Mygo, are you all yanderes?

With so many people involved and the information so widespread, it's not a big deal that only band members know about it now. Besides, Kusano Akira's adaptability has allowed him to get used to this dark history—at least he's gotten used to the nickname itself.

Rather, he was relieved to know that this was the only thing that had happened, as long as he wasn't actually being kept in the dark and isolated by everyone.

"You, you, you, punish me!"

Chihaya Aine was unaware of Kusano Akira's true thoughts; she only heard him sigh and assumed he was being defeated for the second time by his dark past.

Anxious and disregarding everything else, she immediately walked up to him, closed her eyes, and nervously stretched out her hands in front of Kusano Akira.

Since things have come to this, she must calm Kusano Akira down as soon as possible, at least to make him feel better.

"What are you doing? I'm not blaming you."

Kusano Akira was taken aback by Chihaya Ai's sudden strange behavior, and then he quickly realized what was happening and felt somewhat helpless.

Is he really that kind of person in Chihaya Aine's mind, someone who would punish people arbitrarily? He's never done anything like that.

"Speaking of which, am I some kind of elementary school teacher who would hit people on the hand? Even if there were to be punishment, it wouldn't be hitting their hand, would it?"

"Hmm...don't you care?"

Chihaya Aine secretly opened one eye to look at Kusano Akira, and was somewhat puzzled to see that he was not as withdrawn as he had been during the day.

She thought Kusano Akira would become withdrawn like he had during the day, but instead of becoming withdrawn, he didn't even feel embarrassed.

"What else could possibly defeat me now... Ah, come to think of it, there is indeed a place where I need your help."

Kusano Akira initially wanted Chihaya Aine to go back, but then he suddenly thought that Chihaya Aine might be able to help him in the upcoming operation, so he leaned close to her ear and whispered something.

"Where?"

Feeling the warm breath on her ear, Chihaya Aine awkwardly smoothed her hair, and her tone softened.

"Anyway, I'll need your help later. You just need to watch me and follow along."

After speaking, Kusano Akira looked at Shiina Tatsuki, who had been covering her mouth and could barely straighten her back since asking Rakuna to finish speaking.

"Lixi, Aiyin and I have something to tell you."

"Can we go outside and talk?"

Kusano Akira decided to call Shiina Tatsuki and Chihaya Aine out.

Shiina Tatsuki and Nagasaki Motoyo's attitudes are unclear. If neither of them wants to go, then the training session is definitely not going to happen.

Therefore, Kusano Akira decided to start with the toughest opponent, Shiina Tatsuki, and take her and Nagasaki Motoyo down one by one.

"Pfft, a third eye... Pfft..."

Shiina Tatsuki, who had been suppressing her laughter, was ignited by Rakuna's direct question. Although she knew that laughing like that was very unfriendly to Kusano Akira, she couldn't help it. 3

"…Lixi?"

Kusano Akira looked at Shiina Tatsuki with a headache. He really couldn't believe that the first time he'd seen Shiina Tatsuki laugh so happily was in such a ridiculous situation.

"Cough cough!"

Knowing that Kusano Akira was waiting for her reply, Shiina Tatsuki punched her chest twice to calm down. She glanced at her phone, found that there was still time, and agreed to Kusano Akira's request.

"can."

"That's great."

Seeing that Shiina Tatsuki had agreed, Kusano Akira took the initiative to walk out of the rehearsal room, while gently patting Chihaya Aine to signal her to follow.

Nagasaki Motoyo kept watching their backs until they left, then she turned her gaze back and began to think carefully.

She saw it all clearly when Kusano Akira whispered in Chihaya Aine's ear.

Chihaya Aine blushed so badly, it was completely unlike what one would expect from a friend.

She must proceed with extreme caution from now on.

Author's Note: 8k

I'll update less tomorrow and the day after, to save up drafts for Monday and Tuesday.

The initial order was 280, which is exactly ten times the number of items added to the collection, so it seems pretty good.

Volume 1: Chapter 40, Section 38. Persuading Shiina Tatsuki

"So, what do you want to say to me?"

Shiina Riki followed Kusano Akira and Chihaya Aine out of the practice room. They walked until they reached the corridor a little distance from the door before the two of them stopped.

Seeing the two exchanging glances, seemingly hesitating about who should speak first, and not wanting to waste time, Shiina Tatsuki took the initiative and asked.

Hearing Shiina Tatsuki speak first, Kusano Akira looked up, met her gaze, and tentatively began to say what he had been thinking.

"It's not a big deal..."

"I have a few questions I'd like to ask you, Lixi."

"question?"

Hearing Kusano Akira's somewhat cautious tone, Shiina Tatsuki became more serious.

It seems that Kusano Akira is about to say something very important, otherwise why would he be so cautious? Shiina Tatsuki has rarely seen Kusano Akira like this since he met him.

"Don't you think the members of our band seem a bit too distant from each other?"

"Huh?" Si

Upon hearing Kusano Akira's words, Shiina Tatsuki raised his handsome eyebrows, crossed his arms, leaned gently against the wall, and looked at Kusano Akira with amusement.

"Why would you think that?"

Shiina Tatsuki didn't know how Kusano Akira came to this conclusion. In her opinion, although they weren't exactly close, they were far from being as 'unfriendly' as Kusano Akira described.

