Yasu arrived later on, greeted at the door by Takumi. The latter explained that they had been in the same class in high school. The conversation took a strange turn when it was revealed that Yasu and Reira - TRAPNEST's singer - had dated in the past. This revelation had them all in shock.

"Arghhhhh! I can't believe it!" Nobu said, clutching his head. "Why do Yasu and Ren hide so much from us?! I was left out again."

"It wasn't on purpose." Ren said. "We don't always tell you everything."
"It was back when Ren and I were in our first band." Yasu told him. "And it ended before you and I even met. I wasn't going to tell you about it."

"You could say Reira gave you a hard time." Takumi said, pretending to wipe away a stray tear. "I can understand why you don't want to talk about it."

"A hard time?" Yasu said,

"Well, yeah. She kept causing trouble." Takumi sipped his beer.

"That's natural, coming from her." Yasu pointed out.

"True."

Nobu seemed surprised. "Reira was that kind of girl?"

"When she wore her uniform in high school she was really pretty." Ren said. "I had my eye on her but Yasu stole her away. I was so mad."

"Oh, really?" Nana said beside him.

"How long were you together?" Shin asked. Hachi had begun to pass out plates of salad and they began to tuck in.

"Why would you want to know that?" Yasu said, surprised. "It wasn't that long."

"Yeah, but it still lasted a year." Takumi added.

"No, it was two years." Ren said.

"And you call that 'not long'?!" Nana said.

"Then… why did you..." Shion had to take a breath when all eyes turned to her. It was her first time speaking since introducing herself to Ren. "Why did you break up?"

Yasu sighed, looking at them all tiredly. "I hate being my own lawyer. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•

The night dragged on and Shion excused herself for a bathroom break, hoping to get a small respite from their party. She was glad her friends were having a good time, but these sorts of things really weren't for her. Not to mention she was feeling particularly uncomfortable being around Takumi. He'd been pushing Yasu all night - it felt like it went beyond teasing between former classmates. She wondered what Takumi's relationship with Reira was. She gave herself a few more minutes to enjoy the solitude before going back out to rejoin everyone. Immediately she noticed that Nobu wasn't there. Neither was Hachi.

The others were still sitting at the table, and she approached Nana while everyone else listened to Ren. "Where's Nobu?" she asked, lowering her voice.

"Oh, I sent him out to go get more beer." Nana said. "Hachi went with him to help with the bags." She watched Shion closely. "You okay? You look a bit jumpy."

Shion blinked. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna get some fresh air for a little bit - maybe go and sit by the river for a little bit."

Her friend looked surprised. "At this time of night?"

"I'll be twenty minutes tops." Shion said. "I promise."

Nana thought about it and then nodded. "Okay. Just do me a favour and take your phone with you. Call Yasu if something happens."

"Okay." It felt like a bit of an overreaction, considering she'd be within throwing distance of their window, but Nana's concern for her warmed her heart. "See you later."

She found a spot on the grass by the river. The only light was the streetlamp nearby and the grassy slope that led back up to the road was steep enough that passersby wouldn't be able to see her laying down, staring up at the quarter moon. She hadn't bothered bringing a jacket with her and the grass was cool against her skin. It had to be past midnight by now, and the night was silent. She closed her eyes, listening to the lull of the water below. Why had she run out here in the first place? Of course, she already knew the answer.

It was Nobu. The way he had disappeared with Hachi made her feel uneasy. It made her think about what Hachi had said to her last week.

"But what if Nobu gets a girlfriend?" Hachi said. "It's bound to happen! Guitarists are really popular. Won't you be lonely when he's spending all his time with his girlfriend, and not with you?"

Originally she hadn't let herself think about the hypothetical situation too much - she just wanted to enjoy the moments she got with Nobu at present. But tonight had really hit it home how much she relied on him when she was hesitant. He always gave her that little extra push that let her go far. She was grateful for his support - truly - but it unnerved a bit to think about how much she had come to depend on him. If he were to drop off the face of the planet tomorrow - there was a pit forming at the bottom of Shion's stomach that got bigger the more she thought about it. She couldn't figure out if it was jealousy or anxiety, or perhaps a mix of both. The best thing to do would be to discuss it with him, but wouldn't that be weird for her to do? Did friends usually discuss how to make their relationship work even when one of them began dating?

