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Chapter 19: The Strange Bassist
🕑 Added 2025-07-30 20:19:01 +0000 UTCDespite being extremely confused, Nijika chose not to press the question aloud.
After Aoki Kei paused and turned around, Yamada Ryo the one who had called out to him said something.
She stepped aside and rummaged briefly through her bass case.
A few moments later, she pulled out some bills of various denominations.
“Suki-san, here’s the money I borrowed when I bought my bass. Thanks,” she said.
Aoki Kei blinked in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Ryo to repay him so quickly.
But after a brief pause, he smiled faintly, nodded, and took the cash from the blue-haired girl, brushing off her thanks.
Before he could say anything more, Ryo continued.
She took out her phone, tapped the screen a few times, then held it up in front of him.
“And also... let’s add each other on LINE, Suki-san.”
Their eyes met.
As always, Ryo’s face didn’t betray much emotion, but her voice carried the faintest trace of curiosity about him.
“You promised last time, remember? You said you’d come to the next Kessoku Band live show. I’ll message you in advance next time.”
Aoki Kei hesitated.
Noticing his lack of immediate response, Ryo waited a couple seconds and then added, completely deadpan, “Liars have to swallow a thousand needles, you know.”
“...”
Ignoring the mildly unhinged threat, Aoki Kei thought it over.
He had said he’d come next time.
Watching a live show wouldn’t take too much time, and truthfully, he was curious to see Kessoku Band perform in person.
After a brief pause, he nodded.
“Alright.”
He took out his phone, tapped a few times, and added Ryo’s LINE.
“Huh?”
Nijika, watching all this from the side, grew even more confused.
Something wasn’t right.
Why did Ryo suddenly want to add Aoki-senpai on LINE?
Why did she call him Suki-san so casually? And why didn’t Aoki-senpai seem even remotely surprised by it?
Something was definitely off.
Holding back her growing urge to interrogate Ryo on the spot, Nijika decided she’d get to the bottom of it later.
Meanwhile, Ryo finished adding Aoki Kei, labeling him on her phone as “Weird Suki-san”.
Then she looked up again at the boy in front of her.
Aoki Kei didn’t seem like he planned to stick around.
Meeting Ryo’s gaze for a moment, he asked, “Nothing else, Yamada-san? Then I’ll be heading out.”
Ryo blinked her emotionless eyes.
Her mouth opened slightly, as if she were about to say something more.
But after a brief pause, she chose not to.
“Mm.” She nodded once.
With a small wave, Aoki Kei turned and left STARRY.
Nijika watched his back as he walked away.
Only when he was completely out of sight did she shift her gaze to Ryo.
Once she was sure Aoki-senpai was gone, and neither Bocchi nor Kita was paying attention, Nijika leaned toward the blue-haired girl and whispered in confusion:
“Ryo... When did you find out Aoki-senpai is Suki-san?”
Ryo blinked, looking confused. She tilted her head.
“Find out Aoki-senpai is Suki-san?”
That reaction only made the question feel weirder to Ryo, so instead of answering directly, she responded with another question.
Nijika hesitated for a moment, but since Ryo had already referred to Aoki as Suki-san in real life, she pressed on.
“You know... Aoki-senpai’s YouTube account—Suki-san, the one who did that original song ‘Lemon’... When did you find out? You talk like you’ve known for a really long time.”
“...”
There was a short silence.
Still tilting her head, Ryo blinked again.
And then, after a pause, she muttered as if she’d just made a discovery:
“Oh—so Suki-san has a YouTube account too?”
“...”
Nijika froze.
Ryo’s words hit her like a brick.
It slowly dawned on her that something wasn’t adding up.
She blinked, then cautiously asked, “Wait… Ryo…”
“You didn’t know Aoki-senpai had a YouTube channel?”
Ryo immediately shook her head.
“Then… how do you know the nickname ‘Suki-san’?” Nijika asked, now fully panicking.
At that moment, she realized she may have just accidentally revealed Aoki Kei’s YouTube identity to someone who had no idea and her soul quietly left her body.
“‘Suki-san’ is a nickname I gave Aoki-san,” Ryou explained earnestly, tilting her head slightly as she answered Nijika’s question.
“You see, Aoki kanji ‘Suke’ looks pretty similar to ‘Suki,’ right? So it just popped into my head one day. I guess he liked it enough to use it for his YouTube account.”
But at that point, Nijika wasn’t really listening anymore.
‘I’m doomed...’
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Back at his apartment, Aoki Kei changed out of his school uniform.
It was still early, so instead of rushing dinner, he dragged his small wooden table into the center of the room and pulled out his schoolbooks.
The room was cramped there was barely space to stretch his arms without hitting a wall—and definitely not what anyone would call comfortable living.
Not even enough room for a proper bed.
‘Once I save up a bit more, I’m definitely moving somewhere better,’ he thought bitterly.
Shaking off the complaint, he got to work.
After finishing his assignments, he walked to a nearby convenience store and grabbed a half-priced bento for dinner.
Then it was back to the grind—this time self-studying some math.
By the time he looked up again, the sky was pitch black.
It was already 10 PM.
After a quick shower and cleaning up the room, he laid out his futon and turned off the lone fluorescent light.
Lying in the dark, he finally picked up his phone—and noticed several messages from Yamada Ryo, sent twenty minutes earlier.
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[Weird Bassist]: Suki-san, is this you?
[Weird Bassist]: (photo attachment)
[Weird Bassist]: I listened to the song. Knew it was you.
————————————————————————
The messages now all had the “Read” checkmark.
Aoki Kei stared at the screen for a second.
He hadn’t gone out of his way to hide his voice—or the fact that he was wearing his school uniform in the video. So it wasn’t too surprising she recognized him.
Still, he hadn’t expected her to make the connection so quickly.
After a moment’s pause, he simply replied:
————————————————————————
[Aoki]: Yeah, it’s me.
————————————————————————
Normally, someone might respond with comments about the song—maybe feedback, maybe praise.
But Yamada Ryo, of course, was not most people.
Her reply started with a bizarre Geisha-style laughing emoji sticker. Then came the real message:
————————————————————————
[Weird Bassist]: Not bad, huh? I’m pretty good at nicknames.
But since you used the nickname I gave you without permission on social media,
I’m charging you a 5,000 yen nickname licensing fee.
Pay up next time we meet.
————————————————————————
Aoki Kei blinked.
Line-Ryo and real-life-Ryo definitely had slightly different energy.
The idea of her saying that with a completely straight face—like she did when she asked to borrow money for a bass—actually made it all click.
‘Yeah... This is just peak Yamada.’
He chuckled to himself before replying:
————————————————————————
[Aoki]: Yamada-san, it’s late. I’m going to bed. Hope you dream of bass guitars and 5,000 yen.
————————————————————————
He was about to turn off his phone when it buzzed with an immediate response.
————————————————————————
[Weird Bassist]: Good night.
————————————————————————
And a few seconds later, another message popped up:
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[Weird Bassist]: By the way, suki-san... ‘Lemon’ was really good.
————————————————————————
A small smile tugged at Aoki Kei’s lips.
He turned off the screen and let the quiet of the night settle around him.
