Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"of course can."

Hibiki Iruma took out his crumpled manuscript paper and handed it to Shoko Toyokawa beside him.

And he is...

His eyes remained confused for a while.

Then he gave the same answer as Toyokawa Shoko without hesitation.

Yes, he will.

Whether it was to save Nagasaki Suyo or falling in love at first sight.

If I could do it again.

He'll be like some stupid guy charging at a windmill.

Repeat the same mistakes without hesitation.

"Hum..."

At this moment, a soft humming sound suddenly came from Toyokawa Shoko next door. Although Iruma Hibiki did not realize it at first, he soon noticed it.

The lyrics that Toyokawa Shoko hummed were the ones he had completed.

That song was originally intended for him to finish the band.

But later, Nagasaki Suyo chose to leave without saying a word, and after the relationship between the two broke down, the band ended...

"Iruma, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to take a break from the band's activities for a while."

It was probably one Sunday later when Ijichi Hongka said this when she finally entered the rehearsal room after being busy for a long time.

At that time, he did not refute or confirm. He wanted to put on a smile and said to Hong Xia:

[No, I'm fine. I can continue.]

But such a lie could not continue. Moreover, Iruma Hibiki actually noticed that since Nagasaki Motoyo left, Ijichi Nikka began to smile less and less. She always looked tired after being busy, and was no longer as expected before.

"If Chihaya-san thinks that's okay..."

So he gave the right and hope of choosing to the captain Chihaya Aine, hoping that Chihaya Aine could make a decision for him at that time, but in fact, avoiding making a choice at this time was already an answer to some extent.

"Yeah, I think it would be good to take a break for a while, too. Iruma-san, it's been pretty rough lately, hasn't it?"

Afterwards, Chihaya Aine made a decision for him at that time.

Since then, the band's activities have been suspended.

Soon after, Chihaya Aine's study abroad affairs became busy.

So, the band ended.

No retention.

No struggle.

It ended so quietly.

"Ijichi, go form a band again. Your dream is to shine on the stage, right? So there's no reason to stop here."

That day, Iruma Hibiki said this to Ijichi Nikka.

"Well, I see."

And Ijichi Hongxia smiled gently and said, "I understand."

"But Iruma-kun, are you okay? I haven't heard much from you during Golden Week, and I'm a little worried."

"Sorry, I'm fine. I'm just busy with the new book."

"Ah! A new book! What's the subject?"

……

"Something about the band."

……

Until now, Iruma Hibiki still remembers the extremely gentle smile on Ijichi Kouka's face at that time.

"I feel a little relieved... But... it would be great if I could hear your guitar again, Iruma-san."

At that time, she said this to Iruma Hibiki with a smile.

So gentle and considerate, as if her own affairs and moods are not important at all.

In fact, for Ijichi Hongka, the end of the band was not an easy thing at all, and it was not a decision that could be made lightly.

So does Chihaya Aine.

So does Hibiki Iruma.

But, all three of them, at that time—

Made a gentle decision for the other person.

"Is Iruma-san in a band?"

Just then, Shoko Toyokawa's words brought Hibiki Iruma back to reality.

"Because I read your novel a while ago, it seemed to be related to a band, so I was wondering if composing music without your permission would cause trouble for you, Iruma-san."

"No, it's okay. I've never been in a band before, and I'm completely unable to compose and arrange these songs on my own."

Iruma Hibiki was silent for a while before responding to Toyokawa Shoko.

03 Iruma-san is broken

【Iruma-san doesn't play music anymore? 】

In fact, Iruma Hibiki couldn't remember how many times Goto Ichiri had talked to him about this topic.

He looked at the message on the mobile phone screen with a little helplessness, so he simply closed the window of Nagasaki Suye's chat history that was just open.

[Well, it's been almost a month or two since I last played guitar.]

He then replied to Goto Ichiri.

【Goto-san isn't going to sleep? 】

[It’s okay… I usually stay up late, so the time now doesn’t matter to me at all!]

In fact, this is what is said.

But in fact, Goto Ichiri is the kind of guy who would fall asleep alone while chatting late at night.

Hibiki Iruma knew this all too well.

