Chapter Text
“Forgive me for my presumptuous empathizing!”
That’s what rang inside her head as she saw the man sitting alone in the park with her being picked up by his loving family.
Gotoh Hitori is about to enter her first year of highschool. Typically, a normal girl her age will be spending after school time with friends, going to trendy shops and cafes, or maybe even sing karaoke.
But Hitori wasn’t a typical girl. She was a recluse, a future hikikikomori. Throughout her life, she had never made a single friend. Her existence is barely acknowledged by her peers only during role calls or when they need her to get out of the way.
“Ah, I broke 30.000 subscribers.” Hitori said as she looked at her phone.
That’s right. The online place is where she belongs. “It sort of makes me not wanna go to schoo-”
“AH! GUITAR!”
Hitori’s self monologue was interrupted by a shrill voice coming from the park’s entrance. She looked up to find a girl running and stumbling towards her.
“Guitar! That’s a guitar!” the girl pointed out rather obviously. “Do you play?” The girl immediately started bombarding her with questions.
“Urk-!”
“Hey, you alright?”
I haven’t talked with anyone in so long, my voice-! Hitori internally monologued.
“Hehe, sorry for ambushing you like this. The name’s Ritsu, Tainaka Ritsu, Second year at Sakuragouka High!” She introduced herself. The girl, who now Hitori can finally get a good glimpse at (she was avoiding eye contact at all cost) has short sandy brown hair and amber colored eyes. Her glistening forehead, in turn, was exposed by the yellow headband she was wearing.
“A-ah. Hitori Gotoh.” Hitori responded as shortly as possible.
“Cool. So tell me, Hitori-chan, (“Already on first name basis???”) How good are you with that guitar?”
“Pretty decent, I guess..”
“Perfect! You see, I'm kinda in a pickle here. Actually, not just a tiny pickle, its a cucumber-sized problem! Maybe even watermelon sized!”
There’s nothing okay with her! Hitori thought to herself.
“Alright, I’ll stop beating around the bush. Please, can you play lead guitar for my band?”
Band?
“We got a concert coming up, and our lead guitarist decided that this was the perfect time to catch a cold! That idiot! Right before a big concert too! Although I guess maybe I’m somewhat to blame too cause I might have given her that cold..” Ritsu’s passionate plea slowly winds down into a quiet mumble.
Band? Concert? Hitori’s eyes begin to swirl.
“Our songs are not that hard! You see, our guitarist is kind of a beginner, so we have to write our songs around that fact, you’ll pick it up easily!” Ritsu continued her plea, hand clasped with her head bowed.
“Umm - err-”
“You’ll do it? Great! Just so happens we have a rehearsal right now! Come on, there’s no time to waste!” Ritsu immediately grabs hold of Hitori’s arm before she could even respond.
I haven’t even said anything yet!
-
So just like that, Hitori finds herself being dragged along by a girl she just met less than 10 minutes ago. They are now walking towards her high school, Sakuragouka High.
“So you come to that park often, Hitori?”
Now she’s even dropping the honorifics? Is this normal for people you just met?
“Oh, well…”
“All by yourself, too? Gee, what’s wrong with you Hitori? It’s almost like you have no friends or something!” Ritsu said cheerily.
“Urk-!” This girl had no filter, apparently. She didn’t even seem to register the effect her words just had on Hitori.
“Welp, we’re almost there, just one more turn and we’ll be in my school!” Hitori didn’t respond, and this seems to annoy Ritsu.
“Hey Hitori, what’s the deal? You know a conversation can’t happen with just one person talking without the other answering, you know!”
“A-ah, sorry, I just have nothing interesting to s-say…” Hitori manages to stutter out.
“Really? cause i can pick up a dozen interesting things on your person to talk about right now! Like, you really like the color pink, don’t you? You’re practically pink all over from head to waist! What’s the deal with the hair? Did you dye it yourself? Why do you smell like mold?” Ritsu began to rapidly ask questions after questions in succession.
“A-ah, my hair’s all natural actually, I got it from my parents..”
“Pfft, what? You’re such a kidder, Hitori! You tellin’ me that pink hair runs in your family’s genetics or somethin’? Get outta here! That sort of thing doesn’t happen in real life!”
Hitori was confused by this. Her entire family on her mother’s side has pink hair. Her mother, her little sister, even her grandma. What is Ritsu saying? That’s like saying you’ve never seen someone with natural blue hair, or you’ve never seen someone with a geometrically shaped ahoge. Those things are pretty common, Hitori would think.
