My guitar string had snapped.

The words echoed through my mind, drowning out the excitement I felt a few seconds ago. My fingers hovered over the neck of my guitar as I stared at the broken high E string, its sharp end curling up a bit.

This couldn't be happening. Not now of all times.

Around me, the rest were doing their own preparations. Itto was the first one to notice my frozen state.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, his tone light until his gaze landed on my guitar. His expression shifted. "My string snapped." I said, looking up at Itto with a worried expression. I had so many thoughts in my head right now, I didn't know what to do.

We're supposed to go on stage in 15 minutes!

Itto crouched down in front of me, looking at my guitar. "That's.. not good." he scratched the back of his neck. "Do you have a spare?"

I shook my head. "No, I was focused on other stuff, I forgot to bring spares. But I changed all the strings last week, I don't know why it snapped."

Itto stood up. "Alright. We've got, what, fifteen minutes? We'll figure something out, don't worry."

"But fifteen minutes isn't a lot of time. I doubt that'll be enough." I said, looking up at him. "We'll make it be enough." Itto said with a reassuring smile. I nodded and put my guitar on a stand.

Itto grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the exit before I could even ask what he had in mind. "There's a music store nearby, right? We'll grab new strings and then head back, alright?"  he said and we ran.

"Wait, Itto!" I stumbled after him, barely able to grab my phone and wallet from a nearby table. "What about the others? Shouldn't we let them know?"

"Oh yeah, right!" Itto turned around and shouted; "(Y/N) and I have to go buy new strings! We'll be right back!"

Ayaka, Yoimiya and Thoma looked at us as we rushed off, not giving them time to ask questions.

As we dashed out of the school, the energy of the culture festival greeted us once again, but my mind was too clouded with worry to enjoy it. The bustling crowd seemed endless. Every step through the crowd felt like walking in quicksand.

My grip on Itto's hand was tight. Again, I was too worried to enjoy the feeling of it right now.

After what felt like an eternity, we got out of the school grounds. "Running is probably faster than waiting for the train, right?" I asked, looking at Itto. "Probably." he said and nodded.

We started running to the music store. It takes about 10 minutes to go with the train, but we would have to wait more than 10 minutes for it to arrive. Running would take about 15 minutes.

After what felt like an eternity, we arrived at the music shop.

I rushed to the section with the strings, Itto following behind me.

I grabbed a pack of the strings I usually use and then went to the cashier. It seemed like he noticed that we were in a hurry, so he hurried up too.

I thanked the cashier and then rushed back with Itto.

"Should I carry you on my back?" Itto asked as we jogged. I shook my head. "No, it's okay." I replied, my breathing a bit heavier than usual. Itto nodded in response.

The jog back was a bit longer because we were already out of breath. After 20 minutes, we were back on school grounds.

We were supposed to be on stage almost 25 minutes ago.

Itto and I rushed to the venue, but it was surprisingly quiet. As we arrived backstage, there was no one there.

"Maybe they're on the stage?" I looked but no, the stage was empty too.

I looked into the crowd. The non existent crowd.. All the seats were empty, no one was there anymore. My eyes widened.

"Huh..?" I looked back at Itto. He was surprised too. "Where is everyone?" I asked, Itto shrugging in response.

We walked down from the stage and looked around, finding Yoimiya, Ayaka and Thoma.

"Guys! Where is everyone?" I asked, rushing over to them. They all looked pretty sad and disappointed.

"We tried to buy you time, but people started leaving. We couln't hold their attention any longer." Ayaka said, looking at Itto and then at me.

Yoimiya stepped forward, her usual spark dimmed. "I'm so sorry. We really tried everything, games, jokes, random talk. Everything."

My grip on the pack of strings tightened, my vision blurring with unshed tears. All of our hard work, all of our excitement—it had slipped away in a matter of minutes.

Although I didn't see it, Itto's expression softened when he saw my tears.

