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Burning Blaze

  (Transted/Edited/Full Proofread: Snow)

  "I'm back."

  After having dinner at the Katsuragi household, Taeil returned home.

  Unlike the Katsuragi home, which was always filled with warmth and ughter, his own house felt cold and empty.

  Seeking even the slightest bit of comfort, he headed straight to his room and colpsed onto the bed. The soft mattress embraced his weight as he closed his eyes, pressing his temples with his thumbs.

  Slowly, the tension from the day began to melt away.

  "I never got the chance to ask in the end."

  There had been plenty of opportunities.

  Yet, each time, an inexplicable fear had kept him silent.

  With a deep sigh, he pced the back of his cold hand against his warm forehead and stared bnkly at the ceiling, absently counting the tiny stains that dotted its surface.

  "What does the original story even mean anymore?."

  Ayane had changed so much from the original.

  If she were to be dropped into the world of the original work now, it would most likely crumble under the weight of her differences.

  Taeil tilted his head back, his vision flipping upside down. His gaze nded on the calendar perched on his nightstand.

  July.

  Final exams were just around the corner.

  And along with them—the dreaded D-DAY of Show Band, an event he had tried desperately to avoid.

  Taeil rarely spent money on albums, usually content with digital music. But Show Band was different. It had captivated him so completely that, for the first time, he had purchased a vinyl just to experience it fully.

  That wasn’t all. The music, the performances, the raw emotion—it had drawn him in, and before he knew it, he was deeply invested in the voice actor behind the songs.

  Taeil, who had never once thought of himself as the type to shout and cheer at a concert, had found himself swept up in the energy of the live viewing, standing shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans, chanting along with all his heart.

  Show Band had been the very lifeline that kept him going.

  Whenever he found himself beaten down—physically or mentally—he turned to that music. The voice that had saved him time and time again gave him the strength to survive another day in this dirty and unforgiving world.

  Perhaps the reason he felt guilty so te and tried to restore the original story was because he was desperately trying to recim his lost vitality.

  Taeil muttered bnkly to himself.

  "A Show Band where they don't exist..."

  It was the worst possible world—one he didn’t even want to imagine.

  A sharp pang shot through his chest.

  This wasn’t the path of a successful fan.

  This was the failure of a fan who had lost sight of the very thing he loved.

  A deep regret settled over him.

  "Should I not have helped Ayane?"

  As the timeline of the original story drew closer, Taeil's once-unshakable faith in his actions began to waver.

  The Ayane he remembered from the original work still existed vividly in his mind. So much so that he could barely bring himself to look at the present version of her.

  The original Ayane—

  A timid, unremarkable girl.

  A high school student with no confidence, barely any presence, and grades so low that she was ignored by everyone. Her fearful personality only built stronger walls around her, shutting out the world entirely.

  Even when people showed her kindness, she rejected them—scarred by childhood trauma.

  And as a result, no one reached out to her.

  To her cssmates, Ayane was someone with no redeeming qualities.

  Her trauma and personality had already isoted her, and now, fate had conspired to bury her further.

  She remained trapped inside her fragile eggshell—until the moment Iris appeared.

  The only one in the world who had the strength to forcibly pull her out.

  It took a long time, but eventually, Ayane was able to smile again.

  That moment came during the cultural festival episode.

  After successfully completing a live performance at the festival, she finally regained her confidence. For the first time, she received recognition—from her parents, her cssmates, and most importantly, herself.

  It was one of the most iconic scenes in Show Band.

  So legendary that in the anime adaptation, you could hear the original transcendence sound.

  But now, Taeil found himself asking a question he had never considered before.

  "Was that famous scene truly necessary?."

  Did Ayane have to endure such misery—throwing her life into the gutter—just to reach that moment?.

  Because the Ayane he knew now was completely different.

  She was a student with good grades, respected by her cssmates.

  Even as a first-year, she had caught the attention of the student council president and had already become a member.

  Compared to the original, she was a dragon rising from the mud.

  ‘Look at her!.’

  ‘I was not wrong.’

  ‘My choice was right.’

  Taeil clenched his fists, trying to suppress the creeping doubt, and reassured himself.

  Helping the girl who once had an unfortunate fate—

  That was the right thing to do.

  It had to be.

  Of course, the process had been anything but easy.

  Even when Ayane shed out hysterically, lost herself to despair, or even turned into Kurone—when she took out her anger on him for no reason—Taeil never got angry. Even when others looked at her with disgust, whispering behind her back, he remained by her side.

  That’s how much he had chosen to stand with her.

  And in the end, Ayane became happy because of his choice.

  If someone were to ask her if she was happy now—

  She would probably say yes.

  No—she had to say yes.

  Because if she wasn’t, then everything he had done would have been meaningless.

  But the price of bringing forward her happiness had not come cheaply.

  The girl who had once dreamed vaguely of music—who saw it as the compass guiding her life—

  She was gone.

  The band was gone.

  The voice that Taeil had loved so deeply—the one that had brought him so much joy—

  Would never get the chance to sing.

  "Haha."

  A bitter ugh escaped Taeil’s lips as he decided to face reality.

  Ayane knew about BARD.

  But she didn’t like it.

  He had seen proof of it himself.

  Last year, when she had locked herself in her room after failing an exam, he had gone in to drag her out.

  The sight he found was nothing like what he remembered from the original story.

  In the original work, Ayane’s room had been covered in Izumi-reted goods—bromides, posters, collectibles. Her love for BARD had been evident in every corner.