“In any case, you gotta tell me what kind of hair dye you're using. I’m currently thinking of a potential hair dye prank on someone, I can just imagine the look on her face when I manage to pull it off!” Ritsu said cheekily, turning back to face the road ahead.
This girl must be a handful, Hitori thought to herself. An extrovert, already her least favorite type of person. How could someone be this talkative and cheery? It’s such a mystery to someone like Hitori. Where did all that energy come from? Maybe she can use this opportunity to learn on how to become one!! Hitori begun to sniff Ritsu. I can start by finding out what extroverts smell like!
“Huh? Hitori, are you sniffing my hair?”
“N-no..”
Oh god, she’s gonna think I'm weird now, won’t she? Please don’t think it was a mistake to invite me! Hitori thought.
I might’ve made a mistake in inviting her. Ritsu thought.
-
“We’re here!” Ritsu exclaimed, as they reached the top of the stairs. In front of them was a door that Hitori would presume leads to her clubroom.
She was not enjoying the walk through a crowded school corridor to get here. Everyone kept staring at her like she was some kind of water flea, not helped by how Ritsu kept attempting to talk to her throughout all of it with that loud voice of hers, which draws even more attention from passersby.
“Honey, I’m home!” Ritsu said as she opened the door to the clubroom.
“Ritsu, there you are!” a feminine voice answered. “So how did it go? Is Yui feeling better? Can she play with us?”
“Oh, I’ll do you something better! I got us a substitute!”
“WHAT?”
Ritsu moved out of the way to reveal Hitori, who was now in the process of breaking down, being unveiled as some kind of item.
“Ritsu, you were supposed to check up on Yui, not recruit some random person to replace her!” The other girl beckoned. Now that Ritsu’s not obscuring her view, Hitori got a clear view of the other girl. She had long black hair and a beautiful face, along with steel gray eyes.
“Oh, Mio. I got us the next best thing! Yui kinda sucked anyway, It’s always a gamble with her to see if she still even remembers how to play guitar right before a concert. This one right here, surely she’d be better at guitar than Yui.”
That was certainly a tall order, Hitori doesn’t know if she can live up to whoever this “Yui” person is. Her eyes began to swirl.
“And how would you know? Have you even heard her play?”
Ritsu opened her mouth, before abruptly closing it again. She turned towards Hitori sheepishly.
“I-uhh, crap. I might’ve forgotten to do that before bringing her here.”
“You WHAT? Ritsu, don’t tell me you just picked up some random girl off the street to be our guitarist?”
Ritsu does her best Hitori impression by going to extreme lengths to avoid eye contact.
Mio walked up to Ritsu, and proceeded to karate chop the crap out of her head, Hitori was taken aback by this sudden display of violence.
“OW! Mio-chan is so mean..” Ritsu said, nursing a cartoonishly huge head bump on her head. Wait, where did that come from?
“If you don’t want me to beat the crap out of you, you probably should stop doing stupid things, you baka!” Mio said in retaliation.
“Maa, Mio chan. I think it’s best for us to calm down and collect ourselves first. We’re probably scaring the poor girl.”
A third voice came from another girl that Hitori somehow failed to notice was also in the room with them. She had long, wavy blonde hair. Her face looks foreign, and she has two big blue eyes along with bushy eyebrows to compliment them. She noticed Hitori glancing at her and smiled warmly. Hitori immediately looked away, flustered after being caught staring.
“I think we got off on a rough start, so let’s start over shall we? Let me introduce myself, My name is Kotobuki Tsumugi, but you can just call me Mugi. I’m the keyboardist for Ho-Kago Tea Time. I assume you already know Ritsu, she’s the drummer and our club president. And this is Akiyama Mio, she’s the bassist for our band.”
Hitori just give a simple nod without making eye contact with Mugi, just to show that she’s listening. “Gotoh H-Hitori.” she responded shortly.
“We also have two guitarists in our band, one is Hirasawa Yui-chan, but she’s not feeling well at the moment, so she’s not here. The other one is, where’s- Ah, Azusa-chan, please come forward, don’t be shy.”
From the back of the room another girl that Hitori also failed to notice, (although this one might be more justifiable given her small stature.) walked up to her. She had long black hair similar to Mio, but hers was tied into two long pigtails on each side of her head. She was staring at Hitori with her huge garnet eyes.
“Oi, Nakano. It’s rude to stare, you know?” Ritsu piped up.
This seems to have brought her back. She quickly muttered an apology. “Sorry, it was just, your tracksuit, and that pink hair. It seems… familiar somehow.”
Hitori internally panicked. Oh no, what is she reminded of? An old friend? An ex? Does that mean I don't get to play in the band?
