Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

"Umino, you don't understand our feelings at all."

The three finally separated and sat down opposite Umino and Hoshika.

"Exactly, Senior Umino doesn't understand at all. Most people will gradually drift apart if they only communicate through chat software after they separate. This kind of thing can't maintain everyone's friendship at all. Not to mention that Senior Omori is going abroad."

“Yuuma is right,” Senior Omori nodded, “That’s why we’re gathered here today to create wonderful memories for our Light Music Club!”

"Then why don't you request a song?"

Xingge sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"Then I'll sing 'Rebirth'."

After Yuma selected a song, she handed the tablet to her senior, Omori, who was sitting next to her.

"What song is that? I've never heard of it before."

Xingge carefully searched her memory and finally realized that she had never heard this song before.

"It's a tokusatsu (special effects) song, one of my favorites."

"I see."

However, after Yuma finished singing, he noticed that everyone was looking at him with confusion.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Yuma felt that there was nothing wrong with what she just sang.

"It's nothing, it's just that you slipped your tongue a lot while singing."

Xingge recalled the process of Youzhen singing just now.

"That's called respecting the original work."

"Huh? Is that so?"

……

After everyone finished singing their rounds, they all sat down to rest.

"Oh, right, there's something I wanted to tell you two." Tokita-senpai put down his drink and looked at Yuuma and Hoshika. "From now on, Kenzaki will be the president of the Light Music Club."

"Huh? Me?"

Yuma never expected that she would become the queen of the Light Music Club like this.

"Oh dear, after all, there are only the two of you left in the Light Music Club. Ijichi is too unreliable, so I can only ask you for help."

"Huh? Wait a minute! What do you mean by that, Tokita-senpai?"

“There’s one more thing,” Tokita-senpai ignored Hoshika’s breath on him, “The school has a rule that if a club has fewer than three members, it will be disbanded, so you need to find a way to recruit new members as soon as school starts.”

"There's such a rule? I understand, I'll try my best."

Yuma simply nodded after hearing the news, which made things a bit difficult.

"Just do your best. After all, even after you won the beauty pageant, no one applied to join the company."

The older generation seems to have a very open-minded attitude.

"It's okay. As long as you and Ijichi are still playing rock music, the light music club will exist." Senior Umino already felt that this matter didn't matter. "So it doesn't matter whether anyone comes or not, just do your best."

"We understand. But let's give it a try; there might still be a chance."

Yu-ma and Hoshika weren't too pessimistic; they figured there would always be people willing to join.

……

They had a good plan, but reality was not so ideal.

Because Yuma made his two seniors wear maid outfits after the beauty pageant, and someone saw it, the rumors circulating in the school are no longer that the Light Music Club is full of delinquents. Instead, the rumors are that there are muscular perverts in the Light Music Club who like to wear maid outfits.

In addition, the story of the senior who skipped class to play basketball before the holiday and hit Yuzhen later happened to provoke a group of delinquents and got beaten up. The story became more and more outrageous, and now the two of them are almost rumored to have a gangster background. The real delinquents in the school will avoid Xingge and Yuzhen when they see them.

'Wait, did Dad really have some gangsters back in his youth?' Yuzhen remembered her dad talking about these things with her and Yuxing, but those people seem to be running legitimate businesses now, like Uncle Ida who asked Yuzhen to walk his dog before. 'Thanks, Mom, for bringing Dad back.'

The two of them sat on the playground for the whole afternoon, but no one came to sign up for the Light Music Club. The people in charge of club recruitment on both sides of the Light Music Club's booth didn't dare to approach them, for fear of getting into trouble.

"How did these rumors start?" Yuuma lay on the table, swiping her finger across her phone screen, reading about the school legends surrounding the Light Music Club. "How did I become a particularly good delinquent?"

Yuma continued scrolling down, and the more she read, the more outrageous it seemed.

"Yours is alright, I've become a big sister boss with hundreds of followers."

Xingge sighed as she looked at her phone. She had also seen someone write about her and Youzhen's love story, something about love at first sight and such—how could something like that be possible?

"Senior, the rumor you saw seems to be the most normal one."

"Huh? Was this normal before?"

After school, all the other clubs had packed up, so there was no need for the two of them to continue. They returned their belongings to the activity room and left. Starting tomorrow, this place will no longer be the activity room for the Light Music Club.

"I'm sorry, seniors."

Yu-zhen started a video call in Xing-ge's room, and the two of them were reporting their achievements to the three seniors.

After spring break, Tokita-senpai went to university in Izu, Omori-senpai had already gone abroad, and Umino-senpai moved because of her parents' work and is now in Okinawa.

