AMBiTiON/Story/Ch. 2

## Eclipse Amidst Thunder

 *Chihiro chats with top student and new recruit, Aki Hoshinomiya. Then, she sees a live show and meets someone else...*

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Wow, that was stupid. Again!

Chihiro sat under a tree on school grounds, feeling silly that she got so excited over talking to Hoshinomiya yesterday. As if that high-and-mighty queen of everything cared about her. But somehow, Chihiro couldn't shake the feeling of success. And that look in Hoshinomiya's eyes...

She scrolled through the text messages exchanged between her and Hoshinomiya the afternoon before, reading and re-reading them to make sure she didn't get anything wrong. And to feel the same excitement she felt upon receiving them the first time.

"hi is this Aki Hoshinomiya?" Sent at 5:21PM.

It was a nerve-wracking, excruciatingly long 40 minutes until Hoshinomiya finally replied at 6:01, "Chihiro Satou-san? Sorryy, I was busy with other stuff!" Chihiro was surprised she remembered her full name.

Then, they went into a quick exchange about eating lunch, in which Hoshinomiya was painfully vague about the location, and Chihiro was too scared to ask for details in case she came off as fidgety and caring too much. In hindsight, Chihiro regretted it greatly, as she found herself extremely confused now that she sat under the shade of one of the trees in the courtyard. What if she was in the wrong place? What a terrible first impression! Maybe Hoshinomiya was just making fun of Chihiro this whole time. Maybe she wouldn't ever show up. Dirty liar. Right after those messages, Hoshinomiya texted a suspicious "Got stuff to do, sorry, gotta go!" and didn't come back online. Chihiro wondered if it was the same "other stuff" Hoshinomiya mentioned at the start, or if she just wanted to end the conversation.

As if summoned upon Chihiro's completed reading of their messages, she noticed someone familiar from her peripheral vision.

"Hi-hi, Satou-san!"

"Oh, uh, hi." Chihiro didn't know when Hoshinomiya would be here - the last time she saw her was at the start of lunch, caught in a conversation with her little clique. She took a seat next to Chihiro with a lunchbox in her hands, patting down her skirt neatly. "Well, nice to see you today," Hoshinomiya spoke, "sorry I wasn't clear about our location~."

So she knew?!

Chihiro hid her exasperation, "No, it's fine, I got it eventually." She hoped she didn't sound passive-aggressive, although a part of her wanted desperately to. Hoshinomiya smiled sheepishly and opened her lunchbox. Chihiro did the same.

...

A bird's call filled the silence between them.

"So... what's this about a band?"

'That's a good question,' thought Chihiro, realizing she hadn't actually considered much of anything in terms of this possible band they were about to form. "Well, seeing as so many people like bands... I wanted to make some friends through forming one. Then I saw that you wanted to join a band, so..." Chihiro decided to leave out the part where she didn't really want to befriend Hoshinomiya.

"Okayy~." As the purple-haired girl ate something from her lunch, she nodded in acknowledgement, to Chihiro's relief. "So I'm your friend now, yeah?"

"Huh...? Er, if you want to be?"

"Then, you can call me Aki!" 'Aki' smiled with delight. "Oh, but 'Aki-yan' is fine too!"

"What's '-yan' supposed to be?"

"Mrm," She took a mouthful of rice, "whatever you want it to be."

Chihiro stared at the grinning Aki, bewildered at just how friendly she was being. What a weirdo. She could bet that she was only acting nice to fool her. Well, Chihiro wasn't stupid.

"Oh... then you can call me Chihiro." But unable to stop her impulses, she lowered her voice to a barely audible mutter. "But I go by 'Hiro-tan' too..."

"'Hiro-tan', was it? Sure then!"

The brown-haired girl snapped her gaze towards her lap, suddenly aware of her face heating up a little. It was a nickname Chihiro always wanted someone to call her by, but now that someone said it aloud, it was much more embarrassing than she expected. Ugh, and if Chihiro thought it was bad, then Aki definitely did too...!

Aki tried to get a look at her downturned face. "What's wrong? Is that nickname okay?"

Peering up into Aki's eyes, Chihiro winced at the potential reaction she'd receive. "... You're fine with it?"

Aki tilted her head to one side. "Sure! It's cute, Hiro-tan!"

Chihiro immediately snapped her gaze back down, wondering if Aki saw her face burning with shame.

At that point, Chihiro was already nervous out of breath. On one hand, she was intensely glad Aki had the ability to steer their conversation single-handedly, as Chihiro could not do that herself, but... S-Stay strong! This would serve as training for when she inevitably greets the sparkling eyes of dozens and dozens of fans... Although, Chihiro wondered if it was normal that Aki was being so friendly. Chihiro was surely acting quite strange just then...

Though, a voice in the back of her mind convinced her that the ever-smiling face of Aki must have hidden something evil underneath.

They then discussed their actual plans about the band. Chihiro was ashamed to say she didn't know anything, but Aki consoled by admitting she didn't know much either.

"So... do you play any instruments?" asked Chihiro.

Aki closed her eyes in thought, as if that kind of question required such contemplation. "Hrm, I've played the flute, the violin, the piano... Oh, I have an electric keyboard sitting at home, but I haven't touched it in a while."

Chihiro felt envy rise in her chest like bubbles in a can of soda as Aki made the list so nonchalantly - Of course a pretentious genius like her would be able to play so many instruments. Although, as expected, Aki's skillset would undoubtedly be an advantage to Chihiro's plan... "So what about a band? Like your friends'?"

"Well, I only know a little. They never told me any big details."

"Really?" Chihiro didn't expect that to be the case. "Then... have you seen them perform?"

