September 7th. Clear skies.
The temperature was a bit high, but still bearable.
While the issue of Kita Ikuyo juggling both music and academics had been more or less resolved.
Aoki knew full well—before Fireworks even premiered during summer break, the waves surrounding Kessoku Band were far from over.
Whether it was coincidence or the deliberate push of capital interests, that long-winded article Aoki had seen days ago—full of veiled criticism hidden behind thinly veiled praise—had now climbed into the top ten trending topics on Twitter.
Public opinion, after all, was nothing more than a toy for those in power.
Without anyone stirring the pot, silence might have been enough to let things die down.
But once someone did start fanning the flames from behind the scenes, trying to keep quiet would only make things worse.
And now, what began as casual accusations of plagiarism and criticisms of Kessoku Band's supposed lack of skill had snowballed into wild claims like:
"Suki-san's silence is a silent admission of guilt" and "Kessoku Band is dead weight."
Things had spiraled even further when the band Ghost Elements decided to jump into the fray themselves, publicly questioning whether any of Aoki's music was truly original.
To be honest, there had never been any real animosity between Ghost Elements and Kessoku Band.
At least, not that Aoki could recall.
The only time they'd ever clashed was during the PVC project, when both bands were competing for first place.
But that's just how the industry worked sometimes—cold and unfair.
By sheer coincidence, Fireworks, the song Kessoku Band was set to perform, had ended up stealing a slot that originally belonged to Ghost Elements.
And despite knowing full well that the final decision would be based on musical merit, Ghost Elements—backed by corporate funding since the beginning—just couldn't stomach the outcome.
Riding the current wave of negative sentiment, they seized the opportunity to question Suki-san's originality.
There was no way Aoki could let this slide.
. . .
He hadn't gone to the livehouse on September 6th either.
There was simply too much going on at once.
He couldn't calm down enough to focus on practice, so he decided to take a short break and called in a simple leave.
He stayed in his apartment the entire day, only stepping out the next morning.
He had promised to begin tutoring Kita today, and according to the plan they'd discussed over LINE, Aoki arrived early—around 8 a.m.—at the library they had agreed on.
Kita Ikuyo showed up just a few minutes later, arriving shortly after him.
Just like Aoki had been told, her mother hadn't mentioned anything about his visit.
But as fate would have it, Kita had overheard a part of their conversation that day—and she'd known all along.
Even so, since Aoki-senpai had clearly chosen not to bring it up, she decided to do the same.
So, completely unaware that Kita already knew, Aoki began tutoring her as usual.
Aoki didn't talk much when it was just the two of them, and Kita, still unsure how to face him—or whether she should confront him about what happened was unusually quiet as well.
And so, in that slightly-too-quiet atmosphere, they continued studying until around 11 a.m.
Kita went home to have lunch, while Aoki headed to a nearby ramen shop for a quick bowl of noodles.
After a brief rest post-lunch, by 2 p.m., he was back on the move—this time with no more excuses or delays.
Aoki boarded the train once again, heading straight for the livehouse.
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