Chapter Twenty-Nine: Goodbye, Miss Niiki

To be honest, she hadn't sung this song very well. After all, she had never sung in front of anyone before, nor had she systematically studied vocal music.

Still—

"How was it?" Everyone looked at Shiko expectantly.

Shiko wiped away her tears again. She raised her head and looked at Kita, Nijika, Ichiri, and Ryo.

The tears simply wouldn't stop. She had no idea she could shed so many.

But it didn't matter.

It was wonderful that she could still cry.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Shiko was already sobbing too hard to speak clearly.

Nijika walked over and gently embraced her.

"Kessoku Band... It's still Kessoku Band..." Her words were incoherent.

Nijika stroked Shiko's head. "We've always been Kessoku Band."

Shiko stood up.

"Thank you... I... I love Kessoku Band the most..." She cried, she smiled, and she cried and smiled at the same time, making everyone laugh.

"This version of the lyrics is great too. We might as well have two versions of the lyrics for this song," Ryo suggested.

"Is that really okay?" Nijika still had some reservations.

Ryo remained perfectly calm. "What does it matter? They were written by us in another world line anyway. We can just consider them something we wrote."

"Please do!" Shiko nodded desperately. Of course she agreed.

And so, that was how it was decided.

"Still, I find it kind of hard to understand. I'm actually a character in a story or something?" Kita's expression didn't look nearly as troubled as her words suggested.

Shiko had more or less regained control of her emotions. "It's fine. I'm probably a character in some trashy fanfic too. Maybe even the protagonist or something."

Kita looked at Shiko enviously. "Ehh~ I want to be the protagonist too. Am I the protagonist?"

"It's definitely me." Ryo was inexplicably confident.

"No, it's Ichiri."

"Me?" Ichiri suddenly floated with pride. "Hehe... I'm the protagonist..."

"What about me?" Marina asked expectantly.

"Miss Marina, you don't count as a main character, but you're pretty important too."

"What about me? What about me?" When Niiki asked, she saw Shiko fall silent for a long while.

Shiko suddenly put on a comforting smile. "...You're an original character, just like me!"

Miss Niiki crouched in the corner. "So I'm just an extra..." Marina comforted her beside her.

"So I think I understand why Little Shiko didn't want to join Kessoku Band." Looking at the two of them, Nijika asked Shiko, "Do you want to join now?"

Shiko shook her head. "I still can't accept it."

"All right." Nijika had been mentally prepared for that. "If you change your mind, you're always welcome. So, what should we do about the songs we were supposed to write afterward? We might not be able to write the songs you remember."

"You care this much about how I feel?" Shiko was somewhat surprised. "I'm already deeply moved that you were willing to hold this live for me."

"Of course." Nijika's smile remained as warm as ever. "Little Shiko, you're our companion."

Shiko raised an eyebrow and smiled as well.

"Then... I can't possibly remember all the sheet music either... I'll do my best to recreate them, as much as I can. But I hope they can still be performed under Kessoku Band's name."

Marina was still comforting Niiki. "Look on the bright side. Whether you're a character in the story or not, it doesn't make much difference now..." Shiko and Nijika watched the scene together.

Shiko still couldn't accept the changes. But she knew she could still work to preserve some things. The old joys wouldn't simply disappear. As long as her memories existed, she could bring them back. Then she could appreciate the new stages.

"...Actually, this version of the lyrics is pretty good too," she murmured.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Goodbye, Miss Niiki

"Kita-san, with footwork like that, it's easy to lose your balance. Watch me..."

"Yamada-san, that's too frequent. You're only providing support in this formation, so you'd better save some strength."

"Wu-san..."

Every day that Niiki fought alongside the others, she passed on everything she could. To be honest, she wasn't good at teaching people, but fortunately, both the teachers and the students took it seriously.

"They're coming!" A group of strange creatures with rotting wings of flesh, mosquito mouths, six mantis legs, and leopard tails dove toward the five of them from midair. Kita stood in front of everyone, folded her hands before her chest in prayer, and began silently reciting the prayer used by Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as recorded in the Book of Daniel. Soon, she entered a transcendent state, as if devout prayers from ancient times had traveled through the ages and merged with her voice. Kita ignited raging flames that enveloped all five of them. The fire could melt metal and stone, yet it couldn't harm a single hair on their bodies. Unable to slow down, the monsters charged straight in and immediately caught fire. Those at the front tried to scatter, but the ones behind crashed into them and sent them tumbling deeper into the flames. However, the fire still wasn't fierce enough. Before everything ended, the foremost creature was about to reach Kita! At that moment, Nijika took a step forward. Almost imperceptible light radiated from her arms, blocking the attack for Kita. With that momentary pause, Ryo reacted as well. She plucked a string, and although no sound came out, the monster horde was instantly crushed to the ground and turned to charcoal.

