A sea of people.
Standing on the stage inside the gymnasium, looking out—there was a dense, endless crowd.
A wave of heat.
Even though autumn had already set in, the sheer volu of voices crashing together felt like a heatwave surging through the venue.
This was a real performance.
Completely different from the Starry venue(first gig), where a typhoon had kept most people away.
Just standing on this stage, Hitori Gotoh could feel the difference in scale between the two.
"Do your best, Onee-chan!"
That cheerful voice ca from Futari Gotoh.
Her father, wearing an excited expression, was holding her up, while her mother stood beside them, smiling warmly.
Family always had a way of bringing comfort.
Even for soone like Hitori Gotoh.
She wanted to smile back at them—
But at that mont—
"Bocchi! Kikuri-neesan ca to see you!"
The slurred, drunken voice of Hiroi Kikuri rang out.
"Who is that?"
"Soone showed up drunk to a school event?"
"Is she dangerous?"
"Wait, who the heck is Bocchi?"
A chorus of whispers spread through the crowd.
Hitori imdiately averted her gaze in embarrassnt.
D-Disaster!
She shouldn't have invited her!
"Huh? Isn't that Minami-senpai from Year Two standing next to her?"
"Wait... it really is him!"
Huh?
Hearing that, Hitori hesitantly looked toward the audience.
And there—
She saw him.
Minami Shouji, lifting his head, looking directly at their stage.
As if he had noticed her gaze, he gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.
The aning was clear.
Just as he had told her before the festival began—
"Show your coolest side... Hitori."
"Mm."
She whispered softly.
As if answering him—
Or maybe answering herself.
Yamada Ryo said nothing, only glancing at Minami before quietly returning to adjusting her equipnt.
With that—
Kita Ikuyo stepped forward to begin the introduction.
"Ah... We are Kessoku Band, an active band outside of school. We hope our performance today will leave you all with great mories."
She took a deep breath.
"If you're interested in us, please co visit our performance hall later!"
She bowed!
The audience responded with enthusiastic applause.
And in the midst of that applause—
The rhythm of the drumsticks struck.
With that signal—
The performance began.
Minami Shouji lifted his head, listening to the familiar lody, nodding to himself.
As expected, they were starting with this song.
The first song was called "Never Forget".
And according to his mory from the simulation—
The next song should be "If I could be a Constellation".
This followed the setlist from the Bocchi the Rock! ani as well.
However, in the original ani—
Due to Hitori Gotoh's guitar strings snapping mid-performance, they had only played two songs.
But this ti—
That wouldn't happen.
He had already taken care of her guitar in advance.
So the third song—one that hadn't been perford in the ani—should be played here as well.
Applauding to warm up the atmosphere, Minami then waited for the second song, "If I Could Form a Constellation with You".
But—
The instant the lead guitar solo began, Minami imdiately sensed sothing was off.
"This isn't 'If I Could Form a Constellation with You'."
His eyes widened slightly in surprise.
No—
This was a completely different song!
From just the opening notes, he could tell.
But why?
If things had followed the simulated events—
Then the Kessoku Band's setlist should have already been finalized for this festival.
Wait—no.
A realization hit Minami like a bolt of lightning.
Sothing obvious.
His presence was a variable.
He never truly believed in the butterfly effect.
But—
His involvent with Kessoku Band, his tutoring, his influence—
Of course, it would cause deviations between reality and the simulated events.
To put it simply.
The simulation was nothing more than a kind of "glimpse into the future."
And with Minami Shouji's presence, the future changing was inevitable.
This unfamiliar song—no doubt—was one of those changes brought about by his involvent.
"...I wonder what kind of song it is."
Minami lifted his gaze toward the four mbers of Kessoku Band.
Without the foresight of the simulation, this was his first ti purely listening to their live performance.
It felt... surprisingly nice.
And at that mont, he noticed sothing—
Hitori Gotoh, having just finished her solo, was quietly watching him.
