(TL Note: Longer Chapters, 2-2.5K word chap. Sotis over 3500 .)
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...
Shiina Taki's sharp light-purple eyes glared at Kazami Haru like an eagle targeting its prey. Being sensitive to gazes, Haru imdiately noticed and could even guess what she was thinking.
"Why is Taki looking at like a disapproving father? As if I'd steal Tomori away? If anything, it's the little penguin who followed on her own!"
"My na is Nagasaki Soyo. I'll be the bassist from now on. Please take care of , Kazami-kun~"
Compared to Taki's cold and direct self-introduction, Nagasaki Soyo appeared elegant and gentle.
Having mistaken Haru for Sakiko earlier, Soyo felt a bit embarrassed but maintained a polite smile.
"Pleased to et you, Mr. MacArthur."
(TL: Not a TL Mistake, sotis bilibili shows a random english docuntary.)
"Eh??"
Haru wanted to laugh at Soyo's surprised expression but held back.
"This woman is not easy to ss with."
Nagasaki Soyo, true to her na, was the type who could explode at any mont. She was extrely sensitive about topics she cared about, and a slight misstep could ignite her anger.
Now, General MacArthur could truly comnt.
Haru turned to the pink-haired girl beside him, who seed oblivious to his questioning gaze. Instead, she appeared more confident with his arrival.
She confidently spoke up: "Since everyone is here, let's discuss the band na!"
"We also need matching band outfits. I have a lot of experience in this area!"
As Chihaya Anon began steering the conversation towards herself, Haru glanced at the smiling Soyo and the about-to-speak Shiina Taki.
Without hesitation, he interrupted: "Anon, we can discuss the band na anyti."
"Right now, we should understand each other's musical skills."
Kazami's words aligned with Taki's thoughts, surprising her.
She had assud that, given his closeness to the pink-haired girl, he would be unreliable and treat band activities lightly.
Unexpectedly, he was serious?
Taki's opinion of him improved slightly.
But only slightly.
Haru, unaware of Taki's thoughts, had other plans.
Unlike in simulations where he focused entirely on MYGO and Tomori, here he joined the band as a support mber and couldn't be as carefree.
Having agreed to form a band with Tomori, he had to fulfill his responsibilities.
To be prepared, he needed a strong guitarist to regularly replace him on the keyboard.
He already had soone in mind: the wandering guitarist Neko Raana.
Bringing her in would complete MYGO.
She was the perfect guitarist for the uncertain MYGO band.
"No choice, I have to lure Raana in."
Haru muttered to himself.
"Would two bowls of matcha parfait be enough to entice her?"
"Since we've decided to start ensemble practice, I've already booked a rehearsal studio. Let's begin imdiately."
Shiina Taki, arms crossed, stared intently at Kazami's calm face, as if trying to see through his 'mask'.
She wanted to see if he truly intended to take the band seriously.
"Now? But I didn't bring my bass today..."
"You can use mine."
Just as Nagasaki Soyo felt troubled, Yahata Umiri, who had been watching silently, raised her hand like a student answering a teacher, offering her bass.
She had co to help at Taki's request, and if she could just watch without participating, all the better.
"Eh? But the band na..."
Chihaya Anon looked at the others in confusion, then glared at Haru with a resentful gaze.
"What the heck!"
She had thought Haru would side with her, but he imdiately synced with Shiina Taki, leaving her out.
"We were the first to et!"
"Stupid Kazami!"
...
Rehearsal Room
Shiina Taki had already placed her usual drum set there in preparation. She sat down and ward up with a 4-beat rhythm. Yahata Umiri leaned against the wall, watching her with a smile.
Despite appearing the coldest, Taki had made the most preparations for the band.
Her desire to reform the band was no less than Tomori's.
"So, what's everyone's skill level?"
Taki first looked at Kazami. Due to certain reasons, she had high expectations for keyboardists, especially since he boldly claid to handle 'arrangents'.
"Does he even understand how hard composing is?"
Composing music truly requires 'talent'!
To begin with, what you need is solid music theory knowledge, a decent sense of musicality, and most importantly, even if an composer can't play every instrunt, they must still have a deep understanding of how each one functions in a performance.
Creating a quality track isn't sothing just anyone can do!
When it ca to composing, the only person Kazami Haru genuinely admired was Togawa Sakiko.