But before she can panic even more, Mugi decided to step in and asks, “Eh, does that mean you’ve met her before, Azusa Chan?”
“What? Oh - oh no, it was just, her attire kind of reminded me of something. It’s probably just a coincidence though.” Azusa said. Hitori wiped her forehead when no one was looking.
“About that pink hair though, she said that she got it from her parents! Ha, how crazy is that? A family filled with pink haired people!” Ritsu chimed in.
“Ritsu-senpai, that’s not nice.” Ah, so this Azusa-chan is younger?
“We’re getting sidetracked! Hitori-chan, was it?” Mio turned towards her.
"A-ah, yes!" Hitori said, jumping up at the mention of her name. Mio looked taken aback by this reaction for a moment, before mentally shrugging it off.
"Can you show us how you play?"
"A-ah!" Hitori felt everyone's eyes drawn to her. What do I do? I've never played for an audience of four, Scratch that! I've never played for an audience in general!
Hitori fidgets in place and mumbles incoherently. Before she can formulate a response however, Azusa interjects.
"Wait, Mio-senpai, are you serious? This is our culture festival! Are you really considering replacing Yui-senpai? You can't! It has to be her! What's the point otherwise?" Azusa said, rather passionately.
C-culture festival? Hitori had never even played for her own school festivals, and now she's expected to play for another school she stepped foot on less than five minutes ago? This revelation proved to be quite taxing for Hitori, and she began to melt under the pressure.
"It's just a precaution, Azusa. Since that baka had brought her here we might as wel- What the- WHAT'S HAPPENING TO HER?"
Everyone immediately looked at Hitori, who was literally melting under the pressure, as in, her body was liquifying.
"Wh-What the- How is she doing that?" Ritsu, who was closest to Hitori, immediately took a step back.
"Eww! I think I got some of her on my shoes!"
As the light music club watched in abject horror, Hitori began to mentally say her farewells.
So this is how it ends, I will soon be lost to the janitor's mop and bucket, and after that, Japan's sewage system. This is it, goodbye, cruel world.
As she was beginning to see the light, Hitori feel a strong scent pulling her back to earth.
Hitori opened her eyes, to find Mugi crouching next to her, carrying what seems to be a steaming teacup.
"Drink up, Hitori-chan. It's my own blend. It helps calm your nerves."
Hitori did as she was told. She drank the tea and felt her body relaxes (and more importantly, rematerialize).
"Wow, Mugi, how do you know that would work?" Hitori could faintly make out Ritsu's voice.
Mugi smiled. "I've had a lot of encounters with many different people thanks to my father's business ventures, Ricchan. This isn't the first time I've seen something like this happen."
"That sounds vaguely ominous." Azusa mumbled. Mugi just smiled mysteriously.
"A-ah, sorry, I'm up, I'm up now!" Everyone looked towards Hitori, who was now attempting to sit up.
"Well, good. So, Mio, what were you saying?"
Ritsu turned around to face Mio, only to find the spot she was standing on just moments ago empty. "What? Where's Mio?" Ritsu asked the room.
Azusa pointed towards the corner of the room, where Mio was currently crouching with her eyes closed, her hands covering her ears.
"Didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, didn't smell anything moldy." She muttered.
Ritsu sighed. "You know, under normal circumstances I would love to tease her even more, but I was honestly freaked out by that whole thing myself. Hitori, whatever that was, please never do it again. Or we'll sell you to some underground lab so they can study you! Actually, money seems to be running low currently." Ritsu began to actually consider that thought.
"Ah, yes. Sorry. Definitely won't happen again!" Hitori piped up, before Ritsu can properly reach a conclusion to that thought.
It took them a full ten minutes to calm Mio down. After she recollected herself, she turned towards Hitori.
"Hitori-chan, lets just forget any of that ever happened. Please." She added that last line weakly. Hitori nodded. She doesn't feel like there would be any reason to ever bring that up again.
"Well, can you show us how you play Hitori-chan? You can read sheet music, yes? We'll give you the sheet for the guitar parts for Fuwa-Fuwa time and you can learn it before playing it with us."
With that, Mugi handed her the sheet music for Fuwa-Fuwa time. She read the first line of the lyrics and immediately resisted the urge to barf.
Just as she feared. This band played seiyuun songs about falling in love and being young and being young and falling in love! All the topics Hitori was deathly allergic to.
Beyond that, she can't help but cringe at how overly cutesy and fluffy the choice of words being used were. "When i see you my heart goes doki-doki?" Hitori began to scratch her body as she felt her entire body itch (an action that was mirrored by Ritsu, as she also reevaluated her own sheet music for Fuwa-Fuwa time). But it's not like she had any room to criticize the choice this band made to sing seiyuun songs. Not many people would like to hear songs about how sad, lonely, and friendless you are. It's an acquired taste, Hitori muses to herself.
