InsomniaWL
patreon
Chapter 129: And So, He Decides to Move Forward
🕑 Added 2025-08-31 15:34:48 +0000 UTCAfter the talk segment wrapped up, the group moved on to a game segment.
They used a stopwatch to play a simple party game called âHit Exactly One Second,â where each person had to press the timer at what they thought was exactly one second.
Having played it on the show many times before, Izumi Yuu confidently declared, âIâm definitely going to be the most accurate!â
Her result? 0.91 secondsâdead last among the group.
Nijika, Kita, and Ryo were all around 0.95 seconds.
Aoki came close to perfect, with a best attempt of 0.98 seconds.
But to everyoneâs surprise, Bocchi absolutely nailed the gameâthree tries, and all three landed on exactly one second.
Perfect.
So when the game ended, Bocchi-chan was crowned with the completely useless, yet strangely satisfying title: âQueen of Stopwatch Precision.â
It wasnât worth much, but Bocchiâwhose emotions are usually hard to hide looked genuinely happy.
After the game segment, the recording session was nearing its end.
They did one more round of promotion for Fireworks, and finally, Izumi Yuu closed the show with her usual bright tone:
âWell, thatâs it for today! Can anyone guess who Yuu-chan will invite next? Bye-bye~!â
As soon as the mics turned off, Aoki let out a deep sigh of relief.
Radio shows were harder than he expected. T
here were moments where he honestly didnât know how to respond.
Still, he got through it.
Silently, he made up his mind: Never again. No more radio appearances if he could help it.
He stood up from his seat.
âThanks for today,â Yuu said, smiling warmly at the group.
âYou too, Izumi-san. It couldnât have been easy hosting a bunch of newcomers without a hitch,â Nijika replied, also with a smile.
Aoki was about to say something as well, but before he could, the director leaned over.
âHey, Aoki-sensei, youâve really got a knack for radio. Ever thought about doing more of it?â
It was hard to tell if he was joking or serious, but Kei didnât hesitate.
âPlease spare me,â he said. âJust doing it this once already pushed my limits.â
âHAHAHAHA!â Director Nagano laughed heartily.
Once he calmed down, he added, âDonât worry, Aoki-sensei. Iâm sure this episodeâs going to skyrocket Kessoku Bandâs popularity. The show turned out amazing!â
Kei wasnât a director.
He didnât know much about the radio industry. So he had no idea what made the show so âamazing.â
But honestly, he didnât careârecording was over, and nothing major went wrong. That was enough for him.
Well⌠nothing major.
There were still a few unexpected momentsâlike when Ryo suddenly got serious and explained the origin of his nickname.
When she said that, it caught Kei off guard.
And maybeâjust maybe something stirred inside him.
But regardless of what that wasâŚ
The recording was done. Surprises or not, they made it through.
The radio episode would air next week after editing, so it would take another full week before they could see any feedback.
After chatting with Nagano for a bit, they left the studio around 4:30 p.m.
There was no group dinner that night.
Aoki just picked up a bento on the way home and returned alone to his apartment.
While eating, he began to seriously consider moving.
It sounded like a hassleâfinding the right place, signing a lease, packing up and movingâŚ
But really, the only time-consuming part would be choosing a place and finalizing the contract.
Packing? Kei didnât own much worth mentioning.
A few sets of clothes, two guitars, and the digital piano that took up most of his room. That was it.
Yeah. It was time to move.
Right now, Aoki had more than enough money.
Between the licensing fee for the Fireworks theme song Fireworks Rising.
Ticket revenue from two live shows, guaranteed appearance pay, royalties from his âsuki-sanâ account, plus scholarships, PVC bonuses, and other random sources he had roughly 12 million yen in total.
Sure, a lot of it wasnât immediately accessible yet and would take a few days to clear.
But even just the money he could use now was enough to completely upgrade his lifestyle.
Still⌠for Aoki, that money wasnât âa lot.â
He wasnât planning to stop here.
Since the moment he arrived in Japan, Aoki had lived by one rule:
âIf youâre going to do something, do it right. If not, donât bother.â
Before getting into music, the only path open to himâwithout a cheat ability was studying hard and getting into the University of Tokyo. So thatâs what he did.
Coming from an orphanage, he pushed himselfâand he achieved it.
Top of his class in elementary school, middle school, and first year of high school.
Now that he was in music, Kei couldnât say for sure that heâd become the best.
But he wanted to climb as high as he could.
He didnât have some romantic dream of becoming a musical genius.
But he wanted to help carry Kessoku Bandâs dreams.
Words like friendship, bonds, and chasing your dreams sounded like something out of a shounen manga.
A bit too cheesy for real life.
If he had to put it his way, it would be this:
âBecause weâve spent so much time together, I donât want to just leave it up to them to move forward.â
Sometimes, the reason someone devotes their life to something isnât complicated.
Sometimes, even chasing a vague, unreachable dream is enough of a reason.
Soâ
He picked up a piece of pork cutlet with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.
What started as a goal to âgo professionalâ had now become a real careerâone that could support him financially.
So, whatâs the next step?
Right now, Kessoku Band was popular, sureâbut they werenât a household name.
Most people might say, âThat Fireworks song is nice,â but never think to look up the band.
The next step was clear: raise Kessoku Bandâs name to the next level.
From there, aim for true fameâperform at the Budokan, Tokyo Dome.
And beyond that, go global.
Bring their music to the world.
It was hard. Way harder than getting into the University of Tokyo.
Impossible in the short term. Maybe not even in three or four years.
But not impossible.
Now was the time to shift gears.
Until now, things like the PVC project and Kessoku Bandâs songs were born out of necessityâreactive choices, made because he had no other option.
But this time, Kei wanted to take the lead.
Practice more. Release more music. Drop an album. Join more projects.
Collaborate with others where it made sense.
He wanted to take each step forwardâtogether with the girls of Kessoku Bandâtoward the very top.
As for nowâŚ
He finished the last bite of rice in his bento and closed the lid.
Looking up, the aging ceiling light flooded the room. It had grown dim after all the hours it had burned, but it still filled the space.
The cracked window without a screen.
The slightly rusted door lock. The old cabinets. The 600-yen stool he bought himself...
It was time to say goodbye to this part of his life.
