Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"What do you think of Ijichi-san's words, Hibiki?"

Nagasaki Suyo spoke first, and it took Hibiki Iruma a moment to realize that Nagasaki Suyo was talking about the topic of address.

"If Su Shi doesn't mind, then there will definitely be no problem on my side."

"so be it."

Nagasaki Suyo accepted that Iruma Hibiki called her by her name, and a smile returned to her face.

"Starting today, we're practicing for the performance, right?"

Nagasaki Suyo asked Iruma Hibiki who was about to leave to continue working for a while.

"Well, yes, I'll just wait for Chihaya-san to arrive. But I'll be busy for a while, so I won't be able to come see you later."

In fact, Iruma Hibiki was also reluctant to leave.

However, there was indeed something that Ijichi Hongxia needed his help with.

Then——

The rehearsal room was quiet, with only Nagasaki Suyo left.

There was a busy noise outside the door, as well as the voice of Ijichi Hoshika. Iruma Hibiki and Ijichi Nikka would occasionally say a few words while cooperating with each other.

For Nagasaki Motoyo, the sound insulation effect of the wooden door of the rehearsal room was not as good as expected.

Of course, this might also be because she was the only one in the rehearsal room, and there was a slight silence.

"I'm a little confused about Hibiki's situation..."

At this time, Nagasaki Suyo was thinking quietly in her heart.

Obviously, if Hibiki Iruma had just told her, she would have definitely accompanied him on the trip to Akihabara this morning.

However, regarding Iruma Hibiki's itinerary.

In fact, Ijichi Hongxia already knows it better than her.

And on the other end.

On Saturday, Chihaya Aine was staring at her phone in a daze.

She felt a slight loss of feeling in the fingertips of her left hand.

The price of practicing so hard was that I injured my left hand fingers badly in the initial stage.

In fact, if you practice guitar normally, the injury will not be so serious, because the so-called guitar string pressing requires skill. You only need to make the strings touch the frets to make a sound. The position of pressing within the frets is crucial, but novices often do not realize this, so they press in the wrong place within the frets and have to use a lot of force to pluck the strings.

However, despite such last-minute efforts——

The F chord with a barre just can't be done.

Chihaya Aine lay on the bed and covered her eyes with her sleeves.

Her cell phone had been turned off long ago.

If possible, she wanted to disappear from Tokyo right now.

85 The Courage of Saint Aine

A little earlier than the agreed time, Chihaya Aine arrived at the door of Fanxing carrying her guitar bag.

Her left hand was tightly gripping the strap of her guitar bag, and she looked a little nervous.

On the way here, Chihaya Aine carefully looked through the chat in the group, and therefore——

She made up her mind.

"Excuse me, where is the rehearsal room for Ijichi-san, Nagasaki-san, and Iruma-san? I'm a member of the band, the guitarist, Chihaya Aine."

She walked to the front desk and asked Ichichi Xingge, who was in charge of reception at the moment.

"Oh, they're the first one on the left."

Ijichi Hoshika pointed to the door of the practice room in the distance, then glanced at Chihaya Aine for a moment longer. After all, Chihaya Aine looked a little embarrassed at the moment.

The fingers on her left hand weren't covered in bandages, but rather bandages. The way they were tied didn't look like they were done herself, but rather like they were done in a hospital. Clearly, the injuries were severe. Furthermore, the fatigue on her face wasn't something makeup could hide...

But despite this, Chihaya Aine's departing figure still had a hint of firmness and determination?

Ijichi Seika, who didn't know the truth of the matter, frowned slightly as she watched Chihaya Aine walking away.

"If you ask me, Xingge, I wouldn't worry about Hongxia and the others. They will definitely find the right path on their own."

On the other side, PA-san rested his elbow on Ijichi Seika's shoulder and watched Chihaya Aine's departing back with a smile.

"Who said I was worried about them?"

"Yes Yes Yes."

PA Sang responded perfunctorily with helplessness.

In fact, Ijichi Hoshika probably cares more about ending the band than anyone else.

What's more, she might be the person in this world who, at this moment, most wants Ichichi Hongxia to be happy.

She couldn't hide this at all; it was written all over her face.

"I'm really sorry!"

The moment she pushed open the door, Chihaya Aine lowered her head.

Just as she had planned along the way, she began her apology——

"Actually... I have no experience with guitar before. Even though I've been practicing hard these past few days, I probably won't be able to join the band's rehearsal today."

In fact, Chihaya Aine scared Ijichi Kouka when she walked in.

After all, Ijichi Kouka was sitting closest to the door, and Chihaya Aine's action of opening the door was a bit sudden and scary.

Nagasaki Motoyo was planning to greet Chihaya Aion gently. Her eyes were bright, and it was obvious that she had been looking forward to this moment. But at this moment, her outstretched hand stayed in the air, and then after a while, it slowly fell down as Chihaya Aion apologized.

Among the three, Hibiki Iruma had the most normal reaction. He just raised his head and looked at Chihaya Aine worriedly.

"I'm sorry for hiding this from everyone! I will definitely practice hard and catch up with everyone else!"

Chihaya Aine's apology continued.