Moreover, Kusano Akari should be the most popular member of the band. Not only is he in the same school as Takamatsu Akari and Chihaya Aine, but Nagasaki Motoyo also lives so close to him.

Although he may be at a disadvantage due to his gender, he seems to be integrating quite well.

Aside from Yoro Nai, who might be difficult to talk to, he had no barriers with anyone else.

Even if Rakuna had said this, Shiina Tatsuki would have been able to accept it, but Kusano Akira shouldn't have thought of it this way.

"I think everyone's relationship is alright, whether it's you and Deng, or you and Su Shi."

That's what they say, but that's where the problem lies.

"My relationship with Aine and Akari is pretty good, but with Suze..."

"Su Shishi has always seemed so mysterious; I can't get any sense of her true thoughts at all." °〈2≈√

Chihaya Aine picked up where Kusano Akira left off, continuing the conversation.

“Su Shishi…”

Shiina Tatsuki's lips twitched; the twitching that she had managed to suppress began again.

She didn't even dare to imagine how Nagasaki Motoyo would react if she heard this nickname, or whether she would be able to maintain her calm and composed expression.

"Are you implying that your relationship with Su Shi is actually just so-so?"

"That's pretty much it."

"So, the reason you specifically asked me to come out was related to this?"

Shiina Tatsuki suppressed the wildly upturned corners of his mouth and gleaned the key point of their operation from Kusano Akira and Chihaya Aine's words.

"Yes."

"In that case, you want me to help you build a good relationship with Su Shi?"

Shiina Tatsuki tried to guess the reason why Kusano Akira and the others had specifically sought her out.

Aside from wanting Shiina Tatsuki to help her build a good relationship with Nagasaki Motoyo, she couldn't think of anything else that required her to be specifically brought up.

After all, of all those present, only she and Takamatsu Akari were truly familiar with Nagasaki Motoyo, but she also knew Takamatsu Akari's personality; in this matter, Takamatsu Akari was practically useless.

Then: Only Shiina Tatsuki, who is also a member of Crychic, can help.

"That's not it."

"Actually, Lixi, I want to hold a study session."

"..."

"what?"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment, then Shiina Ritsuki let out a confused "ha!"

Why did the topic suddenly shift to the study session?

"Study meeting?"

"Correct."

"You mean those kinds of activities where everyone gets together to study, like team building?"

"Yes."

After thinking for a moment, Shiina Tatsuki immediately understood why Kusano Akira had suddenly brought up something as unrelated as the study group.

"So, you want to bring the band members closer together, so you want to hold something like a team-building event to strengthen their bonds?"

"That's it."

Shiina Tatsuki rubbed his temples and sighed softly.

She could understand Kusano Akira's idea. It was just a team building activity. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have said anything about it, but it just happened now.

The band is having a performance next week, and Shiina Tatsuki really doesn't want to waste time on trivial matters at this time.

"At this critical juncture?"

"Yes."

“We have a performance next week, you know? We don’t have that much time to do this kind of thing right now.”

"Of course we know that."

Chihaya Aine put on her usual pair of black-rimmed glasses, and, feigning seriousness, hugged Rei's arm, speaking earnestly. ~№

Although she didn't have any lines or plans with Kusano Akira, all she needed to do was remember the goal of 'persuading Shiina Tatsuki,' and leave everything to improvisation.

"However, if a team wants to last, the camaraderie among its members is absolutely essential; otherwise, various conflicts will inevitably arise later on."

"And who knows, the conflicts between everyone might escalate in the end, until the team disbands."

"sodayo."

Seeing this, Kusano Akira chimed in with a comment from the side.

“Especially since we hardly have any other opportunities to interact besides rehearsals, but Xiaoming, Deng, and I can see each other every day.”

"But Tanuki, you and Su Shishi are in Hanasaki River and Moon Forest, respectively."

"If this continues, small cliques might form."

"..."

Seeing that Shiina Tatsuki hadn't said anything, Kusano Akira assumed that Shiina Tatsuki had been moved by Chihaya Aine's words, and secretly clenched his fist and gave a thumbs-up.

It seems that having Chihaya Aine help him was the best decision he ever made. Apart from finding band members too easily, Kusano Akira has never encountered anything so smooth.

Unfortunately, although Shiina Tatsuki was also thinking about Chihaya Aine's words, her silence was not because of thinking, but because of something else.

"Wait a minute, who is 'Li Xi'?"

"It's Li Xi, don't you think she's cute like this?"

Unaware of the unease in Shiina Tatsuki's tone, Chihaya Aine continued smugly, "∫％≤

She never considered the possibility that Shiina Tatsuki and Nagasaki Motoyo might dislike the nickname. Confident in her own taste, she assumed they would only be happy to hear such a cute name.

"..."

Shiina Ritsuki took a deep breath, pressed her temples, and suppressed the urge to complain.

The shock of this tasteless nickname far exceeded Kusano Akira's original idea; she almost lost control of her expression.

"Putting aside the nickname for now, having a good relationship doesn't mean that the group won't have any issues."

"Huh? Why get rid of the nickname?"

Shiina Tatsuki doesn't think the quality of relationships is a major factor affecting a band—the members of Crychic used to have such good relationships, but they still disbanded in the end, simply because they couldn't continue as a group without one person.