Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

Sometimes it is impossible to respond to such thoughtfulness in a short time.

"I also brought back some local specialties from Kyoto this time. I'll share some with everyone later."

Iruma Hibiki responded.

With some different emotions.

"Eh? A specialty?"

"I actually only bought it at the train station near the airport, so don't expect too much."

"As long as it's a gift from Xiang, I will treasure it well!"

Listening to Ijichi Kouka's response, Iruma Hibiki had a relaxed smile on his face.

03 The band ended and Iruma Hibiki was worried

"Kita, what's going on?"

Iruma Hibiki was not in a hurry to hang up the phone with Ijichi Kouka.

The reason was probably because he got up really early this morning.

【早安】

While the call was still connected, Nagasaki Motoyo suddenly sent a greeting message. Iruma Hibiki did not respond, but just switched back to the call interface.

but--

On Nagasaki Suyo's side, her question had quickly changed from [Unread] to [Read].

Her expression turned slightly gloomy in an instant.

She still remembered that yesterday, when they met, Hibiki Iruma mentioned sleeping in, right?

So at this moment, Iruma Hibiki must have woken up and quickly saw her message, but instead of replying, he ignored it.

【Do Xiang and Xiangzi have a date? 】

Perhaps this guess was the first one that appeared in Nagasaki Suyo's mind.

"Kita, a lot really happened."

Ijichi Hongka said this with a hint of emotion in her voice.

"To put it simply—"

When confessing to Hibiki Iruma, Ijichi Kouka paused.

"After Kita came to experience the band for a while, she definitely won't join."

"Eh?"

Hibiki Iruma cried out in surprise.

"What do you mean by not joining?"

In fact, he was really surprised by Kita's decision...

"Higashi might not know this, but when Kita bought the instrument, she mistook a six-string bass for a guitar."

"what?"

Iruma Hibiki cried out in surprise.

In fact, he is not completely ignorant of bass.

But most of this understanding actually came from Nagasaki Suyo who was by his side.

"what!"

"No wonder, Kita said before that he accidentally broke a string while tuning and hurt himself."

"If you want to tune a bass to the same pitch as a guitar, you have to break the strings."

……

"Yes, and because of that, the guitar's bridge was renovated later. In the end, Yu Liang took it away and asked Kita to buy a new guitar."

"And then, Kita just... gave up?"

Hibiki Iruma asked.

In fact, he probably has some regrets at this moment.

There are some regrets about the story before the flag was lifted.

He always felt that things shouldn't be like this.

"Ah."

Ijichi Hongxia responded, with a hint of relief in her tone.

"Because Kita said that Pochi-chan is actually a very good and talented vocalist, and not to mention that she has no talent at all, she also has no face to stay in the band she once cheated to join."

"Then, leaving behind the willful words, 'I'll join you after I learn guitar with my seniors,' he walked away with a passionate look on his face."

When Ijichi Hongxia said this, there was already a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

And at this moment, Iruma Hibiki's nervous mood disappeared.

He knew what Kita was planning.

Speaking of which——

【Church Kita Guitar. 】

This incident might be his own fault, so he can't blame others.

"You're only thinking about yourself, Kita."

Iruma Hibiki complained.

"but……"

On the other hand, there was a turn around on Ijichi Hongxia's side.

"I don't know what Hibiki is like, but I also started learning drums because I admired someone. Kita is probably the same."

"Okay, I understand. I will help Xiduo get started later."

Iruma Hibiki agreed.

"Will Ryo-senpai help too? I remember Rei Yume is also a fan of Ryo, right?"

"It's cold..."

Ijichi Hongxia sighed and said:

"She recently accepted Kita's bass guitar, so she has no pocket money at all."

"And every time Liang does this, he'll suddenly disappear and be nowhere to be found for a long time, until the next time pocket money is distributed."

"That's very Liang-senpai's style."

Iruma Hibiki also sighed.

Not surprised at all.

"I understand. I will do my best in this part."

"You can also call Pochi. If Pochi-chan helps, it won't affect your band too much, right?"

"Well, let's ask Pochi what he thinks then."

"it is good!"

Ichichi Hongxia said with full energy.

"but……"

At this moment, Iruma Hibiki fell silent for a moment, ushering in his turning point.

"Has Hongxia decided? Let Xiduo be the lead singer of the final band?"

"..."

In fact, Hibiki Iruma's question was not very good.

His original intention was probably to give a confirmation with a hint of blessing.

Probably want to say -

"That's great, Hongxia, you found your dream lead guitarist who you won't want to let go of no matter what. I'm really happy to see the band move forward after the ending."

But for Ijichi Hikaruka, these lines don't mean that.

At that moment, some false expectations arose in Ijichi Hongxia's heart.

Like a building floating in the air, or a point of light at the end of fantasy, hope, even though she knew it was impossible, ignited in her heart for a moment.

"Well, it's decided. It's Xiduo."

But in the end—

Yidi Zhihongxia is still Yidi Zhihongxia for the time being.

She responded to Iruma Hibiki seriously.

"That's great, congratulations Hongxia. Now you can finally step onto the real stage after the band ends."

"That's right."

Ijichi Hongxia responded.

There was a hint of relief in his tone, but definitely not happiness.

"However, I still prefer the nonsense that everyone had before. Xiang, you say--"

Ijichi Hongxia was silent for a while and organized her words.

“When Aine comes back, we can bring along Nagasaki-san and Kita for a joint performance—”

"Then we'll definitely have to rehearse for a while."

Iruma Hibiki responded with a smile.

That is an unrealistic vision.

The stars are a small stage.

It can’t accommodate so many people, and it can’t handle exaggerated performances like Space in Ikebukuro.

In addition, for Fanxing, it has only been operating stably for a short time.

The audience can tolerate some mistakes made by a fledgling band.

but--

If a skilled band deliberately does a bad job, it will definitely have a serious negative impact on both the band itself and the Livehouse.

"That's true. It would be nice if it could be like this."

But faced with Ijichi Hongxia's proposal.

Even though Hibiki Iruma knew it was unlikely, he still agreed and even imagined the prerequisites for realizing such a future.

It was obvious that he was definitely not unmoved by this.

"Right, Hibiki."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I'm actually a little worried about Xiang."

Looking at the clothes that were constantly turning in the laundry machine, where she and her sister were tangled together, Ichichi Hongxia said with her head slightly lowered.

"worry about me?"

And Iruma Hibiki asked back with some uneasiness.

04 Ijichi Hongxia is worried

Hibiki Iruma thought carefully about his recent behavior.