In music anime, band girls won't be alone.

After all, he was too embarrassed to ask Ichiji Hoshika to help him receive the various bands.

While waiting, he also asked people he knew to help forward the poster.

After waiting for more than half an hour, the first band representative arrived.

Representatives from other bands also arrived later.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Shirakawa saw Ijichi Nikka and Yamada Ryo enter.

"Ozawa!"

Upon seeing the boy sitting at the ticket counter, Ichichi Nijika's ahoge (cowlick) twitched happily twice, then she quickly walked up to him, her face beaming.

"I heard Ozawa organized a competition, that's amazing!"

Can we sign up?

Shirakawa Ze smiled, took out an application form, and handed it over with both hands.

"Of course, welcome to participate, senior!"

Yamada Ryo, standing to the side, looked at him with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Xiao Ze, is it possible to rig this competition?"

"Like, getting the first-place prize money without even having to compete?"

Shirakawa Ze's smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

"No."

As the group was talking, a girl wearing the Hanasaki River school uniform and carrying a bass guitar case walked in. She went straight to Shirakawa Sawa, her emerald green eyes fixed on him, revealing no emotion.

"Hello, please give me fifteen registration forms."

Volume 1: Chapter 179 What is Forgetting?

Shirakawa looked at Hachiman Kairin in front of him and, for some reason, felt that the other person's gaze was as if she were looking at someone she knew.

However, he didn't think much of it and instead spoke up to remind him.

"Each band only needs to fill out one registration form, and it must be filled out by a representative designated by the band."

Hachiman Kairin nodded.

“I play bass for more than 30 bands, but due to time constraints and the stylistic differences between the different bands, I can only compete with 15 of them this time.”

"They all agreed that I would fill out the registration form on their behalf."

"This is more efficient and can save you time."

Shirakawa Ze didn't say anything more, and handed over fifteen registration forms.

Nijika Iji, who was standing to the side, glanced at Hachiman Kairin with some surprise, but didn't say anything.

Yamada Ryo looked directly at the other person without any hesitation and asked with a serious expression,

"Making money?"

Yawata Kairin glanced at her, shook her head slightly, and then continued filling out the registration form.

After she filled out the registration form, Shirakawa added her contact information and then pulled her into the group, explaining in a voice message,

"Registration will close at noon tomorrow, and I will also send out the sheet music for your performance in the group."

Kairin Hachiman said she understood, then picked up her bass case and left.

As she walked out of STARRY, a thoughtful look appeared in her eyes.

[Shirakawa Sawa...]

I never expected we'd get in touch so quickly...

……

Shirakawa stayed at STARRY until 10 p.m., then went to Yutenji Wakame's house to sign the contract, and then went back.

Today, more than fifty bands signed up.

Although he didn't know the final result, the number of applicants exceeded the task requirements, and judging from the circle of Ijichi Hoshika, they should all be bands capable of performing live, so he felt it was okay.

On the way back, Shirakawa sent a message to Takamatsu Akari.

"Dengjiang, I'm planning to ask for a few days off from school tomorrow. I'll stay with STARRY until the competition ends next Thursday."

"But it won't affect my going to your live show on Saturday."

The other party replied quickly.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Ze Jun."

"I'll come help you after the live performance."

The next morning, Shirakawa arrived at school, but instead of going to the classroom, he went straight to the office and found the homeroom teacher.

Upon hearing that the former wanted to take leave until next Thursday, the latter's expression became slightly more serious.

"Shirakawa-kun, let me give you a little reminder. You can advance directly from the first year of high school to the second year with the help of event rewards, but from the second year to the third year, you'll have to rely entirely on your own abilities."

Shirakawa Sawa smiled.

"Don't worry, teacher, I will never drag the class down in any exam."

Actually, this is a humble way of putting it. High school courses were not difficult for him. Even if he could not get a specific ranking, he would at least be among the top students.

However, from the homeroom teacher's perspective, this statement seemed more like the other party was trying to fool them.

Although he felt a bit disappointed in him, he didn't say much, but still granted him leave and asked him to let him know he was safe every day.

Taking such a long leave of absence usually requires notifying the parents, but since the other party does not have parents, he can only report it himself.

After putting away the leave slip, Shirakawa arrived at STARRY. By noon, only a dozen or so bands had signed up.

When the time was up, he announced that the registration period was over and then sent the sheet music for "aLIEz" to the band representatives' group.

Soon, the sheet music for this song became known to more people.

[Judgment (Blinally stubborn)]

[Since the trance れを出たチープなhokori で (put on an arrogant coat and have ridiculous self-esteem)]

[Otonara げても (even though the voice and appearance are fierce)]

[The sad shame that was once put away on the shelf has actually been soaked in the mirror)]

Upon seeing the first few lines of the lyrics, Toyokawa Shoko was stunned, her mind going completely blank.

If she didn't know who released the sheet music for this song, she probably wouldn't have thought much of it.

But she knew it was a song released by Shirakawa Ze, and that he had even organized a competition specifically for it.

Almost everyone who plays in a band knows this.

She immediately turned off her phone, unable to bear looking any further.

She felt that these words were like daggers piercing her heart, as if they were mercilessly puncturing her ridiculous and hypocritical pride.

She closed her eyes and lay face down on the table, trying to calm herself, but those lyrics kept replaying and churning in her mind...

She felt her emotions were about to collapse, so she got up and left the classroom.

The moment she stepped out the back door, a tear slid down her face and fell to the ground.

But nobody cared.

As if by instinct, she quickly walked towards the storage room on the top floor.

This was where she ate lunch every day when she first started school.

As she approached the storage room door, she heard someone speaking inside—a lively, energetic voice.

"Poch-chan, I'm ready!"

Immediately afterwards, a guitar sound that I had never heard before, yet felt strangely familiar, began to play.

By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late.

"Judgment..."

The penetrating voice clearly delivered the song to her ears.

She couldn't hold back any longer. Crying, she ran to an empty classroom on the other side, closed the door, leaned against it, and slowly squatted down with her arms crossed...

After school in the afternoon, Toyokawa Shoko went to the practice room, slowly walked to the piano, opened the key cover, and sat down.

She stared silently at the piano keys in front of her, seemingly without any desire to touch them.

As she watched, for some reason, she felt the black and white piano keys suddenly begin to merge and intertwine before her eyes...

Slowly, the black piano keys seemed to devour the white keys, and all she could see was black.

She got up and walked to the locker, slowly opened the door, and took out a mask and a dress from inside, preparing to film a video.

Looking at the clothes she was holding, she suddenly had an idea. She put the dress back, took the mask, and sat down on the sofa.

"Oblivionis."

She gazed at the mask and murmured softly.

"forget."

What is forgetting?

"You say you've forgotten, but you're clearly the one who least wants to forget and is most afraid of forgetting."

"They want self-respect, but they don't understand what true self-respect is, and they have no right to talk about it."

She carefully removed the feathers and artificial tree branches from the mask, one by one.

"You're always running away, always afraid to face your true feelings, always only thinking about your own feelings..."

She then took out a black marker from her bag and began to gradually blacken the mask, which was now just a piece of fabric and a frame.

"Let me see where you, this hypocrite and selfish person, can go..."