I created a foundation

The facts were right in front of her, like an immovable mountain, pressing down on her so that she couldn't breathe and blocking all her ways of self-denial.

Who else could it be but him?

Fragments of last night's memories began to rewind frantically in her mind. The drunkard's nonsense, which she had long been accustomed to and numb to, was now replayed by her brain with unprecedented clarity and analyzed word by word.

"Sorry……"

"I really don't want to go on like this anymore..."

His hoarse, inarticulate voice sounded no different than the mumblings of countless nights past. She didn't believe a single word he said, not even a trace of emotion.

But now, when these words overlap with the miraculous scene before him, they seem to be given a completely new and surprisingly heavy meaning.

Was there really a regret hidden in that voice that she had never understood?

Was that painful groan really his last cry for help as he sunk into the hell of alcohol?

A possibility.

An extremely weak possibility, yet enough to illuminate her entire dark world in an instant, broke out from the ground in her heart and grew wildly.

Is he...finally...wanting to change?

Are you finally tired of this rotten and smelly life?

Did you finally remember that you were once... a human being?

This thought, like a bursting dam, instantly broke through all the dams she had built with despair and indifference. Her heart, already filled with resentment and exhaustion, hard as iron and cold as stone, was struck hard and unexpectedly.

A hot and sour feeling, mixed with an emotion called "joy" that she had almost forgotten, suddenly rushed into her nose and rushed to her eyes.

Everything in front of me suddenly became blurred.

She wasn't crying for a clean room.

She was trembling for something called "hope", which had been broken countless times, buried countless times by her own hands, but was now miraculously glued together again.

Xiangzi slowly stood up, wiped away her tears, and looked at her home again.

Wherever you look, there is no longer weirdness and strangeness, but a new warmth that is almost unreal.

The ray of sunlight shining into the room no longer seemed so dazzling.

She went to the bathroom and turned on the light.

In the mirror, she saw a face that even she herself felt unfamiliar with.

His face was as pale as paper, with a dark smudge under his eyes, and his gaze was as hollow as a pool of stagnant water, devoid of any trace of life. His long, smooth, and beautiful hair, once his pride, was now dry and withered like weeds.

How long has it been since she took a good look at herself?

How long had she been living like a walking corpse?

The girl in the mirror forms an extremely ironic and sharp contrast with this newly reborn home.

A strong, sharp sense of self-loathing bit her heart like a poisonous snake.

"I can't... I can't go on like this..."

She spoke softly to herself in the mirror, enunciating each word.

The voice was soft, but it carried an unprecedented and unquestionable firmness.

Even her father, who was rotten to the core and the man she thought was completely hopeless, was willing to make changes for the sake of this family and to start over.

What about yourself?

What qualifications and reasons do I have to continue to sink into despair like a living dead, numbly and hopelessly?

Why should she?

Countless images flashed through her mind.

She thought of those friends, those friends who were once extremely important to her, but were pushed away by her in the most hurtful and decisive way.

She thought of Takamatsu Touma's eyes that were always filled with tears but still looked at her stubbornly.

She remembered Nagasaki Soyo's shoulders, pretending to be strong but trembling slightly after turning around.

She remembered Shiina Riki's expression of being extremely angry but never saying a harsh word to her.

She remembered the brightly lit stage that once carried all her dreams and glory.

She remembered the black and white keyboard and the cool and familiar touch of her fingertips when they touched the keys.

She remembered the dream called "music", which she regarded as her life but strangled and buried with her own hands.

Lost, abandoned by her, destroyed by her...

Everything comes from her own choice.

It comes from her weakness, her escape, and her self-righteousness.

Now, the source that gave her despair seemed to be trying to climb out of the abyss.

What about her?

She also wanted to climb out.

No, not crawling.

She wants to stand up again and take back everything she lost!

Once this thought came into her mind, it could no longer be suppressed. Like a raging wildfire, it burned away all the confusion and dejection in her heart, leaving only a burning, anxious desire.

Xiangzi turned around and walked out of the bathroom without any hesitation.

She returned to her room and dug out the cell phone she had long forgotten from the deepest part of the dusty drawer.

The phone is out of battery.

Silently, she found the charger and plugged it in.

The moment the screen lit up, time seemed to have stopped at the day she gave up everything. Countless missed calls and unread messages, like sharp thorns, pierced her eyes.

She didn't look at the messages.

She was afraid that she didn't have the courage.

She just took a deep breath and opened the familiar address book that she hadn't opened for a long time.

The fingertips slid across the cold screen.

Name after name flashed before her eyes.

Finally, her finger stopped on a name.

Takamatsu Tou.

The girl who was crybaby and a little clumsy, but was the soul of the whole band and her original light.

Xiangzi's breathing stopped for a moment.

She seemed to see that face full of confusion and pain again.

What would she think of herself?

A selfish, cruel traitor who left without saying goodbye and destroyed everyone's dreams?

Perhaps she had already blocked herself.

Perhaps, the first words she heard when she answered the phone would be a cold question or deep resentment.

Xiangzi closed his eyes.

never mind.

No matter what the outcome, this is the first step she must take.

She owed them this.

She also owed it to herself.

She opened her eyes, and the last trace of hesitation disappeared completely, leaving only the determination to go all out.

Her thumb pressed down without hesitation.

The screen interface switches instantly.

Two words were clearly displayed at the top of the screen.

【Calling...】.