AMBiTiON/Story/Ch. 4

## Point Proven

 *Afetr some failed attempts to recruit Izumi, Chihiro ends up hearing out her worries.*

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"Hiro-tan~, you're gonna bother Takimoto-senpai again?"

As the students began to leave for dismissal, Aki stood at Chihiro's desk, tilting her head. "I'm not bothering her!" The brown-haired girl replied. "Just befriending her."

"I don't know... It doesn't sound like she wants to be befriended. You've been trying to convince her to join us for a week, and she still hasn't agreed. Why not leave her be...?"

"I can't help that she takes the same train as me to go home! I just keep bumping into her."

"Come on, Hiro-tan~, let's just leave her alone! Plus, we hardly have anything set up - All we know is that I'll play the keyboard and you'll sing. Takimoto-senpai's in for disappointment if she actually joins now..."

Chihiro frowned and leaned back in her seat. "Well, that's the thing. We don't know anything about managing a band, and... maybe Takimoto-senpai might know enough to help us? S-Since her sister's in ECL:PSE? I don't know."

"Aw, don't discredit me like that! I did my research too!" Aki pouted jokingly, but looking her in the eyes, Chihiro scornfully thought to herself, 'And I'm not looking for some pretentious princess who thinks she's qualified for success just for making a couple of searches on the internet.'

Aki glanced at the clock. "Ah! I should probably go to volleyball practice now. Don't go nagging Takimoto-senpai again, ya hear~?"

"Sure, sure..." Chihiro mumbled, watching the girl take her leave. Who did Aki think she was, bossing her around? What an annoyance.

Sluggishly, Chihiro grabbed her bag and took her sweet time leaving the school. She was a little proud of herself for looking up bands and watching videos of performances the previous night, since, well, maybe it meant she was taking matters into her own hands! And contributing to her grand vision! ... although it cost a chunk of her sleep schedule.

She yawned and headed for the train station, hoping to see Takimoto-senpai again. Chihiro was pleasantly surprised at herself for being so consistent with "befriending" the short, curly-haired girl; consistency was the last thing Chihiro would expect from herself. Maybe she really was determined to win Takimoto-senpai over and remain the winner of this quarrel! Chihiro clenched her fists and held her hands to her chest in triumph. She would prove to that ant-sized brat that her band was worth joining...!

Stepping onto the station platform, Chihiro took out her phone. Then she saw the time. In a mockingly big size, in the middle of her lock screen, it read, "3:33PM".

"I-I took too long and missed the train..." Chihiro whispered pathetically to herself, defeated. There was no way Takimoto-senpai also missed it like she did - It seemed as though Chihiro wouldn't be able to bother her today. Disappointed, she sighed and tiredly stood about, waiting.

Chihiro walked the usual road going home. For the past week, she'd been accompanied by Takimoto-senpai on her way home, much to the latter's dismay. Although Chihiro had always gone to and from school on her lonesome, the week she spent with the small girl didn't feel so lonely, despite Takimoto-senpai being so aloof and boringly quiet. If only that Aki Hoshinomiya-sama didn't have such Important Business or whatever it was to constantly attend to, perhaps Chihiro's life outside of school didn't have to be so bland. 'Whatever,' Chihiro shook her head, silently saying to herself, 'I can always leave them behind if they're too troublesome... Anything, as long as I get people to like me.'

And yet as she walked on, a familiar feeling revisited Chihiro. She stared at her feet, her side ponytail swaying.

She felt so out of place.

She had always tried so hard to feel approved of.  But whatever she did, it just wouldn't work. People wouldn't spare her even a moment. Whatever she tried in order to make others like her - as she deserved to be - Lady Luck just did not have it in Her to give Chihiro that rightful treatment. It was tiring.

The air fell still.

Chihiro halted and took a deep breath. This was exactly why she wanted to form the band. She was going to prove to the world which wronged her that she was worthy, and make herself someone worth knowing. She would be popular. Famous, even. The auburn-haired girl forced herself to look up and face forward. She would do anything in her power to finally get what she wanted... Even if it meant manipulating the people she met.

"Lalala~."

The melancholy of Chihiro's thoughts was severed by an odd, out-of-tune singing, one which did not fit into the surrounding birdsong nor the faint rustling of the canopy overhead.

"Mango or grape juice? A dilemma indeed~."

A voice, like that of a child's, ever so quiet, yet so audible throughout the empty street.

"Lalala~. Just do my math homework, like 'zoom'!"

A voice, so eerily familiar...

"Lalala~. Then I'll play Pixerrarium and beat the Octopistol! Bang bang, shoot~!"

"Takimoto-senpai?"

"Ugyaaah--!!"

The short figure jumped six feet like a startled cat and stiffly, as if she were a frozen statue, turned around nearly pixel by pixel for her wide turquoise eyes to meet the oblivious ones of Chihiro.

"If you don't mind me asking... Uhm, what are you doing?"

