Why play in a band if not for life?

If you're not forming a band for life, what are you even playing music for?

Author: A Piece of Red Leaf

Synopsis:

[Contains major plot developments, but the emotional arc remains the primary focus]

"If you're going to form a band, you need to be prepared to commit to it for a lifetime," declared Shiko, the keyboardist of Kessoku Band.

"R-really?" Ryo Yamada broke out in a cold sweat.

"Isn't that what bands are all about?" Ikuyo Kita said nonchalantly.

"Of course... Shiko already promised me..." Hitori Goto said with a silly grin.

"Kessoku Band members really have great chemistry~" Kasumi Toyama couldn't help but sigh.

"That's beyond abnormal!" Arisa Ichigaya's skin crawled.

"Eh~ Don't you want to be in Poppin'Party for life, Arisa?"

While the others were making noise, Sayo Hikawa was quietly preparing for their upcoming performance. However, Hina kept bothering her, preventing her from finding any peace.

The members of RAS, having just finished their performance, walked off stage. Next up was Kessoku Band.

Among the audience members were Karen Aijo and others.

Shiko took a deep breath and placed her hands on the keyboard.

"The audience is all waiting."

"Then, in the name of the stars--"

Her fingers fell.

She played the first note for the eternity that was about to begin.

Chapter 1: A Step Towards Each Other

She fell from a high tower, the sun obscured by dust, the wind howling with grit.

All she could hear was the hollow sound of the wind. The light from above grew farther and farther away.

When would she reach the bottom?

Perhaps the next moment, perhaps a long time from now, perhaps never.

A hand reached out and grabbed her.

Ten hands grabbed her.

A hundred hands grabbed her.

Those hands caught her, embraced her, and became her refuge in this abyss of uncertainty.

She sat up abruptly, only to be overcome by the chill of early spring and quickly retreated back under the covers. It was then that she realized her body could move again.

Her eyes could see again. She was looking at the ceiling.

A strange ceiling.

Huh? Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

Five minutes later, she stood in front of a full-length mirror, staring blankly at her reflection. A girl with long gray hair, amber eyes, delicate skin, and a slightly gloomy aura, but overall still quite cute.

But it definitely wasn't her.

Had she transmigrated?

She pinched her cheek. It hurt.

She had transmigrated.

The doubt lasted only a second.

Then a tsunami of ecstasy and happiness proved everything to her. Like her ancestors, she jumped up from the bed and yelled and rolled around the room for no reason. Reason was temporarily replaced by boiling emotions, and she let the excitement control her until she could calm down a little, lying on the bed and carefully observing her hands, the ceiling, the blanket, the floor, the bookshelf, and everything around her.

She had transmigrated.

She had transmigrated.

It was a new beginning.

She stood up.

The books around her were all written in kana. This must be Japan. If she transmigrated here, then...

"(This is the anime world...)" Her hand brushed over the covers of the books, finally stopping at the iron bars by the window.

The sunlight was too dazzling, so she squinted. Outside the window was the early morning sky. Of course, it wasn't bluer than the third dimension, but it had a special feeling.

Hiss... Could it really be a little bluer?

Wow, even though that's not what I meant, this kind of thought feels so rare. Good thing I didn't say it out loud.

She turned around, scanning the room again and again, checking each item. As she did this, she vaguely recalled some things about the original owner. The original owner lived simply, and the room wasn't large, only slightly more spacious than a college dorm. Except for a painting of a wolf, there wasn't much decoration, and it didn't look like a deliberate minimalist arrangement, just a pure lack of interest in decorating. A few books were scattered on the desk, and along with the school bag thrown on the windowsill, it gave off the atmosphere of "I finally finished my exams, so I'll never open a book again." However, she still picked up a book and opened it. The title page had three Chinese characters:

Shiko

It seems like she's Chinese. She thought. But the name is a bit strange; it might be a product of combining the original naming conventions with local customs.

Shiko Wu had taught herself Japanese, which made her subsequent investigation easier. More memory fragments gradually surfaced in her mind. The original owner seemed to have only moved here recently and was about to start high school. She didn't have any special talents, but her studies were decent. She was an ordinary person. Whether her parents were around was unknown, but according to the tropes of transmigration novels, they usually didn't need to be considered. Her financial situation was not a concern for now. In her memories, the original owner's biggest worry was the upcoming school year.

She didn't want to meet new classmates.

She didn't want to socialize.

Ahaha, just like me. Shiko Wu gave a wry smile, immediately feeling an inexplicable closeness to this original owner.

However, the high school she was going to was called... Shuka High School? That sounds a little familiar—Ah! Bocchi-chan's school!

Shuka High School, the school from Bocchi the Rock!, also the alma mater of the protagonist Hitori Goto, nicknamed Bocchi-chan.

She quickly found her computer, turned it on, and went online to search. After a brief period of learning and adapting to the input method, she laboriously found Bocchi-chan's "Guitar Hero" account.

Clicking on a video, she immediately saw a familiar guitar and pink hair. It was definitely not cosplay; the superb guitar skills in the video were genuine, far beyond the level of ordinary imitation.

"It's real..."

I wonder if I'll meet her...

Shiko Wu's face unconsciously moved closer and closer to the screen.

She clenched her fist. "I want to meet her!" Not just Bocchi-chan, but she also wanted to meet the other members of Kessoku Band!

"Then, let's start over, learn music!" She not only wanted to learn an instrument but also to compose. She didn't want to be a plagiarist like the usual transmigration novel protagonists; she wanted to compose her own music.

As an idol otaku, she naturally wanted to buy an instrument similar to the one her favorite band girls used. After confirming her current savings, she searched her memory diligently and slowly typed the name on the keyboard.