Niiki stood outside the ring of fire, silently watching the entire process.

During that battle, they had all skillfully used the skills they had developed. The most unique was Kita's fiery shield, which had originated from Niiki's instruction. She had once discovered by chance that performing certain mythologically themed actions could draw upon an unseen power, causing myths to manifest in whatever form she needed. Kita's Miracle Manifestation: Prayer of the Burning was a reproduction of the account in the Book of Daniel.

The special training for the five had continued for a long time. Besides teaching them combat techniques, Niiki had long since stopped directly supporting them. Instead, she had deliberately lured over large numbers of powerful wild monsters to strengthen their sustained combat ability. She had even dragged them out for night drills in the middle of the night—though of course, she never disturbed Marina.

Naturally, Shiko had done something similar long ago. Not long before, Kita had also sought her out and asked to act together at night.

"How did you know I go out at night?" The redness on Shiko's face was impossible to hide.

Kita's eyes sparkled. "A girl's intuition!"

"A girl's intuition is amazing..." Shiko awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Whatever. Come along if you want." She wasn't worried about Kita's safety. With her watching over her, and Kita not being weak herself, there was nothing to fear.

So when the midnight drill began, the other three were quite surprised by how practiced Shiko and Kita were. Only Niiki knew what was going on, but she said nothing.

They could now easily handle monster hordes they had once been able only to avoid. Their nighttime combat and emergency-response abilities were also sufficient for surviving when they were far from CiRCLE.

"They're strong enough." That night, Niiki stood on the rooftop. The evening breeze swept her purple hair across Marina's face.

"So you're leaving?" Marina took a step forward, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Niiki turned around. Her eyes were utterly calm... perhaps with only the slightest trace of reluctance.

She patted Marina's shoulder. "I've done what you wanted me to do. It's time for me to set out on my own path."

Marina's expression was calm. "I never asked you to do anything."

"I've always been able to guess what you were thinking," Niiki said. "Actually, if I happened to meet newcomers like you, I would have stayed a few extra days anyway."

"Besides, I didn't teach them much. I just arrived a few days earlier and had a little more experience. They could have figured those things out themselves."

Marina closed her eyes, then opened them again. Only helplessness remained in her gaze.

"...I understand."

"Waaahhh—Miss Niiki, don't go—" When the five brats learned the news, the scene became a complete uproar of tears and wails. Miss Niiki had lived with them for a long time, and they had long since developed a familial bond. With a blank expression, Niiki was dragged along by the red-haired and yellow-haired girls, wondering whether this scene seemed strangely familiar.

Ichiri, Shiko, and Ryo huddled in the corner, afraid to say anything. They rarely made friends, so they found farewells even harder to endure. But since Miss Niiki had already made up her mind, they felt even less able to shamelessly beg her to stay.

(Since Miss Niiki is leaving, there'll definitely be a farewell party.) Ichiri began to ponder. (Miss Niiki has done so much. At the very least, I have to... liven up the atmosphere at the farewell party!)

Ichiri shakily pulled a pair of gag glasses from somewhere. Before she could put them on, Shiko grabbed them.

Shiko looked utterly baffled. "Where did these come from?"

"F-from last time."

Shiko snapped her fingers, and the glasses, along with the party poppers and other items Ichiri had yet to take out, all vanished.

Another element was added to Ichiri's dejection.

That night's farewell party could hardly be called cheerful. Even Kita, normally the most talkative, was unusually quiet. Everyone else merely lowered their heads and ate. The food was delicious, and Marina had brought out her very best cooking, but no one had the heart to praise it, nor did anyone know what to say at a time like this.

(I really should tell a story that can make everyone laugh...) Feeling the weight of her responsibility, Ichiri was about to stand up.

She was pulled back down.

A strange, powerful pressure came from Shiko beside her. Ichiri didn't dare move and could only sit back down.

(But that story is so funny...)

No one noticed the small exchange between the two of them, and the atmosphere remained unchanged.

Niiki was troubled by the mood as well, but fortunately, she had long since grown accustomed to situations like this.

