Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"There's no such thing."

Wakaba Mu answered softly.

"Eh? Why don't you borrow it or just buy it at a convenience store?"

Nagasaki Suyo continued to ask.

"..."

Faced with such a question, Ruoye Mu was silent for a long time.

"Because, it's too late."

"Higashi will be waiting a long time."

Divided into two parts, Wakaba Mutsu answered Nagasaki Suyo's questions softly.

"Really, Xiao Mu, if you do this, it will only make Xiang more worried. Don't do this next time, okay?"

"The clothes are here. They may not fit perfectly, but they should be fine to wear until the uniforms dry."

After a while, Iruma Hibiki and Shiina Riki also came to the rehearsal room.

"Come to think of it, the seniors also know about our situation and seem to be preparing drinks for us to warm up."

Iruma Hibiki responded. When he was getting the towel, he not only met his senior, but also saw the stray cat who was also in the Ring today. Her owner today seemed to be Hina Minato from the neighboring band.

Her social skills are a bit scary and enviable, and she can always find the matcha parfait she wants in various places.

"I'll take Wakaba-san to the locker room."

After Shiina Riki said this, she took Wakaba Mutsu and left, heading to the changing room in the Ring.

"Please, Shiina."

Iruma Hibiki responded to Shiina Riki, then took a mop from the tool room and began to skillfully clean the water stains left in the rehearsal room.

"Hibiki, can I help?"

"Um……"

When Nagasaki Suyo stood beside Iruma Hibiki, Iruma Hibiki, who had been busy since the beginning, felt a rare sense of security.

There was a feeling of slight relaxation in an instant.

The cleaning didn't take long and was almost finished. Iruma Hibiki and Nagasaki Motoyo returned the mop and bucket together.

Before returning to the rehearsal room, Nagasaki Suyo suddenly called out to Iruma Hibiki—

"Xiang... Don't you think Xiangzi and Xiaomu are a little strange recently? It's like they are hiding something from everyone. I'm very worried."

In front of Iruma Hibiki, Nagasaki Suyo said these words with a smile on her face. While speaking, she kept playing with her left index finger and bangs, and her eyes looked away somewhat unnaturally.

"Did Hibiki and Shoko have a fight?"

Then, Nagasaki Suyo asked this.

even--

At least for her, she had some expectations for such things.

After all, it was of course a lie for her to be so frank about the relationship between Hibiki Iruma and Shoko Toyokawa. She was just extremely confident about some things, and Crychic was indeed very important, both she and Hibiki Iruma felt so, so she didn't act willful or act foolishly, but just pretended that everything was fine.

"No, about Xiangzi's matter, she..."

In fact, this may be something that is difficult to say.

But for Hibiki Iruma, he couldn't keep this topic to himself any longer, so after struggling for a while, he finally said it out loud:

"I don't want you to know."

"Didn't Hibiki ask?"

Nagasaki Suyo continued to ask.

"I was just worried about her and didn't ask any further questions because I knew Xiangzi was going to keep it a secret from me..."

"Wouldn't that make Hibiki feel uneasy? If it were me, I'd definitely be very worried."

……

"Su Shi..."

It was probably at this moment that Nagasaki Suyo accurately hit upon what Hibiki Iruma was thinking and what she was worried about recently.

his words……

That’s exactly what I thought.

But isn't it natural for lovers to have distance and secrets?

The disturbing feeling caused by the conflict between the emotions he felt and the absolutely correct statements he had read in the book was ignited by Nagasaki Suyo at this moment, as if an alien had finally found another alien, and the emotions that he thought were strange and should not be shown were burned to the well-disguised surface in one breath.

Iruma Hibiki's reliable mask was burned away, revealing a trace of sorrow.

"Xiang, I'll help with the band, Xiaomu, and Xiangzi."

"Su Shi, I..."

Iruma Hibiki frowned as he looked at Nagasaki Suyo in front of him. He wanted to say something but couldn't.

"What's wrong? Hibiki?"

Nagasaki Suyo asked in a sweet voice with a gentle smile on her face.

"Thank you, even in this situation, you still..."

"Even so..."

Nagasaki Suyo repeated Iruma Hibiki's words, and it was this time that made Iruma Hibiki widen his eyes in an instant and look at Nagasaki Suyo.

"It's okay, Hibiki. Don't worry about my feelings. I'll listen to you and protect the band."

With a smile and a hint of victory, Nagasaki Suyo said this.

"Xiao Mu will be back soon. She'll be lonely if we leave Deng alone, so we'd better go back quickly."

Without giving Iruma Hibiki time to react, Nagasaki Suyo hurried back to the rehearsal room. A moment later, Wakaba Mutsuya, wearing Shiina Riki's work clothes, came back and bumped into Iruma Hibiki who was standing in the corridor.

"Hey, Iruma, what are you doing here?"

Only after Shiina Riki's reminder did Iruma Hibiki come back to his senses.

