Chapter Twenty-Five: Ichiri's Strongest Emotion / Chapter Twenty-Six: Before Waking Up (Happy Birthday, Yuyuko~)

After a brief hesitation, she started the next song.

She turned the volume up to the maximum.

"Eeeaaahhhhhh—"

This day was Saint Gotou's day of suffering.

So when Ryo opened the door and came in, she wore an expression that clearly said, "You're taking this a little too far." Naturally, she hadn't come to fight for Ichiri's human rights. She had her own way of helping Ichiri find inspiration.

"This is the composition for the new song." She handed over a USB drive.

"Didn't you say it wasn't finished yet?" Shiko asked.

"It was basically complete already. I just polished it a little more," Ryo replied. "Bocchi, give it a listen. You should be able to find some inspiration."

Shiko understood and took it, pausing the music playing on the computer. She turned to look at Ichiri. Ichiri had already become completely indifferent to everything.

"How's it working?" Although Shiko admitted that she was being a little mean, her fundamental purpose was, of course, still to help with the new song.

"..." Ichiri took a while to respond. "It really seems to work... I want to curse, curse every normie... Hehehe..."

"Hehehe... The world should be destroyed... You don't need to tie me up anymore. I'll do it myself..."

Seeing Ichiri like this, Shiko grew worried instead. "Are you all right? Did I go too far? How am I supposed to make amends?"

"She's always like this." Ryo didn't seem bothered. "As a halftime break, listen to mine first."

"It's a masterpiece..." After hearing Ryo's composition, Ichiri was so moved that she nearly melted.

Shiko moved closer to Ryo, her expression tense. "I really did go too far, didn't I?"

"It's only because my music is a masterpiece to begin with." Ryo became even more smug.

"If I broke her, I'll hang myself right here." Shiko looked close to tears.

Ryo glanced at Shiko. "Don't let her infect you."

Ryo's composition really did have a major effect. With the help of the barrage of youth-oriented music, Ichiri slowly regained her confidence.

"Ryo-san, what do you think about when you compose?" Ichiri looked at Ryo.

Ryo's answer was simple. "I compose my own music."

After confirming several times that Ichiri had truly returned to normal, Ryo and Shiko left the room.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Ichiri's Strongest Emotion

Ichiri looked at the screen. Next, she would have to punish herself. After enduring this torment, she had indeed recovered a little of her former state, and some words had begun to form in her mind. So there was no helping it. For inspiration... She clicked the mouse, but clicked the wrong place. Instead of playing one of the songs within the range Shiko had selected for her, it began playing a song by another band...

The band seemed vaguely familiar to Ichiri. She remembered Shiko mentioning them before. They were apparently called "Pastel*Palettes." She also remembered the sparkling look in Shiko's eyes whenever she mentioned them, something extremely rare for Shiko. She must really like this band.

She continued listening. They were an idol band... Every member played an instrument, and their guitar and drums were especially impressive.

Still, since they were idols signed to a management company... Based on Ichiri's understanding, their songs should have been provided by the company, right? Songs like that tended to cater to current trends. Ryo-san probably wouldn't like music that catered to trends... But Shiko loved them, and her eyes shone every time she mentioned them... No, that was wrong. Her feelings toward Shiko couldn't affect this. She had already decided to write her own lyrics. She wasn't particularly interested in mainstream music either, although she often played it herself as Guitar Hero... But... She kept listening. The lead singer's voice blended perfectly with the bass, guitar, keyboard, and drums, as if they were one. In Pastel*Palettes' music, she heard their bond and their happiness. The band's pure emotions gradually infected her.

Although the music had been provided by their management company, the feelings they had while performing were genuine...

The resentment Ichiri had painstakingly built up toward bands that followed trends actually began to dissipate.

Meanwhile, Ryo and Shiko were discussing the band.

"About the band I mentioned last time..."

"Pastel*Palettes? I've heard them live a few times." Ryo nodded.

"How were they? How were they?" Shiko's idol-otaku spirit began acting up again, and her sudden approach made Ryo uncomfortable too.

Ryo organized her thoughts. "Although I'm not particularly interested in idols, I can tell that they're genuinely playing seriously. I don't hate serious people, at least."

Before Shiko could react, she felt a vague glare strike her from behind.

She turned around. Nijika was standing there. At the meeting, Nijika had firmly opposed Shiko's proposal. After all, she didn't want to pressure Bocchi, and she had always felt that Shiko's motives were somewhat questionable. In the end, however, Shiko had guaranteed to them, as Ichiri's Best Friend, that she had thoroughly considered the plan she proposed, and the plan had barely passed. But now, seeing Bocchi like this, Nijika was astonished by how foolish she had been back then. Still, what was done was done, and it seemed to have had some effect. She should complain less and pay more attention to Bocchi's physical and mental health.

