[Lucas Amaki: Gotoh-san, have you guys arrived yet?] (Unread)
After sending the message, Lucas Amaki turned off his phone.
Gotoh Hitori's social anxiety didn't just show up in real life—it was just as bad in chat.
When Gotoh Hitori had been sick, Lucas went over the next day to bring her food. He noticed that her computer had been left on, and Twitter was still open. Out of curiosity, he glanced at the screen and memorized her Twitter handle.
Then, while Hitori was resting, Lucas logged into his own account and searched for it.
When he saw the tweets, he was stunned—but it all made sense a moment later.
Even though she was extremely shy, nobody knew who anyone really was on the internet. It was entirely possible for her personality to flip completely online.
Just like in her favorite anime Death Note, Kira had been a decent, straight-A student before he picked up the Death Note—a perfect all-rounder. But once he had that power, his entire personality changed. Even if he stayed a genius, he started using everything around him like tools… except for Teru Mikami.
Suddenly, Lucas's phone buzzed.
[Gotoh Hitori: We're here. We're just… missing An—Aki-san, you… you.]
Lucas cringed a little.
It was all Suzumi Hoshino's fault. She'd taken half an hour to do her makeup before they could even leave. Otherwise, they would've arrived on time.
[Lucas Amaki: I'll be there soon.]
[Gotoh Hitori: Mmh… mmh.]
Lucas turned off his phone again, tucked it into his bag, and turned to look at Suzumi.
"Hurry up. It's just the two of us left."
As he spoke, he picked up the pace.
"Easy for you to say! My weight's not the same as yours," Suzumi shot back, glancing down at her chest and sighing dramatically.
"…Fine, fine. We'll walk slower."
Lucas slowed down, exasperated.
It took them another half-hour to reach the underground livehouse.
"The atmosphere here's pretty nice," Suzumi said, eyes lighting up as she looked around.
"You—ugh, never mind. Just follow me," Lucas said, covering his forehead with his hand.
He still couldn't believe Suzumi had gotten into Beijing Language and Culture University as a direct-admission student. Did she actually study? How was she continuing her music degree there?
Lucas led her toward the training room. As soon as they entered, Suzumi began looking around with interest.
"Which one's my sister-in-law? Don't tell me it's all of them?"
Her eyes darted to the girls who were rehearsing. They were all cute—but her eyes landed especially on the girl with burgundy hair.
"…"
"That one." Lucas pointed at Gotoh Hitori.
"You lucky dog. She's got the same size as me!" Suzumi grinned.
"…"
That was the third time Lucas was completely speechless.
"Gotoh-san, could you stop for a second?" Lucas called as he walked up to the stage.
"A-Amaki-san? W-What's wrong?" Gotoh asked nervously, wondering if she'd done something wrong again.
"It's nothing. I just want to introduce someone."
"Huh? Amaki-san, is that… your sister?"
While Kita was talking with Hitori, she turned around and noticed Suzumi, who had just started messing with one of the practice guitars.
"Yeah," Lucas replied.
"Kita, Ryo, you two can stop practicing for now. And Nijika, put the water down."
"Amaki-san, is this the outside help you mentioned yesterday?" Kita asked, stepping forward.
"Yeah."
"Sis, come here." Lucas turned and waved.
"Okay!" Suzumi put the guitar down and stepped up onto the stage.
"Let me introduce her. This is my sister, Hoshino Suzumi. She's from the Music Department at Beijing Language and Culture University. She'll be helping us as the training director for the band."
"Hey, nice to meet you all. Oh—and you," she said, turning to Gotoh Hitori with a grin, "You're Lucas Amaki's girlfriend, right?"
"N-No… U-Um… hmm…"
***
"Nijika, there's something off with your drumming."
"Ryo, don't get lost in your own world—keep up with the tempo."
"Gotoh, don't be nervous."
"Kita, explode! If you keep looking down like that, you're going to fall out of rhythm."
Hoshino Suzumu pointed out each issue one by one during rehearsal, revealing every problem with calm precision.
She hadn't expected so many issues to pop up after just one session, but she was already mentally listing all the problems that had occurred during their previous performance.
Turning around, she saw Lucas Amaki nodding silently from the sidelines. She walked over and tugged on his ear.
"Why are you just standing there nodding? Come help give feedback already!"
"Ow, ow, ow—it hurts!" Lucas yelped. "Isn't that what you're here for? I'm just the band's manager. I don't know anything about music!"
