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Chapter 179: The Disliked Drunkard, Hiroi Kikuri
🕑 Added 2025-03-06 09:59:16 +0000 UTCCompared to the feelings and thoughts of Kessoku Band, Shinjo Akane's thoughts were far simpler.
That was—
"We did it, Minami-kun."
Returning to celebrate with Takarada Rikka and the others, Shinjo Akane suppressed the excitement in her heart and approached Minami Shouji, who had just stepped out of the studio after narrating.
"Ah… yeah. We did it."
Minami Shouji didn't seem as ecstatic as Hibiki Yuuta or Utsumi Sho, merely nodding with a small smile—nothing more.
But Shinjo Akane understood him well.
The young man with black hair was always the type to keep his emotions hidden.
The fact that he even smiled…
That was already more than enough proof of his feelings.
Was he happy about the program's success?
Or was he happier that he had finally taken the first step toward his tokusatsu dream?
Shinjo Akane turned her gaze slightly, as if searching for the answer on Minami Shouji's face.
But soon, she gave up on the thought.
Minami Shouji was still the same as ever.
Holding a thick script in his hands, even without glasses, his clear and sharp eyes exuded an unmistakable elegance.
Suddenly, Shinjo Akane had the urge to hug him.
To wrap her arms around him…
To hold him tightly…
To never let him go.
To keep him by her side, forever.
But since they had just left the studio, there were students coming and going all around them.
So, Shinjo Akane had no choice but to hide her restless hands behind her back, quietly following behind Minami Shouji.
After a moment—
She suddenly spoke up. "Minami-kun, we… we really did it, didn't we?"
"Hm?"
"You dummy, Minami-kun! You're supposed to say, 'Yes, we did it!' in a much more confident tone."
It was as if she was pouting a little.
Or perhaps, Shinjo Akane was merely trying to confirm—was this all real?
Everything had gone so smoothly today, it felt almost like a dream.
She ran ahead of Minami Shouji, beaming a radiant smile at him as she spoke.
Minami Shouji lifted his gaze to look at Shinjo Akane.
Under the dim indoor lighting, her eyes took on a completely different color.
It was a color that the old Shinjo Akane—the one who always masked her true emotions—would have never possessed.
Minami Shouji found himself briefly captivated by those dazzling eyes.
Then, he nodded.
"Yeah, we did it, Shinjo-san."
"Wrong!"
"Huh?"
"It's Akane!"
"..."
As they walked from the studio backstage toward the front entrance of Shuka High, a clear yet helpless voice rang out.
"Alright… We did it, Akane."
Meanwhile…
Minami Shouji was heading toward the front gate of Shuka High for another matter.
And that was—
"Yo—Minami! Over here, over here!"
Standing at the school gate, Ijichi Seika waved excitedly as she called out to the approaching Minami Shouji.
"Where's PA-san?"
Glancing at the already present Hiroi Kikuri and Ijichi Seika, Minami Shouji casually asked.
PA-san had mentioned before that she would come to Shuka High to watch Kessoku Band's performance.
However…
Standing before Minami Shouji were only Ijichi Seika and a completely drunk Hiroi Kikuri, who needed Seika's support to even stand.
There was no sign of anyone else.
"Oh, you mean PA?"
Ijichi Seika explained, "She said someone had to stay behind at Starry to watch the shop, so she volunteered to stay."
"..." Minami Shouji.
"And there goes another responsible adult," Minami sighed. "Not that we had many to begin with."
At his words, Hiroi Kikuri, still leaning on Seika for support, suddenly swayed and pointed a wobbly finger—at Seika.
"Hey, hey, Shouji-kun, hic—are you looking down on your senpai? Seika is totally a responsible adult!"
Minami shot her a deadpan look.
"I wasn't talking about Seika. I was talking about you, Kikuri-san."
From every possible angle, Minami Shouji had to admit—
If only half of Kikuri's inexplicable self-confidence could be transferred to Hitori Gotoh…
"Well then, let's get moving, boss."
With that, Minami casually grabbed Seika's hand and started walking forward.
