Gotō Hitori walked off the stage feeling refreshed.
In fact, Asakura felt that if he hadn't arranged the pillars of fire with [Candle] in front of the stage, she might have directly jumped off the stage when she was at her highest…
In that sense, Gotō Hitori was actually quite rock and roll.
"How does it feel to sing your heart out?"
Asakura asked.
His voice was like a needle, instantly piercing the girl's greatly inflated sense of lighthearted pleasure due to vanity, making Gotō Hitori instantly fall back into reality, her entire person visibly wilting.
"It, it's alright…"
Her lips mumbled, and she said unconfidently, "I don't feel like it's enough to stop a cosmic war…"
For a moment, Asakura didn't know whether to complain about her comparison standard being too illusory, or to praise her confidence in Magic being greater than he expected…
"After this performance, many entertainment companies will probably approach you for contracts—"
Asakura looked at the girl and instructed, "But I advise you not to agree too easily before you fully master Magic—no matter how tempting the conditions they offer, it's the same, you, who possess Magic, are priceless."
"I, I understand!"
Gotō Hitori hugged her guitar and nodded very forcefully.
It proved that Asakura had still underestimated the allure of Magic [Song]; shortly after Hitori returned backstage, several music professionals tried to sneak backstage to sign her first.
However, without exception, all these guys were driven away by Amakusa Shino.
"Oh my goodness, I used to look up to those seemingly decent executives from entertainment companies before today, but it turns out they're all like this! When coercion and inducement don't work, they use their status to pressure people!"
She said indignantly, "Can you believe it? Just now, someone even tried to crawl in through the ventilation window of the backstage restroom—Hiratsuka-sensei was furious at the time!"
"Perfect—"
Yukinoshita Yukino said calmly, flipping through the script, "Hiratsuka-sensei said her sandbag broke two days ago."
Although she had memorized all her lines, the girl still liked to flip through the script intentionally or unintentionally, and Asakura even saw many notes and character biographies she had written in her script, so professional that it didn't seem like she was just acting in a farce-like stage play, but rather participating in a grand classical opera at the National Opera House.
"Even Hiratsuka-sensei wouldn't directly treat someone as a sandbag, would she?"
Amakusa Shino hesitated upon hearing this: "Although it doesn't matter what happens to those guys, if Hiratsuka-sensei accidentally… ahem, I mean, if she over-defends a little and the other party becomes bruised, will it affect her teaching career?"
"I don't think you need to worry."
Yukinoshita Yukino subtly glanced at Asakura, and seeing that he showed no worry about such matters, she also calmed her mind: "Hiratsuka-sensei still has a sense of proportion when she acts."
"Just to confirm, Yukinoshita, are you saying that knowing Hiratsuka-sensei actually always carries a pair of alloy brass knuckles with her?"
"…I take back what I said—"
Yukino closed the script in her hand, her expression looking a little helpless: "Perhaps letting Hiratsuka-sensei go home to reflect for a few days is also a good outcome, at least we will never have to worry about her bringing any more strange weapons with her after that… Bringing something like this to school, does she want to participate in some Academy First Martial Arts Tournament?"
"I must remind you, the World Martial Arts Tournament does not allow the use of weapons."
Asakura spoke up: "But superpowers and Magic are allowed."
"The latter part is completely redundant, isn't it? No one can use superpowers and Magic in reality. Why are you showing a subtly proud expression?"
Amakusa Shino corrected him.
"Because I'm the Magic Club President!"
Asakura gave himself a thumbs-up.
"I almost forgot about that until you mentioned it—"
She finished the canned tea in her hand in one gulp, threw the empty can into the trash can, and stood up: "Alright, it's nice to relax with some small talk, but I still need to patrol the backstage lounge and corridor to prevent more strange people from crawling in from some corner like cockroaches. Are your stage play preparations ready? Just so you know, Sakiko-sensei is also here, she's in the audience right now, and I can introduce you when the performance is nearing its end."
"Thank you."
Asakura nodded, his eyes full of confidence: "My teleprompter is already thirsty!"
"No, no, you should memorize your lines!"
The Student Council Vice President lady retorted loudly.
Of course, Asakura was just joking.
His familiarity with the script might not be as good as Yukinoshita Yukino's, but memorizing lines, while perhaps too difficult for his university and unemployed selves, was no problem at all for his current high school self. Being in the high school stage, where knowledge is most abundant and memory is best, the mere less than ten thousand words of lines were already deeply ingrained in his mind.
As time passed, the influence of Gotō Hitori's Magic [Song] finally began to fade. Once the fanaticism subsided, Asakura quietly called Nijika and Ryo, asking them to take Hitori to a corner to rest and eat something.
And after Gotō Hitori found a shopping paper bag from somewhere and put it over her head, her fear of strangers also slightly diminished.
However, Asakura thought this was completely contrary to the effect of 'not attracting attention' that the girl pursued.
Asakura didn't know if it was his psychological effect, but he always felt that Hitori, who was walking beside him, had a mysteriously sweet fruity scent, like a walking mango, extraordinarily alluring.
Could it be that he suddenly awakened some kind of vampire bloodline? No, considering that he wanted to bite rather than suck, it might be more likely to be a cannibal, or even a ghoul… Or, without him even realizing it, was there actually a Hannibal living deep inside him?
It was only after repeated confirmation, and discovering that the paper bag on the girl's head was printed with the words 'Ripe Mango,' that all his doubts were resolved—this gave Asakura a strong sense of déjà vu, like watching an episode of "Approaching Science."
Incidentally, for some reason, the number 5 was written on the back of the paper bag with a marker pen.
Not long after Gotō Hitori and the Kessoku Band temporarily left the backstage, as the host announced the next act, Yukinoshita Yukino closed her script again, and Asakura also stopped chatting with those around him.
The two exchanged glances and, while the members of the drama club hastily prepared the stage scenery, they ascended the stage together.