Time is such a strange thing.
When you're not paying attention, it flies by.
When you're busy, it flies by.
And when you're doing something you genuinely enjoy... well, it flies by even faster.
The weekend came to an end after Aoki walked Ryo-san home.
In the blink of an eye, Monday arrived—and so did the return to school life.
Even though Aoki's current goal was to go further and higher with Kessoku Band, he hadn't abandoned his studies.
After investing years of effort into schoolwork, the sunk cost was just too high to give up now.
And honestly, there was no need to quit—
After getting used to filling his free time with studying, it had somehow become a way for him to unwind.
He recently finished The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and had started tackling The Count of Monte Cristo in its original French.
The main goal was to study the language.
At this point, Aoki could read without needing a side-by-side translation.
It just meant slower progress…
But that wasn't really the point.
Starting Monday, aside from brainstorming new songs, Aoki's days began to return to a quiet normalcy.
They still needed more practice before releasing anything new, and he hadn't yet decided what kind of music he wanted to bring to the band next.
As for collaborations—
Some companies and groups had reached out through Twitter and YouTube DMs, hoping to work with Kessoku Band.
But after looking into them, most of the offers didn't sit right with Aoki.
So he had turned them down.
Still, calling it a "return to normal" wasn't exactly accurate either.
After all, there's no going back to the way things were before music—
At the very least, Aoki had never experienced classmates crowding around him just to ask when the band's next song would be released.
And that wasn't even all.
He was also asked about his opinion on the movie Fireworks, when the next concert would be, and even got asked for autographs and selfies…
And then—
Some classmates had even asked, with curious faces, which of the girls in the band he liked the most.
Later, they showed him a bunch of widely shared "shipping" compilation videos online.
Aoki had already seen some of those videos a few days earlier.
There was one that went viral on N Station, titled:
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"Short Clip: She Looks at Him, and Then the Fireworks Bloom."
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There were also videos on YouTube, like that clip a fan had taken of Ryo grabbing his wrist and running off with him, and a dozen other mash-ups…
He couldn't understand why those videos got so popular.
He also didn't get why fans were so into shipping:
Making videos, debating endlessly on forums, analyzing every frame of footage for tiny details…
Kessoku Band had only appeared in public twice so far, and already there were countless videos dissecting everything.
He couldn't imagine what would happen once they started appearing more regularly.
But frustratingly, this sort of fan behavior was out of his control.
So apart from feeling secondhand embarrassment while reading some of the comments, there wasn't much else Aoki could do.
All he could do was let the fans do their thing.
…Ah, terrifying "shipping scholars."
And the rest of the band?
Their lives had changed a bit too, now that their popularity was rising.
Gotou Hitori had suddenly become a hot topic in her class after joining the band.
Though thanks to her social anxiety, and with the understanding and help of a few classmates, most people learned not to force interactions with her.
Kita had become even more popular than before.
But that came with its own set of problems—
Like when she tried to visit Kei-senpai during lunch, she'd get interrupted or teased by classmates with knowing looks and whispered "oooh~ I get it" expressions.
Ryo, on the other hand, didn't care much about how people looked at her, so she stayed mostly unaffected.
As for Nijika…
Having fully revealed her identity, she was now constantly swamped with nosy questions and gossip from other students.
It was draining her.
All of which led to one undeniable conclusion:
Being a public figure really does come with a lot of inconveniences.
Not that the conclusion helped anything.
Still, Aoki carried it with him, continuing to live his strange yet peaceful life.
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Until the 23rd—
A Thursday.
After a full week of waiting, the episode of Who Did Yuu-chan Invite Today? that they'd recorded was finally airing.
Besides airing on TV, the program would also be uploaded for free to the show's official YouTube channel.
The premiere video would be streamed live, and many fans of the show would tune in on time to watch and chat in the livestream comment section.
No matter how the broadcast turned out, Aoki had made up his mind—he was going to watch it.
At the very least, he wanted to catch any mistakes he'd made and make sure he wouldn't repeat them next time.
…If there even would be a next time.
Based on how last time went, part of him honestly hoped not.
Still, it wasn't his call alone. He'd have to talk it over with the rest of the band.
Anyway, back to the main point.
On Thursday, after a full school day and club activities, Aoki returned to his apartment.
He ate dinner, read a bit, finished his homework.
And then, around midnight—
Yawning, he pulled out his phone and opened YouTube.
His new apartment had a TV, but he wasn't used to watching on it.
So he decided to stick with his phone.
Besides, watching on YouTube meant he could follow the comment section in real time—something a TV couldn't do.
…
At exactly midnight, he tapped on the official channel's icon.
His phone lagged for just a second before a message appeared on screen:
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[Please wait a moment. The video will begin shortly.]
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Glancing over at the chat box, he saw a flood of messages streaming by:
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[I'm here! Open the door!]
[Waaa! Kessoku Band's first radio-style talk show!]
[A-Kei! suki! suki!]
[Who's the guest Yuu-chan invited this time? The hype is real.]
[Ahhh, will it have the moment I'm hoping for!?]
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Some viewers were diehard Kessoku Band fans.
Others were regular viewers of Who Did Yuu-chan Invite Today?, tuning in with no idea what was coming.
Many of the fans were even helping explain who Kessoku Band was to the newcomers.
Aoki felt genuinely touched by that support.
But—
Seeing how the fans referred to him in the chat…
Things like "Suki-chan", "Aki-chan", and "Kei-chan"...
The overly cutesy, childish nicknames just didn't sit well with him.
They weren't exactly offensive, but definitely not something he could get used to.
He forced himself to ignore it and focused instead on reading the fans' lively discussions.
About a minute later, the livestream officially began.
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