Under the relentless rehearsals being run simultaneously by the Light Music Club — with Yukinoshita Shizuku at its core — and Tsushima Kagami's Manga Research Club, the day of Private Ousai High School's culture festival arrived at last.
The first day of the festival also happened to be the tenth anniversary of the three-school rger — a genuine milestone.
By half past seven on that weekend morning, a long queue had already ford outside the school gates. Middle schoolers from the surrounding area, alumni who had graduated years ago, young parents with children in tow, and quite a few white-haired elders were all waiting for the doors to open at half past eight.
At eight-thirty, ceremonial fireworks shot into the sky and burst open one by one, and the school gates finally swung wide — drawing back the curtain on the festival that every student, teacher, and visitor had been eagerly anticipating.
The crowd poured in like a tide.
"Welco!"
From the Class 1-C classroom nearest the gates, girls dressed in maid uniforms called out in unison, their voices sweet enough to drip honey. Their class had transford into the trendiest maid café straight out of Akihabara, with two boys in tailcoats manning the entrance, nus in hand, wearing smiles that were just slightly too stiff.
The tables inside were draped in pink tablecloths, each one adorned with a handmade stuffed bear. The window seats were already full — a little boy was poking at his strawberry milkshake with a straw while his mother stood beside him, cara raised.
Heading up the corridor and staircase, a rich, savory sll hit you before you could see anything.
Class 3-A, transford into a takoyaki stall, already had a long queue stretching from the door. The boys working the griddle were dripping with sweat, but their hands never slowed. The iron plate sizzled, batter rolling in the circular molds until it crisped into golden little spheres.
The mont the bonito flakes were scattered on top, they twisted and curled in the rising heat, as if they'd co alive.
"One order for !"
"Two orders here — extra sauce!"
The calls of vendors and the clinking of coins mingled together, as lively as a sumr festival night market.
The corridors of the main building were packed solid. From the haunted house doorway of Class 1-D ca screams in rapid succession — the girls who stumbled back out were pale-faced but already laughing and shoving each other.
"That one actually got !"
"You had your eyes shut the whole ti!"
At the other end of the hallway, outside Class 2-B's mystery puzzle café, students wearing detective hats were handing clue cards to the queue. A boy who looked like a middle schooler stared at the cipher on his card with a deeply furrowed brow.
The schoolyard was even livelier. On the stage, mbers of so club were performing a manzai cody routine, drawing bursts of laughter and applause from the crowd below. Beside the stage, in the sports clubs' joint "Athletics Experience Zone," a few elentary school kids were trying penalty kicks against the football club's star keeper — who was very obviously going easy on them, his saves always a half-beat slow, just enough to let the kids score.
The mock stalls stretched in a line along the edge of the yard: yakisoba, shaved ice, grilled corn, cotton candy, chocolate-dipped bananas…
Every single one had a crowd in front of it.
There was even a handmade jewelry stall, where a few girls crouched down to browse, holding pairs of earrings up to their ears and asking each other, "Do these look good?" At the secondhand book stall next door, a bespectacled boy was flipping through old manga on the ground while the owner called out beside him: "Three for a hundred yen! Three for a hundred yen!"
The student council's voice crackled over the PA system at regular intervals.
"Attention: the cafeteria's curry bread is now sold out…"
"Current wait ti for the Crafts Club exhibition is approximately thirty minutes…"
"Class 3-E's maid café currently has no queue — visitors are welco…"
anwhile, the executive committee mbers were calmly directing foot traffic and keeping watch over the safety of each stall.
One by one, classroom windows swung open. Music, vendors' calls, laughter, and screams wove together and floated out, drifting up into the clear autumn sky.
The ginkgo leaves had started to turn yellow; a few were caught by the wind and drifted past the steam rising from the food stalls.
