Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

"It is said that crying sounds are heard coming from this house every night, and some people have seen strange dark shadows flashing by the window."

The lights were off inside, and everyone went back inside by the moonlight. Kita walked in front, holding up a selfie stick and explaining her own idea to the people behind her.

"Really, Kita, stop talking." Nijika was so frightened that she hid behind Bochi, holding onto Bochi's shoulders with both hands.

"Don't add weird settings to other people's homes." Yuzhen was helpless, but Xingge seemed to be frightened. Although she appeared calm on the surface, she was holding his arm tightly.

'Give me more, happy Duo.' That was his true thought at that moment.

After the group went up to the second floor, PA, who was walking at the back, saw Kita walking in front and interacting with the live stream chat, and a plan came to mind.

When Kita saw someone in the comments say that there was no one behind her, she turned around and found that everyone was gone. She stood there blankly, trembling.

"Where is everyone? Don't scare me!"

She mustered her courage and walked back to find them, when she suddenly felt something grab her arm as she passed the restroom. It was slippery and cool.

"Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya!"

PA took off her rubber gloves, which were covered in shower gel, and came out of the restroom with the others.

However, everyone noticed that Kita was slumped on the ground, his phone pointing upwards at the ceiling, and there were strange water stains on the ground...

A dozen minutes later, Kita came out of her room with a flushed face; she had changed back into her dress.

"I'm sorry, Kita. I went too far."

PA bowed to apologize to Kita, and Pochi returned Kita's phone, which she had dropped on the ground. The livestream had been stopped long ago due to an unexpected situation, and the phone was currently in standby mode.

"Hey, where did Ryo go? I haven't seen her at all since the test of courage started." Hoshino walked over from the restroom area. She had just finished cleaning the area in front of the restroom with Yuu and Hongxia.

"Ryo-senpai said he was going to hide in the music room on the third floor to scare everyone..." Kita recalled his previous plan with Ryo. "Oh no, so much time has passed. Let's go to the third floor and check."

They took Yuma and Nijika, who had just rinsed the mop clean, and went up to the third floor.

"Wait, Ryo isn't still trying to scare us from inside, is he?" When they reached the door of the music room, Hongxia chickened out and hid behind Youzhen. "Brother, can you go open the door?"

"I understand, I'll go take a look."

Yuma opened the door to the music room.

The lights were off in the music room, but moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating half the room.

He turned on the light and found that Liang was asleep against the wall by the door. The sudden light woke Liang up.

"Why are you so slow?" Liang yawned, patted his bottom, and stood up.

"Something came up with Kita, sorry."

"What just happened?"

"Kita, she..."

Before Yuuma could speak, Kita, blushing, suddenly ran over and covered his mouth on tiptoe.

"Brother Kenzaki, you mustn't tell Ryo-senpai!"

"Did you wash your hands before covering my mouth?" Yuma asked with a look of disgust as she removed Kita's hand from her mouth.

"Stop talking!"

Finally, it was Ryo who comforted Kita in a clearly monotone tone, which calmed her down.

Hongxia and Xingge entered the music room, followed by Boqi and PA. The room was quite spacious, and Hongxia noticed a drum set in the corner. After trying it out, she found it worked properly. The conversation then gradually shifted to the band's next song.

They went back to their rooms and brought their instruments. Yuzhen found some other equipment and four folding chairs in the cabinet in the music room, and helped them plug in the amplifiers and effects pedals. Then the four of them immersed themselves in the production of the new song.

"Have we been forgotten?" Yuma, Hoshika, and PA sat on the sofa against the wall, watching the four excited little ones.

"That's good, it proves they really care about the band." Xingge looked at the band with a relieved expression. "They're starting to get on track."

The morning sunlight streamed through the windowpane, and the four girls, having finished their band performance, woke up in their beds. They had talked late into the night before and had fallen asleep without realizing it; Yuzhen had carried them back to their rooms one by one.

When they arrived on the first floor, Yuzhen and Xingge were sitting in the restaurant drinking coffee, while PA had just woken up and started eating breakfast.

