Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

At least for Shoko Toyokawa, the videos released by Hibiki Iruma were more impressive to her than the rhythm guitar played by Hibiki Iruma today.

"Mu, do you want to try switching places with Iruma-san?"

Just then, Shoko Toyokawa suddenly made a suggestion.

"Wait a moment--"

Iruma Hibiki quickly stopped such inquiries. It was obvious that the next moment, Ruoye Mu would agree to Toyokawa Shoko.

"Lead guitar has a heavier responsibility in soloing, and it requires more skills. And right now... I still make mistakes in coordinating with everyone on some songs, so I think it's better for me to play the rhythm guitar position for now."

Iruma Hibiki explained quickly.

He had absolutely no desire to replace Wakaba Mutsu as the lead guitarist.

Or rather——

Asking him to play lead guitar would be a torture for him; his level is far from reaching that level.

"and--"

Iruma Hibiki paused and looked at Wakaba Mutsuki who had an expressionless face.

"I think Wakaba-san's guitar skills are amazing. She's more suited to the lead guitar position than me. Wakaba-san must be really into guitar and practicing like crazy somewhere we don't know about."

Iruma Hibiki's words made Wakaba Mutsu slightly raise his head and look at him.

"If Iruma-san wants to be the lead guitarist, you can always do that. It's fine with me."

"..."

Then, Wakaba Mu's words completely ended the topic.

"So what are you going to do?"

Near the end of the meeting, Iruma Hibiki went to the bathroom, and on his way back he ran into Shiina Tatsuki who was waiting for him at the corner.

"You mean the position of the guitar?"

Iruma Hibiki looked at Shiina Riki and sighed with some trouble.

"If Wildcat knew you rejected me by saying you weren't good enough, she would definitely ignore you."

Shiina Riki said lightly.

In fact, Hibiki Iruma could completely imagine such a scenario. After all, if there was a guy who had high expectations for his guitar, Lenai would definitely be one of them.

It's so nice not to have to see Kaname Rakuna in the band—

In fact, there are nine other people in the room - Meng thought so.

"Wait, do you have time?"

Shiina Riki shook the music score in his hand.

"Since you've asked me to help you correct your mistakes, it won't be an easy task. Be serious."

Then she spoke to Iruma Hibiki in a stern voice.

"Well, thank you, Emu Lin's father, Wuling Jiushan Liujiu, Shiina."

"I'm also thinking about the band. If you always fall behind, you'll be a drag on everyone."

Before returning, Shiina Riki stared at Iruma Hibiki for a while, trying to confirm the expression on his face.

Anyone who is recognized by the Wildcats cannot be said to be without talent.

What's missing from Hibiki Iruma's guitar is... something else.

And the so-called other things——

When thinking about this, a figure would appear in Shiina Riki's mind. That was her sister, a perfect, outstanding, and untouchable sister.

Will she sense what Iruma is missing and be qualified to guide him?

Shiina Riki actually thought about this.

However, she quickly put such thoughts behind her mind. She crumpled the music score in her hand and slightly tensed her strong forearms.

Regardless, she is now in the leadership position.

Irreplaceable, this is just her place.

11 Hibiki Iruma's Confession

"Please think about the duration of this note here, okay?"

"Huh? That's not completely wrong. Are you really thinking about it? I'm going to type it one last time, so listen carefully!"

"You can't be serious, Iruma-senpai! This isn't even as good as the ones you played when you were playing with Wildcat!"

Ring's rehearsal room was naturally closed at night, so Iruma Hibiki and Shiina Riki switched to another rehearsal room that was open 24 hours a day.

Shiina Riki's stern and pressured voice filled Iruma Hibiki's extra training almost throughout the entire process.

"Shiina, today..."

"It won't be over until you're good at it."

Shiina Riki stared at Iruma Hibiki seriously.

"..."

In fact, from the very beginning of the practice, Iruma Hibiki noticed that something was wrong, because today's Shiina Riki was more anxious and irritable than the Shiina Riki he knew.

It's like——

His mistakes were just like her own mistakes—serious, impatient, helpless, yet eager to improve.