"..."
Kazami Haru's expression twitched a little as he noticed Taki's eyes still fixed intently on him.
Back when he was in Takamatsu Tomori's simulation, he'd often feel pressure from Taki because his keyboard skills couldn't quite keep up. Now in reality, even with his Lv2 piano level, difficult pieces were still tough to handle.
And it wasn't like just grinding practice would instantly improve his technique.
Still, compared to his own subpar keyboarding, what really worried him was that pink-haired disaster and her half-baked guitar skills.
No doubt about it, if things went as expected, she was in for a serious wake-up call. After all, this was soone who could barely strum chords.
"Why're you looking at like that, huh?"
Chihaya Anon was already a bit ticked off, and the way Haru looked at her made her flash a tiny fang in irritation, sharp and gleaming.
Like she was ready to pounce and take a bite out of him at any mont.
"No reason. I was just thinking... you're cute from every angle."
"Eh?"
Anon blinked, slightly stunned, then quickly turned her head to the side as her cheeks flushed pink.
Don't think a little sweet-talking will get you off the hook!
You're still buying a strawberry parfait and a matcha milkshake with a side of chocolate-cherry macarons before we're even!
Zzz...
Kazami Haru slowly unzipped his instrunt bag and pulled out a black-and-white Roland keyboard. Everyone paused at the familiar color sche.
Nagasaki Soyo's eyes widened completely.
The Roland V-Combo VR-730—
The sa model Togawa Sakiko used.
"W-Why...?"
Soyo's voice trembled.
This couldn't be a coincidence. It wasn't just that he resembled soone else in other ways—he was even using that keyboard.
It was hard not to wonder if he was doing it on purpose.
All three girls here had once been mbers of CRYCHIC. They knew that keyboard too well. None of them expected to ever see it again—especially not now.
Takamatsu Tomori stared blankly in Haru's direction, unable to find the words.
Her mind wandered back to old CRYCHIC mories. A shadow passed over her face.
Haru felt... too much like Sakiko.
His hands were so warm, like the mont soone pulled her from behind a wall, back into the light of spring. Just like that blue butterfly from long ago, fluttering through a sunlit April sky, illuminating her path and warming her heart.
But that smiling butterfly had flown away, because she was too useless.
Tomori clenched her fists, tense and anxious, staring at Haru.
Would he leave her too?
She couldn't be sure. Haru wasn't the sa as the boy in her dreams.
He still held thoughts of ending the band, still carried the weight of other girls in his heart. If she was too useless, he might one day look at her the sa way Sakiko once had.
She couldn't bear that.
"Eh? Why's everyone making those faces?"
Only Chihaya Anon blinked in clueless confusion.
She knew the three girls used to be in the sa band, but never really looked into their past. So she had no idea why everyone seed so shaken.
She just stood there, completely lost.
"So... which song are we playing?"
Kazami Haru looked at them, a bit confused by all the stares.
What's going on now?
It's just a keyboard. Why's everyone acting like he just dropped a bomb?
He'd specifically followed Wakaba Mutsumi's recomndation when choosing this model. Mutsumi had said it was reliable and cost-effective, so he bought it.
"I already shared the sheet music in the Line group. We just need one performance to get a feel for everyone's level."
Though a bit surprised by the keyboard, Shiina Taki quickly recovered.
She sent the outline to the group and sat down in a flash, grabbing her drumsticks. Her eyes, however, still flickered with a dark shadow, no telling what she was really thinking.
Chihaya Anon pulled out her tablet and curiously opened the file. One glance and she froze.
"Eh?! I don't get any of this!"
She frowned at the numbered notation Taki had sent, no clue where to even begin.
Guitarists usually read either tab or nuric notation. While tab is easier to understand, nuric notation requires so music theory. And Anon, a pure chord-strumr, clearly had none.
Naturally, she was completely lost.
"Hah?"
Taki frowned, looking at the pink-haired ss in disbelief.
Don't tell ... she really can't read sheet music?
Soyo seed reluctant too, her mood shaken after Haru's reveal, but she forced a smile and asked, "Um... Taki-chan?"
"Is 'Haruhikage' really the song we're going with? It might be a little hard."
"You..."
Taki narrowed her eyes slightly, sensing sothing off.
What did Soyo an by that? Was she still hesitating... because of soone?