"Go wash up quickly and then have breakfast. We'll go for a walk in town later." Yuzhen brought their breakfast out of the kitchen and placed it on the table.

Chapter 24 Shopping Trip Home and the Story

After breakfast, the group left the villa and headed to the resort town.

It's summer vacation now, and even at the end of the season, this seaside town is still bustling. Tourists from other places are everywhere on the streets, and there are many shops, mostly selling local specialties. Near the beach, there are many guesthouses, which are almost fully booked due to the summer holiday season.

After agreeing on the meeting place and time, Kita dragged Pochi and PA to the clothing store, while Ryo and Nijika planned to try the sea salt ice cream there.

"It's just the two of us left, where should we go?"

Seeing that everyone had dispersed, Youzhen took Xingge's hand.

"Let go, there are so many people here..."

"What's there to be afraid of? Anyway, nobody knows us anymore. Let's go for a walk."

After Yuzhen finished speaking, she pulled Xingge and walked eastward. The two walked hand in hand on the pedestrian street, completely blending into the surrounding tourists, looking like just an ordinary couple.

The two bought two octopus fossil pancakes, which looked quite large but were actually very thin. Yuma also checked the price tags: one octopus fossil pancake cost 400 yen, while the prices for other seafood pancakes varied.

"This is incredibly profitable, even though the cost of this stuff isn't that high." Xingge sat on a bench in the square, looking at the pancake in her hand, unsure of where to start eating.

"Isn't this what resort towns are always like?" Yuzhen took a bite of the pancake in her hand. The taste was ordinary, but the seafood flavor was strong. However, it wasn't entirely the taste of octopus. They probably added seafood powder to the batter as well.

This kind of pancake is made by pouring batter onto a plate, placing live seafood on top, and then pressing it flat with a ton of pressure while frying it. For a coastal resort town like this, the cost should be mainly concentrated on the specialized cooking facilities and stall fees.

Yuzhen's curiosity about this kind of thing had completely died down; it was utterly devoid of any technical skill. As he ate, he broke off pieces of the pancake, tore them into small pieces, and fed them to the pigeons that had gathered around.

The pancake looks big, but it's thin, so it won't fill you up after you finish it.

Yuma and Hoshika waved to shoo away the pigeons around them, then left the square. They also wanted to try the sea salt ice cream that Nijika had mentioned, so they headed towards the beach.

"What's wrong?" Yuzhen noticed that Xingge had stopped walking.

"It's alright, let's go."

Xingge continued walking forward. Youzhen glanced in the direction Xingge had been looking—it was a clothing store. In the display window were two sets of dark blue shark pajamas, things that looked like they would appeal to her. But selling pajamas by the sea? Would anyone actually buy them? Youzhen looked away and quickly followed Xingge.

The area near the beach was bustling with activity, lined with various snack shops, each with its own parasol and tables and chairs. Most of the people there were couples. Yuma glanced around and spotted Nijika and Ryo sitting under a parasol.

Hongxia held a sea salt ice cream in her hand, while Liang had a strawberry parfait in front of her. The two of them sat together, sharing Liang's wired headphones to listen to the music coming from them.

"What are you listening to?" Xingge sat opposite the two of them, while Youzhen went to buy ice cream.

"It's a video of our duet we recorded last night. Liang plans to export the music and revise it when we get back, so she's asking for my opinion." Hongxia took off her headphones. The ice cream in her hand had melted a little and some was stuck to her hands. She wanted to lick it, but in the end, she didn't. She decided to wash her hands after finishing the ice cream.

"You really care about the band, huh? I'm really looking forward to your new song." Yuzhen came back with two sea salt ice creams and handed one to Xingge. "Did Hongxia pay for the cold parfait again?"

"I bought it myself."

"Yes, Liang bought it herself."

That's quite surprising.

Yuma and Hoshika looked at Ryo in surprise. Ryo picked up her spoon; she had been so focused that she had dissolved quite a bit of her parfait.

"Hongxia's ice cream looks delicious, can I have a bite?"

"Sure, I'll have a bite of the cold parfait too."

