Hayase Nagatoro was not much of a music person. She enjoyed the occasional tune, sang along with some of her favorite anime openings (though she'd never tell anyone that), and endured a couple of generic radio hits. She never made a habit of collecting CD's, records, or any other sort of music. There was no band she had ever put much stock into, especially not those that some of the boys in her high school tried to get her interested in. No, Nagatoro was totally okay with just letting others choose songs for her, ignoring them most of the time anyway.

Thus, when her friend Yoshi surprised her and the rest of their group with four tickets to see a band called "The four average", apparently one of Yoshi's favorites, Nagatoro wasn't really thrilled about it. At least not about the music.
After graduating high school two years ago, their little group of trouble makers, Gamo, Yoshi, Sakura and Nagatoro herself, had to largely go their separate ways to continue higher education, or in Gamo's case, working at her family's gym.
Nagatoro herself had worked hard, fully submersing herself in Judo and other sports, alongside Orihara, to be accepted at Nittaidai, a university focused on training both body and mind for athletes.

There, the two rivals began pushing each other like never before, trying to become the best they could possibly be. And while Orihara was a great girl and a wonderful friend to Nagatoro, she dearly missed her high school clique, who she always did and always would consider her best friends. So the decision came swift and without much deliberation.
Only two minutes after Yoshi had reached out in a group chat with the concert offer, Nagatoro vehemently agreed, pushing the other two to make time for the trip.

Two weeks later, Nagatoro was on a train to Tokyo, where the concert was to take place. It was a chilly night out, which she was trying to combat with a white gilet, worn over a black hoodie with cat ears. Dark blue jeans and some comfortable socks and gloves kept her extremities heated. Sitting by herself in a small nook, where no one would bother her, she looked up the path to the hotel the four of them had booked together. It would only take her a ten minute walk from the train station, which was good news, because Nagatoro wanted to just relax and talk with her friends. They communicated almost every day through their LINE chat, but the real thing could never be replaced.

Even when they used video calls to have a digital sleep over with one another, the fact she couldn't playfully smack Yoshi for a dumb remark, or toss a pillow at Gamo's face, or apply nail polish to Sakura, just ended up depressing her. Nagatoro didn't like to let people see it, always projecting an outer shell of strength and cool demeanor, but underneath it all, she was just as emotionally needy as everyone else. Maybe even more so. Especially ever since her Senpai left.

Nagatoro clutched her kitty-themed bag, trying her best to fight back the negativity that was rising up, threatening to devour her and drown her in a sea of tears. If she thought of her Senpai for too long, she would surely begin to crack underneath the memories and constant reminders of him. She began taking a few deep breaths, the way Orihara had taught her, to calm her mind. She wouldn't let this get to her. Not now, not when she was about to have a wonderful long weekend with her best friends.

Another few breaths later, Nagatoro managed to regain control of herself.
She freed the poor bag from her clutches and looked up at the digital map above the door next to her, showing that she was only a couple more stations away from the destination. A smile played on her lips as she began looking forward to the goofy night ahead of them.

Nagatoro exited the train car, her bag and suitcase in hand and began making her way through the fully packed station. People didn't really bother her, as long as they kept their distance and didn't try to rope her into a meaningless conversation. If it hadn't been for her luggage she could have easily bobbed and weaved between everyone, making her way outside at lightning speed. But unfortunately, reality forced her to take the long, arduous route of following everyone else to the main entrance.

Finally one with the fresh air, Nagatoro moved as swiftly as she could, essentially running the whole way to the street her hotel was on. The ten minute walk that was advertised to her, however turned into almost half an hour, due to the amount of people and traffic barring her way, something she should have anticipated due to the long weekend.

Finally at the place, Nagatoro entered the reception and checked in.
"Hayase Nagatoro," she announced herself to the attendant. "Me and my friends booked a room together. It should be under Gamou."

The young, well dressed man, began checking his computer for the name and eventually nodded at her, a short smile on his face.

"Yes, seems like it's all clear," he said, reaching for a key on the wall behind him and gingerly placing it on the counter in front of Nagatoro. "You have room 402, fourth floor. Enjoy your stay and feel free to call on me if you need anything."

Nagatoro took the key, thanking the man for his services and took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Once the doors opened she was met with a beautifully, well lit corridor, a gold and red carpet reaching all the way to the end of the hallway. She quickly reached the door to their room, which was right at the start of the corridor beside the elevator, and unlocked it.

