Iruma-san wants to win the Akutagawa Prize

"Forget about the piano. I've never touched it before."

Hibiki Iruma rejected Shoko Toyokawa's invitation.

“But there are songs I want to sing.”

Then he spoke softly.

42 I want to hear you tell lies forever

[Anonymous]: I don't dislike it, but are Guitar Hero and Iruma Rengen always rehashing old stuff lately?

[Anonymous]: The person above, please think about this again. Organize your words before speaking.

[Anonymous]: I'm very sorry, I just have some complaints about the update speed of Guitar Hero and Iruma Rengen-sensei. After letting me listen to stuff like that, I feel like ants are crawling all over my body since there haven't been any new updates for so long.

[Anonymous]: By the way, have you seen Guitar Hero’s performance at Fanxing?

[Anonymous]: When?

[Anonymous]: It should be updated soon.

The chat under the Guitar Hero account started to get a little heated.

The general reason was that a few minutes ago, Goto Ichiri planned to record this performance. Although she was a little shy and did not dare to show her face on the Internet, she still chose to post this version of "Godknows" on the Internet after removing her head, and tagged Iruma Hibiki.

Hibiki Iruma has disappeared.

He has not appeared since he ran away from the performance, and cannot be contacted either in real life or online.

Although Ijichi Hongxia told everyone not to worry, she was actually the most worried.

"Did my song get across well?"

Goto Ichiri muttered to himself, and after editing the video, he clicked send.

Then she looked at Liu Ling⑵ on the screen in a daze for a long time, without any movement.

Such a performance with a silent clip of more than ten seconds gradually spread on the Internet, and then caused another sensation.

Although all the members inside had their faces covered, including the shouting Hibiki Iruma.

However, this did not detract from the quality of the show at all.

It was the perfect gig.

Even the blank parts are the broken arms of Venus.

-

【Iruma-sensei didn't show up in the band.】

[That lead guitar position belongs to Mr. Iruma, right?]

[Ah… What a pity…]

[I'm crying after hearing this. Help... Such a painful version...]

……

Soon, dozens of comments appeared under Goto Ichiri's video.

Goto Ichiri just clicked the mouse, scrolling from top to bottom, and then scrolling back after reaching the bottom.

She doesn't know what she's doing.

After regaining consciousness after the performance and returning home, she has remained in this state ever since.

It was as if his entire soul had been poured out at that moment, and all that was left was the empty shell of Goto Ichiri.

Iruma-san, has anyone arrived yet?

At this moment, the only remaining thoughts and emotions in her heart were probably worries about this issue.

She was waiting for Hibiki Iruma's response.

Ding--

As night fell, Goto Ichiri's special attention suddenly lit up. In an instant, she completed a series of actions with a difficulty coefficient of 9.0, including standing up excitedly, hitting the ceiling of the closet, crawling on the ground like a turtle with her head covered, and crawling in front of the computer like Kayako.

This is a song about another world that I created with the help of my friend Shoko Toyokawa, the keyboardist for Crychic, a band I'm planning to join in the future. The song is called "Give Me an Eternal Lie."

I wonder—Iruma-san has also found his own band.

When he saw the title, Goto Ichiri was not particularly surprised.

She knew it.

Even though she stubbornly took the position of rhythm guitar and lead vocals, her inner wish for Hibiki Iruma to stand on the stage with her was a delusion that only considered herself and was not gentle at all.

It's just part of the dream.

Iruma Hibiki, of course, has a better place to go.

He will not stop, but he will not stay where he was.

And she, ultimately, is the lead guitarist who ends the band.

as well as--

【Toyokawa Shoko】

It's not [Guitar Hero] or [Goto Ichiri] but [Toyokawa Shoko].

Even though she may have known the answer long ago, this performance was just her shouting to herself, with a romantic tone of "I like you, what does it have to do with you?"

But when he saw that unfamiliar name, Goto Ichiri couldn't help but feel a little...

sad.

Then she clicked on the video.

Completely different from the performance video she released, the video released together by Toyokawa Shoko and Iruma Hibiki showed both of their faces openly.

Shoko Toyokawa sat down at the piano.

And Iruma Hibiki——

There was a mobile phone placed in front of Hibiki Iruma, with the picture of the performance among the stars on it. He didn't hold the guitar, but faced the picture, pretending to hold an air guitar.

This was Hibiki Iruma's response.

Then a ballad with a sense of age and an unusually simple melody sounded—

I heard it's snowing lightly in New York, and I'm not sure if I can still catch my flight from Narita. I think I can definitely go if I ask a friend nearby to borrow some. It's just New York.

