Watching Miyauchi Hikage bait out the shadow Gotoh Hitori with just a few words, Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help but fall into a period of silence.
No wonder Miyauchi Hikage had told her earlier that this entity posed no danger. It turned out that negotiating with her only required this kind of appeasing, going-with-the-flow method of communication.
However, Miyauchi Hikage wasn't completely going along with shadow Gotoh Hitori's words.
When shadow Gotoh Hitori claimed that only she could fully unleash the strength of Guitar Hero, Miyauchi Hikage put on a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm... Although it might seem that way, and Gotoh-san does indeed have some personality flaws, her current bandmates are ultimately people she found through her own volition. If you were to directly replace Gotoh-san, her bandmates would likely subconsciously harbor feelings of rejection towards you. Even if your individual skills are incredibly strong, I'm afraid the band's overall strength would still drop significantly compared to before."
Hearing Miyauchi Hikage's words, shadow Gotoh Hitori frowned slightly.
After a while, she clapped her hands together.
"If that's the case, then I'll just summon their shadows too and form a shadow band. Wouldn't that solve it!"
When Shinomiya Kaguya heard this, she wanted to speak up and stop shadow Gotoh Hitori's actions.
She still didn't even know how to deal with her own shadow right now. If she let shadow Gotoh Hitori continue creating even more shadows, things would truly become unmanageable.
But Miyauchi Hikage simply gave her a reassuring look before turning his gaze back to shadow Gotoh Hitori.
"That is indeed a good idea. However, with your abilities, can you really generate that many shadows and maintain their existence?"
Miyauchi Hikage said this, then reached out and tapped the portion of shadow Gotoh Hitori's shadow that was still on the ground, yet to fully manifest.
"If you could really turn into that many shadows, you wouldn't have just brought out Kaguya's shadow earlier, and you certainly wouldn't have needed to specifically turn into shadow Kaguya's shadow. At present, you can probably only maintain the existence of one shadow entity, right?"
"Guh..."
As if hitting a sore spot, shadow Gotoh Hitori argued with some reluctance.
"I only awakened not too long ago. But if you give me a little more time, it definitely won't be a problem."
"Is that so? But before the music festival at the end of June begins, can you reach that level? To be honest, I really want to see you two Gotohs each leading your own band for a showdown at the festival... which is what you band people call a battle of the bands."
Obviously, a battle of the bands held an immense temptation for shadow Gotoh Hitori, especially since it would be against her original self. This would perfectly prove who was truly more qualified to hold the title of "Guitar Hero."
Shadow Gotoh Hitori looked at Miyauchi Hikage expectantly, seemingly wanting to know if this friendly-looking boy could offer her any advice.
Miyauchi Hikage instead looked over at Shinomiya Kaguya.
"Kaguya, I remember you know how to play instruments, right?"
Shinomiya Kaguya froze for a moment, then immediately nodded in response.
"Yes, I have mastered the koto, piano, and violin."
With Shinomiya Kaguya's strict standards for herself, only reaching or approaching a professional level of skill could be called "mastered." And Shinomiya Kaguya, having grown up receiving elite education in the Shinomiya family, had indeed reached a semi-professional level in these instruments.
It was just that after obtaining the diary, she had gradually put aside her practice of these instruments.
Miyauchi Hikage nodded and then looked at shadow Gotoh Hitori.
"If you are willing to return Kaguya's shadow to her, Kaguya and I can temporarily join your band. We can also arrange a perfect battle of the bands opportunity for you and Gotoh-san at the music festival. Furthermore, I can guarantee that we absolutely won't drag down your guitar skills. What do you think?"
Miyauchi Hikage's words made shadow Gotoh Hitori hesitate.
Shadow Shinomiya Kaguya hastily raised her hand to indicate that, as Kaguya's shadow, she also knew those instruments.
"Besides, my original self is so busy, how could she have the time to practice with you? Let me do it. I have plenty of time, and I'd be willing to form a band with Hikage-kun for a lifetime—"
Before shadow Shinomiya Kaguya could finish her sentence, Shinomiya Kaguya pushed her head down.
Shinomiya Kaguya looked at shadow Gotoh Hitori with a serious expression.
"My schedule is also quite flexible. Before the music festival, I can guarantee that I can set aside two or three hours a day to practice. Moreover, I have reading points that can increase the efficiency of my instrument practice. That is something my shadow cannot do, right?"