Yuzhen and Xingge listened to their recorded duet, and to be honest, it was pretty good, although some parts were not handled very well. The two of them were starting to look forward to the final product.

It was almost time, so the four of them returned to the agreed location and met up with Kita and the others.

PA bought Kita a beach hat; she still felt bad about what happened last night, so she bought Kita this gift as compensation. Pochi bought sunglasses and some small gifts for her family, but according to PA, Pochi didn't dare to talk to the shop assistants at all, so those souvenirs were actually bought for her by Kita.

"I forgot something at the ice cream shop, you guys go back first."

On the way back, when they passed the clothing store they had seen before, Yuzhen made an excuse to leave. He didn't return until a while after everyone had gone back to the villa.

Kenzaki Yuuki arrived by car shortly after everyone returned, earlier than expected.

"You're here so early?" Yuzhen took out the leftover pork chops from yesterday from the refrigerator to prepare lunch.

"My trip ended earlier than I expected, so I came straight over and even got a free meal. What are we having for lunch?"

"There's still a lot of meat left from yesterday. I'll fry it up, and then make some rice balls and a vegetable salad."

"Great, then I'll play while I wait for dinner."

After Yuuki finished speaking, she sat down on the sofa and went to play board games with the others who had finished packing their luggage. Hongxia, after packing her things, didn't go to play with the others; instead, she went into the kitchen to prepare lunch for Yuuma.

Hongxia made the rice balls very quickly; it seems she makes them often.

"Does Hongxia often make rice balls? She seems very skilled at it."

“I used to put rice balls in my lunchboxes when I participated in some events, so I often make them. Actually, my older sister taught me how to do it,” Hongxia replied.

"She would do something like this?" Yuuma found it unbelievable, because in his memory, Ijichi Hoshika was a kitchen killer, and she seemed to be naturally incompatible with cooking.

"My sister only knows how to knead; she doesn't know how to season or anything like that."

That's right, it matches Yuzhen's understanding of her.

Lunch was finished while the two chatted casually. Yuma spent the whole time grilling the pork cutlet, while Nijika made the rice balls and vegetable salad. Everyone enjoyed the meal; it must have been because they had so much fun that everything tasted better.

"Have you taken everything? Don't leave anything behind."

Yuzuru loaded everyone's luggage into the car and asked a final check to confirm. After everyone carefully reviewed their belongings and confirmed that nothing had been forgotten, Yuzuru started the car and began their journey home.

"It's been a long time since I've gone out for a trip, and it's with everyone again!" Pochi smiled as she looked at everyone in the car. She had been debating whether to invite them out just a couple of days ago, but now she was home having a great time. "Going out with friends is a big step in life. Great! I'll invite everyone out for winter break too!"

“School starts the day after tomorrow, and I want to show the photos I took to my friends.” Kita suddenly brought up the thing that Pochi least wanted to face.

Pochi suddenly lost his resolve, broke out in a cold sweat, and kept muttering things like "school is a black hole" and "I don't want school to start."

"Goto-kun, are you alright?"

Kita noticed something strange about Pochi next to him.

“Kita, you’ve triggered her keyword. But the fact that she reacted so strongly suggests she really hates school.” Yuma looked back from the passenger seat. “Speaking of which, is your school very strict? It’s enough to scare her like this.”

"No, our school has a pretty free atmosphere, and events like the school festival are very lively." Kita looked longingly at the school festival, clearly enjoying it. However, the little pink-haired girl next to her seemed a bit different; she was trembling even more violently.

“That’s great. Our school is quite strict, even the school festival is very rigid.” Nijika leaned on the back of her chair and looked at Kita in the back row. “During the school festival, they only organize us to make posters to showcase our research results and the like.”

“Is it like this now? It was quite different when we were in school.” Xingge pulled Hongxia back to sit down. “When we were in school, we were quite free. Back then, we weren’t forced to wear uniforms.”

"That's right, the school festival was really lively back then." Yuma also recalled her school days. "It's changed to the way it is now, probably for the sake of the college entrance examination pass rate, after all, Shimogao is also a key high school."