful of, to this extent.
She didn't dare to see them on Saturday afternoon.
By Monday, she couldn't imagine what expression Hayato would have when he saw her. She even thought of just taking sick leave.
However, what needed to be faced still had to be faced.
After class, she received a LINE message from Hayato. She prepared herself to go to the rooftop and confess to Hayato.
She hoped he could explain the situation to the two seniors on her behalf.
Hurrying to the rooftop, Kita, feeling guilty, was ready to blurt everything out.
"Sorry, actually I..."
She mustered her courage, made up her mind, and the words she had rehearsed several times in her heart were interrupted by Hayato.
She only heard Hayato say with a smile,
"Kita, you wouldn't want Ryo-senpai to know that you can't play the Guitar, would you?"
Suddenly, Kita froze there...
Kita had always felt her life was incredibly boring.
Her grades were decent, her athletic ability was good, and she had quite a few friends; everything was at the most ordinary average.
She felt like she was molded by various circles: society, school, friends.
Always doing the appropriate things, the things she should do.
Just one of the countless high school girls.
She didn't even have a special skill.
Therefore, when she saw Ryo-senpai performing on the street, she was immediately attracted by her unconventional attitude and absolutely self-centered personality.
So she wanted to join a Band and try to change.
But... indeed, some things are really just fantasies.
After sitting down, she didn't know if she was relieved or had given up hope.
Ishikawa-kun had just asked her two very small favors.
Although she didn't quite understand, since he offered to explain the situation to Ryo-senpai for her, she agreed.
When class ended, Kita suddenly realized something as she thought about Hayato's requests.
In the classroom, an atmosphere of collective dislike and isolation seemed to be brewing.
It's only the beginning of the school year, how could this be?
Lately, she had been busy practicing and thinking about Ryo-senpai, so she hadn't noticed this.
Speaking of which, Ishikawa-kun should be very aware of this.
This would be very bad if it continued.
But why would he ask her... "Don't speak up for me in class."