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Chapter 229: Where was Kessoku Band supposed to get that many fans?!
🕑 Added 2025-03-27 07:56:46 +0000 UTCMinami Shouji took the time to thoroughly check out the room on STARRY's first floor.
And it was really nice.
Probably designed to match the professional kitchen next door, the room was surprisingly spacious.
A quick glance showed it was at least twice the size of his old eight-mat rental.
Inside, two windows provided solid lighting and airflow.
Compared to his old place, the soundproofing here was way better.
After all, the floor below was STARRY's performance hall, so things like insulation and sound control were on point.
The setup was excellent.
After inspecting every inch, Minami nodded in satisfaction.
No need to bother Yamada or Shinjo Akane about finding a new place—moving in here was perfect.
He did, however, hit a slight snag during the rental handover with Seika Ijichi.
Clearly, this older blonde sister was not thrilled about her little sister catching feelings for Minami.
After fumbling around awkwardly, she managed to grumble, "You better never make Nijika cry, got it?"
Naturally, Minami nodded without hesitation.
Hurting Nijika wasn't even on the table.
So the paperwork got signed—lease secured.
And likely because Seika knew her sister had feelings for him, the rental contract felt almost like she was paying him.
No deposit, no key money, and a heavily discounted rent. Minami got the room on a silver platter.
Her excuse?
"You've never charged for those tutoring sessions, right? Let's call it even. Don't get cocky. It's not because I like you or anything. It'd just be a waste to leave the room empty."
Classic tsundere Seika.
Even Minami, who'd seen all kinds of anime tropes, had to respect her pure-blooded tsundere energy—a rare breed these days.
And just like that, Minami officially had full access to STARRY's first floor.
Over the next few days, he kept busy moving out of his rental.
The bed and wardrobe were part of the rental, so he left those behind, only bringing essentials—clothes, daily items, and…
Books. So many books.
Minami had a reading habit, so novels, light books, and anthologies took up most of his luggage.
Even Yamada got dragged into helping—and after a couple trips, she flopped onto his new futon, saying she was exhausted and fell fast asleep.
Due to the move—and because Hitori Gotoh still wasn't fully recovered—Minami called her parents to explain he wouldn't be visiting for a while.
Though disappointed—especially her sister Futari, who insisted on seeing him—the Gotoh family understood. In fact, they laughed and told him, "Our doors are always open!"
Minami promised to visit next time.
In the meantime, at school, he stayed socially active.
He'd swing by Rio Futaba's place for free coffee and banter with the expressionless science girl.
He'd visit Akane Shinjo's class to borrow tokusatsu DVDs—and return the 100,000 yen loan.
Four or five days later, Minami was officially settled in.
Worth noting—Hitori Gotoh's health had improved a lot.
She could walk normally, even jog.
Compared to before, this pink-haired girl had definitely grown bolder.
Still shy, yes, but casual conversations were no longer a struggle.
Sometimes, when the others weren't looking, she'd sneakily grab Minami's hand.
Minami, being a tease, would gently trap her hand, leaving her blushing madly, unable to pull away until the last moment—just before the others noticed.
Curious, he used his Data Detector Skill (with only two uses left) to check her stats:
Name: Hitori Gotoh
Appearance: 9 Athletics: 4 Academics: 4 Traits: Self-Esteem ↓ Lv2 Social Anxiety Lv1 Learning Lv2 Guitar Lv3
No changes to the description or system evaluation worth noting.
What was interesting were her stat boosts.
Her academics had improved from 3 to 4, likely thanks to tutoring.
Learning trait bumped from Lv1 to Lv2.
Her social anxiety dropped from Lv2 to Lv1.
It seemed that night with Minami had significantly reduced her anxiety.
Outwardly, Hitori still acted as she always did, but change was coming.
Years of fear and insecurity don't disappear overnight, even with improvements.
Still, everything seemed to be going well—and Minami was in good spirits.
To celebrate the move, and thanks to Kikuri Hiroi demanding it, Minami cooked up a feast.
Grilled steak, tempura, Spanish paella, and more.
Everyone dug in hard—especially the two bassists, Yamada and Kikuri, who cleared the table in record time.
"Did you two not eat all day?" Seika groaned.
Neither replied.
Yamada spent her money on rare instruments, sometimes foraging for wild veggies.