It was a gorgeous little place, two large beds taking up most of the space of the main room, with a flat screen TV mounted onto the wall opposite to the beds. Past that was a window, built into a snug alcove, with a glorious view of the city below. Nagatoro knew the bathroom had a door, leading over into room 404, where Gamo and Yoshi would be sleeping.

The girl quickly dropped her bags onto the bed closer to the window and sat down in the alcove, watching the city live and breathe below her. It was dreamy, incredibly romantic and unbelievably pricey. A good chunk of the cash the girls had saved up since graduation had gone toward this place, but it would be worth it. They all had seen each other separately over multiple occasions, but this would be the first time all four of them had the chance to hang out as a unit, like they used to in high school.

Realizing she was now sweating with her heavy clothes still on inside the hotel, she stripped down to her underwear and opened up the suitcase to retrieve a set of pajamas she had packed. The sky blue button up shirt and baggy pants made her feel comfortable, yet stylish. Before returning to the alcove, she unpacked her phone charger and plugged it into the wall right next to the window, allowing her to keep her gadget charged while enjoying the view. She quickly pulled up her LINE chat group to check on the rest of the group.

Where ya guys at? I am already relaxing inside~

No fair! :( - Yoshi

We kinda fell behind the schedule, we'll be there in like an hour. - Gamo

I am almost there, see you soon Hayacchi! - Sakura

Nagatoro giggled and slid from her sitting position, allowing herself the space to curl up inside the alcove, her gaze still falling over the skyline and people below. The lights that were dancing against the ever darkening horizon made her feel nostalgic and warm on the side, she barely even realized she had closed her eyes.

The feeling of something hitting here in the back jolted Nagatoro out of her sleep. Instantly alert, she sprung up and immediately hit her head at the top of the alcove.

"Oh shit! Hayacchi I am so sorry!"

Nagatoro, in searing pain, whipped her head to the side, glaring at her friend Gamo, who had just tossed a pillow at her back. Clearly both filled with sorrow and panic, the taller girl had a tense smile on her lips, her eyebrows cautiously wiggling. Behind her, Yoshi was quickly trying to hide her own pillow, which she had surely tossed next. Gamo took a step back in fear, laughing sheepishly.

"W-we good, rig-"

Nagatoro jumped out of the alcove and tackled Gamo, the two of them landing on the bed next to the window. With ease, Nagatoro managed to put her friend into a headlock, grinning maniacally. Gamo, using her height to her advantage, planted her feet firmly on the ground and flung Nagatoro over her shoulder, spinning quickly enough to toss her onto the same bed. For a brief, tense moment, the two glowered at each other, looking ready for another round, before breaking out into laughter.

Nagatoro leaped off the bed and wrapped her arms around Gamo, who instantly became flushed with a sly grin on her face. "Ey, ey, don't be doing all that now."

Despite her protest, she embraced Nagatoro all the same and patted her back. As the two went to separate quickly, hoping to downplay their embarrassment, Yoshi lunged forward and pushed them both back in, throwing her arms around the two. A grin appeared on all of their faces, their cheeks beet red and their joy of being together overwhelming.

"I guess I'll just be here by myself then~" Sakurai cooed sadly, standing at the door to the en suite bathroom.

The three girls separated from their hug, shot glances at one another, and with devious laughter pounced at Sakura, who screamed in faked fear. Thus, all of them ended up on the floor, in a pile, laughing their heads off at their own silly antics. It had been a full two years since they last all occupied the same room. It was wonderful feeling to be reunited.

After the adrenaline high fizzled out, the four of them sat on the two beds and began sharing information on their commute to Tokyo and their overall daily activities. They obviously knew most of these things already from constantly chatting online, but being able to clearly talk to one another, face to face, made it so much more real to them.

Gamo had begun training to potentially join a couple of tournaments and see how far she could push herself as a kick boxer, also considering the opportunity this would present for her family's gym if she could bring notoriety back home with her.

Yoshi had, to everyone's massive surprise, begun to write novels and was studying literature and languages to allow her to push further down that line of possibilities.

Sakura was working part time at a salon, while studying for the chance to take steps into the beauty industry, wanting to create her own line of clothes and make up.