In her blue eyes, there was an indescribable gleam.
A faint light—like a firefly on a sumr night.
Weak, yet enough to draw attention.
"The song is called Please Tell ."
Hitori's soft voice carried through the air as she whispered the title.
Then—her fingers lifted once more.
BZZT!
The guitar roared to life!
And with it—
Ca the first lyrics!
"I often find myself thinking about things I don't need to think about."
"Because even if I think about them, they have no aning at all."
"I am not strong enough to face this part of myself—this swirling ss of self-loathing!"
Her fingers glided rapidly across the strings—
Then pressed down—tight!
A sharp, urgent note tore through the air.
Hitori's blue eyes locked onto Minami.
Her lips pressed together.
A look of pain—but also determination.
She kept playing.
The guitar scread!
The guitar roared!
As if she were shouting through it.
Every lyric—
Woven together like a reflection of her heart.
"I am an awkward person!"
"I don't know how to express myself!"
The drumbeat pounded—
Like a hamr striking Minami's chest.
"When you're happy, just laugh out loud!"
"When you're sad, just cry it out!"
"But when you feel empty... what are you supposed to do?"
"Please tell !"
"Please tell !"
Her voice cracked.
The sound of her guitar dragged Minami into her world.
The world of soone trying to overco her fears.
The world of soone trying—just as he had taught her—to push past her social anxiety and insecurities.
"What should I hope for?"
"What exactly is happiness?"
"Is being with you... happiness?"
"Please tell !"
"Please tell !"
The tempo quickened.
Faster.
Faster!
"Why am I so happy when I'm with you?!"
"This feeling of wanting to be by your side!"
"This feeling of giving my all when I'm with you!"
"Please tell !"
"Please... tell !"
"I'm begging you... tell !"
The lyrics poured out like a confession.
And all the while—Hitori Gotoh's eyes never left Minami.
This was her stage.
And in her world—
There was only him.
Her slender fingers never stopped pressing against the guitar strings.
The pick swept across them, leaving an afterimage in the air.
Sweat dripped.
This—
This was the result of her month of practice.
BZZT—
With the fading reverb of the lead and rhythm guitars lingering in the air—
The song ended.
And for a brief mont—
The entire venue was dead silent.
Then—
A storm of thunderous applause erupted!
The booming guitar—
The carefully refined lyrics and lody—
They deserved every ounce of this reaction.
"I never expected... she would grow this much in such a short ti."
Hiroi Kikuri, whose eyes were always lazily half-closed, suddenly widened them.
She stared at Hitori in genuine surprise.
It wasn't as if she had never heard Hitori perform before.
But back then—her playing still carried traces of hesitation and nervousness.
It was deeply tied to her personality.
So musicians thrived under pressure, bringing out their full potential in high-stakes performances.
But others—
No matter how skilled they were, struggled to perform when it mattered most.
And yet—
Just from this one song...
Kikuri could feel the overwhelming change in Hitori Gotoh.
"And if soone was able to push her to this level—"
She looked at the girl still softly panting on stage.
Then—
Her gaze shifted to Minami Shouji.
Minami...
That person Hitori kept singing about...
That was you, wasn't it?
A smirk curled onto Kikuri's lips.
Interesting.
This situation was far too interesting.
Because from her perspective—
It wasn't just Hitori Gotoh who liked Minami.
There was soone else as well.
Her eyes flicked toward Ryo Yamada, her fingers resting on her bass.
One more song left.
She wondered—
What kind of developnt would co next?
Minami Shouji was still processing what had just happened.
The song just now...
It carried an unmistakable resemblance to "I Don't Want to Die in Loneliness."
He had given that song to Kessoku Band before—
And now, it seed like Hitori had spent a long ti thinking about it...
And wrote this song as a result.
Her lyrics—
They were practically a direct confession.
Minami instinctively looked up.
On stage, she still looked as fragile as ever.
