Joker's Band Game Story

"Is that enough?"

"I'm satisfied, it feels so good..."

The flush of excitement on Lixi's face hadn't faded yet; it was rare to see her so happy.

"Thank you just now."

The thought that Amamiya had actually given her the opportunity made her incredibly happy.

I'm so happy that inviting Amamiya was actually the right decision.

Chapter Ten: Who is this? So despicable! Beat him to a pulp!

Riki is a girl who is easily satisfied, and Amamiya has already made that clear.

At least in Amamiya's opinion, Riki is a pretty cute girl, and sometimes quite straightforward. Being with her is also quite relaxing.

After all, she doesn't hide her feelings most of the time; she speaks her mind. Her attitude towards people is only verbally harsh. As long as you don't offend her, she won't do anything.

More importantly, she was thick-skinned and easy to read, which made Amamiya feel that she was like an ignorant college student, frighteningly straightforward.

The two arrived at the aquarium. She was still basking in the joy of touching the panda and felt like she could laugh like an idiot all day.

"Let's buy something for the lamp."

Amamiya walked through the aquarium's shops, looking at the items and thinking about what to buy for the lamp.

Of course, it wasn't him who gave it to her; he was just reminding Lixi to give it to the lamp. This silly girl, for some reason, is adorably clueless when it comes to lamps. Isn't it perfectly normal to buy some souvenirs for friends after visiting the zoo?

Aren't you going to deliver it?

"Nobody knows I'm here to keep you company. You've probably already told everyone in the band, right?"

Amamiya had already guessed that Riki must have asked everyone in the band before coming to find him, so it was normal to give them small gifts.

No need to buy anything too expensive. After all, we're all students. A few hundred or a thousand yuan each is enough. Connections are built little by little through these small things. If you have a good relationship with a friend, you have to think of them from time to time.

"I think she'll like this note."

Amamiya quickly found an ocean-themed sticky note. It was quite interesting, with penguins, crabs, dolphins, and fish on the outside. It seemed like the kind of sticky note that a girl like Tsubaki would like, so he gave it to Riki.

He knew that Lixi didn't know how to choose a gift, so he decided to help her out.

"For the cat, just buy her some treats, like dried squid. For Aine, you could get her a pendant; she likes fancy little things. As for Sōse..."

Amamiya recalled that when she was at her house, she didn't seem to lack anything. Rather than giving her other gifts, it would be more appropriate to give her some practical items.

But since Lixi's wallet wasn't very big, he felt it would be better to buy something cheaper.

After thinking it over, he only chose a small hair tie box with a jellyfish pattern and handed it to Lixi.

In his memory, Shuang Shi usually wore her hair down, but she could change her hairstyle occasionally, and these hair ties would be more suitable.

It can only be said that Amamiya has emotional intelligence, but her aesthetic sense needs improvement. These hair ties look more like they're for children, and it would seem a bit childish to have Sase wear them.

"That's two thousand one hundred yen in total. Thank you for your patronage."

When Lixi came out of the shop again, she was carrying two bags. One bag contained the panda doll from before, and the other was a gift for the other four people.

A small gift carries great meaning; for close friends, the act of giving a gift is more valuable than the gift itself.

Upon entering the aquarium, Amamiya began looking at the various marine creatures in the tanks. Seeing this, Riki asked, "Ren, do you like aquariums?"

"I'm not very interested, but you like lights, right? I think it would be better if you learned more about marine life."

Amamiya was teaching her child how to pursue an art student, showing her how to cater to her interests.

Expanding one's knowledge appropriately is never a bad thing. If Lixi doesn't understand anything, what kind of communication space can he have with Deng?

This silly girl is like a clueless fool; she's all shy and awkward around girls she likes, and she doesn't even dare to show her feelings. It's obvious to everyone, but she just doesn't know how to pursue girls.

Although Amamiya found it strange that a woman was pursuing another woman, he was quite open-minded. He usually chose to understand and respect her, and would give her some suggestions to help her understand what she should do.

But as Amamiya seemed to be giving her a lecture, Riki subconsciously said, "I don't think that way about the lamp."

"What kind of idea?"

"that is……"

"Didn't you want to spend your whole life with her?"

With her head tilted slightly, Amamiya's question sounded like that of an innocent child, seemingly unintentional but actually piercing to the heart.

Li Xi was speechless and couldn't say a word.

“This is different from one lifetime to another.”

"There's no difference. You've already formed a band, so what are you still hesitating about?"

Amamiya scoffed. How could he not know what Riki was thinking? Her attitude towards the lantern was far too intimate, going beyond the boundaries of friendship.

Or perhaps her feelings for Deng were more like a Platonic love? She certainly didn't have any physical desire for Deng, but he could still feel the pull of wanting to be in the band with Deng for life.

"If you want to get to know her better, I suggest you learn more about her interests. She's a penguin who blends into the human world, so it's hard for her to understand human emotions."

As Amamiya spoke, her gaze returned to the aquarium, where several fish swam by, looking carefree and without a trace of human sorrow: "So spending more time with her will make her very happy. Although she doesn't quite understand these thoughts, she does need someone to accompany her—like Aine."

Amamiya provoked Riki with her love sounds, but Riki just clenched her fists and said nothing.