It was all rather wild to Nagatoro, who hadn't really cared to think past the part of become an athlete with a small job on the side, compete here and there and maybe go to the Olympics if every other eligible candidate that year ended up sick or dead. She knew she could work towards almost anything if she wanted to. Despite what people might have thought about her looking from the outside in, Nagatoro was an incredibly intelligent woman that required very little time, effort or hand holding to learn about the things that interested her. It was always shocking to people who weren't close to her, to see her test scores, assuming she had somehow cheated.

But Nagatoro had no real drive or desire to do much else, outside of continuing her pursuit of the sports which helped her from drowning in the her own self pity, when she had made the biggest fumble in her life by letting her Senpai get away. She was content for the time being. She was living from day to day, with no plans in mind and she was okay with it.

Sakura, realizing that Nagatoro had disappeared into her own little world, began waving her hand in front of her friend's face, snapping her back to attention.

"Anyway, Hayacchi, we said we'll get ready to go there tomorrow by about two in the afternoon. So don't stay up too late."

Nagatoro nodded in agreement, a blush on her face as she realized that she had totally drowned out here friends due to her own depressed thoughts.

"Stop that," she thought to herself. "You didn't come here sulk!"

The girls ended up spending a wonderful evening, continuing to catch up with each other, watching a stupid movie on TV and just admiring Tokyo from their room's view. It was excellent. Life couldn't be any better.

The next morning, Nagatoro was the last to wake up, having had trouble sleeping all night long. A note taped to the mirror in the bathroom let her know that the other three had gone ahead to the dining hall to eat breakfast. Nagatoro quickly brushed her teeth, put on a purple shirt and black sweat pants and ran out the hall.

After exiting the elevator in the reception, Nagatoro followed the signs above toward the dining area, a huge hall, filled with about fifteen tables and a massive lineup of food displayed alongside the wall. She quickly found her friends sitting in a corner further from the entrance, as to not draw attention to themselves, not wanting any guys to annoy them. After each of them grabbed food and drinks, they started making plans for the day, deciding to go shopping for two hours, before making their way to the venue for the concert. While Nagatoro didn't feel like it would be wise for them all to spend even more money on frivolous shopping, she wasn't willing to bring that point up and ruin the mood. She was just so happy to be surrounded by her loved ones again. Not that she would tell them that.

After finishing their meals, the four girls got up and returned to their rooms to prepare for their trip out. Not feeling the need to make herself particularly pretty for anyone, including herself, Nagatoro simply put on one of her cat hoodies, a pair of black pants and sneakers. Sakura meanwhile went all out on herself, putting her hair up in a tight bun, applying tasteful makeup and wearing quite a daring dress going down to her knees, that showed ample cleavage.

"Should I let Gamo and Yoshi know I'll be sleeping with them tonight?" Nagatoro joked, one of her eyebrows lifting at the sight of Sakura. She definitely looked like she was ready to seduce literally any and all men of the world.

Her friend simply giggled, waving the thought away, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "If I just get one of the four's attention, that'll make this effort worth it."

That's when Nagatoro remembered why they had all come together. Obviously, they had been talking about it a couple of times since getting here, but with all the fun she was having just talking to and messing about with her friends, she had sort of forgotten about the concert.

"Right," she just said dully.

Finishing up their preparations, the four met out in the hallway. Gamo went for a punk rock style, wearing a choker and a black, long sleeved shirt with the ends of them having been cut into very short fringes. Yoshi was wearing a snug hoodie, with a thousands of tiny puppies running around as the design. It fit them both perfectly.

The four girls spent the next hour or so just strolling through the city, enjoying each other's company and entering any store they deemed worthy of their time. Nagatoro, who still felt the cries of her wallet ringing out in her head, tried her best to ignore all temptations she crossed that day. Sakura and Yoshi meanwhile bought all sort of clothes, books and CD's, some of them they were looking to get into once back at their hotel. Gamo briefly considered buying a tiger statue, as it reminded her of a certain guy back home, but she dropped it as soon as she spotted her friends snickering.

With the shopping done, the friends returned to the hotel quickly, with Sakura and Yoshi dropping off their purchases, before reuniting in front of the building. Nagatoro had checked the venue in the meantime and a problem struck her.

"Guys, we have to get to the metro now if we want to make it in time," Nagatoro exclaimed, a little concern in her voice.