Now that the song had ended—
And their eyes t—
She quickly lost her courage again.
Her beautiful face hid once more behind her long bangs.
But—
That was enough.
She took a deep breath.
And prepared for the final song.
She had already conveyed everything she wanted to say to Minami.
Words had never been her strong suit.
But through music—
It was different.
Hitori Gotoh took a deep breath—
And prepared for the next song.
At the sa ti, her gaze drifted toward Ryo Yamada.
If she rembered correctly, the next song was hers...
"The song is called Only My Sound."
Before Hitori could even finish her thought—
Ryo's deep, husky voice—so naturally relaxed yet magnetic—resounded through the mic.
"So it really isn't [If I Could Be Constellations]... huh."
In the audience, Minami Shouji shook his head.
That much was obvious.
Just from what he had seen so far, things had already diverged completely from the simulation.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"Only My Sound."
Minami thought to himself.
He had never heard of this song before.
But just as he was considering it—
The bassline began to play.
Deep.
Resonant.
Like a thick wall of sound—
Yet it blended in so seamlessly with the atmosphere.
There was no warning.
No cue.
Just the heavy, gritty pulse of the bass carrying its weight.
Then—
The drums joined in.
Chaotic at first.
But as they settled into a rhythm—
The lead and rhythm guitars exploded forward, one after the other.
And then—
From Ryo's lips—
The lyrics spilled out.
"Not for others, not for fa!"
"No dreams! No expectations! Who the hell cares about any of that?!"
"I don't wanna hear anything else!"
"Only my sound keeps playing!"
"Only my sound keeps roaring!"
"I don't wanna hear anything else!"
The lyrics—
They were completely reckless.
Unapologetically free.
And that was exactly why—
They were the perfect fit for Ryo Yamada.
Because that's the kind of person she was.
Soone who did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
Completely untad.
Or at least...
That's how it was supposed to be.
Her amber eyes—
Drifted past the crowd.
Beyond the sea of people.
And landed on him.
"I'll be fine on my own!"
"I say those words with fake confidence!"
"If I could walk forward alone—"
"Then I wouldn't have fallen for soone, would I?"
"Then I wouldn't long to see them, would I?"
Her voice—
Distant.
Yet so full of depth.
Like an echo carrying through the night.
And in an instant—
Minami was pulled back into that very mont.
That night.
The night Ryo suddenly showed up at his door.
"I missed you, Minami."
Standing there in the dim light—
With the midnight wind brushing against her—
She looked like a goddess of the night.
A sight he wouldn't forget.
Yeah.
She had missed him.
So she ca to see him.
That was all there was to it.
Was that... really so strange?
"So why do I feel so lonely?"
"My words—my voice!"
"I only want you to hear them!"
"Only my sound!"
She pressed down on the bass strings.
The pick ripped across them.
"Only your sound!"
"Nothing else but my sound!"
Her voice soared—
And at the sa ti—
She let loose an improvised bass solo!
Since when...?
Since when had her bass playing beco this good?
Sohow—
Her skill had already caught up.
"Nothing else but your sound!"
"I don't wanna hear anything else!"
"I don't wanna hear anything else!"
Her bassline—
After that final climax—
Began to simr down.
Like it was building up tension again—
Lurking beneath the surface.
Waiting.
Just like Ryo herself.
She always looked so detached.
So indifferent.
But beneath that—
Burned sothing far more intense than anyone could ever imagine.
Like fire buried beneath ice.
The bassline swelled.
Slowly.
Building.
And just before her next note—
She parted her lips from the mic.
And whispered to herself—
"Minami..."
Soft.
So soft that no one else could hear it.
And in her voice—
Was a kind of warmth—
That she had never once shown before.
Ryo Yamada—
The one who never cared.
The one who never followed the rules.
The one who did whatever the hell she wanted.
The only voice she ever wanted to hear—
Was his.
"Only My Sound."
"Only Your Sound."
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