One Step (6)
While Iris blinked in surprise, Tae-il took another step forward.
"I want to see it."
Tae-il, who usually spoke Japanese with a slight slur that betrayed his foreign roots, now flowed with fluent eloquence.
"You singing the highlight of a song I made."
The invisible wall Tae-il had quietly sensed between them crumbled away.
Another step.
The distance between them narrowed bit by bit.
As Tae-il laid bare his true feelings, Iris narrowed her eyes and stared him down intently.
The club application had shocked her already, but one phrase in particular gnawed at her.
"A song you made...?"
"A song I made."
Tae-il had dreamed of it.
His favorite singer and voice actress performing a song he'd crafted just for her.
It was a fantasy that could never come true unless he became famous.
She was a top-tier voice actress in Japan, with ticket-selling power strong enough to fill a dome solo.
He'd always imagined a future forever out of reach.
Keeping it hidden from everyone, cherishing it deep within himself.
And now, the owner of that voice stood before him.
Not the original, but someone unmistakably carrying her soul.
Or perhaps Tae-il had been seeing Iris through that voice actress all along.
He wanted her. That was Tae-il's honest truth.
"You can compose too...?"
"It was my dream."
Tae-il closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.
The curtain of his eyelids veiled his vision, only for the intense sunlight to pierce through, etching a prism onto his retinas.
He opened his eyes again.
In the stark clarity of his sight, Iris's flustered image stood out in vivid sharpness.
Like the sole subject captured in perfect focus by an out-of-focus camera.
The most beautiful creation of the god named Author.
Calm down, Shin Tae-il.
His heart pounded like a thundering drum.
He clenched his trembling hands tight around the fabric of his gakuran.
Tae-il put strength into his voice and confessed.
"Me too. Making it to the majors—that's my dream."
"Shin Tae-il..."
Here, it was possible.
In his past life, he'd quietly given up on it; in this one, he hadn't clung to it much either.
But it was possible.
If it was a song he'd made just for her. And if she could bring out its full charm.
With Iris by his side, it was worth challenging.
Tenma Izumi had glimpsed his potential, after all. The deus ex machina of The Band ~Girls Do Band~.
"You said it yourself. I passed."
"I-I did, yeah...?"
"You're the same. No—you're the one. You're the vocalist I've been looking for. It has to be you."
Overwhelmed by Tae-il's intensity, Iris took a step back.
Was he always like this?
His unexpected, fervent appeal left her flustered.
Tae-il ignored it, holding out the club application with both hands in a formal bow.
"It might not impress you, but at least the lineup's complete."
"R-Right..."
Iris cautiously accepted the form.
At the top, written in katakana: Shin Tae-il.
Right below, his childhood friend Katsuragi Ayane, who'd been watching her warily.
Under that, a name she'd never heard: Mori Yuuya.
And at the bottom, in the advisor slot: Asakura Fuyuko.
Everything else aside, Iris was stunned that even the advisor was prepped in advance.
"Did you prepare this ahead of time?"
Tae-il nodded.
"I've wanted to make it for a while. A band that needs me, that I want to be part of, that has me in it."
"..."
A band with her in it.
A band she wanted to be part of.
A band that needed her.
Various thoughts swirled in Iris's mind, and she bit her lower lip.
As Iris fell silent, Tae-il gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head.
"Once you join, we can start practicing right away."
"How?"
Her voice came back cold.
Iris scanned the list on the application, glaring at him with suspicion.
Anyone could see it was a hastily assembled roster of people he knew.
And the second member was his childhood friend, Katsuragi Ayane.
"Can a morals committee member even do club activities?"
As a friend, fine—but as a band member, Ayane was a walking disaster.
More precisely, the morals committee role was a massive hindrance to club activities.
With that position, proper activities would already be disrupted, and the student council would likely crack down hard.
Of all people, Ayane...
Not even sure how well she played, and restricted by her role to boot.
For the elite lineup Iris envisioned, this was a clear reject.
And in the midst of it, Tae-il dropped another bomb.
"I'll handle drums. Temporarily, though."
"Not bass?"
"Ayane's our bassist."
"Why not you?"
"She said she's been practicing bass. FYI, it's been a week."
Just a week?
Iris's eyebrow twitched.
Any budding excitement froze over.
In the end, you just want to play house with your childhood friend?
It made no sense.
Talking about majors, sharing the same dream, yet choosing a total newbie on bass.
"What's the gain here?"
"I get what you're thinking, Arisugawa. You want the best members from the start."
It was an ambitious dream.
But even the original Iris had eventually faced reality.
To gain popularity, she'd dragged in her friend Rena and even Sakuya, a music novice.
Maybe because two members had no real musical drive from the outset?
In the end, her school band in The Band ~Girls Do Band~ disbanded.
The author framed it as a beautiful farewell, but did Iris really see it that way?