She gazed up at the sky, losing track of time so that she might calm down. She heard laughing in the distance and she recognised the voices as Nobu and Hachi. Their chatter died down and for a moment Shion thought they'd already gone inside the building. But then Hachi spoke up.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Nobu?"

"No, I don't." Nobu said. "I'm recruiting characters in close proximity!"

"What about Shion-chan?" Hachi said. Shion froze. Not here! Not now! Why did you have to ask that?!

"Shion?" Nobu said, like he was mulling the idea over in his head. "It's true I really like her, but I don't know if those feelings are more romantic or platonic. It becomes a bit of a mess when I think about it, so I don't - plus I don't want to freak her out by talking about it. It's not like I'm in any hurry to date someone."

"Oh." Hachi sounded almost disappointed. Shion listened as their footsteps faded away and she heard them enter the building, her heart pounding beneath the palm of her hand. She never would have guessed in a million years that Nobu had thought that hard about their friendship - and whether or not it was indeed friendship. The night air was supposed to be cold, but her entire body was burning.

It took her a lot longer than twenty minutes to compose herself and head back inside.

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•

"Shion?!" Nobu looked relieved - and slightly drunk. "Nana told me you went outside for some air - I was getting worried."

She gave him a small smile. "Just needed to clear my head." Everyone was still sitting around the table playing mahjong, but Takumi was noticeably absent. Had he left ahead of Ren?

Hachi began to clear up the dishes, and Shion dried them as she washed.

"Nobu's a pretty interesting guy." Hachi commented.

Shion ignored that same dark feeling in her stomach. "How was your walk to the shop?"

"It was nice! He cheered me up quite a bit - did you know he's a romantic at heart?"

The sinking feeling wasn't going away. "I had no idea." She bit her lip as she finished drying the last plate, stacking it in the cupboard. "I think I'm gonna turn in. I'm pretty tired."

"Already?" Hachi said, her eyes searching Shion. "Are you feeling alright?"

More like, it's almost 2am. Shion thought to herself, stifling a yawn. "I'm fine. Are the others going to stay the night or go home - I have a futon in my room I can bring out."
"Nana will probably kick them out." Hachi said. "Don't worry about it, Shion-chan. Get some good sleep, ne?"

Shion said goodnight to the rest of her friends and retired for the night. Tomorrow she had her regular job at the record shop, band practice, and afterwards she would also be starting her first day at La Priorité. Her music was ready and she had practised every day. Hopefully it was enough.

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•

One of the disadvantages to having band practice and her work at the club had already begun to emerge. The questions. Now that she had an electric violin that was more appropriate for playing rock music, in theory she had no reason to be bringing her acoustic violin anymore, which was the violin she needed for later on that night. Not to mention she had told Hachi and Nana she had gotten a job at a restaurant - she couldn't exactly ask them to take one violin home for her and not the other. So instead she found herself awkwardly carrying both cases into the hostess club that evening, arriving half an hour early just as her new boss - Mama-san - had asked.

She was handed over to two hostesses who looked to be in their mid-twenties. They smiled kindly at Shion and introduced themselves as Akari and Natsumi. It felt uncomfortable immediately calling them by a first name, even though she knew it wasn't their real one. Hostesses usually chose stage names, after all. The two women brought her to a dressing room and went about getting her something to wear. They chatted with each other over specific colours, eventually settling on a beautiful plum coloured dress with white strappy sandals. Natsumi brushed through her short hair while Akari applied some light makeup.

"Mama-san is looking forward to hearing you play, Shion-chan/" Natsumi said. "You must've impressed her."

"That's not true." Shion said. "I don't think I did particularly well. I messed up a lot."