When she pushed open the backstage door, she was surprised to find someone else there. Kita was sitting beside Bocchi, her eyes sparkling as she stared at her intently. Bocchi, meanwhile, wasn't looking at the computer. She was merely staring blankly.

"What's wrong?" Nijika crouched down and quietly asked Kita.

"I don't know. She's been like this for a long time." Kita shook her head.

"Then you..."

"I'm trying to understand Gotou-san." Kita seemed to be glowing all over. "I couldn't help this time because I still don't understand Gotou-san well enough! As long as I keep observing her, understanding her, and entering her life, I'll definitely be able to help her next time!"

The two girls' whispers reached Bocchi's ears. She suddenly felt a force of extroversion even more dazzling than those youth-oriented songs. She raised her head, afraid to look directly at Kita-san's sunlike radiance. This change reminded Nijika of why she had come here. She stood up, looked left and right, sniffed carefully, then touched Bocchi's forehead to check her condition.

Bocchi felt terribly uncomfortable and was inexplicably struck by several more rays of starlight. "W-What are you doing?" she asked cautiously.

"Bocchi, it's all right even if you can't find inspiration. You really don't need to force yourself to look at things you can't accept." Nijika grabbed Bocchi by the shoulders and earnestly tried to persuade her.

"Ah." Ichiri understood. This was precisely what had been troubling her. "Actually, even after listening to so many youth-oriented songs, I still haven't found much inspiration..." She buried her face in her arms, about to sink back into her world of self-pity.

Nijika looked at her helplessly. "Although I've never written lyrics... since your strongest original emotion has faded, why can't you focus on whatever emotion is strongest in you now?"

Ichiri trembled violently, as if she had suddenly understood.

Seeing that her words had worked, Nijika quietly led Kita away so they wouldn't disturb her. First, she had to discipline Little Shiko.

Nijika's final words continued echoing in Ichiri's mind.

What... is my strongest emotion right now? Ichiri thought of the two things most important to her: Shiko and the band.

Could it be... writing a song for Shiko... No, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not! Shiko had written several songs for her, so logically, she should write one for Shiko too. But if she did that in a band composition, wouldn't it be like—something? I-I-I-I'm not that kind of person...

Ichiri's face flushed scarlet as her own fantasies stirred her up. She shook her head desperately, finally throwing the increasingly out-of-control fantasies out of her mind.

Then, the band... The band... Ichiri gradually calmed down. Another similar emotion, but one directed more broadly, slowly filled her heart. The band. That was right. The band was the first group to accept her, and her second home outside her family.

It was just like this.

Little Nijika wanted to care about me.

Kita-san wanted to understand me.

Ryo-san was helping me with the fruits of her own efforts.

Although our personalities and interests were different, everyone was helping me in their own way whenever I was in trouble! That would have been almost unimaginable before. In elementary and middle school, whenever she encountered difficulties, she could only endure them alone. If she really couldn't manage, she could only seek help from a teacher. After entering high school, she had Shiko by her side, but Shiko had been much the same as her back then, and could only listen to many of her troubles. But now, she had companions who could not only listen to her, but understand and help her.

I'm no longer alone!

The corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted.

"I've got inspiration!" Bocchi shouted from the empty backstage at a volume she should never have been capable of producing.

That evening, everyone gathered outside the backstage door.

Ichiri stood at the entrance and handed over the finished work she had written.

Kita took it first.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Before Waking Up (Happy Birthday, Yuyuko~)

That day, just as Ikuyo Kita was about to flee Starry, it was the most introverted Gotou-san who stopped her.

Kita had naturally possessed many friends since childhood. Her cheerful personality, cute appearance, and excellent social skills allowed her to thrive in life. She even managed to maintain a normal level in her studies. Without a doubt, she was someone everyone envied.

But was this really all right? This question had always lingered in the depths of Kita's heart. Was simply and naturally walking along the path of an "ordinary" and "normal" life really what she wanted?

It wasn't that she disliked spending time with her friends. Nor did she have any complaints about her current life. But whenever she read interviews with freelancers, she always wondered: What kind of scenery existed beyond the "ordinary"? Would she ever be able to see it with her own eyes?

So when she saw that blue figure on the street, seeming to exist outside the mortal world, she was deeply drawn to her.

By the time she turned around, she had already spent two years' worth of allowance and New Year's money on a "guitar"—though she only discovered later that it was a multi-string bass.

But it was only after truly joining the band Ryo-san belonged to that she realized how impulsive she had been. No matter how much she practiced, she couldn't catch up with her seniors, and her lies had caused trouble for everyone... Was someone like her really qualified to stand on the same stage as the senpai she admired?

"You are!" It was Gotou-san who told her that at the time.