After a while, Hitori heard the club president beckon her.
"Hitori-chan! Ready for your debut?"
"A-ah, well, I-i.."
What do I do? I can't play in front of a crowd of four people! That's four people too many out of my comfort zone!
"I-i, well, can you all leave first so I can play?" Hitori asked lamely.
"Eh? But how are we gonna judge you if we leave?" Azusa asked.
"Uu… don't like.. being judged… other people's perception.. scary…" Hitori meekly said.
No one said anything in response to that. Oh no, did I manage to mess it up? Oh no, oh no, oh no. Well at least they barely know each other, so Hitori can just leave right now and pretend this never happened! But wait, they know her name! Well, it's decided, then. Tonight she is going to ask her parents to move their family to a different city, no, different country, with new aliases so she can start a new life free from-
"Hitori-chan. Could it be possible you're experiencing stage fright right now?"
Eh? That question came from Mugi. From what she's seen so far, Mugi can be highly perceptive about things. She really needs to be careful around her in case they ever come across each other again in the future.
"Ah, m-maybe." Hitori answered, to which Mugi gave an understanding nod.
"Stage fright? She's just like you, Mio!" Ritsu suddenly said.
"We are nothing alike!" Mio retorted, flustered. "A-ah! I didn't mean it as an insult!" Mio quickly added.
"It's okay, i wouldn't want to be compared to a water flea like myself either, haha."
"Hitori-chan, what are you talking about?"
"Well, this is a problem, how are you going to perform if you don't want to be watched?" Ritsu interjected.
"Didn't something similar to this happen last year? How did you manage to overcome your stage fright, Mio-senpai?" Azusa asked.
"Don't you remember the video from yesterday, Nakano? She did it by showing the entire school her pa-"
SMACK!
Hitori wasn't quite sure what had happened, but the next thing she knew, Ritsu was laying dead on the floor, now with two cartoonish bumps on her head. Is she really the only one finding this weird?
"Now no one will marry me…" Mio muttered.
"There, there Mio-senpai, don't mind her, you know how insufferable she can be."
"Oi, I'm dead, not deaf!"
Amidst all this chaos, Mugi walked towards Hitori, carrying something in her arms she retrieved from the closet.
"If you feel uncomfortable being watched, Hitori-chan, maybe this will help." Mugi said, handing the thing she was carrying to her.
"How is that gonna help?" Mio began to ask, but before she knew it, Hitori had already put on the full body horse costume.
"It's damp, stuffy, and smells like some old grandma. But most importantly, it hides my face. It feels just like home!" Hitori exclaimed. She began giggling uncontrollably.
"How are we feeling, Sakuragouka? Who's ready to party?" Hitori said, MC-ing to an invisible audience.
"I suppose that works." Mio said.
Azusa observed Hitori. From the two guitarists she has met so far, she's seeing two possible branching futures, and she liked neither of those outcomes.
"Well then, can you play us something Hitori-chan?" Mugi asked.
"Certainly!" She said, taking out her guitar. Out of the corner of her unblinking horse eyes, she could've sworn Azusa was giving her a scrutinizing look as she does.
Hitori took a deep breath, and then she played. With all her previous nervousness hidden behind her horsey disguise, she managed to play to the maximum of her ability. At least, that's what she liked to think.
Finally, the song came to an end, and as the last notes slowly came to a close, Hitori paused to take a breath.
The club was silent. They all seem to be judging her. She can feel some of her anxiety crawling back.
"Not bad." Mio finally commented. You still make a few mistakes here and there, but it's nothing a little practice can't fix."
Ritsu beams. "See, I told you, this was totally worth the time I saved walking to Yui's house!"
"Oh, that's not over yet. Don't think you're getting off that easy." Mio said curtly.
Ritsu gulped. "Aha, such a kidder, Mio is, ne, Mugi-chan?"
"I'm afraid you're on your own for this one, Ricchan." Mugi said, giving her that trademark closed-eyes Mugi smile.
"Oh boy, Nakano, help me out here, will you?"
Ritsu looked over towards Azusa, only to find her staring blankly at Hitori.
"Kid, you alright? I told you it's rude to stare. Or is it about the costume? Cause I don't think its normal for a girl to like horses that much, Naka-"
"You're guitarhero aren't you?" Azusa finally spoke.
"Eh, me? I don-"
"Not you, senpai! Hitori-chan!"
