[Word count - 2,287]
The following weekend...
Location - Shopping District
Your POV
It is the start of the weekend, and I began to make my way to CiRCLE. It was a nice day outside, despite it being cold out. I decided to take a different route to CiRCLE this time. I decided to cut through the shopping district, and as I did, I noticed a large crowd nearby.
"I wonder what's going on here?"
I walked over to where the large crowd was, hoping to see what was going on. I got close enough to get a good look at what was going on. In the crowd were four girls and... a pink bear? I think that pink bear's name is Michelle. I've heard of her before, but this is my first time seeing her in person.
As for the four girls, I managed to recognize one of them, and needless to say, I was quite surprised to see her.
"Kanon?"
No doubt about it. It really was Kanon, and it looks like she is the drummer of this band. Marina did told that she was in a band called Hello, Happy World!, and I wonder if this is them.
"Hello, everyone! We are Hello, Happy World!!"
"Happy!"
"Lucky!"
"Smile!"
"Yay!"
I wonder what these girls are going to do?
"Today, we're going to put on a performance that they're going to make everyone smile."
They going to put on a show now? Why would they do it on the streets instead of a live house? This band is odd, yet... I am strangely drawn towards them.
"Alright, everyone! Ready to go?" The vocalist asked. "Here is the song we're going to perform for you: Kira to KimiFest!"
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Kira to KimiFest - Hello, Happy World! (Jp lyrics)
Hajime no daiippo de kono aachi wo
Seidai ni rettsu gou! to kugurimashou♪
Hitoban kagiri no hakanasa wo daki
Zenshinzenrei de tanoshimimashou!
Nando datte (tsutaeteyuku yo?)
Kimi wa saisho kara
Kokoro karada motteru mono zenbu
(Kagayaiteiru kara!)
Sugo sugi! Fesutibaru♪
Haroo! Byuutifoo! Kimi no haato
Yozora wo irodoru nagareboshi☆彡
Donna konnan mo minna
Attoiumani kira☆ kira☆ kaiketsu da!
Harō! Byuutifoo! Kimi no haato
Hirogaru kanousei ga daisaakasu!
Jibun wo shinjiru tabi
Yume wa tsugitsugi to ne? Kanatteku♪
Kakenukerunda! Jikan no yurusu kagiri
Mezasu basho e tada massugu ni☆彡
Kimochi ga dondon senaka wo osunda
Haroo, haroo! Douzo, go annaishimasu♪
Tsunaida te wo nigiri kaesu tabi
Kawasu egao tanomoshii na
"Arigatou" wa (otagaisama desu!)
Boku datte nankai mo
Kimi ni kimi ni tasukete moratteru
(Kansha kangeki!)
Homeyacchau! Fesutibaru♪
Haroo! Wandafoo! Kimi no haato
Kotoba to omoi ga dokomademo
Sekai wo kaetteiku
Nande tottemo pika☆ pika☆ kirei nano!
Haroo! Wandafoo! Kimi no haato
Saigo made akiramenai kara
Unmei wa itsumade mo
Kimi no mikata ni natte tsuiteku!
Haroo! Byuutifoo! Kimi no haato
Yozora wo irodoru nagareboshi☆彡
Donna konnan mo minna
Attoiumani kira☆ kira☆ kaiketsu da!
Haroo! Byuutifoo! Kimi no haato
Hirogaru kanousei ga daisaakasu!
Jibun wo shinjiru tabi
Yume wa tsugitsugi to ne? kanatteku♪
Yoru ga akete deguchi wo nuketara
Atarashii sekai ga hajimaru no!
_____________________________________________
After the show...
The performance came to an end, and everyone was clapping. On top of that, they all have smiles on their faces, myself included. They really did a good job out there, especially Kanon. Who knew she would be this good with the drums.
As for what I thought of the show, I thought it was a bit unusual, especially since the vocalist was bouncing off of the walls and such. However, it did look like she was having a good time, so I won't judge her for it.
The crowd of people started walking away. I was about to do the same, but someone called out to me.
"(Y/N)-kun!"
I looked over and saw Kanon coming towards me.
