"That's it for tonight, then. Good night."
"Good night."
After catching up with Yamada Ryo, Bai Xian walked over to the massive floor-to-ceiling window in the living room and looked down at the Tokyo night view.
The lights of the street scene below flickered with dazzling brilliance, and the traffic passing back and forth highlighted the bustling prosperity of Tokyo.
Yet, as all of this fell into Bai Xian's eyes, it seemed to have come to a complete standstill, his thoughts drifting back three months.
……
"I'm quitting the Band."
The noisy laughter and banter in the basement suddenly ground to a halt, and the air seemed to freeze in place.
After a long silence, a man with a lip piercing, a black stud earring in his ear, long parted black hair, and a punk outfit spoke up:
"Here we go again. Bai Xian really loves making jokes like this, hahahahaha."
"Hahahahaha……"
"Exactly. Shiro-chan, jokes like that aren't funny at all, you know."
The basement was once again filled with sounds of joy and laughter, with everyone treating the whole thing like a humorous seasoning to their rock-and-roll career.
"I'm serious."
"I'm quitting the Band."
Bai Xian repeated flatly once more.
He simply looked coldly at his bandmates and suddenly let out a sigh.
"I'm already sick of it."
「What? Shiro-chan, you……」
A woman with heavily exaggerated makeup stared at Bai Xian in disbelief.
Bai Xian looked at the woman, shook his head, and said:
"I've been very happy in this Band, but……"
"I'm sick of the keyboard. In fact, ever since last year, I haven't been able to find any joy in playing it anymore."
"I just play the keyboard day in and day out, my technique growing more and more refined day by day, but I always feel like something is missing, and now I finally know what it is."
"Missing…… what?" another woman with short red hair, black lipstick, and crimson eye makeup murmured.
Bai Xian looked at the group of people staring at him with solemn expressions and slowly began to speak:
"It's passion. I can no longer find the passion I used to have when playing the keyboard. No matter how exquisite the sheet music is, whenever I play it, that sense of fun is gone."
"But Shiro-chan has always……"
"Played perfectly?"
Bai Xian interrupted the heavily made-up woman's question, lowering his head gloomily.
"Yes, everyone thinks my playing is flawless, but that's the whole problem!"
"I can no longer find any room to progress further on the keyboard, and everyone just thinks I'm omnipotent—that's not right!"
Bai Xian's face twisted into an unsightly grimace as he looked with profound disappointment at his bandmates with whom he had spent day and night.
"So I'm quitting the Band. I'm sorry, everyone. Just treat it as me being willful."
With that, Bai Xian didn't stay any longer, turning around and walking out of the basement.
The members of PentaKill sat in silence, watching Bai Xian leave as if drained of all their strength, utterly powerless to make him stay.
……
Back to the present.
Coming back to his senses, Bai Xian suddenly gave a light laugh, picked up his phone, and dialed a mysterious number.
"Hey, do me a favor."
"Bai? You actually calling to ask me for a favor—that's a real rarity."
"Cut the crap, I need you to help me with……"
After a long while……
Hanging up the phone, Bai Xian let out a long breath of relief, returned to his bedroom, and threw himself flat onto the bed, closing his eyes in peace toward the ceiling that felt a thousand feet high.
Lights out.
Time to sleep zzZ……
……
Haneoka Girls' Academy.
Anon Chihaya looked around the academy grounds with a sense of novelty, took in her surroundings, and headed to the principal's office to check in.
Wearing a uniform that did not belong to Haneoka, with long pink hair and a pleasing appearance, Anon Chihaya sat gracefully at a desk while the teacher responsible for her intake sat opposite her, carefully reading through her file.
"I see. You served as the student council president at your previous school."
"Your grades also seem to be completely fine……"
"That's right."
Anon Chihaya smiled with confident charm, adjusting her thick-rimmed black glasses.
"In this new school, I will continue to be proactive and leave behind a fulfilling and satisfying campus life!"
Such boilerplate phrasing came effortlessly to Anon Chihaya, who had already served as a student council president. Having witnessed plenty of scenes like this, she responded with a poise that was neither servile nor overbearing.
In truth, holding a high-value position like "student council president" in Japan, combined with a resume boasting studies abroad in Britain, meant most schools would welcome her with open arms.
For Anon Chihaya, getting into a mere ordinary domestic academy was an absolute breeze.
The receptionist teacher nodded with satisfaction and brought the interview session to a close.