Gamo patted her on the back, retrieved a set of keys from her pockets and used them to unlock a car a little ways down the road. "I got us covered."

"Woah," Sakura beamed. "Didn't know this trip included a private chauffeur."

And so the four got into the car, Gamo and Yoshi upfront, with Nagatoro and Sakura getting comfortable in the back. Gamo quickly adjusted her mirrors before taking off.

It didn't take them as long as Nagatoro had feared. Less than an hour later, they had parked in a garage right next to the venue. Taking the chance to enjoy the nice breeze, which wasn't too cold for this time of the year, they just stood outside the place and talked about their favorite music.

Of course, Nagatoro had not much to add, as she wasn't one for the topic, but she definitely enjoyed hearing her friends all having a good time and learning about what they liked to listen to. If nothing else, this was a perfect way to find a decent present for birthdays or Christmas. She was surprised to hear of some of their tastes though, especially when Gamo admitted to being really into slow, emotional and melodic songs.

Once more people began showing up and entering the venue, the girls decided to do the same. Lead by Sakura, the honored ticket holder, they were ushered into the small entrance hall. They felt immediately transported back to the 80s and 90s, everything looking somewhat old, yet well up kept. Glossy, wooden beams as far as the eye could see, a cliché looking bar right across the hall of an open area, possibly set up for meet and greets or autograph sessions. It was honestly quite lovely. The acoustics were also sublime, the drawback being that the chattering of the many people within the halls became quite overbearing.

A long corridor led from the entrance, passed a couple of restrooms, straight into the concert hall. It wasn't massive, not a theater sized stage or the like, but it was just big enough to infer that the band playing here today would be above your standard garage type situation. Black curtains were draped over the main stage and the entire hall was quite dark overall.

Yoshi began hopping up and down in excitement, wanting nothing more than to get a glimpse at the band in person, sweeping up Sakura in her excitement. Gamo shared an eye roll with Nagatoro as they simply watched their friends amused by them.
Nagatoro's eyes wandered around the people in the room and she was shocked to see the amount of hand holding and kissing that was going on. She had never been to a concert like this before. She assumed that couples would show up, naturally, but the mood in this place was anything but restrained. It didn't seem far off in her mind, that some of the people would start jumping on top of each other. Which she obviously found disgusting, in no way simply because she had no one to enjoy this kind of situation with. And she probably never would, since she absolutely tanked her chances with the one guy her heart had ever responded to. But that was okay! Nagatoro would just toro on regardless.

Nagatoro's attention was grabbed by people ahead of her cheering, "They're starting!"

Wanting to get a good look at the band, Nagatoro got onto her tippy toes, craning her neck to look past the couple in front. The curtains had pulled aside to reveal the performers.

Four guys, all seemingly around college age, had gotten onto the stage, their instruments being lightly played to get themselves in the mood.

The drummer, an incredulously average looking guy, with black hair, safe for one white patch, gently tapped his snare drum, a quick smile flashing over his face.

The boy closest to him, immediately recognizable as a foreigner, was a little shorter than the rest, blonde, spiky hair standing off his scalp. A pair of tinted, full-moon glasses covered parts of his blue eyes. His red hoodie was hanging off of his shoulders, giving it the appearance of a cape. He was casually strumming the electric guitar slung around his neck.

On the opposite side of the stage, furthest away from Nagatoro, so that she couldn't make out his features, stood the bassist, checking that his instrument was perfectly tuned for the performance.

More cheering and fawning occurred, making Nagatoro redirect her attention toward the middle of the stage, where the lead singer was stepping through a shallow wall of smoke. Like the shorter guitarist, the vocalist had an electric guitar hang around his neck, shaped somewhat like wine-red bat wing, with black stripes running across it diagonally. His black, short sleeved shirt displayed some sort Kaiju the girl had never seen, appearing to be a cross between a terrifying misshapen cat and Godzilla. One spiked wristband was on his left hand, with another, slightly smaller version functioning as a choker around his neck. His right earlobe was pierced, an obsidian looking stud reflecting the stage lights. A rather slender face was framed by long, brown and incredibly curly hair, a couple of fringes falling directly into his face. The longest of his bang, which happened to be dyed blonde, reached all the way to his chin.

