Seeing even March 7th, who was usually denser than herself, have a sudden epiphany and grasp that she was a one-in-ten-thousand peerless guitar maestro, Stelle eagerly raised her hand. "Caelus! What about me! Me!" How could she be left out of something as fun as starting a band!
"Stelle," Caelus began, considering their relationship, "it's not that I don't believe in your musical potential, but right now... you're probably best suited for the Ansai Waist Drum."
"Ansai Waist Drum?" Stelle blinked her big eyes, confused. What kind of instrument was that?
But quickly, an image surfaced from her subconscious: two crudely drawn yet wildly energetic figures, one rhythmically slapping the other's rear end in time with music. Without any verbal or written explanation, Stelle instantly understood the implication of "Ansai Waist Drum," and her expression immediately darkened.
"I'll give you one more chance to choose your words carefully." She lightly placed her palm on Caelus's head, a smile playing on her lips, while her gaze slowly drifted downwards towards his legs. This made Caelus instantly take a wary step back, cursing inwardly. Damn it, ever since this Stellaron-infused girl achieved clarity of mind and heart, she always aims for cheap shots when she gets physical! Absolutely shameless.
"Alright, alright." Caelus waved his hands dismissively. His eyes scanned the numerous instruments before finally locking onto a drum kit in the corner. He pointed towards it. "You can be the drummer." Stelle was strong and had a high stamina bar – perfect for drumming!
"The drummer?" Stelle circled the drum kit, examining it. She picked up the wooden drumsticks and tapped them a few times. As the cymbals rang out crisply, her eyes grew brighter and brighter, like a child with a new toy. "Hehe~ This looks pretty cool!"
Excitement bubbling up, Stelle quickly suppressed her grin and posed a question. "But why aren't you the drummer? I want to play guitar too!" Letting Sister Stelle be the drummer made Sister Stelle happy. But him being the guitarist? Sister Stelle was a bit dissatisfied.
The reason was simple: even if parents fairly divided identical toys between twins, to the twins themselves, the toy in the other's hand always seemed better! Furthermore, the 'toys' being distributed now weren't even the same, nor were they being handed out by a parent, but by Caelus – her other half, not even technically a brother.
"If you want to play guitar, ask March to swap with you. Why tell me? This is a bass," Caelus said, patting the bass guitar slung over his shoulder. He pressed his fingers on the strings and plucked them casually a couple of times.
Bass... isn't that just a four-stringed guitar? Stelle's brow furrowed in confusion, but she didn't voice her question; it would make her seem too much like an amateur.
"Then I want to play bass too!" Stelle puffed out her chest, making her declaration brazenly. It didn't matter what the instrument was; she simply wanted the position Caelus had claimed.
"You? Play bass?" Caelus scoffed, then immediately adopted a serious, righteous expression. "Do you have any idea how important the bassist is to a band? They are the soul of the band!"
"Without a bassist, the other band members might even risk starving to death! Can you shoulder the responsibility for everyone's lives?"
"Also, we're going to perform! Can you bear the responsibility if the performance fails?"
These stern, sharp questions hammered down like three immensely heavy mountains, pressing down on Stelle, making her breath catch. Is... is the bass really that important in a band?
Stelle scratched her head and glanced towards March 7th, but March's crystal-clear, innocent eyes immediately told Stelle she was asking the wrong person. She turned her head towards Serval.
"The bass... umm, yes, it's definitely very important," Serval chuckled, hedging slightly. It wasn't quite life-or-death important... but she couldn't just undermine Caelus in front of everyone, could she? He was the convener, her good partner who took the initiative to form the band with her! Besides, she wasn't lying; every instrument is crucial to a band. The bass, the bass too... Speaking of which, what was the name of their band's previous bassist again?
"Is that so." Stelle's confidence gradually deflated, and she gave up on snatching the position. But she still wanted one last jab at Caelus. "You say I'm not suited to be the bassist, so does that mean you are?" Arms crossed, Stelle shot Caelus a sideways glance. We're the same person, why can't I do it, but you can?
Caelus chuckled. "Since you're not convinced, how about I show you a little something?"
Huh? This guy actually knows how to play? Stelle's eyebrows twitched. She made a "please begin your performance" gesture. March 7th and White Seele perked up with interest. Serval's gaze grew more intense, filled with anticipation for the new band's bassist. Only Dan Heng remained silent.
Under the focused gaze of several pairs of eyes, Caelus took a deep breath. He held the bass properly, striking an opening pose.
Twang! Twang~!
He plucked the strings, then leaped up, spinning 360 degrees on the spot while letting go of the bass. Driven by centrifugal force, the bass, tethered by its strap, spun around his neck and under his right arm like a yo-yo or a hula hoop. A spectacular light began to glow around the spinning bass – the 'Dazzling Aura' that only true yo-yo masters could summon!
As they say, musical instruments share common ground. For instance, if you're good at hula hooping and yo-yos, picking up the bass will come easily.
"Hmph hmph~ How was that?" Caelus's performance lasted a full minute. When he stopped spinning the bass, sure enough, everyone was frozen in place, stunned by his heaven-shaking, ghost-moving performance.