"Well, let me do it again."

The time on the phone had reached 9:40 in the evening, and Iruma Hibiki quietly held down the power button in his pocket for a while so that the messages that had been ringing since just now would not distract him.

He focused entirely on the guitar and began to try again and again.

But this time, he also took a quick look at the profile of Shiina Riki beside him.

In fact, Hibiki Iruma could occasionally see some uneasiness on that serious and slightly stern face.

"Iruma."

until--

After an unknown amount of time, Shiina Riki suddenly spoke.

"Ok?"

"You're qualified."

By the time Hibiki Iruma came to his senses, he realized that he had actually practiced all the music scores for the day to the point of complete proficiency.

“That’s great.”

Iruma Hibiki breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Shiina Riki, who was wearing a school uniform and holding a drumstick beside him. Although he sighed with relief, his face was more full of concern.

"Feel sorry."

Then he heard Shiina Riki's apology.

"I shouldn't have said that, and I shouldn't have been so harsh on you just now..."

Although his voice was very low, Shiina Riki did say something incredible.

Yes, it's incredible.

It was totally unlike the soft words that Shiina Tatsuki said, who was a rigorous and serious person who had strict requirements for others and even stricter requirements for himself.

"Shiina, as for me... thank you very much."

Iruma Hibiki returned to his seat, which was originally very close to Shiina Riki.

"Whether it's something that happened when I was working or now."

He spoke gently.

"Those harsh words are actually because you, Shiina, are more strict with yourself, so I can understand."

"And, my question—"

Iruma Hibiki was silent for a moment.

“In fact, I know it myself.”

Then he spoke softly.

"Eh?"

Realizing that the atmosphere was a little strange, Shiina Riki raised her head and looked at Iruma Hibiki. She had a feeling that she might not hear anything important from him next.

And obviously this premonition succeeded.

"Shiina, have you ever heard me called [Alien Composer]?"

"Hmm... I've heard of it..."

With a hint of complicated emotions, Shiina Riki nodded, because that was the source of her admiration for the person in front of her. It was also because of her admiration that she subconsciously did something excessive just now.

"What do you think Shiina?"

Iruma Hibiki asked quickly.

"How about what?"

"Do you believe it, or do you think it's just a character setting?"

"Of course I think it's just a character setting, a time travel or something..."

Shiina Riki responded as a matter of course.

"What if I tell you it's true?"

After a period of silence, probably after pondering the possibility of this matter in his heart, Shiina Riki spoke:

"……real?"

She asked back half-doubtfully.

"I'm only telling you, Shiina. Please keep it a secret for me. It's true."

Iruma Hibiki looked at Shiina Riki and spoke seriously.

"It's absolutely true. I am a time traveler. Those songs are absolutely impossible to be original creations of mine. I only started to get involved in music in April and it's only now."

“Sometimes I think I’m too cunning.”

Hibiki Iruma looked at his guitar.

In fact, occasionally, he would feel a sense of disappointment.

Especially when Toyokawa Shoko praised——

The one that Toyokawa Shoko likes and wants to bring into the band is [Iruma Hibiki], [Iruma Human], or even [Alien Composer]?

Probably, the latter is more...

The second is [Iruma Renjian].

The last one is [Iruma Hibiki].

"what……"

Shiina Riki made a mute sound like "ah" and then fell silent.

Probably at this moment, the talented senior whom she admired and envied suddenly collapsed in front of her. What was left was Iruma Hibiki, who finally corrected the mistakes of the day after hard practice and sat in front of her.

"Whether it's 'Godknows' or 'Give Me an Eternal Lie,' they were songs I wanted to sing to someone, so I brought them into this world. I didn't expect to receive such a title and recognition. No, such a title and recognition are natural, because they were created with the utmost dedication of the teachers in the world I once lived in."

"And I myself probably can't achieve that level at all..."

Iruma Hibiki put down his guitar and was a little afraid to look at the face of Shiina Riki beside him.

"Aren't you talking nonsense?"

Shiina Riki was still a little bit unbelievable, and then confirmed it again.

"Well, no."