"Yeah, nothing much, let's start practicing."

"I'm not going to lower my standards just because it's you."

As Shiina Riki muttered this, she noticed that something was wrong with Iruma Hibiki, but she didn't know what to do.

then--

Crychic's rehearsal began without Toyokawa Shoko.

This time the rehearsal was very complicated.

Almost everyone had their own thoughts and concerns, and the combined piano sound was far less relaxing than when Toyokawa Shoko was around.

At the front desk of Ring, Kaname Lenai, as always, took some time to perform on the small stage, attracting everyone's attention.

Then she went backstage and madly stole matcha snacks from other bands.

After hearing the piano music coming from Crychic's practice room, a hint of happiness appeared on her face, and of course there was some confidence in this happiness.

66 The Prelude to Fragmentation

The atmosphere in the rehearsal room was a little strange.

With a few simple mistakes made by everyone, Shiina Riki's mood gradually became irritable, her criticisms became more frequent, and then her own drumming became a little unstable.

After a simple mistake, Iruma Hibiki never received the signal from Shiina Riki to start again. When he turned around, he saw Shiina Riki sitting in front of the drum set with his head down and his body slightly swaying.

Only a few dozen minutes had passed.

It wasn't even time for dinner yet.

Is rehearsal such a long process?

As the rehearsal room filled with humidity, Hibiki Iruma's mood was slightly affected. If Lovecraft were here, he would probably attribute his current irritability to those indescribable existences deep in the rainy fog.

But at this moment, such fantasy was meaningless. The atmosphere in the rehearsal room was filled with silence and became worse and worse.

"Everyone, take a break. Xiaomu, your school uniform should be dry now. What are you going to do for dinner? Do you need me to take you there? Or should we all go eat together?"

"eat together."

After Wakaba Mutsu answered, Nagasaki Suyo put down the bass in her hand at the right time as a signal to end the rehearsal. Her action actually made Takamatsu Deng feel relieved. She was probably the one who could feel everyone's pressure the most.

After all, as the lead singer, the person standing at the front of the band can always feel the status of his companions behind him most accurately and is most easily affected.

At least today, Gao Songdeng did not sing to his heart's content.

Even though she could feel that Iruma Hibiki was doing his best to support her, even so—

There was no one in front of the empty keyboard.

"Spring Shadow" is ultimately missing the most important part.

"Take a break, Shiina-san. Don't be too nervous. Let's all decide what to have for dinner together. If you want to order takeout, I'll pick it up for everyone later."

Nagasaki Suyo became the busiest person on the field.

While taking care of Wakaba Mutsu, she handed Takamatsu Deng her cup of water, and then came to Iruma Hibiki, playing with her hair while gently continuing the topic of the band rehearsal.

The rain outside the window got slightly heavier.

"As for me, um, let's do delivery. What about everyone else?"

"I've already told my family I won't be going back for dinner."

After Iruma Hibiki's answer, Takamatsu Touma quickly responded to him.

"But what to eat..."

Then she was in a dilemma about her choice.

"Speaking of which, I wonder if there are any discounts at nearby restaurants today? Hibiki, do you remember when we came to Ikebukuro last time?"

"Ok?"

Iruma Hibiki was a little confused by Nagasaki Motoyo's question.

It was true that he had been to Ikebukuro several times in the past with Nagasaki Motoyo, but he didn't remember anything special that would fit the current situation.

"This restaurant had a Valentine's Day promotion, but I felt a bit disappointed not to go there with Xiang. Do you want to try this restaurant?"

"I go out for a while."

After taking a short rest to calm himself down, Shiina Riki threw away the drumsticks in his hand in annoyance, then stood up and walked towards the door.

"Hey! Wait, Shiina-san."

Nagasaki Suyo was the first to step forward to stop him.

"For dinner..."

"You don't have to prepare it for me. Just contact me after you finish eating."

"Shiina."

When Shiina Riki said this and was about to leave without looking back, Iruma Hibiki came forward. Facing Iruma Hibiki, Shiina Riki could not maintain the composure she had when facing Nagasaki Suyo.

Although there are certain differences between humans and animals, interpersonal relationships and food chains occasionally have interesting overlaps.

Just like this moment.

"Be careful on the road."

Iruma Hibiki saw the distress that Shiina Riki was feeling at the moment, even though he couldn't completely empathize with her. He probably felt a little guilty at the moment.

After all, no matter what, it was he who put the responsibility of rehearsal on Shiina Riki.

But at this moment, Iruma Hibiki didn't have the chance to say anything more. All the words he said became the most common words he said before parting when they worked together.

"My umbrella is the transparent one at the door, with a blue ribbon on it as a mark. Speaking of which, Lenai should be in the store today too. She seems a little afraid of water. If you run into her, remember to say hello to her for me."

Iruma Hibiki said something more, and he looked at Shiina Riki in front of him with a gentle smile.

"Thanks for your hard work. The previous practice was all thanks to you, Shiina."