By the way, compared to Goto Ichiri's sudden disappearance every night, Goto Ichiri's passionate apology every morning actually gave Iruma Hibiki more headaches.

[Lately… a lot of people have been asking me for permission to use “Godknows…”, and even record labels have been contacting me. I’m a little overwhelmed…]

[Actually, I can't really be considered the author of "Godknows...". As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm actually a time traveler. I heard that song in the world before I traveled through time.]

"Hmm... People actually say that Iruma-san, you're the John Titor of the music world."

So, if I were to take a work like this and pass it off as my own, it would be a bit too cunning for the original author, at least that's what I think.

"Just politely decline those invitations. If Goto-san finds it troublesome, you can leave it to me."

Because of "Godknows", both Hibiki Iruma and Ichiri Goto became famous.

Even because of Hibiki Iruma's initial explanation as a time traveler, the comments on "Godknows..." under their accounts uniformly changed from asking for the sheet music and inquiring if there was any intention to sell the song to requesting that they continue to cooperate and then reproduce and restore the music of the parallel universe.

It seems that Hibiki Iruma's explanation was regarded as some kind of special character setting, and he was given the title of "alien author + composer". He didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

At this moment, the number of fans of Iruma Hibiki's account has reached 8, while Goto Ichiri's account is about to break the 10 mark.

To some extent, they are already well-known bloggers.

However, after a few months of silence, the popularity of "Godknows..." began to gradually decline, and Iruma Hibiki's account also resumed its original function and operated normally as the author account of Iruma Rengen.

Guitar Hero has resumed its usual updates, routinely making covers of well-known bands day after day.

In fact, for Goto Ichiri——

Perhaps if she continues to be called a time traveler and a collaborator of John Titor in the music industry, she will slowly get closer to the shining ideal in her heart.

but--

Goto Ichiri hated Iruma Hibiki at this moment.

Of course, saying I hate it might be a bit of an exaggeration.

However, since the Golden Week, Goto Ichiri felt that Iruma Hibiki was no longer the Iruma classmate she had in mind.

It was as if the former Iruma-kun was already dead.

Although the relationship between the two may be closer than when they were in junior high school.

We chat together, play games together, and occasionally share our experience of watching new documentaries. We spend more time together than before, and our time together has become longer.

Even recently, Goto Ichiri felt that loneliness has become a very distant and unfamiliar word. When was the last time he was alone at home with no one to accompany him?

The memory has become slightly fuzzy.

That's all good, isn't it?

When faced with this doubt, Goto Ichiri's answer was, no, this is not good.

Hibiki, it's broken.

But she had no idea what to do.

This is the real reality at this moment.

She felt powerless and out of reach.

It's like the two of them always communicate through the screen, and their offline meetings have actually been very few in the past few months.

Goto Ichiri wants to be Hibiki Iruma's hero.

But she couldn't do anything.

And maybe—

In fact, she was the one who started it.

In fact, Goto Ichiri didn't learn about the breakup of Iruma Hibiki and Nagasaki Motoyo until very late.

The moment she heard the news, her whole body trembled.

Because, obviously, it was her fault, because her confession, nonsense, and meaningless bravery destroyed the relationship between Iruma Hibiki and Nagasaki Soyo.

and--

"Well, I'll try my best to reject it. It's okay if it's online. I can do it, so I won't bother you, Iruma-san."

[Okay, if you encounter something you can't handle, please tell me.]

Looking at Iruma Hibiki's reply, Goto Ichiri lowered his head slightly.

If she realized anything this summer.

That's when she figured it out—

Iruma Hibiki just couldn't figure it out.

In fact, he still likes Nagasaki Suyo very much.

I even like her so much that sometimes I would deceive myself, thinking that what happened at that time was actually just fake, and that Nagasaki Suyo was just angry for a moment.

There will be a future.

But until now, Hibiki Iruma and Motoyo Nagasaki have not reconciled.

And her classmate Iruma still looked broken.

Nothing has changed.

And Goto Ichiri was still in pain, blaming himself, wondering if it would have been better if he had not shown up and not been brave enough.

But 50 years later,

In fact, in the past few months, Iruma Hibiki has been encouraging her to be brave.