AMBiTiON/Story/Ch. 10

## Coin Flip

 *The girls get some mentorship from the band ECL:PSE. There, Chihiro shares her thoughts with Aki.*

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Her mind had still been caught like a burr on yesterday's little altercation when Chihiro walked down the street to meet Izumi and her sister Kiyomi, at the street corner where they'd normally separate.

After 'talking to the sky' on her balcony the other day, Chihiro half-believed, childishly, that it would all go perfectly fine. Well, wasn't *that* stupid! She should have already known completely that it was only her superstitions. She supposed it was only a matter of time before someone like herself started attracting bad luck and eventually, everything would go downhill.

Then again, why did she even care? The situation wasn't her own.

"Izumin!" Chihiro called, spotting Izumi on the street corner with a stranger beside her.

"Greetings, fellow traveller." Izumi responded. Chihiro wondered if she'd thought about yesterday's events - If she had, she didn't show it. "Here's Kiyomi. Say hi, Kiyomi~." Izumi moved aside for her younger sister.

Like her sister, Kiyomi was a little on the short side - as Chihiro remembered from ECL:PSE's live show, some weeks ago - but she was, surprisingly, still a smidge taller than Izumi, who was older than her by two years. She had spiky dark blue hair, cut just above shoulder length, and an oversized gray hoodie. "I'm not a damn kindergartener! Whatever, it's Kiyomi," she waved lazily.

The three continued to Live House HorizoN. Chihiro and Izumi made conversation as usual, but it was evident that both of them were avoiding talking about their worries.

When they got to HorizoN, another familiar group of people were approaching them. "Fuyu-yun!" Kiyomi called out.

It was Aki and Sorae, the latter sticking near the former, and in front of them were Moriuchi-san with what Chihiro presumed to be her younger sister, Fuyuna. She was an innocent-looking girl with long jade-green hair in low twintails and a keyboard case on her back. 'They must've met up at the train station,' Chihiro guessed.

"Sis, please be nice, okay...?" Fuyuna begged quietly, furrowing her brows at Moriuchi-san. "Kiyomi-chan! Izumi-senpai! And..." She trailed off.

"It's Chihiro Satou."

Aki and Sorae also introduced their names to Kiyomi. This time, Chihiro noticed a tremor in Sorae's voice that wasn't present before.

"Can we go inside already? I want air-con." Kiyomi groaned.

"Ah, a weakling!" Izumi declared as everyone headed inside.

Upon entering, Chihiro immediately spotted two girls sitting at a table in the lobby area. Both had their own guitar cases. "Aika-chan, Etsuki-chan!" Kiyomi and Fuyuna separated themselves from Chihiro's band and greeted their own bandmates.

One of them, whom Chihiro recalled as the sweet but aggressive vocalist, smiled at the newcomers. "So you're Izumi-senpai's friends!" She said. "I'm Aika Nakano, ECL:PSE's vocalist and bassist. Both at once, by the way."

'I'd use 'friends' lightly,' Chihiro thought as she scanned the blonde girl. She looked to be the stylish, popular type, what with her simple but mature outfit of a shirt and skirt combo. But really, it just seemed like she was trying too hard to please somebody.

The tomboyish girl beside Aika spoke. "Etsuki Oshiro. ECL:PSE's guitarist. 'Sup." She glanced at everyone, her reddish-brown hair in a high ponytail swaying behind her. Etsuki had on ripped jeans and a black t-shirt with what was likely ECL:PSE's logo on it - talk about a shameless self promo. To Chihiro, she definitely gave off delinquent vibes.

Everyone made their introductions. Chihiro hated having to say her full name, as if just 'Chihiro' wasn't bad enough - She always despised the sound of it. She didn't want to make a bad impression on the strangers though. At least they were all younger than her.

After Etsuki got a key to a studio room, ECL:PSE confidently headed down the hallway, with the five behind them trailing after. Sorae was dragging herself even more than usual, glued near Aki and Chihiro, whilst Moriuchi-san seemed emotionless as always. Chihiro wondered if they were going to be fine.

As the nine entered the studio, a pang of worry struck Chihiro. Even though it wasn't the same room as yesterday - comparably bigger, actually - it didn't feel right to be in a place that carried that tensening feeling.

