Chapter 2

## Chapter Chronology

This is the **second chapter** of *Beat & Motion*, written and illustrated by Naoki Fujita.

## Summary

Nico's apparent forgetfulness of their initial meeting baffles Tatsuhiko. He devised a plan to get away from her as soon as possible because he had lost sight ln one of his younger days ideals— which happens to be one of them is wanting to marry Nico—and had given up to it till this day. However, he begins to enjoy her company during the course of their whole day conversation, even though he was unaware of it at some point.

They talked for the entire time in what appeared to be a restaurant about how Tatsuhiko had stopped drawing because, in his opinion, people were making fun of his creations, which had angered Nico. Tatsuhiko then realized why Nico had been angry with him the first time they had met. The conversation shifted to Nico's decision to become a singer. She admitted that she doesn't have a specific reason for doing so, but if she ever does, it will probably have something to do with how music just spontaneously appeared from other people, as though it had never existed before, and how music is in some way the reason why the continents have come together given that they are all unconnected to anything. Tatsuhiko started crying during a section of her explanation, which caused Nico to feel a little uneasy.

Tatsuhiko lied earlier that within two hours, he needs to go back to work, but that was far too little time for their serious but unusual conversation—one that went beyond even the most basic human needs—due to his stupid lie. However, after they said goodbye to one another, Nico went to him and requested to go for a walk together. However, he told her another lie so that they could spend more time together. In the end, they spent the whole day together. When Tatsuhiko brought Nico to the station, she yelled at him as he left that they were going to take over the world, to which he cheerfully agreed and ran away as he listened to Nico songs. He feared that if he wasn't in the liminal space between her and her song, he might forget that Nico is on a different plane than him. In order to not impede her talent, he wanted to be at least as good as her.

He requested a meeting with Nico the following day so that she could review the storyboard he had hurriedly created. His confidence went down as he finished listening to the dance song Nico had recently did and have recorded, and he made the decision to cancel the day as he threw two of his entire storyboards. In an effort to suddenly outperform his previous self, he continued to draw. Since he completed the entire storyboard for her music video rather quickly on his own, Nico started to worry about his health. They made the decision to have a celebratory meal and beer in a restaurant later that day. As Tatsuhiko continued to speak, Nico had the idea that he would confess, which would make her agitated and cause her to keep ordering beer, sweet potato sochu, and other things. When Tatsuhiko specifically brought up those words from their first encounter, and as soon as Nico got reminded during that time, she punched him in the face and called him a wimpy bastard.

Tatsuhiko felt relieved that Nico probably didn't remember anything at all when she texted him the following day as if nothing had ever happened between the two of them. Later on that day, a Mahoroba Records employee is listening to the song entitled Fafrotskie, a song by Nico.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Nico Kashiwagi
* Tatsuhiko Hirayama
* Mahoroba Records Employee *(Debut)*