Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

When Nagasaki Suyo walked into Fanxing, she politely greeted Ijichi Hoshige and the PA lady.

Although they have not met many times, they are somewhat familiar with each other, and if nothing unexpected happens, this familiarity will continue for a long time, at least that is what Nagasaki Suyo thinks.

She now loves Shimokitazawa more than Ikebukuro.

"Oh, good afternoon. Didn't Hongxia come with you?"

【you】

When Ijichi Seika said this, Nagasaki Suyo was even more certain that the figure who had just left was Goto Ichiri.

But at this moment, she could not see Goto Ichiri anywhere in the front stage of the stars.

Where are you hiding?

Why are you hiding from me?

Nagasaki Suyo had a hint of doubt in her heart.

After all, no matter what, she and Goto Ichiri are just strangers. When strangers meet, the first one they see chooses to avoid each other. What does this mean?

Nagasaki Suyo had a flawless smile on her face.

She was polite, elegant, and had a sweet voice, and there was not a single flaw to be found. At least the Ijichi Hoshika in front of him could not tell what kind of waves were surging deep in Nagasaki Suyo's heart at the moment.

Nagasaki Suyo is someone who is good at hiding her inner emotions.

Whether it's good or bad.

Even if she is just catering to others, her approach is flawless enough to make people feel that she is serious.

"Ijichi-san and Iruma-san haven't arrived yet. I'm early. After all, Tsuki-no-mori is released earlier than Shimoko."

"That's it, Xingge—"

Today, a third person appeared in the usual duo of Starry Night.

The typhoon was so strong that even Yamada Ryo admired the super band senior, Hiroi Kikuri.

By the way, her private identity is a college classmate of Ijichi Hoshika, and she usually hangs out in the Shinjuku area. Today, she suddenly decided to go to Shimokitazawa to see her old friend.

But she at this moment is completely different from the Hiroi Kikuri that Ijichi Seika knew in the past. In college, Hiroi Kikuri was actually a weak and socially anxious person. It was difficult for her to talk to people, and her voice was very cute and small.

But now, she has become a drunkard who can lie on the ground and drink without any care.

Of course, Hiroi Kikuri was not at the center of the stage at this moment.

To be honest, her current status is probably like Hibiki Iruma's status in his junior high school class.

"Oh, I see. The rehearsal room is empty right now. If you want to go, you can go first. Um..."

"It's Goto-san, right?"

The PA lady reminded Ijichi Hoshika who had forgotten Goto Ichiri's name.

"Yeah, Goto just ran in."

"I see."

With a sweet smile, Nagasaki Suyo walked towards the door of the rehearsal room while playing with her fingers.

At this moment, Goto Ichiri was huddled in the rehearsal room, trembling all over.

She covered her head with her hands, taking an absolute defensive posture - the so-called head-covering and squatting defense, and huddled in the corner of the rehearsal room.

Just now, in a panic, she chose to hide in this small room.

But in fact——

Is there a possibility that such a decision is the beginning of disaster? !

Goto Ichiri's inner reverie gradually turned into wails.

In her fantasy, she had been tied to a table and tortured for invading another girl band's territory, and was finally sentenced to death and turned into ashes in a raging fire.

Then, there were slow footsteps outside the door.

It was probably at this moment that Goto Ichiri came back to his senses from his fantasy. Then, the moment the door lock cylinder turned and heard a click, Goto Ichiri quickly chose a place to hide.

"Good afternoon, Goto-san. I'm Nagasaki Suyo."

Then, Nagasaki Suyo, who opened the door and introduced herself, was disappointed.

The entire rehearsal room was empty except for Goto Ichiri's guitar bag, which was quietly placed aside and half-opened.

An expensive black G card was revealed inside.

It was a terrifying, luxurious, and expensive musical instrument that even Nagasaki Suyo had heard of.

In addition, Nagasaki Motoyo actually looked through the Guitar Hero account yesterday - although Iruma Hibiki didn't say it, Ijichi Kouka told Nagasaki Motoyo that Goto Ichiri was the Guitar Hero.

As for Nagasaki Motoyo, she has already seen clearly Goto Ichiri's new boyfriend "Iruma-san".

She had even read it carefully from the first to the last one.

The Guitar Hero account clearly stated that the "Iruma-san" was his classmate, but under the class photo that Nagasaki Motoyo saw, among the names, only Iruma Hibiki had the last name Iruma.

Nagasaki Suyo sat on the chair and played with her hair quietly.

Without noticing that the moment she opened the door, Goto Ichiri unleashed the limit of the Homo sapiens in his flesh and blood, and jumped onto the air conditioner installed in the rehearsal room like a nimble cat.

At this moment, she was huddled there, trembling all over.

In fact, compared to the accusatory or disgusted gaze, Nagasaki Suyo's smile was, to some extent, more lethal to Goto Ichiri.

Assuming Goto Ichiri is some kind of creature called a "noroguchi" with a social status similar to that of a cockroach, then the best way to prevent it would be to post a picture of Nagasaki Motoyo smiling and playing with her hair on the door.

Of course, this is just a joke.

However, what Goto Ichiri feared was this kind of smile.

Because she could sense a hint of falsehood in it.

The atmosphere in the rehearsal room was stagnant. Goto Ichiri was so tense that he hid on the air conditioner like the protagonist of a horror game, not daring to move.

After waiting for a while, Nagasaki Motoyo lost her patience a little. She took out her cell phone as usual and sent a message to Iruma Hibiki.