Soone walked along eating takoyaki fresh from the bag, sauce sared at the corner of their mouth. Soone else studied a program with their companion, debating where to go next. A person stopped in the middle of the path to take a photo, got bumped by the person behind them, and laughed an apology. Soone lingered indecisively at a stall until a friend grabbed them by the arm and hauled them away.
…
Taking advantage of a changeover break between his class's shifts, Tsushima Kagami went looking for Sayuri's classroom.
He rembered her ntioning a few days ago that her class was doing so kind of dream fortune-telling parlor, and since he had a free mont, he figured he'd check it out.
He walked up to her classroom and imdiately spotted a hand-drawn sign hanging by the door. It was painted with stars, a crescent moon, and a crystal ball.
Tsushima Kagami stepped inside. Black curtains blocked out every trace of daylight, leaving the whole room dim and lamp-less. The classroom had been partitioned into a series of small, private one-on-one fortune-telling booths.
He strolled up to one of the booth entrances at random. The curtain was deep purple, studded with sequins that glittered softly in the atmospheric low light the class had carefully arranged.
The ambiance, he had to admit, was convincingly done.
Tsushima Kagami gave it a quiet nod of approval, smiled to himself, and walked straight in.
Inside, a girl was already seated. She wore a fortune-teller's robe — deep blue, embroidered with gold constellation patterns — topped with a pointed hat, her face half-hidden behind a thin veil. The whole look was impressively pulled off.
In front of her sat a folding table draped in black velvet, on which rested a tarot deck, a set of dice, a well-worn astrology book, a bamboo fortune-stick canister, several brass coins, and even a copy of "Introduction to the I Ching."
Beside all that sat a crystal ball the size of a fist — plastic, with a small lightbulb stuffed inside. One press of the switch and it glowed with a faint purple light.
Business, it seed, had not been brisk for the young fortune-teller.
She had her head down and was working through a plate of yakisoba that soone had apparently brought her. When she noticed a custor enter, she quickly slurped down the last mouthful, wiped her mouth, and lowered her voice into a suitably mysterious register.
"Welco to the Dream Fortune-Telling Parlor. We offer tarot readings, horoscope forecasts, I Ching divination, and fortune sticks…"
"What would you like—"
She glanced up at the arriving custor — and visibly froze. Then she abruptly changed tack.
"Ah, honored guest… allow to read your face…"
"Mm… a broad, full forehead, a well-rounded chin — the features of one destined for great wealth and honor."
Tsushima Kagami regarded her with evident amusent.
"Oh?"
"However!"
The fortune-teller pivoted sharply.
"Face-reading only tells us so much. For a truly detailed reading, we must consult the palm."
She extended her own hand and laid it flat on the table, palm facing up — an invitation for Tsushima Kagami to place his hand in hers.
Tsushima Kagami glanced down at her hand, then looked back up at her veiled face, and placed his hand on top.
The fortune-teller imdiately closed both hands over his.
She held his hand and made a show of examining it from every angle, her fingers tracing lines across his palm, murmuring as she went.
"Mm… your life line is very long — a sign of great longevity…"
"Your fate line is also clear — a sign of professional success…"
"Your heart line…"
She dragged the words out deliberately, her fingertip moving slowly, repeatedly over the heart line.
"What about the heart line?"
Tsushima Kagami asked.
"The heart line…"
The fortune-teller said, with utmost gravity:
"Ah my, the heart line is quite complex — a sign that you have many entanglents of the heart."
"And here — this fork — it indicates that your affections are not bound to just one person…"
Her finger traced a few more slow, andering lines across his palm, as though she were truly absorbed in careful study.
"What else?"
Tsushima Kagami asked again.
"What else…"
The fortune-teller traced a couple more lines — and then suddenly felt that sothing was off. Tsushima Kagami's gaze had been resting on her face the entire ti, and sothing about it made her feel inexplicably guilty.
"What else… um…"
The fortune-teller released his hand.
"That concludes the palm reading. Let's move on to the tarot cards."
She quickly snatched up the tarot deck, shuffled it with practiced ease, and slid it across to Tsushima Kagami.
