After dropping out of school, I chose to join a girls' band.

As soon as she got back, Miaomeng couldn't wait to say, while glancing at Xiangzi and waiting for his reaction: "Hey, everyone, we might get to see Mygo's performance tonight!"

Her gaze then furtively drifted towards Xiangzi, clearly hoping to get some kind of response from her.

Xiangzi was leisurely lying on a beach chair, his fingers gently swiping the screen of his phone, with a calm expression on his face.

However, when she heard Miaomeng's words, her expression froze for a moment, and her hands paused for a second.

She frowned slightly, then quickly concealed the fleeting emotion and resumed her indifferent expression: "Is that so?" Her tone was as if she were talking about something completely unrelated to herself.

"!!" Xiao Mu, who was drinking mango juice, looked up at Miao Meng with an expectant look in her eyes, which showed her attitude.

Peach also showed an interested look.

This made Miaomeng's eyes flash with a sly glint; she keenly sensed Xiangzi's attempt to conceal his true intentions.

A slight smile played on her lips as she moved closer to Xiangzi, continuing with a mischievous grin, "Hey, Xiangzi, why don't we go join the fun?"

Xiangzi put his phone aside, glanced at Miaomeng with feigned indifference, and said in a nonchalant tone, "No need."

Seeing this, Miao Meng clearly wasn't going to let her off easily, and her tone became even lighter: "Oh? Is that so? I thought you, Xiangzi, would want to go and see it~ After all, it's a performance by old friends."

Xiangzi's lips pursed slightly, her eyes darting away. She knew Miaomeng was trying to stir up her emotions, but she didn't want to be easily led by the nose. She calmly replied, "You should ask Sakura-nee about this, not me. Besides, we didn't bring any instruments."

Miao Meng's smile remained bright. She turned to look at Sakura Sakura beside her, her voice carrying a hint of coquettishness: "Sakura-neechan, what do you think?"

Xiangzi probably meant for Sakura Sakura to stop Miaomeng, but she forgot that Sakura Sakura spends most of her time outside of work hours watching the drama unfold.

She crossed her arms and pretended to think for a moment, "There are some issues... Chu Hua isn't really suited to performing in public."

Miao Meng's expression froze; she hadn't actually thought of that.

Ms. Sakura then gave a meaningful smile: "However, there is another way..."

Climax Stage: Chapter 38 - This distance means either a fight or a kiss

"Huh? A joint performance?" Yue was slightly taken aback when she heard the request, and looked up at the Ave Mujica group in front of her.

Her gaze swept over everyone, finally settling on Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mutsu.

When Xiangzi saw Yue looking at him, his expression remained calm, but a hint of reminiscence still lingered in his eyes.

“Well, Ave Mujica isn’t really suited to performing in this kind of setting,” Sakura Sakura explained calmly, as if it were just a perfectly normal fact.

However, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

“However,” she continued, her tone light, “if we were to participate as members of another band, the company wouldn’t be able to interfere.”

Sakura Sakura's face lit up with a delighted expression; she believed that Satsuki would understand what she meant.

“Participate as a member of another band? But our instruments are also…” she murmured, pondering the possibility.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind, and her eyes lit up.

“Ah! So that’s what it is…” she blurted out instinctively, but halfway through her sentence, Yue seemed to realize something and her voice stopped abruptly.

Yue's expression instantly changed to one of sudden realization; she immediately understood what Sakura Sakura meant.

A meaningful smile appeared on her face. At the same time, her gaze met Sakura Sakura's again. The two exchanged a knowing glance and smiled knowingly at each other.

However, Momoko Kurosawa, who was standing next to him, felt that there was something sinister about that smile.

"So... is this settled?" Momo asked tentatively, a vague unease creeping into her heart.

"Yes, I'm all set." Yue nodded, then looked at Toyokawa Shoko and Wakaba Mutsu again.

------------

Let's go back ten minutes.

