The bell rang — class was over.
Bai Qiu opened his eyes, feeling much clearer now.The dark circles under his eyes had faded quite a bit.
He felt like he had half resurrected.
"Ah, Xiao Qiu, you're awake!"
Hirasawa Yui said with a hint of surprise.
"You can really sleep, huh? It's already lunchtime!"
Lunch…?
He blinked in surprise. So he had actually slept straight through till lunch break.
No wonder there were so few people left in the classroom.
Fortunately, there wasn't Japanese class in the morning — otherwise, he'd have completely ruined the image he'd built up in front of teacher Hiratsuka Shizuka.
"You shouldn't be sleeping during class, you know, Yui… and Bai Qiu-kun too."
Manabe Kazuha sighed helplessly as she sat down across from Yui, setting down her bento.
Her short, dark crimson hair and red frameless glasses gave her the look of a perfect honor student — the kind of "good kid from the house next door."
And indeed, that's exactly what she was.
Unlike Bai Qiu's self-proclaimed "top student" act, Manabe Kazuha was the real deal.
She was not only the class representative of Class 3, but also a member of the student council.
Yui stuck out her tongue playfully as she opened her bento box.
"Hehe, but Kazuha-chan, whenever I hear the teacher's voice, I just get so sleepy! My eyes close on their own~"
Bai Qiu replied earnestly, "Ahem, this time was just an accident. Won't happen again."
Yui nodded rapidly. "Same here!"
"…I hope so."
Even the ever-patient Manabe Kazuha couldn't help but roll her eyes and sigh softly.
This kind of lecture wasn't the first time she'd given it.
Bai Qiu was still manageable… but Yui was the real problem.
To avoid getting scolded further, Yui cleverly changed the topic.
"Hey, Xiao Qiu, want a meatball?"
"Yuu-chan made them herself!"
She lifted a glossy, delicious-looking meatball with her chopsticks, the fragrant aroma wafting over temptingly.
Yuu — Hirasawa Ui, Yui's younger sister.
Her cooking was amazing. Bai Qiu had tasted it before.
If only she were my little sister, Bai Qiu thought fleetingly.
But this time, he just shook his head and smiled. "No thanks, you eat it yourself."
"Ehh…"
Yui looked a little disappointed, then happily popped it into her own mouth, eyes lighting up in bliss.
After that, Bai Qiu stood up to leave.
He wasn't the type to bring lunch from home.
He usually ate in the school cafeteria.
Line up, grab some bread — though the rarest red bean long bread was, of course, already sold out.
Buy a bottle of cola, eat, relax…
As he walked back toward the classroom building, Bai Qiu felt refreshed — rested, full, and wide awake.
As they say, after the storm comes the rainbow.
And sure enough, effort never betrays you.
After binging through all of Gotou Ichiri's videos, he now had a little over 5,000 notes.
He had only exchanged for one skill — [Basic Music Theory Knowledge].
He was planning to step into the world of music now; couldn't do that without some real fundamentals, right?
As for other skills, there wasn't anything particularly urgent for the moment.
So, Bai Qiu decided to save up until 6,000 notes, and then exchange for a Level 2 skill.
Otherwise, if his Level 1 skill was too weak and people looked down on him… what then?
Now, it was time to do something big.
Find Gotou Ichiri.
Bai Qiu had already noticed — for the past few days, Gotou Ichiri had started bringing her guitar to school.
Which meant that right now, she was most desperate for someone to talk to her.
The timing was perfect.
In the brightest corners, you would always find Kita Ikuyo.
And in the darkest ones… you would find Gotou Ichiri.
School Building, Stairwell.
The stair landing — usually where they stored old desks and chairs.
It was dim here, with only faint shafts of light reflecting off the walls.
A place meant to be quiet and forgotten.
But today, faint sounds echoed from within — the strumming of a guitar, soft and hesitant.
A small pink figure was hiding inside.
Her name was Gotou Ichiri.
On the very first day of school, she had relied on her ultimate introvert senses to discover this perfect sanctuary.
"Hehehe… this place really feels safe…"
Here, Gotou Ichiri could finally relax.
During lunch breaks, almost no one came through.
And even if someone did, they'd never pay attention to such an inconspicuous stairwell.
Who would ever imagine she, of all people, was hiding here to eat lunch?
No one would ever find her!
Hehehe… no one… absolutely no one…
Ah, yes. No one would ever pay attention to someone as gloomy as her anyway.
The air around her darkened, a shadowy aura seeping out.
The already dim stairwell seemed even darker now — colder, too.
"Uuuh… even my lunch doesn't taste good anymore…"
Gotou Ichiri began to mentally collapse.
Thud, thud, thud…
She didn't even know how, but somehow, middle school had ended just like that.
No performance at the culture festival.
No band members.
Not a single friend.
Thud, thud, thud…
Gotou Ichiri plucked the strings of her guitar, pouring her emotions into each note.
"Ah… found you."
The sound of the guitar froze instantly.
With the stairwell as a clue — and the sudden sound of guitar playing —not to mention Bai Qiu's heightened sensitivity to Gotou Ichiri's playing lately…
He had found her easily.
Bai Qiu looked around the dim stairwell and frowned slightly.
The environment really was terrible.
It was, after all, just a storage stairwell — full of dust.
In the corner, he could even spot faint traces of cobwebs.
Then he turned his gaze toward Gotou Ichiri.
She was trembling all over.
Her school uniform, so cute on others, somehow looked completely different on her.
A pink track jacket over her blouse.And underneath her skirt… matching pink sweatpants.
So conservative… Gotou-san…
Her uniquely awkward outfit made Bai Qiu break into a small sweat.
Her head was lowered, her face hidden, but he could easily imagine the terrified expression she must be wearing.
"Ah… ah… y-yes… um…"
Gotou Ichiri couldn't even lift her head. Her mouth opened and closed, unable to form words.
Only little muffled noises came out — half hums, half whimpers.
He couldn't make out what she was trying to say at all.
Apologize, Watashi…! Apologize!! What are you doing?!
If I don't apologize now, he'll definitely kill me!!
Uuuh… I don't want to die…
Papa, Mama… goodbye…
Futuri… onee-chan will go ahead first…
Hearing her trembling little noises, Bai Qiu felt a strange spark of anticipation rise within him.
But she couldn't get any words out.
Has she not talked to anyone for so long that she forgot how to speak?
Sigh… how pitiful.
Let me help you then… Gotou-san.
"Please look at me, Gotou-san."
— It was over.
He was mad.
That was the last thought Gotou Ichiri had before she fainted.