"There's no need to be so modest." Akari said. "Mama-san has you playing during our busiest part of the night. She wouldn't do that if she didn't think you were talented." Shion knew they were just trying to be nice but all she could hear was the phrase busiest part of the night and the butterflies in her tummy were set loose.

If I can play at a live show, I can play here. Classical music is part of who I am. I can do this.

Her self-encouragement did very little to improve her nerves. How on earth was she supposed to do this every night of the week?

"All done!" Akari and Natsumi gestured for her to look in the mirror. It took her off guard when she saw the reflection that awaited her. Akari had put eyeshadow and a light layer of mascara on her, with a smudge of lipgloss. When coupled with her hair, she had a completely different look to her. IThe bangs that usually covered one of her eyes were now pinned to the side. If she were to smile, she would look worlds away from the quiet violin geek that she was when she'd walked in here.

"Ready to go out?" Natsumi asked her. She took her a deep breath and nodded.

"I'm ready."

The stage she was to perform on was fairly small, with just enough room for a grand piano and another musician to be up there at the same time.. Positioned around the room were loveseats and coffee tables for the hostesses and their customers. Clearly the idea in this club was to enjoy charming company whilst listening to classical music to help them relax. She saw Mama-san out of the corner of her eye watching her. No pressure then.

Ignoring the crowd, she stared at one of the empty loveseats that was facing her. She imagined Nobu and the rest of her friends sitting there, watching her perform. It filled her with courage, and with her hesitation temporarily quashed, she began to play.

Her first song was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. She didn't want to jump into playing something obnoxiously loud, so she had opted for a slower piece. As the minutes went by, her body was lulled into a state of relaxation - it almost felt like she was meditating. When she finished her first song, she heard polite applause coming from some of the tables. Off to the side, Shion could see Mama-san nod in approval at her.

Other notable pieces she played included Vivaldi's Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter; Ave Maria; Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; Offenbach's Can-Can; and Taki Rentarou's Koujou no Tsuki. She was beginning to feel the effects of playing almost continuously for 2 hours by the time it came to play her final song - which was also the most challenging one she had planned to play.

Paganini's Caprice no.24.

She bowed when she was finished, and to her great surprise the room burst into applause. It was so abrupt that Shion almost tripped over as she stepped off stage. While most of the customers in the room soon turned their attention back to their hostess, she could feel the eyes of others still trained on her until she disappeared back into the dressing room. She washed the makeup from her face, still reeling from her performance and stripped off her dress; hanging it back up ready for tomorrow, when she would have to do it all over again. Already her legs hurt from standing for so long, and her shoulders ached. Holding a violin was an awkward position to be in at the best of times, yet alone when it was for hours on end. She'd need to make sure she started stretching properly before she went on stage.

She left the club just as soft piano music echoed through the building.

Back at home, Nana, Ren, Shin, and Nobu were sitting at the table, chatting. Shion was so tired after walking back that she almost didn't notice that Hachi was absent. They stopped to greet her as she came in, unceremoniously falling against the door and sliding to the ground.

"Long day?" Nana said. "You look rough."

"I had no idea you'd gotten another part-time job, Shion." Nobu said, sliding out of his seat so he could help her stand. "Not to mention it's at a restaurant."

She touched his arm briefly. "I had to pay for a new violin somehow." she said with a tired smile. "Sorry, I really need to go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Fair enough." he said. "Good night."

"Good night."

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•

For the next three weeks, Shion fell into the daily grind of her new schedule. In the morning she would get up and head to the record shop for her shift. When she finished at 3pm she would have just enough time to get something to eat before she made her way to the music shop she had bought her violin at, for an hour of busking as she had promised. She played BLAST's songs, figuring that it might attract new fans to their music. She would head home immediately afterwards and plug her headphones into her electric violin - ready to go over the songs she needed to play at La Priorité later that night. Then when it was time for band practice she would take both her violins and head down to the studio - usually with Nana if she was still around by the time Shion left. With her job at La Priorité not finishing until 11pm every night, she was managing to get home at almost midnight.

