Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

It's just that recently, her band career hasn't been going well.

It wasn't a classic crisis where enthusiasm for a new band dies down a month after formation, nor was it some conflict with the band members. It was simply that the compatibility and pursuits between the band members had changed.

In fact, this is also a matter of course.

A group of people who knew little about music got together, and then in the process of getting to know each other, everyone found their own forest and pond, and then went their separate ways - sometimes bands are like this, disbanding and reorganization are sparsely common, and therefore some people choose to be temporary "mercenaries" for their entire lives, and most of these mercenaries are bassists.

So for Yamada Ryo, her band has entered the countdown in her mind.

Or perhaps it was that she was ready to quit the band after the next band meeting and rehearsal.

Now her band's pursuit of popular sweet songs that everyone can like and can become a hit has actually completely failed to satisfy her own pursuit on the musical level.

Therefore, with this plan in mind, Yamada Ryo accepted the commission from Ijichi Kouka to help train Nagasaki Motoyo and Iruma Hibiki.

In fact, Yamada Ryo would never accept such a commission in the past, but Hongxia's request was mixed with another reason that Yamada Ryo could not refuse.

In fact, between her and Hong Xia——

She has a terrible debt problem that she will definitely not be able to solve in the near future.

Therefore, accepting this commission was just a small price she had to pay for the Fender Bass in her hand.

So thinking this, Yamada Ryo glanced at the busy performance hall and then came to Fanxing's practice room at the back.

Roselia's popularity has nothing to do with region. Even though Ikebukuro is not their main singer, here Roselia showed her tremendous strength and popularity that seemed to be only possible with the home advantage. Even Miss PA felt a little suffocated.

In fact, she is definitely an experienced lighting and sound engineer, having been in this industry for more than ten years. She can be said to be a peer of Xingge.

When Ijichi Xingge was still a rock musician, she was the lighting technician, and even after Ijichi Xingge gave up the band, she was still her lighting technician.

However, at the rehearsal before today's performance, she was asked by Roselia's lead singer Yukina Minato to explain almost every detail of the stage lighting.

Knowing the importance of this performance to Ichichi Xingge and Fanxing, her palms were slightly sweaty and she was nervously waiting for the controls on the stage.

"Hongxia, it's almost time now, don't you want to go check on them?"

Sitting behind her were the Ijichi sisters who had finished their work at the front desk.

The work of tending the beverage counter was handed over to the members of Yamada Ryo's band.

"Forget it now."

The curve of Yidizhi Hongxia's mouth dropped slightly, and then she showed a look of relief, and her eyes were clear as if she was a wise man who saw through everything.

"Nagasaki-san and Iruma-san should be practicing seriously right now, so I won't bother them."

Ijichi Hongxia said softly.

And this answer made Ichichi Xingge frown.

"Hongxia you..."

"Sister, you're so long-winded. I'm going to go to the bar to see what's going on. I'll leave this place to you, PA-san. Come on."

"Oh, okay, but it really doesn't matter here. Hongxia, just go and take care of your own things."

Miss PA and Ijichi Xingge looked at each other, and then they understood each other's meaning without saying a word.

In the noisy exhibition hall before the performance, she heard Ichichi Xingge's sigh.

8 pm.

In fact, it was already the agreed time for rehearsal to end.

In the middle of the concert, Hibiki Iruma actually wanted to go to Roselia's concert, but Yamada Ryo and Nagasaki Motoyo seemed to have no interest, so he had to give up in the end.

Under Yamada Ryo's guidance, although he and Nagasaki Motoyo were both hurt by the so-called genius remarks, fortunately, during the so-called novice period of guitar and bass, both of them did not make too many mistakes because of this guidance.

"How's everyone's practice going?"

Ten minutes after the scheduled rehearsal time ended, Ijichi Hinikaka pushed open the door of the practice room with a smile.

Fanxing was still very lively at this time, because there were some other performances after Roselia, and some Roselia audiences also planned to listen to the whole show with the mentality of being there since they were there.

