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It was time for the concert to start, so EXIST and their temporary member, me, came up to the stage. Just from that, the students began cheering, and for some reason, the security people seemed to be staring at me while looking fidgety. Don’t worry; I’m not going to cause any ruckus here.

“Thanks for coming to our surprise concert!”

We let Isami be the MC first since I wouldn’t know what to say if it was me. They said I could do it the way I liked, but it’s more comforting to leave it to an actual professional. I’ll have to watch out for any sudden baton pass, though.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect this many people to be here tonight.”

I can’t deny that I’m the reason why we have such a large audience tonight. The ones here through Isami and the others’ connections only include the people from the den. The students, teachers, and bodyguards were either invited by me or invited themselves.

“This will be the first time we perform with 5 members since EXIST’s formation. But this will probably be the last time we’ll play with her! Not!”
“Wha-!?”
“If we ever get the chance, we’ll do it as many times as we can! Even if we don’t, we’ll make our own chances by force!”
“Will you stop that!”

It was a mistake to have her be MC. The more I let her talk, the more harm it does to me. I was even hoping that this would be the last time I do this. Though ever since being involved with these guys, I’ve already halfway given up.

“It’s the birth of a new EXIS-gwek!”
“You wouldn’t stop, so time for brute force.”

For now, I lightly strangled her. The audience in the venue was obviously taken aback, but I don’t have the leeway to be bothered by it. This was my original role, to stop her rampage even if I had to use force.

“People of the security team, thank you for your work. Did you enjoy playing tag with me?”

My words were responded to with angry yelling. They’re yelling so loud I suspect that they’ve forgotten that I’m the daughter of the Kisaragi family. I don’t think what I did was that terrible, though. It was pretty enjoyable on my part.

“It would be troublesome if you don’t work harder the next time around. I find it a bit problematic for professionals to have difficulty in catching an amateur.”

Provoking them even more, there’s even a person who was about to charge onto the stage. Of course, it’s Akira. And as per usual, she was held back by Kyousuke. Now then, I’ll stop teasing the security people here.

“For the academy people I didn’t invite, I’m grateful that you came as well. It would be preferable that this event doesn’t go public, so please keep it that way.”

For this group, they replied no way. Well yeah, there’s no way you wouldn’t brag about this. I just hope it doesn’t make the news headlines, but there’s no telling what else could happen. It’ll probably have an impact here and there.

“Rogue’s den people, please keep to yourselves.”
“Your getup is so normal, it’s boring. Get more punk.”
“”And a sexier outfit!””
“Could you shut up over there!”

Following Satoru’s remark, Ayaka and Ruru said something stupid, so I threw a counteroffensive-use rubber ball at them. It’s made of soft material, so it shouldn’t be painful. And of course, it didn’t hit them because Nako caught it with ease.

“Sign this later, thanks!”

Well, that was what it’s originally for. Knowing Satoru, he’d likely ask not only for EXIST’s autograph but for mine too. I don’t mind that, but I’ve never signed an autograph in my whole life. I guess I’ll wing it.

“Now then, the clock is ticking, so let’s start this concert. Are you all ready?”

It’s the MC’s job to hype the audience, but I have no experience with that, so it’s impossible for me. Confirming with the others, they replied by making a sound with their instruments. All that’s left is to pray that the rogues’ den group doesn’t do anything weird.

“It’s time for our first song!”

The whole venue was instantly electrified. I’m nervous that I might not play well enough, but in the end, what’s impossible is impossible. I’ll have to give it all I’ve got. That’s what I thought, but I stopped myself. I should just enjoy this.

“We’re doing decently well, huh.”
“Well, you know, it’s all thanks to our perfect teamwork.”

We’ve reached the second half without making any mistakes, but it really is so fun to perform with these guys. It’s why we played together for so long and even performed outside of school.

“Still, it’s more exhausting than I thought.”
“We thought the same at our first concert too. It’s exhausting both physically and mentally.”

We’re currently having a short water break. Three more songs and tonight’s concert will end, but I don’t really have strong feelings about it. I’m just reminded of the past. I’m just left thinking that there’s no returning to those times anymore.

“Let’s keep it steady for the remaining songs.”
“I’d like it to be a bit more interesting, though.”

And how exactly will making this more interesting help? The audience came expecting a proper performance. I admit that it might be good to add more variety to the performance. But considering how it could affect me, I can’t agree to that.

“Then why don’t I make it a bit more interesting?”
“What did you come here for, Shirose?”

Don’t suddenly come up on the stage. I don’t expect the rogues’ den group to just quietly enjoy the show. But they are strangely well-behaved, so I had a bad feeling about it. So it’s finally happening, huh.

“Now, here’s an arrangement I made…”
“”Do you want us dead!?””

The instant we saw what’s on her notebook computer, Isami and I reacted in sync. The other members haven’t seen it yet, so they’re just confused, but from our reactions, they probably realized that something’s wrong.

“A three-song medley of the songs we were clearly avoiding, that’s so loaded.”
“My throat’s going to break.”

Being able to make an arrangement of those old songs and blend them together in such a short amount of time, that’s plain impressive. But think of how we feel to be the guinea pigs of this experiment. Honestly, this is unreasonable.

“Everyone, do you want to hear EXIST’s unreleased song?”
“”Wooo!!””

Stop inciting the crowd. She knows that they’d be on board with it, which makes it worse. Besides, it’s not even unreleased; we’ve performed them once back in high school. Though these four probably haven’t played ever since I died.

“Answering the audience’s expectations is part of being a pro, isn’t it?”
“Grrr, then you help out too, Shirose.”