Chapter 45: The Song Choice for the Second Confession
"System, are there any songs that could work for a confession?"
After seeing both Hitori and Yuno home, Ren also returned to his own house.
He lay down on his bed and asked the system if there were any suitable songs.
From meeting and getting acquainted to truly understanding each other, the progress of his relationship with Hitori could be described as remarkably fast—just over half a month in total.
But they had already gone camping together, and he even met her parents. Ren wasn't sure if this pace was normal.
However, neither he nor Hitori had any particular feelings about it. After all, some people even had whirlwind marriages—so their progress didn't seem too rushed, right?
Now, Ren wanted to deepen his relationship with Hitori further, not just because of the excitement he felt that morning, but also to reassure Hitori.
It's often said that when two people have mutual feelings, taking bold action and making things official can greatly increase the chances of becoming a couple. Similarly, once in a relationship, such a move can help ease the other person's worries.
As Hitori met more people and made more friends, it was predictable that someone with her personality would feel anxious.
So Ren decided to settle things once and for all, using both emotional and physical approaches to make Hitori understand that she didn't need to harbor such pointless anxiety.
To achieve that goal, he planned to give her a song during their upcoming date, as a way to express his feelings.
[Suggested songs include: "Summertime," Ayasa's version of "I Love You," "Uchiage Hanabi (Fireworks)," "One Love," and "Miracle."]
There were many songs to choose from, and they even came with an automatic mental playback feature. Ren had heard some of them before.
Since any of them could serve as the grand finale for their evening date, Ren found himself struggling with indecision.
After careful consideration, he chose "Uchiage Hanabi (Fireworks)" because, during the Golden Week holiday, Ikebukuro's shopping district would be hosting related events, including a fireworks display—the perfect opportunity to set the mood.
Once he'd settled on the song to present to Hitori as a second confession, Ren logged into his video upload account for the first time in a while and discovered he had already reached five million followers.
His account only had one lone video, but its views had surpassed 100 million. Although the growth rate was starting to slow, it was a height ordinary people could never reach.
Such flawless stats surprised Ren a little. After all, this world didn't have the advantage of related TV drama promotions, yet this song—so different from the style of a girls' band—had still managed to achieve such incredible success.
As expected of me.
Ren accepted this achievement with a clear conscience. He had picked it up, so it belonged to him.
Next, Ren posted a recruitment notice: "Looking for temporary members for a new song performance. Skilled pianists, guitarists, bassists, drummers, and synth players are welcome to apply."
"Payment: 1 million yen."
"Requirements: Must be able to arrive in Ikebukuro tomorrow and master the piece perfectly within three days."
After posting the recruitment notice on YouTube, Ren also logged into Twitter and shared the same information.
"Is Sweet-sensei finally releasing a new song? Let the haters who said Sensei was a one-hit wonder eat their words!"
As soon as the temporary recruitment notice went live, the internet erupted with enthusiastic discussions.
His debut song, "Lemon," had been so stunning that countless people were eagerly awaiting Ren's next release.
The smart ones had already signed up after seeing the message.
First was bassist Yahata Umiri, who had collaborated with them before. Since no one might notice even if the bass recording microphone ran out of power, there was no need to worry about her skill level.
Ren immediately accepted her application and revised the recruitment notice.
Time was tight—the Ikebukuro shopping district event was on May 3rd, and tomorrow was May 1st. Ren only had three days for training. Although the previous recording was completed quickly, careful listening revealed that the coordination was still somewhat immature, though the excellent composition masked those flaws.
This time, Ren hoped to achieve greater perfection.
Soon, a pianist applied as well. Even when recruiting online, one million yen was enough to attract people.
The applicant was straightforward, sending a video of his piano performance for Ren to review.
Naturally, it was good not to have to perform in person—this time, Ren planned to focus solely on being the lead vocalist.
Quickly, drummers, guitarists, and synthesizer players also responded, some even willing to pay out of pocket to collaborate with Ren.
After the massive success of the first song, the traffic surrounding Ren became extremely valuable for any instrumentalist who could participate in a collaboration—it could very well make them famous too.
After reviewing all the applicants, Anon video-called.
"Ren, even if you have money, you can't spend it like this, right? One million yen to hire a temporary member? That's way too expensive!"
Anon was concerned about Ren. She received a notification after Ren updated the video and was happy about the new song, but seeing the payment offered made her worry that Ren was becoming too extravagant with money.
From their high schooler perspective, ten thousand yen was already a generous payment for a temporary substitute member. Yet Ren was offering one million yen at once—would it be ten million next time?
At that rate, even a billion yen wouldn't be enough.
"Expensive? I was worried no one would respond. Don't worry, I know my limits—I'll only release one song a month."
Ren felt warm inside. When he had matters to handle, Anon genuinely cared—if this wasn't family, what was?
"But it's still expensive! One million yen! I wish I were skilled enough—I'd want to earn that money too."
Hearing Ren's explanation, Anon sighed in relief, then lamented her own weak guitar skills. Otherwise, she would have gone for that money herself.
"Just work harder. You could ask Bocchi-chan to teach you. Don't be fooled by how poorly she seems to play—it's because she can't fully express her true abilities. Otherwise, you'd be completely discouraged."
Ren chatted casually with Anon, not forgetting to suggest she hang out with Hitori. He was always looking for opportunities and experiences that could help Hitori.
"Really? If I go hang out with her and you can't go on a date with her, you won't get mad, will you?"
"We just got back from hanging out, and these next few days I'll be busy with song-related matters. I won't have time to accompany her anyway."
"Then I won't disturb you any further. Good luck with your song practice!"
Anon felt somewhat motivated, having realized her skills were a bit lacking. If the band were to make improvements, she'd be the first one to be replaced if things continued this way.
So she practiced guitar for an hour every day, though sometimes she'd slack off before the hour was up. Still, no one could doubt her determination to improve.
Visiting Hitori would also be a good opportunity to ask about her progress with Ren. Childhood friends staying out overnight together—Anon couldn't help feeling like something was weighing heavily on her mind.