Ten seconds later——

[Ijichi-san and I are on our way here.]

She received a reply from Hibiki Iruma.

[However, Sushi arrived really early. Are you looking forward to today's rehearsal?]

To some extent, Iruma Hibiki was pretending to be relaxed at the moment.

This is the sentiment that goes, "Tokyo men leave all their vulnerability behind at the entrance of izakayas."

No matter what, when I return to my family, I must put on a relaxed smile and say:

"It's okay, I'll find another job soon. It's just a layoff, nothing serious."

Of course secretly booking a ticket to Mount Fuji is another matter.

However, Iruma Hibiki obviously had not reached the stage of booking a train ticket. He just felt a slight weight, a weight coming from Ijichi Kouka, who was standing beside him with a faint smile on her face.

"Is this a message from Nagasaki-san?"

Ijichi Hongxia asked Iruma Hibiki.

It was as if she was a completely different person just ten minutes ago.

"Well, yes, it seems she went to Fanxing right after school. So did Goto-san. We're going to be late."

"Eh! No way! It's so early!"

"Both Tsukinomori and Hideko finish school earlier than Shimoko."

Iruma Hibiki reminded Ichichi Hongka.

"Eh-that's it-"

At this moment, Ijichi Hongxia was dragging out the tone, as if thinking about something.

"If I hadn't bothered you after school, today we would have..."

"That's not really a problem. Rather, I know you'd tell me this. How should I put it? I'm kind of happy. I feel like you trust me."

Iruma Hibiki responded seriously.

Although he had said this many times in the past, Ijichi Hongxia still seemed to feel a little guilty about it.

Iruma Hibiki probably understood it too.

Ijichi Hongxia is the kind of girl who is quick to accept advice but pays special attention to her occasional mistakes.

72 Nagasaki Suyo resists Goto Ichiri

"But speaking of which, Goto-san is here today. She's a really good guitarist, so maybe we can try to rehearse with the four of us first."

"I never thought I'd be able to meet a real-life guitar hero, but I'm so grateful for Iruma."

Ijichi Hongka's voice came from outside the door.

In the rehearsal room, Goto Ichiri sat upright in front of Nagasaki Motoyo, his eyes fixed on the jelly coffee on the table - a drink with a strange black jelly-like ingredient added to the coffee. It tasted slightly bitter, but had a good refreshing effect and a subtle taste.

"Thanks or something... But rehearsing together... Well, I'll ask Goto-san later. She probably won't refuse."

Yes——

Goto Ichiri wailed in his heart.

Just then, Iruma Hibiki and Ijichi Nijira, whom she regarded as her saviors, arrived late and opened the door of the rehearsal room.

"Good afternoon, Goto-san and Nagasaki-san!"

Ijichi Nijima greeted her enthusiastically, while Iruma Hibiki was a little simpler. He walked up to Nagasaki Motoyo and said good afternoon, then put down his guitar bag and took out his guitar.

Of course, the current scene was a little strange to him.

After all, the idea of Goto Ichiri being alone with Nagasaki Motoyo in the rehearsal room was something that would never occur in Hibiki Iruma's mind.

And it seems that the two of them get along pretty well?

At least to the point where we can chat about drinks?

Hibiki Iruma saw the black tea in front of Nagasaki Suyo and the jelly coffee in front of Goto Ichiri.

Drinks sold in vending machines are the perfect lubricant in social situations. Something as small as asking someone for a drink can buy you a few minutes of time with someone for a simple reason and at a small cost.

Then, at the vending machine, you can freely say whatever you want to say in private.

Of course, this understanding of these things is actually just material for Iruma Hibiki's writing.

As we all know, the more an author lacks something, the more they will write about it in their novel, and the worse they will write about it. In short, the more they write about something, the worse they will write about it. Conversely, the less they write about something, the better they will write about it. The author's job is really to be a pigeon -

Of course, the above are generally jokes.

But Hibiki Iruma is no exception.

But the key at the moment is probably what Nagasaki Motoyo and Goto Ichiri talked about during their time alone in the past?

Hibiki Iruma looked at the expressions of the two people with some concern and curiosity.

Goto Ichiri was a little timid as always.

And so is Nagasaki Suyo.

It is impossible to tell from the surface what just happened, just like Ijichi Hongka at this moment, if it weren't for the slight redness in the corners of her eyes that could only be seen deliberately.

Then I'm afraid no one will know what kind of facts Ijichi Hongxia said before.

"Speaking of which, Goto-san, you're here to get a feel for the band, right? This is the song we're practicing today. It's very simple. Our original lead guitarist isn't here today, so Goto-san can try playing the rhythm guitar part."

Ijichi Hongka extended an invitation to Goto Ichiri just as she had said on the road before.

This is also one of her little plans.

After learning some things about Goto Ichiri from Iruma Hibiki, she came up with this way to help Goto Ichiri quickly feel the atmosphere of the band and integrate into it.

As a musician, it is more effective to communicate directly through music rather than speaking.

Although Hibiki Iruma had some doubts about this idea, he did not deny it.

After all, his only doubt was whether Goto Ichiri could really play the guitar well in front of others, but it was true that for Goto Ichiri, doing something directly would definitely be more effective than chatting.

Moreover, today's score is designed to suit him and Nagasaki Motoyo. To some extent, for the guitar hero, it is probably easier than drinking water and eating. It should be something that he will definitely not do badly.