"Let's see, since we got Izumi-senpai's band with us today, and they asked us for help..." Aika turned to her bandmates. "Should we do something special?"

"Hey! Let's have a show!!" Kiyomi's fervent hand shot up, and she eyed her sister smugly.

Izumi eyed her back with irritated amusement, muttering so that only Chihiro could possibly hear, "Tch, show off."

On the other hand, Aika seemed content with the answer. "Heh, then I guess we'll just play like usual! Except we won't excuse mistakes now~..."

"... Like we ever let those slide?"

"You get the point, Etsuki."

Aika put her hands on her hips and Chihiro's worries washed away for a second as she had a terrible, no good flashback to when she first saw ECL:PSE's live show that very first time. Just thinking about it made her go deaf.

The underclassmen set up their instruments as quick as lightning, and while Chihiro was no weather expert, she could imagine that was a premonition of the storm over the oh-so-dark horizon. The five older girls watched, standing by the wall - Izumi plopped herself on the bench but the point still sat - and soon ECL:PSE had a great dark storm cloud looming above them, then--

Clack, clack, clack, clack, Kiyomi's drumsticks counted.

Suddenly the band burst into a wild tempest of noises, led by Etsuki's guitar. Chihiro smiled exasperatedly and leaned over to see her group's unawareness, their poor eardrums about to be decimated, except for Izumi who knew the drill already. The sounds would surely be louder than a mere drill, though.

Aika's face was dim as her voice started up, a bit of a whisper, but quickly evolving into something so filled with energy and emotion that Chihiro imagined she was singing it herself - Once again, Aika had done a 180°. It wasn't as scary as Chihiro predicted it would be, but perhaps she was, at that point, desensitized by the handful of weird concert videos she'd watched online...

ECL:PSE had progressed to the pre-chorus by now when Chihiro noticed something unfamiliar.

The echoing voice of Aika reverberated, and although an invisible spotlight beamed on her, although the band's rhythms and melodies propped her up on the main stage... The blonde shot a glance at Etsuki.

They shared a brief, understanding look, and as Aika went on with her bassline and vicious vocals, Etsuki, cool as ever, turned to face Fuyuna. Even Kiyomi shared a brief glance with them, though being on drums, she was sitting in a blind spot. 'What are they trying to do?' Chihiro couldn't think up an answer. 'And why bother?'

She thought she could see a colorless thread hanging between the members of ECL:PSE. It was her imagination, right?

What *was* that?

Before she realized, the performance was already over with a great crash of the cymbal. Aki made a delighted step forward. "That was so good!"

"Yeah, yeah~!!" Izumi agreed, jumping up from her spot between Moriuchi-san and Chihiro. She then turned a glare onto Kiyomi. "Except for her."

"Oh, okay. If I'm so bad, you wouldn't want me to teach you how to play then, *would you*?"

"I have sister privileges, you're obligated to!"

"Do you have the privilege to shut up?" Kiyomi walked up and gave her a good whack on the head. Chihiro expected them to start a fight, but judging by Aika and Fuyuna's relaxed expressions, apparently it was only Chihiro's lack of sibling sense as an only child.

"Kiyomi-chan, don't bully Izumi-senpai~..." Fuyuna spoke shyly, making to intervene, but not exactly concerned, either.

"Come on, Fuyu-yun! Remember your training! We have to speak up for ourse--"

Her free hand stuffed inside her pocket, Etsuki gave Kiyomi a flick on the head as some sort of compensation. "We're not here for a contest to see who can have the most petty argument." Coolly, Etsuki glanced over to Aika. "So, we gonna get to helping them, or...?" The guitarist pointed a thumb towards the five.

"Oh, yeah!" The sweet blonde girl smiled as if to act all cute. "Hey, what instruments are you guys on?"

Quickly, Aki informed her of their band roles, but there was never much to say to begin with. Especially not when they were hardly a band, not in sound, and not even in communication. Aika nodded knowingly, and soon the nine girls had been separated into tiny groups, being taught - or rather, *trying* to be taught - how to play their instruments. Chihiro noticed Fuyuna squeezing Moriuchi-san's hand, as if to tell her older sister something.

