Momoi Taro wants to form a "don" brother duo, but it's a music anime.

"No...!" Seeing that Xiangzi showed no sign of stopping, she rushed forward and grabbed Xiangzi's hand: "Please! Without Xiangzi and the others... Wadashi..."

"Let go!" Xiangzi tried to pull her hand away without any mercy. Several months of sorting work had greatly increased her strength, so she easily pulled her hand back.

However, Su Shi didn't really resist. She just followed the force of Xiangzi pulling his hand back and knelt down.

She raised her head, devoid of any pride as a young lady, and pleaded with Xiangzi, "How can I come back? I'll do anything I can."

Self-respect...? What does that matter? If such cheap things can make Ku Lai Xi recover from her suffering, she would be willing to sell herself as many times as she wants.

As long as Xiangzi can come back, and everyone can be together again, she is truly willing to give anything... She didn't have the chance to protect her father and mother's home, but if it's hard enough... she definitely will!

"..." Looking at Su Shi kneeling on the ground without any dignity, Xiangzi's eyes showed no sympathy, only anger and coldness.

Has Su Shi changed, become unfamiliar? Or perhaps I never truly understood the real Su Shi?

But there was only one thing Xiangzi was certain of... that he didn't want to see such a bleak world.

"With what level of awareness did you have when you said that...?"

　① She needed something she had never done before, something extremely extreme—she wanted to wake Su Shi up with a scolding.

"Eh……?"

Hearing Xiangzi's reply, Su Shi looked up expectantly. Regardless of what was said, the willingness to communicate was certainly a very good start.

Full of anticipation for Su Shi, she looked up and saw Xiangzi's cold, resolute eyes: "You're just a student. Do you have the ability to bear the burden of other people's lives?"

Su Shi fell silent. "Xiao Xiang... don't say anymore, don't say anymore." She pleaded silently in her heart, her eyes completely overwhelmed with sorrow. She knew that her last hope had vanished.

"The phrase 'willing to do anything' is such a heavy one."

The sun had disappeared sometime earlier, and the sky was completely dark. The park's streetlights seemed to be trying to comfort the injured girl, illuminating the space.

However, none of these things mattered to Su Shi; all she cared about was Xiangzi's words.

"Eh...?" Su Shi couldn't understand why Xiangzi would say such a thing. Why would she reject her like this? Was suffering really not that important? Was she the only one who truly valued suffering and wanted everyone to return to the past?

"Don't say things you can't do!" Xiangzi questioned Su Shi's determination without any mercy.

“But… I really…” Su Shi hesitated, wanting to say something. She tried her best to change Xiangzi's mind with one last effort. She wanted to tell him that she was willing to do anything, as long as it was possible.

"So you don't care if the peace is ruined?! You're willing to do something like that?" Xiangzi sensed the other person's thoughts and questioned her relentlessly, looking into her eyes and waiting for her answer.

How could it be possible... Su Shi thought to herself, but it was hard to say it out loud. Whether she said she could or couldn't, it felt like a mistake.

But it seemed she had already hurt Mutsu... Thinking back, Su Shi's heart ached as if a stone was pressing on it. Toyokawa Shoko's words once again awakened Su Shi, telling her about this cruel reality.

All Su Shi could do was hold Xiangzi's hand, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head, denying Xiangzi's words. But she didn't know which part of his statement she was denying: "It doesn't matter if Mu is ruined?" Had she really said it casually? She truly didn't understand herself.

Xiangzi pulled her hand back with a slight effort, but Su Shi's hand seemed to have lost most of its strength, and she easily pulled her hand out of Su Shi's grasp.

"The same goes for Taro-senpai's matter, and the same goes for Mutsumi's matter... Do you never consider other people's feelings when you're just thinking about your own ideas?"

Looking at Su Shi like this, Xiangzi was unsure of his own thoughts. Was he relieved? Or was it some other, more complex emotion?

"You're such a selfish person," she could only say, severing all his hopes with that one sentence.

"..." Upon hearing this, Su Shi seemed to have lost her soul, her body went completely limp, and she collapsed to the ground.

Xiangzi turned his head away, neither able nor daring to look at her any longer. Maintaining the composure of a young lady, he slowly left...

