Chapter 6: 6

Chapter 6: Sunset

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I remember what was written in a music magazine when Shigure debuted. "During my high school days, I rarely went to school. Instead, I found myself performing on the street by the shopping district."

As her fan, that line in the magazine stuck out to me. That means if I want to go searching for her, I'll have more success in the shopping district as opposed to the school.

Yesterday, I was able to meet Shigure in the clubroom, but I won't be as lucky anymore. From what I remember, she never showed up at school before officially quitting. That being said, she did send in an admission form for the light music club. If Shigure acts just like my first time, I won't see her ever again unless I go actively searching for her. I have to act now and not waste this chance.

If I walk around the nearby shopping district, I should be able to find her. If I'm able to talk to her again, that'll likely allow for some wiggle room to change her future. I don't have any proof for this, but it's better than sitting around and doing nothing. And so, when I hear the after school bell, I take my bag and fly out of the classroom.

There are likely three places she'll set up her performance at the shopping district. I managed to get a hold of some of her middle school classmates and I sort of have an idea of where she'll likely be performing. By the way, I found her middle school while stalking her on my first go around. If she somehow asks me how I know, well... I'll worry about that if it does happen. I'll look like a Grade A stalker, no doubt about that. 

The first shopping district is a miss. There's a pretty good crowd and the aroma is pleasant, but it seems like it doesn't match Shigure's tastes. The second shopping district is by the station, so there are plenty of salarymen and students from other schools. The nearby shops are also bustling with people. And yet, still nothing. 

The third shopping district is by the shopping arcade. There's not many people and many stores have their blinds closed. It's a shabby looking shopping district. It was probably built in the rush during the bubble period in the 80's.

Since she wasn't at the first two, I started searching around here for her, but I found it hard to believe regardless. And then, in the outskirts of the dilapidated shopping district, I caught sight of her in an open space. This area is certainly the textbook definition of a rundown market.

Shigure is singing with an acoustic guitar in hand and a hoodie to hide her uniform. Not a single person was in sight. Even from a distance, the atmosphere felt oddly chilling, which made it hard to approach. But her singing voice is definitely one beyond any ordinary person. She's already at the level where she could debut and top billboard charts. It's a shame the glum attitude she's given off is turning away others.

The lead track in her debut album is called "Shigure". That song, which shares her name, would be sold as a single and a smashing hit, selling over a million units. And the song was about... well, that's something for later. Right now, she should focus on getting on a contract.  After she finishes singing "Shigure", she notices me and gives me a sour look.

"That's a good song."

Even if it's a compliment, I give her my honest thoughts.

"Why'd you come..."

"I just happened to be passing by when I heard a wonderful song."

She brushes off my jape without a second thought, her pouting face not moving a millimeter.

"You always sing here?"

"It's none of your business... If you have nothing better to do, just go home."

Not much I can do about her negative first impressions of me. But I won't surrender this easily.

"You're a stubborn one... Fine, I came here just to hear you sing."

"No one comes to hear me sing..."

"Someone's sure here."

I point to myself. Shigure looks at me dubiously, as if she's irritated by me.

"Are you even being serious?"

"Of course, I'm always serious."

"I don't get you..."

Shigure seems to be implying that she's singing for herself alone. Whenever someone else listens to her sing, they probably don't give her an honest reaction. Instead, she'd probably honestly believe that other people are turned off by her songs. Of course, that's not the case at all. Shigure's singing is just so alluring.

"It's fine if you don't understand... Anyways, what's your next song?"

Right now, I just want to enjoy my one on one time with Shigure and her songs. Since I know the future, I can't put a price on things like this. Of course I would want to keep hearing her songs. However, Shigure ignores me and starts putting away her guitar.

"I'm going home now..."

"Come on... At least play one more song."

"You're so persistent."

"Please, I think your singing is out of this world. So just let me hear one more song."

I put my hands together to try and persuade her. I was more serious now then during my first life when I would do a shrine visit to pray that our band would have a successful first live performance. For someone like me, the singer and songwriter, Shigure Narahara, is a god-like existence that surpasses all levels of imagination.

"It's already getting late, maybe next..."

Realizing what she's saying, Shigure cuts herself off.

"Next...?"

"I-it's nothing! Anyways, I'm heading home!"

With that, Shigure leaves in a rush. I can't control my wild ass grin, imagining what she wanted to say was "maybe next time".

 Chapter 7: Isolated a Thousand Light Years away

You are reading story After Being Sacked From My Band, I Found Myself 10 Years in the Past To Redo My Life and Save My Ido at novel35.com

Link to Original Chapter: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8526hq/7/

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I’m talking with a female classmate the next day.