She opened the lyric notebook Gotou-san had handed her.

"Wow, that's heavy." Ryo bluntly gave her impression.

"Er... it is a little..." Nijika didn't want to hurt Bocchi's feelings, but she really couldn't find a better description.

"As expected... is it too heavy...?" Ichiri lowered her head.

For Ichiri, who had experienced seventeen years of loneliness, what was Kessoku Band?

She had played alone for so long. She had hidden behind a computer screen for so long. This was the first time she had a nickname, the first time someone needed her to take the stage, the first time she had companions who belonged to the same group. Everyone coordinated with her, and she coordinated with everyone else, completing song after song together. They even called someone like her a "friend," and helped her whenever she was in trouble...

Could she really be this happy? Or was this merely a dream?

If this was only a dream, Ichiri hoped she would never wake up. No—she couldn't wake up. She would continue dreaming this fantasy called "Kessoku Band" forever and ever. Nothing could interrupt it. Even if something did, she would turn over, force her own mind to return to that dreamland, and go back to sleep!

These were the lyrics Ichiri now wanted to write, the emotions she wanted to convey! The magma suppressed in her heart erupted all at once, burning through every inch of her body and controlling her hand as she wrote line after line.

Words like these surely couldn't be accepted. Everyone else shone so brightly. Could they endure her dark, heavy emotions?

"It's so heavy... but I'm happy, Gotou-san."

Kita smiled.

Since coming to this world, she had been able to see everyone's efforts. Whether in the band or in battle, Kita stayed by everyone's side, making it easy for her to notice the traces of effort they showed openly and concealed.

But she couldn't work as hard as they did. Once, she had wanted to put in more effort, because she lived among this group and needed to work at least a little if everyone else was working hard. But that external motivation was far from enough.

Musically, she was still the least skilled member of the band. But so what? There wasn't even an audience to judge her. In the dark corner of her heart, that thought had always lingered. Ichiri had mentioned once that she had decided to pursue music professionally, so it was only natural for her to work hard. Ryo simply loved music. As for Nijika—Kita seemed to remember hearing that Nijika had an unfulfilled dream in the real world, one related to the band, so she too had to keep working hard.

But Kita couldn't find any of those motivations within herself. Why had she joined the band? To do things together with everyone—that was one reason, and she was doing that every day now. She wanted to form a bond beyond friendship and romance, and through their long life together, she had indeed begun to feel that way. Most importantly, she wanted to leave the path of the "ordinary" and have a different life. That had already come true the first time she opened her eyes in the wilderness.

Then what about battle? Their battle formation had gradually settled into a routine, and with Miss Niiki as a safety net, injuries were rare. The fear and unease she had once felt when going out to hunt had gradually been replaced by familiarity. It seemed there was nothing left that required her effort.

Then what was she supposed to work hard for?

Everyone said she was the most dazzling person of all. Even CiRCLE's nickname for her was "KIRAKIRA." But Kita knew that she was no longer like that.

There was nothing dazzling about her.

Watching everyone else work hard, Kita could only wander in confusion, trying to find her own direction.

At that moment, Gotou-san showed her, through her passionate lyrics, the deep and intense emotions in her heart.

Only then did Kita suddenly realize what she meant to Gotou-san. No—not just herself. In Gotou-san's eyes, the entire Kessoku Band must also possess colors completely different from those in her own perspective.

And Ikuyo Kita was Kessoku Band's vocalist.

"Gotou-san." Kita raised her head, tears glimmering in her eyes.

"I'll definitely work hard and become a vocalist capable of returning these feelings to you!"

Once again, it was Gotou-san who gave her the motivation to move forward.

Hearing those words, Ichiri raised her head. Kita radiated light from head to toe, but that radiance didn't hurt her eyes.

"It is heavy, but I can understand Bocchi's feelings too!" Nijika smiled. "After all, I'm Kessoku Band's leader!"

"It's not impossible to understand." Ryo also approved of the lyrics.

My lyrics succeeded! This sentence spun around in Ichiri's mind. She smiled without realizing it. She felt she ought to say something, but nothing came out.

There was, however, one person who reacted differently.

Shiko looked at the lyrics. She read them again and again, staring each time at the title written at the very top:

Before Waking Up

Shiko's grip on the pages tightened and tightened, almost to the point of trembling.

"...No."

Shiko's pained, trembling voice shattered the beautiful atmosphere.

Everyone looked at Shiko, who was holding the notebook. She didn't seem to realize that her entire body had gone rigid, her pupils had shrunk violently, and she was murmuring unconsciously.

"...No... What is this...?"

She raised her head and looked at everyone, yet seemed to be looking at no one in particular. "What about That Band?"

Shiko's voice was too soft, and no one heard her clearly.