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Chapter 90: When the Storm Begins
🕑 Added 2025-08-16 15:00:16 +0000 UTCThough the recording studio door was left open and the sound of the electric piano filled the room, Aoki still caught the sound of Kita Ikuyo entering.
He paused his playing, closed the piano lid, and switched off the power.
By then, Kita was already standing at the studio entrance, her guitar bag slung over her shoulder.
“Good evening, Aoki-senpai.”
Her voice, a little quieter than usual, reached him.
It wasn’t clear whether it was due to a bad mood or something else, but she sounded noticeably more subdued than usual.
“Yo,” Aoki nodded, lifting his gaze toward her.
She looked like she’d rushed over—tiny beads of sweat clung to her forehead.
With the big difference between day and night temperatures lately, it was easy to catch a cold after sweating and then stepping into the cool night air.
And more than just the sweat, dark circles had formed under her eyes.
Aoki had already noticed that something seemed off with her lately.
In fact, things looked even worse now than when he’d first sensed something was wrong a few days ago—the dark circles under her eyes were deeper, and during practice she’d seemed increasingly out of it.
He wasn’t the only one who’d noticed—Nijika had, too.
In fact, Nijika had come right out and asked, “Is something bothering you lately?” But Kita had only responded with a tired smile, “I’m just a bit sleepy today, really, no problem.”
Even though they were both worried, Kita clearly didn’t want to talk about it, and Aoki didn’t feel right pushing the issue after Nijika had already asked.
At the electric piano, the two locked eyes briefly before Aoki looked away first.
“We did some vocal work yesterday, so let’s focus on guitar today,” he said, standing and picking up the spare guitar he kept in the studio.
“Okay,” Kita nodded.
She had returned to the live house tonight specifically to get more practice in.
Without wasting any time, the two of them began their session.
But, just as Aoki had suspected, Kita’s condition wasn’t good.
During earlier ensemble training, he’d been distracted by playing the keyboard and hadn’t paid close attention to her performance.
Now, with all his focus on her, he could clearly see she was far more distracted than usual.
She was only supposed to play through the chords for Fireworks, something she’d done multiple times before.
But even in just the first section, she made several mistakes.
At one point, she even came to a full stop midway through a passage.
After fumbling her way to the end, she finally set her hands still.
Aoki took a quiet breath but said nothing at first.
Before he could speak, Kita beat him to it.
“Um, Aoki-senpai, I just wasn’t in the right headspace for that first run. I’ll be better on the next one.”
“...”
He didn’t respond right away.
This wasn’t just a case of being a little off.
Kita wasn’t spacing out on purpose, and there was no way she should be messing up this badly on something she’d already practiced thoroughly.
What she really needed now was proper rest.
“You’re pushing yourself too hard lately,” Aoki said, shaking his head and gently setting his guitar down. “You should head home and get some rest.”
Kita paused, still holding her guitar, her expression frozen for a moment.
Then, realizing what he meant, she quickly shook her head and tried to explain, “Really, Aoki-senpai, it’s just the first try. I’ll be fine—I can keep going.”
But Aoki stood up decisively.
“There’s still plenty of time left for training. There’s no need to force it all at once. Just go home and reset your energy, Kita. You’re making people worry.”
He didn’t wait for a reply.
With that, he turned around without hesitation.
Seeing him about to leave, a flicker of panic crossed Kita’s face.
She worry that he might actually walk away made her spring to her feet immediately.
She must have stood up too quickly, because Kita stumbled slightly as she rushed after Aoki.
Not paying it any mind, she called out to him, “Aoki-senpai, I might not have time later on either. Since my mom's working overtime today, I can stay out a bit longer to practice, so—so, please…”
There was a faint, pleading note in her voice.
Aoki’s hand paused on the door handle, just as he was about to push it open.
He wasn’t sure how to respond.
Still uncertain, he hadn’t even decided what to say when Kita’s voice came again from behind:
“I—I know I haven’t been in the best condition lately. But I really don’t have much free time right now, so I’ve been trying to squeeze in as much practice as I can. I don’t want to let everyone down.”
“Aoki-senpai… After I lied to Nijika-senpai and Ryou-senpai and ran away… After I couldn’t live up to your expectations back then… I’ve already run away too many times. This time, no matter what, I want to take responsibility for what’s mine.”
Aoki let out a soft sigh and turned back to look at her.
“You can stay out to practice longer tonight?”
“Yeah,” she nodded firmly.
There was a brief silence between them.
Then finally, Aoki responded, “Alright. You can keep practicing.”
But after a short pause, he added, “On one condition—at least take a break right now. You’ve got time. Lay your head down on the desk and get some rest. I’ll wake you up in a bit. You won’t be able to practice properly like this.”
Kita blinked in surprise, then quickly nodded without hesitation.
“Okay! Thank you, Aoki-senpai!”
Seeing her agree so readily, Aoki turned around, opened the door, and stepped out.
“Then go ahead and rest in the studio for a while,” he said, bringing their conversation to a close for the moment.
After stepping into the STARRY livehouse lobby, he shut the door behind him.
There weren’t any customers today.
The floor was clean and quiet.
It was already getting dark outside.
Looks like it’d be another late night before he could get any sleep.
With that thought, Aoki sat on a bench in the lobby, silenced his phone, and started scrolling through it.
———————————————————————
As time passed.
He sat there long enough that his body began to stiffen a little.
The sky had grown darker.
At 8:40, he finally stood up to stretch, checked the clock on the wall, then put his phone away and made his way back to the recording studio.
The door opened quietly—soft enough not to wake the girl inside.
His eyes landed on Kita, still asleep at the table, her head resting on her arms.
A lock of hair had slipped across her cheek.
“Kita… Kita-san,” Aoki said gently, stepping closer to wake her.
But she didn’t stir.
Probably because she was so sleep-deprived.
Slightly puzzled, Aoki moved to her side, intending to lightly tap her shoulder—
—but then paused.
As he looked closely at her peaceful, sleeping face, he noticed something wasn’t right.
A faint flush had crept into her cheeks.
Sweat dotted her forehead.
And in the silence of the room, he could hear it—her breathing, a little too fast.
A subtle but growing sense of alarm prickled in his chest.
He hesitated, then slowly reached out and placed his palm against her forehead.
Her skin was burning hot.
Aoki’s brows furrowed. His expression turned serious.
There was no doubt—Kita had a fever.
