Rhapsody: The First Gig

Money trouble hits both women hard. Hayashi receives a letter from her mother—along with a sum of money meant as a dowry, because her parents assume she's already eloped with Sho. The letter ends with a cold instruction: don't come home. Hayashi's family has effectively closed the door on her. She swallows the hurt and lands a job interview at a small publishing house, clinging to the hope that something—anything—will hold steady. Sho, meanwhile, tells himself he'll break things off with Sachi to stay faithful to Hayashi. He meets her at a café, rehearses the speech in his head—and then she breaks down in tears, and he ends up sleeping with her instead. The guilt curdles into something worse: he starts choosing her. He skips RIOT's first Tokyo gig to celebrate Sachi's birthday, telling Hayashi he's "working late." The gig itself is a triumph and a disaster. RIOT plays a rough punk-night at a small live house, facing a hostile crowd that's not ready for them. But a bubbly, intense fan named Misa rallies the room, and suddenly the audience is shouting along. Hayashi stands at the back, transfixed, watching Asakura command the stage with a ferocity she's never seen—raw, defiant, utterly alive. It's the first time Hayashi understands that Asakura isn't just running from her past; she's running toward something, and she's willing to burn everything to get there. After the show, Hayashi takes the train toward Sho's neighborhood, hoping to surprise him. Instead she finds him outside his restaurant, chasing after Sachi. The affair is exposed in a single, ugly moment. Asakura, who followed Hayashi, confronts Sho with a fury that shocks everyone—while Hayashi, numb and devastated, refuses to fight for a boyfriend who already chose someone else. She walks away without a word. Back at Room 808, Jun—Hayashi's best friend—calls to comfort her, gently pointing out that both parties share blame for the relationship's collapse. Hayashi knows she's right, but the wound is too fresh. She lashes out quietly, then withdraws. That same night, Shin reveals, with practiced indifference, that he's been selling himself to make rent—his family abandoned him years ago, and survival is survival. Both Momos are stunned into silence. Asakura, who has always kept her own past locked away, looks at him and says nothing. But Hayashi sees something crack behind her eyes—recognition, maybe. As the days pass, Hayashi tries to piece herself together. But a new unease blooms when she notices Asakura growing closer to Misa—the fan from the gig, who seems to understand Asakura's music in a way Hayashi can't articulate. Misa stays over, shares cigarettes, laughs at jokes Hayashi doesn't catch. The jealousy is irrational and undeniable. Hayashi snaps at Asakura one night, words she regrets the moment they leave her mouth. Asakura stares at her, bewildered and hurt, then walks out of the room without a fight. The episode ends with Asakura returning silently, sliding a pair of concert tickets across the floor—Trapnest, the band Hayashi loves, the one with the guitarist Asakura has never mentioned. It's an olive branch, a bridge, a quiet plea: I see you. I'm still here. Hayashi takes the tickets, tears burning her eyes, and the two of them sit in the dark of Room 808, neither speaking, both knowing something between them shifted—and neither knowing whether it broke or healed.

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