Thinking that far ahead,
PA-san took a deep breath, forcing down the chill that ran through her.
She quickly walked over to Nijika's side and, as naturally as possible, straightened the girl's collar... quietly covering up the mark.
"Pa-san?" Nijika blinked at her in confusion.
"It's nothing. Your collar was just crooked." PA-san's smile was picture-perfect, her tone smooth and natural.
"Oh... thanks, Pa-san." Nijika smiled sweetly in return.
From a distance,
Seika glanced over for a moment, then looked away without suspicion.
Thank God, she didn't notice! PA-san exhaled in relief.
After handling Nijika, she made up an excuse and slipped out of the live house.
The second she stepped outside, she pulled out her phone, typing furiously.
PA-san: Seiji!!! You bastard! You absolute scumbag!! 😡💥🔪
PA-san: You actually went after Nijika! Do you have any idea what'll happen if Seika finds out?! Are you trying to die?! 😱💀
PA-san: I can already see the scene of her hunting you down!!
PA-san: As much as I'd love to watch you get chased all over Tokyo… I swear, before that happens, I'll beat you to it! 😭
PA-san: So you'd better defuse that bomb ASAP! I'm begging you!! 😭💣
…
On the other side of town,
Seiji looked down at the string of rage-fueled messages... filled with explosions and knife emojis... and couldn't help but chuckle helplessly.
He could imagine PA-san's current mood: a cocktail of shock, fear, schadenfreude, and giddy anticipation.
He typed back leisurely:
Seiji: A bomb only explodes when the person defusing it doesn't know what they're doing.
Seiji: Relax. I've already prepared for this. You don't need to do anything... just sit back and watch me work.
PA-san froze mid-scroll.
Reading Seiji's confident words, her panicked heart inexplicably settled down.
And yet, a stronger feeling began to rise... curiosity, and maybe a bit of excitement.
"Fine… since you're that confident…"
"Then I'll sit back and see how this so-called bomb disposal expert plans to calm Seika down."
…
By evening,
Nijika wrapped up her "exclusive maid duty" and dragged her sore body back to the band's practice room.
As expected,
Ryo was already there, practicing ahead of time.
"Sorry! I... I'm late!" Nijika apologized breathlessly.
Ryo Yamada waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I know Seiji. Whenever he gets something new, he just can't help but play with it… I went through the same phase once."
Nijika's face instantly turned red.
"N-no, it's not like that! I... "
"Relax, no need to explain." Ryo cut her off, a sly smile curling her lips. "Just think of it as physical training. Honestly, you sound a lot stronger now... been doing a lot of… vocal exercise lately?"
"Wha... what are you even saying?!" Nijika squeaked, grabbing her drumsticks in embarrassment and outrage.
"Anyway, time's short. Let's get to practice." Ryo saw her friend's face flush bright red and decided to quit while she was ahead. She straightened up and added seriously, "Still, Seiji really went too far. He knows you've got band practice, and he's still hogging you all that time. I'm definitely going to scold him later."
Drummers hit hard... Ryo had no intention of testing that on her skull.
"…Ryo." Nijika sighed helplessly. She could never stay mad at her.
…
Time passed.
Under Genesis Entertainment, a special "Shimokitazawa Live House Experience Tour" was launched for the two core members of Band of the Century: Nijika Ijichi and Ryo Yamada.
It wasn't a commercial tour...
It was a no-expense-spared training program.
The company booked every major live house in the Shimokitazawa area, provided recording and lighting crews, sound engineers, chauffeured vans, and an entire style design team.
The staff in charge of the tour couldn't stop whispering behind the scenes:
"President's really spoiling those girls, huh?"
"At this rate, he's not training new talent... he's raising daughters!"
"Right? We're killing ourselves working, and they just get to… play around."
"Shh! Keep it down! I heard that blonde ponytail leader's got a special relationship with the boss…"
"I heard that too! And Yamada-san's been close to him for ages!"
Amidst all the gossip and envy, the tour began.
…
Nijika threw herself into practice... two hundred percent effort, day and night.
But soon, she hit a wall she'd never encountered before.
The main setlist for the tour featured three rock-fusion tracks... technically demanding, complexly arranged.
The drum sections were full of irregular compound rhythms and high-speed fills that pushed her far beyond her "talented high school drummer" skill level.
...
In the Yamada family's basement studio.
"…Let's take a break."
Ryo put down her bass and hit pause on the recorder, glancing toward the drum kit.
Nijika was drenched in sweat, visibly exhausted.
"Nijika," Ryo said evenly, "you rushed again in bar 128. That seven-beat overdrive... half a beat early."
"That's the fiftieth time today."
Nijika flinched. Her grip on the drumsticks tightened until her knuckles turned white.
"S-sorry, Ryo." She bowed her head, dejected. "I... I'll do it again! This time, I'll get it right!"
"No." Ryo shook her head. "You've already hit your limit today. Pushing further won't help."
She hesitated, then spoke softly.
"Nijika, you're pushing yourself too hard."
"Your drumming is… too tense. Every hit is filled with fear of failure."
"You're not playing. You're completing a task you're afraid to fail."
Her words struck straight into Nijika's heart.
"I…"
Nijika opened her mouth, but no words came out... because Ryo was right.
Just then, the studio door opened.
Seiji stepped in, holding boxes of high-end sweets and drinks.
"Evening."
He greeted them... but neither answered.
A quick glance told him all he needed to know. Nijika sat there, head bowed, her energy drained.