Of course she knew how close Aine and Akari were; the two were practically inseparable, not only as classmates but also with affectionate nicknames for each other.

She had known the lamp for much longer, but it didn't make any difference. She only dared to look at the lamp from afar. She knew why she valued the lamp so much: it was because she felt that the other person was like her, a creature living in darkness.

But she can sing in the sunlight; she can tell herself that even creatures of darkness can take the stage.

Lixi knew that the lamp she liked was not a real lamp, but she could not deny that she liked it and hoped that the lamp could shine on the stage. She was willing to be a supporting role and accompany the lamp so that it could shine with its own dazzling brilliance.

Therefore, she didn't get too involved with the lamp in her daily life, because it wasn't necessary. She actually had a small, slight, and mild sense of inferiority towards the lamp, believing that she shouldn't interfere with it and should let it have a more relaxed and happier life.

But now Amamiya is telling her that he can make the lights happier... Can he really do that?

She lacked confidence, but on Amamiya's advice, she rented an 'electronic guide'—a small tape recorder.

Standing in front of different water tanks, looking at the codes on them, and tuning the tape recorder to the corresponding code, you can hear explanations of the corresponding marine life.

Following behind Lixi, Amamiya also listened to the electronic tour guide. To save money, Lixi decided to share a tape recorder with Amamiya. She didn't want Amamiya to pay extra for her because of her pride, but she had already bought gifts for the others and owed Amamiya money for a panda plush toy, so she really couldn't bear to rent a tape recorder on her own.

So now the two of them are listening to the recording side by side, with wired headphones that prevent them from being too far apart.

"Be careful."

The aquarium was crowded. Amamiya noticed someone running around quickly in the aquarium, and since Riki might get bumped into, he reached out and pulled her towards him. He watched the person leave in a hurry, wondering what they were busy doing.

But with this pull, the two were now completely pressed together.

Although it was only for a moment, Lixi's face couldn't help but blush again.

She could smell the scent of laundry detergent on Amamiya; it smelled very nice and pleasant.

Even after the two of them came out of the aquarium, she still remembered that smell very clearly.

"It's already this late. I didn't expect to stay in the aquarium for so long."

Looking at the time, Amamiya was somewhat surprised; the two had spent nearly five hours in the aquarium.

The aquarium in this zoo isn't small. I mainly listened to recordings on a tape recorder. Each recording was two to three minutes long, and listening to all of the hundreds of recordings would take quite a while.

If the two of them hadn't started skipping around while listening later on, they probably still wouldn't be out of there now.

Lixi checked the time and suddenly became a little anxious: "I should get ready to go to work."

With only an hour left before her shift, she could still make it if she left now, so it seemed she wouldn't need to continue visiting the zoo.

"Let's go to the tram station together then."

Amamiya didn't plan to wander around the zoo any further. He felt it was pointless to be there alone, as he wasn't particularly interested in the animals.

So the two of them took the tram together and left the zoo, then parted ways at the transfer station.

Amamiya is going to Shimokitazawa, while Riki is going to Ikebukuro.

After saying goodbye to Riki at the train station, Amamiya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He had to admit that he had indeed come out for a stroll because he felt lonely at home, but after spending two days with the girl, he decided to rest by himself for a while.

That's just how people are sometimes. For example, college students think about having a holiday when they're in school, but when they get bored at home during the holiday, they think about going back to school.

Upon arriving at the Starry Sky, it was inevitable that they would see the four members of the End Band. Hongxia noticed that Amamiya was coming over and immediately said to him, "Brother Ren! Come and see my newly designed team uniform!"

"Clang~ Clang~"

Beside Nijika, Ryo generously showed Amamiya his outfit: a black T-shirt with the 'End Band' logo printed on it. The band's image was against a background of tied-up ribbons, with the text appearing through the ribbons.

Very capable, and you can understand the meaning of the clothes at a glance.

"Not bad, are all four of you the same?"

"Soda yo~"

Hongxia answered happily, her gaze turning to Kita, who was taking pictures not far behind her: "Kita and Pochi are wearing them too~ But where is Pochi?"

"Over there."} (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the initial statement.)

Liang honestly pointed to Boqi, who was not far away, hugging a notebook, covering her face, and looking like she was dead. She wondered what Boqi was thinking about by herself again.

Although Amamiya couldn't understand the child's thoughts, he could roughly guess what strange things the other person was thinking. Pochi was the kind of introverted high school student with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) who often had some so-called delusions, and then scared himself because he was too introverted and over-interpreted other people's thoughts.

It can only be said that her personality may have gradually softened over time. I wonder what kind of disaster she encountered at home that turned her into this person.

"Hey~ Little Pochi's house? I've been there~ It's really interesting~"

When asked about what she had learned from Boqi's house yesterday, Hongxia couldn't help but talk about her lovely younger sister and cheerful parents.

Oh, and she also has a cute little dog at home.

"So how exactly does such a family environment shape such an introverted personality?"

Amamiya slapped his forehead, completely baffled by what was going on with Pochi.

"By the way, how are your tickets selling?"

"They're all sold out! Even the tickets for Little Bochi are gone!"

"That's really good."

Amamiya was quite curious about how Pochi managed to sell all five tickets, guessing he must have had some ingenious ideas.