Why Play in a Band If Not Forever

I wish I could gaze upon this beautiful scenery forever--

"Yes! We do!"

Everyone wore smiles, one after another. "That's good."

The music gradually faded. Everyone gathered in the tent.

"Cheers--" Since it was a joint live, a celebration banquet was naturally in order.

"This should be a reflection meeting," someone offered a different opinion on the meal's name.

Lisa brought out a new plate of cookies. "Now, now, Yukina, it's nice to have a celebration banquet once in a while."

"Exactly, Yukina. Even though it's been a long time since our last live, I feel like we performed even better than before this time," Shiko said. "Especially Sayo."

Sayo simply nodded. "Thank you very much." Her skill was mainly focused on [Reaction], which greatly helped her guitar technique improve.

"Before?" Ako asked. "Did Shiko-san see Roselia's live before?"

"Yeah, I saw it with Ichiri. But you guys definitely wouldn't remember."

"Ah... actually... now that you mention it... I think I kind of remember," Rinko suddenly spoke up. "One time... I noticed the two audience members in the front row... their aura was a bit like my past self... so I paid a little more attention... Thinking back now... it must have been you guys..."

"Eh?" Shiko felt like her embarrassing past had been exposed. She looked at Ichiri, who instead had a look of understanding joy on her face.

(I didn't expect to be remembered so early by someone who seemed like my kind... Is that what she means?) she silently read. Ichiri's expression was too easy to read.

"But, did I really perform better than before today?" Yukina asked.

"Yeah, is there a problem with that?" Shiko found it a bit strange. This didn't sound like something the usual Yukina would ask.

"It's nothing," Yukina replied, as if everything was normal.

Despite the exhilarating live performance, they still needed someone to stand guard. Nijika and Shiko sat on the dark stage.

"Here, this is what I saved for you from the celebration banquet," Nijika handed Shiko a bento box.

"Thanks." Shiko opened it. In the starlight, she saw rice balls, cake, cookies, and more.

"I haven't properly thanked you yet," Nijika looked at her, starlight reflected in her eyes. "Shiko, thank you for this time."

"Did I do something worthy of thanks?" She picked up a piece of cake with her fork and put it in her mouth.

It melted in her mouth, delicious.

"Yes," Nijika lay down, admiring the dazzling starry sky. "About the stage, and about the last song."

"Honestly, I was a little surprised when I saw you actually play that song."

"After all, don't you dislike us having songs different from the 'original'?"

"Ah, ah." Shiko put down the bento box and imitated her, lying down. "No matter what, I'm a member of Kessoku Band. Even if I dislike it, I have to play it, right?"

Shiko felt something was unusual. She turned her head and saw Nijika looking at her, her eyes sparkling.

"Actually, until today, I didn't really feel it," Nijika said. "The fact that 'Little Shiko has really joined our band'."

"That's hurtful."

"Who told you not to come to practice?" Nijika's voice held a smile. "Compared to you, the other Little Shiko is more like a band member."

"Today I realized that both Little Shikos have joined Kessoku Band."

Nijika reached out and cupped Shiko's face. "From now on, as a band member, will you come to practice, okay?"

Shiko's hands overlapped Nijika's.

Ah...

How could she refuse?

Chapter 15: Summer End Plan

On a clearing halfway up the mountain, a new tent was set up.

"Haa--" Having finished her usual work, Nijika stretched and checked the sun. It was about time.

So, Nijika smiled and extended her hand to Shiko. "Come on, let's go practice."

Shiko was slightly taken aback, but finally took her hand.

This was Shiko's first time entering the practice space with this personality. The other three were already waiting. Seeing this, Shiko felt a sense of daze: When was the last time she saw this scene outside of a stage? Even though they were by her side every day, she felt like she hadn't seen Kessoku Band as a band for a long time.

Perhaps accepting Nijika's invitation was a good thing.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred! Seeing the two enter, Ichiri suddenly jumped in front of everyone and began prostrating repeatedly!

"I'm truly sorry! I'm truly sorry! I'm truly sorry!..."

There was no time to reflect. Shiko, startled, immediately tied Ichiri up with a rope.

"It's that Wu-san--" Kita first looked at them in surprise, then at the other side. "No, Gotou-san, what are you doing?!"

Even with her hands and feet tied behind her, Ichiri still apologized with tears and snot. "I'm sorry, my performance yesterday was terrible... It was our first showcase for Roselia, and I performed so poorly, I'm a sinner..."

"I can only bite my tongue to death!" Ichiri yelled, opening her mouth wide to bite down. Shiko quickly stuffed a rag into her mouth. Now all she could do was pitifully roll on the ground, making "woo woo" sounds.

The four of them watched Ichiri wriggle on the ground like a giant earthworm.

"I haven't seen Ichiri's eccentric behavior in a while," Shiko exclaimed.

"I kind of miss it," Ryo nodded.

Thinking back, Ichiri really didn't perform well yesterday. She was almost on par with a full-effort Kita. Of course, it wasn't that Kita wasn't trying, but the difference in practice time and talent was just there... Shiko obviously wouldn't voice her thoughts. She just watched Ryo push Ichiri around on the ground. As Ichiri got close, Shiko grabbed her and took away the rag.

"I saw Sayo-san looking confused..." Ichiri recalled dejectedly. She must have been very disappointed to hear that the "Guitar Hero's" skills were actually this bad...