Hearing this, shadow Gotoh Hitori was indeed moved.
However, before nodding in agreement, she stated that she wanted to see their true skill levels.
There wasn't much to say on Shinomiya Kaguya's side. She was perfectly capable of taking on the role of keyboardist. After spending just a few reading points, she quickly became familiar with how to use a synthesizer. With a little more practice, she would be completely ready for a stage performance.
As for Miyauchi Hikage, it went without saying.
As mentioned before, many of the catchy and addictive songs in the videos over at Asahigaoka Media originally came from Miyauchi Hikage. It could be said that the songs Miyauchi Hikage had ripped from his previous life played a significant role in Asahigaoka Media's videos becoming viral on the internet so quickly.
Especially after obtaining the diary, Miyauchi Hikage's physical coordination had long surpassed human limits. Coupled with the fact that the diary's rewards would occasionally actually provide him with the instrumental proficiency of certain figures, Miyauchi Hikage's current musical level could even be considered master-class.
After witnessing Miyauchi Hikage's solid foundational skills—which were formidable enough to make them look up in awe—the way shadow Gotoh Hitori looked at Miyauchi Hikage became a little strange.
Whether it was Gotoh Hitori or shadow Gotoh Hitori, both were actually very pure individuals. This could be seen from the fact that shadow Gotoh Hitori's greatest obsession was feeling that her original self couldn't bear the reputation of Guitar Hero, hence her desire to replace her.
Now that she had met a big shot whose musical level far exceeded her own, shadow Gotoh Hitori was instantly conquered by Miyauchi Hikage.
She didn't even hesitate and prepared to cancel out the existence of shadow Shinomiya Kaguya right then and there. Instead, it was Shinomiya Kaguya who stopped shadow Gotoh Hitori's actions.
"Ahem."
Shinomiya Kaguya coughed lightly a few times.
"Later on, if there is a situation that requires my presence but I am busy practicing, I might need my shadow to go out and handle it for me. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
By now, she had clearly realized that as long as Miyauchi Hikage was here, shadow Gotoh Hitori wouldn't be able to make any waves.
If that were the case, shadow Shinomiya Kaguya would no longer be a sword dangling over her head, but rather a good helper who could lighten her load considerably.
Judging by shadow Shinomiya Kaguya's shocked reaction—looking as if she wanted to start cursing—Shinomiya Kaguya's move was indeed quite ruthless.
Shinomiya Kaguya felt a little guilty.
But it couldn't be helped.
If she really let her shadow go practice with Miyauchi Hikage, heaven knew what her shadow—who spent day and night with her and knew all her innermost thoughts—would do to Miyauchi Hikage using this opportunity.
In order to avoid a complete social death in front of Miyauchi Hikage, she had to take the field herself and send her shadow out to handle business affairs.
Shadow Gotoh Hitori didn't think too much into it. Right now, she only had one thought on her mind, and that was to fiercely clash with her original self in a battle of the bands at the end-of-the-month music festival to prove her strength.
Thus, she decisively issued a command, transferring the right to command shadow Shinomiya Kaguya over to Shinomiya Kaguya herself.
Afterwards, she even agreed to a set of rules with Miyauchi Hikage.
She could not use that power of controlling others on ordinary people anymore.
When she wanted to go out and perform, she needed to report to him in advance.
Lastly, she had to spend her own earned money and return the money she had previously taken from Gotoh Hitori.
Meanwhile, Miyauchi Hikage promised to arrange an identity for shadow Gotoh Hitori, ensuring that she wouldn't be affected by other things before the music festival, allowing her to wholeheartedly prepare for the battle of the bands.
Watching shadow Gotoh Hitori happily revert back into a shadow form, Shinomiya Kaguya also expressed her gratitude to Miyauchi Hikage.
"Thanks to your help, Hikage-kun. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know how things would have turned out. It's just that I'll have to trouble you to spend time preparing for the music festival with me."
"I was already quite interested in this music festival you put together. Besides, a music festival of this caliber puts no pressure on me. It won't take up too much of my energy, and will instead serve as a way to relax."
Miyauchi Hikage waved his hand and continued speaking.
"It's you, Kaguya, who needs to pay attention to your emotions from now on. There is nothing wrong with pursuing power, but during that pursuit, you must ensure that your mindset doesn't get influenced by your own strength."
