---
It was late that day.
Ishikawa Hayabusa, who was playing the synthesizer at home, received a message from Nijika.
"Would you like to come to STARRY sometime to discuss the arrangements for the performance and the setlist?"
He replied, "I'm already on my way."
Just this once.
After Ishikawa Hayabusa arrived—and even after Ryo, who came at the last minute—Kita still hadn't shown up.
No one expected that the meeting that morning would be the last time they saw Kita Ikuyo before the show.
---
Saturday passed, and Sunday arrived.
Kita Ikuyo still didn't show up at STARRY, nor did she reply to any LINE messages.
It was as if she had vanished, leaving behind only a silent shadow in the band's LINE group chat.
"Namo…"
Ryo clasped her hands together and prayed silently for their missing member.
Nijika, usually cheerful and full of energy, sat quietly at the table—showing neither distress nor a smile.
She seemed to radiate a sense of helplessness, as if she had fallen right after taking her first step.
But after only a moment, she perked up again and spoke energetically to the two of them.
"Kita-chan might have something to say, so let's start the meeting."
But Ishikawa Hayabusa didn't just agree with her—he tried to reassure her after she spoke.
"Nijika, don't be so tense. I'll go to class tomorrow and ask about the situation."
Nijika looked at Ishikawa Hayabusa. He was the only one who had kept a calm expression from start to finish, as if no negative emotion could affect him.
"Tense? No, no, I've been fine all along."
She waved her hand with a smile, denying Hayabusa's words, but still accepted his offer to help.
"Then, Mr. Hayabusa, I'll leave it to you."
"Mm."
After that, the three began discussing the songs, stage details, MC script, and other matters for the performance.
---
On Monday, Ishikawa Hayabusa was truly curious about what had happened to Kita Ikuyo.
Had she really bailed, or was it an accident?
And what would he say when he saw her?
That morning, he didn't specifically go looking for Goto Hitori, but headed straight to school.
However, Goto Hitori, walking more than ten steps behind him, hesitated—her blue eyes, which had held a faint trace of expectation, slowly dimmed as she lowered her gaze to the ground.
When Hayabusa entered the classroom, he looked around and saw that Kita Ikuyo wasn't there. He didn't rush to ask anyone, instead leaning back in his chair as if nothing had happened.
He ignored completely the atmosphere of a class that was already ignoring him.
He picked up the textbook he and Nijika had bought that day, felt the texture of the pages, but had little desire to read.
Kita Ikuyo arrived late—almost at the start of class.
When she entered, her usual bright smile was gone; she only managed a strained grin when greeting her friends.
Before sitting down, she glanced at Ishikawa Hayabusa with a guilty expression, as if she had done something wrong. But when their eyes met, she flinched in surprise, then quickly pretended to be calm as she placed her bag in the desk drawer.
Hayabusa understood the reason.
He noticed that Kita had a serious bandage on her hand, and there were distinct dark circles under her eyes, barely concealed by makeup.
Even though she tried to hide it, she couldn't escape the gaze of a perceptive observer.
You really are an idiot. While practicing bass can make your hands sore more easily than guitar, it's not so simple to injure your fingers like that. It must've taken a lot to get them in that state.
When class was about to end, Hayabusa took out his phone, sent a message to Kita Ikuyo's LINE account—where she had been pretending to be dead—and then left.
He headed for the school rooftop, which was almost always empty during breaks.
Hayabusa's school had one of the lowest deviation scores.
It emphasized a "happy learning, wonderful life" philosophy, focusing on spending one's student years in a relaxed way—though academics weren't completely ignored.
The campus was exactly as the school's concept promised: clean and beautiful.
A vibrantly painted safety fence enclosed the spacious rooftop. Rough granite reflected a bit of sunlight. In the flowerbed at the center, several evergreen trees grew vigorously.
Hayabusa waited a long time before hearing hurried footsteps approaching from the hallway.
---
Kita Ikuyo had never hidden messages from the other three members of the band.
But every time she saw one from them, she would quickly turn off her screen.
She had watched them go from asking when she would come, to wondering why she hadn't, to finally worrying.
She felt she had done something unforgivable.
But no matter what, she just couldn't get the right sound out of her guitar. She had watched countless tutorial videos and practiced endlessly, but felt no improvement.
The hand injury the seniors had warned her about had ended up like this.
She had been far too afraid to face them on Saturday afternoon.
On Monday, she couldn't even imagine what expression Ishikawa Hayabusa would have when he saw her—and had even considered taking the day off.
But what must be faced must be faced.
After class, she received a LINE message from Hayabusa. She prepared to go to the rooftop to confess everything to him.
She hoped he could explain things to the two seniors on her behalf.
Running up to the rooftop, Kita was ready to say everything in one go, weighed down by guilt.
"I'm sorry, the truth is I..."
She gathered her courage, decided what to say, and had rehearsed it several times in her head—but Ishikawa Hayabusa cut her off.
With a faint smile, he said,
"Kita Ikuyo, you don't want your seniors to know you can't play guitar, do you?"
Suddenly, Kita froze.
---
Kita Ikuyo had always thought her life was boring.
She had good grades, athletic ability, and plenty of friends. Everything about her was average.
It was as if she had been molded by society, by school, and by various friend groups.
Always doing the right thing, the proper thing.
One among countless ordinary high school girls.
She didn't even have any special talents.
That's why, when she saw senior Ryo performing on the street, she was instantly captivated by her unique attitude and unapologetically self-centered personality.
She wanted to join the band too, and work hard to change herself.
But… some things really are just fantasies.
Once she sat down, she wasn't sure if she felt relieved or hopeless.
Just now, Ishikawa had asked her to do two small things.
Although she didn't fully understand, since he had helped explain things to the seniors for her, she agreed.
After class, Kita thought about what Ishikawa had just asked her to do and suddenly realized something.
In the classroom, a collective atmosphere of subtle rejection toward one student seemed to be forming.
The term had just begun—how could this already be happening?
She had been so caught up with practice and thoughts of Ryo-senpai lately that she hadn't noticed.
Come to think of it, Ishikawa must have been referring to this.
This could get bad.
But why would he ask me…?
"Don't speak for me in class."
---