Thread (6)
Thread (6)
Tae-il woke up exactly when the last class ended.
♪~♩~♬~
As soon as he opened his eyes, the bell signaling the end of the school day rang.
"Lucky."
If it had just been a regular bell marking the end of a period, he might have dawdled a bit, but the dismissal bell was a different story. Stretching to loosen his stiff body, he thanked the school nurse with a clear head.
"I'll be going now."
"Alright. Come and rest whenever you're feeling sick."
The kind-looking school nurse, perhaps unaware of Tae-il's notoriety, offered warm words of comfort and pressed a red ginseng candy into his hand, adding that a student's health is the most important thing.
Leaving the nurse's office, Tae-il fiddled with the red ginseng candy with a look of fascination.
"They sell these in Japan too, huh. Red ginseng candy."
He casually shoved it into his pocket and walked down the increasingly noisy hallway.
After a nap, his mind felt unusually clear. His headache was gone, and his eyelids felt as light as if they could fly away.
With his mind cleared, the immediate problem facing him naturally surfaced.
It was regarding the recruitment of band members.
Tae-il's number one target for recruitment was, of course, Arisugawa Iris.
'How can I naturally cross paths with Iris?'
Tae-il's dilemma remained completely unsolved even as he climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, where the first-year classrooms were located.
Generally speaking, a rock band—unlike a brass band—requires a minimum of three people to function.
Drums, bass, and guitar.
These instruments are the symbols of a rock band, its holy trinity. Not a single one of these positions could be missing.
He had to drag not just Sakuya, but Iris, Rena, and even Ayane into this world. He felt a twinge of guilt whenever he thought of Ayane, but that was Tae-il's ultimate goal.
His true intention was that, since he was going to start a band anyway, he wanted to do it with members who had the greatest potential and the highest base stats.
"Because there's no experience as valuable as working with highly skilled members."
Tae-il lacked experience.
Compared to musicians who could proudly call themselves pros, or those hailed as legends, he was probably only slightly better than a newborn baby. Because of that, he didn't want to miss the chance to collaborate with outstanding band members.
Although Tae-il would be in the teaching position at first, their roles would soon reverse as time passed. These girls possessed a potential that had been proven in the original story.
As proof, by the end of the original work, the four main characters achieved the legendary feat of selling out a public concert hall while still high school students.
They were truly ridiculous monster rookies.
A girls' band in their third year of formation, who hadn't even made their major debut yet, performing live at a public hall? Even more impressively, they hadn't played a single proper live show in their first year. They only started their activities in earnest during their second year, meaning their actual active period was less than two years.
Even if it was just a comic book, it was a phenomenal record.
Tae-il thought that if they hadn't disbanded, entering the Budokan in record time wouldn't have been just a dream.
Burning Blaze's potential was just that incredible.
Vocal prowess, stage presence, showmanship, and even looks.
While girls' bands inherently have a somewhat idol-like aspect to them, Burning Blaze was a group at the absolute pinnacle of that.
The more he thought about the original work, the firmer Tae-il's resolve became.
As expected, "Burning Blaze" had to be completely formed with its original members.
The only concern was the existence of an impurity: Shin Tae-il himself.
'Even Ayane changed into a completely different person right now because of me. Can I really gather them together and achieve success equal to, no, greater than the original?'
His good mood plummeted to the ground in an instant.
He had acted out of goodwill, unable to just stand by and watch, but having those actions return as karma left him feeling thoroughly depressed.
"It's so hard..."
A sigh escaped him naturally, but there was no time to wallow in regret.
The train had long since left the station. It was too late for regrets now.
If worse came to worst, he could step back and support the band as a producer, even without experience. That was the absolute worst-case scenario, an option he wanted to avoid thinking about if possible.
"Stepping back as a producer, huh..."
Tae-il paused on the stairs and let out a small chuckle.
The situation was utterly ridiculous—calling himself a producer when he hadn't even properly released a song. If Izumi and Yahiro saw him now, they might be disappointed.
It had only been a few days since he boldly declared war in front of BARD, of all people. He shouldn't be spouting such weak words already.
"Get a grip, Shin Tae-il."
Tae-il slapped his cheeks with both hands.
It was about time he slowly ripped out the deep-rooted loser mentality that had carried over from his past life.
"I said I'd take on the challenge. If I'm already thinking about running away, what exactly am I going to achieve?"