"We haven't been able to recruit anyone, so the light music club might have to disband."

Hoshika and Yuu were not in a good mood. After going through so much in the Light Music Club, it was really hard to say goodbye.

"It's okay, we've already said that as long as we've done our best, that's enough."

As usual, Tokita-senpai smiled and comforted the two of them.

"Tokita is right, there's no need to be sad about this."

Senior Omori also comforted the two who were feeling down.

"We've been through so much together, that's enough. The Light Music Club is a part of our memories."

Umino-senpai seems to have gotten a bit tanned, but her smile is still as gentle as ever.

"Speaking of which, Izu University doesn't even have a light music club." Senior Tokita immediately changed the subject. "I looked for a long time but couldn't find it. Later, I asked a teacher and found out that the light music club disbanded several years ago and hasn't existed since."

"That's a shame. Are you still planning to join the club?"

Hoshika and Yuuma exchanged a glance and asked Tokita-senpai.

"Since there was no light music club, I joined the diving club!"

"This difference is too big."

Yuma couldn't imagine what the light music club and the diving club had in common, but given Tokita-senpai's personality, it was definitely something he would do.

"So your club activities are just diving? That sounds like it must be really expensive."

Xingge thought about what she had seen about diving on TV and in magazines. The equipment seemed expensive, and even renting it would cost a lot of money.

"It really costs a lot of money. I had to work to buy alcohol."

After listening to Tokita-senpai's words, everyone remained silent for a while. What does diving have to do with alcohol? Is it true that the biggest expense in diving is buying alcohol?

"Wait, Tokita-senpai, you seem to be..."

Kenzaki Yuuma discovered the blind spot, but before he could ask, he was interrupted by Tokita-senpai.

"Shut up! Kenzaki, everyone can be happy if you don't speak up!"

"So what kind of club did you join!?"

"I already said it's a diving club!"

"That's not true at all!"

Chapter 43 Invitation

After entering the second year, Yuma and Hoshika were still assigned to the same class. Yuma felt that she was very lucky, as this would prevent her from going to other classes to find Hoshika after class.

However, the other students in the class weren't so lucky. Two guys who were rumored to be exceptionally fierce were assigned to the same class as them, and their high school life might be coming to an end like this. Fortunately, after spending some time with the two, they were slowly starting to see through those unreliable rumors.

After the Light Music Club disbanded, Yuuma and Hoshika had more free time after school.

Yuma would go home with Hoshika every day after school. Mrs. Ijichi was happy to see this, because if Yuma was there, someone would help her take care of Nijika. Now, if she had to go out, she didn't have to take Nijika with her, which saved her a lot of trouble.

After school that day, Yuzhen and Xingge were packing their things when a few boys walked up to them. They seemed to have something to say.

"What do you want from me?"

Xingge was getting a little impatient seeing them all acting so awkwardly and not saying a word.

"Um... could you please not be angry if I told you?"

The boy who spoke was the class monitor. Yuzhen remembered that his surname was Aikawa and he was a very lively guy. Yuzhen had never seen him like this before.

"Just say it, stop dawdling."

"That's right, there's a social event with the girls' school tomorrow night. It was organized by a friend of mine from the next class, and we want to bring Kenzaki along to show our support."

'So why didn't you just tell me?'

Yu Zhen couldn't understand what these guys were thinking. Why didn't they just ask him for his opinion? Why did they think of asking Xing Ge?

"Why don't you just ask him yourselves?" Xingge turned back to continue tidying up the stationery on the table. "Why are you guys asking me about your business? I don't care about these things."

You clearly seem to care.

However, they only dared to complain in their hearts, and then they all turned to look at Yuuma, wanting to know what he thought. Yuuma saw expectation in their eyes.

"why me?"

Yuzhen, not understanding what was going on, pointed to herself.

"Because Kenzaki is handsome, he can keep things in order," Aikawa, who was standing next to him, explained. "These kinds of matchmaking events usually need someone to keep things in order, so that we can maintain equality with the other side."

"But if I do that, won't all the girls' attention be drawn to this guy?"

Xingge had already packed her things and was carrying her bag when she came to Youzhen's side.

"Don't worry about that. Kenzaki and Ijichi are already dating, and we'll let them know when the time comes. Once the girls find out, they probably won't pay much attention to him anymore." Aikawa said, spreading his hands. "If all the girls are only looking at him, then this matchmaking event is over, and we can just consider it a meal together."

His explanation only made Xingge more worried. Most girls at the girls' school are cute, right? If Youzhen gets entangled with them after she goes there, it'll be troublesome. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable.

"So, may I go?"