Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

For Nagasaki Suyo, such a result is more important than anything else.

75 Chihaya Aine's Sense of Crisis

It was obvious that Ijichi Hongka had a chat with Goto Ichiri.

And it seems that this conversation went smoothly.

Before entering the rehearsal room, Nagasaki Suyo said:

"I think I doubted Hibiki, sorry..."

Then, she lowered her head gently and followed behind Iruma Hibiki, so at this moment they were walking one in front and one behind. Nagasaki Suyo huddled in Iruma Hibiki's shadow and walked into the rehearsal room.

As for Goto Ichiri——

That position was once hers.

"Welcome back. You all practiced really hard, and the progress is faster than I expected. So, how about taking a break and chatting about music?"

Ijichi Hongxia suggested with a smile.

At this moment, Goto Ichiri was sitting on the chair and no longer hiding in the corner, but when her eyes collided with Iruma Hibiki.

She ran away quickly.

This evasion was silent, sudden, and... for Iruma Hibiki, who was aware of Goto Ichiri's evasion, it felt a little bitter.

After all, he never thought that Goto Ichiri would one day hide from him like this.

So much so that when something happened suddenly, Iruma Hibiki felt as if he was suddenly hit on the back of the head by an iron basin falling from the sky.

A loud bang echoed in his mind, wiping out his thoughts.

But in reality, Goto Ichiri will not escape from Iruma Hibiki.

Or.

During the time when he was missing Iruma Hibiki, all Goto Ichiri wanted was to meet him again.

If Hibiki Iruma were SpongeBob SquarePants.

Then she is Patrick.

When SpongeBob is not around, all she can do is think about him.

Of course, this is a bit exaggerated and corny.

But for Goto Ichiri, what she was actually avoiding at the moment was——

Behind Iruma Hibiki, just a few feet away, was Nagasaki Suyo, who was elegant, polite, with a smile on her face and a sweet voice.

"Iruma-san and I bought drinks for everyone."

"As for the money, I'll give it to you later."

Ijichi Hongxia took the Good Boy juice and said happily.

"No need, Ichichi, you've always been the one to pay, so I'll do it this time..."

Iruma Hibiki was silent for a moment.

"Goto-kun too."

He then added.

He saw the 500 yen coin tightly gripped between Goto Ichiri's fingertips, or more precisely, between his thumb and index finger.

The light yellow metallic coin reflected the fluorescent light from the ceiling of the rehearsal room, making it quite conspicuous.

"Thank you, thank you..."

After thanking her with difficulty, Goto Ichiri took his drink from Nagasaki Motoyo.

Good boy juice.

Not Coke.

What she likes is actually Coke.

In the past, when she was in junior high school, whenever Hibiki Iruma bought her a drink, he would buy her a Coke.

However, the reason why it was called Good Boy Juice was not actually because of Iruma Hibiki's carelessness.

But Coke is not available in every vending machine.

In this beverage machine near Fanxing in Shimokitazawa, the main product is not cold drinks, but hot drinks. In the place of cola, there are cans of oyster soup and red bean soup. The other drinks are juice or barley tea that are also delicious at room temperature.

So of course there was no Coke.

However, for Goto Ichiri, who has social anxiety and has never set foot in Shimokitazawa, and who has to muster courage just to come to Fanxing, there is actually no way she could know this.

But she still held the carton of juice happily.

With a smile on his face.

This is the gift that Iruma Hibiki gave her. Even though it was presented by Nagasaki Suyo, she was still a guest invited by Iruma Hibiki, right?

"Hibiki, yours."

Until Nagasaki Suyo took out her own black tea and Iruma Hibiki's juice from her bag.

"Thank you."

Iruma Hibiki smiled softly and opened the juice.

Then, with Ijichi Hongka standing up, tonight's rehearsal entered the second stage -

[Rehearsal tonight is going smoothly——]

A photo appeared almost simultaneously in the band’s group and on the band’s official account.

In fact, this is easy to understand.

After Nagasaki Suyo took the photos, Ijichi Hongka was the first to ask for a copy. Then, as usual, she posted the photos to the group first. However, since Nagasaki Suyo had no one to share her joy with, she updated the photos on the forum first.

In the photo, Nagasaki Motoyo is sitting next to Iruma Hibiki with a smile on her face. The distance between the two is very subtle, the kind that you can tell at a glance that they have a close relationship.

Nijichi Ijichi was the one closest to the camera, and next to her was Ichiri Goto, who was completely avoiding being photographed with only the back of his head showing.

