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The band split up.
Kita lay in bed, staring up at her ceiling silently. She had some music sheets clutched in her hands as she lay motionless.
The band… Broke up.
She ran the words through her brain a thousand times per minute. It never felt real.
Ten years… For what?
Even now, two days after Ryo announced she would be leaving the band, and Nijika decided it was as good a time as any to help Seika out back at Starry, Kita couldn’t believe it. It just… Wasn’t real.
No! Sitting up, Kita tossed the pages aside and stood to her feet furiously. I refuse to let this be how it ends!
Within thirty minutes, Kita was on the train, heading towards the first destination in mind. She had a hoodie pulled over her head, a mask covering her nose and mouth, and sunglasses to cover her eyes, mostly to hide from any of her fans. She didn’t have the time to talk to them, even if she normally wouldn’t mind.
Now was not the time to be an extrovert. She had a mission!
In no time at all, she stood in front of her destination, her eyes transfixed on the door ahead. Despite having become relatively wealthy and famous, Hitori still hasn’t moved out of her parents'... It brought a smile to her masked face. She walked up to the door and knocked.
“Ah! Kita!” Hitori’s mom smiled and welcomed her inside. Her hair was graying now and she had crow’s feet by her eyes, but she was still as pretty as ever to Kita. “Are you here for Hitori?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kita nodded and took off her shoes. “Is she here?”
“She’s been holed up in that old room of hers for a couple of days now… Is everything alright? She hasn’t been like this since high school.”
“It will be. I’ll fix things.”
Kita opened Hitori’s door slowly, peering inside the overly dark room. It was much more decorated than the first time she had visited all those years ago, showing the progress Hitori had made in the time since, but it still lacked that very person.
There’s only one other place she could be… Kita walked up to the closet and rapped her knuckles against it quietly. “Hitori?”
“K-Kita?” A muffled voice called back. She sounded sniffly, too. “Why are you here?”
“We can’t let things end like this, Hitori… We have to fight for Kessoku Band.”
It took a moment, but the door to the closet slid open enough to reveal the heavily bagged eyes of Hitori. She looked awful, like she hadn’t slept since they last met. “How are we gonna do that?”
Putting as much energy into her smile as she could, Kita winked and held out her hand. “We’ll knock some sense into those two idiots, rock n’ roll style!”
Another moment passed before she heard giggling, and Hitori took her hand. Kita helped her stand up and out of the closet, her head being forced to tilt up to look at the slightly taller woman. “Do you plan on using your Kitaura on everyone?”
“If it’ll work~.” Kita giggled and started walking to the door, her head turning back to give Hitori a confident style. “It’ll only be successful if I can get Bocchi the Rock to support me!”
Nodding, Hitori grabbed her guitar, her stare more focused and determined than it was earlier. “I’ll do my best!”
Kita was on the train again, though now with Hitori beside her. Both were wearing their public disguises, though Hitori’s silly mustache drew more attention than anything. No one approached them, however, which was a good thing.
“How do you think we’ll get Ryo back on board…? Nijika might not be too hard, but Ryo seemed pretty set on leaving…”
Kita chewed on her cheek at Hitori’s words. “I’m not sure… But we have to try something. Anything. Ryo wouldn’t just drop music for no reason. Whatever it is, we can fix it! I know it!”
The two got off at their stop, the route bringing them back down memory lane. Before long they stood in front of the staircase that led down to Starry - a once humble restaurant, now a famous music venue renowned for being the birthplace of the Kessoku Band.
“Are you sure she’s here…?”
“Where else would she be? Worst case, we can always ask Seika.” Kita walked down the stairs, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. It was nearly loud enough to drown out the band playing once she stepped inside. She could only imagine Hitori… She’d made significant improvements, but she still preferred being out of social settings.
They didn’t have a choice this time around. There was an employee at the front, someone neither of them had seen before, but all it took was a look at their faces for them to be allowed inside with the request of an autograph. After giving her one, the two stepped into the - now bigger - Starry venue. It was almost insane how much larger it was, but Kita supposed it came as no surprise.
Seika was a pretty badass manager, and it didn’t hurt that she was related to the drummer of the Kessoku band.
“Kita! Bocchi!” Speaking of the devil. Seika was waving them down from the bar, a lopsided smirk growing on her face. “What brings you two here?” She yelled, even though they were close enough to talk. The band playing was a heavy metal one - Kita didn’t know their name, sadly - and didn’t exactly allow them to talk at room level.
