"Marriage, huh..."
Tanaka Shuji, the shining bald bassist of Enfants Terribles, scratched his head as he stared at the pile of wedding invitations stacked before him.
Marriage. A ritual and a contract where two adults, who had lived entirely different lives, became a couple. The bald bassist sighed, rubbing his smooth scalp.
"Is now really the right time to get married...?"
It was something he intended to do eventually, but the timing felt awkward.
You damn brat, marriage is all about timing.
Because of his father's staunch belief that marriage was a matter of timing, Shuji had found himself swept up in wedding preparations throughout the band's hiatus.
However, he valued his success as a musician more than marriage—and he valued the well-being of Enfants Terribles more than his own success. From his perspective, this was actually the worst possible timing for a wedding.
"Even the Leader hasn't done it yet... is it right for me to go first...?"
He intended to settle down one day. But right now, he didn't have the emotional bandwidth to focus on a honeymoon. Ever since the second album tour, Hide had seemed increasingly fragile, and across the globe, outstanding new bands were surfacing as if a blocked vein had finally burst open.
I don't have any intention of stepping down from the throne just yet.
He wanted to stay at the top at least until their third album. Enfants Terribles, led by Hide, had to remain the best. And despite the Leader's precarious state, he was still the most towering giant Shuji knew.
"The Leader... will probably retire in a few years, won't he?"
Hide, having already burned through so much of his passion, would likely retire within a few years. While Shuji would respect that decision, the loss to Enfants Terribles would be immeasurable.
The frontman. The leader. The world's greatest guitarist. It was certain that an Enfants Terribles without that giant would lose the terrifying momentum they had built.
Our final album where we can truly exert our peak power...
Sitting on the living room sofa, the bald bassist massaged his head aggressively. It was an agonizing dilemma. Knowing that they would eventually have to descend from the summit meant they had to burn everything they had right now.
Thinking about the future only filled him with anxiety.
"Dammit... if only Ai were here..."
No matter how much the atmosphere of Enfants Terribles felt like a family, a band was ultimately a business. They found themselves talking shop even when they didn't want to.
That was why, if Ai were around, things wouldn't have reached this point. She was the only one who could interact with the Leader completely outside of business. Currently, Ai was the only person by Hide's side who filled that role.
"Ah!! Why does a song have to come to me at a time like this?! Does this mean I really am a once-in-a-generation genius?!"
Even in this state of distress, the bald bassist's professional talent was asserting itself. Grimacing, Shuji pulled out his guitar.
Since a killer melody had popped into his head, he had to give it life, didn't he?
"Shiiiit... this melody is fucking amazing."
With tears in his eyes, he began to write the song.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hey, Baldy, are you sure you're the one who wrote this?"
"Shuji... you know plagiarism is a no-go, right...?"
The song the bald bassist had brought was titled "Come Together."
"Of course. Because our third album needs to be the kind of record that echoes for eternity."
========================
The website for reading paid chapters is available on my Patreon. The number of chapters on Patreon: 137
Link: patreon.com/UltraMagnus_T