Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

“Not bad, they fit perfectly.” Xingge nodded, pinching her chin, her face full of self-appreciation for her taste. “Then help me take off my socks.”

"Why are you ordering me around now?"

Although Yuma was still complaining, he sat down on the sofa and took off his white gloves.

Why did you take off your gloves?

"It's too thick, it's inconvenient to wear."

After listening to Youzhen's explanation, Xingge picked up the white gloves that he had just thrown on the sofa, rubbed them in her hands, and felt that they were very thin.

While she was still looking at the gloves, she suddenly felt Yuma put her hand inside her skirt.

"Wait! Where are you touching?!"

"Hoshigo, your stockings are covered by your skirt. If you want to take them off, you have to do it like this, right?" Kenzaki Yuuma said matter-of-factly. He was a gentleman and wouldn't take advantage of someone in this situation.

"Then don't touch me like that!"

"I was just looking for the top of my sock."

When he took Xingge's socks off, he accidentally tore two holes in them. The two of them felt that the socks were no longer wearable, so they threw them directly into the trash can.

Xingge wiggled her toes. Her feet felt cool without the constraints of stockings, but she felt a long-lost sense of freedom.

"How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?" Yuzhen looked at her with concern.

People who don't exercise and just sit indoors are indeed more prone to leg cramps, and Xingge is a case in point. She can't even remember what Shimokitazawa looked like at 4:30 in the morning.

"It doesn't hurt anymore." She had a pained expression on her face, and she felt like there were ants crawling under the skin of her calf. "But I've been resting my leg on the table for too long, so it's numb."

Are you an idiot?

The following day, in the quiet performance hall.

"Sister, how was last night?"

In the morning, Hongxia and Liang arrived at the performance hall together. She greeted Xingge with great enthusiasm, indicating that she had slept well the night before and was full of energy.

Xingge was lying face down on the table with her arms crossed.

PA was sitting next to her, waving to Hongxia and Liang as a greeting.

Xingge's left leg had just healed last night, but her right leg cramped up again. She felt it was related to the little leather shoes she wore with her maid outfit; what an evil creation!

Later, Yuma carried her to the bathroom to take a shower, and then the two of them went back to the bedroom to sleep.

However, Yuzhen was tricked by her wordplay and harbored resentment, so she still didn't sleep well last night.

"Sister, what about the tape?" Hongxia moved closer to Xingge and heard Xingge muttering to herself.

Hongxia leaned down slightly, bringing her ear close to Xingge, who was catching up on sleep on the table, wanting to hear what her sister was talking in her sleep.

"I'm still inside, it feels so awkward."

She only heard Xingge's mutterings in a half-dreaming, half-awake state.

Hongxia instantly imagined what might have happened in Xingge's room last night. It sounded like it was going to be really exciting.

Liang walked over and pulled Hongxia, who was standing there blankly as if she had been hit by a spell, to the rehearsal room.

PA quickly left as well. If Xingge found out that she had overheard these things, she might really have to say goodbye to her job.

……

The afternoon was when the band would take their turn performing.

They have fifteen minutes, which is enough time to play about three songs.

"You don't seem very energetic, senior."

Hiroi happened to run into Hoshika and Yuuma at the school gate, and she followed them into the school while drinking.

Today, Hoshika and Yuuma didn't bother PA to watch over the performance hall. The hall was closed for the day, and PA got a day off.

When Xingge heard Hiroi's question, she didn't answer, but quietly reached out and pinched Yuuma's waist.

"By the way, Hiroi, you shouldn't drink at school." Yuma covered the spot where she had been pinched and looked at Hiroi, who seemed quite relaxed. "You'll set a bad example for the kids here. You'll be kicked out as a suspicious person."

"No, I specifically switched to a higher-grade canned Oni Slayer liquor today."

She took a big gulp as she spoke.

"You're really going all out today." Yuzhen looked at him helplessly, then realized she seemed to have been led astray. "Wait! What I just said has nothing to do with what you drink!"

"Huh? You don't have any?"

"Of course not!"

Xingge looked at the two noisy guys beside her, and sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead. Then, Yuzhen and Hiroi each received a chop to the neck.

Yuzhen felt that Xingge's attack on her was definitely related to the personal grudge from the previous night. However, he had indeed gone too far last night, and Xingge must be feeling quite uncomfortable.

After that, the three of them wasted no time and went to the school's gymnasium together.

There were quite a few people here, mostly students who came to watch the performance. Luckily, Yu was tall and strong, and he managed to squeeze the two of them to the front of the stage.

"Are they going to play the same songs as before?" Xingge asked Youzhen, tilting her head. She had forgotten to ask Hongxia earlier.

"They've got a new song this time, and they're pretty daring," Yuma said, watching the brass band perform on stage. "They're quite mysterious; I asked Nijika, but she wouldn't tell me. It seems like something to look forward to."

Hiroi was unusually quiet, drinking and watching the performance by the stage. Of course, it would have been better if she hadn't left the empty bottle on the stage; she reeked of alcohol, and the students around her spontaneously kept their distance.

"Remember to take these glass jars with you when you leave."

Yuma gave Hiroi some instructions.

"I understand, I won't forget."