Nijika crouched down helplessly, meeting Ichiri's gaze. "It's okay. We'll have plenty of other chances in the future, it's not like this is the only one..."

"But this is our first live..." Ichiri clearly wouldn't be put at ease by a single sentence.

"Hmm..." Shiko seemed to have thought of something. "I understand."

"Understand what?"

Shiko stood up and pushed on non-existent glasses on her nose. "As far as I know, Ichiri's stage performance completely follows these rules:"

pop = int(input("Number of audience members: "))
au = input("Audience nature: ")
if au == "acquaintances":
    pop *= 1
else:
    pop *= 10
stage = 0
power = 100
st = input("Stage environment: ")
if st == "home":
    stage = 1
elif st == "indoor":
    stage = 1/10
else:
    stage = 1/100
per = power * stage / pop
print(per)

"Oh, oh!" Nijika smacked her palm. "So, under standard conditions, Bocchi's performance level is directly proportional to the stage size and audience familiarity, and inversely proportional to the venue scale!"

"What did you understand?!" Kita was shocked.

Shiko nodded with satisfaction: "0101 1001 0110 0101 0111 0011 0010 1110"

"Binary!" Kita's jaw almost dislocated. "(Wait, did Wu-san switch personalities again? Regardless, there's definitely no conversation that Ikuyo Kita can't participate in!)"

Kita picked up her guitar! Under everyone's gaze, she held a pick and began to play!

"Ching-- ding, ding ching--,..."

It was Morse code! She was even spelling out the Roman alphabet! Shiko completely understood!

"I don't understand," Ryo raised her hand.

"Who asked you?" Three pairs of indifferent eyes looked at her. Ryo and Ichiri trembled. Before them were three terrifying existences who had never scored a 0 on an exam! When the generation gap in knowledge reached such a despairing level, even communication became impossible!

"Let the number of audience members be x... establish a coordinate system... it is easy to obtain..." Shiko and Nijika drew diagrams on the spot and began to theoretically plan Ichiri's improvement plan with great enthusiasm.

"Ching-- ding ching-- ding ching-- ching--" accompanied by meaningless guitar playing.

"Um..." Ichiri weakly tried to say something.

"It's useless," Ryo heavily patted her shoulder. "Between those three, there's no room for us to interfere anymore."

The two introverts found common ground in a strange place.

"Q.E.D.!" Yukina suddenly saw Shiko rush out of the tent, shouting, "ε?ρηκα! ε?ρηκα!" (I found it!)

What was she doing? Yukina ignored her and turned back to continue, "Some things weren't made clear last night, so let's have a reflection meeting again today."

Inside the tent, Nijika didn't bother with Shiko, who had suddenly rushed out like Archimedes, and untied Ichiri.

"In short, to allow Bocchi to fully display her abilities, we've decided to execute a plan!"

"A plan?" Ichiri had a bad feeling.

"That's right!" Shiko shoved her head into the tent. "Summer Moni... End Plan!"

Her expression suddenly turned serious. "What are you discussing again? You're not going to drag me into it, are you?"

Nijika and Kita immediately leaned in close to her ears and whispered.

"I will not participate in this plan," Shiko's expression was unreadable.

"Ehh--"

"That's a lie," Shiko said, walking in. "I just felt like someone should say that at this point."

"Then... can I say that...?" Ichiri raised her hand tremblingly. She didn't know the details of the plan, but it was a plan Shiko had helped design, and that was enough to say everything.

"No," Shiko said, crossing her arms. "This plan, how should I put it... It's just like me!"

"...Did you really go back to normal?" Kita asked, a little scared.

Footsteps could be heard outside the door. Yukina lifted the curtain and saw that the group wasn't training, so she spoke, "I have something I'd like to discuss."

Nijika turned her head. "Actually, we have something to discuss too... You go first."

Yukina said, "This live performance benefited us all greatly. If it's convenient, could we do it again in a while?"

Chapter 16: Ichiri, Alone

The next day, by the hastily constructed temporary pier.

The large fleet of joint canoes that had been moored there had, at some point, been evenly divided into two groups and redesigned and arranged.

"This is to reduce risk, enhance response capabilities, and improve flexibility," Nijika explained. Ichiri's role in the fleet's movement was twofold: first, to manipulate the water currents to propel the fleet, and second, to detect and freeze monsters beneath the water's surface. Although Ichiri's water manipulation range could only power one group of boats at a time, her detection and attack range for underwater monsters far exceeded this distance. Therefore, as long as the other group didn't stray too far from Ichiri, they could still move on their own using paddles and other devices while ensuring safety. This arrangement was very reasonable, and even Sayo, who pursued perfection, had no objections.

Although it was a bit more work for everyone, Ichiri's pressure was correspondingly reduced. Realizing this, Ichiri felt she should say thank you, but she didn't know exactly who to thank. However, she wouldn't be thinking like this for long.

"Bang!" Several packed large boxes had already been placed on one of the rafts. The weight of the luggage caused the raft to sink slightly.

"Ah, it looks like we've put a bit too much here," Nijika began to read in a monotone voice.

"It looks like only four people can sit here," Ryo responded in the same tone.

Shiko—the one with hysteria now—jumped onto the raft first, also reading in a monotone voice, "Oh, first—"