She thought a lot about what to say in an occasion like this.

But in the end, there was only one point that came out.

Soon, Iruma Hibiki reacted.

"Chihaya-san, you've been practicing guitar pretty hard, haven't you? Are your fingers okay? They look pretty badly injured."

"Yes, Chihaya-san... If you're a beginner, wouldn't you have just told me at the beginning? It's okay if we don't have time to rehearse together, since you've been practicing hard on your own, right?"

After Iruma Hibiki, there was Ijichi Nikka who followed closely behind with gentleness.

And Nagasaki Suyo——

There was actually a hint of shock on her face, followed by a hint of disgust.

because of her.

Hate being deceived and betrayed.

Perhaps from an outsider's perspective, considering the relationship between her and Chihaya Aine, using the word betrayal is obviously a bit too much, but——

For Nagasaki Suyo, who has regarded the band as her home, using the word "betrayal" here is actually not an exaggeration at all.

But soon, Nagasaki Suyo concealed her emotions, put on a gentle smile, and then said in an unusually sweet voice:

"Is Chihaya-san's injury okay? It's okay with the rehearsal. I'm actually very happy to see Chihaya-san here."

"Ijichi-san and Hibiki think the same thing, right?"

After saying this, Nagasaki Motoyo turned around and confirmed with Ijichi Nikka and Iruma Hibiki. She was a little unsure whether what she said accurately concealed her true feelings, so she urgently wanted to get the confirmation of the other two to soothe the uneasiness in her heart at the moment.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Yes."

Ijichi Kouka and Iruma Hibiki certainly had no reason to deny this issue, so they nodded in agreement decisively.

"Thank you everyone... I... it's okay!"

In fact, on the way here, Chihaya Aine experienced a complicated psychological struggle.

She even thought about disappearing and leaving.

But at 1 o'clock.

The last bit of hesitation in her heart disappeared.

She chose to form a band because of her vanity, and she avoided guitar practice for a long time because she didn't want her daily routine to be disrupted.

But in the end, Chihaya Aine still didn't want to see the other members of the band disappointed because of her.

So she chose to apologize and keep the appointment.

He also bravely came to the stars and came to the presence of Ijichi Nikka, Nagasaki Suyo and Iruma Hibiki.

"Chihaya-san's injury doesn't look serious at all."

Hibiki Iruma put down his guitar, stood up with a hint of worry, and then extended his hand.

"Let me put your guitar on for you."

"Ah, thank you..."

Chihaya Aine handed her guitar bag to Iruma Hibiki with some gratitude.

As she walked along, the tenderness in her left fingertips actually caused her some distress and inconvenience.

"Why don't we talk about the new song this afternoon? Chihaya-san, look, these are the lyrics written by Iruma-san. We're discussing how to make it better."

Ijichi Hongxia collected all the sheet music on the table.

Those were the pieces we had planned to practice this afternoon.

Most of them are songs that are suitable for the current level of Iruma Hibiki and Nagasaki Soyo, and at the bottom of these scores are several sheets of manuscript paper with lyrics written on them that Iruma Hibiki brought.

"Since Chihaya-san is the lead singer, maybe you can come up with some good ideas after seeing the lyrics."

Nagasaki Suyo also understood what Ijichi Kouka meant, and cooperated to change the subject, quickly overturning and rescheduling the plan for this afternoon.

And Iruma Hibiki——

“Actually, I have no confidence at all about these lyrics.”

He became the one being tortured at this moment.

After all, he has a deep self-awareness, and the lyrics he wrote are not so much lyrics as they are some inspirations he recorded using the techniques of novels.

In fact, there is a big question mark as to whether it can be made into music.

It's only natural that the change of topic at this moment was actually a bit abrupt, and Ijichi Hongxia's cover-up was also a bit hasty.

Chihaya Aine certainly noticed the care the other three members of the band showed her. While she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, her heart was also filled with emotion.

In fact, when she came, she was already prepared to be blamed, and she had also thought about how to compensate everyone afterwards.

But now, it is obviously useless.

86 Because the song I played for Iruma-san was a confession from my heart!

"Come to think of it, I was really startled when Chihaya-san suddenly showed up this afternoon."

Late at night, after a busy day, Ijichi Hongka called Yamada Ryo.

At this moment, she was wrapped in a bath towel, having just finished a shower and planning to go to bed soon. The fact that she hadn't chatted much with Yamada Ryo in the past few days made her a little worried about the other person's situation, so she made an appointment to visit him tonight.

"Well, afternoon practice went very smoothly, no problem at all. Speaking of arranging the music, can I ask Liang for some help?"

There was a faint smile on Ijichi Hongka's face.

"Doesn't it matter?"

However, in a flash, Yamada Ryo's voice became serious and earnest.

"Hmm? Liang, are you worried that it will affect the style of our band? That shouldn't be a big deal, because I will make a general outline. It's just that there are some areas where I want to hear your opinion. Ah, of course, if you are very busy, forget it."

"That's not what I meant."

Yamada Ryo's voice was still extremely serious and solemn, and he didn't relax at all because of Ijichi Kouka's answer.