In the end, they decided to go ahead and perform like this.
Ijichi Nijika suddenly thought of something. She looked at Gotou Hitori inside the cardboard box and asked, "By the way, what should we call you during the performance?"
"Hitori-chan? Is using your real name okay?"
Gotou Hitori poked her head out from the cardboard box: "No, that's a bit..."
Ijichi Nijika: "Then let's go with a nickname. Otherwise, should we just call you Gotou like Kusuo-kun does?"
"Uh °¯᷄◠¯᷅°"
"That's still a bit..."
Ijichi Nijika: "Do you have any nicknames? What do your classmates call you at school?"
Gotou Hitori thought for a moment and answered: "At school... they usually call me 'hey' or 'that one' or things like that."
[That's just how people address strangers they don't know well.]
"That doesn't really count as a nickname."
Gotou Hitori ~＞_＜~: "I... I haven't made any friends at school that I'd call close."
[Then let's give you one. How about Bocchi-chan? It suits you pretty well!]
Ijichi Nijika looked at Saiki [That's way too direct]: "Uh, is that really okay? Should we change it to something else..."
Gotou Hitori (๑╹ヮ╹๑)ﾉ: "I... I'm Bocchi-chan."
"You're actually happy about it!"
Gotou Hitori: "The feeling of someone giving me a nickname for the first time is really different."
Ijichi Nijika: "I'm about to cry."
Yamada Ryo: "Hasn't Saiki always been calling you Gotou?"
Gotou Hitori shook her head: "Saiki calls me by my family name. A nickname is different. Thank you, Saiki."
[No problem. Now you can perform properly, right?]
"Mm."
Saiki turned to look at Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo.
[By the way, I still don't know what your band is called.]
"Uh~"
Ijichi Nijika froze for a moment, seemingly thinking about how to answer.
Yamada Ryo spoke first: "It's called Kessoku Band."
"Eh∽"
Hearing that name, Ijichi Nijika sighed again.
Gotou Hitori pictured a knotted rope in her mind: "Kessoku Band... like a rope bracelet?"
[So it's a dad joke. Is it really okay to name a band like that?]
Yamada Ryo covered her face and snickered: "Top tier..." (づ◡ど)
Ijichi Nijika scratched her head: "That's so lame. We definitely have to change it." (.＞︿＜)_θ
Yamada Ryo asked: "Why? It's pretty cute, isn't it?"
Gotou Hitori: "Mm, it... it is."
[It's very much your style too...]
Ijichi Nijika: "What kind of style even is that?!"
Saiki thought for a moment and instantly clicked.
[Rock style.]
"Don't drag rock into everything."
"Eh! Whatever. We'll talk about the band name later. We're about to go on. Are you ready, Bocchi-chan?"
Gotou Hitori answered with somewhat shaky confidence: "I... I'm ready?"
[Don't turn it into a question.]
Ijichi Nijika: "It's okay. Even if the technique isn't great, as long as you play with happiness, that's fine. Music is the easiest way to show your feelings. If it doesn't go well this time, we can just try again next time."
Yamada Ryo: "Mm."
(Earlier I already knew that Ijichi-senpai is a really good person, cheerful personality, perfect to pair with her and Gotou, but she's almost too nice. She's basically a little angel.)
Saiki looked at Gotou Hitori in front of him.
[Do your best, Gotou. I'll cheer you on too.]
"Mm, thank you."
Gotou Hitori nodded in response [Next time I can perform together again.]
...
"Everyone, hello! We're Kessoku Band. Today we're going to play a few songs you might be familiar with. Please enjoy!"
On stage, Ijichi Nijika sat at the drummer's position facing the audience below. Next to her was bassist Yamada Ryo, and beside that was a cardboard box that was faintly trembling.
[In the end, they still went with this band name.]
Saiki sat in front of the ordering counter, eating cake. Next to him was a red-eyed, golden-haired girl with shoulder-length hair who looked somewhat similar to Ijichi Nijika, just more mature.
"What the heck is this."
Ijichi Seika looked at the three people on stage. Well, she hadn't had high hopes to begin with.
"By the way, what's your relationship with my little sister? She actually told me to take good care of you."
That's right—this was Ijichi Nijika's older sister, Ijichi Seika.
Ijichi Seika's picture →
[Senpai and kouhai relationship.]
Saiki took a bite of cake and calmly answered. He had only needed one glance at this girl to know: she was a classic tsundere who cared deeply about her little sister.
Ijichi Seika raised an eyebrow.
"Oh~ That cake is 700 yen."
[Hm? Isn't it free?]
Ijichi Seika rested her hands on her hips: "My little sister told me to take good care of you and treat you to cake, but she didn't say anything about not charging!"
Saiki: …
Saiki calmly took out 700 yen from his wallet and handed it over.
"You're actually paying? So honest. Fine, consider it on the house."
Saiki calmly put the 700 yen back, finished the cake in one bite, and handed the plate to Ijichi Seika.
[Another one, please.]
…
The performance had already started on stage. The powerful drumming, mixed with the sounds of guitar and bass, began to fill the air.
People started paying attention to the stage, to the performance the two were putting on.
[Eh? Where's the guitar sound coming from?]
Inside the cardboard box, Gotou Hitori was desperately playing [I'm not able to perform at my normal level, so it sounds really bad, but being able to perform together with others makes me so happy... Today, I'm shining brighter than ever!]
…
Gotou Hitori [No, this might actually be the most miserable day of my life.]
Ijichi Seika looked at Saiki: "So... what do you think?"
(Don't ask me. You know better than I do how it really is.)
[It's... okay for now...]
(Yare yare daze. If I just ignore the music and purely watch the beautiful girls performing, it's actually pretty good. But if I actually listen to the performance...)
After the performance ended…
A few people were resting in the practice room. Saiki opened the door and walked in, looking at Gotou Hitori, who had half her body sticking out of the cardboard box.
Picture →
[It was a failure.]
Ijichi Nijika wiped her sweat with a towel and laughed awkwardly: "Yeah, there were way too many mistakes."
Yamada Ryo: "There wasn't much reaction from the crowd."
[But it was your first performance after all. That's nothing.]
"Um... that..."
Gotou Hitori stood up and removed the cardboard box.
Ijichi Nijika: "What's wrong?"
Gotou Hitori stumbled forward unsteadily, quickly walking up to Ijichi Nijika and Yamada Ryo: "N-n-n-next..."
(Looks like she's fine.)
Ijichi Nijika (ᗒᗩᗕ)՞: "What's up? You're scaring me."
Gotou Hitori lifted her head. Her eyes were still tightly shut, but dark lines covered her forehead: "Before the next performance, I'll at least practice until I can greet my classmates properly. Otherwise, I won't come again..."
"What kind of declaration is that?"
(Is this a declaration of growth?)
Saiki stepped forward, patted Gotou Hitori on the shoulder, and spoke with gratification: "I never thought you'd grow this much, Gotou."
Gotou Hitori (=°Д°=): "Just how useless do you think I am in your head?"