Nagatoro could feel her heart skipping a beat, something that threw her for a loop. She had never heard of the band before Yoshi had talked about them, never listened to any of their songs, so why did the appearance of their front man suddenly make her feel flustered. In fact, only one other person in the world had ever made her heart beat as if she had just finished running a triathlon.

Despite all the time that had passed since then, she felt a pang of guilt, as if she had betrayed her first love. With a flushed face, she lowered her gaze, determined to avoid looking at the stage for the rest of the evening and simply hoping she could enjoy the music.

To her surprise, she really did. Nagatoro wasn't a huge music person, but even she could get behind the rhythm, the beats and the lyrics that the band had to offer. Gamo and Sakura next to her soon began dancing to the music, enjoying themselves far more than Nagatoro would have imagined. Yoshi, never one to be left behind joined in, the three of them unintentionally surrounding Nagatoro with their antics.

This went on for most of the set, until they had reached more emotional and hard hitting tracks. Nagatoro still enjoyed these, but some of the lyrics felt like they hit a bit close to home for her liking though.

I'm sorry won't cut it for the rest of your life
Get over yourself and say goodbye

Her head sank again, something the others didn't notice, as she thought back to the last time she had seen her Senpai and how livid he had been with her. Naoto had told her essentially the exact same thing, explaining how he had cared for her, even fell in love with her, but the constant teasing and abuse had gotten to a point where her apologies were no longer enough to smooth out their relationship. Nagatoro, who had been head over heels for her Senpai from the moment she met him, was both elated and terrified. Hearing him say that he felt the same way about her should have made fireworks of joy go off in her brain, the moment then topped off with a kiss and embrace, to solidify their relationship.

But instead, the fireworks went up in flames, when every one of her attempts to soothe her Senpai's anger failed to illicit the desired outcome.

Nagatoro was horrible at expressing herself. Absolutely, god awful. She was full of pride and desire to uphold her image as a fearsome woman that could take on anything and anyone. An image which had a certain truth to it. Naoto Hachiouji was the first person to threaten breaking that image.

Nagatoro didn't care for any guys. It wasn't as if she was swinging the other way either, she just didn't swing at all. Her hips weren't interested in gyrating for anyone. That is until she noticed Naoto in the library one day, shy and helplessly awkward as he was. The moment his self drawn manga fell onto the floor, her friends teasing and laughing about it, she could see something special in him. Something about the way he held himself, a strong opinion on his mind, one that she wanted to hear so badly, yet his body and soul unwilling to give it a try, in case of horrible consequences. That instant had her entire body swinging some kind of way.

From that moment she decided that she had to break his outer shell of fear and panic, destroy the wimpy loner kid that wouldn't stand up for himself and overcome his struggles. Like a gross, wriggly worm, she would have him come out of his cocoon and become the man she knew he could be, falling in love with him along the way.

But, as alluded to prior, Nagatoro couldn't communicate properly.

Instead of making her intentions and interests in her Senpai clear, explaining how she herself was a nervous wreck that had absolutely zero experience about how to deal with her love for him, she began teasing and bullying him to an insane degree. Almost daily, she hunted him down in the art club room, him being the sole member, to torture him with wicked games, calling him names and accusing him of being a gross pervert.

Between some physical slapstick and some embarrassing skinship, which could charitably be referred to as sexual harassment from Nagatoro, the girl couldn't stop herself from pushing his buttons over and over again. The way he squirmed underneath her gaze, the way his voice broke every time he tried to speak up for himself or fight back against her advances, it made her go insane. She loved him, she needed him and he was hers.

Of course she never truly meant any of those negative things she said. No harm was ever intended with her actions. If her Senpai had the ability to look past his own self loathing and lack of confidence, he would have surely seen a girl absolutely crazy about him, just unable to express herself properly.

But he didn't. And Nagatoro never found the right words or head space to come clean about her feelings. Until eventually the dam just broke. Nagatoro, unable to control her emotions and her desires any longer, broke and she broke her Senpai too.

After high school graduation, Naoto, her Senpai, simply applied to a school in a different city, never informing Nagatoro of it or where he had gone. The moment the realization had hit her, that her Senpai had left her without so much as a goodbye, Nagatoro's perfectly groomed image shattered around her closest friends, as she began violently heaving and sobbing in their arms. They never said a word, just cradling her gently, fully aware that Nagatoro was mostly to blame for the fall out, and she had reaped what she sowed.