"Hi Kanon, it's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it has." She smiled. "Did you saw our performance just now? Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I did. I never knew you were in a band, though." I pointed out.
Kanon blushed a little bit with embarrassment.
"Oh, well... umm... uhh..."
Before Kanon could say anything more, her bandmates walked over towards us.
"Who's this, Kanon? A friend of yours?"
"Yeah, this is (Y/N) (L/N), one of the best friends I've had growing up." Kanon said as she introduces me to her friends.
"Hi, nice to meet you all." I said.
"It's nice to meet you! We're Hello, Happy World!, and I'm Tsurumaki Kokoro, the vocalist of the group!"
"Greetings, my dear friend. My name is Seta Kaoru, and I am the fleeting guitarist of Hello, Happy World!."
"Hi hi! My name is Kitazawa Hagumi, and I am the bassist of Hello, Happy World!! Nice to meet ya!"
"Then I guess I'm last." The pink bear sighed before speaking again. "My name is Michelle, and I am the DJ of Hello, Happy World! Nice to meet you!"
"It's nice to meet all of you too."
It's nice to know that Kanon has made some amazing friends. In the beginning, she was shy and didn't want to leave my side. But now, it's nice that she has a place to call her own.
_____________________________________________
An hour later...
Location - Live House CiRCLE, Lobby
I was so focused on meeting Kanon and her friends, that I ended up losing track of the time, and because of that, I was late. By the time I got to CiRCLE, Marina gave me the death glare.
"You sure took your time getting here." She said.
"Sorry, I got held up."
"Oh yeah? What held you up?"
"Well, I was meeting Hello, Happy World!." I explained.
Marina was surprised by my reason for being late.
"Oh, so you met Hello, Happy World!?" She asked.
"Yeah. They were doing a street performance earlier today, and I got sidetrack by their music."
Marina mood began to soften a little bit.
"Well, I suppose I can let it go for now." She said. "But next time, give me a heads up before you tell me you're going to be late, understand?"
"Yeah, I understand." I said.
"Good, now with all of that out of the way, let's get to work, shall we?" Marina said before walking away to the storage room in the basement.
"Yeah, good idea."
Just as we were about to start, two people walked inside CiRCLE. One person was Kaoru, and the other was a person I have never seen before. As you can guess, it was a girl with short black hair and grey-blue eyes. Her expression was about as plain as some of the other girls I have met.
They were surprised to see me in my work uniform. They probably weren't expecting me to be here, which is understandable.
"Oh my, looks like we meet again, (Y/N)-kun." Kaoru said.
"Yeah, we do, although I don't think we've met before." I said, referring to the other girl.
"Huh? Oh, right, I see what you mean. But we have met before." She said.
"We have?" I asked in confusion.
"Yeah. My name is Okusawa Misaki, you met me as Michelle earlier today."
"Oh, right. So, you're Michelle, huh? Well, nice to see you again then."
"Yeah, likewise."
"It appears that we have a problem here." Kaoru said. "There's no way Misaki and Michelle are one in the same."
Misaki let out a sigh as soon as Kaoru said. I whispered something to her.
"Does Kaoru know you're Michelle?"
"I'm afraid not, likewise for Kokoro and Hagumi." She answered. "Thankfully, Kanon-san knows that's not the case."
"Oh, that's good to know."
Marina came upstairs with some equipment, and when she saw me talking to Kaoru and Misaki, she did her best not to get upset with me.
"Sorry, Kaoru-san and Misaki-chan, but if it's okay with you, I need to borrow (Y/N) for a moment." She said.
"Yes, of course." Kaoru nodded.
"We're sorry, Marina-san." Misaki said.
"It's fine."
I waved goodbye to Kaoru and Misaki before making my way towards Marina.
_____________________________________________
A few days later...
Location - The Park
It has been a few days since I ran into Kanon and her band members. I'll admit, they were weird at the beginning, but after Kanon was kind enough to introduce me to them, I realized that they're not that different than any other humans on the planet.
While sitting on a park bench reading a text book for class, someone appeared from behind and covered my eyes, taking me by surprise.
"(Y/N)! Spotted!"