Aki took a few seconds to recall, "Actually, no. They never play anyways. But considering I knew them since junior high, honestly, I'm surprised I only got curious now!"

That seemed peculiar, but Chihiro supposed it wasn't her business. "I think... watching a band play would be nice."

"Mhm." Aki's face went blank for a moment as she considered something, shifting from hesitation to contemplation to apathy. "Ah, I know! Maybe we can watch a live show sometime!"

Was Aki the one that was abnormal, or Chihiro? How absurd that she was already suggesting they go somewhere together. Weren't they strangers? She'd never even done anything together with anyone in junior high, so why should this be any different?

But still, that was finally a question Chihiro could answer. "Oh, about that. I found this place just yesterday." She showed Aki her phone screen, recalling yesterday afternoon when she got impulsive and looked up music venues - as if they couldn't just watch some video online.

"Um... There's a venue called 'Live House HorizoN'? And they apparently have a few bands playing today at 5:30." Chihiro read off the list of bands, "'ECL:PSE', 'shatter-break', and 'Fr!dayN!ght', or something. It's close to where I live, but I don't know about you..."

Aki peered at the screen. "Mm... Do you plan on going? It's on pretty short notice."

Oh, crap. Dread suddenly weighed Chihiro's stomach like a solid boulder. W-Why did she consider going today? Now she was the one progressing too fast! "T-True. They allow admission without buying tickets earlier though, a-and I have nothing going on after school, so..." She defended herself frantically, backtracking her words, but...

Chihiro glanced back up at Aki, only to see a slightly disappointed face. "Er, can you not go?"

"Yeah, I can't. Sorry, I shouldn't've suggested it so impulsively," She laughed, apologetic. "Got stuff to take care of today."

"... Like?"

"The usual stuff, at least for me... O-Oh, but it's nothing you have to worry about!"

'Usual stuff', she says. Did window shopping and talking about boys like a no-brain gyaru count as 'usual stuff'? But Chihiro didn't dare inquire further for fear of coming off rude to her new, begrudgingly welcomed recruit. "Okay... I'll just go by myself this time."

Soon, the bell rang signaling lunch period's end, and the two migrated leisurely back to class 1-C. Chihiro tried to concentrate in class, but couldn't help but be distracted by the thought of forming her band.

Eventually, the dismissal bell rang and, like all the other days, everyone vacated the classroom. Today, however, Chihiro actually had something meaningful to do.

Much unlike her past years of life, that was for sure.

It was about 5:20 when Chihiro arrived at Live House HorizoN, after quickly heading home and back to change out of her uniform. She didn't know what to expect, but mayhaps it was time to put some variety in her life.

As she stepped into the building, Chihiro was met with a lobby area of white walls, covered in band posters, along with tables and chairs, presumably for people waiting for a show to start. Though it was something she was unwilling to admit, Chihiro wasn't exactly someone who went to new places often, so a feeling of unease crept into her like poison. She walked further in.

The sound of her footsteps clacking on the wooden floors only made her more nervous, but she spotted a ceiling TV in the corner of the lobby. It displayed the stage area: A dark room spotlit with various instruments sitting on the platform. There, some of Chihiro's anxiety melted away and, feeling a surge of excitement, she hurried to the counter. Paying the counter lady with the weird name on her nametag - *someone's* parents lost a bet, Chihiro figured - she headed down the hallway leading to the show stage of HorizoN...

Upon the doors shutting behind her, Chihiro was immediately enveloped in darkness. The only thing in sight was the spotlit stage and a small crowd that stood up front to it, murmuring. On the stage were the instruments Chihiro had seen on the TV, including a drum set, a keyboard, two guitar-looking instruments, and - the one that caught Chihiro's attention - a mic.

'T-The vocals... in the middle...!' A jolt of eagerness made her perk up as she spotted the microphone, coming to a realization. Of course! Judging by the position of the mic - in the center of all the instruments - it seemed as though whoever was on vocals would be the absolute star of the show Chihiro imagined herself standing behind the mic and a crowd cheering her, and her only, on... She would sing as if she were the brightest beacon, her bandmates around her only the tower to the lighthouse that was her own, echoing, silence-piercing voice...

What a foreign idea.

Subconsciously nearing the crowd, Chihiro snapped out of her daydream when she saw the performers come onstage. The crowd cheered and she was shot by surprise like an arrow, seeing the first band called ECL:PSE reveal themselves as a group of four middle-school-looking girls. Chihiro almost felt relief knowing that they were about as old as her - If these rag-tag kids could do this band thing, she could surely do it better.

"What's up, HorizoN~!" A blonde girl at the mic with the guitar-thing greeted. "It's ECL:PSE! Are you ready for the show?" In response, the crowd cheered again.

It wasn't any wonder that Chihiro was struck by shock once again when the sweet blonde girl at the microphone began 'singing' with the most intense, least characteristic voice Chihiro could have expected. The room burst into a hot oven of loud noises, the guitar chords coursed throughout the room, the low, bassy tones sent shudders up Chihiro's spine, the drums boomed ballistically, the keyboard screamed dissonant melodies, and that crazy blondie neared yelling with an angry voice of pure passion. Chihiro covered her ears in bewilderment in an attempt to silence the sounds, but the chaotic blaring leaked through her fingers anyways. Why didn't she expect that a band would be so... wild? Intense? Maybe music wasn't meant for her after all...

As she sank to the back of the room with impressed fear, Chihiro spotted a little girl standing in the back corner.

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## Trivia

* Upon reading this story, the song ISOLATION LABYRINTH is unlocked.