"Draw three."
Tsushima Kagami looked at her for a mont, said nothing, and casually drew three cards.
The fortune-teller flipped the first one over and studied it with an air of great deliberation.
"This card is [The Lovers], upright."
"Mm."
"The Lovers ans… that there is soone important in your life. Treasure her."
Tsushima Kagami raised an eyebrow, and said nothing.
The fortune-teller flipped the second card.
"This card is [The Empress], upright."
"The Empress ans… femininity, motherhood, nurturing…"
"In short, it's telling you to treat the girls in your life with care."
The corner of Tsushima Kagami's mouth shifted almost imperceptibly — as if he was suppressing a smile.
The fortune-teller flipped the third card.
"[The High Priestess], upright."
She raised her head. Through the thin veil, her eyes t Tsushima Kagami's.
"The tarot is telling you that the won in your life are of the utmost importance to you!"
"You must cherish them, protect them, never bully them, never make them angry — treat them well, every single one!"
"Understood."
"Is there more?"
Tsushima Kagami continued.
The fortune-teller picked up the bamboo fortune-stick canister.
"Here — draw one."
Tsushima Kagami drew one at random and handed it to her.
The fortune-teller looked at it and read aloud:
"[A good match awaits by your side — do not lose it, do not forget it.]"
"Isn't this just a standard fortune stick?"
Tsushima Kagami took the slip and had a look.
"Where did you get these?"
"Heh heh — Senso-ji Temple."
The fortune-teller answered honestly.
"Bought them as a souvenir the last ti I went."
Tsushima Kagami laughed along. He handed the slip back to the fortune-teller.
"Oh my, does the honored guest dislike fortune sticks?"
"No matter! There's still more!"
She picked up the astrology book and flipped to a certain page.
"What's your star sign?"
"Scorpio."
Tsushima Kagami said with a smile.
"Oh my, then doesn't that an your birthday is coming up soon — Kaga— …"
The fortune-teller clapped a hand over her own mouth.
"Aha ha ha."
"Kaga… the kaga of kaga-mi — a mirror, that is! We'll be doing a magic mirror segnt later, don't let it startle you~"
The fortune-teller hurriedly pressed her finger to the page and recited with exaggerated seriousness:
"Scorpio's fortune for this month."
[There are important female friends by your side. Please cherish their companionship, and do not let the busyness of life cause you to neglect their emotional needs…]
The curve of Tsushima Kagami's smile grew wider and wider.
The fortune-teller was starting to panic.
She set down the astrology book and picked up the brass coins.
"Co now — one last reading. The Six-Line Hexagram encompasses all things under heaven!"
She passed the coins to Tsushima Kagami.
"Give them a shake."
Tsushima Kagami took the coins — but didn't shake them. He set them on the table, folded his arms across his chest, and just looked at the fortune-teller.
The fortune-teller's heart began to squirm under that gaze.
"Wh-… what's wrong?"
Tsushima Kagami reached out. His fingers caught the edge of the thin veil and slowly lifted it.
The fortune-teller's face was exposed to the open air.
She froze.
Tsushima Kagami looked at her, and the corner of his mouth curled.
"Sayuri. Had your fun yet?"
Sayuri's face went scarlet on the spot.
"You… when did you figure it out?!"
"From the very beginning."
Tsushima Kagami said, unhurried as ever.
Sayuri buried her face in her hands, peeking out between her fingers.
"Then why did you let feel your hand for so long?!"
"Well, you were the one who said you wanted to read my palm. I was curious whether you actually knew how."
Sayuri's face went even redder.
She glared at Tsushima Kagami, puffed up with indignation.
"You did that on purpose!"
"Mm."
"I did it on purpose. Go ahead and hit ~"
Tsushima Kagami admitted it without a trace of sha.
Sayuri wanted desperately to smack him, but couldn't figure out where to aim. She snatched up the tarot deck from the table and pointed it at him.
