I Just Want A Single Ending!

After the quick round of makeup gifting, practice officially began.

Saku Kamigawa settled in a corner, listening to the music while scrolling through his phone.

Being the band manager had its perks—during rehearsals, he had quite a bit of downtime and could use it to tackle small tasks. Like now, replying to messages.

Of course, he wasn't chatting with any of the characters he'd set his sights on, just with some ordinary girls.

As a high schooler, especially one crowned with the slightly odd title of "best-looking guy in the grade," he naturally attracted a fair share of attention.

Getting asked for his contact info, having girls strike up conversations with him for flimsy reasons—Saku was used to it.

Usually, he wouldn't turn them down.

But that was all there was to it—he kept conversations polite and maintained boundaries, careful not to give anyone the wrong impression.

If someone did confess to him, though, he'd turn them down right away.

His reason was always the same: he saw them as friends, with no interest in dating.

Even those he genuinely wanted to pursue, he still treated as friends. So how could he possibly be interested in girls he only chatted with on occasion?

He'd always wondered about one thing, though:

Why did they like him?

It wasn't as if he'd done anything particularly likable.

Could it really just be because of his looks?

Saku mulled over this while responding absently to messages, barely noticing when break time rolled around.

"Good work, everyone."

Putting his phone away, Saku addressed the group.

"I feel like I'm getting better and better at playing."

Chihaya Anon was now fairly satisfied with her current skill level.

At least for this one song, Spring Shadows.

After all, when you've practiced the same song enough, even someone who's hopeless at it would learn it eventually.

While she might not be a guitar expert, she'd become a pro at Spring Shadows.

"Progress is always a good thing."

Even Taki Shiina, usually picky, didn't criticize her this time, offering a small word of encouragement.

Anon's guitar skills had definitely come a long way from where she started.

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear that from you, Tikki."

Anon grinned, clearly pleased.

Her current skill level was all thanks to her own effort.

Whether it was learning guitar from Hitori Gotoh or practicing solo at home with online videos, she'd worked hard for it.

In learning, there were no shortcuts—only hard work.

Taki glanced at her. "Uh, Tikki? Who's that?"

"Obviously you, Tikki."

Anon replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"You… you little!"

As the two started bickering over nicknames again, Saku opened his bag and handed it over to Kaname Raana, then made his way over to Tomori Takamatsu.

"Tomori, how's the lyric writing going?"

They'd mastered Spring Shadows, so it was about time to move on to the next song.

"...Still not done yet. I'll finish it as soon as I can."

Originally watching the others, Tomori hesitated for a moment, then responded a bit sheepishly.

Since she'd been asked to write lyrics, she'd drafted countless versions.

But none of them felt right.

She knew they weren't what she truly wanted to write.

So she kept drafting, but the more she wrote, the less satisfied she became.

She was stuck in a vicious cycle.

"I'm not rushing you," Saku said gently. "As your manager, I just wanted an update. Take your time."

"Exactly. You don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. We know writing good lyrics is tough; we're not going to blame you for taking your time."

Nagasaki Soyo joined them, echoing Saku's words.

To her, just spending time like this together was enough. Whether they performed a live show or not didn't matter much to her.

"Mhm."

Looking at the group surrounding her, Tomori nodded with determination.

---

By Friday, they were still practicing Spring Shadows.

Tomori still hadn't finished the lyrics.

But it didn't really matter; everyone was still having a blast.

"That wraps up practice for this week. We'd better book next week's practice room."

While packing up, Saku called out to them.

"Send me your schedules for next week."

Once he gathered everyone's availability, he posted it in the group chat.

"What? Only Monday works?"

Taki glanced at the schedule, looking a bit exasperated.

Thanks to the typhoon, they hadn't been able to book the practice room much this week, but they'd managed to squeeze in two days of practice. And next week, it would be down to just one.

At this rate, they'd have no practice days at all the following week.

"Well, what can we do? We're not all at the same school, so it's hard to match schedules." Anon explained, "Not to mention, we've got our own things to do outside practice."

Anon had plans to hang out with friends and meet Hitori Gotoh for guitar practice, Taki worked here, Soyo had her duties with the wind ensemble, Tomori had her astronomy club activities, and Raana just kind of disappeared whenever she felt like it.

Even without Saku, who didn't need to be present for rehearsals, it was still hard to find a time when all five of them were free.

"No worries! We've practiced enough that cutting back can just feel like a little break."

Soyo jumped in, trying to lighten the mood.

"...I guess we can't force everyone to free up time."

Tomori's gaze swept over the group, her voice soft.

"Alright."

Taki didn't dwell on it.

After all, Anon's guitar skills had been steadily improving, so they didn't really need constant practice anymore.

"I'll go make the reservation."

Leaving the practice room, Taki headed straight for the front desk.

Saku, as the manager, just watched from the sidelines.

As an employee here, Taki could get a discount on the room, so she had taken over yet another one of his tasks.

It seemed his job as manager had now dwindled down to ordering takeout.

After a few moments, Taki returned, looking a bit displeased.

"What's up? Was there an issue with the booking?"

Saku noticed something was off.

"The Monday slot was already reserved by another band," Taki informed him. "We won't have any rehearsal time next week."

Saku: "..."

---

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