InsomniaWL
patreon
Chapter 16: Returning to STARRY
🕑 Added 2025-07-30 20:16:02 +0000 UTCThe three of them didn’t take the train.
Instead, they walked from Shuchiin Private High School to STARRY. But with no one speaking the entire way, the atmosphere turned a bit awkward.
It stayed that way until they reached Shimokitazawa, continuing toward their destination.
As they walked, Kita Ikuyo increasingly felt the surroundings were oddly familiar.
After glancing around a few times, she finally turned toward Gotou Hitori, slightly tense, and spoke up.
“Um… Gotou-san, the livehouse you mentioned—by any chance, is it called… STARRY?”
Startled out of her thoughts about how to talk to Aoki-senpai, Gotou Hitori twitched with nervous surprise.
After a moment, she responded.
“Ah… K-Kita-san, you know that livehouse…?”
“...!”
Kita Ikuyo suddenly froze in her tracks beside Aoki Kei.
Of course she knew that livehouse.
It was the very place she had run away from—the one where she was supposed to perform as a guitarist, despite not being able to play.
Swallowing hard, she turned to Gotou Hitori and said hurriedly, “Gotou-san, I’m sorry, but I’m going home now!”
“Eh?” Gotou blinked in confusion, caught off guard.
Backing up a couple steps, Kita didn’t even wait for a response.
She quickly explained, “Sorry—I can’t tell you exactly why, but I absolutely can’t go back to that place… not STARRY…”
And just as she was about to make her escape, a loud and cheerful voice called out, cutting through the tension.
“Ah! Bocchi-chan! I don’t know what’s going on, but I bought a ton of energy drinks from that store over there!”
It was Ijichi Nijika, bounding over from a nearby shop, holding a box full of energy drinks.
Noticing the group on the street, she beamed.
“Oh! Aoki-senpai—! And… ah! The runaway guitarist from last time!”
Kita Ikuyo froze completely.
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as her mind raced, trying to figure out what kind of excuse she could possibly give now.
Just then, Yamada Ryou appeared, walking over slowly with her bass slung over her shoulder.
She gave Aoki Kei a subtle nod, then paused when she recognized Kita Ikuyo.
“...!”
The moment she saw the senpai she secretly admired most, every excuse Kita had been preparing vanished into thin air.
Still kneeling on the ground, tears in her eyes, she threw herself into a full-on dogeza.
“I’ll do anything! Please forgive my rudeness from last time!”
Ah—what a scene.
Aoki Kei watched the girl spouting lines that sounded like they were straight out of an adult anime, and silently took a step back.
Then, without hesitation, he pulled out his phone, opened the camera, and snapped a photo.
In Japan, phones make an audible click sound when taking pictures—supposedly to deter creeps on public transport.
Most Japanese phone companies include this feature as a default.
Naturally, the sound wasn’t lost on anyone.
Kita Ikuyo flinched as soon as she heard the shutter.
Yamada Ryou glanced over at Aoki Kei and, without saying a word, gave him a look that clearly meant: "Nice one. Send me a copy later."
Aoki Kei responded with a subtle thumbs-up.
“Ryou! Don’t mess around! And Aoki-senpai—stop bullying Kita-chan!”
Nijika frowned as she glanced from the still-kneeling Kita to Yamada Ryou, and finally to Aoki Kei.
————————————————————————
Inside the livehouse, the group sat around a table.
With watery eyes, Kita Ikuyo gave a pitiful explanation and repeatedly apologized.
Nijika waved it off with a gentle smile, assuring her it wasn’t a big deal.
Thanks to Aoki-senpai and Bocchi-chan, that live performance had ended up going surprisingly well.
After some brief discussion and clearing things up, the misunderstanding was finally resolved.
That said…
From Shuchiin Private High all the way to STARRY, Aoki Kei had waited the whole time—yet Gotou Hitori never brought up whatever it was she’d wanted to say to him.
He glanced down at his phone.
It was around 3:40 p.m., well past the time he was supposed to be at his part-time job at the convenience store.
Fortunately, Aoki Kei had planned ahead.
The moment he accepted the task related to Option 3 from the game, he had asked his manager for time off.
Though the manager’s reply came with a bit of grumbling—something about him already requesting leave twice in a week—Aoki Kei didn’t mind.
Convenience store jobs were easy to come by.
Compared to system rewards, they were nothing.
Still... looking at how things were unfolding, if he really wanted to secure that reward, he'd probably have to skip his late-night bar job too.
After weighing the sunk cost and remembering he still had over 100,000 yen in savings, Aoki Kei made up his mind.
No turning back.
Having decided, he pushed those worries out of his mind.
While Aoki Kei was still deep in thought, Kita Ikuyo who still wracked with guilt and wanting to make up for what had happened was asked by the manager, Ijichi Seika, to stay and help out with some chores around the livehouse that afternoon.
Naturally, Kita Ikuyo had no objections.
In fact, she even felt that just doing this was too light a punishment.
But under Nijika’s gentle reassurance—“That alone would be a huge help!”—she reluctantly accepted.
That said, since none of them were part of any after-school clubs and school had ended quite early, there wasn’t much to do around the livehouse.
With no customers in sight, other than tidying up some tables and sweeping the floor, there really wasn’t anything urgent left to take care of.
So, taking advantage of the free time and the fact that Aoki Kei was still around—Nijika proposed a little group discussion.
The topic? “Dividing up roles and figuring out how to be more like a real band.”
She even pulled Aoki Kei into it with the excuse of “having him act as an advisor.”
As for Aoki Kei, the question of “how to seem more like a proper band” left him utterly stumped.
Even after living all these years, his understanding of rock bands boiled down to: hippies, inevitable breakups, and lead singers hanging themselves.
...Honestly, was there something wrong with the mental health of people in rock bands?
He glanced at the cheerful, lively girls sitting around him and couldn't help but feel a twinge of concern for their future.
Barely paying attention to their energetic back-and-forth about roles and image, Aoki Kei let his mind wander.
Although he’d been invited to act as an “advisor,” the conversation so far had been dominated by the girls chatting excitedly among themselves.
Eventually, Nijika the ever the band’s social glue—noticed Aoki Kei’s silence from across the table and decided to pull him back in.
“Hey, Aoki-senpai, do you have any ideas?” she asked cheerfully. “Like... something that could make Kessoku Band feel more like a real, professional band?”
The sudden question snapped Aoki Kei out of his thoughts.
Something to make them feel more like a real band...
He gave it a bit of thought, his gaze unconsciously drifting across the table—until it landed on Yamada Ryo.
The cool, blue-haired girl with her trademark aloof air was resting her chin in her palm, elbow propped on the table.
Her eyes were fixed off to the side, her expression calm and unreadable—totally at odds with the upbeat atmosphere around her. She seemed lost in thought, or maybe just spaced out.
His eyes lingered on her for a moment, then moved on.
Finally, Aoki Kei spoke up.
“To feel more like a real band... maybe you should try writing a song that’s truly your own. A track that represents your band.”