All eyes are now drawn towards the guitarist. Hitori, who was previously giggling to herself as she took in everyone's praises, immediately went through a complete flip of emotions upon hearing the accusation.
"Ah, I don't know what youre talking about.. ?" Hitori weakly rebutted Azusa's claim.
"You are her! The pink hair, the tracksuit, you even have the same guitar they use in all their videos! Oh my god, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you!" Azusa said with stars in her eyes.
"Ahk-" Hitori was blinded by the aura Azusa was emanating, Her Azu-aura, you could say.
"I watched all your videos! I can't believe this, can you sign my Mustang?" She said as she walked over towards her with her guitar in tow.
"I- w-well…"
"Alright kid, I don't know whats going on, but you're obviously making her uncomfortable."
"Ritsu senpai, you don't understand, it's-"
Before she could finish that sentence, the door to the club opened to reveal…
"Ya-ho!"
"Yui!" Everybody said in unison. They all moved towards the newcomer, leaving Hitori alone at the back of the room.
“Have you gotten better already?” Mio asked.
“Oh, my cold?” The newcomer (who apparently is named Yui, the girl everyone has been talking about.) said, before pulling off the worst attempt at a fake cough.
“Sounds so fake..” Azusa said dryly.
“I guess you’re fine. Huh?” Mio said.
“Mou, come to school in the morning if you’re fine. We were all worried about you!” Said Ritsu. Mugi nodded.
“I-Uhh, I suddenly feel better at the end of the day!” She attempts to defend herself.
“Nah, you just wanted to skip classes.” Ritsu retorted.
Hitori suddenly felt out of place here, as if she’s intruding on a scene she’s not supposed to be in. Feeling lost at what to do, she tries to unplug her guitar from the amp quietly, only to trip over the cables and fall to the floor.
“Oh, who is that?” Yui asked.
“Ah!” Ritsu threw a glance at the horse currently tangled up in wires on the floor. “You see Yui, we didn’t think you were going to come today, so uhh- She’s not a replacement for you! If that’s what you’re thinking, haha! We would never replace our precious guitarist!”
“Real smooth.” Mio mumbled.
“Eh…? But I’m here now, so I’m going to play, right? What’ll happen to them?”
“Oh yeah, umm.. Hey, Hitori, since Yui’s here, I guess you’re…”
“Going to play with Yui-senpai and see who’s the better guitarist!”
“EH?” Everyone said, as they turned towards Azusa.
“We can’t just send her home after everything we put her through, senpai. We should at least have her jam with all of us to make all the troubles worth.” Azusa quickly replied, blushing at the amount of attention directed towards her.
“Weren’t you the one going off about how we can’t just replace Yui just now?” Ritsu raised an eyebrow.
“Mou. Well, that’s still true.” Azusa said, blushing even deeper. “But she IS the legendary guitarhero. We can’t just send her home after what she just showed us can’t we?”
“Ah- I’m not-” Hitori attempted to speak from the pile of cables.
“What the hell is guitarhero, anyway? You never told us anything about that, Nakano.” Ritsu said over Hitori’s weak rebuttals.
Azusa looked at Ritsu like she just asked her what rice is. “Guitarhero? Only one of the most popular guitar cover channel on Ohtube? You don’t know guitarhero?”
“Well in case you haven’t noticed, kid. I'm a drummer.”
“Ah, I recall getting some of her videos on my recommended feed sometimes.” Mio added.
“She has 30.000 subscribers! How could you be in a band and not know her?”
“Alright, alright, I get it. This girl’s a big deal.” Ritsu said, throwing another glance at Hitori, who was still attempting to untangle herself.
“Are you really sure that’s her?” Ritsu said, seemingly still unconvinced.
“I am sure. Everything matches. The hair, the tracksuit, the guitar, the way she plays. She is 100% guitarhero.”
“F-fine. I am guitarhero! Can someone please help me out here?” Hitori finally buckled.
“Oh, sorry, Hitori-chan. Here, let me help you.” Mugi began to move towards Hitori, and in one move, managed to untangle Hitori and help her stand up.
She took off Hitori’s horse head, giving her the opportunity to finally get a good look at the newcomer. She has dark brown hair, with two yellow hair clip as accessories. She smiled politely as their eyes met.
“Hello, my name is Hirasawa Yui! Pleasure to meet you.” Yui said, reaching out her hand.
“Ah, Guitarhitori- I-i mean gotohhero, I-i mean, Gotoh Hitori! Pleasure to meet you t-too!” Hitori manages to finally stutter out a somewhat coherent introduction.
