Kyou opened the song with repetitive hits of the D string on his bass, with Emi joining in playing a basic drum beat as the introduction ran its course

"Okay, guitar time, hit it Takumi!"

Takumi grinned and immediately jumped in, his fingers flying across the guitar neck to open the song with the familiar riff. He repeated the two distinct segments, each note sharp and full of energy. Emi and Kyou followed suit, adding a little more complexity to their movements, building momentum with every passing second. Kyou stepped up to the microphone.

"He seemed impressed... by the waay you came inn. Tell us a story, I know you're not boring!"

Takumi then immediately shifted into the chorus, stunning the other two completely. Both Emi and Kyou stopped playing. Their bandmate looked at them confused.

"We still had a bit more of the first verse to go..." Kyou told him, sighing a bit as Emi facepalmed.

"Ohhhhhh... oops!" Takumi smiled at them.

"We're performing this song in like two days we gotta have it fully memorised by then!!!" Emi rolled her eyes, annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" Takumi said, giving them a thumbs up, completely unbothered.

Kyou Adachi sat on the ground, taking off his bass as he pulled the strap over the small ponytail that tied up his medium-length purple hair.  He stretched out, the cool air of the fan blowing against his pale skin as he let out a relaxed sigh. The practice session had gone long, and he was starting to get tired. He took a quick drink from the water bottle that sat next to him before looking over to the other two.

Takumi Nakamura was fiddling with the settings on his guitar amp, kneeling on the ground to be able to reach the height of the wired black box. He ran his hand through his short brown hair as he turned the knob of the treble setting.

"Hey, don't mess with it too much!" Emi called out to him, "You had it pretty much perfect!"

Emi Mori was sat cross-legged on her drum stool, tapping her fingers absent-mindedly on the snare. Her long black hair tied into a ponytail that flowed down her back, brushing back and forth as she moved her head from side to side in boredom.

Takumi shrugged, completely unbothered. "I'm just getting it dialed in. You'll see- everything's gonna sound great!"

"Whateverrrrrrrr..." Emi groaned, "We callin' it quits now?"

"Why not," Kyou nodded, "We did plan to have another practice tomorrow after the first day of the festival right?"

"Yeah, we did, still all good for it?" Emi asked.

"Of course, don't think pack-up should take too long." Kyou smiled at her, grabbing his guitar case and placing his bass inside.

"What was your class doing again?" Takumi asked as he unplugged his guitar from his amp,

"A Dutch pancake stall," Kyou said, as he started to gather his things. "You know, nothing too exciting."

Takumi raised an eyebrow. "Dutch pancakes, huh? That's a new one. Guess it's better than selling, I don't know, Japanese snacks."

"I think it'll be fineee," Kyou replied with a shrug. "It'd be better with friends I guess but... you know..."

"You're only a first year, it's okay!" Takumi chimed in with a smirk, giving Kyou a playful nudge. "You're still getting your bearings. Besides, not like you have to carry the whole thing yourself."

Kyou rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, guess that's true." He glanced around at the empty music room, the last echoes of their practice still lingering in the air. "I just wish I had a group I could hang out with, you know? Maybe next year."

Takumi snorted, adjusting his guitar strap as he stood up. "You've got us, man. That's all that matters." He tossed Emi a wink. "And if you get too lonely, Emi and I can always set you up with a... 'buddy system.'"

Kyou shot him an extremely confused look.

"You're both second years..."

"Yeah...?"

"Also I don't need a buddy system... thanks..."

"Okay..."

Kyou sighed before looking over to Emi, "What are you guys doing?

"Haunted house!" Emi said, her voice suddenly bright, her enthusiasm peeking through. "We're basically the scariest thing at the festival."

"That sounds fun as hell," Kyou chuckled. "I'll have to swing by and check it out."

Takumi grinned, giving Kyou a thumbs-up. "Yeah, man, come through. Just don't get too freaked out when this freakshow chases you with a chainsaw." 

Emi's face became morbidly still as she stared down at her underclassman.

"No-one is safe from the Mori-Mori saw..."

.

.

.

"Okayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy." Kyou gave her an exaggeratedly slow nod.

"You're no fun..."

"Well, I'm going!" Kyou stood up, putting his guitar case on his back and swinging his bag onto his shoulder, "Sisters are probably making dinner already."

"Say hi to Kuniko-senpai for me, PLEASE!" Takumi knelt on the ground in front of his friend with his hands clasped together.

"No." 

"PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU!"

"No."

"Seeya Kyou-kun!"

"Bye Emi-chan," Kyou waved over his shoulder as he walked toward the door. He shot one last glare back at Takumi. "You're not getting with my sister, Takumi."