She was still a little scared. If she looked back and saw Su Shi in such a miserable state, she might not be able to resist doing something she would regret.

Su Shi, I hope you can break free from the prison of your past, and I hope you can face your mistakes...

She left the park with such beautiful wishes and blessings for the world.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ready?

The scene shifts back to an earlier time, in the classroom of Class 1-A.

"Ugh, Taro's going to be late again today!" Aine pouted and complained in a low voice, "Isn't it incredibly irresponsible of him to be the leader of the band!"

“The band hasn’t had a single rehearsal yet! Not even once!” Ai Yin looked at Taro’s message on her phone, “I’ll be arriving late today, so you guys practice on your own first,” and couldn’t help but bombard Taro’s private chat window with several emojis.

“Master Taro…” Akari turned her head and spoke to Aine, “It’s because of what happened with Koichi…”

“I know about that too,” Aine said, her expression unchanged, but her tone deepened a bit. “It’s just that… I have a feeling that Taro isn’t really into the band.”

“Little Aine…” Looking at the dejected Aine, the lamp lowered its head slightly and said in a low voice, “Master Taro will definitely see Aine’s progress.”

"Huh?" A blush crept onto Aine's face as she lowered her head, realizing that Kodama had seen right through her. Then, she put on a smug expression: "Of course! Who do you think I am? I'm Chihaya Aine! Momoi Taro is nothing compared to me... one day..."

Aine originally wanted to say that he surpassed him, but after thinking about Taro's ridiculously high stats, she felt a little uneasy and changed her mind, saying, "He's... at least half as good as him!"

"Yes, Aiyin, you can do it." The little penguin looked at Aiyin with a very affirmative look. In her heart, Aiyin was a very remarkable person.

That day, when Xiao Lixi took her home, they talked about Master Taro. Xiao Lixi said that she heard from her senior colleague at the shop that Master Taro had wanted to form his own band for a long time.

But she didn't start a band until she met Aine. At first, she didn't quite understand what was so special about Aine. Although Aine would talk to her and was a very nice person, that was about it.

Until yesterday, she gave Aine a penguin-themed band-aid. Actually, she had a vague feeling yesterday that Aine wasn't really interested in the topic of penguins, but she still steered the conversation and made herself very excited.

Lamp didn't really understand the concept of compromise; she just felt very comfortable with Aine's kindness and tolerance. Then, this morning, things changed. Even though she clearly didn't feel anything about the penguin topic, she still brought it up with her. She also talked about some things from her old band days.

No one has ever tried to delve so deeply into their own inner world before. Aine is the first... Therefore, Akari now believes that Aine's potential is limitless. Even if she doesn't reach half of Taro's level, she can surpass Taro... Akari herself feels that little Aine can do it.

In contrast, her admiration for Momoi Taro, who had discovered Aine's talent, only intensified. Before this, she had expressed belief that she would learn something from studying with Momoi Taro.

But her confidence was only about 70% before, but now it's different; she completely believes what Momoi Taro says...

"Little Light, if Taro isn't coming back so soon tonight, are you still going to Ring later?" Aine tried her best to calm down and casually said to Light, "It's fine to go wherever you want to wait for Taro to come back."

“…I’m going.” Deng’s voice was very firm.

"Huh?" Aine's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the other person, somewhat confused. In her mind, Akari went to the practice room to learn from Taro how to form a band, right?

"I want to see Aine practice guitar." She placed her hand firmly on her chest, feeling that if she could see Aine grow, she would feel more determined to move forward.

"Haha...Tomorin must have been attracted by my cool guitar practice," Ai Yin said boastfully, trying to break the strange atmosphere.

"Hmm, Aine, you're very cool." Takamatsu's direct praise made Aine a little embarrassed. Then, she asked in a somewhat puzzled tone, "Tomorin...?"

"Hmm! Isn't the nickname I chose cute?"

"Yes, very cute!" The penguin nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then softly called out, "Anochan?"

"Ah! I like this name!" She smiled as bright as the sun.

Let's ignore the whispers among their classmates about when their relationship became so good, and see what our little cucumber is up to.

She hadn't expected Taro to say he wouldn't arrive until eight o'clock, so she came up with a new plan.

