At that moment, Gotō Hitori's phone rang.
She didn't realize it was hers at first and instead looked toward Kita Ikuyo.
Kita blinked in surprise, then reminded her."Gotō-san, your phone is ringing."
"Ah—sorry."
Startled and confused, Gotō Hitori hurriedly pulled out her phone, then scrambled to her feet, trying to squeeze past Kita Ikuyo in the cramped space to get outside.
Seeing her like this, Kita quickly said,"It's fine, don't worry about me."
No, I'm just trying to use this chance to escape...
But Gotō Hitori didn't dare refuse. She sat back down and glanced at the screen—it was an unfamiliar number. After a long moment of hesitation, she picked up.
"Is this Gotō-san? I'm Ishikawa Hayabusa. Congratulations on making a friend! I'm watching you from up on the stairs, so I won't bother you too long. Next time, I'll trouble you to play for me again. Oh, and sorry, I asked the teacher for your number earlier."
Ishikawa Hayabusa rattled all of this off like rapid fire, giving her no chance to respond before hanging up.
Gotō Hitori froze for a long while, then slowly tilted her head back, staring upward along the stairwell.
There, in a dazzling glow—like a light dusted with heavenly glitter—she saw a slender, graceful hand waving at her. Step by step, it slid along the stair railing, then gradually withdrew from sight.
Her heart skipped.
What is this feeling? I'm… so happy...
So Ishikawa-kun really did come. And he even congratulated her on making a friend, even though technically she hadn't...
She tore her gaze away.
For some reason, a sense of urgency welled up inside her. She wanted—no, needed—to change herself.
So that next time, when Ishikawa-kun asked her to join a band, she could open her mouth and say yes.
Her eyes shifted to Kita Ikuyo, who was still looking at her with that earnest, pleading expression.
After a long hesitation, Gotō Hitori gathered all her courage and spoke to this girl she had just met for the first time.
"Um… I've never played in front of anyone before..."
Kita's eyes lowered in disappointment, just as she was about to voice her understanding—
Gotō Hitori continued."If you don't mind… I could try."
"It's fine! My senpai, they—"
Kita suddenly leaned forward in excitement, but her sunny smile flickered out almost instantly, fading back into hesitation."They… probably won't be too strict, right..."
She dropped her gaze again, uncertain.
"Eh..." Gotō Hitori instinctively shrank back.
"At the very least, let my senpai hear you play. Gotō-san, you're amazing—you'll be fine."
Kita offered her encouragement.
After school.
Gotō Hitori regretted it. She regretted it deeply.
She even tried looking for a time machine, and, failing that, went so far as to schedule a timed text message to herself for the morning:
Absolutely do not agree to Kita-san's request.
After all this pointless fussing, she dawdled her way toward the livehouse a few kilometers away.
Not because the distance was the problem, but because...
"Kita-san told me, 'I'll leave it to you, Gotō-san. I already talked to Ijichi-senpai, she'll come pick you up.'"
"Huh? What about you, Kita-san?"
Faced with the question, Kita Ikuyo wore an awkward expression. She looked away, embarrassed."I won't be going. Good luck, Gotō-san!"
She clenched her fist in a gesture of encouragement.
Gotō Hitori smiled—while blood threatened to spill from the corner of her mouth.
...
And now here she was, walking alone along a roadside too dim for even the sunset to reach, head bowed, staring at the weeds sprouting by the curb. Her heart felt unbearably heavy.
Kita-san's senpai... what kind of people will they be?
At STARRY, Ishikawa Hayabusa sat waiting for the show to begin.
He had been waiting quite a while when only Ryo arrived.
She descended the stairs unhurriedly, having stopped by home to change into casual clothes, clearly looking forward to the live performance.
"What about Nijika?"
Ishikawa had a good guess already, but asked anyway.
"She went to find a replacement guitarist for Kita."
Ryo spoke with a bored expression, then plopped into the seat beside him.
"Feels like this is going to be a disaster."
"I'm sure it will be," Ishikawa confirmed.
"Mm."
Ryo nodded.
A moment later, Seika—the manager—approached. Glancing around and not seeing her younger sister, she asked the two of them.
"Where's Nijika?"
"She ran away," Ishikawa replied flatly.
Seika's sharp gaze—once that of a fierce and wild band girl—snapped onto him. Clearly a lie.
Ishikawa gave an awkward smile and waved his hand, embarrassed.
"She went to find a guitarist," Ryo answered properly.
"Now?"
Seika gave her an incredulous look, but when Ryo nodded, she pressed a hand to her temple with a groan.
"Fine. Tell Nijika for me: practice properly until the show starts! Honestly, that stupid little sister..."
Seika stormed off, grumbling under her breath.
"The manager's mad."
"Nijika's in trouble."
Both Ishikawa and Ryo sighed together.
Time passed slowly. Ishikawa was starting to worry something might have gone wrong when—
"Good morning!" Nijika's cheerful voice rang out.
He blinked.
For someone as gloomy as him, evening really did feel like the right time to say good morning.
He turned toward the entrance.
Behind Nijika was a timid girl with long pink hair, wearing a pink sports jacket and a pleated skirt. She shuffled nervously as Nijika led her down the stairs, introducing her to the venue.
Ishikawa didn't speak. He simply watched them in silence.