Kyou shut the door, hearing an extremely loud groan come from the inside as he did so. He chuckled a little before continuing through Emi's apartment, which had ended up being the place where they were able to practice. Noise complaints were surprisingly sparce. 

"There's no-one living next-door!" Kyou recalled Emi telling him when they had their first proper band meetup about six months prior, "The guy upstairs is a maaaaaaajor metalhead, so he doesn't mind the noise."

Kyou had known Emi and Takumi since his first year of middle-school, where he met them in his school's music club, which had only consisted of Emi and Takumi. Those two had known eachother since childhood and were close friends. The trio had occasionally jammed with one another every now and then but had waited until all three of them were in high school to officially start a band.

Despite being together for around six months at this point, the band hadn't played a proper gig yet or even written a song of their own. They were hoping to get this festival out of the way and then start the process of developing a song of their own and find somewhere they could start playing frequent gigs at and hopefully build a reputation of their own.

Kyou smiled to himself; they were gonna blow everyone away at this culture festival and score a few eyes on them.

"Just have to hope Takumi can get the verse right next time..." Kyou muttered to himself as he approached his house. 

Kyou reached the front door of his home, the faint scent of dinner already wafting through the air. He slid off his shoes and stepped inside, calling out, "I'm home!"

Kuniko's voice rang out from the kitchen, sharp and authoritative as usual. "Took you long enough, Kyou! Dinner's almost ready. Go wash up!"

"Yeah, yeah," Kyou replied with a grin, already heading toward the bathroom.

As he passed through the living room, Kaori glanced up from the couch, where she was lazily flipping through a magazine. The case of her Saxophone was propped up against the armrest. "Yooooooo," she greeted casually, her voice a stark contrast to Kuniko's commanding tone. "Band practice go okay?"

Kyou nodded, tossing his bag onto the nearby chair. "Pretty good. Takumi still can't get the verse timing right, though."

Kaori chuckled, putting her magazine down so she'd be able to let her hair down from its pigtailed position. "Sounds like Takumi... Let me guess- he tried to charm you into saying hi to Kuniko again?"

"Yup. Begged like his life depended on it," Kyou said, smirking.

Kuniko appeared in the doorway, her apron dusted with flour. "What's this about Takumi?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she plucked a piece of her shoulder-length dark purple hair from her apron

"Nothing important," Kyou replied quickly, shooting Kaori a look to keep quiet.

Kuniko just sighed. "Well go wash quickly so we can start dinner."

Kyou gave her a quick nod, backing toward the hallway. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

As he turned, Kaori leaned over the armrest of the couch. "Better hurry before Miss Head Chef decides to dock your portion."

Kuniko rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Kaori, unless you want to help set the table, maybe keep the commentary to yourself."

Kaori smirked but didn't move, flipping another page of her magazine. "Pass."

Kyou chuckled quietly to himself as he ducked into the bathroom. He quickly washed his hands, splashing some water on his face to cool off from the walk home.

By the time he returned to the kitchen, Kuniko was already plating up dinner. The table was neatly set, courtesy of her, no doubt, while Kaori had finally migrated from the couch to her usual seat, lazily poking at her phone.

Kyou slid into his chair, eyeing the food. "Smells good. There an occasion?"

"Nope," Kuniko said briskly, setting down a bowl in front of him. "Just thought I'd try something new. Don't get used to it."

Kaori snorted. "Sure, sure. You're just buttering us up so we'll clean the kitchen."

Kuniko shot her a glare, but Kyou laughed, grabbing his chopsticks. "Well, whatever the reason, thanks, sis. It looks great."

Her expression softened just slightly, and she turned back to grab her own plate. "Just eat up. And no complaints if it's not perfect."

"Like you'd ever serve anything less," Kaori teased, earning an exasperated sigh from Kuniko as she sat down with her own plate.

Dinner was eaten in silence for the first few minutes. The absence of their parents was felt in the little moments- the empty chair at the head of the table, the faint smell of their mother's perfume that still clung to the edges of the living room, and the framed picture of the whole family that sat on a shelf in the corner.

Their mother had passed away years ago, leaving a void none of them could fully fill, while their father had buried himself in his work to make ends meet. His absence wasn't malicious, but it was a reality they'd all grown to accept. He rarely came home.

The three siblings had formed a close bond over the years, compensating for the gaps in their family by sticking together. Dinner was often their time to reconnect, even if it meant teasing each other relentlessly.

"So," Kaori began, pointing her chopsticks at Kyou. "You're really performing at the festival, huh? Like, this is actually happening?"

Kyou nodded, his expression shifting from casual to determined. "Yeah. We've been practicing for weeks now. It's gonna be awesome."

Kuniko leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "You sure you're ready for a crowd?"