Tae-il shook his head to steel his resolve once more.
Being anxious was natural. There was nothing in the world guaranteed to succeed.
Still.
If you don't take on the challenge, your dreams won't come true. A race doesn't start just because a cheetah stands smiling at the starting line.
Whatever happened, he had to run first.
Tae-il considered the recruitment of Iris to be the start of this long, multi-year race.
"The easiest way to pull that tomboy in would be..."
Submitting the wrong homework.
He would use the exact scenario where the two protagonists fatefully crossed paths in the original work to stage a natural encounter. As it happened, Tae-il's literature teacher was the homeroom teacher for Class 2, Iris's class.
The overly passionate Class 2 homeroom teacher had a tendency to overtrust excellent students. Busy chasing after delinquents, the teacher dumped all the trivial tasks onto the class president, Iris.
If Tae-il submitted the wrong homework, there was a high probability the teacher would dump that notebook onto Iris.
'Perfect.'
Anyone could see it was an incredibly flimsy plan, but knowing the original story made it feel quite plausible.
Once he succeeded in recruiting Iris, the rest would trail behind her like sweet potatoes pulled up by the vine.
The real problem was Ayane.
"Still no reply..."
Tae-il sighed as he looked at the still-empty messenger app.
Looking at the messages, she had read them. She just hadn't replied.
Left on read.
And by Ayane, of all people.
Tae-il smiled bitterly, thinking she must be really furious.
"At this rate, we might even have to walk home separately."
Tae-il thought, 'Would she really go that far?' but, feeling secretly anxious, he kept sending her messages. The backlog of messages had already surpassed fifty.
Inside Tae-il's mind, Ayane was still someone to be protected. A child who made him anxious if she wasn't nearby, whose hand he had to hold tight while walking so they wouldn't get separated.
Although he acknowledged she was past that age, a perception hardened by nearly ten years of repetition was hard to shake off. At this point, he was no different from a villain locking a baby bird yearning for the open sky inside a tiny cage.
"I guess I really should pay a bit more attention to her, just like Arthur-hyung said... Do I have any Ferrero Rocher left at home?"
In the end, today's worries all circled back to Ayane.
Tae-il pondered what he had to do to make her stop being angry.
"He's not there?"
Suddenly, he thought he heard a voice he shouldn't be hearing right now. Tae-il hastily hid behind the wall.
It was almost an unconditional reflex.
'That voice just now...'
A clear, ringing voice that pierced through the murmurs of the students and struck his ears.
There was no mistaking it.
It was definitely Iris's voice.
Tae-il peeked his head out from around the corner. Even in a hallway swarming with students, he saw a girl with a uniquely intense presence.
Arisugawa Iris. She had come to Class 7.
'Why on earth...?'
The first person who came to mind was Sakuraba Sakuya.
'Did she already have a connection with Sakuya from this point on?'
Tae-il shook his head.
'No, that can't be right. If she did, Iris wouldn't have struggled so much to recruit Sakuya in the original story.'
The two were complete strangers. Since they were celebrities, they had probably heard rumors about each other, and they might have passed each other in the halls. But they had never conversed.
'Besides, Iris has no real reason to come looking for Sakuya.'
In the original work, Iris wanted to form a band. She had been biding her time since an opportunity rarely presented itself. The catalyst that gave her the push to form the band was Ayane's notebook of original songs.
'It makes no logical sense for her, who has been holding back so well, to suddenly go around recruiting members without a catalyst.'
If so, why had she come to Class 7?
Tae-il kept muttering 'No way' internally while quietly straining his ears.
"It's true. Taichi hasn't been seen once since P.E."
"Even though homeroom is over?"
"Y-yeah, maybe he's still resting in the nurse's office?"
"Is thaaat so?"
When Iris asked back in a suspicious tone, the female student gave a troubled, awkward smile. It couldn't be helped that she didn't believe a student known for skipping class every day was just resting in the nurse's office.
"The nurse's office, of all places..."
"Ahaha."
Iris groaned in frustration and frowned.
The female student was just as frustrated. She truly had nothing more to tell her.
'What am I supposed to do when Sakuraba-san said so...'
Even if Tae-il hadn't gone to the nurse's office, if Sakuya said he did, then that was the truth. In Class 7, Sakuraba Sakuya's word was law.
