The gods of that shrine had forced a contract upon Miko without her consent—a cssic predatory arrangement. Haruki Aizawa was not the type of man to let such "bully cuses" stand unchallenged.

  After returning from the mountain shrine, Haruki gave Miko a undry list of warnings, demanding that she notify him the instant she encountered another malevolent spirit. He hammered the point home so relentlessly that the girl looked ready to pull her hair out by the time they finally parted ways.

  Even so, Haruki wasn't entirely at ease. He quietly noted the address of Miko's school; he pnned to conduct a field investigation there soon. The crisis she had faced was something even he couldn't fully see through yet. Without constant vigince, there was no telling what might slip through the cracks.

  As he prepared to head back to his apartment, his phone buzzed with an unexpected call.

  It was Anon Chihaya. She cimed she had found a second member willing to join their band and invited him to a meeting to get everyone acquainted. Since his schedule was currently clear, Haruki agreed.

  He arrived at the designated location: a brightly lit karaoke box.

  "Over here, Haruki! Over here!"

  The moment he came into view, Anon was already waving her arms enthusiastically. Beside her stood a short-haired girl who looked painfully introverted. Her expression was a swirl of complex emotions, as if the very idea of forming a band held a weight too heavy for her to carry.

  "Let me do the intros!" Anon chirped, her energy levels as high as ever. "This is my friend, Haruki Aizawa. And this is my cssmate, Tomori Takamatsu!"

  "H-Hello..."

  Tomori spoke with extreme caution. She seemed rattled to find that the other band member was a guy, her eyes darting around in mild confusion.

  "Nice to meet you, Takamatsu-san," Haruki replied, maintaining his usual stoic composure.

  The three of them headed into a private room. Despite the premise of starting a band together, the atmosphere was anything but harmonious. The primary culprit was Tomori’s crushing silence.

  Haruki considered himself a man of few words, but compared to Tomori, he felt like a social butterfly. Even with Anon’s social stats maxed out, she struggled to keep a conversation going. She would start a topic, only for it to wither and die after a few stilted replies from Tomori.

  After several failed attempts to break the ice, even Anon started to fg.

  "Well," she said, her smile twitching slightly, "since we’re at karaoke, why don’t we all sing something? Tomori-chan, what kind of music do you like?"

  "N-No, thank you..." Tomori looked away, her posture shrinking.

  Anon’s frustration finally bubbled over. "By the way, I saw a song in your notebook earlier. What was it called? Haruhikage? I couldn't even find it online."

  "That... was a song we all wrote together."

  "All? Oh, you mean your old band." Anon paused. She had heard rumors that Tomori’s previous group had met a messy end.

  Tomori went silent, her eyes clouding over with painful memories. The room turned cold.

  Anon bit her lip, unsure of how to navigate the sudden grief. Haruki, however, had no such reservations. He looked directly at Tomori and delivered a soul-piercing question.

  "Takamatsu-san. Do you actually want to be in a band?"

  "I..."

  Tomori froze, caught off guard by the bluntness of the question. She hesitated for a long time before whispering, "I... I’ve failed before. I’m scared... scared that it’ll just happen again..."

  "I see. You’re being held captive by your past," Haruki observed.

  As a swordsman who had lived through countless life-and-death struggles, he understood her perfectly. When a warrior suffers a crushing defeat, they often begin to doubt their own bde, losing the ability to grip the hilt with conviction. Tomori was no different; her spirit was fractured.

  To Haruki, there was only one cure for such a condition. To help someone who had lost their confidence, you had to force them back into the arena and make them win.

  Haruki stood up abruptly. "In that case, we’re wasting time here. Let’s go put on a live show."

  "What?"

  Both Tomori and Anon stared at him, paralyzed by the absurdity of the suggestion.

  "The only way to conquer fear is to face it," Haruki said, his voice ft and commanding. "If you don't challenge the battlefield where you once fell, you’ll never step out of its shadow."

  "B-But how are we supposed to do a 'live' right now?" Anon stammered.

  "Simple. We'll do a street performance."

  Haruki’s decisiveness was an unstoppable force. Before the girls could object, he had led them to the pza in front of Chiba Station. He scanned the area, approached a local street performer, and expertly negotiated to borrow their equipment for a set.

  "Do you have a song you're confident in?" Haruki asked Tomori.

  He ignored Anon for the moment. The goal of this exercise was to heal Tomori’s trauma; Anon’s ck of musical skill made her an afterthought in this specific "mission."

  "Confident...? I only have this one..."

  Swept up in Haruki’s sharp, intense momentum, Tomori slowly accepted the reality of the situation. She handed him her notebook. Inside, there was only one completed piece: Haruhikage (Spring Sunlight).