Her schedule was crammed with commitments she had made, and her social life had taken the fall for it. She only ever saw Nobu at work or band practice which meant they didn't have the opportunity to talk like they used to or hang out properly. He'd expressed concern that she was overworking herself, but she'd brushed off his concerns. She could handle it.

It wasn't just Nobu she hadn't seen much of. Even though she lived with them, Shion had barely seen Nana or Hachi. Especially Hachi. After she revealed that she lost her job, she would disappear from time to time, sometimes not returning until the next morning. Maybe if she wasn't so busy, Shion would have pressed the matter with her roommate. It was frustrating that she didn't have the time to spend with her friends anymore, but until her debt was paid to the music shop, this was how it needed to be.

She wasn't the only one who had begun to notice Hachi's absence.

"Where's Hachi?" Nobu said during practice. "She's not coming again today?"

"I guess not." Shion said.

"You keep mentioning that, Nobu." Shin said smirking.

"Are you in love with her~?" Nana teased.

"Of- of course not!" Nobu blushed. "It's just always better to play in front of an audience!"

Nana sighed. "I wanna do a concert!" she whined into the microphone.

"So why don't we?" Yasu said. "A band contacted me to ask if we'd play with them."
"Huh? Really" Nobu said.

"The last time we played we were a success, so we've been asked to play again." Yasu told them.

"Let's do it!" Nana said eagerly.

And that was how she'd found herself at another live show, in the last week of June. She was just thankful that it didn't interfere with her work schedule. She would be able to go straight to the hostess club from the concert hall. Nobu squeezed her hand like he had at the first live show before they all went out on stage again, but it felt different this time. As they stood in front of their audience, she could feel him searching for someone in the audience. She watched his face light up with a smile as he spotted Hachi in the front row, cheering for them.

Their performance passed by in a blur, and she didn't get to enjoy it as much as she would have liked - especially since it was the first live performance since buying her new violin. She felt herself getting sluggish in places, and it took all her effort to stay in time with everyone else - the music was just white noise buzzing in her ears, and she could tell her bandmates had noticed too. She had already disappeared backstage and begun packing everything up when her bandmates were still savouring the screams of appreciation and applause from their set. Shion was just about to slip away when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You're sure in a hurry." Nobu said. Behind him were the rest of the band, and they all had looks of concern etched into their faces.

"Um, yeah." Shion said. "I've got work tonight… at the uh, restaurant."

"Seriously?" Nobu said. "You can't just take the night off? We were gonna go back to your place and celebrate. This was a team effort - we all should be there."

Shion looked apologetic. "Sorry. They'll kill me if I'm not there in half an hour."

"It feels like we've barely seen you for the past month, Shion" Nana said. "You go to work, come to practice and then go back to work again. How well are you sleeping?"

"I'm sleeping fine!" she insisted. "I am completely fine."

"Liar." Shin said. She ignored him.

"It's true you've been looking unwell recently, Shion-chan." Yasu said. "It's important that you look after yourself."

"I am!" she said. She checked the time on her phone. 8:10pm. It was time to leave. She grabbed her violin cases, swinging one onto her back, and carrying the other. "I've gotta go. See you later."

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•

Her performance at La Priorité that night felt like the longest yet. Tiredness numbed her mind and she opted to play Amazing Grace, rather than risk playing Paganini for her final piece that night. She took her final bow and began walking towards the hallway that led off to the dressing room - except she was stopped by a young man. He looked familiar but she couldn't figure out where she'd seen him before.

"Excuse me." he said. "This may sound strange but… are you the violinist from BLAST?"

"What? Oh, um, yes."

He broke into a smile. "I knew it! I asked Takumi to sneak a photo when he went round your place, but you're so much cuter in person!"

Shion took a step back, wondering if the horror was showing on her face. "My photo?" she echoed. "I'm really sorry, but I have no idea who you are."

"Ouch." he said. "I'm Fujieda Naoki. TRAPNEST's drummer."

Ah! That was where she'd seen him before! Even so, she still hadn't forgotten the comment about Takumi taking her photo when she wasn't looking.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I've got to get going."