"Fine — then you listen carefully!"
"Whether you did it on purpose or not, the reading says the sa thing."
"You need to cherish and look after the girls around you!"
"The way you say that — haven't I always looked after and cared for all of you?"
"Ugh, just — you understand, don't you!"
"Yes, yes, I understand."
Tsushima Kagami laughed, brushing her off airily.
Only then did Sayuri turn her face away, her voice dropping to a mosquito's whisper.
"… Good. As long as you know."
"All right, the fortune-telling is done."
"How much is the reading?"
"Three hundred yen."
The fortune-teller said, head still bowed.
Tsushima Kagami fished so coins out of his pocket, set them on the table, turned to leave, then paused halfway through the curtain and looked back at Sayuri.
"Our performance is in the afternoon — don't lose track of the ti."
"I know already!"
After leaving, Tsushima Kagami went to find Kosaka Akane and Machida Sonoko's classroom. Their class was running a haunted house, but since the two of them were inside playing ghosts, he skipped it.
He eventually tracked down Yukinoshita Shizuku and Hiratsuka Shizuka at the yakisoba stall outside the main building — their class had gone with yakisoba.
By then it was nearly noon, so Tsushima Kagami simply stayed to eat at their stall before saying his goodbyes and heading back to his own class's perfectly ordinary Hong Kong-style café, where he put in a shift as a waiter.
He and the others had deliberately arranged their class duties for the morning. When the lunch break ended, the Light Music Club and the Manga Research Club both began preparing in earnest for the three o'clock afternoon performance.
Three o'clock in the afternoon. The school yard.
"The [Light Music Club]'s band performance is currently in progress, relocated from the main auditorium to the school yard."
"Students and visitors who are interested are welco to head to the east yard to watch."
As the afternoon announcent broadcast its way across every corner of the school, large numbers of visitors who heard there was a live band performance began making their way toward the yard. Even the television crew that had been invited for the day was redirected by their producer, the whole team heading for the yard.
The mbers of the Light Music Club had already changed into the band uniforms Tsushima Kagami had designed previously — refined, ladylike water-blue dresses with a long hem, forming a sharp visual contrast with the rock instrunts they held.
Yukinoshita Shizuku was already standing at her place on the left side of the stage, electric guitar hanging before her, its cool-edged presence a curious counterpoint to her own composed, frost-cool air.
To her right stood lead guitarist Ijichi Seika.
In her usual Livehouse performances, Seika was always in a black tee, ripped jeans, and canvas shoes — suddenly wearing sothing this sweet and girly left her a little ill at ease. But then again, she actually had a secret fondness for cute, feminine things and plushies; she just didn't tend to let people know.
A red electric guitar hung diagonally from her shoulder. Her expression was calm — she'd long since grown used to Livehouse performances, and the culture festival felt to her like no more than a relaxed little side gig.
PA-san's usual princess-cut hair was gathered into a simple ponytail at the back of her head. She took her place behind the keyboard, adjusted the height of the bench, drew a deep breath, and smiled at the others.
Hiroi Kikuri held her bass and stood at the lead vocal position for today's set. Looking out at the crowd below was different from a Livehouse show, where everyone was a stranger.
Down there were so many of her own classmates. Even her parents had co.
She swallowed. Her social anxiety, which had seed to ease up a little lately, felt like it was threatening a relapse.
If only… if only Sonoko-senpai and Akane had agreed to let her have a little drink before this.
After a few accidental drunk incidents, she'd discovered that the mont she got tipsy, the whole world opened up and nothing scared her anymore.
But ever since that one party, she hadn't been allowed to touch anything alcoholic — not even chocolate liqueurs.
She let out a small sigh, then worked up her courage and gave a wave to the crowd below.
Hiratsuka Shizuka, anwhile, was already seated on the drum stool, both hands gripping her drumsticks, a barely-concealed look of anticipation on her face.