But at this moment, the busiest time has indeed passed.

The tram here operates until around 12 midnight.

The end of the performance is also approaching this time.

"That went very well, Ijichi-kun. Would you like to try playing some simple etudes together?"

"Hahaha……"

"Shigasaki-san, it's almost time to call it a day."

Iruma Hibiki, who had glanced at the time earlier, interrupted the conversation and did not allow Ijichi Kouka to say her somewhat awkward apology. Instead, he acted as a smoother person and stopped the current practice.

"As much as I want to practice with Ijichi-san, we still have a lot of time ahead of us, don't we? You should take a break too."

In fact, halfway through, Iruma Hibiki noticed that Nagasaki Suyo began to be unable to press the strings steadily, and there were more and more muffled sounds in the sound she played.

As a novice himself, he knew that this was caused by the pain from pressing the strings for a long time and the gradual weakness in the fingers and wrists.

However, Nagasaki Suyo did not stop her practice, but continued with great reluctance.

After saying this, Iruma Hibiki turned around and started looking for something in his guitar bag.

"Did the performance go well today?"

He asked this question to Yidi Chi Hongxia.

"Well, everything went well."

Ijichi Hongxia also quickly regained her normal expression, although the fatigue in her smile could no longer be hidden.

"That would be great, if only everything could go this smoothly from now on."

As he said this, Hibiki Iruma turned around and looked at Kouka Ijichi, then with his left hand he handed a box of Band-Aids to the still sitting Nagasaki Motoyo.

It was a box of limited edition Animal World collaboration band-aids that he bought at a drugstore near his home before going out.

In fact, the reason for buying the limited edition is very simple, because he actually likes watching documentaries.

After hesitating for a while and making sure that it was something for her, Nagasaki Motoyo carefully reached out her hand. She gently touched the box of Band-Aid with her fingertips, then raised her head as if to confirm something. The moment she raised her head, she met the eyes of Iruma Hibiki, who was wondering why she didn't take it.

30 Ichichi Hongxia's ? Er Jiu Ling Wu San Ba ? V ? II〔Yao Deletion Regret and Nagasaki Moyo's Touch

The first feeling that Hibiki Iruma had in the few years after he traveled through time was that his mother was definitely an extraordinary person.

Because she taught Iruma Hibiki when she was very young that if she had a good friend, if the other person was a boy, she must go catching bugs and rolling on the grass with him, and when competing in peeing distance, she must try her best not to lose, and she must not be scolded by her childhood playmates for the rest of her life like her father.

If the other person is a girl, then be sure to prepare band-aids and hair ties in your pocket.

Iruma Hibiki followed this rule for more than ten years.

And the mother's teachings took effect for the second time at this moment.

As for the first time——

It was probably during the sports meet that Goto Ichiri's hair tie broke while she was looking for a corner to hide. Therefore, Iruma Hibiki gave her the yellow and blue square-decorated hair tie that he had prepared for more than ten years.

Then came the second time, which was the moment when he handed the Band-Aid to Nagasaki Suyo.

In fact, Iruma Hibiki's actions at the beginning were just ordinary. In his opinion, it was just a habit, a matter of course in life.

Just like using chopsticks to eat, a cup to drink water, standing at attention when being beaten, playing Stellaris with racial cleanliness, and using medium-defense when playing Tightrope. These are just everyday things.

In his opinion, Nagasaki Suyo would probably take it and say thank you, and then this would be just some small episode in ordinary daily life that could be ignored, some care from a companion who he was not very familiar with but would definitely be extremely important in the future.

but--

He never expected that Nagasaki Suyo would show such an expression.

What kind of expression is that...

Iruma Hibiki is actually hard to describe.

Basically, the moment he shifted his gaze away from Ijichi Hongka's face, he saw Nagasaki Suyo's eyes slightly widened and she looked a little surprised, then a smile appeared on her face, and then she stretched out her right hand, with her white and slender fingers slightly extended, and after touching the box of Band-Aid with her index finger and thumb, she retracted it as if she had been electrocuted.