“Is Nijika here?” Kita yelled back easily. One perk of singing for a decade straight was it made her voice pretty powerful; a fact she used and abused any time she got.
“Yeah, she’s in the back,” Seika answered. “What’s up? She came back saying she’d be working here for a little while. You guys on hiatus?”
“Ryo left the band! Nijika said something about it being time to help out at Starry, or something!” Hitori yelled back. Seika seemed surprised by this, which wasn’t itself a surprise, as they haven’t seen her in a while. It nearly made Kita smile in pride at her growth, but she didn’t have time to think about it too much.
“The hell? Ryo? We talking about the same person?”
“Yeah, we know! It’s weird! But we need Nijika to get back onboard so we can convince her to rejoin!”
“I got you!” Seika opened the bar up, ushering the two of them inside. “She’s in the back taking a break! Go get ‘er, tigers!”
Kita and Hitori stepped through the double doors behind the bar, immediately soaking in the silence of the room with gratitude. “Heavy metal sure is something else, huh…” The two laughed and went straight for the back door, Kita taking the lead.
“What do we do if she refuses to come back…?” Hitori asked before they exited. Kita paused and chewed on her bottom lip, eyes darting to the floor. “We can’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want…”
“No…” Shaking her head, Kita looked over at Hitori, eyebrows furrowing. “But she’ll come back. Nijika loves the band just as much as you and I do. She’ll come back…”
She took a deep breath and opened the door, revealing the crouched form of Nijika. She took a straw out of her mouth, looking up at the two in surprise. “Eh? You guys? What are you doing here?” Tossing aside the box the straw was attached to, she tilted her head. “Is this about-?”
“The band. Yes.” Kita nodded, taking a few steps forward. She looked into Nijika’s eyes, determination flowing through her veins. “Come back. We need you, Nijika.”
Hitori nodded behind her. “We can’t give up Kessoku band this easy… I can’t give it up. Please, Nijika.”
“I…” Nijika sighed and scratched the back of her neck. “I dunno, guys. We’ve been going strong for ten years. My sister’s been working hard at Starry for a long time, I can’t keep playing as a band member…”
“That’s what Seika wanted for you!” Kita stomped her foot, eyebrows digging down into a scowl. “Even now, she’s supporting us bringing you back!”
Nijika shook her head, a sigh escaping her lips. “I know that. But it’s selfish. Ryo already left, anyways, so what’s the point of coming back? No other bassist would fill her spot. We’d all have to disband it at some point, anyways. Better now when we’re all friends than later when something tears us apart.”
“Bull!” Hitori took a deep breath and stood beside Kita, her chest rising and falling with her fast breaths. “W-We’d never let something tear us apart!” Lowering her eyes, Hitori fumbled for her guitar, holding it in front of her towards Nijika. “We’re bandmates. That’s stronger than friends. You guys taught me that.”
Kita nodded along with Hitori.
Nijika sighed again, rubbing her hands in front of her. “Look, guys, I get it… But we have to grow up eventually. You guys have enough money saved up to live comfortably for the rest of your lives. Just let it go.”
“No!” Hitori shook her head, glaring up at Nijika. “I won’t let go of your dream, Nijika! We’re still not done yet! We have to go higher!”
Nijika stared at Hitori, mouth opened slightly. “Bocchi… I-”
“Come on, Nijika!” Kita held out her hand, smiling widely. “We’ll raise Kessoku band a thousand times higher! To the stars, if that’s what it takes!”
“Guys…” Nijika shook her head, though she was smiling softly. With a huff she nodded, grasping Kita’s hand, and pulled her and Hitori into a hug. “Alright! Further, we go!”
The three sat in the now-closed Starry venue. Seika and PA-san stood off to the side, chatting over a couple of glasses of something.
“What’s the game plan for getting Ryo back?” Nijika asked. The other two looked at each other before chuckling awkwardly. “So no plan… Alright. Well, that probably won’t work. Ryo won’t be inspired by some on-the-spot speech like what you gave me.”
“Well, we need to figure out why she left so we can solve it…” Hitori said, fiddling with her thumbs. “You’ve known her the longest, Nijika. Do you have any idea?”
“Hmm… Well,” she pursed her lips. “She said something about ‘losing the spark’. Could be that she’s bored of rock?”
“Ryo?” Kita said, sounding almost offended. “As if. She’d never get bored of rock! It must be something else. Maybe we’re starting to sound too mainstream? She hates that stuff. If we can convince her we’ll be more indie again, maybe she’ll come back!”