【but--】

[I just want to hear a lie that will never be broken. Today, I am drunk in this city as usual. I want to hear a lie that will never be broken. I want to hear——]

Our journey is still on the way.

At Ijichi's house, in her room, Ijichi Kouka opened Iruma Hibiki's update with a smile. She wanted to know Iruma Hibiki's response, wanted to know that he was fine, and was determined to move forward.

When she opened it and saw Crychic in the title, she thought:

As expected of Iruma, the name of the new band is very nice, much better than the joke of ending the band.

Then, the music starts.

Iruma Hibiki's expression made her laugh.

Facing the stage, pretend you have a guitar and are strumming it.

If you think that way, you should just rush onto the stage at that time.

Ichichi Hongxia thought quietly.

Then——

Her smile faded as the song shifted from New York to lies.

Hibiki Iruma's voice is very unique. It is very penetrating when singing and has an inexplicable sense of immaturity and maturity. It is actually a bit subtle to have such conflicting characteristics in one person.

Plus, he seems to be strumming a guitar.

[I want you to tell a lie that will never be broken, and never tell me the truth.]

The music continues.

[I want you to tell a lie that will never be broken, and I want you to say that all this is because you love me.]

Ijichi Hongka's smile disappeared. She could no longer face the figure of Iruma Hibiki, who looked a little funny, on the screen. She wanted to press the pause button and calm herself down before listening.

But what happened faster than all this was the sour emotions that kept surging in my heart.

Ijichi Hongxia didn't hear a few words of the subsequent lyrics, and when she came to her senses, a short while had passed.

[I want you to be a lie that will never be broken—isn't it you? The one who once showed us our dreams?]

[The severely wounded beasts used up all their strength, baring their fangs and trying to continue the fight.]

"Go away! I don't need you!" He used up his last bit of strength to weave a lie.

Then lie, use lies to replace the sadness of separation, use lies to replace the embarrassing reality. Even if he repeatedly asks you "why", you must shake him off. You must be as free and easy as the wind, because people always want to hear the answer from their hearts, and they will not give up if they don't hear it.

[You, I want you to tell lies forever, and never reveal the truth behind them at any time.]

"what--"

Ijichi Nikka, with her head hanging on her knees, cried a little as Iruma Hibiki sang.

At the door, Yidizhi Xingge lowered his head slightly, at a loss.

I want you to keep telling me this lie that will never be broken: "No encounter is undeserved, no fate is wrong." I want you to say this with a smile.

Iruma Hibiki's air guitar ended.

He was like Don Quixote.

He charged towards the monster in his eyes.

He is not a knight, but a knight.

The monster is also a windmill.

Everything in the past then dissipated in the wind.

43 Does Su Shi like me as much as I like you?

On February 2007, 2, a faint blue light shone from a small window in an alley in the suburbs of Shanghai. Just after 16 o'clock, the young Hibiki Iruma was tucked into bed by his mother. Then the lights in the room were turned off, leaving only the TV at the lowest volume playing a Korean drama with a somewhat melodramatic plot.

The soft sound of cracking melon seeds mixed with the faint conversation on the TV always served as a lullaby before he fell asleep. However, he was not honest at that time. He pretended to be asleep, then secretly poked half of his head out from the side of the quilt, staring at the incomprehensible plot playing on the TV with his eyes bright and alert.

-

Sunday, early morning.

Hibiki Iruma woke up in an unfamiliar room.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the gorgeous chandelier.

He had a dream from a long time ago, and he felt a little nostalgic, but that was a past that he could never go back to, so he was in a slightly depressed mood early in the morning.

He opened his phone and the private messages on his account had already exploded.

Crychic's first meeting was today, but yesterday's events were still piling up, causing Hibiki Iruma to sigh slightly.

Or rather—

Thanks to Shoko Toyokawa.

After tidying up his appearance a little, Hibiki Iruma finished washing up in the large guest room of Toyokawa Residence. It then took him 15 minutes to walk through the corridor and garden to the front hall.

Toyokawa Shoko had woken up and was standing there in beautiful and elegant casual clothes, as if she had been waiting for a long time.

"Good morning, Iruma-san."

"Ah, good morning. I caused you quite a bit of trouble yesterday, Toyokawa-san."

The so-called check-in was actually only half-hearted.

Iruma Hibiki's original intention was to go home, but Toyokawa Shoko——

She's a crazy woman.

Iruma Hibiki can be sure, absolutely and positively about this matter.