"Sorry you had to see that." Like magic, Takimoto-senpai's terrified pose returned to an unmoving, coffin-like stance. Her wild eyes blinked away into the usual dull gaze, and whatever startling surprise that was previously present disappeared as if it were dust in the wind.

"Uh, that didn't answer my ques--"

"I said sorry, okay?!" Takimoto-senpai snapped, then spun around and started walking away.

Chihiro followed her for another three steps. "Um, y'know… you looked happy just now, Takimoto-senpai."

"... So? What's your point?" The small silhouette stopped to face Chihiro. She glared. "Does it matter that I look happy? Does it matter when I look so stupid?" Takimoto-senpai turned back around, her voice becoming icy, edged with distrust. "When I get berated by people like you...?!"

People like... her?

Slightly open-mouthed in shock, Chihiro choked on her words as she tried to speak, "Wait, I--"

"And for the love of god, does it matter when the person who finds me like this is as annoying as you?!"

Takimoto-senpai's back was turned as she spat those harsh words without hesitation. "Again, sorry for that." She simply stated, and was about to leave again when Chihiro became the one to interrupt her.

"Hey, Takimoto-senpai. Aren't you lonely?" Her voice quivered as she searched for the correct words - One wrong step and it could all go south. "Doesn't it get lonely to hide all of that?"

"Better alone than laughed at."

"Then let people laugh. They can't stop you from doing what you want."

The two remained quiet. Chihiro didn't dare speak. It felt like an eternity before anyone said anything.

"But they want to stop me," Takimoto-senpai muttered.

"So? That has nothing to do with you." Word by word by word. It was like treading on a minefield. And yet, those phrases came out so naturally. "Prove them wrong, if you want to so badly. Do anything it takes. Make them regret it."

The short girl did not respond.

As Chihiro spoke, she heard her heart pounding after every word. Closing her eyes, she decided to shoot for the target.

"Look, this might not be the right time, but I'll let you join my band. I won't bother you anymore if you say no." Her blood felt cold. "Y-You wanna play drums, right? Why don't you learn it?"

Takimoto-senpai turned her head so her profile was revealed. "You're making fun of me," she muttered.

"No, I'm not. There's no point in it. You know, you haven't met my bandmate yet," Chihiro pointed out. "so when you meet her, you can be as 'yourself' as you'd like... So how about it? Do you want to join my band?"

There was a long pause. Takimoto-senpai turned to fully face Chihiro.

"Sure." Bullseye.

Chihiro felt a weight lift itself off of her chest. She let out a sigh of relief. "Alright! Then--"

"Sure! Yes! Yeah! I'll join your band! Yup!"

"I-I heard you the first time..."

"Wait, am I your friend now? Do I need to text you or something?"

"Actually, that's what I was gonna ask!"

"Hehe, beat you to it~!" Takimoto-senpai began to jump around all bunny-like, and Chihiro had to start walking to catch up with this newly energetic girl. It was as if a frozen layer thawed to reveal a completely different thing and Chihiro thought impressedly, albeit a little begrudgingly as well: 'How long has she put up such an act for?'

The two chattered like birds the whole way back, the conversation mostly led by the enthusiastic Takimoto-senpai, of course. "So what *have* you done with that band thing, really?" She excitedly asked.

"Um, about that... Not much. But maybe we'll get going now that you're on board!" Chihiro gave a cheerful smile.

"Oh, sounds fun anyways. Hey, I wanna meet that other person! I-- Oh."

Chihiro stared at the suddenly dejected Takimoto-senpai, charged with energy mere seconds ago. "What?"

"Ugh, my house is this way~!" Whined the short girl, whom Chihiro really still couldn't believe was a year older than her. "Welp, guess that's bye..."

"Aw." Chihiro played along. "Then, Takimoto-senpai, should I meet you tomorrow at the train station again?"

"'Kay! And by the way," the curly-haired girl put her hands on her hips and winked, "call me Izumi!"

And in response, Chihiro winked back. "And call me Chihiro!"

They waved to each other before parting ways. Chihiro walked off, feeling victorious that she had recruited yet another new member to her band, all by herself... Then she let her friendly aura drop.

'Two can play at putting up an act,' Chihiro proudly smiled to herself. 'I was holding in a laugh that whole time, little Izumi. Sorry to say, but I have my own dreams to fulfill. And you're just one of the stepping stones.'

But no matter how tall Chihiro stood, or how content she felt, Izumi's voice reverberated in her head, shouting, "Does it matter when I look so stupid? When I get berated by people like you...?!"

Even as Chihiro returned home, warm pride still clung to her like burrs. With a practiced hand, she unlocked her phone and was ready to tell Aki all about their new band member, when Chihiro noticed there was already a text from the violet-haired girl.

It said, "Hiro-tan, I think I recruited someone!!"

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## Trivia

* Izumi's initial 3\* card is displayed in this story.