"Hey Shibakusa, were you with Narahara yesterday by any chance?"

She went to the same middle school as Shigure. In fact, she was the one who told me Shigure was singing in the desolate shopping district. Well, she probably lives near that shopping district and happened to see me with Shigure yesterday.

"Oh, yeah... You curious about that?"

I play back the events of yesterday in my head to make sure I didn't do anything suspicious. I mean, hey, I may have been pressing Shigure's button a bit, but it's not anything worth complaining about, at least from the perspective of a fellow classmate.

"What were you doing with her?"

"Uh, I was listening to her sing. I'm in the light music club too, so I asked her if she wanted to join my band."

She sighs hearing my answer.

"Shibakusa, just some advice between you and me. It's better if you stay out of Shigure's way. And definitely don't invite her to join a band."

"Uhh, why?"

I'm taken aback hearing this unexpected piece of advice. She has such a lovely singing voice. What's the reasoning for simply cutting ties with her?

"When she was in middle school... she caused one of the clubs to disband."

"Disband...?"

What is she talking about? I know plenty of university clubs disband due to messy love affairs, but this seems too extreme for middle schoolers. And this is Shigure we're talking about. She's introverted and barely even talks. There's no way she would instigate any fight that would lead to messy relationships.

"She and I were in the music club. We played the piano and sang songs and just had fun. 

I'm surprised that she joined a club like that. Since it was a music club, they must have had some sort of recital or performance throughout the year. 

"But she demanded that everyone do things they couldn't do. Then she showed them up by doing it. She really was so cruel."

I don't believe she would be the type of person to make unreasonable demands, even if her classmate is literally telling me about it. Honestly, she probably has a biased opinion since she was personally involved. I'll make her stop beating around the bush. I already have an idea what this is really about.

"Well... maybe Narahara was just so good that everyone else got jealous?"

I said that with a very matter-of-fact tone and I'm met with heavy irritation as she retorts.

"N-no way in hell! Anyways, she wouldn't cooperate at all and rocked the boat too much! Of course everyone would be upset with her! I mean, in our final term, it was her fault that the concert-!"

Bullseye. She spills the beans and tells me everything, as if something's been eating away at her. 

In the end, Shigure just stood out too much and the rest of her club mates, including the girl telling me everything, felt the effects of that.

Shigure is simply a musical genius. Of course her clubmates would feel jealous if they saw it firsthand. I'm sure the more popular kids at her school zeroed in on her pretty fast.

With her clubmates feeling envious, she played the guitar by herself at the concert. Her performance was breathtaking, but even then, the audience was against her from the very beginning. When she started singing, everyone left the assembly hall, as planned previously.

Even if it was all planned ahead of time, just thinking about it makes my heart ache. As someone who performed in a band in my previous life, I'd seen many audience members leave a show because they already finished seeing the singer they wanted to see. When it happened to me, I knew it was because we weren't good enough. But for Shigure, it's the exact opposite. When she starts singing, she'll feel the wrath of everyone. I can imagine how hard it is for her to sing even one song.

Therefore, Shigure came to the conclusion that no one wanted to hear her sing, which led her to sing by herself for herself in the desolate shopping district. Adding insult to injury is that the people who left during Shigure's performance were arguing with each other, debating whether this was overkill or the right thing to do.

The club disbanded directly because of how those guys acted. But of course, their excuse was that if Shigure didn't act like she did, they wouldn't have to disband. But Shigure didn't do anything. Rather, it was more like she couldn't do anything. She didn't do anything wrong.

If I had been there, I would never have forgiven them. And I would probably act so violent that I would never be able to play the drums again. There's no way such puny egos could hold a candle towards Shigure's talent.

"Hey, are you even listening, Shibakusa? You know, it's for the best if you stop hanging around Narahara."

"Thanks for the advice... But I'll still invite her to join my band. Hearing what you had to say convinced me even more."

"You're fucked in the head, Shibakusa."

"Well, thanks."

I have so many things I want to retort back, but there's no point in talking with her any longer. Besides, if it's for Shigure's benefit, I might as well keep my mouth shut. That's why I decided to give the best answer possible.

"Right now, I want to create a band with Shigure where the audience members won't leave part way through. See ya."

I might have pissed her off with that, but oh well. I'll definitely get Shigure to join my band and we'll see who gets the last laugh. 

And so, I find myself going to Shigure in order to tell her. The nail that's sticking out won't be hammered back in. Because I'll be there to protect it.

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