Kyou gave her a confident smirk. "Absolutely. We're not just gonna play; we're gonna own that stage."

Kaori snorted, shaking her head. "Alright, rock star. But if you screw up, you're never living it down."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Kyou said, rolling his eyes as he took another bite.

Kuniko smiled faintly, her features softening. "Honestly, I'm impressed. A lot of first-years wouldn't even think about doing something like this. And from what I've heard, this year's festival has some big expectations."

"Why's that?" Kyou asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Well, for one thing, there's another first-year band performing," Kuniko replied, resting her chin on her hand. "Apparently, they've got some real talent. People are already talking about them."

"Another first-year band?" Kyou echoed, tilting his head. "Do you know their name?"

Kuniko frowned, thinking for a moment. "No, not off the top of my head. Something with a weird name, though. I'll see it in the lineup tomorrow."

"Guess you'll have to crush them," Kaori said with a smirk, nudging Kyou with her elbow. "Can't have anyone stealing your spotlight, right?"

"Obviously," Kyou replied, his confidence unwavering. "We've been practicing too hard for that."

Kaori leaned forward, her grin turning mischievous. "Yeah, you've mentioned the practice a million times."

Kuniko chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, you've got one more sesh tomorrow, right?"

"That's the plan," Kyou said with a nod. "This festival's just the start. After this, we're gonna start writing our own songs, maybe even find a place to play regular gigs."

"Ambitious," Kaori said, raising an eyebrow. "Think you're up for it?"

"Of course," Kyou said, his voice steady. "We've been talking about this for years. Now that we're finally a band, there's no stopping us."

"Mom would be proud of you, y'know?" Kaori gave him a smile, "You've come this far with what she's taught you. Dad would be proud of you as well."

Kuniko set her chopsticks down with a sharp clink, her expression tight. "Dad doesn't care about us. He cares about his precious dream version of Mom- like we're just living out some fantasy for him."

Kaori gave her twin a reproachful look. "Kuni, come on..."

"What? I'm not wrong!" Kuniko snapped, folding her arms. "I love what we're doing, but it's for us, not for him. Once he gets his head screwed back on, we'll all be better off."

Kyou stayed quiet, poking at his food. "Let's just... focus on the festival," he said finally, his voice low.

Kaori sighed, trying to soften the atmosphere. "Everything's gonna go great! You should head to bed so you're ready to help your class with day 1's activities tomorrow! We'll clean up don't worry."

Kyou looked up at Kaori, her reassuring smile managing to ease some of the tension lingering in the air. "You sure? I can help clean up."

Kaori waved him off with a casual flick of her hand. "Nah, we've got it. You're gonna be dealing with enough as it is tomorrow. Go get some rest."

Kuniko nodded, though her expression still carried traces of annoyance from the earlier conversation. "She's right. You're gonna need all the energy you can get to survive whatever's gonna happen. Besides, Kaori and I are pros at this. You'd just get in the way."

"Thanks...," Kyou replied dryly, though a small smile tugged at his lips.

"Anytime." Kuniko smirked, leaning back in her chair as she reached for the last of her drink.

Pushing his chair back, Kyou stood and stretched. "Alright, fine. But don't blame me if you're still cleaning when the sun comes up."

Kaori rolled her eyes. "We'll manage. Now hurry up and go sleep!"

"Night, Kyou," Kuniko added with a wave, her tone softer now.

"Night," Kyou replied, grabbing his guitar case and bag from the corner of the room before heading toward the hallway. As he passed the kitchen doorway, he paused for a moment, glancing back at his sisters.

Kaori had already started stacking plates, humming a soft tune under her breath, while Kuniko leaned against the counter, watching her twin with a faint smile.

"Thanks," Kyou said quietly, though he wasn't sure if they heard him, "For being here when he wouldn't..."

Turning away, he made his way to his room. Once inside, he set his things down and got changed into different clothes. He flopped onto his bed and just stared up at the ceiling.

Kyou nodded off to sleep in an instant.

--

hey i hope you like this chapter!!! new recontextualisation of the story andd wooaahhh itll be so much better ive been planning and writing so MUCH!!!

chapter is only like 2500 words but who cares its only really an introductory chapter into the main oc characters for the start of the story. bocchi will be introduced next chapter dont worry!!!!

also shout out to the goat @Kawaii_Lumine as they revisited their Bocchi story and it kinda just got me into the mood of rewriting this after rereading their story because i really dislike how mine ended up going. One of the best stories on here and i can't wait to read more of it!!! so go check out Bocchi the Love Story if you haven't (who reading this wouldn't have read it bfr)

hope to get more chapters out soon! 

(also do you guys like the new cover art?)

-pastel