However, because Goto Ichiri was holding his own G-Class black card at the moment, he looked like a rock star who was performing a cool solo.

So the photo as a whole is not bad at all. On the contrary, because of the appropriate distance and height, the overall composition is very consistent with the aesthetic of art and looks very good.

And naturally——

Chihaya Aine was wrapped in a towel and humming a song. She was blow-drying her hair while watching Meow Meng's beauty video. She was planning to try out the new makeup that she had recently learned from Meow Meng tomorrow when her cell phone rang.

Then Miao Meng in the video was frozen in a cute pose, and the entire picture stopped automatically.

Chihaya Aine frowned and quickly dried her hands.

If she remembered correctly, she had set the message reminder to be silent, until she realized that it was an update from the official account of her band, "The End".

Because it was agreed that she and Nagasaki Suyo would run it together.

Therefore, Chihaya Aine neglected this part of the reminder from the very beginning.

"Come to think of it, today is their rehearsal time..."

Chihaya Aine muttered to herself as she opened the updated blog post, and then she saw the perfect photo.

For a moment, Chihaya Aine stood there in a daze.

The reason for being stunned is very simple.

There is a pink-haired girl in the photo.

But that person was not her.

There are two guitars in the photo.

But apart from Iruma Hibiki, the other one is not her.

Could it be that?

She'd actually been kicked out of the band because she couldn't make it to practice?

Horrible thoughts echoed in Chihaya Aine's mind.

Then she quickly opened the band's group chat and searched for the latest news.

Until she saw:

My friend Goto-san is coming to rehearse tomorrow...

Behind this message from Iruma Hibiki lies the whole story.

【Come to think of it, Goto-san is actually the famous guitar hero.】

When she saw this message, Chihaya Aine searched for [Guitar Hero] in the input box.

Goto Ichiri's account is certainly not as popular as that of a big blogger like Miao Meng, but as an ordinary high school student, it is incredible that he has gained 3 followers just by posting cover videos.

You have to know that 3 fans is a popularity that most girl bands cannot achieve.

That’s 3 fans.

A band with 5000 followers online may actually have the opportunity to qualify for prime-time performances in some offline livehouses.

And 3 fans——

For a high school girl band, that's a terrifying number.

It can be said that if Guitar Hero joined the "End Band", then...

And it seems that Hibiki Iruma and Guitar Hero have a good relationship?

Chihaya Aine put down the hair dryer in her hand and felt a slight sense of crisis.

76 What Iruma Hibiki Never Wants to See

Actually after that, well, using the word "actually" is a bit strong here.

To be exact, there is no reversal at all.

Yes, that's right, Chihaya Aine has never opened her guitar since her last farewell.

The band should practice during rehearsal.

With this natural thought in mind, she spent her days happily, and occasionally people would look at her with envy.

[Chihaya-san is awesome! I'm following your band's account! Keep it up!]

[Is President Chihaya actually active in Shimokitazawa? This is really ridiculous!]

【Please let us know if you have a performance. 】

Conversations like this have been filling Chihaya Aine's life lately.

She seems to have gotten what she wanted from joining the band in the first place.

but--

In fact, for Chihaya Aine, there is something else behind her vanity, just like the Guitar Hero videos that are constantly playing on her mobile phone at this moment.

The magnificent and skillful guitar solo is repeated over and over again.

I don’t know how much time has passed.

She then realized that Nagasaki Suyo had sent her a private message.

When they first met, Nagasaki Motoyo chatted with her a lot. Although the frequency gradually decreased, they still chatted with each other every day.

Chihaya Aine doesn't hate Nagasaki Suyo.

Rather, her impression of Nagasaki Soyo was actually deeper than that of Iruma Hibiki and Ijichi Nijika, and secretly, Chihaya Aine actually felt that Nagasaki Soyo was a very easy person to get along with and who also took good care of her.

Goto-san is just here today to learn about the band. He's not a new member. We're all looking forward to rehearsing with Chihaya-san this weekend.

-

Looking at the time, Nagasaki Suyo sent the message 20 minutes ago.

Miao Meng’s live broadcast is about to begin.

Chihaya Aine's alarm clock had already lit up, reminding her.

After turning off the alarm clock, Chihaya Aine hesitated slightly. Then, after looking at the photo of the three people except Goto Ichiri with happy smiles, she opened her guitar bag and took out the light pink and green electric guitar.