After Sakura Sakura calmly offered a solution, Toyokawa Shoko's expression changed slightly. She gently bit her lip, seemingly deep in thought.

Finally, she made up her mind, walked over to Sakura Sakura, tugged at her sleeve, and gestured for her to go with her to a less crowded place.

Xiangzi frowned slightly, his arms crossed over his chest, as if suppressing his inner dissatisfaction.

Her voice was low and tinged with coldness: "Why offer those nine solutions?"

Sakura Sakura looked at Shoko, not rushing to answer, but first observing the other's expression, then sighed softly and slowly said, "Shoko, don't you want to put a period to it?"

Upon hearing this, Toyokawa Shoko's eyes flickered slightly, but she quickly suppressed the emotion and tried her best to appear calm.

She lowered her head slightly, her voice turning colder: "...I've already told them I'm quitting."

Sakura Sakura did not respond immediately, but stared at Shoko quietly, as if trying to see through her true thoughts.

After a few seconds, she gently shook her head, her tone firm: "That was just a comma or a pause mark, wasn't it? None of them ever said anything like 'it's over,' including you."

Xiangzi's body trembled slightly, and a complex emotion flashed in his eyes as he looked up at Sakura Sakura.

In that instant, a crack seemed to appear in her "mask".

Seeing her reaction, Sakura Sakura knew that she had touched a soft spot in her heart.

"Xiangzi, I know you care about them. Although you always act like you don't care, you know very well in your heart that you haven't truly let go."

Xiangzi was silent for a moment, then finally raised his head, his eyes filled with determination: "So... this time, it's my turn to put an end to this?"

Ms. Sakura's eyes flashed with admiration: "Whether it's a period or an ellipsis is up to you."

----------

Upon hearing this news from Yue, Li hope's face showed a shocked expression: "Huh? Xiangzi is performing with us?"

Yue nodded, her gaze sweeping over the Mygo members. Her tone was calm, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice: "Yes... to be precise, it should be Xiaodeng, Lixi, Sushi, the three of you, Xiangzi, and Mutsu participating in the joint performance together."

“…Crychic?” Xiaodeng’s voice carried a hint of unease, and her eyes dimmed instantly, as if something in her heart had been gently touched.

Su Shi remained silent.

She had thought Crychic was over, but she never expected to hear Xiangzi invite them to perform again today.

"Xiangzi...did he say anything?" Su Shi finally spoke, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly.

Looking at them, Yue felt conflicted. After hesitating for a moment, she sighed softly, "This... I think it would be better for you Crychic members to ask her."

Su Shi listened, lowered her head slightly, and after a moment of silence, she raised her head with a determined look, as if she had made a decision. She picked up her bass from the side and slowly walked towards Ave Mujica, her back view appearing somewhat lonely.

"Is Su Shishi... alright?" Ai Yin stood there, watching Su Shishi's receding figure, her heart filled with worry.

She asked softly to the moon, her voice full of concern, "She won't... disappear forever like before, will she?"

"Um..." Yue said hesitantly, "I'm not too sure either, how about we follow them and take a look?"

--------------

"Xiang... Su Shi is here." Little Mu Tou, who was playing in the sand obediently beside Xiang Zi, saw Su Shi walking over from not far away and said to Xiang Zi.

"..." After hearing Ruoye Mu's reminder, Xiangzi slowly raised his head and put his phone aside.

Her gaze drifted into the distance, meeting Su Shi's eyes. The atmosphere between them instantly became subtle and tense.

"Should we leave?" Hailing asked in a low voice, keenly sensing the atmosphere between the two, her gaze shifting back and forth between Xiangzi and Su Shi.

Xiangzi thought for a moment, then nodded. "Hmm... thank you for your trouble."

Hailing stood up, gently patted the sand off her clothes, and was about to leave when she noticed that Ruoye Mu also wanted to stand up and leave with her.