No way.
Sorry to the author, but Tae-il was certain.
Only Ayane and Iris stuck with music to the end.
As if freeing themselves from Izumi's lingering shadow.
Rena escaped Iris's cage.
Sakuraba shed her mask, embracing her true self for the world.
The grown members scattered toward their dreams.
Iris cheered her friends on, but that parting surely wasn't the ending she wanted.
I can't change that ending myself anyway.
Impossible in the original, so possible here? He had no desire to claim that.
Tae-il knew he lacked the drive Iris had.
But to succeed, they were necessary. Rena's artistic talent, Sakuya's stage-dominating presence.
So, cowardly as it was, he brought up reality to Iris.
"How many do you think there are?"
"How many what?"
At the out-of-left-field question, Iris glared with feigned displeasure.
"Band members at our school who meet your standards."
Iris was at a loss for words.
This was Yuuma High, not some other school. Anyone interested in bands would've started a Light Music Club by now.
And sure enough, as expected of Yuuma.
True to its arts-and-sports prestige, it already had over five Light Music Clubs.
One more recently, making six.
Tae-il's would make seven if approved.
"The other clubs—you've checked them all out, right?"
"..."
Tae-il had hit the nail on the head.
Iris had scouted every Light Music Club at Yuuma High in advance.
Of course.
None met her standards.
Iris had pride in her skills.
Since childhood, she'd dominated local singing contests, winning them like meals.
She'd consistently placed high in BARD-related video contests too.
She'd been recognized by many.
She was a name in the lute scene, modest as it was.
She'd even gotten label offers—idol ones, which she'd turned down.
In bands, vocalists sometimes carried everything—a rarity.
Especially strong in Korea.
Interest in non-vocal/guitar members was low.
But when the vocalist was peerless, eyes locked on them inevitably.
Iris was confident she was that type.
Just as Tae-il had no right to reject her, she had the right to seek worthy members.
Yet.
Tae-il seemed to be rebuking her.
Why?
Iris felt wronged.
Was it so wrong to want above-average bandmates to realize her dream more concretely?
Her teeth ground together.
She couldn't let Shin Tae-il slip away. A bassist who could compose? Promising.
But that didn't mean approving Ayane.
Bands needed to be serious.
Non-serious ones fell apart. Ayane would just sow discord with her crush on Tae-il. From experience, Iris still opposed.
"Even so, Ayane's a no. A girl who's practiced a week, and a morals committee member at that! Practice won't even happen properly!"
"She said external activities benefiting the school are okay for morals committee."
"That's not the issue!"
For the first time, Iris raised her voice.
Not from fluster, joy, or calculation.
Unknowingly, she was purely angry at Tae-il.
Uncontainable emotions burst forth.
"If she can't do after-school stuff normally, how do we rehearse?"
"She can during breaks."
"That's not enough practice for majors! Our time isn't infinite!"
Time isn't infinite.
Iris mulled over the word repeatedly.
"Time... isn't infinite..."
Her own time was limited.
The reality she'd tried to forget surged right to her chin.
"I have to succeed with a band!"
Iris shouted in fury.
Her voice cracked harshly.
Tae-il flinched and glanced behind.
Thankfully, the rooftop was empty.
"Majors... fine, I won't aim that high."
Iris clutched her throbbing forehead, downgrading her goal.
"But still... I have to succeed."
Iris's pupils trembled.
Beyond Tae-il's hazy eyes staring straight at her, she saw a middle-aged man. Looking down impassively as she probed his opinion on her music dreams.
Every time she faced him, Iris felt anxious.
He never spoke. Just silently watched her.
Iris thirsted for his attention.
Like how indifference hurt attention-seekers more than hate.
She craved pure, loving interest from her blood-bound parents—not shallow emotions from casual school acquaintances.
She wished he'd at least scold her.
But he seemed to know exactly what she wanted, denying her to the end.
"Unlike you guys, my time to dream is limited...!"
"Arisugawa."
Tae-il called her name softly, soothingly.
Iris vaguely realized what he was looking at.
The long game.
Start in school bands, build fame gradually, hit majors—the classic path.
Enviable.
That luxury of time.
I can't do that.
Her fists clenched involuntarily.
Iris didn't regret forming the band itself.
She regretted inviting her father to that disastrous stage.
She'd boasted confidently.
"I've got an awesome stage ready, Papa! You'll be blown away. No more calling me a dilettante!"
"Is that so."
Her father, Arisugawa Zenjiro, sneered indifferently at his daughter's cheeky challenge.
As if he couldn't care less about her childish games.
Because of that, Iris never dreamed he'd actually show up to the school festival.
Let alone bring family guests.
Of course, the unprepared stage was a catastrophe.
One Iris couldn't even watch with eyes open.
That performance became the biggest stain on her life.