I felt someone placing their hand on my shoulder. I looked up, meeting Itto's gaze. "Hey, hey, don't cry." he said. He was comforting me, but I could see the disappointment in his eyes, too.

"I-I'm sorry." I stammered, my voice cracking slightly. "I ruined everything... if I hadn't been so careless with my guitar—"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Itto interrupted, going down a bit so that we were at eye level. "Don't start with that. None of this is your fault, alright? Things can happen. It's not over yet." Itto said, a small smile on his face.

His words and smile were more reassuring than they should have been.

I wiped my tears off with my hand. "But the crowd is gone. There's no one left to play for."

Yoimiya chimed in from behind, her voice quieter than usual. "Not everyone left. There are still a few people out there. And even if it's not the big crowd we hoped for..." She hesitated, then continued. "We didn't come this far just to quit, right?"

Ayaka stepped forward, her expression calm but determined. "If we give it everything we've got, it won't matter how many people are watching. What matters is that we finish what we started."

Thoma nodded, his usual warmth returning to his voice. "Exactly. Even if it's just one person left, they deserve to hear us."

I looked at everyone, their determination washing over me like a wave of reassurance. They weren't giving up.

Itto smiled, his confident energy lighting up the room. "So, (Y/N). What do you say?"

A weak smile crept onto my face, and I nodded. "Yeah... yeah, let's do it."

You could easily tell by my face that I had cried a few moments ago.. I didn't care about that though.

"Atta girl!" Itto said, raising his hand for a high-five. I smiled and high-fived him, earning a chuckle from his side.

"Alright," Ayaka said, taking charge once again. "(Y/N), restring your guitar as quickly as you can. We'll handle the rest."

I nodded and hurried to the table backstage, fumbling slightly as I unpacked the strings and started replacing one. I had the utensils to replace strings with me but not fresh strings.. How smart of me.

My fingers were shaking a bit, but I forced myself to focus. The others were checking mics, double-checking the setlist and stuff like that.

But Itto stayed by my side. "Hey, hey, you got this." Itto said and placed a hand on my shoulder when he noticed my shaking hands. I smiled and nodded.

Within a couple minutes, the new string was in place. I checked to see if all strings were in tune. The high E string I just changed needed a small adjustment. I did that and then let out a sigh of relief.

"Done."

"Perfect timing!" Thoma called out. "We're ready!"

Itto and I hurried to the others. I glanced out to the very small audience. There were four  people, to be exact. That was almost nothing, but it made me happy to know that these four people waited for us.

I rested my hand on the neck of my guitar as I took my place in front of the microphone. The others settled into their positions as well, glancing at me for the signal.

I cleared my throat and then started talking.

"Some stuff didn't go as planned today. My string broke like 15 minutes before we were supposed to be on stage. I had to hurry out to buy new ones, and that ate up a bunch of time. I'm sorry for that. But it makes me really happy to know that you guys stayed here and waited for us. It makes me feel like this run all to way to the music store didn't go to waste. Thank you."

I glanced at Itto and nodded. He spun one of his drumsticks between his fingers, smiling at me before raising it in the air. With 4 quick notes on the hi-hat, the first song started, the sound filling the almost empty hall.

As we all started playing, I felt the tension from earlier melt away. I didn't care about the small crowd anymore. It could be 100 people watching or just one.

What mattered was the chance to share our music with the people who stayed, even if it's just four people.

This was for us.

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

(A/N: AAAA IS IT JUST ME OR DID THIS CHAPTER TURN OUT GOOD?? I REALLY LIKE IT-

Once again, I wrote this during class skskksks but I forgot to publish it T-T

Also I feel like I'm writing a story for a grave yard :sob:

IF YOU READ THIS, COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED :)

I HAVE 2 MORE EXAMS THIS WEEK AND THEN HOLIDAYS FOR 2 WEEKS AAAAAAA
Might write more during those 2 weeks

ALR BYE SWEETIES!!!!!!!)