After shredding on the guitar for over a minute, Raana, still unsatisfied, casually plucked a few more strings before finally taking the instrument off her shoulder.
"Little Raana, you don't have to go back to school just yet—there's still some time left. You can keep playing a little longer if you want," Ririko reminded her.
Before working at RiNG, Ririko had been employed at another venue—an old live house called SPACE. The owner? Tsuzuki Shifune, who also happened to be Raana's grandmother.
So naturally, Ririko knew quite a bit about Raana's history.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Raana had practically grown up in SPACE. From the moment she could walk, she had been a frequent presence there.
At first, worried that the loud music might damage a young child's hearing, they had only allowed Raana to play outside the venue's entrance. But even then, she was always drawn to the sounds coming from within—constantly trying to sneak in, only to be picked up and carried back out by Ririko.
Then, one day, Raana suddenly told her grandmother, "I want to have a live too."
And that was all it took.
Shifune was no ordinary woman—she had once been the guitarist of the nationally touring band Miracle Crimson, dedicating her entire life to music. Even in old age, she remained as fierce as ever. Upon hearing Raana's words, she slapped her thigh and immediately declared: "Alright! I'll teach you guitar!"
And Raana—well, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
She displayed a raw talent for guitar that was in no way inferior to Shifune's in her youth. It made the old lady ecstatic, certain that SPACE had found its successor.
Raana truly treated SPACE as her second home. If she had free time, she could always be found in some corner of the venue, strumming away on the old guitar that once belonged to Shifune, pouring music into the air however she pleased.
And then, one day—SPACE closed down.
The place Raana had believed would always be there for her to play guitar was suddenly gone.
Not long after, Ririko had been asked to help search for Raana after she had unexpectedly run away from home. They eventually found her at SPACE's old location—soon to be turned into a parking lot—stubbornly playing her guitar all alone.
Just like that, a house cat had lost its home—forced into an endless wandering.
Eventually, CiRCLE was founded. Then RiNG came along. Raana started showing up at these places from time to time.
But this time—this time, she wasn't simply looking for another place to play.
Raana wanted to hold a live.
That stage she had longed to stand on since childhood—before she could even make it happen, SPACE had disappeared.
She had tried playing a solo live, but it didn't feel right. She couldn't find that exhilarating sense of breathing freely. It didn't bring her the same emotion she used to feel as a child, even just listening to the muffled sounds of a live seeping through the cracks of SPACE's doors.
And then, she remembered something her grandmother had once said, with a nostalgic look in her eyes—
"A band."
The stray cat continued to roam, seemingly unchanged.
But deep down, a new goal had taken root—to find interesting people, form a band, and hold a live together.
Maybe then, she would finally find a place that truly belonged to her.
Just like right now—
Raana unstrapped her guitar and handed it to Kikukawa Kyo.
"I want to hear you play."
Kyo hadn't expected Raana to suddenly hand her the guitar.
Despite her usual blank expression, the anticipation in Raana's actions was unmistakable. There wasn't really a reason to refuse, was there?
"I'd love to hear you play too, Kyo," Ririko chimed in, encouragingly.
She knew Raana well enough to see that the girl was likely considering forming a band with Kyo. And while Kyo had already joined a new band, there was always the possibility that Raana could end up in the same one.
"Well, since you both want to hear me, I'd be ruining the mood if I said no," Kyo said with a smile, taking the guitar and strapping it over her shoulder. She took a moment to consider what to play.
Raana had already shown off her impressive skills. While Kyo wasn't particularly prideful, it would still be embarrassing to be completely outclassed by a guitarist a year younger than her.
After a brief moment of thought, she began to play.
She chose to go with an improvised performance—just like Raana had. She even mimicked Raana's aggressive, high-speed playing style, despite it being something she rarely attempted herself.
It was a calculated move.
Since both performances were improvised, there wouldn't be a clear comparison of whose song was more advanced. As long as Kyo didn't play too terribly, it would be difficult to say that there was a massive skill gap between them.
And in reality, guitar was the instrument Kyo had practiced the longest. With her natural talent and solid fundamentals, there wasn't anything truly difficult about playing an unfamiliar style.
As Kyo played, Ririko nodded in approval.
To her, Kyo's performance was more than good enough. When it came to forming a band, Raana didn't seem to have high expectations for technical ability—she simply cared about whether someone felt right.
And with Kyo's playing, Ririko felt confident that Raana would want to form a band with her.
When the performance ended, Ririko immediately clapped. "That was amazing, Kyo! It's been so long since I last saw you perform live. All summer, you only ever came to RiNG for drinks—I was starting to worry that you weren't practicing anymore! But it looks like you're still just as incredible."
Kyo gave a sheepish smile. In truth, she really hadn't been practicing much since the day her band disbanded.
She turned to Raana. "What do you think, kitty?"
Raana still had her usual unreadable expression.
But then—
"Boring."
"…Huh?" Ririko blinked in shock.
Why boring? Kyo's performance had been great—hadn't it?
Kyo, too, fell silent. The smile on her face froze.
Raana wasn't criticizing her technique. She wasn't saying that the performance was bad—she was calling it boring.
Kyo had a vague sense of what that meant.
So she asked, "…Raana, what exactly do you mean by 'boring'?"
Raana seemed to have lost all patience. The urge to keep playing was gone. She simply tossed out one last comment:
"Kyo's just moving her fingers. It's dull, lifeless…"
"No meaning."
Then, she turned and left.
Kyo's just moving her fingers?
Does that mean my playing has no emotion?
But how was music supposed to contain emotion in the first place? Wasn't it just about playing with different tempos, adjusting the strength of each strum?
Surely, those technical aspects were what created the illusion of feeling.
Countless times before, Kyo had performed for others, and every time, she had been praised. She had even received comments like, "Your playing is so full of emotion."
Even though she knew she was simply mimicking what she had heard, she had still felt proud—because it meant she was convincing enough to pass as normal.
But now, there was Raana—someone with animal-like instincts.
If she thought it was boring, then tell me how to fix it.
Tell me what it means to truly play with emotion.
Tell me what I need to do to understand feelings—and I will do it.
I will follow your instructions perfectly, step by step, replicating them exactly.
But Raana was already gone.
She had made her decision.
Kyo wasn't the person she was looking for—the one who could help her build a new home.
"…Calling me boring and just walking away—what the hell is that?"
Kyo loosened her grip on the guitar.
Without her support, it dropped under its own weight, pulling hard against the strap and digging into her shoulder.
As if saying—
What, do you think I don't want to learn how to play with emotion?
"…Kyo, Raana didn't mean it that way…" Ririko, torn between chasing after Raana and staying with Kyo, hesitated.
Kyo waved her off, feigning indifference. "It's fine, Ririko-san. Maybe my playing really is missing something. Maybe I've been too rigid."
She forced a smile. "You should go after Raana. She ran off so suddenly—it'd be bad if she forgot she still has class."
"…Thanks for understanding, Kyo." Ririko let out a relieved sigh. "I'll go after her. You're welcome to use the keyboard here if you'd like."
With that, Ririko hurried out.
RiNG, a venue primarily catering to student bands, had few customers around this time of day.
Now, the café upstairs was completely empty—leaving Kyo alone.
She stood motionless for a while, staring in the direction they had left.
Like a statue.
No movement, no expression.
It was only after a long pause that she let out a quiet sigh.
There was an uncomfortable weight in her chest.
---
T/N: 4 chaps meeting this weeks quota, i was toooo lazy and slept allllllllll week sorgee
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
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