Ryo pushed her chair back and stood, heading their way as she greeted Nijika."You're finally back."
"Ryo~" Nijika smiled, then gestured to the girl beside her."This is Gotō Hitori-chan. Kita-chan asked her to help us out as guitarist."
Ishikawa saw it clearly—Gotō Hitori was visibly rattled by Ryo's emotionless face, her expression already crumbling.
Nijika extended a hand to introduce Ryo—
But before she could even finish a sentence, Gotō Hitori bowed deeply and blurted,"I'm Gotō Hitori! I'm so sorry!!"
The mood turned awkward. Nijika forced a smile, trying to smooth things over, while glancing around.
That was Ishikawa's cue.
With his uncanny, almost creepy ability to appear out of nowhere, he suddenly slipped up beside Nijika and Gotō, resting a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Ladies, did you lose something?"
"Hayabusa-kun!"
Nijika yelped, spinning around. She even stomped her foot in frustration—not because of the sudden contact, but because she knew how fragile this girl was. One scare from Ishikawa and she might bolt.
Usually he was so careful. Why was he acting like this now?!
"Ah... Ishikawa-san..."
Gotō Hitori looked up in shock at the hand on her shoulder.
She hadn't expected him to be here too. But seeing a familiar face brought a flicker of relief—maybe even joy she couldn't contain.
Wait—was this band she was joining... Ishikawa-kun's band?!
Ishikawa looked at her, then, slipping into his role as a dramatic performer, pulled out a handkerchief from who-knows-where and dabbed his eyes. With exaggerated sadness, he whimpered,"Sniff, sniff... Gotō-san must hate me. You came right away when someone else invited you, but when I asked, you ignored me completely."
"Ehh?! N-no! That's not it at all!"
Gotō Hitori frantically waved her hands in denial.
"You two know each other?" Nijika blinked in surprise.
Ishikawa straightened, smiling normally again."Mm. Gotō-san is the guitarist I've been wanting to bring in for a while now."
"I see..." Nijika exhaled in relief.
As expected—even if Hayabusa-kun acted strange sometimes, he still knew his boundaries.
Just then, Ryo remembered Seika's words."By the way, the manager said we should practice until the show starts. She was pretty angry about Nijika sneaking out—and then she went shopping."
Nijika's eyes went wide. Fear tightened her fists. Clearly, her older sister still held a lot of power over her."You're kidding!"
She quickly urged everyone along, nudging Ryo forward."Before she gets back, let's head to the practice room."
The practice room, usually home to just three members, now had a fourth.
And the change it brought was clear.
Nijika ushered Ryo inside, then immediately abandoned her to fetch their setlist and sheet music from under the cabinet.
She glanced at Ishikawa, but when he didn't move, she handed the papers to Gotō herself.
"This is today's setlist and sheet music."
Gotō Hitori accepted the sheets and quickly checked over the band members.
Ijichi Nijika—the girl who had brought her—was the drummer. Yamada Ryo was the bassist. Ishikawa Hayabusa, she noticed, had taken his place by the keyboard, so he was the band's keyboardist. And Kita Ikuyo had mentioned earlier she couldn't play guitar...
That meant the lineup was nearly complete.
Wait—what about the vocalist?
"Um, the band members are..."
"Everyone performing today is here. This time, we're doing an instrumental set."
Nijika said this as she switched on an amp, then gave Gotō a small pat."Use this one."
"Ah… okay."
Gotō nodded stiffly—then noticed Ishikawa's eyes on her.
When she glanced his way, he gave her a shining thumbs-up of encouragement before turning back to test the keyboard's sound.
Flustered, she quickly checked her sheet music.
No problem.
The song wasn't too difficult—she could definitely handle it. Still, without vocals, they would need to play with extra energy.
And maybe—just maybe—this was her chance to show Ishikawa-kun her true skill.
Nijika, watching the confidence bloom on Gotō's face, felt herself relax a little.
Even she knew that finding a guitarist two hours before a live show was ridiculous. And if the performance turned out awful, she'd be dead when she got home tonight.
Still, Gotō's expression gave her a little hope.
"Well then, no time to waste. Let's run through it from the top," Nijika said.
"Let's start slow for now—you'll get used to it step by step," she added, worried Gotō might rush ahead without considering the others.
But seeing her grin, eager to show off, Nijika gave a small smile herself.
"All right. Let's begin."
She raised her sticks and tapped the count-off.
A few minutes later—
Whummmm—
The song ended, the echo of the electronic instruments still ringing through the room.
Ishikawa let out a sigh. Even though he'd already warmed Gotō up a little earlier, helping her practice socializing with others, it hadn't changed much.
"Super awful."
Because the gap between how she started and how she ended was so wide, Nijika had gotten flustered and blurted out what she was thinking instead of what she was supposed to say.
She had left the words "not bad" inside her head.
"Pff."
It wasn't until she heard Ryo's stifled laugh that she realized her slip.
She rushed to explain herself."No, no, that's not—uh, what I meant was—"
As the others scrambled in confusion, Ishikawa quietly adjusted the glasses he had somehow put on without anyone noticing.
"Looks like we'll need a different battlefield."
The lenses flashed with unreadable light as he strode out, leaving the three of them behind with puzzled faces.