Before she could press further, a llow, lancholic lody echoed from the right side of the studio.
(Music: Search Haruhikage only keyboard)
Kazami Haru's pale fingers danced fluidly across the keyboard, weaving warm, delicate tones into the air.
Everyone fell silent, caught in the spell of the Haruhikage solo. Even Taki, feeling tense monts before, slowly cald down and began to listen.
Each note, as it leapt from his fingertips, made her instinctively want to strike her drums.
After a short while, the solo ended.
Taki was the first to nod at Haru. Tomori clapped gently, her gaze full of quiet reverence. Only Soyo stood frozen, still lost in the sound.
She hadn't co back yet, not fully.
"Have you played 'Haruhikage' before?"
"There were so mistakes in the middle, but your sense of rhythm was solid. No way this was your first ti reading the sheet."
"As a keyboardist, you're... barely passable."
Taki's tone softened. Her gaze wasn't quite as sharp now.
His technique wasn't exceptional, little flaws popped up here and there.
But his rhythm was razor-sharp. As the drumr, Taki had the strongest feel for timing, and she hated to admit it, but Haru's rhythm was flawless.
And there was one more thing: emotion.
Unlike a guitar, a keyboard's touch doesn't greatly affect tone but sohow, Haru imbued his playing with feeling. A technique not of skill, but of spirit.
For a second, she'd really believed it was Sakiko playing.
"No. That was my first ti."
Haru let out a slow breath, fingers brushing softly across the keys.
This had been his first proper attempt at Haruhikage. Its slower tempo made it manageable at his skill level, anything harder and he'd be exposed.
Lv2 still wasn't quite enough. He figured Lv3 would be safer.
Before Taki could reply, Chihaya Anon suddenly muttered in a low voice, "Hey, uh, I just rembered sothing—I gotta go!"
She was panicking.
Haru noticed the subtle tremble in her fingers—a sign of anxiety, maybe even fear.
All eyes turned to her. She grabbed her guitar case, zipper still undone, and bowed slightly in apology.
Then, without another word, that pink-haired blur bolted out of the studio like the wind.
Yep. The guitarist ran off. Again.
Watching her flee, Haru began to piece things together.
"Anon-chan?"
Tomori called out in surprise, but there was no stopping her.
She felt sothing was wrong, but didn't know if she should chase after her.
That's when a large, warm hand gently rested on her shoulder.
Haru t her eyes with a calming smile and sohow, it worked. Her panic settled.
"Taki, I'll leave my keyboard with you. I'm going after her."
"Huh??"
Kazami Haru didn't wait for Shiina Taki to respond—he turned and dashed off, chasing after Anon without a second thought.
His electronic keyboard sat safely to the side, leaving only Tomori and Taki behind, staring at each other in silence.
"What's with that guy? Why'd he just leave his keyboard here?"
"No, wait. Why did he call by na just now?"
Taki's head was spinning. Her temples throbbed as she stared at the Roland keyboard next to her, unsure what to do.
Pfft—
From the side, Yahata Umiri couldn't hold in a soft laugh as she watched Taki flustered and fuming. Taki turned and shot her a glare, cheeks tinged red, but Umiri just gave a light cough and looked down at her phone like nothing had happened.
"You're done with practice, right? I've got a session with another band to get to."
Umiri slipped her phone into her pocket, though it hadn't even been on, took her bass back from the still-dazed Nagasaki Soyo, and waved a casual goodbye as she breezed out of the room like the wind.
That keyboard guy was kind of interesting.
As she walked out, a noticeable curve lingered at the edge of Umiri's lips. She was clearly in a good mood.
She made a ntal note of Kazami Haru's na, slinging her bass over her back as she exited RiNG with her usual flair.
"What's up with everyone today?" Taki exhaled sharply, lowering her drumsticks onto the stand.
Now what? This Roland keyboard, Sakiko's keyboard... no, this Roland was still sitting here.
"Soyo-chan?"
"Huh? Sorry, Tomori-chan... I spaced out for a bit."
Tomori gently tapped Soyo's shoulder, her expression a mix of concern and warmth. Only then did Soyo slowly return to herself.
She was still staring at Haru's keyboard, face clouded and unreadable, lost in thought. That subtle look in her eyes didn't escape Tomori, but she didn't say a word.
Haru... has he caught up to Anon yet?
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