  But the room he saw that day—

  It was cute, neat, and decorated like a typical girl's room. A bit messy, sure, but it was warm, lived-in.

  And yet—

  Not a single trace of Izumi remained.

  Not even a single letter from BARD.

  That absence alone had shaken him to his core.

  "It's scary."

  Taeil closed his eyes.

  Darkness.

  The future without Burning Bze, Iri’s Band, felt suffocating.

  Pitch-bck.

  Show Band was supposed to be a coming-of-age story—

  But at its core, it was just a lighthearted tale, a slice-of-life zoo filled with cute girls living their daily lives.

  Even if the original story colpsed—

  The world wouldn’t end.

  There was no apocalypse looming.

  No inevitable tragedy.

  This wasn’t that kind of story.

  So maybe—

  Maybe he had been too compcent.

  He had told himself that the original Ayane had been unhappy.

  That her life had never been a happy one.

  Taeil, a single reader, had believed it too.

  After all—

  Wasn’t Ayane’s youth supposed to shine brightest only after she met Iris?

  Wasn’t that how the story was supposed to go?

  So, he changed it.

  Look at Ayane now.

  She always has a smile on her face.

  The gloom that once clung to her in the original work—gone.

  In its pce stood a high school girl with a bright smile, surrounded by friends, loved by everyone.

  She seemed so happy that Taeil couldn’t help but wonder—

  If the original Ayane saw her now, what would she say?

  But deep down, something gnawed at him.

  No matter how much he tried to ignore it, one thought kept surfacing—

  He had erased one of Ayane’s brightest possibilities.

  What if an Ayane who doesn’t do music… isn’t actually happier than the original Ayane?

  If that were true, then—

  It was all his fault.

  Taeil groaned.

  He didn’t regret it.

  Even if he could go back in time, he would still make the same choice.

  Because Ayane’s life hadn’t just been full of bullying—

  It had been so pitiful that he could hardly stand to look at it.

  Maybe, just maybe, his feelings—his desire to change her fate—

  Were nothing more than arrogance.

  A misguided sense of pity, shaped by the remnants of his past life.

  "I don’t know."

  There was no answer.

  Taeil exhaled and gave up trying to find one.

  Instead, he reached for his guitar.

  There was nothing more foolish than drowning in unresolved worries.

  An absentminded chuckle escaped him as he plucked the strings.

  Maybe this was just an escape.

  Maybe he just needed to clear his head.

  He tuned the guitar carefully, letting the familiar vibrations settle his nerves.

  Then, he opened his old, worn-out notebook—the one filled with his compositions and scattered notes.

  As he flipped toward the final pages, an unfinished score came into view.

  "Hum…Hmm~."

  A soft hum escaped him as he pyed through the opening melody.

  His fingers moved instinctively over the notes and chords.

  The theme was still undefined, but something about the song—its slow, lingering tempo—

  It felt like a love confession.

  "Alright."

  His left hand found its pce on the fretboard. His right hand gripped the pick.

  Without hesitation, he strummed.

  By now, after years of pying, his hands knew the motions so well that his own composition flowed effortlessly.

  But then—

  Right at the highlight—

  He stopped.

  Thud!

  His palms pressed against the guitar. His brow furrowed as he hummed the st part of the unfinished song.

  "So here..."

  He tapped a steady beat against the guitar’s body.

  Then, he strummed.

  But the melody still felt… off.

  Incomplete.

  He wanted to forget his agony over the original work.

  So, he forced himself to keep working—even though he had no inspiration.

  "Alright."

  The melody, once interrupted, resumed.

  But no matter how many notes Taeil plucked, no matter how many chords he strung together—

  The music scattered into the air, dissolving before it could take shape.

  Nothing stuck.

  A wrinkle formed between Taeil’s brows.

  "..."

  No choice but to start again.

  Again.

  And again.

  The same uninspired melody.

  The repetition grew exhausting, until finally, Taeil gave up and set the guitar down.

  "I'm so lost. Should I even look for a sample…?"

  His head buzzed with white noise.

  Even as he y down to rest, his fingers twitched, restless, searching for something—anything—to do.

  His smartphone was within reach.

  Absentmindedly, almost on autopilot, he picked it up.

  Then, as if possessed, he opened a music composition app.

  His fingers moved without thinking.

  Melodies spilled onto the screen, shaped by instinct rather than intention.

  And within this string of mechanical actions—

  A rhythm took form.

  "Huh?."

  Taeil, who had half given up, suddenly came back to his senses.

  His eyes widened as he listened again.

  The melody was strangely familiar.

  A crisp electric lead set the tone, guiding the song forward.

  A deep bass followed, steady and grounding.

  Drums struck hard, sharp, precise—like a bde cutting through silence.

  Then—

  The sudden, electrifying burst of lead guitar in the highlight.

  He knew this song.

  "Pfft—ha!."

  A breathless ugh escaped him.

  It was the opening theme of Show Band.

  "That’s right… This world doesn’t have a Show Band opening, does it?"

  And, of course—

  ‘Burning Bze’ wouldn’t exist here, either.

  A pang of loss hit him.

  In the original setting, Ayane and her band had written all of Burning Bze’s songs.

  They had performed covers, sure—

  But when it came to their own music, they had refused to compromise.

  Taeil let his phone rest on his chest and stretched both arms out on the bed, staring at the screen.

  "Alright. If I need a change of pace..."

  Maybe it was time to do something about it.

  Taeil raised himself up.

  Before he knew it, his hands were holding a pen and a notebook.

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