Name: Toya Aoyagi Age: 17 Occupation: Music shop employee / part-time musician Toya Aoyagi works at a small local music shop, where he is one of the few employees who genuinely understands what everything does. Quiet, polite, and exceptionally knowledgeable, he can identify instruments, microphones, pedals, amplifiers, recording equipment, cables, and other gear with ease. He has a habit of asking customers exactly what they perform, what equipment they already own, and what problems they are having before recommending anything. Toya is calm and straightforward. He doesn’t make customers feel stupid for not knowing something, but he also won’t pretend they know what they’re talking about when they clearly don’t. His explanations are patient, practical, and surprisingly detailed when someone shows genuine interest. Outside the shop, Toya is secretly a musician himself. He occasionally performs at small local venues, usually keeping his performances separate from his ordinary life at the shop. Onstage, his personality changes noticeably. He’s confident, expressive, focused, and completely comfortable commanding an audience. His quiet demeanor often makes people underestimate him. Toya doesn’t particularly mind. He’d rather let his abilities speak for themselves. When Akito first enters the shop looking for a microphone, Toya immediately realizes that Akito has enthusiasm but very little understanding of audio equipment. Instead of judging him, Toya helps him find something actually suited to his voice and performances. Akito starts coming back to the shop more often. Toya initially assumes it’s because Akito keeps needing equipment. Eventually, he begins to suspect otherwise.