"So dazzling! Th-This is what a bassist does?" Stelle couldn't help but gasp, mesmerized by the brilliant glow surrounding the bass. She couldn't possibly make an instrument produce such cool special effects!
Her exclamation jolted the completely stunned March 7th back to reality. Seeing Stelle's crestfallen "I lost" expression, March cupped her hands to her ears, confirmed she hadn't gone deaf, and then whispered blankly to White Seele beside her, "Seele, did you hear Caelus play anything?" The dazzling light was indeed very cool, but she only saw the light, not heard any sound?
"No," White Seele shook her head, her small face wearing the exact same bewildered expression.
"Hmph~" Caelus let out a proud grunt, reminiscent of the Hanu Brothers. He gave himself a thumbs-up and boasted, "This is us bassists! Sound optional, style mandatory!"
"..." Dan Heng still said nothing, merely growing more silent. His heart remained untroubled; somehow, this felt entirely expected.
"Pfft!" The joke, quite common on Earth, landed differently in Belobog, a place with cultural gaps shaped by a near-apocalypse. Serval couldn't keep a straight face. "Haha~ It's not that bad for bassists, is it?"
Despite her words, the sheer absurdity of the dark humor, heard for the first time, made her burst out laughing uncontrollably, clutching her stomach. Realizing this might be disrespectful to bassists, she quickly took deep breaths to compose herself.
"Then, Brother Caelus, why does the bassist shoulder everyone's lives?" White Seele tilted her head, her young, cute face full of innocent confusion.
"Because they have to go get takeout for the other band members, of course~"
"Pfft!" Serval, who had just managed to calm down, burst out laughing again. All she could say was that Caelus definitely had flair. Spending a lifetime in a band with someone this interesting might not be so bad~!
Ignoring Serval, who was bent over laughing, Caelus clapped his hands. "Seele!"
"Y-Yes!" Hearing her name called, White Seele nervously stepped forward. (Note: Addressed as Seele, but White Seele responds physically.)
"You'll be the keyboardist."
"Keyboardist? B-But Brother Caelus... Seele doesn't know how to play..." White Seele shrank back slightly, a trace of timidity in her eyes.
"It's okay. If March can learn guitar, you can definitely learn keyboard," Caelus encouraged, patting White Seele's shoulder.
"B-But..."
[It's alright, Seele. I'll help you. And so will my other self.] Caelus's 'Seele' persona spoke up internally at the right moment to support White Seele. Dark Seele merely hmphed lightly, saying nothing. Ever since Seele had tapped into the power of the Stellaron to shatter the Stigma of Death (?) and master her internal power, Dark Seele could constantly reside within her Stigmata dimension.
If worst comes to worst, we can just ask Silver Wolf! Caelus thought. Get her to hack the keyboard, give it a 'Keyboard Soul Awakening', make the keyboard play itself in sync with little Seele!
"As for Dan Heng..." Caelus frowned slightly, hand on his chin. Two guitarists, one bassist, one keyboardist, and one drummer – the band's lineup was complete. He hadn't seen any girl band with more than five members. And if someone argued he wasn't a girl? Just look at Seele and Big Bronya and say that again?
Thus, his expression shifted to something slightly wild. Caelus pointed at Dan Heng and let out a strange,jié jié laugh: "Of five people, four are in the band. Dan Heng, you are not one of them!"
"???" What the fuck?
Hearing lines that sounded disturbingly familiar, Dan Heng completely froze. Th-This has to be a coincidence, right!? In Dan Heng's eyes, Caelus had mental issues, and Blade also had mental issues. It was perfectly reasonable for the wavelengths of two psychos to align. Thinking this, Dan Heng relaxed slightly.
Not being included in the band didn't bring Dan Heng even the slightest bit of disappointment or feeling of exclusion; in fact, he was quite grateful to Caelus for this arrangement.
Until he heard:
"Oh, wise Teacher Dan Heng, the position of Band Manager is yours! Along with the job of teaching March guitar."
"...I don't know how to do that either."
"I believe you can definitely do it!" With the same sincerity and gravity as Liu Bei entrusting his son Ah Dou to Chancellor Zhuge Liang, Caelus placed his hands on Dan Heng's shoulders, looking him straight in the eye.
Can't you even listen to what people say... Too weary to retort, Dan Heng, caught in that unwavering gaze, could only nod painfully.
"Excellent!" Caelus patted Dan Heng's shoulder approvingly, bang bang.
"Yay!" With the almighty Teacher Dan Heng on board, March 7th felt she was one step closer to becoming a legendary guitarist. Suddenly remembering something, she raised her hand excitedly. "The band is formed! First things first, what should we name it?"
"Hoh hoh, have the heroic spirits already begun to descend?" Caelus looked at March 7th, seemingly seeing the legendary pink-haired guitarist – who started thinking of band names after finding just one member – floating behind her like a guardian spirit.
"I've already thought of a name for the band."
Hearing this, Serval, still catching her breath from laughing, stood up straight. Stelle stopped randomly banging on the drums. Everyone's gaze turned towards Caelus.
"The band's name is—Crychic!"
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