Once everyone was ready, they turned to look at one another, eyes full of excitent and a touch of nerves.
Ijichi Seika noticed everyone's expressions — Hiroi Kikuri's in particular — and said quietly:
"Relax. Just like practice."
Hiroi Kikuri gave a small nod, drew a deep breath, and looked out at the crowd below — a crowd more than ten tis larger than any Livehouse audience, edging into small-concert territory.
"Hello everyone — we are the [K-ON] band of the [Light Music Club]!"
"We'll be performing "Fluffy Ti", composed and arranged by Manga Research Club's Yukinoshita, and perford here by us, [K-ON]!"
The crowd below broke into applause.
The five of them ran through a last check on their instrunts. Everything was good. Five pairs of eyes t across the stage.
Yukinoshita Shizuku drew a deep breath, her right hand coming to rest over the strings.
Ijichi Seika gave a gentle nod.
Hiroi Kikuri pressed her left hand to the bass fretboard.
PA-san's fingers settled lightly on the keys.
Hiratsuka Shizuka tightened her grip on the drumsticks, foot already on the kick pedal.
Then.
Ijichi Seika's lead guitar launched into a driving sweep of distorted chords.
After the solo repeated twice, the rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums all cut in together.
Hiroi Kikuri leaned close to the mic and began to sing.
[Every ti I see you, my heart starts pounding away]
[My trembling thoughts float like cotton candy, drifting and swaying]
All her usual rock vocal roughness was gone — today her voice was unexpectedly gentle and sweet. Then again, even in ordinary shy conversation, Hiroi Kikuri's speaking voice had always been rather endearing.
Standing there before the microphone now, she was warm as a mug of hot cocoa on a winter's day.
Every word seed to float out softly, with a trace of easy languor, a trace of contentnt, and just a touch of sweetness.
[Watching the side of your face, always trying so hard]
[No matter how long I stare, you'll never notice ]
Ijichi Seika and Yukinoshita Shizuku both joined in with harmony vocals here.
[If only this were a dream]
[Then I could close the distance between us]
[Grant a beautiful dream — a mont alone with you]
Ijichi Seika's guitar grew richer at this mont. She layered subtle variations over the simple chord foundation — an occasional slide, an occasional grace note — giving the song a playful, lilting quality.
As Hiroi Kikuri sang, the bass steadily planted each root note squarely on the beat.
PA-san's right hand switched between carrying the lody and comping chords, while her left hand maintained a steady broken-chord pattern. Now and then she added a few ornantal notes up in the high register, lending the whole song a faint dreamlike shimr.
[I want to hold my beloved little rabbit close]
[I hope tonight brings sweet dreams early]
At the tail end of the chorus, when they reached the "fluffy egg" part, the five of them glanced at each other and shared a smile.
[Fluffy, floating ti]
[Fluffy, floating ti]
[Fluffy, floating ti]
Each ti Hiroi Kikuri sang a line, the others echoed it together in a call-and-response.
The chorus ended and the interlude began.
Yukinoshita Shizuku's guitar ca alive at this mont. Her right hand picked up speed, her left hand moved across the fretboard, chord changes flowing from her fingers like water.
She switched roles with Ijichi Seika — her own rhythm chord part trading places with Seika's lead lody line.
For her, it was a rare show of expression. The corner of her mouth turned up slightly, her gaze drifting through the crowd below, searching for sothing.
Ijichi Seika's guitar wove subtle variations into its accompanint, adding new layers of depth to the song.
Hiroi Kikuri could hold back no longer. Her fingers began jumping across the bass strings in an unrestrained bass solo.
Hiratsuka Shizuka seized the opening. Under cover of the bass solo, she switched the kick pedal from single to double ti — an improvised double-kick pattern paired with furious hi-hat strikes, launching headlong into full Whiplash mode.
In the crowd below, listeners who had been floating peacefully in the gentle, carefree song were now being whipped up by the interlude, their energy surging.