Just then, Xiangzi spoke up to stop her, "Xiao Mu, you should stop too."

Ruo Yemu was slightly taken aback, but then nodded and obediently sat down again next to Xiangzi, watching Su Shi's arrival with a serious expression.

Not far away on the sea, Yutenji Nyanmu lay on a rented floating mat, watching everything that was happening with great interest. Her eyes sparkled with gossip, as if she was full of anticipation for the conversation to come.

"I feel like something interesting is about to happen," Miao Meng muttered to herself, her gaze fixed on Xiangzi and Su Shi on the shore.

However, before she could finish speaking, Chu Hua and Tao Zi stepped forward in unison and gently pushed the floating blanket under Miao Meng into the deeper water.

"Alright, Miaomeng, stop gossiping here." Chu Hua's tone was gentle, but it carried an undeniable firmness.

"Okay, don't bother others." Peach smiled and agreed, but her grip on her hand was anything but gentle.

Miao Meng swayed on the floating carpet, realizing she had been pushed further away. She could only let out a reluctant "Eh!" and finally obediently shut her mouth, giving up the idea of ​​eavesdropping.

------------

Su Shi had expected to be filled with anger when facing Xiangzi, and had already prepared a series of questions in her mind.

However, when she actually stood in front of Xiangzi and saw his calm expression as always, her long-accumulated anger seemed to be wiped away by an invisible hand, disappearing without a trace.

Her gaze met Xiangzi's the instant her words of questioning caught in her throat, turning into an almost inaudible whisper: "Xiao Xiang..."

Toyokawa Shoko's tone was as calm and distant as ever, her voice carrying an air of noble indifference, like that of a young lady untouched by worldly affairs: "Is there something you need, Nagasaki Motoyo-kun?"

Just like how Nagasaki Motoyo treated Wakaba Mutsu in the Moon Forest.

Su Shi's heart tightened suddenly.

She never expected that she would feel so unfamiliar with Toyokawa Shoko in front of her, as if the person standing in front of her was not her former teammate, but a stranger separated by thick glass.

Xiangzi's gentle yet distant tone was like an invisible blade, easily slicing through Su Shi's inner defenses.

Su Shi's throat suddenly went dry, as if she couldn't find the right words to respond. She lowered her head slightly, concealing her disappointment and confusion. But after a few seconds of silence, her expression suddenly calmed down, and a faint smile appeared on her lips, as if she had sealed all her emotions deep inside.

"Nothing special, Toyokawa-kun." She smiled slightly, a flawless smile appearing on her face, as if she had completely ignored Shoko's previous cold attitude.

Su Shi's tone also became exactly like Xiangzi's, gentle yet with a polite distance, as if the two were just having an ordinary social interaction.

As Xiangzi listened to Su Shi's response, a barely perceptible complex emotion flashed in his eyes.

Her smile remained flawless, but the warm atmosphere between them, which should have been there, became incredibly cold under this double disguise.

Ruoye Mu stood to the side, her eyes darting back and forth between Toyokawa Shoko and Suze.

She could clearly feel the invisible tension between them, as if there was an indescribable heaviness in the air, like an invisible wall separating them into different worlds.

Mu's fingers twitched slightly; she instinctively wanted to reach out and break the awkward atmosphere, trying to ease the tension between the two.

But just as her fingers were about to move, she suddenly stopped.

She slowly lowered her hand, ultimately choosing silence. Her eyes were downcast, her gaze dim, as if at this moment, the impulse and unease in her heart had also been suppressed.

She could only stand there, silently watching the two people in front of her, unable to participate or intervene.

Her gaze swept over the two people in front of her once more, a pang of pain shooting through her heart. Although she knew she shouldn't interfere, as a "doll," she too harbored emotions and desires she couldn't express.

"That's it." She murmured to herself, reminding herself that she was just a "doll" and had no right to change anything. She simply stood there silently, becoming a silent bystander.