Hope you realize you threw away the best thing, that ever happened to you
Forget my name and forget my face
Hope you hit your head and your memory gets erased
So I never have to deal with you again

The pain and raw emotion the message entailed were perfectly captured by the voice of vocalist, who was putting his whole body and soul into the track. It was a beautiful, moving moment, punctuated only by Nagatoro's own feeble attempts at stifling a sniffle. Her chin was now resting on her chest, the only way she could think of hiding her emotions from her friends. But the girls she was lucky to call her best friends weren't stupid nor blind. Without a word, the three of them tightened their ring around Nagatoro and squished her into a tight embrace. Nagatoro initially tried to push away, feeling embarrassed by the affectionate public display, but eventually relented and a broad smile mixed with her sad tears.

Once the song had ended, the ring loosened and the girls broke off from one another. Gamo put her hands on her hips, leaning forward to get a closer look at Nagatoro.

"What's up with this Hayacchi?" the taller girl giggled, playing off the wetness in her own eyes. "I guess that means you like the band then."

"You like it!" Yoshi chimed in.

Nagatoro playfully jabbed Gamo's side with her elbow, her face flush and a tiny grin on her lips. "Stop it."

The four girls laughed, sharing the emotional weight with one another. Nagatoro, having made small steps toward allowing others to see herself more vulnerable, turned to her friends with a genuinely grateful smile on her face.
"Thank you guys."

Her friends nodded, nothing but sympathy and support on their faces.

"I do think I'll take a short trip to the restroom though," Nagatoro added, gently wiping tears out of her eyes, fearing they were red and puffy enough to make it obvious what had happened.

The group parted to let her pass, with Yoshi quickly catching up and tapping her own the shoulder to get her attention. "Hayacchi, this is probably going to be their last song. Afterwards they'll be signing autographs, so meet us at the booth, okay?"
Nagatoro simply nodded and left the main venue to find the restroom.

A few minutes later, after having ensured her face wasn't a soggy mess, she returned to the venue, now looking like a ghost of it's former self.

Knowing vaguely where the signing booth was, Nagatoro walked back through the halls, toward the main entrance. There, a small booth, not much more than a table with a couple of folding chairs behind them, had the band members sitting, signing autographs and casually chatting with fans.

Nagatoro seemed to have made it just in time, as Sakurai and Yoshi were next in line, with Gamo nowhere to be seen. As Nagatoro joined them, that was the first thing she addressed, "Yo, where'd Gamo go?"

"She said she wasn't too interested in the autograph, so she went to grab the car," Sakura explained. Yoshi simply hopped in excitement next to her.

The people in front of them moved, allowing Nagator and her friends to step up to the table. The first in line to greet them was the average guy, with the weird white spot in his hair, while the other three members were still busy chatting to fans. He looked up at them, the most genuine and wholesome smile on his face that a person could produce.

Yoshi leaned over and grabbed a shirt for each of them, including Gamo and held them up to the man to sign.

"Who do I make it out to?" he asked, a calm and gentle tone to his voice.

Yoshi giggled, giving her name first. Immediately, the drummer began writing on the shirt, leaving a nicely calligraphed note.

To Yoshi, thank you for putting up with our music :) - Hitohito

Yoshi picked up the shirt, immediately clutching it to her chest and squeeing in delight. The drummer, apparently called Hitohito, did the same thing for Sakura, before eventually glancing toward Nagatoro, who seemed wholly unimpressed by the whole situation, something he took note of.

"I guess your giddy friends here dragged you to the show, huh?" he assumed, that gentle smile of his never wavering. "Don't worry, I understand. I appreciate you coming, despite your lack of interest."

Nagatoro, swayed slightly by his words, returned a light smile. Maybe they were kinda cool after all. As Sakura placed the next shirt in front of him, the drummer asked, "So, who do I make this out for?"

"Uh, Nagatoro, I guess," Nagatoro said absentmindedly.

The drummer raised an eyebrow at that, his eyes drifting off into their corners, as if he was trying to recall a memory. Nagatoro furrowed her brow in response, perplexed by the situation. The guy hadn't done this for the other three. Was he trying to come up with a clever line for her autograph? Was he going to try and make a pun on her name? Before she could ask him however, Hitohito turned over to his band member, the vocalist who was chatting with a boy, clearly inspired by their performance, and called out, "Yo, Naoto! Didn't you say you knew a Nagatoro?"

