In the evening, Goto Hitori sat alone on a swing with her guitar on her back, quietly shedding little tears.
To act tough in front of her parents, Goto Hitori had once boasted at home that she had joined a band in high school and practiced music with the band members every day.
But once the excitement wore off, Goto Hitori immediately regretted it.
Why on earth did I lie like that back then!
How could a paramecium like me possibly get accepted into any band!
Three years of high school without making a single friend, not a single band member found, couldn't even perform live at the cultural festival...
Sorry, Mom, Dad, Futari, Jimihen, sumimasen. I'm useless—I let you all down.
The only thing worth feeling relieved about is probably getting accepted into that nationally famous Shuchiin Academy through the entrance exam...
Because she couldn't swallow her pride, Goto Hitori would linger in the park for two hours every day before going home, pretending she had been practicing with the band for a long time. This was a habit she kept from high school all the way until graduation.
Today, Goto Hitori had once again pretended to go out to practice music with band members.
Except today, an uninvited guest had intruded into her territory.
"Sorry to bother you. I'm a tourist from out of town. Unfortunately, I got lost. Could you help me out? I need to get to a somewhat chaotic area nearby, but I forgot the way..."
Diego rubbed the back of his head, chuckling awkwardly as he slowly approached. The pink figure he had targeted was none other than Goto Hitori sitting on the swing.
A tall shadow gradually enveloped Goto Hitori. She lifted her head and stared straight at Diego.
W-w-w-what do I do! A strange man is talking to me! He even has a bandage on the corner of his mouth—is he some kind of yakuza? The first thing out of his mouth is a "chaotic place"!
So scary! What should I do... He looks so intimidating! Is he going to kill me?
No no no, I'm overthinking it. He's just asking for directions. Come on, Hitori—you can do this.
This kid... why does she seem kind of airheaded?
Diego looked at Goto Hitori and increasingly felt like she was thinking something rude about him.
Noticing that Goto Hitori's body was faintly trembling, Diego tried to calm her down:
"Hey, don't be nervous. I'm just asking for directions. Just point me in the right direction and I'll leave."
"I'm Diego Brando. You can call me Dio. What's your name?"
"Goto... Hitori." Goto Hitori finally snapped out of her fantasy world and answered Diego's question.
Oh no... I haven't spoken in so long—my voice... it's practically inaudible.
"Goto Hitori, huh? That's a nice name. Are you a bit socially anxious? It's fine. You just need to point me toward a nearby bar and I'll be on my way."
Considering Goto Hitori's personality and concluding that she probably had no idea where a black market was, Diego decided to change tactics and gather information indirectly.
An angel—she instantly noticed my situation. Definitely an angel!
Goto Hitori took a deep breath, pounded her chest like a gorilla, and gained Courage Up↑ effect.
"The nearby bars are..."
"Ah! A guitar! That's a guitar—!"
"o(╥﹏╥)o!"
Damn it, which idiot interrupted Goto Hitori's reply at the critical moment? Do you know how much effort it took to calm this rare wild beast?!
The answer that was about to reach his ears got cut off. Diego whipped his head around with a fierce glare, trying to see who was interfering.
A golden-haired beauty with a perfectly crisp side ponytail ran over and spoke up:
"That's a guitar, right? Do you play?!"
Oh no... I just got interrupted—my voice won't come out anymore... Goto Hitori looked tearfully at Ijichi Nijika.
"Ah! Sorry for suddenly talking to you. I'm Ijichi Nijika, a prospective second-year at Shuchiin Academy. Nice to meet you."
"Ah... I'm Goto Hitori. I'll be a first-year at Shuchiin Academy once school starts."
"So you're my underclassman! Um, I formed a band and play drums in it." Ijichi Nijika extended her hand in greeting to Goto Hitori.
"Wait a second—shouldn't there be a first-come, first-served rule here? Let her answer me first about where I can find a place to drink nearby." Diego shot Ijichi Nijika a slightly annoyed glare.
"Ah, sorry. If you're looking for a place that serves alcohol, just come with me to the live house later." Ijichi Nijika pressed her hands together in sincere apology.
"You need to show your belly when apologizing to make it convincing." Diego teased.
"That's how cats apologize!"
Ijichi Nijika lowered her head, rubbing her hands together in front of her chest as her words faltered:
"Um, this might not be that important, but I'm really in a bind. If it's not too much trouble for Hitori-chan, could you please come guest with my band? The guitarist suddenly bailed!"
"The song is really simple—anyone who can play guitar can pick it up right away. Please~?" Ijichi Nijika pressed her hands together again in plea.
This atmosphere makes it completely impossible to refuse, Goto Hitori thought silently to herself.
"Thank you! Then no time to waste—let's head to the live house right now." Ijichi Nijika grabbed Goto Hitori and started walking, then turned back to Diego and asked:
"Um, what was your na—"
"Diego Brando. Just call me Dio." Diego cut off Ijichi Nijika's question.