Kikuri broke gear, had debts, and borrowed bathrooms.
Going hungry was normal for them.
Faced with such a spread, they weren't going to stop.
Just those two alone devoured a quarter of the food, even stealing from Hitori's bowl.
The feast rolled into 7 PM—
"Burp— I'm stuffed," Kikuri let out a belch, patting her belly. "As expected, Minami's food is next-level."
Everyone nodded, no hesitation.
His cooking never got old.
How could someone fit this many talents in one brain?
"Alright… I'm off." Kikuri slowly stood, wrapping a scarf around her neck.
"Eh? Kikuri-san, you're leaving already?" Ikuyo Kita asked. "Our performance is starting soon. Aren't you staying to watch?"
"Not today. Got some things to do... Oh, right. One more thing—"
Under everyone's watchful gaze, Kikuri Hiroi pulled a flyer from her shoulder bag and handed it to Minami Shouji, who was flipping through a novel.
"Figured Kessoku Band might need this, so I brought it. Take a look if you're interested. I'm heading out now."
With a mischievous grin, she left the flyer in Minami's hand and exited, full of cryptic energy.
Naturally, this caught Minami's—and everyone else's—attention.
Minami raised a brow, unfolded the flyer, and read aloud, "Teen Music Fest?"
A music festival.
Pretty common in Tokyo, all things considered.
As Japan's economic and cultural hub, Tokyo's influence in pop culture stretched across Asia.
The flyer Kikuri handed him was for an upcoming major local music festival—Teen Music Fest (10代 Generation Music Festival).
"Ah, I've heard of that one!" Ikuyo Kita, the group's resident extrovert, raised her hand with enthusiasm.
She explained, "The 'Teen Music Fest' is a big yearly event here in Tokyo, one of the most well-known music competitions for young people."
In Japanese, the word "代" can also mean "generation" or "age group" (like 'second generation,' 'third generation').
Here, '10代' refers to ages 10 to 19—teenagers.
In other words, all participants must be between 10 and 20 years old.
That much was clear from the flyer's bold taglines:
"Tokyo's Youth Music Celebration!"
"Chasing the Path to Musical Greatness!"
"Because of the age limit, it's really famous among teens in Tokyo. I think it's already been held for over ten years," Kita added, her eyes sparkling. "So? Let's do it, right? We have to join, right?"
"Hmm... if we're going to join... yeah, I think I'd want to," Nijika Ijichi murmured thoughtfully.
Of course, she wanted to.
Though the band had been getting tutoring from Minami daily, Kessoku Band had never skipped a day of practice.
Compared to three months ago, their teamwork and chemistry had grown dramatically.
For them now, Teen Music Fest was the perfect stage.
With resolve, Nijika lifted her head.
"Bocchi, what about you? Want to join?"
"Eh? I… um… If everyone else is in, I'm okay with it too…"
Caught off guard, Hitori Gotoh fumbled with her cup before looking up and replying in a tiny voice.
"Great! That's three of us! Ryo, you in?"
Nijika was excited as she turned to the final member, Ryo Yamada.
However—
"Ugh… sounds like a hassle."
Ryo frowned, clearly uninterested.
"Hey! Ryo, you—!"
Nijika nearly lost it at her chaotic bassist's response, but before she could argue—
Minami, still holding the flyer, casually spoke up:
"By the way, I noticed—looks like the winning band gets 1 million yen."
CLATTER!
Ryo shot to her feet without hesitation.
Her usually stoic, elegant face was suddenly lit up with determination.
"Let's join, Nijika! We have to win this!"
She looked so serious you'd think she'd never complained about it being a hassle.
"..." Nijika was speechless.
She glanced at Ryo, then at Minami.
He grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.
Her face flushed, and she sent Minami a grateful look.
His strategy had worked like magic.
Ryo, the band's biggest wildcard, was now fully on board.
With that hurdle cleared, everything else fell into place.
Nijika dashed home, grabbed her laptop, and began checking festival details and registration info online.
Then—
"…We're screwed."
Everyone stared at the screen in dead silence.
Understandably so.
On the festival site, in plain black text on a white background, it read:
"All participating bands must upload a performance video for initial screening and online voting." "Bands with fewer than 1000 online followers are not eligible."
1000 followers...?!
Where was Kessoku Band supposed to get that many fans?!