At this, Yui giggled. “Pleasure’s all mine, Hitori-chan! I’m sure we’re gonna be good friends!” Yui shook Hitori’s hand (Please don’t comment on how clammy it is!).
“Well then, I guess you want to see both of them play together, Azusa-chan?” Mio asked her kouhai.
“W-well… I guess, if it’s not too much trouble.” Azusa meekly said, obviously still starstruck over being in the same room as guitarhero.
“I wouldn’t mind! It sounds like fun! Doesn’t it sound like fun, Hitori-Chan?” Yui asked, facing her. Blasting her with her extrovert aura, The Yui-aura. No, that doesn’t sound quite right.
“Um, I-”
Truth to be told, she wanted nothing more but to leave this room right now. But with everyone looking at her expectantly, she buckled to peer pressure. Damn it, she wouldn’t be an introvert if she knew how to say no, would she?
“Y-yeah, that sounds like fun.” Hitori weakly said.
“Yay!” Yui cheered, taking out her guitar from its bag. It’s a Cherry sunburst traditional Les paul Gibson, which Hitori mentally noted, is quite an expensive model. Yui seems to catch on to what Hitori's gaze. “Do you like him? His name is Giita.”
“G-giita..” Hitori echoed.
“Don’t mind that, Yui can be quite odd at times. Last week she tried to name all the chairs in the club.” Ritsu said to Hitori.
“Well then, Yui-chan, you can probably play the lead guitar part for Fuwa-Fuwa time, while Hitori can play the rhythm guitar.” Is that okay with you two?”
Both of them nodded. After tuning their respective guitars, they began to play. Hitori once again puts all her effort into her playing. She liked to think she went “ham” on it (an expression she learned from one of the comments of her Ohtube videos). Next to her, Yui was playing the lead guitar part, and she seemed…. competent. Her playing sounds a bit clean and professional for her liking. Heh, they said she’s a beginner? Well, she still have so much to learn..
As the song ended, she looked towards her audience. Unlike previously, they all wore a mixed expression. Mio and Ritsu shared a glance with each other, before nodding.
“Hitori, you-” Mio began.
“You suck.” Ritsu finished.
“EHHH?” That was it, they weren’t lying when they said that hubris will be your own downfall. She fell to her knees after hearing Ritsu’s comment.
Mio glared at Ritsu. She was halfway through the motion of strangling the drummer before she noticed Hitori, who was slowly evaporating.
“W-what’s going on?” Yui asked.
“Oh, not again! Hitori, cut that out!”
Hitori immediately rematerialized. “Ah, right. Sorry.”
Yui just stared. “Is-is that- would anyone elaborate on what just happened?”
“Later.” Ritsu hastily responded. She’s not sure she even had the mental capacity to explain what just transpired.
“Senpai, you need to go easy on her! Obviously playing on your own and playing together in a band would be different. You already saw how she managed to pull off that solo before!” Azusa came to Hitori’s defense.
“Yes, I concur. Hitori-chan is a great solo player. Though when it came to playing in a band, she might still have a long way to go.” Mugi added. “Ah, there’s this helpful triangle chart about it, maybe I can draw it up on the chalkboard."
“I’m nothing more than a water-flea. A plankton Gotoh.” Hitori began to talk to herself as she crawled into a fetal position.
And so, Hitori crumbled into dust, never picking up the guitar again.
THE END.
Notes:
“W-wait. Wait! The story’s not over yet!” Mio said.
“Huh? Mio-senpai, what are you talking about?”
“I- I dont know. For a second there I felt like my life just flashed before my eyes, like all of us was about to meet our end or something.”
Ritsu glanced at Hitori and then Mio, before scooting away from both of them. (“Damn. maybe being crazy IS contagious after all.”)
“Regardless! Hitori-chan, don’t despair! It’s totally normal! Everyone would suck the first time they play in a band! Me and Ritsu was really bad the first time we played together too!”
“But you said we were pretty good..” Ritsu said. Mio glared at her. “Obviously I said that at the time to spare your feelings. We couldn’t even keep time when we played!”
While Ritsu sulked, Hitori slowly came back to life. “A-ahh, this is normal?”
“Of course! So don’t beat yourself up over it, Hitori-chan! There will be plenty more opportunities for you to improve!”
This seems to placate Hitori. She nodded, getting back to her feet.
“But that’s not something that I’m most concerned about currently.”
Eh? Was Mio just propping her up to punch her back down again?
“Yui!” Mio turned towards Yui.
“Hai!” Yui jumped at this sudden switch of focus.
Mio moved towards her, grabbing her shoulders.
“It’s way too perfect, you’re keeping tempo way too accurately! What happened?”
