Given, Vol. 9

Sometimes a song can save your life.

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to one another—always brings them back together again.

Mafuyu arrives in Shibuya, where syh’s concert will be held. Clutching the tickets both Ritsuka and Hiragi have given him, Mafuyu stops dead in his tracks when he runs into someone who shouldn’t be in Tokyo—Ugetsu. What does his presence there mean, and could this be the catalyst Mafuyu needs to finally move forward and make a decision?

Natsuki Kizu made her professional debut in 2013 with Yukimura Sensei and Kei-kun, followed by the short story collection Links and her breakout series, Given, which has been adapted into drama CDs and an animated TV series. To find out more about her works, you can follow her on Twitter at @kizu_ntk.