　弍灵栮? ⑵卄引】〒 鏾龄〃八侕Moreover...the inspiration for this new plan is right in front of me—a very flat wooden stick with only a small protruding section, which is practically a natural wooden samurai sword.

"It's decided! Let's settle this with a sword fight!" Metath resolutely picked up the wooden stick: "With this, we can definitely win!"

“…Metis, you idiot?” Ruoye Mu tilted her head, her long green hair hanging down naturally, looking at her hand holding the wooden stick.

"Little Mu doesn't understand anything! Just watch me! This little Momoi Taro, I'll cut him down!" Metath looked very confident.

Ruo Yemu tilted her head. Although she didn't think much of Motis's idea, she didn't object, since it was Motis's own business.

After buying a blackboard eraser, Mottis skipped and hopped towards RiNG.

"Welcome... Ah." Lixi heard the sound of the door opening and spoke subconsciously, but when she saw who came in, she couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

The person who entered had long green hair, amber eyes, and wore the Moon Forest school uniform. Li Xi was already very familiar with this outfit; after all, it was her bandmate with whom she had spent a considerable amount of time.

Mutsumi Wakaba, the former guitarist from the "Bitterly Bitter" series. It's unclear why she carries a wooden stick at her waist; perhaps it's a new trend in Tsukinomori.

She tried to compose herself: "Just call me if you want anything."

"Lixi. Long time no see," Mu greeted him.

"Ah... Mu, long time no see." Li Xi felt a little awkward. Amidst all the hardships, Ruo Ye Mu was the person she knew least. It wasn't that he didn't care about her, it's just that she had never really known what he was thinking.

What's more, she said those kinds of things yesterday.

The two of them seemed to have nothing to talk about, so she could only awkwardly change the subject by asking, "What would you like to order?"

Ruoye Mu shook her head and walked towards the practice room.

Has this guy rejoined his band?

Looking in the direction Mu had gone, Li Xi felt a sense of relief. In this way, as long as the lights were on, most of the people who had suffered so much could escape from their past prisons.

Meanwhile, inside the Dong Brothers' practice room—

Inside the practice room, Miaomeng and Aiyin were doing their daily practice. Xiaodeng was also sitting on the floor, writing and drawing in her notebook.

It seemed no different from yesterday... However, Miaomeng keenly noticed that Aine was practicing exceptionally hard today, and Aiko's progress today... could only be described as astonishing.

A hard worker encounters a genius with extraordinary talent, and despite his best efforts, he cannot defeat him.

If Aiko practices for a little longer, she'll be surpassed.

At this moment, Aine stopped and excitedly asked the girl sitting on the ground, "Dengdeng! How did I play?"

The girl sitting on the ground looked up at Aine.

"Wow, that's amazing... the guitar is singing."

The sound didn't come from the girl on the ground. It came from the doorway of the practice room, and the three people inside looked over at the same time.

The person who arrived was naturally Wakaba Mutsu. Aine touched her hair and asked somewhat uncertainly, "Um...? Did we come to the wrong place?"

“Xiao Mu…” Gao Songdeng looked at the other person with some uncertainty.

“…I feel like I’ve seen this child somewhere before?” Miao Meng tilted her head, searching her memory for the child.

"Akira, it's been a long time." Wakaba Mutsumi greeted Akari, who was sitting on the ground, and then asked Aine, "Isn't this... Momoi Taro-san's practice room?"

"Is that right? Someone Dengdeng knows?" Aine smiled very naturally.

"Um...the band from before..." Xiao Deng said softly.

A strange feeling arose in Ruoye Mu's heart. The current situation was just as Su Shi had said. Unbeknownst to him, all the people who had suffered in the past had unknowingly gathered around Mr. Taro.

Of course, Ruo Ye Mu wouldn't have such outrageous ideas as Su Shi; she probably just felt it was fate.

"Welcome to visit!" Ai Yin waved warmly, then asked with a hint of confusion, "By the way, what does it mean that the guitar can sing?"

“Hmm…” Ruoye Mu tilted her head, perhaps stumped by the question. She thought for a while and suddenly remembered what Mr. Taro had said yesterday. She seemed to know how to answer: “Probably, it is the voice of the heart.”