That voice sounded familiar. I moved the hands that was covering my eyes, and I looked up. As I thought, it was Kokoro, and she was looking at me with that bright smile of hers.
"Kokoro, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"We spotted you in the park, and decided to see what you were up to." Kokoro explained.
"We? Who's we?"
However, my question was soon answered as Kanon came towards us. It looked like she was running, and the poor girl was out of breath.
"Kanon?"
"F-Fuee... H-Hi there..." Kanon said while trying to catch her breath.
"Do you need some water?" I asked as I offered her my water bottle.
"T-Thanks."
Kanon takes the water bottle and drank some of it. Thanks to it, she felt much better.
"That hit the spot." She said.
"May I ask why you were running?" I asked.
"Well, Kokoro-chan suddenly took off, and... I was trying to catch up to her." She explained.
"Well, when I saw (Y/N) nearby, I wanted to ask him something important." Kokoro replied.
"Oh really? What do you want to ask me?" I asked.
"I wanted to know what was Kanon like when you guys were childhood friends." She said.
The shocked look on Kanon's face means she was not ready for that question.
"Fuee! Me?!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, why not?"
"Kokoro-chan, it's not really fair to... talk about my business like that." Kanon said as her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.
"Really? But I want to know what you were like when you were little." Kokoro said.
"I mean, I guess I can answer that." I said.
"Wait, really?!" The girls said at the same time.
"Yeah, if it's okay with Kanon."
Kanon let out a sigh in defeat.
"Yeah, go ahead and tell her."
I nodded and began to tell the story.
"You see, when I first Kanon, she was shy, sad and all alone. A lot of people were bullying her just to satisfy their needs. It broke my heart a lot, so I sat with her during lunch, and once we got to talking, we decided to grow a small bond."
"Is that so?" Kokoro asked as she tilted her head in confusion.
I was about to say more, but to my surprise, Kanon spoke up.
"Yeah... It wasn't exactly the best period of my life. (Y/N)-kun was honestly the first friend that made me smile, but... that all changed once we went to middle school. And after that, we stopped staying in touch..."
"I thought you would've forgotten about me, but... I'm glad you didn't."
"Yeah, I could never forget you."
Kanon and I kept smiling at each other, and seeing our smiles made Kokoro happy as well.
"Your guys' smiles are so amazing!" She said.
Well, there was no denying that. I've always enjoyed seeing Kanon smile like this, and I wonder if she felt the same way.
_____________________________________________
Later that day...
Location - Shopping District
I parted ways with Kanon and Kokoro at the park. They went one way, and I went the other way. As I was walking, I got a bit lost in my thoughts. I thought back to how close Kanon and I used to me, and I am thankful that I have a chance to reconnect with her.
I snapped out of my thoughts for a moment, and the next thing I know it, I was smelling something good. It was... Croquettes, and it was nearby as well. Seeing that I didn't get a chance to eat lunch today. It'd be nice to go grab one before I go home.
I got closer and closer to the smell, and I found myself at a place called Kitazawa Meats, and who do I see behind the stand? Why it was none other than Hagumi, of course.
"Welcome! Ah, (Y/N)-kun! It's good to see you here!"
"Hi Hagumi, I smelled Croquettes, and I followed the smell here." I said.
"Well, you're in luck because these Croquettes are fresh out the fryer!" She said proudly.
"In that case, may I buy?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course!"
Hagumi took a Croquette, then put it in a paper bag before giving it to me.
"Here you go, (Y/N)-kun! One fresh Croquette!"
"Thanks Hagumi." I said as I took the Croquette and paid for it.
"You're welcome."
Just as I was about to walk away, there was one last thing I wanted to say.
"Hey... Hagumi."
"Yeah?"
"Thank you so much for you and the others for watching over Kanon."
Hagumi gave me a smile.
"Of course! After all, she's a dear friend to all of us."
"Yeah, she is."
I waved goodbye to Hagumi with the Croquette in my hands. I took a bite to see how it would taste, and my eyes widened because of it.
"Hmmm, yummy."
To be continued
A/N: Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you guys liked it and I'll see you in the next one.
Next book to update: The Silent Guitarist