"I can give you a lift!" he said. "You must be tired after playing for so long."

She shook her head, refusing the offer. "I'll be okay. I've done this for a while now." Bowing to him politely, she continued her way to the dressing room and got changed out of her dress.

That was when she saw the note on the dressing room table, addressed to her. The first thought that popped into her head was that it was from Naoki - his interference with her had been the only personal interaction she'd had with customers of the establishment. She unfolded the note, fully prepared to throw it out but her heart froze as she read what it said.

I've come every night since I first saw you play here, Shion-chan. Please meet me outside when you've finished - I have a suite at the hotel across the road. I want to get to know you more, and I want you to know me.

At that moment, Natsumi popped her head in. "You did great today, Shion-chan." She saw Shion staring in horror at the note in her hands and frowned. "Is something wrong?"

Shion quickly stuffed the note into the pocket of her jeans. "No! Nothing at all. I'm good."

Natsumi smiled. "See you tomorrow, yeah?"

Shion nodded, waiting until she was left along to freak out. This note - would it be an exaggeration to say it was written by a stalker? It said he'd come every night since he first heard her play - not to mention he knew her name. When she got up on stage, Mama-san didn't introduce her to the crowd. She just got up and played. So either he'd asked someone who worked at the club about her, or he'd found out some other way. And now he was waiting for her outside. The idea of walking home now was terrifying, but she couldn't see any way around it. Calling Nobu or Nana to ask them to get her meant revealing where it was she actually worked, and that was a big no-no. Instead, she tried calling Shin. At least he knew where she was.

The attempt soon failed as she realised his phone was switched off. What was she going to do?

"I'll have to just suck it up. He can't bother me if I stick to the main street."

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•

"Hey! Hey, Shion-chan! Babe!" Her legs wobbled as she kept on walking, ignoring the man who continued to call out to her from behind. Eventually, he caught up with her and she flinched when he put a hand on her arm. "The hotel's on the other side of the road, gorgeous." he said. He had to be in his forties, and he wore a pinstripe suit. She ignored him.

"Don't be like that, Shion-chan! I'm your biggest fan. I don't even come to the club for the hostesses anymore. I come for you. I just want to spend some time with you, is that so bad?"

"I'm a musician, mister." she said, suppressing the urge to cry. Her voice was really shaking. "I don't interact with the customers, I just play music for them."

"And I've got a suite in the hotel where we can make our own sweet music." he said, trying to slip his arm around her waist, rather unsuccessfully, due to the violin case on her back.

"Please... leave me alone." she pleaded. "I just... want to go home."

He threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine. I'll take the hint. See you tomorrow, princess." That should have been the end of it. But in her hurry to get home as quickly as possible, she took a shortcut - a shortcut that didn't have hundreds of people walking through it like the main street. In retrospect, it was a stupid thing to do, but she had been in fight or flight mode, and flight had won.

A cold hand clamped around her mouth the moment she slipped into the sidestreet and the violin case she had been holding tumbled to the ground. The second case was yanked off her back and discarded in the same way. She wanted to scream, but it was difficult to even breathe - the hand was tight over her mouth and nose. Just as her lungs were beginning to burn, the hand came off her mouth and her attacker came into view. It was the same man as before - of course it was. Before she had a chance to scream for help, he covered her mouth again - this time with his own.

She struggled against him desperately, but he was much stronger than her, and her body had already been deprived of energy from her countless nights of working. Shion was completely powerless as his tongue violated her mouth, as his lips hungrily devoured her own. It felt surreal, and her cries died in her throat, silent tears running down her cheeks. She felt his hands begin to snake under her shirt when suddenly he was pulled away, and she watched as he was launched across the road, falling backwards and slamming his head into a wall. Another figure came into view and she shied away when they reached for her.

"Leave me alone! Leave me alone!"

"Shhhh! Shhhhh! Shion-chan - it's me!" Her legs gave out and her rescuer caught her before she could fall to the ground. The last thing she saw before she passed out was his face.

Fujieda Naoki.

•─────⋅雨⋅─────•