I Just Want a Single Ending [47]
As the song came to an end, Shiina Taki let out a small sigh of admiration.
The technique was impeccable, filled with deep emotion.
Chihaya Anon leaned closer to Saku and whispered, "Are you sure it's okay for me to ask her to teach me guitar?"
Wasn't it a bit overboard to have a professional guitarist teaching her?
She couldn't help but worry about this.
"No problem at all. Like I said, Bocchi and I are friends," Saku replied, lowering his voice as well. "Plus, I'm helping her get comfortable performing in front of people, so it's mutually beneficial."
"…I see."
Anon gave a small nod, understanding what he meant.
Even if his reasons for helping Hitori weren't entirely about her, part of it was to thank Hitori for agreeing to teach her guitar.
With that realization, the small pang of jealousy she'd felt earlier when she saw him talking closely with Hitori vanished.
She wouldn't get upset over something so minor.
After chatting for a bit, Saku walked over to Hitori again.
"That was great! You're getting used to playing in front of an audience, aren't you?"
"I… guess?"
Seeing him approach, Hitori quickly lowered her gaze.
She'd been staring at him the whole time she was playing, so she wasn't really sure if that counted as "getting used to an audience."
Saku explained, "Oh, right. I'll need to go with my band to the practice room in a bit, so I won't be able to stay here with you. But keep up the effort while I'm gone, okay?"
"Eh?"
Hitori's nerves shot up.
If he wasn't there, who would she look at while playing?
"Don't worry. Nijika will stay with you, and I'll be back soon."
Since he was the one running the band, they could still rehearse without him, but not even stopping by the practice room would feel like a dereliction of duty.
"I-I understand."
Hitori couldn't really argue with that.
It wasn't like she could just tell him, I only managed to play because I was looking at you!
No way could she say that!
"Good luck!"
After giving her another word of encouragement, Saku returned to where the others were waiting.
Seeing that he wasn't leaving just yet, Hitori breathed a sigh of relief and resumed playing, keeping her eyes fixed on him.
Why does it still feel like she's looking right at me?
Saku had barely sat down before he noticed it again.
Still, he brushed it off as an illusion.
Everyone was seated in this direction; it was only natural she'd glance their way occasionally.
People often had those kinds of misunderstandings, right?
Mistakenly thinking someone's looking at you, only to realize they were looking behind you.
He wasn't about to make that mistake.
---
After listening to Gotoh Hitori play a few more songs, Kamigawa Saku checked the time on his phone and reminded the others, "It's time for our scheduled practice."
"Alright, we'll get going, then."
Nagasaki Soyo stood up, offering Nijika a small apology.
"Band practice is definitely more important,"
Nijika replied warmly, not minding at all.
They're… they're leaving.
Watching as they slowly filed out of the café, Hitori's nerves visibly grew, especially when Saku, who was the last to leave, turned back to give her a little thumbs-up for encouragement.
However, seeing that Nijika was still sitting nearby made her feel a bit more at ease.
As long as she wasn't left alone, she could manage.
It feels like her playing quality just dropped…
Listening to Hitori's next song, Nijika noticed a clear difference in her performance.
It didn't take long to figure out why.
Seeing Saku and the others leave must have affected her focus.
After all, she suddenly had a lot fewer people cheering her on, and apart from Nijika, everyone else in the café was either a customer or staff member. It was natural for her to feel uncomfortable.
It was just a matter of giving her time to get used to it.
…
"Raana, what do you think of Bocchi's guitar skills?"
On the way to the practice room, Saku decided to ask Kaname Raana, the guitar prodigy herself.
Raana stopped in her tracks, looked at him for a moment, then turned to glance back at the second-floor café. Her lips curled into a faint smile. "Super interesting!"
"What do you mean by 'super interesting'?"
Seeing she had no intention of elaborating, Saku could only ponder her words.
To him, Gotoh Hitori's guitar skills seemed pretty impressive.
He just wanted some confirmation, in case his own judgment was off.
Chihaya Anon adjusted her shirt, guessing offhandedly, "Maybe she means Hitori isn't that far off from us?"
The pro level was still too far out of reach for her.
Even after practicing with Hitori for a few days, she was only at an amateur level herself.
It couldn't be helped, though.
With instruments, there was no shortcut—no matter how talented, everyone needed time to practice.
"I think that's probably it."
Saku shared her view.
When they arrived at the practice room and started setting up, Anon suddenly asked, "Are we practicing Spring Shadows again today?"
"What else would we practice?"
Shiina Taki, seated behind her drum kit, replied with a matter-of-fact look.
"Can't we switch it up every now and then? Repeating one song over and over gets so boring." Anon pulled out her phone and opened her music app. "How about practicing a popular song instead?"
When Hitori was teaching her guitar, they'd worked on a few popular songs.
And after seeing Hitori's professional-level skills, she'd come up with a plan.
In Spring Shadows, there was no way she could keep up with the others.
Raana was a guitar prodigy; she could play a piece perfectly after seeing the sheet music just once. Competing with her was pointless.
And since the other three had been members of CRYCHIC, they'd practiced Spring Shadows countless times. It would be nearly impossible to catch up to them in that song.
So maybe focusing on a popular song instead would give her an edge and, just maybe, let her stand out as the center of attention for a bit.
After all, she had the techniques Gotoh Hitori had taught her.
This shouldn't be that hard.
Speaking of which, Nagasaki Soyo also pulled out her phone. "I have a few good songs here we could use for practice."
"No, we're sticking with Spring Shadows,"
Shiina Taki shut down her request without hesitation.
"Why? Switching songs isn't a big deal, is it?" Anon didn't quite understand.
"Because you're still not familiar enough with Spring Shadows to play it well. At your current level, you won't be able to perform it live."
Shiina Taki was already thinking about their future live shows.