Just like a mimosa being touched or some quickly-reacting mollusk whose fragile flesh is touched, she frowned, her smile disappeared for a moment, and then seemed to have no hesitation or retraction because of his actions.

So once again, Nagasaki Suyo reached out her hand.

Then she raised her head and their eyes met for a moment.

"If your finger hurts a lot, it would be better to put a band-aid on it."

Hibiki Iruma spoke.

In fact, he originally thought that he should not have to explain for such a small matter.

But he still gave an explanation, and the reason for this explanation was naturally not because of the hesitation shown by Nagasaki Suyo, but because of himself.

At that moment, Nagasaki Suyo was a little too cute—

At least that's how it was for Hibiki Iruma.

After all, he was the one who fell in love with her at first sight when he just glanced at her on the street, and he rushed forward and crashed into a FAW heavy truck for her for love.

And Iruma Hibiki probably had no idea that as a school for the eldest daughters, Tsukinomori always believed in giving and taking and not causing trouble to others in terms of social etiquette, so naturally she took care of these things like gifts, and there was always a reason for everything.

Such a bland interaction was rare even among ordinary Japanese high school students, leaving her somewhat bewildered, or even...

This is what Nagasaki Suyo longed for and lacked.

She took the Band-Aid.

Then she tightly grasped the corners of the cardboard box, and the originally hard and reliable cardboard box deformed between her fingers and lost its sharp corners.

"Would you like me to help with the finishing touches? I've reached my limit in practice here."

……

Afterwards, Iruma Hibiki seemed to have said something to Ijichi Nikka.

But Nagasaki Suyo could no longer hear.

She carefully put cute band-aids on the fingers of her left hand except the thumb, which were a penguin, a flamingo, a Chinese pastoral penguin and a sloth.

There were ten Band-Aids in a pack, and she held the remaining six in her palm.

When she realized that she should thank him at this moment, Ichichi Hongxia said to her:

"I'm sorry, Nagasaki-kun. We'll have to practice next time. It's almost time to wrap things up now."

It was indeed closing time for Fanxing's practice room. There was a sign on the door indicating the opening hours. Although some practice rooms in Shimokitazawa and Ikebukuro would be open later, some even 24 hours a day, this was not the case for Fanxing. After all, Fanxing had its own special circumstances.

"what--"

The moment she spoke, Nagasaki Suyo suddenly stopped.

Because she found her voice a little strange, or rather, it was strange.

Instead, she produced her own natural voice, which is the so-called timbre that her voice should have.

In just a moment, Nagasaki Suyo changed her tone, freeing herself from the embarrassment she had just felt. Then, she spoke in a voice that was even sweeter than before:

"It's okay. I had a lot of fun practicing today. I'm really looking forward to being on stage together in the future. I wish our practice time together would never end."

“It’ll never end…”

Ijichi Hongxia softly repeated Nagasaki Suyo's words, and her smile disappeared.

Just for a moment.

"That's right, it would be nice if we could all practice together all the time."

Then she said with a bright smile.

"Iruma-san thinks so, too."

Following Ijichi Kouka's reply, Nagasaki Suyo cutely put her hands together in a spindle shape, tilted 30 degrees to the left, and smiled brightly at Iruma Hibiki.

"If you can go without water or food, and your fingers don't shake or hurt, then it should be fine."

He gave a relatively more rational answer, as if he was really thinking about the possibility of this matter.

At this point, the band's first rehearsal was over and coming to an end. After Iruma Hibiki finally confirmed that with the help of Yamada Ryo's band, Fanxing would definitely be able to handle it, and that his intervention would only cause trouble, he felt at ease and set off on the journey home with Nagasaki Motoyo.

It’s not that he didn’t want to wait for Ichichi Hongxia to return together.

only--

Sometimes giving up space is also a kind act. I don't know why Iruma Hibiki feels that Ijichi Kouka actually doesn't want others to know the helplessness behind her.