Hitori shook her head. “N-No, that’s not it. We have a distinct sound from other bands-” Primarily because I still write our depressing lyrics… “-So it has to be something else. M-Maybe she found another band she wanted to be a part of more?”
“Doubt it…” Nijika sighed, laying her head on her arms. “Ryo loves almost every band in existence. Out of all of us, she’s the most die-hard rock fan. If she wanted to join a different one, she would’ve left a long time ago.”
The three groaned and slumped down, the atmosphere becoming gloomier by the second.
A sigh from afar caught their attention. Turning their heads, they were met with the bored stare of Seika and the politely smiling face of PA-san. “You guys tried, I dunno, talking to her about it? Might be better than sitting around throwing theories around.”
“... Yeah, that’s, uh, probably a good idea. Thanks, sis.”
The three chuckled awkwardly as they shuffled out, leaving the older two to continue their drinks. Seika rolled her eyes and smirked at PA-san. “You’d think they’d be adults by now.”
“Rock stars are barely ever adults,” she said, covering her mouth with her sleeve. “It could always be worse. They could be doing cocaine out of-”
“Alright, enough out of you. Finish your drink or I’m docking your pay.” PA-san giggled and did as told.
The three stumbled out onto the street, the cool spring air causing goosebumps to spread across their revealed skin. “Ryo lives nearby still, right? Do you think she’s there?” Kita asked Nijika, who nodded.
“Probably. She’s still really bad with money, so it’s not like she has many other houses to stay at.”
She took point as the three started walking down the street. It was mostly empty at this time of night, which none of them complained about. “Do you think she’ll come back?”
“If I thought that, I wouldn’t have quit, either.”
“I see…”
“I-I think she will,” Hitori said, licking her dry lips. “Ryo doesn’t say it much, but she loved the band, too. I think it might have meant more to her than to almost any of us. There’s no way she won’t come back.”
“Where’d this confidence come from, Hitori?” Kita asked, surprised. “You were pretty pessimistic about Nijika coming back, but now…”
“I guess… The more we thought about it, the fewer reasons we could come up with for her leaving. That makes it easier to solve, right? S-So…”
They stopped in front of a large house - a manor, more appropriately - and looked at each other. “Everyone ready?”
“Are we sure she’s awake…?” Kita asked.
Nijika shrugged. “Who cares? She’d wake any of us up if the situation were swapped. Now, onward!”
It took a long time for anyone to answer the door. She probably was asleep, Hitori figured, and might be less than happy about being woken up at this time of night.
A head of blue hair peaked out through the opening of the door. “Eh? What are you guys doing here?”
“Ryo!” Kita stepped forward. “Come back to Kessoku band!”
Silence rang out between them for what seemed like an eternity. Ryo stared and stared, her half-lidded eyes pointedly stopping on the other three one at a time.
“... Okay.”
“We- wait. Huh?”
“I said okay.”
“Y-You…” Nijika rubbed a hand down her face, apparently in disbelief. Kita’s eye twitched and a smile grew on her face. Hitori, unsure of what to do, just glanced between everyone while playing with her thumbs.
Does this mean no Bocchi the Rock inspiration solo…?
“Ryo-senpai,” Kita said, her voice overly sweet. Her head tilted and she folded her hands behind her back. “What do you mean ‘okay’?”
Visibly gulping, Ryo glanced to the side, seemingly sinking behind the door for protection. “I never meant I was quitting quitting… Just taking a vacation…”
“A vacation. I see.” Kita nodded, closing her eyes with her smile still plastered on her face. “That makes sense.”
“It does? Yes, of course, it does.” Ryo nodded, smiling back. “I knew you’d understand, Kita-”
“Are you stupid?!” Kita screamed, her face burning hot red. “You don’t take a vacation by saying ‘I quit!’ You say ‘I’m taking a break!’ you-you-”
“K-Kita,” Hitori said, shaking her by her shoulder. “I think you’re scaring her away…”
“Get back here!” Kita yanked the door open. She pushed her way through and into the front hallway, her words digging into the physically taller, but now spiritually smaller, woman.
Hitori and Nijika glanced at each other, both feeling a mutual sense of gratitude that it wasn’t them.
“Sh-Should we leave?”
“Eh…” Nijika nodded, slowly backing away. “I don’t think Kita needs us here anymore… See you at practice tomorrow?”
Hitori nodded, smiling wide at Nijika. “See you at band practice tomorrow!”