Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

The band continued their activities diligently until the end of March when they went on spring break. Yuma and Hoshika didn't experience anything particularly unusual during this time.

On the afternoon of the first day of school in early April, the four members of the band went to work at the performance hall after school.

In the new semester, Hongxia and Liang were assigned to the same class again, and they were now both senior high school students.

"I'm in the same class as Ryo again. I've had enough." As soon as Hongxia came back, she complained to Youzhen about the class assignment.

“This year, I, Yamada Ryo, also plan to continue copying your homework.” After hearing Nijika’s complaint, Ryo deliberately looked at her with a serious expression and made a shameless declaration, “I will continue to ask Nijika to wake me up when the mobile classroom ends, and I will continue to parasitize Nijika.”

"You're really shameless." Xingge looked at Liang helplessly and tapped her on the head.

"Seriously, I'm definitely not taking care of you again this year!"

Hongxia said that, but she still reflexively helped Liang straighten her clothes and blew on the head where she had just been hit.

“It’s because you’ve always spoiled her that she’s become so dependent on you.” Yuzhen looked at Hongxia doing these things helplessly. “You’re not Liang’s mother, so don’t help her with everything.”

"But Liang will mess things up if I don't help."

"You brought this on yourself."

Yuma was speechless with the two of them, so he looked at Kita and Pochi beside him.

They've been assigned to the same class, so they should get along well, right?

Although Yuu initially thought so, judging from Boqi's state, she knew that she must have been hit hard, but it didn't quite seem like it. She would be depressed for a while, then pick up her phone and stare at the screen, smiling foolishly for a while.

Why does Pochid sometimes seem depressed and sometimes laugh? But he doesn't think it's strange that this kind of thing happens to Pochid.

'Was her depression due to a problem with her self-introduction? Or was her seat taken by Kita's friend after class? Or was Kita chatting with a friend across from her?'

Yuuma speculated about the reasons that had upset Pochi, drawing on his own experience. The more he thought about it, the more likely these things were to happen.

'But why is she staring at the screen and grinning like an idiot? Did she make a new friend? That would be a huge step forward.'

In short, if Pochi and Kita are together, everyone shouldn't need to worry too much about her condition.

……

With the demo review deadline fast approaching, the band has started performing on the streets more frequently.

Yuzhen went to see it a few times when she had free time. As the audience grew, they became more and more relaxed.

However, Pochi would be unable to move after each episode, and Nijika would always pull him back with her suitcase. Yuuma noticed that the muscles in Nijika's arms were becoming more and more prominent.

One night, Yuma was already in bed getting ready to sleep when Nijika suddenly knocked on the door and came in.

Well, there was no other way, so Yuzhen and Xingge had to get up and turn on the lights in the room.

"I have good news to tell my older brother and sister." Hongxia smiled and took out her phone to show them. "Hehe, you didn't expect that, did you? Our band got a performance invitation in Ikebukuro."

"Well done," Yuma praised Hongxia, then noticed something was off about Xingge's face. "What's wrong?"

“Isn’t it good to only perform at STARRY?” Hoshika didn’t look directly at Nijika; she was still looking at the messages on her phone. “After all, once you leave Shimokitazawa, it’s hard for customers to follow you.”

Xingge's two simple sentences directly wounded Hongxia.

"Sister, what's with this ambiguous attitude of yours?" Hongxia asked, her tone somewhat displeased. "I thought you would be happy for us, so why are you saying such malicious things?"

Before Yuuma could even speak, Hongxia ran out of Xingge's room crying, "My sister always says such mean things! Idiot! Fool! Thirty years old!"

Sitting to the side, Yuma felt as if she had been affected by Nijika's sweeping attack.

"Thirty years old is not an insult. Hongxia, apologize to everyone in the world who is thirty years old."

The door to the room closed, and Yuzhen didn't know if Hongxia had heard her voice.

"Sigh. Tell me, did you discover something?" Yuzhen sighed helplessly and looked at Xingge. He noticed that his proud wife had started telling riddles to her sister again.

“Our band has been through this before.” Xingge lay back on the bed. “It’s probably just that some performance hall didn’t have enough people, so they sent them to make up the numbers. It’s not a big problem.”

"Then you should go and explain things to Hongxia tomorrow."

Xingge could tell that Youzhen didn't intend to discuss it with her. She really should explain things directly to Hongxia and then listen to Hongxia's opinion.

"I understand, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Seeing that she had said that, Yuzhen climbed onto the bed, lay down, and hugged her again.

"I'll be watching you tomorrow."

"what ever."

However, Hongxia seems to be sulking these past two days. She runs away whenever she sees Xingge and barely speaks a few words to Youzhen.

However, Yuma eventually found an opportunity to sit down and chat with Nijika.

"So that's what you were worried about, sister." Hongxia sat with her head down in Youzhen's restaurant.

