"Tch."
The rooftop door slammed open.
Kurashiki Rena stood there, arms crossed, long black hair whipping in the wind like a battle flag.
Her eyes swept the scene: Satoru with guitar, Akane mid-heart-eyes, Yasushi mid-reverent bite of karaage.
Rena's eyebrow twitched.
"Found you," she said, voice low and dangerous. "Kobayashi Satoru."
Akane instinctively scooted half a centimeter closer to Satoru.
Yasushi swallowed the karaage whole.
Satoru didn't even look up, fingers still resting on the strings.
"Class rep," he greeted flatly. "Lunch break isn't over."
Rena stepped forward, shoes clicking like gunshots.
"I heard everything. Guitar, singing, secret rooftop concert…" She stopped right in front of him, glaring down.
"Play it again."
Satoru finally lifted his eyes.
"…Excuse me?"
"The song you just sang. Play it again. Now."
Akane: "???" Yasushi: "!!!" (nosebleed imminent)
Satoru stared at Rena for three full seconds.
Then he shrugged, repositioned the guitar, and started from the top.
The same crisp intro.
But this time, his voice dropped half an octave, darker, rougher, like the winter he was singing about had teeth.
Rena closed her eyes.
The wind stopped.
Even the clouds seemed to listen.
When the last note faded, silence ruled the rooftop.
Rena opened her eyes, cheeks suspiciously pink.
"…Again," she ordered, voice barely above a whisper.
Satoru smirked.
"Get in line, Class Rep."
Behind her, half the Light Music Club was already crammed at the door, phones out, eyes shining like they'd discovered a new religion.
The legend of Kobayashi Satoru, Rooftop Guitar God, officially began that day.
…