Nagatoro's head whipped around so fast, Sakura was worried her neck would snap. With eyes as narrow as pin needles, she watched as the lead singer, the one who'd been called 'Naoto', turned to the drummer to speak.

"H-huh?" he stammered uncertain of what he just heard. "Did you just say N-N-Nagatoro?"

Yoshi and Sakura, only now realizing what was going on, broke out in sweat. Hitohito grinned from ear to ear, completely unaware of the situation he had just thrust them into. "Yeah, you told me she was a girl from your high school, right? I remembered, cause I thought it was cute that she shared a name with that one town."

Nagatoro's mind was running a thousand miles an hour as she studied the man in the black t-shirt, with his excessive punk getup, the perfectly confident posture and rebellious blonde streak in his hair. This couldn't be who she thought he was. Besides the light stammer, which could be explained away by surprise over the odd question he had received, nothing pointed to that they were the same person.

Except maybe the fluffy hair on his head, which reminded her of a sheep.

And the name Naoto.

And the way that he turned to meet her gaze, once his drummer pointed to her, his eyes blowing up like a literal ghost was standing in front of him.

So a few things pointed to it, but nah, it couldn't be.

'Naoto' got up off his chair, surprising the crowd of people surrounding them and turned to leave through a door behind the booth. Hitohito watched him incredulously, his jaw wide open. Nagatoro, absolutely stunned by the reaction to spotting her, simply stood still, feeling the weight of a truck holding her in place. Images of a horrible day began flashing before her eyes. She could feel the warmth leave her skin.

"Good shit Tadano," the shorter guy with the blonde hair chuckled, seemingly amused by the scene. "There goes our man of the hour."

The drummer's gaze kept flying between the blond foreigner and the door 'Naoto' had left through, panic setting in within the poor guy. After a few seconds, he sprung up from his chair and chased his band member. Without ever dropping his gleeful front, the blond guy turned to Nagatoro and her friends, curious about them.

"So, which one of y'all is this Nagatoro?"

Nagatoro, still absolutely traumatized by what had just occurred, hesitantly raised her hand. The blond guy giggled to himself, before leaning back in his chair, his head resting on his arms.

"Yup, that looks about right," he said, beaming at the very scatter brained Nagatoro. "Name's Tony by the way."

The remaining crowd, confused and more than a little irritated by the sudden disappearance of two of the band members, was starting to be ushered out by the security of the venue. When another guard stepped up to escort Nagatoro and her friends out as well, Tony held up his hand.

"Nah, it's okay man," he declared, gesturing for the women to come over. "They're friends of our pal, they can stay."

The guard nodded curtly and then joined the rest of the security detail in dealing with the crowd.

Sakura placed a hand on Nagatoro's back, the girl slowly returning from the void her mind had been trapped in for some time. Her mouth felt ash dry and she could feel her brain frying from the thoughts rattling around inside.

"That guy," she suddenly spoke up, her eyes now meeting Tony's. "His name is Naoto? W-what's his full name?"

Tony flung up an eyebrow, more amused than before by Nagatoro's question. "Wow, you really came here and don't even know our names. I respect it."

He pulled a flier from underneath the table and placed it on the surface for the three to read. With his finger, he pointed at the spot that the vocalists name was advertised.

Lead Singer – Hachiouji Naoto "The Artist"

Nagatoro froze once again, her theory confirmed. Yoshi, who had been just as unaware as the rest of them, jumped to Nagatoro's side, both fearing for her life and being worried about her friend.

"I-I didn't k-know, okay?" she began explaining herself. Nagatoro's vacant eyes were still staring straight ahead onto the name. "People only ever referred to him as 'The Artist' and I thought that was cool, so I didn't want to ruin the illusion by seeing his name."

Tony chuckled at that, a satisfied nod following it. "That's the point. He likes it that way."

The man then just turned his attention back to Nagatoro, who was now physically shaking, filled with all kinds of turbulent emotions.

"So Nagatoro," he said, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. "Wanna go meet 'The Artist'?"

The story takes it's title from the song "Away we go", originally by Valencia, but this particular version is from the solo project Promise of Redemption, started by the lead singer of Valencia. It's where the lyrics in the middle of the chapter came from.