[Time: 04:00 PM][Location: U.A. High School – Class 1-A Common Room]
"I CAN'T DO IT!"
Kyoka Jiro slammed her head onto the table, her earphone jacks drooping in defeat.
The common room was chaotic. Everyone was shouting ideas for the School Festival.
"A Maid Cafe!" Mineta screamed, drooling. "It has to be a Maid Cafe!" "A haunted house!" Tokoyami suggested darkly. "A mochi shop!" Uraraka proposed.
"Guys, shut up!" Kaminari yelled, standing on the sofa. "We already decided on a live concert to blow the other classes away! But Jiro is stressing out because we don't have enough members!"
Jiro lifted her head, looking miserable. "It's not just members. It's the arrangement. We need a lead guitar, a rhythm guitar, bass, drums, keys... and vocals. I can't play everything at once!"
"I'll play the drums!" Bakugo shouted, marching over.
"You?" Sero laughed. "Bakugo, you'd probably explode the drum kit."
"HAH?!" Bakugo grabbed a pair of drumsticks from Jiro's bag. He sat down at the portable drum kit Yaoyorozu had created.
BADUMP-TSS-CRASH-BOOM-BAM!
He unleashed a drum solo so aggressive and technically perfect that the room went silent. He finished with a cymbal crash that shook the windows.
"Any questions?" Bakugo snarled.
"Okay," Jiro's eyes widened. "Drums are covered. But we still need a second guitarist. Kaminari is decent, but we need someone who can handle the technical riffs while he plays rhythm."
Reiji, who had been sitting in the corner reading a weapon maintenance manual, quietly closed his book.
'This is my cue to leave,' he thought.
He stood up and began to stealthily inch toward the elevator.
"And where do you think you're going, Mr. Vigilante?"
Reiji froze.
Mina Ashido and Toru Hagakure blocked his path. Ashido had her hands on her hips, grinning mischievously.
"I have training," Reiji said, trying to step around them. "I need to recalibrate my gear."
"Nope!" Hagakure cheered (her floating clothes bouncing). "Class activity means everyone. Come on, Reiji! You have that 'mysterious dark past' vibe. You must know how to play an instrument!"
"I don't," Reiji lied.
[Skill Check: Deception.][Result: Failure (Ashido is surprisingly perceptive).]
"Liar!" Ashido poked his chest. "You're a rich kid, aren't you? Didn't your parents force you to take piano lessons or something?"
Reiji sighed. She wasn't wrong. In this life, Reiji Kurobane was a corporate heir. He had been forced to learn classical piano, violin, and etiquette.
But in his past life... he was just a gamer who liked metal.
"I learned piano," Reiji admitted grudgingly. "But that doesn't fit a rock band. It's too classical."
"Yaomomo is on synth," Jiro piped up, looking hopeful. "But... do you play anything else? Anything with strings?"
Reiji looked at the spare electric guitar leaning against the sofa. It was a sleek, black Stratocaster.
He hadn't touched a guitar in this world. But in his old world, he had spent hours learning riffs to cool off after losing in ranked matches.
"I dabbled," Reiji muttered.
"Prove it!" Bakugo yelled from the drum stool. "Or are you scared you'll suck, Extra?"
Reiji's eyebrow twitched.
'He knows exactly which buttons to push.'
Reiji walked back to the center of the room. He picked up the black guitar. He plugged it into the amp.
HUMMM.
He adjusted the strap. He turned the gain up.
"It's been a while," Reiji said, checking the tuning. "Don't laugh."
He closed his eyes. He didn't think about Mozart or Beethoven. He thought about the soundtrack of Mortal Kombat. He thought about the heavy, driving industrial metal that fueled his fights.
He strummed.
CHUG-CHUG-SQUEAL.
Reiji's fingers flew across the fretboard. He didn't play a pop song. He played a heavy, aggressive riff—fast, distorted, and menacing. It sounded like a boss battle theme.
The "Mortal Kombat" style wasn't just for fighting. It bled into everything he did.
He finished with a pinch harmonic that screamed through the amp.
Silence filled the room again.
Kaminari's jaw was on the floor. "Dude... that was metal as hell."
Jiro was blushing, her eyes sparkling. "That tone... it's perfect! It's exactly the kind of heavy sound we need to balance the pop vocals!"
Reiji unplugged the guitar and handed it back to Kaminari.
"I'm rusty," Reiji said, turning to leave again. "But if you need a rhythm track, I guess I can fill in."
"Rusty?!" Bakugo stood up, pointing a drumstick at him. "That was acceptable! Hey, Shadow-Face! We're doing a session right now! Get back here!"
"I have things to do, Bakugo."
"I SAID GET BACK HERE!"
Reiji sighed, looking at the hopeful faces of Class 1-A. Even Tokoyami gave him a nod of approval.
"Fine," Reiji grumbled, walking back to the amp. "But if we're doing this... we're playing something fast."
Bakugo grinned—a genuine, wild grin.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!
For the next two hours, the dorm didn't sound like a school. It sounded like a war zone of music. And for the first time in weeks, Reiji didn't think about villains, or systems, or death.
He just played.
End of Chapter 124.
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