A few minutes later, she exclaimed at the online shopping website: "So expensive!"

And so, amidst music textbooks, coffee, and takeout boxes, the brief spring break passed.

Spring arrived, all things revived, and it was time for... ah, not starting school.

"So there's this on the way..." Shiko Wu, obediently wearing her school uniform, looked around the train station like a country girl who had just arrived in the city. She had been transmigrated for so long, but she had never been here before.

The train door closed behind her. It was her first time riding a train.

It was actually just like that, similar to the subway, and even more troublesome.

After getting off the train and walking a bit, she arrived at the entrance of Shuka High School.

High school.

Just like any ordinary high school's back-to-school season, there was a spacious gate, welcome signs for new students, and noisy students rushing in.

Fallen cherry blossoms fluttered, the sun shone brightly, possessing the unique gentleness and vitality of spring, making one feel refreshed just looking at it... Not!

High school, high school! The nightmarish word sent a shiver down her spine. She shook her head, driving memories of endless rolling and such out of her mind, and walked towards the crowd. There seemed to be a notice board over there. "The class assignment list... it should be over there..."

A noisy crowd of students had already gathered in front of the class assignment list, forming an invisible barrier that blocked Shiko Wu. But standing at the back, she couldn't see anything. Shiko Wu had to resist this pressure and move closer to the outer edge of the crowd.

"Excuse me, excuse me..." Speaking in her still-unskilled language, Shiko Wu stopped behind the crowd, stood on tiptoe, and barely managed to search for her name through the gaps in the crowd. "Shiko Wu, Shiko Wu... Ah, here it is. Then my classmates..." Shiko Wu's heart suddenly pounded. According to the usual pattern, she should be in the same class as Bocchi-chan—

She saw a name.

And then, the new student saw a peculiar sight—

Shiko Wu, with her hands raised high, was leaping along with the cherry blossom petals. (Note 1)

"Wooo—"

Although no one turned their heads, she felt as if everyone was staring at her. Feeling a flush of heat rise to her cheeks, she ran to a deserted corner. As soon as she got there, she began to vent her emotions.

"Wooo—Wooo—Bocchi-chan—Wooo—" She spun in place, waving her fists, cheering meaninglessly.

"Huh?"

Shiko Wu turned around in surprise and saw a girl with pink hair, wearing pink sportswear and carrying a guitar case, staring at her blankly.

It's Bocchi-chan.

Shiko Wu's mind went blank for a moment.

Turned around.

Ran away.

Another entry was added to her mental history of embarrassing moments, congratulations.

The first class of high school life ended.

The high school classroom was very similar to middle school, as were the environment and atmosphere... Hitori Goto tried hard to remember everyone's names during her self-introduction but failed. As for her own self-introduction, it was best to forget it quickly. However, she did remember the name of the person sitting next to her—Shiko Wu, who was an exchange student and thus more likely to attract attention.

When class ended, Ichiri secretly glanced at Shiko Wu. It was only the first day of school, and many people in the class were already chatting familiarly. Who knew how they had gotten to know each other. Only she and the person next to her were slumped over their desks, not interacting with anyone. As for herself, she took out a music magazine and flipped through it, half naturally and half deliberately displaying the cover.

"(Won't someone talk to me...)" Thinking these thoughts, she couldn't focus on the magazine's content at all.

After looking for a while, she secretly glanced again. "(I think I've seen her before, where was it?)"

Shiko Wu secretly glanced at the person next to her. "(She's so cute, Bocchi-chan... No, I can't help it... Just one more look...)"

Suddenly, she sensed something and turned her head, meeting Bocchi-chan's timid gaze.

Both of them quickly looked away.

They didn't look at each other again that morning.

Lunch break.

"Hey, want to share my bento?"

"Sure, sure."

The classmates had already started forming cliques. The speed at which normies make friends is always incredible.

Shiko naturally took out two sandwiches from her bag and left the classroom.

I heard that eating alone in the classroom can lead to bullying. Although the background characters in anime are usually kind, it's better to find a corner without drawing anyone's attention.

It's hard to find a secluded corner on such a bright spring day, let alone compete with someone who is extremely familiar with the process of eating alone.

"Ah." "Ah."

At the stairwell corner, she bumped into a mass of pink hair.

"Sorry." Shiko bowed deeply and quickly ran away. However, the next second, her head peeked out from the corner again. She didn't dare to look directly at Hitori, nor could she look anywhere else, so she could only stammer confusedly, swaying left and right: "Th-that..."

"Please... please speak..." Hitori's mind had already concocted a whole scenario. Did she accidentally occupy some club's activity area? Would it be better to leave right now...?

Shiko finally gathered her courage and blurted it out: "Are you... Guitar Hero?!"

"Eh, eh?"

What did she say?

Hitori almost dropped her lunchbox, barely managing to catch it: "I, I, uh, no, that's not it, um... Ah, ahh..."

I can't believe a fan recognized me. Is my fame really that widespread? After years of practice, it's finally paying off. I'm about to become a rock superstar, marry a rich and beautiful woman, and reach the pinnacle of life...

"Uh... Boc- Bocchi-chan..."

No, no, no. I've been maintaining a normie persona online. If she finds out that "that Guitar Hero" is such a gloomy person, will she be disappointed and unfollow me? Then the news will spread like wildfire, and I might face a backlash. Everything will be ruined...

Shiko had witnessed firsthand how expressive human faces could be. One moment Hitori's face was beaming with pride, and the next she looked like she had lost all hope in life. Startled, Shiko quickly dropped the sandwich she had unknowingly crushed and rushed forward to support her, shaking her desperately.