"..." Ijichi Seika.
"Shouji-kun."
After taking a couple of steps, she spoke up.
"Hmm? Something wrong?"
"Yeah, something's definitely wrong…"
Seika rubbed her temples in exasperation.
"Don't just casually walk off while leaving Kikuri behind!"
"...Tch."
"Hey! Don't look so reluctant about it!"
"Fine, fine."
Minami sighed, eventually giving in and helping Seika support the nearly unconscious Kikuri as they made their way toward Shuka High's gymnasium.
On the way, they encountered one of the teachers in charge of maintaining order at the festival.
Seeing Minami practically carrying a drunken Kikuri, the teacher almost threw them all out of the school on the spot.
Thankfully, this was where Minami's reputation came in handy.
The teacher recognized him, and after some lengthy convincing and reassurances, finally let them pass.
"Ohhh! As expected of the nation's top-ranked student! Is this the power of Minami-kun's status at Shuka High?"
Kikuri slurred her words, clearly impressed.
Back when she was in school, she never had any sort of special treatment like this.
She had always been a loner, eating lunch by herself, never receiving any recognition.
Unlike Minami Shouji, who could even smooth things over with the school's disciplinary staff.
"Honestly, I wish my so-called reputation wasn't wasted on carrying around a drunkard in broad daylight. You really need to quit drinking, Kikuri-san."
Minami shot her a sidelong glance.
"Hehehe…"
Kikuri, as expected, didn't take his words seriously. She simply chuckled, then lifted her head—
"Huh? We're already here?"
The walk from Shuka High's entrance to the gymnasium wasn't far.
With their earlier exchange, they had arrived before they knew it.
"Kessoku Band's performance should be coming up soon."
Minami checked his watch. "Let's go."
To be honest, this would be his first time hearing Kessoku Band perform in a proper live setting.
Up until now, he had only heard them practicing in their studio.
Since this was a rare opportunity, there was no way he wanted to miss it.
Besides, if he did miss it…
He had a feeling Yamada Ryo would nag him about it for ages.
That woman rarely spoke much, but when it came to topics she liked, she could go on and on for an entire day without stopping.
After helping Kikuri into the gymnasium, Minami had barely taken a few steps forward before a familiar voice called out.
"Minami-kun? And these two are…?"
"Ah… Naoki-san, Michiyo-san."
Minami turned around, and upon recognizing the people who had spoken, he politely nodded.
The ones addressing him were none other than Naoki Gotoh and Michiyo Gotoh, whom he had parted ways with earlier in the morning.
It made sense that they were still here—they had originally come to see Kessoku Band's performance, after all.
After exchanging greetings, Minami introduced Ijichi Seika and Hiroi Kikuri to the Gotohs.
Since they were older, Seika made sure to be respectful when speaking to them.
But what really surprised Minami was Kikuri.
Despite being drunk and barely coherent moments ago, as soon as she heard they were Hitori Gotoh's parents, she instantly sobered up a little, smiling and greeting them properly.
"We really appreciate you both always looking after our daughter."
"Oh no, not at all."
Kikuri chuckled. "If anything, I should be thanking little Hitori for always taking care of me."
Minami and Seika exchanged glances.
…How could she say, with a straight face, that a high schooler was the one taking care of her?
Forget it.
There was no point in questioning it.
With that, they all continued making their way to the front of the gymnasium.
Since they had entered from the back, their seats were too far away.
Even if Kessoku Band started playing, it would be hard to clearly hear them in the noisy environment.
Bringing Kikuri along, they pushed forward toward the front.
It was only then that Naoki Gotoh spoke up.
"By the way, Minami-kun, your 'Monster of the Human Heart' performance was incredible!"
Even as someone who didn't usually watch tokusatsu, he had been completely drawn in by Minami's play, watching with bated breath.
"That was practically professional-level quality!"
"Thank you, but it wasn't just my work—it was the effort of the entire cast and crew."
Minami wasn't being modest.
He had witnessed firsthand how much effort Rikka Takarada, Yuta Hibiki, and Utsumi Sho had put in.
