Slow to catch on, Goto Hitori didn't react in time and looked at Bai Qiu and Ryo in a panic.
They looked back at her, as if asking what she was doing.
"Ah... Oh... Ooh..."
"Hitori, you don't have to force yourself..." Nijika couldn't help saying.
Ijichi Nijika, Yamada Ryo, and Goto Hitori.
The three of them were having their first band practice together.
The song Nijika had picked at first didn't have a part for an electronic keyboard.
And Bai Qiu hadn't brought an electronic keyboard with him, either.
So they had to ask Bai Qiu to sit out and watch for now.
...The song ended.
The three girls looked at one another.
Soon, under Nijika's subtle gaze, Yamada Ryo and Goto Hitori both caved.
Hitori lowered her head in shame, while Yamada Ryo pretended nothing was wrong and whistled.
Ijichi Nijika shook her head helplessly and looked at the only audience member, Bai Qiu.
Nijika spoke with some difficulty. "Bai Qiu, what did you think of our performance just now?"
Bai Qiu looked hesitant and blinked. "You really want me to say?"
Ijichi Nijika nodded as if steeling herself.
"It was super awful..."
Even Bai Qiu, who had only just gotten into music, could tell that the three girls' performance had been a mess. They had no chemistry at all.
Yamada Ryo looked like she'd forgotten how to play the bass, sweeping her pick recklessly across the strings.
Goto Hitori's movements, on the other hand, looked quite professional and precise.
But she kept her head down the whole time and never once looked at her bandmates. Naturally, her guitar playing was completely in its own world from start to finish.
Ijichi Nijika had started out keeping a steady beat on the drums, but her playing had also grown chaotic under the influence of her two bandmates.
In short, it was hard to know what to say.
Bai Qiu couldn't bring himself to lie and say something he didn't mean.
Ijichi Nijika forced a smile. "Ah, yeah... I guess so..."
"Bai Qiu, did you mix up what you said with what you were thinking?"
Yamada Ryo looked at Bai Qiu, still unwilling to give up.
Her words rekindled hope in Goto Hitori and Nijika, too.
"Not at all."
Bai Qiu said firmly.
The three girls sighed, looking a little downcast.
Then they all turned their eyes to Bai Qiu, as if asking what they should do now.
Bai Qiu thought for a moment, then comforted them. "Well, this is normal. It's everyone's first time, after all. As long as you keep practicing together, you'll definitely improve."
Nijika, ever the optimist, perked up again and agreed.
"Right, Bai Qiu has a point. Also, Ryo, isn't your bass playing a little weird?"
Nijika recalled Ryo repeatedly sweeping her pick across the strings and making strange sounds. She looked puzzled.
"Oh, is it? I thought I played pretty well."
"Did you completely forget how to play?"
Seeing Ryo still trying to argue, Nijika called her out without holding back.
"It's fine. The audience can't hear the bass anyway."
For the first time, Yamada Ryo was glad the bass got drowned out.
Nijika froze. "I guess that makes sense..."
Yamada Ryo then said with a teasing expression, "The guitar, though—that's a harder problem to deal with."
"Ah, I'm sorry! It's all my fault."
Her voice rang out, but where was she?
"Huh? Hitori, where are you?"
"Over there." Yamada Ryo pointed.
Bai Qiu brought over the burnable-trash bin from the corner.
Goto Hitori was crouched inside, holding her head in her hands and trembling uncontrollably.
"Ah!" Nijika jumped.
"Hitori, why did you climb into the trash bin? Come out quickly. It's dirty in there!"
"I'm sorry. I made such a huge mistake. Someone like me really belongs in the trash."
"It's okay! We won't blame you, right, Bai Qiu-kun? Ryo?"
But Ryo said, "Burnable trash? Bocchi, you're in the wrong bin. You should be in this one."
Yamada Ryo brought over the non-recyclable trash bin.