"You… never mind."
Suzumu let go of his ear with a sigh.
Expecting someone who doesn't understand music to analyze performance issues is like asking a pig to solve advanced calculus—it's a waste of time.
"Suzumu, you keep guiding them for now. I'm going to find Qiao."
"…?"
"There's something I need to talk to him about."
"Alright."
Hoshino Suzumu waved him off, signaling him to go.
"Okay, I'll leave things to you."
With that, Lucas headed off to find Qiao Yu.
At the entrance, he spotted Qiao Yu talking with a delivery man.
"Just bring the boxes in. I'll pay you afterward," Qiao Yu told the courier.
"Hey, Qiao—come here for a sec!" Lucas called out.
Hearing his name, Qiao Yu wrapped up with the courier and walked over.
"What's up?"
"Did you bring your laptop?"
"Yeah. I needed to keep track of the supplies we're using today—lots of stuff to calculate, so I brought it with me."
"Perfect."
"But… what do you need it for?" Qiao Yu asked, puzzled. Of everyone here, Lucas seemed like the last person who'd need a laptop.
"I've noticed a few problems in the band's coordination. I want to log them down and come up with some solutions to prevent them from happening again later."
"You're seriously dedicated," Qiao Yu said, leading him to his workstation. "Here. Just make sure to put it back after you're done."
"Got it."
"I'll get back to work, then."
Lucas nodded, and Qiao Yu returned to his tasks.
Lucas sat down, turned on the laptop, and found it password-locked. After thinking for a moment, he typed: 884637092—it worked.
"This guy still remembers that number, huh…" Lucas murmured, a little amused.
He opened a folder and created a new document.
Because Ryo was playing too fast, the drum beats were misaligned. As the tempo increased, Kita got nervous and shaky with the vocals. To address this chain reaction, the root cause—Ryo—had to be dealt with. As long as Ryo stopped slipping into her own world, one of the main problems would be solved.
Lucas paused.
He suddenly remembered Gotoh Hitori's performance during rehearsal.
She wasn't matching the rhythm set in the beginning.
Her timing was slow—not as energetic as the others—and her sense of musicality was the weakest among the group. Fixing this would be the hardest challenge.
And there was only one solution:
Gotoh Hitori would have to break through on her own.
But that was easier said than done…
Making her "explode" would have to come from within herself.
So for now, the primary problem to fix was Ryo.
Control Ryo's rhythm. Have Nijika coordinate more closely with her. Calm Kita down before performing so she wouldn't be rattled by audience energy.
Ryo's case would be handed to Suzumu.
Kita's situation wasn't too serious, so Gotoh Hitori could manage her own progress.
Lucas finished writing everything, sent the file to himself, and planned to revise it further at home. He closed the laptop, stood up, and went to find Hoshino Suzumu.
"Much better—the rhythm's solid now," Suzumu said as Lucas approached. "But Kita, don't force the high notes if you can't hit them. We'll need to revise those lyrics again. Nijika's and Ryo's coordination has definitely improved, and Ryo didn't zone out this time. But Gotoh… you still need to blend better. Your playing is the weakest overall."
Lucas froze.
Everything she said was exactly what he'd just written in his notes.
A true professional.
Still, Suzumu had overlooked one detail: the high note in Kita's song only appeared during the climax, and Kita was just testing if she could hit it. Clearly… she couldn't.
The song she sang was one of her favorites—from the anime 86: Eighty-Six.
(Blud knows peak ✋😐🤚)
"Gotoh-san, can you come with me for a second?" Lucas asked with a gentle smile. "There's something I want to talk to you about."
"O-Okay…"
Gotoh Hitori followed him nervously.
Once they reached a quieter spot, she asked in a soft voice,
"A-Amaki-san, w-what did you want to talk about?"
"Can you write music?" Lucas asked. "Our band needs an original song."
"W-Why me…?"
Gotoh Hitori couldn't understand why she was being asked.
Could it be… did Amaki-san know…?
"Gotoh, I want to apologize to you." Lucas bowed slightly. "When you were sick, I dropped by to bring you some food. I saw your Twitter was still open… and I memorized your handle. I'm sorry. I violated your privacy."
"Amaki-san, you… you don't need to bow. I-I know… I know you didn't mean to…"
"I still feel bad for doing it without your permission," Lucas said sincerely.
"It's really okay. I don't think it's a big deal," Gotoh said, finally smiling at him.