Taking all the credit for himself would've been far too arrogant.
"Speaking of which, where are the performers from 'Monster of the Human Heart'?"
Hearing Minami's words, Michiyo Gotoh curiously glanced behind him, but didn't see Rikka and the others.
"They went off to celebrate. They're probably walking around the festival right now. Since I still had Kessoku Band's performance to watch, I didn't join them."
Minami explained.
Akane had been beyond satisfied with the success of 'Monster of the Human Heart.'
To celebrate, she had taken Rikka and the others out to enjoy the festival.
"I see…"
Naoki and Michiyo didn't dwell on the topic. Instead, they turned their attention to the stage.
"After this band finishes, Kessoku Band should be up next, right?"
"Yeah."
Minami nodded.
Judging by the schedule, it should be about time.
He had even done a small favor for them in advance.
The day before the festival, he had taken Hitori Gotoh to a music shop to get her guitar adjusted.
After all, he still remembered how, in the final episode of Bocchi the Rock!, Hitori's guitar strings had snapped during a live performance, forcing her to find an alternative solution on the spot.
But now that he already knew what was going to happen—
There was no way he'd let it repeat.
Kessoku Band had prepared too much for today.
A simple, preventable accident like that had no reason to happen.
The only question was—
How was Kessoku Band holding up right now?
As Minami pondered this, he looked past the performing band toward the curtain-covered backstage.
There…
The four girls of Kessoku Band should be getting ready.
"Ugh… I'm so nervous."
Backstage, Kita Ikuyo took deep breaths.
Nearly three hundred people were waiting for them.
This was completely different from their first live performance.
Fear! Anxiety! Pressure!
If they messed up in front of this huge crowd…
What would happen?
Countless emotions surged within her.
"Kita-chan, don't worry! We've practiced this a hundred times. Just take a deep breath."
Ijichi Nijika reassured her.
"Ah, yes, Nijika-senpai."
Kita nodded slightly, trying to calm herself.
"Good!"
Nijika smiled, seeing her relax.
Then, she turned to look at Hitori Gotoh.
As the quietest member of the band…
How was Bocchi holding up?
Then, she saw Hitori's current state.
"Heh heh... Hehehe..."
"A-Ah, Minami is watching..."
"I-I have to show my coolest side!"
"Gotta do my best, I must do my best!"
"Heh heh... Heh heh... Hehehe..."
With her head lowered, long bangs draping over her delicate, adorable face, she muttered feverishly under her breath. Her eerie presence was reminiscent of a ghostly figure straight out of a horror movie.
"Uh..." Ijichi Nijika instinctively took two steps back.
Yikes...
She wasn't even nervous, yet somehow all the elements of unease were maxed out?
It should be fine... right?
At the very least, Bocchi was fired up.
Ijichi Nijika rubbed her temples, then turned to Yamada Ryo.
"Ryo, everything good?"
"Mm."
Dressed in their Kessoku Band uniform, the navy mid-length skirt swaying slightly, Yamada Ryo responded as concisely as ever.
But it was clear—her gaze wasn't focused on the band currently performing on stage.
No...
Her cool, languid eyes drifted past the performing group and settled on the audience.
There, among the crowd, was a refined young man with dark hair, his gaze calmly lifting toward their backstage position.
"Minami-san..."
Ijichi Nijika spotted Minami Shouji in the audience.
Should she really be surprised?
Not only had he been a critical part of their lead guitar's growth, but even their bassist...
For a band, was this situation good or bad?
Ijichi Nijika wasn't sure.
But one thing she was sure of—
They were about to step onto that stage and give it their all.
They would play with everything they had, showcasing the skills they had painstakingly honed over countless practice sessions.
This performance—
It was their way of thanking Minami Shouji for all the tutoring and guidance he had given them.
They would not mess this up!
With that determination surging through her, Ijichi Nijika heard the voice calling from the front of the stage.
"Kessoku Band, please get ready!"
"Yes!"
The four members exchanged glances—
Then, without hesitation, they stepped onto the stage.
Their performance was about to begin.