“N-nothing!”
“The moon is red…” Mugi chimed in, as she looked outside the window.
“What’s wrong with that? If it’s perfect, let it be. I really liked it!” Azusa perks up.
“Ah, yes. Azusa-chan is right.” Yui finally said.
“Eh?”
“That’s true.” Mugi said.
“I guess i was just confused.” Ritsu said, finally back from her sulking.
“Ritsu-san, Tsumugi-san, you’re both too worried! Isn't that right, Hitori-chan?
Silence. Somehow Hitori felt like Yui just said something incredibly wrong.
“Um-” Hitori started.
“Ritsu-san?” Ritsu asked.
“Tsumugi-san?” Mugi whispered.
“Haven’t you gone far enough, Ui-chan?” another voice piped up from the back.
“Eh? You were here?” Ritsu turned around towards the source of the voice, a woman with long brown hair and spectacles, who had somehow avoided detection from everyone in the club this entire time, quietly sipping her tea.
“W-wait!” Ritsu seemed to finally understand something.
“UI-CHAN?” Everyone, sans Hitori and the mystery woman, said in unison.
The woman slowly rises from her seat to face the others.“You can deceive everyone else, but not me, because…You have bigger boobs than Yui-chan!” The woman pointed accusingly at “Yui.”
“I-i don't know what you’re talking about!” Yui attempted to defend herself.
“Then what’s my nickname?” Azusa interrogated.
“A-azusa ni-go!”
“She’s a fake!”
Hitori was beginning to lose the thread. What is going on?? Who’s Ui-chan? Does Yui even exist?
Right as this bombshell of truth fell on the club and Hitori, the club room door opened to reveal…
“Ya-ho!” Another Yui stood at the entrance of the club.
This proves too much for poor Hitori to handle. Without warning, she popped.
Literally.
“AAAAAAHHHH!” Mio screamed.
“HITORI-CHAN?” Ui said in shock.
“Whoa… that balloon was pretty life-like…” Yui said.
-
“I’m sorry everyone. When I saw onee-chan lying sick in bed, I just couldn’t take it!”
They now were all seated at the table at the back of the clubroom. Mugi had served all of them tea, and they are currently talking about UI’s motivation in impersonating her sister.
“So you can play the guitar too, Ui-chan?” Mio asked the little sister, who is now currently nursing a slurring Yui.
“No, I just asked onee-chan to let me play a few times.”
So typical. Everyone at the table thought.
“Yeah, Ui-chan is really good, I dare say, even better than me!” Yui slurred.
“You have no idea.” Ritsu said.
“Anyway, I feel better now! So I came here so I can practice and- a-a ACHOO!” Yui sneezed right onto Ritsu’s face.
“Stop lying.” Ritsu deadpans. “Give me that.” She gestured towards the tissue box Ui was holding.
“Yui, you clearly haven’t recovered at all. Rest up until the day of the concert. We’ll all perform the concert together. Until then, don’t give up! Let’s all do our best.”
“Mio-chan…”
“Senpai…”
“Sensei, are you sure that piece of her goes there?”
“It’s an educated guess. Give me the tape.”
Mugi and Sawako meanwhile, are currently attempting to reassemble Hitori back together, which has proven to be quite a task, since the girl popped into at least 20 pieces.
“How’s it going over there?” Ritsu asked.
“We’re getting there.” Sawako answered without looking up from her handiwork. “Tape.”
“Oh yeah, Ricchan, you never told me who that girl was, and how she ended up here. Ui said she also played the guitar? I would love to hear her play.” Said Yui.
“She was pretty good on her own. Though she does have her eccentricities.” Ritsu said.
“Eccentricities is underselling it.” Azusa added. “I can’t believe I get to meet guitarhero, and she turned out to be just a normal girl! Well, "normal". In a way, it’s kind of inspiring, anyone can be a good and successful guitar player if they just try hard enough.” Azusa concluded.
“I guess that’s one way to look at it.” Ritsu said. “What do you think about all this, Mio?”
Mio just stared blankly.
“Mio?”
“I think you shouldn’t just pick random girls off the street to be our guitarist.”
“Alright then. Noted for next time.”
“And I really should beat the crap out of you later. Azusa, set a reminder for me.”
“You got it, Mio-senpai.”
-
After successfully being reassembled, (Sawako and Ritsu had argued about where the final two pieces should go.) Hitori reawakened, back to her (mostly) normal self.
“Ah, Hitori-chan. You’re awake. Please, have another cup." Mugi handed her another warm cup of tea.
“T-thank you.”