Goto Hitori poked her head out, confused.
Nijika froze and asked instinctively, "Why?"
A flash of inspiration came to Bai Qiu. "Maybe they're worried that Bocchi will release toxic gas if she burns?"
After hearing that, Goto Hitori turned to stone.
Then she actually climbed out of the burnable-trash bin and started to get into the non-recyclable one.
Yamada Ryo clutched her stomach and laughed uncontrollably.
"What are you two doing?! I told you to comfort Hitori! And where did this 'Bocchi' nickname come from?!"
Nijika scolded the two as they fooled around.
Ryo was bad enough, but why had Bai Qiu-kun become so unreliable, too?!
"Hitori, don't climb into the trash bin again!"
Nijika caught Goto Hitori as she climbed out, then gave Ryo and Bai Qiu a chop each to make it up to Hitori.
Bai Qiu and Ryo lowered their heads and admitted they were wrong.
Ryo immediately added, "But Nijika, you asked why, too..."
Bai Qiu looked surprised. You've got guts.
Nijika blushed, then stopped Yamada Ryo with a glare before she could say any more.
Bai Qiu tried to back her up.
"That's a nickname we just came up with for Bocchi. Hitori, alone, lonely... so we got Bocchi."
Yamada Ryo looked pleased with herself. "Pretty good, right?"
"Pretty good my foot! It sounds like..."
Nijika was about to scold Yamada Ryo again and teach her a lesson.
"A nickname?!"
Goto Hitori jumped to her feet, excited.
She actually looked that happy about it?!
Ijichi Nijika swallowed the words "like a little dog" before they could leave her mouth.
"See? Even Bocchi is happy with it."
Yamada Ryo looked even more pleased with herself.
Ijichi Nijika was at a loss for words. "Hitori, didn't you have a nickname before?"
"People have called me 'Hey, you,' 'What's your name,' and 'That girl'..."
Those weren't nicknames. Poor thing.
Ijichi Nijika gave Goto Hitori a sympathetic hug.
"Bocchi-chan..."
And so, amid all the commotion, the four of them...
had practiced together only once
before it was time for their first performance onstage.
Because she couldn't face the audience, Yamada Ryo found Goto Hitori a mango box to hide in.
Goto Hitori was quite pleased. Hiding inside it felt just like practicing at home.
As soon as they took the stage, the extra, conspicuous mango box caught the audience's attention.
"What's that?"
"Cosplay?"
"Hey, hey, this isn't some anime thing!"
"I know! It's a new kind of speaker!"...
The audience below the stage discussed it with great interest.
Ijichi Hoshino suddenly appeared, arms folded.
"Wait, why is my mango box up there?"
"Where are the mangoes?"
At her words, Bai Qiu immediately pretended he hadn't heard anything and moved away from Ijichi Hoshino.
After glancing at Ijichi Hoshino and seeing that she wasn't coming over,
Bai Qiu finally relaxed, took out his phone, and got ready to record Kessoku Band's first experience onstage.
As for the mangoes, she and Yamada Ryo had naturally eaten them to fill their stomachs.
Ijichi Hoshino glanced at Bai Qiu in confusion. Was she really that scary?
Sheesh, she'd only been a little fierce that afternoon.
She was a beauty, too, wasn't she?
She'd even wanted to treat Bai Qiu to a 500-yen drink to thank him for bringing Nijika back.
Oh, well. She wouldn't see him tomorrow anyway.
The performance was about to begin.
Neither Yamada Ryo nor Goto Hitori was any good at talking.
So Nijika was in charge of warming up the crowd and introducing the band.
"Um, we are..."
Nijika faltered.
Only then did she realize that because they'd been fooling around in the practice room, they'd completely forgotten to discuss the most important thing—the band's name!
"Ahahaha...!"
The audience below the stage burst into laughter at the sight, but they weren't making fun of them.
This kind of thing happened all the time, actually.
Before you continue