Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 54 21. "Night Talk"

“I never thought I’d be forming a band with someone in the future.”

Night, Starry Coffee Shop, first floor.

Kamishiro Rinone sat in a chair, staring intently at the performance ticket in her hand.

After Kuon Mirai came back, he also gave one to Kamiyo Rinone, who also bought it for 2500 yen.

"You also know that Kuon plays the guitar?" Masumi asked.

"I've got a vague feeling about it," Lin Yin said, "but since she didn't tell me, I won't ask."

"That's it..."

Masumi nodded slightly.

"But seeing her personality, I'm not surprised."

These words came from Masumi's mouth.

"why?"

Linyin turned her head to look at him, revealing the sentimental teardrop mole at the corner of her eye and her beautifully shaped white ears through the gaps in her black hair.

On a June night, there seemed to be the sound of cicadas outside.

"That's the magic of the band," Masumi said with a smile.

Linyin sighed softly: "When did you become like Mami-san?"

Those amethyst eyes blinked, their long eyelashes gently lowered, and they murmured, "What does the band... look like?"

"What does it look like..."

Masumi thought for a moment and replied, "As for me, I think it should be a place where the members' personalities collide with each other, while also being tolerant and respectful of each other."

“…sounds very ‘special.’”

"special?"

He repeated the word again and found that he liked the metaphor very much.

“Yes, it is quite “special”.”

"Every member of the band has their own unique edge. In real life, everyone would hide their outspoken nature and go with the flow just to fit in. But in a band, even the most introverted can shine."

"Because of this, everyone has their own areas where they cannot compromise, so disagreements often occur."

Linyin nodded slightly: "This is a clash of personalities."

"But the band is a 'community of shared destiny,' just like the four corners of a room. Not only do they support everyone's dreams, but everyone also supports yours."

"It's not enough to just show off yourself, so we need to be more restrained, be tolerant of each other, and respect each other."

“That’s really enviable.”

Linyin's tone seemed to carry a hint of loneliness: "I've always been alone, so I can't understand this feeling."

Masumi subconsciously stared at her face and found that she looked as cold as ever, so his pupils flickered hesitantly.

It was the rainy season, and the weather was halfway through summer. There was no air conditioning in the store, and it felt a bit stuffy to breathe.

To relieve the tightness in his chest, he let out a long breath along with his emotions, and the heat dissolved in the cheap light of the fluorescent lamp.

"That's just an ideal, dreamy statement."

Masumi smiled and sighed, "The band sounds great, but interpersonal relationships can be quite troublesome. It's not uncommon for members to have conflicts, fight, become enemies, and disband."

Linyin didn't comment, but just looked at him with her beautiful purple eyes.

Masumi's reaction was quite calm.

"what are you thinking?"

"Ok?"

"band."

Linyin felt that what she said was not good, so she said it again.

"What do you think? Band."

Hearing the girl's soft question, Masumi took out the performance ticket from his pocket, placed it on the table, and stared at it until the familiar words became unfamiliar.

Under the table, his fingers tightly grasped the corner of his clothes, and the shadows hidden between the folds of the fabric swallowed up all the light that flowed in here.

Masumi pretended to clear his throat.

"In the beginning, it was all about the so-called dream, something that sounds so illusory."

“So in high school, I was just like a kid pretending to be an adult, dreaming about my own music.”

“It wasn’t until I went to Tokyo and truly experienced the world of underground music that I intuitively understood what I was actually doing, and my mindset also subtly changed.”

Masumi stared at the surface of the wooden table as if searching for words, and then noticed an ink stain at the corner, probably left by a student studying.

He felt a little awkward and wiped the ink stain with his fingertips in vain while speaking.

"The ideals I had before are still there, but they're not as passionate as they were at the beginning." "I felt lonely at first, but later I thought it was a good thing for me, a proof that I'm more sober."

“I don’t need to maintain such a surging passion all the time. As long as I have enough to support me to persevere, it is enough. The rest is seriousness and responsibility.”

Masumi spoke seriously when he said this, and Rin'in traced his straight profile with her eyes, as if she could see through time.

"It's just that all my ideals, passion, seriousness and responsibility no longer exist."

He ended the topic with a lonely ending. Sometimes, people's dreams are often the things that hurt themselves the most.

"..."

Linyin remained silent, waiting for the next step.

But no matter how long he waited, Masumi didn't continue talking and only said this.

"is that so……"

Rinyin shook her head and suddenly asked Masumi a question he hadn't expected: "I heard from Mami-san that you have a girlfriend in Tokyo who you're in a band with?"

"She even told you that?"

"Before you tell Mami-san a secret, be prepared for the whole world to know it."

Masumi smiled wryly and said, "It's not really a secret."

"That's true. Before returning to Kobe, I dumped her with a casual remark calling her an irresponsible scumbag."

"So what you said before was absolutely correct. I am indeed a frivolous person with no sense of responsibility."

"I won't make any rash judgments before I understand the specific situation." Lin Yin said calmly, "Just like what I heard from Mr. Jing Jian before, which made me have a preconceived notion about you. I won't make the same mistake again."

"If you're willing to tell me why..."

He was only halfway through his words when he was interrupted by Masumi.

"If you know the reasons behind a scumbag's behavior, can you forgive him?"

His tone of voice was unusually calm when he retorted.

"No."

Rinyin answered without hesitation, powerful words pouring out from her lips.

"A mistake is a mistake. The reasons for making a mistake may earn sympathy, compassion, and understanding, but they cannot earn forgiveness."

“Forgiveness is the right of those who have been hurt.”

This statement was indeed very much in the style of Kamiyo. After hearing this, Masumi felt a little lighter for some reason.

"But...if I tell you..."

After a brief hesitation, the girl's clear voice dissolved in the hot air.

“…Maybe someone else will understand.”

Masumi suddenly turned to look at her. Seeing Masumi's slightly surprised face, Rin's expression remained as indifferent as ever.

The vibration of the front end of the second hand of the quartz clock echoed faintly in the store.

Time passes slowly.

The subtle silence, like the sticky, humid air of the rainy season, surrounded the two of them, clinging to their skin.

Rinyin doesn't hate silence. She doesn't feel awkward even when she's with a boy and doesn't talk. On the contrary, silence is the norm in her life.

However, that was due to her indifferent attitude towards the things around her.

Even if there are people around her, she won't force herself to find topics to talk about, nor will she care whether others mind or not. Rinyin can only see her own shadow.

Only at this moment, she observed someone else's shadow for the first time. It was very close to her under the light of the fluorescent lamp. Moreover, the shadow was wider, taller, and bigger than hers, but she didn't mind.

This unfamiliar feeling made Linyin feel a little uneasy, afraid that it would overlap with the larger shadow and thus lose sight of her own shadow.

In order to get rid of this uneasiness, she broke the silence:
"Why did you choose to form a band?"

"Ok?"

"I heard from Mr. Jing Jian that you did intend to inherit the family business, right?"

"Well, that's true."

Masumi nodded slightly.

"So why... did you suddenly choose the path of band?"

Why……

Masumi narrowed his eyes, his thoughts falling into memories.

He thought for too long, an abnormally long time, which entangled Linyin's increasingly sensitive nerves like vines.

Until she lost her patience, was about to give up the question, and stood up with her ticket -

At this time, Masumi's answer slowly floated through the air.

　Thank you for your monthly tickets, recommendation tickets and comments. Please read on Tuesday and ask for monthly tickets and recommendation tickets.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)