The audience erupted in wild cheers, arms waving madly overhead.
Until the interlude ended.
Where the second verse should have begun, the five of them wordlessly agreed to cut straight to the final chorus instead.
At last, as the audience all shouted "fluffy egg" together, the five of them dropped the final note — the final drumbeat — as one.
All five stopped simultaneously, breathing lightly, and looked out at the crowd.
Five seconds of silence.
Then the applause and cheering ca surging in like a tide.
Delighted by the seamless chemistry they'd shared, the five of them bead at one another, then took a deep, unified bow.
Just as they were riding the wave of the audience's enthusiasm and starting to catch their breath — a horn sounded in the distance, and a large swath of the crowd instinctively parted to clear the way.
A large box truck rolled slowly in from sowhere across the grounds.
It drove up alongside the Light Music Club's stage and ca to a halt at an angle, forming a flanking position.
While everyone was still wondering what a box truck was doing driving onto the field — the truck suddenly emitted a deep chanical whirr.
Hydraulics engaged. The body of the truck began to unfold, panel by panel, like a Transforr — revealing a professional audio system and a full lighting rig inside.
The penny dropped: it was a large mobile stage vehicle.
While everyone was still speculating what such an evidently high-end mobile stage was here for — the lights on the roof of the stage vehicle lit up, and a curtain that had been concealing the interior slowly drew back on its own.
Four girls, each wearing matching orange butterfly satin headbands, stood in long-sleeved blue-and-white sailor-style school uniforms.
Standing alongside them — completely out of place with the four girls' aesthetic — was a boy in a suit vest with a tie, his head encased in a burlap sack spray-painted with the character [罪] (Guilty), cinched tight with rope, a guitar hanging from his front, both hands in his pockets.
The group was none other than Tsushima Kagami and company — changed into their band uniforms and driven straight back to school in the mobile stage vehicle that Kosaka Akane had borrowed from ho.
The mont the curtain parted, they were already in position.
Then, the "Guilty"-sack-headed Tsushima Kagami slowly withdrew his left hand from his pocket, tilted his body sideways toward Ijichi Seika and the others across from him, raised his left hand — and extended one slow, deliberate middle finger.
A gasp rang out from the crowd below.
Everyone got it imdiately.
This was a naked, brazen provocation.
Across the way, Ijichi Seika saw it and raised an eyebrow.
She looked to Hiroi Kikuri, PA-san, and Hiratsuka Shizuka behind her.
All four of them, together, raised a thumbs up in Tsushima Kagami's direction — then, with a contemptuous smirk, flipped their wrists: thumbs-up beca thumbs-down. They finished with a disdainful spit on the ground.
Seeing Ijichi Seika's crew hit back with an even more rock-and-roll response — the crowd below erupted in a thunderous wave of clapping and cheering.
Sohow, sothing had been lit on fire.
Why was it on fire? Nobody could quite say — but they could all feel the heat.
"Oh my god!"
"There's a face-off?!"
"I am so glad I ca to Private Ousai's culture festival this year."
"I could die happy right now!"
"Fight it out!"
"Hit him with your guitar!"
A roar of excited voices swept across the schoolyard.
Just then the PA system crackled on again.
"The [Manga Research Club]'s band performance is now beginning. Interested students and visitors may make their way to the school yard."
When the announcent ended, the LED screens on both sides of the mobile stage lit up with [SOS-dan] and the title of the upcoming song: "Sunny Day Song!"
Tsushima Kagami and the others skipped the introductions.
Shimizu Nayotake, standing at the front as lead vocalist, glanced back at Tsushima Kagami and the others.
Everyone sent her an encouraging look.
Shimizu Nayotake gave a small nod.
She drew a deep breath, both hands gripping the microphone.
Then —
Boom.
Machida Sonoko's drumstick fell.
One — two — three — four!
Machida Sonoko laid down a clean, crisp snare pattern, every hit landing precisely on the beat.