He set the snacks on the table and approached Ryo, asking quietly, "What happened?"
Ryo pointed at the sheet music, giving a wry smile. "Your new song's too tough for her. Her fundamentals aren't solid enough to handle this kind of arrangement."
"And when my bass joins in, her technical gaps only get more obvious."
Seiji nodded, understanding immediately.
He glanced at Nijika's small, frustrated figure and smiled faintly. "Leave it to me."
"Sure." Ryo trusted him completely.
"Nijika, take a look at this."
Seiji opened his bag and pulled out three tablets, handing one to her.
"This is a lifetime membership of Pro-DrummerX, one of the best drum training apps out there."
"It analyzes your hits in real time and gives you optimized feedback for improvement. A lot of pros use it... give it a shot."
Nijika stared at the tablet, dumbfounded.
Ryo peeked over her shoulder, and her eyes lit up.
"Whoa, Pro-DrummerX?! That thing costs hundreds of thousands of yen a year!"
"Classic Seiji... so generous."
Inwardly, she couldn't help but think:
Generous? Please. He's straight-up throwing money at her.
Still… seeing Nijika look that touched, maybe it's worth it.
"Thank you, Seiji!" Nijika beamed.
...
With the new software, Nijika turned into a machine.
Day after day, she buried herself in Ryo's basement studio, drilling endlessly according to the program's feedback.
And the results showed.
Her accuracy skyrocketed; every hit was cleaner, sharper, more precise.
Her fills were smoother; her rhythm, metronome-perfect.
Yet…
When she and Ryo played together again, the same invisible wall stood before her.
"Stop."
Ryo pressed pause once more, her expression complicated.
"Nijika… your technique's great now."
"But there's a new problem."
"Every hit is too perfect. You sound like a robot."
"You've lost what made your drumming special... the heartbeat, the groove."
Nijika froze.
She'd just overcome one obstacle, and now there was another?
Why was the road to music so difficult?
She looked down at her hands... blistered and sore from practice... and felt a wave of helplessness crash over her.
Why…?
I've worked so hard…
Do I just not have the talent for this?
...
That night,
When Seiji arrived at Ryo's house as usual,
He was greeted by a sight that made his chest tighten.
The girl who always shone like a small sun sat curled up in a corner of the studio, listless and broken.
Her head was buried in her knees; Ryo leaned against the doorframe, sighing.
"She's been like that all afternoon."
"Software can teach technique... but not soul."
Ryo summed it up perfectly.
Seiji nodded.
Time for him to step in.
As someone who'd mastered composition, arrangement, and performance to a professional level, this wasn't a hard problem.
"Leave this to me."
He motioned for Ryo to head out, then sat down beside Nijika.
"So this is it, huh? The energetic Nijika Ijichi I know, curled up and giving up after hitting a wall?" he teased lightly, not accusing... just trying to make her smile.
"The energetic Nijika Ijichi is dead," she mumbled, forcing a crooked grin. "All that's left is a ghost who sucks at telling jokes."
"If you keep talking back, I'll make you taste my drumstick of justice," Seiji shot back.
"…You're impossible." Nijika gave him a look, half-annoyed, half-amused.
Still, the banter eased her tension. She sighed. "Seiji, maybe I'm just not meant for band life. No matter how hard I try, I can't catch up to Ryo."
Seiji didn't argue. That would only trap her deeper in self-doubt.
Instead, he moved straight to action.
"Nijika, do you know what groove really means?"
She shook her head.
Seiji smiled. "It's like cooking."
He didn't drown her in music theory... just used a simple metaphor.
"A recipe tells you how much salt, sugar, heat, and time to use. That's technique."
"That app is your recipe. It'll make sure your dish never goes wrong."
"But great food needs more than precision."
"It needs the cook's emotion. Their intuition... the little adjustments in heat, the personal touch that creates something alive."
"That bit of improvisation, that spark of inspiration, that hint of love…"
He reached out and gently tapped her nose.
"That's groove."
Nijika stared at him, eyes wide.
It was like the fog in her head suddenly cleared.
"Then… what should I do?" she asked eagerly.
"Watch me."
Seiji grinned and sat behind the drum kit.
He didn't play anything fancy... just a simple 4/4 beat.
Thump... clap... thump thump... clap...
But the moment he started, Nijika's eyes widened.
It was the same rhythm every beginner learns...
Yet from Seiji's hands, it pulsed with life.
Each kick struck her chest like a heartbeat; each snare crack sent a spark through her nerves.
She couldn't help but sway along.
This… this is groove?!
"Impossible," a voice gasped from the stairs.
Ryo stood there, wide-eyed in disbelief.
Groove was the soul of music... but not something you could summon at will. It depended on the performer's emotional state, the song's resonance… everything aligning just right.
And yet Seiji had conjured it effortlessly, out of thin air.
She couldn't believe it.
Seiji stopped drumming and stood, his expression unreadable.
"Nijika," he said softly, "technique can be taught with tools and effort."
"But groove…"
He leaned close, whispering by her ear.
"…you have to feel it with your body."
He straightened, smirking.
"Theory's over."
"Now, it's time for practical training."
Nijika, who'd been listening intently, suddenly froze.
"…Practical training," she repeated, rubbing her temples. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
Up on the stairs, Ryo sighed deeply.
Again?
Last time it was "rhythm training" with Seika…
Now it was "groove practice" with Nijika.
She could already see where this was going.
This guy's lessons are always trouble.