……

Pochi stood on the stage, and there were more people below than she had imagined. She subconsciously lowered her head, her body trembling slightly.

But she heard familiar voices—her parents and sister—watching her from below the stage. Meanwhile, Yuma also spotted Pochi and offered her encouragement.

"If it could be turned into a constellation? That would sound really nice."

Yuma listened to Kita's song.

"It sounds like a love song." Xingge looked at Boqi in confusion, as she remembered that Boqi didn't seem to write love songs.

The atmosphere was great, but there was an unexpected situation during the performance; Bochi's guitar wasn't working properly.

Yuma and Hoshika both noticed it, and even the drunk Hiroi stared intently at Pochi's guitar. She was quite professional even in this situation; she could tell that something was wrong with Pochi.

The guitar string broke, but that makes sense; Poch's guitar looks old, so this is not unusual.

Kita took over the impromptu performance that was originally supposed to be given to Pochi, while Pochi looked at the glass jar in front of Yuma. Yuma understood, picked up a glass jar, and let it roll to Pochi's feet.

“Glide stick playing.” Xingge, suddenly more energetic, changed her previous demeanor. “Not many people would dare to switch to glissando playing on the spot like this.”

“That way, it won’t be a problem if the pitch is off.” Hiroi looked at Pochi with approval.

Yuma wanted to say a few words of praise, but when the performance ended and he saw Kita holding a microphone and leaning close to Pochi, he knew something was wrong. It was a big no-no to let someone with a social anxiety speak without a script!

As expected, Pochi, having nowhere else to turn, pulled another stunt: she jumped off the stage. Although Yuuma had anticipated this, he was blocked by other audience members and couldn't catch Pochi in time. He could only carry Pochi on his back and, together with Pochi's father, take her to the infirmary.

Chapter 89 Methods for Obtaining Traffic

The school festival performance has ended, but it probably didn't go smoothly for Pochi.

After Pochi performed a stage dive, she fainted. Yuma and Pochi's father took her to the infirmary. When she woke up, the school festival was over, and everyone had gone home. Only Kita stayed in the infirmary with her.

Nijika wanted to stay with them for a while, but Kita said that having her there was enough, so Nijika went home.

She took out her keys and opened the door, only to find that Youzhen and Xingge hadn't returned yet. After calling them, she learned they were at the performance hall; although it was closed that day, they had still gone to tidy up.

Bored, Hongxia started cleaning and discovered ripped stockings in the living room trash can, a maid outfit in the laundry basket, a butler's uniform on her sister's bed, and a broken monocle in the trash can.

She was already used to it and didn't think much of it; she just pretended not to see these things.

……

Poch's guitar has officially retired; the knobs are broken, and many parts are rusted, making normal use unlikely.

When Yuzhen arrived at the exhibition hall that day, she saw Boqi crawl into a trash can that had been lying on the ground.

I asked Xingge and found out that Boqi seemed to be in a good mood today, and had just expressed his determination to continue working hard. But I don't know why he suddenly went into the trash can again.

"Sister, Pochi-chan wants to ask if there's anything you want."

Hongxia was preparing to go buy a guitar with Boqi and came to their side before setting off.

"There's nothing I want."

"Star Song replied."

Yuma noticed that after Hoshigo finished speaking, Pochi, standing at the door, suddenly shuddered. Then he noticed Ryo leaning closer to Pochi, as if saying something.

Bochi completely missed Ryo's words. She hadn't expected Hongxia to ask Xingge directly, especially at this particular moment. If Yuzhen heard her, it would be disastrous. Bochi could already imagine the future where Xingge was dissatisfied with her gift and she would be embedded in a load-bearing wall by Yuzhen.

On the other hand, Yuuma didn't have such cruel thoughts at all. He guessed that Pochi probably felt he had offended Hoshika in some way, so he wanted to buy something to apologize. However, judging from Hoshika's reaction, it seemed that this wasn't the case.

However, it's already October, and there are still two months until Hoshika's birthday. Bochi's question reminded Yuma.

"By the way, are you guys going to accompany Boqi to buy a guitar?" Yuzhen stopped Hongxia. "Let's go to this store, it's Yuxing's store."

Yuzhen took out her phone to show Hongxia the location, then whispered in Hongxia's ear: "The store manager here is Yuxing's girlfriend. Just mention his and my names when you're there. Don't tell anyone I told you this."

When Hongxia heard about this, the ahoge (cowlick) on her head stood up immediately.

"I see."

Hongxia skipped away, and Youzhen sat down next to Xingge.

"Did Pochi upset you?" Yuma asked Hoshika directly.

Although he felt that such a thing was unlikely to happen given Poch's timid and cowardly nature, he would still feel at ease asking.

"No, not at all." Xingge put down the box of apple juice in her hand. "But Boqi-chan is so thoughtful, she even wanted to give me a gift. Although I prefer surprises."

Speaking of gifts, Xingge remembered that Youzhen's birthday was in November.

However, Yuzhen hadn't mentioned it to her much before, and since Yuzhen hadn't celebrated her birthday in recent years, he had almost forgotten about it himself.

Xingge glanced at Youzhen as he thought about this. What had he been doing on his birthday all these years? The best way to find out was to just ask directly.