Her gaze was fixed on the drum head, expression focused, but with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
As the four-beat count-in ended, Tsushima Kagami's lead guitar, Kosaka Akane's rhythm guitar, and Sayuri's bass all cut in together.
Sayuri's bass root notes rolled out of the amp in a low, deep wave, her right hand's index and middle fingers alternating across the strings.
Her gaze swept down to the fretboard now and then, brow slightly furrowed, the picture of total concentration.
Kosaka Akane's rhythm guitar hand began rapid strumming, her left hand switching chords quickly up the neck.
Chord after chord turned over — the rhythm bright and driving.
Her body swayed gently with the beat, weight shifting from left foot to right and back again, her whole being absorbed in the groove.
From Tsushima Kagami's lead guitar, a bright, clear lody flowed from his fingertips — soaring and dancing above Kosaka Akane's rhythmic chord bed.
His right hand alternated between picking and strumming, his left hand sliding swiftly across the fretboard, a torrent of notes pouring out — dense but never cluttered.
The mont the intro ended, Shimizu Nayotake stepped close to the mic.
[Deciphering the globe like a riddle]
[We could go anywhere, couldn't we]
[Every day I pray for that flutter of anticipation]
[Who was it that made this wish co true?]
Her voice was clear and bright — a complete reversal of her usual subdued air, carrying that particular vitality that belongs only to girlhood.
Every word felt sun-ward, pouring gently into the crowd.
[Until the very end of ti — Booon!!]
[Thoughts that twist and circle and loop]
[Let's play with hearts that hold every dream]
[On so bright and sunny day]
[Joy that surpasses even magic]
[Is not so impossible]
At the chorus, Shimizu Nayotake's solo vocals gave way to soft harmonies from Sayuri and the others joining in together.
Machida Sonoko's drumming grew fuller — snare and toms alternating, the hi-hat opening and closing with a light, precise swing. Occasionally she caught the edge of a cymbal with her stick, producing a bright little "ting," landing perfectly at the tail end of each of Shimizu Nayotake's lyric phrases.
Sayuri kept her eyes on the bass fretboard, fingers sliding across the strings, her body swaying gently with the rhythm.
Kosaka Akane's rhythm guitar held the whole song steady from beneath.
She looked up and caught Tsushima Kagami's eye — and the two of them shifted their rhythm at the exact sa mont, a subtle, shared adjustnt.
In the verse sections, Tsushima Kagami's lead guitar kept a light touch over Kosaka Akane's chord work — just a handful of ornantal notes, an occasional brief lodic fragnt.
Perhaps the lyrics were having their effect: Shimizu Nayotake's voice was growing more and more energetic, and a gentle smile had begun to spread across her face.
Her body swayed softly with the music, one hand gripping the mic, the other tracing the simple choreography Tsushima Kagami had taught her, her hair ends swinging lightly with every movent.
The first verse ended, the second began, repeated through, and then gave way to the instruntal break.
Tsushima Kagami's guitar solo tore through the air.
His right hand tapped across the upper positions while his left hand unleashed a cascading run of seventh-chord arpeggios — dense, but never tangled.
The solo ended. The final chorus arrived.
Tsushima Kagami modulated back into the chorus key.
The instrunts locked back in together, seamlessly as ever.
Shimizu Nayotake caught the eye of Tsushima Kagami pointing at her after his solo wrapped up, and gave a small smile.
[Let's gather up all the happiness]
[It's so simple]
[Chase it, reach for it, hold it]
[You love big dreams too, don't you?]
Accompanied by harmonies from Sayuri, Kosaka Akane, and Machida Sonoko —
Shimizu Nayotake carried the final lyric to its end, riding the lody ho.
The song faded with the last notes of Tsushima Kagami's guitar outro.
The students and visitors in the crowd below gave their applause without the slightest restraint, cheers rolling in freely.
Even Ijichi Seika and the others across the way smiled and began clapping for Shimizu Nayotake and her bandmates.
____
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