After thinking for a moment, Iris let out a small sigh and uncrossed her arms.
Pestering an innocent person here would only make her look unsightly. She was a woman more suited to action than thinking and interrogating.
"Can't be helped. Anyway, you're saying that guy is still in the nurse's office right now?"
"Probably?"
The female student wasn't certain either. Because by now, the nurse might have woken him up, and he could be on his way here. In truth, she might have been secretly hoping for exactly that.
The female student found Iris overwhelming.
Because it was such a unique school, there were all sorts of celebrities, but Iris was especially anomalous among them. As a school that promoted the arts and physical education, most of Yuuma High School's celebrities were capable individuals who had been active in specific fields since middle school or were considered geniuses.
With so much external activity, if you were interested in a particular field, you'd likely see names you'd heard at least once in a youth magazine. Seeing them so commonly here had surprised her more than once.
Arisugawa Iris was the opposite.
She didn't do any external activities; she had become famous purely through her beauty alone. Despite not being a celebrity, she exuded an aura like one.
Just looking at her was bad for the heart.
As a fellow woman, her pride was ruthlessly crushed, and dark, gloomy feelings were threatening to bloom. She began to resent the friends who had dumped Iris on her and run away.
Suddenly, Iris apologized with a remorseful face.
"I'm sorry. And thank you. You must be busy, and I kept you for nothing, didn't I?"
"N-no! Just talking to Arisugawa-san is a huge honor!"
"You don't have to call it an honor. If you want to talk, you can come find me anytime. Your name is..."
"Fu-Futaba. I'm Futaba Miyo..."
"Right, Miyo. A conversation with a cute girl like you is always welcome."
"C-cute...?"
At Iris's cheeky compliment, the female student, Miyo, felt her mouth curling into a smile without realizing it. She already knew from Sakuya that a person's face could radiate light, but this was her first time facing it so directly. And receiving a compliment from someone whose face radiated light felt good, even if it was just empty words.
The dark, gloomy feelings in her heart washed away and vanished like melting snow. As if taking their place, a faint, feverish heat began to warm her face.
"Oh my? Your face is a little red. Was I holding back someone who's sick?"
Iris put on a genuinely sorry expression, as if it came straight from her heart. If that was acting, she deserved a Best Actress award. Miyo felt guilty just for making her make such a face. So she hurriedly brushed off her worries.
"N-no! I'm completely healthy! Thanks for worrying."
"Really? Still, if you're sick, don't push yourself and get some rest. I'd be worried."
"Y-yeah!"
Isn't there a saying that you can't spit on a smiling face? It was truly the case.
Miyo grinned broadly, completely forgetting the fact that Iris had been cornering and interrogating her just moments ago.
"I'll be going now."
Iris smiled, saying excuse me, and bid Miyo farewell.
Flustered, Miyo tried to stop her.
"Y-you're leaving? If you just wait, he'll probably come back to the classroom on his own..."
"It's fine! Waiting around doesn't suit my temper!"
With a cheerful shout, she strode back the way she came with long, confident steps.
Tae-il happened to be right in her path.
'W-what do I do?'
He did want to meet her, but not right now. He wanted to make a more proper plan and aim for a natural encounter.
Tae-il pressed himself flat against the wall and held his breath. Fortunately, suppressing his presence was something he was very used to.
Act naturally, become one with the hallway's commotion, and pray she passes by. It's too early to meet her yet. Tae-il prayed to God.
'Please, just let her pass by...!'
And God...
"What are you doing?"
...took the side of the pretty girl.
"..."
Tae-il's gaze quietly turned to the right.
Jewel-like red eyes, beautifully curved like crescent moons, were staring intently right at him.
"P-playing hide-and-seek..."
"From who?"
Tae-il substituted his answer with silence and by blinking three or four times.
Smirk.
Iris's smile deepened.
"Taichi-kun, do you perhaps hate me?"
"Not really...?"
However, his current behavior looked to anyone like he was avoiding Iris.
"Is that so? Then I suppose you wouldn't mind sparing some time for me?"
"What on earth are you talki— Uwaaagh!"
Iris grabbed Tae-il's wrist and pulled. Her physical strength was so surprisingly strong that Tae-il, unable to budge, was dragged away by her.
Since it was dismissal time, countless students witnessed the two of them like that.
Something was weird.
This was quite different from the future he had anticipated.