Sipping her tea, she begun taking in her surroundings. She was laid down on the couch of the clubroom, and everyone in the club were all crowded around her, including Yui, Ui, and the woman whose name she hazily caught in her limbo to be "Sawa-chan."
“Mou, Hitori, I told you not to do that! You had no idea how freaked out Mio was. She thought you died! I’ve never seen her that pale since she flas-”
"Hitori might have not died, but do you want to, Ritsu?" Mio said threateningly.
"Ah! Kidding, kidding." Ritsu hastily said.
"I'm sorry for lying to you, Hitori-chan. Let's start over, shall we? My name is Hirasawa Ui. I'm onee-chan's little sister." Ui said, properly reintroducing herself.
"That's me!" The girl next to her said. She looked nearly identical to her little sister, except now Ui was wearing her hair up in a ponytail. "Hirasawa Yui. I like tea and cakes!" Yui added, as if it's the most important thing someone ought to know about her.
"Indeed you do, onee-chan! Ui said, patting her bigger sister's head. Hitori's not sure she's quite getting the dynamic here. What she knows for sure is that Futari would never do something like that with her.
"A-ah, n-nice to meet you both, i guess?" Hitori said, still a bit lost.
"Sorry if this situation got a bit confusing, Hitori. These two are crazy, you see. Completely mental. This is just what people like them would do."
"That's not nice, Ricchan. You've probably done a lot weirder things than that." Mugi said to Ritsu.
"In any case, sorry for all the trouble we put you through, Hitori-chan." Mio said before Ritsu could rebutt Mugi. "Is there anything we can do to compensate you for all the things you went through for us?" Mio asked.
"W-well…" Hitori glanced at everyone, who was all looking down at her with a smile on their face. Oh sure, she would love to get something for everything that had happened to her this afternoon. But then again, even if they're a bit weird, (scratch that, they're REALLY weird.) they've also been very nice to her the entire time they've known each other. Hitori let out a shaky smile. "It's okay. I-i think your hospitality more than makes up for it." Hitori paused. "But even if it's a bit selfish, I- can we at least be friends? That would be my only request."
At that, everybody in the room fell silent. Hitori thought she might have messed things up again, but that was before she looked up to see all of them exchange glances and smiling even wider than before.
"That's not selfish at all! Of course we're friends, Hitori! After all that, how could we not be?" Ritsu said, to which Mio nodded.
"You don't need to worry about that, Hitori-chan. You'll always be welcome in the light music club." Mugi said.
"It would be an absolute honor to be friends with guitarhero." Azusa said, with a small blush forming on her cheeks.
"Ehhh.. Azu-nyan, I thought I was your guitar hero?" Yui said, before collapsing onto Azusa.
"What, where did you get that from? Also get off me, senpai! I don't want to catch your cold!" Azusa said, attempting to free herself from the sudden hug.
"But yeah, Hitori-cwaan. We might havent talk much, but I'd love to be your friend!" Yui said as she wrestles with Azusa to keep her in the hug.
"When the time comes, let's play again, ne, Hitori-chan?" Ui said to her.
Hitori smiled. She really didn't expect for them to accept her so willingly. She felt teary eyed at the thought of finally making friends for the first time.
"Oh, and c-can I keep the horse costume?" Hitori asked.
"Eh?" Everyone said in response.
"Oh, did you like my costume that much, Hitori-chan?" Sawa-chan, who's up till now had only been quietly observing this interaction, finally spoke. Her eyes glinted. "I think I could hook you up with something better. I have some spare maid costumes you could try-"
"WOW, WOULD YOU LOOK AT THE TIME, I REALLY NEED TO GO!" Hitori said as she gets up from the couch and moved towards the exit with unimaginable speed.
"Wait, Hitori-chan!" She looked back to find Mugi, handing her a box of cake and some tea packets.
"For all your troubles. And something to remember us by." Mugi smiled.
"T-thank you, Tsumugi-san."
"Please, i already told you, just call me Mugi. It's what my friends call me."
She accepted the present and walked out of the clubroom, looking back one last time at all the new friends she's made.
"G-goodbye everyone, I-i'll see you all tomorrow!" (Nice one, I always wanted to say that once I made a friend!) With that, she finally stepped out into the halls, leaving the club.
"Eh, what is she talking about? Does that mean she's gonna come back tomorrow?" Mio asked.
"Is she gone? Uuu… finally, I liked her, but I really needed to lie down on that couch.." Yui said, as she collapsed onto the couch, face red as a tomato.
"ONEE-CHAN?"
"SENPAI?"
"Oh geez, here we go." Ritsu, once again, had made the mistake of thinking that for once, everything was back to normal again.