  "Fine. Let me see the score."

  Haruki took the notebook. With his Sense of Fluctuation, he didn't just read the notes; he absorbed the rhythm and the intended 'vibration' of the music. In seconds, the structure of the song was etched into his mind.

  He picked up the guitar and tested the strings. Then, he began to py.

  Pluck. Strum-strum. Pluck...

  In an instant, a hauntingly perfect melody drifted through the pza. The quality was so high it didn't just stop the passing commuters; it sent a shiver down Tomori’s spine. Memories flooded her mind.

  Driven by an irresistible impulse, she stepped up beside Haruki, gripped the microphone, and began to sing.

  "My heart is worn, my eyes keep wandering... in this world, I am all alone..."

  The combination of Haruki’s fwless, soulful pying and Tomori’s raw, emotional vocals was electric. This wasn't a mere street performance; it was an outpouring of the soul. Within minutes, a massive crowd had gathered, completely immersed in the unexpected masterpiece unfolding before them.

  Chapter 113: Do All You Band Girls Talk About "For Life"?

  "My god, that's beautiful!"

  "Are they professionals?"

  "I've never seen them before... who are they?"

  The Chiba Station pza was packed. People stood in hushed awe, their eyes locked on Haruki and Tomori.

  On the edge of the crowd, a high school girl named Nina Iseri watched with wide eyes. She had been wandering the city, feeling lost, but this performance struck her like a lightning bolt. "Amazing... if only I could start a band like that..." she whispered, her gaze filled with pure adoration.

  Back at the center of the circle, Haruki struck the final chord, letting the resonance fade into the night air.

  He looked at the girl beside him. She was breathing heavily, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, but the darkness in her eyes had begun to recede. She looked... awake.

  "Remember this feeling, Takamatsu-san," Haruki said quietly. "Failure is a teacher, but you can only move forward once you've killed the ghost of that defeat."

  "..."

  Haruki’s words, steady as a lighthouse in a storm, made Tomori’s chest tighten. Her throat worked as she swallowed back her tears. She looked at him with a newfound, terrifying intensity.

  "Thank you, Haruki-san," she whispered. "If... if you’re willing... would you stay in a band with me for the rest of our lives?"

  "??"

  Haruki blinked.

  What is it with these band girls and the "for life" talk?

  He remembered Anon saying the exact same thing. He didn't understand the dramatic weight they pced on it, but he gave her a pragmatic answer. "I can't promise 'forever,' but I’ll see this band through to the end."

  "Yes... I believe you."

  Tomori’s eyes welled up with tears of gratitude. The sight made Anon, who was watching from the sidelines, feel a strange pang of jealousy.

  Wait, wasn't this MY band? Why is Haruki the main character all of a sudden?

  But since her own musical skill was practically non-existent, she swallowed her pride and accepted that she was currently being carried by a legend.

  After parting ways with Anon and Tomori and setting a time for their next practice, Haruki finally returned to his apartment.

  As he opened the door, the fragrant aroma of home cooking greeted him. In the kitchen, a blue-haired girl in an apron was busy pting dishes.

  "Haruki? You’re finally home."

  "Yeah. I'm back."

  Sakiko Toyokawa looked over her shoulder, a visible sense of relief washing over her face. Over the past few days, while Haruki was battling the Darkin erosion, he had been distant, avoids contact, and coming home at odd hours. She had been terrified that he was slipping away into some dark trouble she couldn't reach.

  Seeing him now, looking composed and "himself," she rushed over to take his school bag and his bdes, acting for all the world like a devoted housewife.

  Haruki had grown accustomed to her care. He handed over his gear and sank into the sofa.

  They didn't exchange many words. Sakiko didn't ask where he had been, and Haruki didn't pry into her life. It was a comfortable, domestic silence—a strange intimacy built on a foundation of mutual respect and absolute distance.

  As he watched Sakiko return to the kitchen, Haruki’s mind drifted to his meeting with the band girls. He vaguely recalled that Sakiko used to be in a band herself—CRYCHIC—though she treated that part of her past like a radioactive secret. He wasn't going to push her.

  He closed his eyes, intending to use the time before dinner for a quick meditation to stabilize his Fluctuation. But as he entered his inner world, a familiar chime rang in his soul.

  [Mission World: The Asterisk War]

  [Main Mission: Achieve final victory in the Phoenix Festa]

  [Countdown to Mission Start: 3 Days]

  Haruki opened his eyes, a sharp glint returning to his gaze.

  "Three days..." he muttered.

  The peace of the main world was always short-lived. But as the "Sword Ghost," he wouldn't have it any other way.

  ***********************************************

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