Hmph, that's what you get for interrupting ko no Dio's conversation.
Ijichi Nijika showed no sign of anger at all. Instead, she waved him over: "Dio, come with me. My family runs the live house—there are drinks for sale there. You can watch our performance too."
"Sure, but ko no Dio has very particular tastes. You'd better put on a good show."
"I'll do my best!"
(Goto Hitori: Did I even agree to this?)
...…
—Shimokitazawa Hoshino Performance Hall—
"Finally back."
Diego followed the voice and saw a girl with blue shoulder-length hair and an indifferent expression appear at the door.
For a moment, Yamada Ryo's face flickered in Diego's vision like an illusion.
This girl... expressionless, kind of reminds me of Frieren.
As Diego looked at Yamada Ryo, she was also looking at him.
This guy looks loaded.
Wanna pet (borrow).
"Ryo~~~" Ijichi Nijika turned to Diego and Goto Hitori and said, "Let me introduce you—this is our band's bassist. Her expression hardly ever changes. If you call her a weirdo, she'll actually be happy about it."
"I'm not happy." Ryo's cheeks flushed slightly as she covered her face. "Oh right, Nijika—the manager is really mad that you snuck out. She's already gone looking for you."
"Then why didn't you say that sooner, you dummy dummy dummy..." Ijichi Nijika weakly smacked Yamada Ryo. "We still have some time—let's hurry to the practice room and run through it. Hitori-chan and Dio, come too."
...
Diego's face was covered in dark lines, the corner of his mouth twitching uncontrollably as he watched Ijichi Nijika trying to drag Goto Hitori out of the flammable trash can. He let out a helpless sigh.
What kind of magical pink creature is this? Why does she have to hide in the trash can of all places?
"No way, no no no no—I really can't do this after all. Please just go home today."
"But this is my house!"
Diego crossed his legs in the same pose as Serie, propped his chin on his hand, and spoke slowly: "Enough of the farce. For now, just play through it once and let me see."
"Yes!" Goto Hitori and the other two answered instinctively.
"That tiny voice and you want to form a band?! No energy at all—say it again, louder!"
"YES!!!"
"Good! Full of spirit!"
Huh? Wait, why am I following his orders? ×3
...
One song finished.
Goto Hitori nervously watched Diego. I think I played pretty well... After all, I'm a YouTube guitar hero with 30,000 subscribers.
"...Terrible. The three of you were just randomly strumming. You, Goto Hitori—from the moment you started playing, you've been tense the whole time and didn't perform at your real level at all.
You, Yamada Ryo—completely lost in your own world, not caring at all if your bandmates can keep up. Focus more on coordination!
You, Ijichi Nijika—when you heard your two bandmates weren't on the same wavelength, you panicked completely. You tried matching Ryo on the left and Hitori on the right, which made the whole performance a mess."
"Even though Dio doesn't know much about the instruments you're playing, my taste in music is still excellent. Run it again!"
"Sumimasen." ×3
Under Diego's guidance, the three's performance clearly became much more coordinated.
"How was it, Dio?" Ijichi Nijika asked, looking at Diego with eyes full of hope.
Diego rubbed his chin: "Considering this is your first performance, this level is more than enough to fool your college classmates."
"But to leave you with good memories of your first time, this level still isn't enough. If Goto Hitori can overcome a bit of her social anxiety... then you could make your stage debut."
Diego stared at Goto Hitori, his pupils shifting left and right. That intensely aggressive gaze put tremendous pressure on Goto Hitori.
"Oyster oyster oyster oyster oyster oyster." Goto Hitori shook her head furiously like a baby rattle.
"I didn't say you have to do anything drastic. After all, right now you're only able to play because I'm guiding you. In front of that many people watching, you'd probably faint, right?" Diego tilted his head slightly upward and met Goto Hitori's eyes.
Demon—Dio really is a demon. He clearly knows how scared I am and still wants me to endure the audience's stares.
Ryo, from who-knows-where, pulled out a huge mango box and said softly: "If you're scared, how about performing inside this?"
"It's... just like the place where I usually practice guitar." At some point, Goto Hitori had already climbed inside. "Everyone! Let's get hyped!"
"No—Goto Hitori's social anxiety is something you'll have to address later. You can't let her develop a habit of hiding." Diego rejected the idea.
Ijichi Nijika slumped weakly onto the table and muttered: "Then what do we do... Maybe just get through this performance first and figure out how to fix it later."
"Hurry up and use your super-genius world-shaking wisdom to think of something, Mr. Dio." Ryo said with a sly look.
Diego showed a confident smile. Paired with his aggressively sharp features, it instinctively made people want to trust him.
"I'll use magic to fill you with confidence."