Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

The day chosen for the band's performance was not a good one. There was a downpour of rain and lightning early in the morning. After a rare short period of clear weather in the morning, the heavy rain came again in the afternoon.

It's clearly the end of summer, but the weather is still as changeable as a girl's mood.

Iruma Hibiki's luck on this day could definitely be considered bad. He was drenched by the heavy rain when he went out in the morning, and when he went to Fanxing in the afternoon, he was caught in heavy rain again and was trapped in the station.

Therefore, the previous agreement with Chihaya Aine to meet a little earlier was finally changed to meeting directly in the starry sky.

It was not until he arrived at Fanxing and could vaguely hear the noise of the crowd that Iruma Xiang's mood improved a little. However, as soon as he walked down the stairs to the somewhat dim room of Fanxing, the fatigue from last night's all-nighter quickly invaded his nerves.

While waiting in line, Iruma Hibiki yawned twice.

until--

"Good afternoon, Iruma-san."

Chihaya Aine actually arrived earlier than Iruma Hibiki, but she did not enter early. Instead, she chose to wait for people in a place out of the way near the front desk.

For her, going to the performance hall with her important friends is a very important thing and a happy ritual in life.

So she waited here for a long time.

She noticed it when Hibiki Iruma stepped into the stars, but she didn't say anything at that time. She just watched Hibiki Iruma buy the ticket in a daze.

"Good afternoon, Chihaya-san."

When he saw Chihaya Ai-kun's death sound, Iruma Hibiki also forced himself to cheer up.

"Didn't you get enough rest yesterday, Iruma-san?"

"Well, somewhat."

Iruma Hibiki responded helplessly, but a smile played on his face as he said this. In the final analysis—

Although staying up late with Toyokawa Shoko brought hardship during the day, it was definitely not sad, but rather made me happy.

"Did something happen?"

"No, I just stayed up late chatting with friends."

"Ah! I've had that happen to me too."

Chihaya Aine said with a smile.

"Speaking of which, what was it that you mentioned earlier, Chihaya-san?"

Iruma Hibiki thought of the somewhat concerning promise that Chihaya Aine had made before, so he took the initiative to ask.

"Hmm...how should I put it..."

But at this time, Chihaya Aine was a little hesitant.

"Actually, these are just my thoughts. It's okay if Iruma-san doesn't agree."

In front of Hibiki Iruma, Chihaya Aion acted a little shy, totally unlike the capable girl that Hibiki Iruma knew. So, almost instantly, Hibiki Iruma realized that Chihaya Aion would definitely say something troublesome next.

but--

"Then I'll have to listen to it before I decide whether to agree to your request, Chihaya-san."

Iruma Hibiki responded with a smile and forced himself to cheer up.

"Actually, I'm a little uneasy about studying abroad."

"disturbed?"

In Iruma Hibiki's opinion, the emotion of "uneasiness" is actually completely inconsistent with Chihaya Aine.

"Well, I was a little worried about whether I could do well or not, but that's not the point... Actually, after that, I decided to practice music seriously and work hard to become a guitar singer, but..."

Around this time, Chihaya Aine lowered her head slightly.

"Actually, I'm worried that when I come back in three years, I'll become incompatible with everyone I know now, so I want to make a small promise with you, Iruma-san."

Hibiki Iruma felt in his pocket, where he found his monthly train pass and Suica card.

"That's what Sachiko's game was about before, right?"

Then he took out a small piece of torn paper from his card wallet and shook it.

"Iruma-san, you actually saved it well!"

"Because, at that time, I realized that you were serious, Chihaya-san, so I decided to keep it well."

Iruma Hibiki took the piece of paper back and sandwiched it between the two cards.

"Well, then I'm going to tell you—"

Chihaya Aine finally made up her mind and mustered up the courage, which made Iruma Hibiki become serious.

"When I return from England, even if our relationship isn't as good as it is now and we've both changed a lot, could you at least meet me once, Iruma-san?"

When he heard Chihaya Aine's promise, Iruma Hibiki almost laughed out loud.

But perhaps this is something that only friends who have to say goodbye to their best friends because they are studying abroad will care about.

"Huh? Is that so funny?"

Seeing Iruma Hibiki's smile, Chihaya Aine immediately became anxious.

"I shouldn't have told you, Iruma-san!"

Then she played with her pink bangs with some regret, revealing a look of regret.

"Well... I'm not kidding. I promise you, Chihaya-kun, after you come back from England, I won't refuse you no matter when you come to see me. Even if there's an earthquake or a typhoon, I will keep the appointment."

"Earthquakes and typhoons are too exaggerated! In that case, it's better to prioritize evacuation."

Chihaya Aion acted like she was preaching, and it looked like the student council president was lecturing the students. Of course, it wasn't like that, Chihaya Aion was the student council president herself.