"By the way, do you know the story behind HOPE?" She looked around, starting a conversation.

"You mean..." Marina set down her wineglass. She normally didn't drink.

Everyone from Kessoku Band leaned closer to listen.

"It was the last song our band ever made."

"Our band aimed to debut and had always held itself to professional standards. But no matter how hard some people tried, they could never catch up... The atmosphere in the band grew increasingly oppressive, and cracks began to appear in the relationships between the members."

"Finally, we decided to disband."

Shiko felt a deep connection with that. She too had once desperately pursued the professional path she dreamed of, but in the end, the difference of a single multiple-choice question had forced her into the "popular major" her parents had chosen.

"After making that decision, we created one final song together. That was HOPE."

"At that time, we set aside our professional standards and rediscovered the passion we'd had when we first started making music. Somehow, the conflicts between the members were resolved too."

"It was also after HOPE that I found my path in music. You could say that HOPE was my starting point." Recalling that experience, Niiki couldn't help smiling.

"And now, you've become a famous music producer." Nijika smiled as well.

Shiko felt slightly relieved. Although she hadn't succeeded in her previous life, this life was a new beginning. HOPE truly lived up to its name.

She raised her chopsticks to pick up some food, only to catch Ichiri's resentment made manifest.

The moment Niiki mentioned the band's "failure," Ichiri had already sunk into desperate fantasies about the future.

"If we can't debut... we'll have to mooch off our parents... If we can't debut... we'll have to mooch off our parents..." Darkness poured from her trembling pupils, filled the bowl before her, overflowed onto the table, and dripped onto Shiko's leg.

"Huh?"

So she had only heard the grim, hopeless reality of it all and missed the inspirational message entirely?

"Wake up. Kessoku Band will be able to debut." She gently shook Ichiri's body.

"Really? When? How many fans? How much money have we saved?" After hearing the spoilers, Ichiri immediately brightened. This time, she began shaking Shiko instead.

"Don't tell her, Little Shiko! Leave us some suspense!" Nijika worried that spoiling the band's future achievements would reduce everyone's motivation, so she hurriedly stopped her.

Still, the news that "Kessoku Band will be able to debut" greatly encouraged everyone present.

"Then, to celebrate Kessoku Band's future debut, I'll go bake another cake!" Miss Marina was a little drunk and swayed as she stood up.

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly pushed her back down. "It's still only a possibility! Let's celebrate after we really debut!"

The atmosphere gradually grew livelier, slowly beginning to feel like a farewell party.

As the night grew later, the sunset had already faded, and the first star had appeared on the horizon.

The group gradually grew quieter. All the plates and bowls had been emptied.

"I should go." Niiki suddenly spoke. She had already planned to leave that night.

"Ah? Stay one more night~" Drunk Marina was a little bolder than usual and grabbed the hem of Niiki's clothes.

"Day and night make little difference to me. If I stay any longer, I might really not want to leave." Niiki pulled Marina's hand away. The others stood as well and accompanied Niiki to the door.

Niiki stood at the entrance. Before her were the six people living in CiRCLE, and behind her lay the empty wasteland.

Shiko tugged at Niiki's sleeve. She held a camera in her other hand. "Let's take a group photo."

The seven of them stood in a line in the hall. With the "CiRCLE" poster behind them as the backdrop, they took their first—and last—group photo. At least in the photograph, everyone was still smiling.

"Let's part ways here." Niiki took one last look at the six of them.

"Come back if you get the chance." Marina knew that, on this vast land, they probably wouldn't meet again.

"Thank you for taking care of us during this time." Nijika bowed deeply. With a senior leading them, their combat experience had improved considerably. Moreover, Miss Niiki had instructed her in drumming techniques, raising the level of her "Drumming Technique" on her status panel by one.

"Have a safe journey~" The others offered their own blessings as well.

In the end, Niiki left CiRCLE.

The nights in the wilderness were cold. When Niiki climbed a hill, the cool wind swept over her entire body, making her shiver. She turned around. The six people were still standing by the entrance. When they saw her look back, they waved in response.

Niiki smiled softly. With a wave of her hand, she hefted the repaired backpack on her back, fastened the buttons of her new coat, and continued on her journey without a destination or a road home. Gradually, the lights of CiRCLE receded into the distance. Once again, the star-filled sky was what illuminated the road ahead of her.

Suddenly, she stopped where she stood, set down her bag, spread her arms, and gazed up at the Milky Way.