"Very well, Chihaya-san, your interview is finished. Please go home and wait for word; we will notify you as soon as possible."
"Alright, thank you, teacher. I'll be on my way."
After a polite bow, Anon Chihaya gave a cute wave, picked up her small bag, and left the academic building.
Stepping out into the sunlight, she pressed a finger against her chin and muttered to herself:
"Hmm…… Enrollment shouldn't be a problem at all. After all, my resume is quite good, and my academic records pass muster."
Before long, just as she was about to pass by a clump of bushes, she suddenly heard a rustling sound.
"Eh? A kitty? There shouldn't be any small animals running around the school grounds, though……"
To dispel her doubts, Anon Chihaya drew closer to the bushes making the strange noise and peeked inside.
There, squatting down, was a short-haired grey-haired girl, seemingly searching for something.
"Um, did you drop something?"
As she spoke, Anon Chihaya shouldered her backpack, stepped over the low bushes, and prepared to squat down to help look together.
Only after jumping across did she realize that the short-haired girl crouching before her wasn't looking for something lost—she was picking up rocks!
And she looked terribly serious about it too.
Are you for real?
Looking closely, this girl was actually rather cute.
Except she was still holding a handkerchief in one hand?
Was she planning to wipe them clean with the handkerchief as she picked them up?
Ah! Found it!
The short-haired girl picked up a remarkably well-shaped stone, wiped it off, and slipped it into her uniform pocket.
Looking closer still, the short-haired girl's pockets were already stuffed full of all sorts of little pebbles, practically overflowing!
And from the very beginning, she hadn't made eye contact once, nor had she replied when spoken to.
Could she be the intensely socially anxious type?
Anon Chihaya made her uncharitable speculations……
What a strange creature!
Just as she was about to leave, Anon Chihaya spotted a silver-short-haired boy walking into the campus grounds.
He wore a slim-fit black jacket paired with a white undershirt, a jade pendant hanging at his waist, and black trousers patterned with blue roses. His features were delicate and refined.
That jade pendant was a birthday gift from Bai Xian's older sister, who claimed it could ward off misfortune.
Eh, eh, eh, eh! Isn't this an all-girls school? Why didn't the security guard at the gate stop this guy?!
Where on earth did they drop me? Is this still Haneoka?
Anon Chihaya scratched her non-existent head in disbelief, her CPU completely failing to process the situation.
Ah! No, wait, there *had* been news of Haneoka expanding its enrollment this year, but she never expected them to admit male students!
And why on earth would Haneoka even have an expansion plan like that?!
Ahhhhhh……
Bai Xian looked with mild curiosity at Anon Chihaya, who had been staring at him from afar the whole time.
He couldn't help walking over toward her……
Ah, he's coming over! Anon Chihaya stood frozen in place, feeling nervous and at a loss, her fingers twitching unconsciously.
"Um, hello?" Bai Xian walked right up to Anon Chihaya and gave a wave of greeting.
"Ah, hello, hello…… Nice to meet you, my name is Chihaya Anon. Um, well, this is……"
Anon Chihaya responded in a fluster, her words somewhat jumbled.
Seeing the girl's flustered appearance, Bai Xian let out a light laugh and gazed gently at Anon Chihaya.
After being looked at with such a gaze for a long while, Anon Chihaya slowly calmed her mood and said with a bashful smile:
"I'm sorry, I was a bit nervous. After all, this is an all-girls school; I really didn't expect a boy to be here."
"My apologies, I must have startled you. I'm truly sorry."
"My name is Bai Xian. I'm Chinese, but I grew up in Japan and only recently came over this way."
Bai Xian looked at Anon Chihaya with a trace of apology as he introduced himself.
Seeing Bai Xian's sincere demeanor, Anon Chihaya's brain finally seized the high ground, allowing her to unleash her extroverted, social-butterfly communication skills.
"Sugoi! You're Chinese? Hey, hey, can I call you Shiro-chan? You can call me Anon, too."
"Of course you can. I'd even say I'd welcome it."
"Please take good care of me." X2
Bai Xian smiled and nodded, very glad to have made his first interesting friend here at Haneoka.
Although calling each other by their given names was considered a very intimate gesture in Japan, it didn't seem to be an issue for the two of them at all.
When it all comes down to it, it's probably because both of them were born extroverts. (Smile :-D)
"I was just about to go check in. What about you?"
"I just finished checking in……"
"Then let's have a proper chat next time."
"Yeah, bye-bye."
After bidding each other farewell, the two went their separate ways.
……