If Shinomiya Kaguya had just been a bit more careful and kept a more peaceful attitude, she wouldn't have been blindsided by shadow Gotoh Hitori like this.
"Since this happened, take this chance to rest well for a while and adjust your state of mind."
Shinomiya Kaguya nodded, indicating she would remember, though she still had some concerns.
"I know. But having Bocchi and her shadow battle it out at the music festival... if Bocchi and the others lose, she won't actually try to replace Bocchi's existence, will she?"
Faced with Shinomiya Kaguya's concerns, Miyauchi Hikage's response was a not-too-forceful karate chop to the head.
"Music is a way for humans to express emotions. It possesses a power that can resonate with people's spirits. As long as Gotoh-san and her bandmates can perform at their normal level, that kind of thing will never happen."
"I said it before, shadow Gotoh isn't a bad person. She is merely the more direct side of Gotoh-san's inner heart. From a certain perspective, she desires recognition from others even more than the socially anxious Gotoh-san. As long as you grasp this point, she's actually quite easy to understand."
"Anyway, regarding this matter, I'll rely on you to explain things clearly to Gotoh-san and the others. At the same time, just give them a little bit of pressure."
Miyauchi Hikage waved his hand, signaling that he would leave the rest of the time for Shinomiya Kaguya to communicate with those girls herself.
As for him, he had other matters to handle tonight.
While Shinomiya Kaguya stayed in her room, pondering how she should explain the current situation to the girls in the group chat, Miyauchi Hikage returned to his own room.
It wasn't long before he heard a knock on the door.
Miyauchi Hikage opened the door and nodded at Kato Megumi, who was standing at the entrance.
"Good evening, Megumi."
Kato Megumi quietly observed Miyauchi Hikage.
"Has the matter with Shinomiya-san been resolved?"
"More or less. At least things are stable for now."
Miyauchi Hikage gave a brief explanation of how he had handled it.
"A band? It's a pity I don't have any musical cells in me. I don't know any musical pieces, and my singing isn't very good either."
However, no sense of regret could be felt from Kato Megumi's tone.
"That's because you haven't tried it yourself. If you practice seriously, you might discover that your singing is actually quite nice."
At the very least, in Miyauchi Hikage's impression, Kato Megumi's voice actress had sung quite a few songs, and even Kato Megumi's own character songs had a certain degree of recognizability.
But having a girl come to his room late at night wasn't to discuss her singing potential. At least for now, Kato Megumi had no intentions of debuting as an idol.
Indeed, he was the one who asked Kato Megumi to come to his room tonight.
After realizing the abilities of Kato Megumi's Stand, as well as her somewhat strangely shifting attitude towards him, Miyauchi Hikage hatched an idea.
As for Kato Megumi, she seemingly had truly no guard up around him. Upon receiving his message, she immediately appeared right at his door.
After chatting briefly with Kato Megumi about Shinomiya Kaguya's situation, Miyauchi Hikage casually pulled out some drinks from Unlimited Blade Works and handed one to her.
"Anyway, Megumi, do you know why I asked you to come to my room?"
Kato Megumi nodded, then shook her head.
"Actually, I can probably guess a little. It should be that you have some secret regarding those girls that you want to tell me, Hikage-kun. It's just that I'm not entirely sure if their secret is what I'm imagining it to be."
"You're right. It is indeed about their biggest secret."
Miyauchi Hikage looked at Kato Megumi.
"This secret might completely alter your worldview, so are you prepared?"
Kato Megumi placed her phone in front of Miyauchi Hikage.
"After meeting you, Hikage-kun, my worldview has already been altered by you, hasn't it?"
"Your senses are truly sharp. Just like Mashiro, both of you managed to notice the anomalies about me through pure instinct the very first time we met."
The very first time Miyauchi Hikage met Kato Megumi, he could feel her curiosity toward him.
That wasn't just curiosity toward a stranger; Miyauchi Hikage was quite perceptive of that detail.
It was just that back then, Kato Megumi didn't know about the existence of supernatural powers. Even if she harbored suspicions about him, she wouldn't directly probe him like Shiina Mashiro, who possessed a diary.
Miyauchi Hikage said this, then took out a gray diary from Unlimited Blade Works and handed it to Kato Megumi.