Although Yuma explained their concerns, Nijika still couldn't quite accept it; she preferred that their abilities be recognized.

“Then go, go and see the truth for yourself.” Yuzhen patted Hongxia’s head. “Then give an amazing performance on stage and show those who look down on you how powerful the Ending Band is.”

“I understand, but could you please tell my sister?” Hongxia cheered up again. “If she guessed wrong, she has to apologize to me and promise that she will never speak in a roundabout way again.”

“Okay, I’ll tell her.” Yuma nodded, watching as Nijika, now fully recovered, left to perform on the street with Kita and the others.

Only after the band finished and left Yuuma's sight did he turn to look at the counter:

"You heard everything? Are you going to say yes to Hongxia?"

Xingge got up from behind the restaurant counter; she had been hiding there and had overheard their conversation.

"Anyway, I won't lose."

"Whether you win or not, I think you really should change your way of speaking." Yuzhen looked at her helplessly. "Didn't I say this a year ago?"

"I understand, I will change."

"You said the same thing before."

"Stop talking nonsense, I will definitely change this time."

……

On the day of the performance, Yuma and Hoshika arrived in Ikebukuro together.

"Is this the place?" Yuzhen looked at the performance hall in front of her and felt that it was a bit amateurish.

"I remember the message Hongxia received said this was the location." Xingge remembered the location when she saw the message Hongxia received before.

"Okay. But why are we both dressed like this?"

Both of them were wearing sunglasses and masks when they came, and Xingge even put a baseball cap on Youzhen's head.

"You've already met so many fans at STARRY, you'll probably have even more here, so you should try to fake it."

"I see." Yuzhen looked at Xingge beside her, stroking her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Then why are you dressed like that too?"

"Because your outfit is too eye-catching. If I'm standing next to you and don't cover up, I'll be just as conspicuous, won't I?"

"You've completely got it backwards."

She ignored Yuzhen's complaints. Actually, Xingge was just afraid that Hongxia and the others would find out that she had secretly dragged Yuzhen along with the four of them here today.

Chapter 123 The Innately Evil Exhibition Hall Manager...

Yu-ma and Hoshika originally intended to conceal themselves, but their attire actually drew more attention from the crowd of normal people.

They eventually took off their masks and sunglasses and put them in their pockets.

"Hoshigo, do you think that girl is Sato Aiko?"

Yuzhen patted Xingge on the shoulder and pointed to a girl not far away, asking her a question.

"Aiko Sato? Who?"

"That's the writer who opened the Boqii box in front of everyone in the exhibition hall that day."

Hearing this, Xingge remembered who it was. She looked in the direction Youzhen was pointing and sure enough, she saw the writer who called himself "Poisonous Darkness".

They glanced at each other, nodded, and walked towards where Miss Poison was.

"It really is you, you writer who pretends to be young and cute, and lies about your age." Xingge said as soon as she arrived behind Miss Poison. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, you're Mr. Kenzaki's fiancée." Miss Poison also recognized Hoshika. "Why are you saying such hurtful things as soon as we meet?"

“I’m telling the truth.” Xingge stood beside her with her hands on her hips, staring at her.

"It's been a long time, Ms. Sato." Yuma also came over and greeted Ms. Poison.

Then he put his arm around Xingge's shoulder and reintroduced her to Miss Poison: "By the way, this is no longer my fiancée, she is my wife."

"Don't hug me like this." Xingge pushed his hand off her shoulder.

"What does it matter? We're an old married couple, don't be shy."

"What do you mean by 'old married couple'? You're making it sound like I'm super old." Xingge glanced at Youzhen, then turned her head away. "Besides, we haven't been married that long..."

Miss Poison watched the two of them from the side, feeling as if she had been forgotten in an instant.

……

"I see. So you go to see performances when you have free time."

After hearing Miss Poison's answer, Yuuma nodded.

“Yes, I am a writer after all, so I definitely need to gather material from all over the place.” Miss Poison stood in front of the two with her arms crossed. “By the way, Mr. Kenzaki, what are you doing here?”

"The band was invited to perform here because they had just finished their performance."

Before Yuma could even speak, Hoshika beat her to it.

"Actually, I also came here to end the band's performance." Miss Poison knew about this, as expected. "But I heard that this performance hall has a bad reputation. The manager here often sends out random invitations in order to fill the venue."

As Xingge had guessed, it seems that the band was invited to fill the vacancy, meaning Hongxia lost the bet.

After hearing what Miss Poison said, Xingge said to Youzhen in a matter-of-fact tone, "See, it was just as I guessed."

“Yes, yes, you win.” Yuzhen replied helplessly, “But you promised that no matter whether you win or lose, you have to try to change your bad speaking habits.”

"I remember, you don't need to tell me."

Since she remembered, Yuzhen didn't need to remind her further. He walked to the side and looked at the performance schedule on the wall.

The first band was the underground idol band "Angel's Cuticle," which stated that their style was hard rock.