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

She discovered this place yesterday at noon. No one comes here during the lunch break because it's open-air and you can see the sky. It's a great place to eat alone and daydream.

Stepping into the storage room, Toyokawa Shoko felt a little more relaxed.

She found a chair, wiped it clean, sat down, opened the sandwich packaging, and prepared to enjoy her lunch.

Then she caught a glimpse of a girl in a pink tracksuit staring at her in terror from the corner…

Book 1: Chapter 6 Sunlight Pierces Through the Gloom Again

Seeing the girl huddled in the corner, Xiangzi's mind raced, trying to understand the situation.

What's the deal with this girl?

Why is she hiding here?

"Did he commit some crime? Or is he hiding from something?"

"It's like I'm hiding..."

"No, I wasn't hiding."

"I killed my past, weak self."

"This is different from hiding."

Not only was Toyokawa Shoko confused about the situation, but Goto Ichiri, who was huddled in the corner, was also a little bewildered.

She just felt that the atmosphere in the classroom was too oppressive. Her classmates were all making new friends, and the unique radiance of youth on campus was slowly spreading. She felt that she was going to repeat the same mistake of not making any friends during her three years of junior high school.

So during her lunch break, she wanted to find a dark and cramped space to relax.

Using her keen intuition for specific spaces, she found the storage room and then huddled in a dark corner.

After everything around him calmed down, Goto Ichiri breathed a long sigh of relief.

This feeling is like having toiled for 380 years, helping the Foolish Old Man move the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains, and then soaking in a steaming hot bath after returning home—it's nothing but comfort.

But before she could even enjoy herself properly, she saw the blue-haired girl walk in.

At first, Goto Ichiri thought he was a kindred spirit like herself, but after seeing him carefully wipe the chair clean and then sit down elegantly to prepare for lunch, she realized that she had been overthinking it.

Toyokawa Shoko wasn't quite sure why Goto Ichiri was huddled in the corner, but seeing that the other person was only looking at her with a terrified expression and wasn't making any further moves, she looked away, quickly finished her sandwich, and left.

Seeing that Toyokawa Shoko had left, Goto Ichiri's tense body slowly relaxed, and then he continued to shrink into the corner.

……

At the convenience store entrance, seeing Toyokawa Shoko disappear from her sight, Takamatsu Akari's mood plummeted.

She stared blankly at the scene before her, feeling an urge to break free from it.

A gentle breeze swept by, and a petal, carried by the wind, swayed and drifted away into the distance.

Gao Songdeng's thoughts drifted back to that afternoon last year, following the petal.

A gust of wind blew a few petals away at that time.

She stood on the overpass, watching the falling petals, and reached out to catch them, but was tackled by Toyokawa Shoko, who was passing by and mistook her for someone who wanted to commit suicide.

No!

"Sorry for bumping into you, but don't go and die!"

Gao Songdeng still clearly remembers the serious yet anxious look in the other person's eyes when they looked at him.

In that instant, Takamatsu felt as if a beam of light had torn through the gloom that shrouded his head and shone into his world.

Later, they became friends.

At Xiangzi's invitation, she joined a band called CRYCHIC, serving as a lyricist and lead singer.

"From now on, we will play music together and become a community with a shared future!"

She remembered what Xiangzi said on the day the band members first gathered together.

At that time, Xiangzi was full of vigor and his eyes were full of hope for the future.

She sat beside him, watching Xiangzi like this, and began to look forward to the future.

After that, the band members trained together, participated in activities together, and worked hard together for the band's first live performance.

For Deng, that was the happiest time of his life so far.

"But……"

"Why……"

A look of pain appeared on Takamatsu Akari's face. She closed her eyes and slowly squatted down.

Memories of that rainy day began to surface, slowly overshadowing the beauty of the past.

Self-blame, guilt, and confusion began to grow and linger in my heart...

Those feelings were like hands reaching out from a deep pool called emotions, trying to tear apart the beautiful memories in her mind and drag her completely into it.

"Takamatsu-san?"

"what happened to you?"

Takamatsu suddenly heard a familiar voice.

Her thoughts were immediately interrupted, and the hands that had just reached out from the depths of her emotions immediately withdrew.

Takamatsu opened her eyes and saw Shirakawa Sawa squatting in front of her, his eyes full of concern.

"I'm fine."

Takamatsu Akari shook her head slightly, then stood up.

Shirakawa Sawa also stood up.

"If there's anything I can help with, please let me know."

Gao Songdeng hummed in agreement and nodded, but didn't say anything more.

She doesn't want to talk to him about her past yet.

On one hand, she felt that Shirakawa Sawa didn't know any of the band members, so there was no need to cause them any trouble. On the other hand, she felt that their relationship hadn't reached the point where they could talk about these things.

Seeing that Takamatsu Akari had fallen silent, Shirakawa Sawa didn't press for details, but instead gestured towards the convenience store next door.

"I'll go buy a bottle of water first. I ate too much sugar this morning and I'm a little thirsty."

Upon hearing this, Gao Songdeng realized she was thirsty and remembered that she was also going to buy a bottle of water, so she followed him into the convenience store.

"Has Takamatsu-kun eaten yet?"

As he walked out of the convenience store, Shirakawa turned to look at Takamatsu Akari.

The latter shook his head.

Shirakawa Sawa paused for a moment, then spoke.

"I don't know what Takamatsu just went through."

"But in my opinion, it's still better to eat something."

"Want to go to the cafeteria? I'll go with you."

Takamatsu nodded, and then the two walked side by side toward the cafeteria.

Because Xiuhua High School is a non-boarding school, most students bring their own lunch, so there aren't many students in the cafeteria, making the environment quite deserted.

After looking around, Takamatsu Akari bought a regular rice ball for lunch.

Because of what had just happened, she had no appetite. She came over to respond to Shirakawa Ze's concern.

She didn't want to cause unhappiness to those around her because of her own actions.

After finishing their rice balls, the two headed towards the classroom.

Shirakawa Sawa thought of their appointment tonight and turned to look at Takamatsu Akari, whose mood was clearly heavy.

"Takamatsu-kun, did you feel any reluctance about what happened tonight?"

Gao Songdeng's mood grew even heavier as she recalled their appointment that morning.

"Could it be that Shirakawa-san felt I was a bit of a downer because he saw that I was in a bad mood?"

"After all, stargazing is such a joyful thing, but now I'm giving people a very bad impression..."

"And I didn't explain to him why I did that, so I imagine he must have felt quite troubled."

"Because of my problem... I'm bothering others again..."

Sensing the increasing gravitational field surrounding Takamatsu Akari, Shirakawa Sawa immediately spoke up.

"I just checked the weather, and tonight is perfect for stargazing."

"If a beautiful starry sky could offer some comfort, wouldn't Takamatsu's mood be a little better?"

"Then it's settled. See you at 7 p.m. in front of the Astronomy Department activity room."

It was like sunlight breaking through the gloom once again.

Takamatsu looked up at the boy beside her.

To be honest, this was the first time she had looked directly at the other person's face, and only then did she truly see what the person in front of her looked like.

He had short black hair, bright eyes, and although his face still had a touch of childishness, his handsomeness was undeniable.

Especially the focused and serious look in the other person's eyes when they looked at him, made Gao Songdeng have no doubt that the friendly signals the other person was sending were fake.

"Ok!"

Takamatsu looked at Shirakawa Sawa and nodded.

"See you there or not!"

Volume 1: Chapter 7 This is the assessment for joining the band