"But I'm relieved. Thank you, Iruma-san."

"Gui'an——"

Just when Hibiki Iruma and Aine Chihaya were finishing their conversation, a voice interrupted the conversation between them.

"Eh? You are?"

"I'm Toyokawa Shoko, a friend of Iruma-san's. We agreed to come watch the Ending Band's performance together today."

"Ah! I'm Chihaya Aine, and I'm also a friend of Iruma-san. Hello, Toyokawa-san, you're so beautiful. Are you also a student of Tsukinomori? That ladylike habit is so cute."

Chihaya Aine started chatting with Toyokawa Shoko, whom she met for the first time.

On the contrary, Iruma Hibiki remained silent at this time. He actually frowned as he looked at Chihaya Aine.

[Could it be that Chihaya-san has any concerns about studying abroad? ]

He couldn't help but think so.

After all, Chihaya Aine today made him feel a little strange.

An agreement like that is totally unlike what Chihaya Aine would make with anyone. She shouldn't be the type of girl who would worry about such things.

It’s better to say—

In this case, shouldn't Chihaya Aine be showing off her high school in the UK and her subsequent life?

As far as Iruma Hibiki knew, Chihaya Aine shouldn't have such worries.

Did something happen?

But he didn't have time to think about it.

Toyokawa Shoko and Chihaya Aine have both turned their attention to him.

at the same time--

At the entrance of the stars, Nagasaki Suyo slowly pushed open the door of the stars.

38 Second Choice

"Let's go in."

Chihaya Aine was the first to discover Nagasaki Soyo, so she took the initiative to propose and pulled up Iruma Hibiki's sleeve.

"Yeah, great! Iruma-san must be eager to try this, too!"

Toyokawa Shoko was extremely excited, and there was no sign of fatigue on her face, which made Iruma Hibiki a little envious.

At this point in time, Ijichi Hongxia and the others should be making final preparations in the rehearsal room, and there are still 15 minutes before the show starts.

Because [End Band] wasn't very famous before, I'm afraid only Yamada Ryo's former fans would come—

Because of his social anxiety, Goto Ichiri did not disclose the fact that he joined the band on the Guitar Hero account, and naturally, Iruma, Sanqiu, Jiulin, and Jiumono Hachihiko also kept it secret.

So today's performance, especially the band's closing performance, had a few people coming.

Including Hibiki Iruma, there are only about a dozen people.

Looking at the dark stage, at this moment, Iruma Hibiki was just as nervous as Ijichi Kouka who was about to go on stage. He was also looking forward to it.

After all, this show is Goto Ichiri's show.

It's a performance related to him.

What could it be?

Iruma Hibiki actually thought about this.

But no matter how he predicted, he could not see the answer today.

Until the sound check and lighting tests began on the stage.

"It's about to begin."

Chihaya Aine suddenly said.

"Eh? Is it about to start?!"

On the other hand, Shoko Toyokawa was a little surprised and looked surprised.

"After adjusting the lighting, the musicians will be on stage in just a few minutes."

Chihaya Aine explains common knowledge about livehouses to Toyokawa Shoko.

Behind the three of them, Nagasaki Suyo was standing there with her head down and a gloomy look on her face. She wanted to go up and talk to them, but the front of the stage where Iruma Hibiki and the others were was blocked by several people behind them, so Nagasaki Suyo couldn't get through at all.

As for making a sound to attract attention over there——

At least at this moment, Nagasaki Suyo had no intention of embarrassing herself here.

Just when she made up her mind and wanted to go up and say hello, Ichichi Hongxia came on stage.

"Cough cough..."

Afterwards, as soon as she came on stage, during the initial self-introduction session, Ijichi Hongxia made some small mistakes. She coughed twice when her throat became hoarse.

"yeah--"

And Toyokawa Shoko, who was standing next to Iruma Hibiki, seemed completely unaware that it was a mistake, and became the only person in the audience who cheered while holding up her light blue glow stick.

So much so that when faced with such a situation, Chihaya Aine even used her eyes to confirm with Iruma Hibiki. If translated into a conversation, it would probably be -

【How is this going? 】

【That's what Toyokawa-san is like.】

[Huh?]

【Anyway, let's just cheer together.】

Putting aside this little episode, the condition of the closing band on stage was actually far from good. Ijichi Hongxia's self-introduction before the opening was quite good.

Yamada Ryo was busy playing the bass.

As for Goto Ichiri——

Hibiki Iruma was relieved that she didn't perform in a trash can or a cardboard box, but was actually standing on the stage, but——

No matter how he looked at it, Goto Ichiri didn't possess courage at the moment.

But completely lost consciousness.

No way……

A terrible idea was born in Hibiki Iruma's mind.