She couldn't lift her head before her father.
After the wreckage, at home during dinner, Arisugawa Zenjiro said impassively:
"We're looking at fiancés."
"What?"
To Iris, it was a death sentence.
Good or bad, the stage sucked.
Is that why you came? No such talk.
Just flatly.
"Right after you turn adult."
Play as you like until then.
Zenjiro left his daughter with that one-sided decree.
"I...!"
Emotions surging, Iris groped for the words to spit out.
The perfect expression for her heart.
Fear, anger, anxiety, injustice, resentment.
In middle school, she'd unleashed that unfairness on her band friends.
RRH never met her demands, always treating everything like a joke.
Because they liked BARD.
Admired BARD.
Wanted to be like BARD.
That shared bond formed a band riddled with lies from the start.
Everyone saw her as a tool, never intending real music with her.
I won't repeat that mistake.
Her new band needed members with clear goals.
Ambitious upward-strivers.
Obsessed with music.
Devoted to her word.
That's what Iris needed.
"I...!"
As Iris squeezed out her negative torrent, her mouth was suddenly muffled.
She furrowed her brow.
Soft white fabric tickled her nose.
Tae-il had pulled her into a hug.
Am I... in Shin Tae-il's arms right now?
Realizing late, Iris flailed to escape his embrace.
"We'll debut in the majors for sure."
She froze at the low, boyish voice.
The weighty tone he'd mustered cracked faintly, undermining its coolness.
Tae-il steadied her.
Hands on her shoulders, he leaned close to her blurred vision.
His eyes, serious even on bass but often dazed, now sparkled with unnatural clarity.
Only his lips looked comically forced into a smile. Her clashing emotions suddenly felt foolish.
"You can do it. Don't be anxious."
"What makes you so sure...?"
A scoff slipped out.
Act reliable yourself first. Ridiculous...
Tae-il cut off her grumbling cleanly.
"I believe in your talent."
Let your imperfect talent bloom.
Arisugawa Iris's voice matched the most beloved voice actress from his past life.
"I believe in your skills."
Even as an unbloomed bud, she captivated everyone.
Tae-il, and even Ayane.
"You could reach majors solo."
"Solo...?"
"You have star potential. To become Japan's most loved."
Tae-il raised his voice.
"You can surpass even Izumi-san!"
She wasn't used to receiving, but one thing was familiar: being loved.
Thanks to her lineage, looks, and crafted personality.
In The Band ~Girls Do Band~, Iris was the most popular inside and out.
Even post-disbandment, major agencies and labels courted her.
They saw it.
The starlight of Iris shining over the night sky.
The god-given gem.
She didn't know.
So give her faith.
From Tae-il, whom she had acknowledged.
"Hard to believe, I know. But I promise—with everything I've got."
"Promise what...?"
"Major debut."
The deadline:
"By graduation."
* * *
Arisugawa Iris.
Asakura clutched her forehead seeing the signature at the bottom of the application list.
Her head started to ache faintly. A migraine?
Asakura opened a drawer, popped some painkillers with lukewarm coffee.
"Never thought you'd actually snag her..."
Her incredulous gaze went to Tae-il's back.
Over his shoulder peeked the culprit of her headache.
Arisugawa Iris.
"Ahaha..."
"You got some girl-charming superpower or what?"
"Me?"
His blank face suggested no self-awareness.
"Poor Yuuya."
"Why Yuuya-senpai?"
"Yeah, no one's perfect. Everyone's got a flaw or two, right?"
Asakura answered her own question.
"Anyway, congrats. This makes our school's seventh Light Music Club."
"Feels great. Lucky number."
Lucky seven.
Asakura couldn't fathom why. Jackpot thing?
"So, submit like this?"
"Yes."
"Any more joiners, bring 'em here. I'll approve on the spot."
"Break starts next week—sure you're good?"
"I come in every day anyway for the kids."
"Tough gig..."
"Pays the bills."
Perks of private school, Asakura chuckled.
"Looking forward to working with you, Arisugawa. Asakura Fuyuko, your advisor."
"P-Pleased to meet you."
Iris bowed shyly.
Oddly passive compared to her reputed boldness.
The culprit went without saying...
"...?"
"Sigh. Light Music Club with four girls including advisor and one guy. First time for this."
"Yeah, bands usually have one girl."
Of course the idiot fixates on gender ratio first.
Asakura shook her head.
"Go on. I'll email once it's announced from above."
"Thanks."
"Th-Thank you, sensei!"
They left, and Asakura slumped in her chair.
"Whew. Gonna be chaos soon."
Of all places, her nose was pierced right in the typhoon's eye.
Stray even a bit, and the winds would shred her.
"Sigh. Craving a smoke after so long..."
Asakura, who'd quit while advising the Animal Husbandry Club, longed for a cigarette today.