As the vocalist and vocalist exclusively, Chihiro didn't exactly have anything advanced to learn on the agenda yet, so she decided to take the chance to see what everyone else was doing. Obviously, it was her responsibility as their trusty leader to know what they did! ... And Aika was occupied with teaching the nervous Sorae play bass guitar, anyways.

Distracted, Izumi and Kiyomi were messing with each other, with either one of them occasionally trying to get back on track, but to little avail. 'They're probably more alike than they want to think,' quietly commented Chihiro. And since Aki already had a good knowledge of keyboard and piano - overshooting the bar, in fact - it seemed Fuyuna put her on roaming duty while she paid attention to how her older sister was doing instead.

The mature Etsuki was faring with Moriuchi-san better than Chihiro had expected. "Put your left index finger here, on this line. That's the first fret," Chihiro overheard Etsuki calmly explaining. Whenever Moriuchi-san messed up, Chihiro thought she could hear her muttering what were either harsh criticisms or just plain insults to herself.

"Nosing around?"

"Wah--! Oh, it's just you, Aki-yan..."

She smiled. "Hehe. I'm lookin' too." Aki swept her gaze across everyone in the room. "Wasn't their show cool?"

"Well, more like their warm up, but yeah." Chihiro would have expected them to be at least somewhat taken aback by the sheer noise, but she figured a miracle girl like Aki could handle anything.

She had something to say. Chihiro sensed it.

Aki went on. "Oh, hey, remember when we had lunch together for the first time? I mentioned going to see a live show, but we never got the chance."

No, that wasn't what she wanted to bring up... "Is there even a point to going in person? We could've just watched a video online."

"There is a point! Apparently, it's no good if you watch a recording instead in real life! Plus," she smiled with a finger to her chin, "I wanted to try hang out with you."

Chihiro caught herself taken aback, almost reddening up - What a stupid reason. "Well, now we have free admission."

"More like a family and friends discount, 100% off! 'Cause Izumin and Kiyomi-chan are sisters."

"So are Fuyuna-chan and Moriuchi-san... Hey, isn't it a weird coincidence that she and Izumin are related via their siblings like that?"

"That was on purpose though, wasn't it?" Aki recalled. "Izumin mentioned it in the chat, I think. Moriuchi-san knew Izumin was with us, and then she decided to join because Kiyomi and Fuyuna-chan are both in ECL:PSE?"

Now it was getting warmer. Chihiro eyed Moriuchi-san, carefully positioning her fingers on the strings. "Then again, it hardly feels like she's with us. She's only talked to me once, and that was when she told me her name..."

"Yeah... So, how do you feel?"

There it was. But without context, Chihiro was still lost. "About...?"

"About what happened yesterday."

"H-Huh? It wasn't even that big a deal."

"Well... sure." Aki suddenly had a wistful look on her face. "But even if it's not, it doesn't feel right to avoid it. Like something bigger, or something worse, might happen if we do. Anyways, I guess I just can't shut up about it because I feel so guilty."

Now Chihiro was even more confused, perhaps even shocked - She'd never heard the cheery Aki talk like that before. "I-It's not like you knew she'd be like that!"

"Right. But even with that aside..." Aki's gaze drifted onto Moriuchi-san, attempting to strum Etsuki's jet black guitar. "I dunno, I'm worried for Moriuchi-san - about what she's doing here. I definitely think she has the potential to be with us, but she-- no, *we're* going about it wrong." The keyboardist murmured. "And I'm worried about Sora-chin. She was scared to begin with, so you know, not helpful! Izumin's avoiding it at all costs, and you, Hiro-tan... I think you're trying to pick a side."

"O-Oh... huh." Chihiro simply muttered in reply. But in her mind, she tried to comprehend it. 'Am I? Isn't it obvious whose side I'm supposed to be on?' ... What kind of decision did she have in this mess that would've been hard to make? Her life had always been so bland that even the choices she could make were black and white. When would she ever get stuck between two choices that actually concerned her?

Aki forced a smile, turning back to Chihiro. "Well, whatever happens, I'll do my best to fix it!"

Feeling weirdly comforted and puzzled all at once, Chihiro forced a smile back. "Yeah."

She glanced back at Aika, recalling how confident she was, instructing the rest of ECL:PSE. And recalling that strange presence of an invisible thread.

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## Trivia

* Two CGs of the members of ECL:PSE are displayed in this story.