I have bound two systems.

"..."

Kita Ikuyo's eyes widened, her mouth slightly opened but she couldn't say anything. She was silent for a moment and then forced a smile.

"What do you mean, Qianli-kun? I have nothing worth mentioning."

"Everyone has their own concerns. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you. But if you encounter difficulties that you can't solve on your own, you can ask us for help. You know, we are a team and friends that cannot be replaced by others."

After giving this advice, Chisato Suzumiya stopped trying to get to the bottom of the matter.

"Everyone is still waiting for us, let's go back."

He turned and took a few steps, and when he was about to turn the corner, he heard hurried footsteps behind him.

He turned around and saw Kita Ikuyo's eyes sparkling and her lips moving slightly.

"Qianli-kun, can you...really help me?"

Suzumiya Chisato smiled.

"Of course, the person in front of you is very powerful."

Kita Ikuyo burst into laughter when she heard this.

…………

Chapter 5 Everyone... I want to continue singing (k)

"But before I explain the situation, I want to know how Qianli-kun realized that I... um, something is not right."

After Kita Ikuyo calmed herself down, she asked her own question.

“It’s not that difficult.”

Suzumiya Chisato held her chin and explained,

"Yudai, no matter what happens, you always look full of energy. This state can easily arouse positive emotions in others around you..."

That's a compliment to me.

Kita Ikuyo raised the corners of her lips.

"But today, when I saw you, although your appearance was the same as usual, you didn't give me the same feeling as usual. I always felt that there was something else hidden under your smile."

"Just because of this feeling, can you conclude that I have something hidden in my heart?"

"Of course not. The most important thing is the reason you gave on the phone. The Kita Ikuyo I know is not such a fool to stay at home for so long on the day when the performance officially starts."

“You actually noticed it at that time…”

"Well, after we got in the car, I saw your red eyes and that roughly confirmed it. But if you don't get enough sleep, the area around your eyes wouldn't be that red, right? If we speculate the other way around, that's the only possibility."

She had cried before.

This is what Chisato Suzumiya noticed after Kita Ikuyo got on the car.

He felt that other people should have noticed something more or less, but they probably didn't say it directly because they wanted to take into account Kita Ikuyo's feelings as she forced herself to smile.

Kita Ikuyo embarrassedly looked away.

Suzumiya Chisato smiled,

"Who dares to bully Yu Dai? Tell me. After today's performance, I will teach him a lesson for you and vent your anger."

He clenched his fist half-jokingly, and it was at this time that Kita Ikuyo discovered that Chisato Suzumiya, who usually looked inconspicuous and thin, actually had very obvious muscle lines on his arms when he clenched his fists, and the cuffs of his short-sleeved shirt were also fully bulged out by his bulging biceps.

When I first noticed it, I was really surprised by the contrast, but... at the same time, it also made me feel safe.

"Ikuyo?"

"what!"

"Why are you suddenly in a daze?"

Facing Suzumiya Chisato's concerned gaze, Kita Ikuyo took a small step back with her eyes flickering.

"Oh no... I didn't... I was just thinking about what I wanted to say!"

"If you feel embarrassed, don't force it."

"No...it's not that difficult..."

Taking a deep breath, Kita Ikuyo pushed away the pounding in her chest and calmed her mind.

"I appreciate Suzumiya-kun's kindness, but you don't have to vent my anger for me, because the one who made me cry today wasn't some bad guy... but my parents."

"...That's right."

Suzumiya Chisato said this calmly. In fact, he was not surprised by this.

Due to differences in age, experience and thinking, it is natural for children and parents to have disagreements and conflicts in a family, and everyone will encounter them.

And seeing that Kita Ikuyo's expression was not bright and even a little lonely when she said this, he could roughly guess what the disagreement between her and her parents was caused by.

Kita Ikuyo took a deep breath.

"My parents actually wanted me to quit the band."

"..."

Suzumiya Chisato touched the back of her head in distress, exhaled lightly, and looked up at the sky

That's indeed the case.

As early as after the previous music festival, when they and everyone else decided to stick to the path of music in the future, Chisato Suzumiya had already given a reminder and pointed out the various problems and difficulties that might be encountered on this road.

The four members who ended the band at that time showed a very firm will, and during the following period, everyone's practice activities continued as usual, so he didn't pay too much attention to it.

But unexpectedly, Kita Ikuyo had been silently bearing the pressure from her family until it was discovered today.

Why didn’t I find out earlier?

"sorry."

"Haha, that's weird, why would Chisato-kun apologize?"

Kita Ikuyo smiled, stretched out her fingers to tuck her hair behind her ears, and began to tell the story calmly.

“When I first joined the band, my parents didn’t say much about it, nor did they intervene too much. They even took the initiative to give me money to buy a guitar, because at that time, they thought that it was just like me joining a school club casually, just an activity to relax myself in my spare time.

In fact, not only they thought so, I thought so too. At that time, I really wanted to enrich my extracurricular life, so I joined the band and became friends with everyone.

But the situation after that slowly underwent incredible changes..."

Kita Ikuyo's expression gradually became more relaxed and stable as the story progressed.

“Whether it’s Pochi-chan, Nijika-chan, Ryo, or the store manager, they are all very gentle and kind people. I really like being with them. We play and fight with each other every day, practice ensembles together, and sing until we are exhausted and our throats are hoarse.

From knowing nothing, everyone played in a chaotic manner and the whole thing became a mess, to gradually being in rhythm, knowing how to cooperate, and slowly being able to play beautiful music, I really like this feeling of growing up together with everyone.

And it was at this time that Suzumiya-kun stepped forward and gave us a chance..."

She turned her gaze to Suzumiya Chisato. She tried desperately to suppress her gaze, but it still revealed an inexplicable look in her eyes.

“Whether it’s the songs you wrote or the opportunities you gave us through your efforts, which allowed us to stand on a bigger stage time and time again, they all made me feel more and more excited. I gradually discovered that although I was very nervous every time, there is no doubt that I really like the feeling of standing on the stage with everyone.

It was also during this process that I discovered what I had been missing in my previous life... I found my goal, what I love and what I want to work hard for in the future..."

While Kita Ikuyo was talking, Suzumiya Chisato had no intention of interrupting her. She remained quiet the whole time, looking at her with gentle eyes, encouraging her to speak out all the distress and worries that she had been holding in her heart in recent days.

"So, after the music festival ended, when we agreed to continue doing this together in the future, I jumped for joy. I had no reason to refuse. This was what I had always dreamed of. However, when I went home and told my parents the news, they didn't quite agree with my idea."

"What were originally considered extracurricular activities have suddenly become a higher priority and the time they take up has also increased significantly. They are worried that this will affect your main duties as a student."

Kita Ikuyo smiled bitterly,

"Yes, it is indeed Qianli-kun. Their attitude at that time was just as you said, but at that time, their attitude was not that tough, because we agreed with them that we would take care of the band activities while maintaining the same stable level of performance as before."

"But there must have been some minor accidents."

"..."

Kita Ikuyo blushed, pouted her lips in dissatisfaction, lowered her head and said vaguely,

"Well... my final exam results just dropped a little..."

She coughed.

"The decline in grades is one thing, and the other thing is the harassment letters that have been getting worse since the concert ended and have continued until now."

"Harassment letter?"

"I don't know if they were fanatical fans or something, but they would mail disgusting letters to my house every day. Although I ignored them, they kept getting worse. I called the police, but there was no progress."

"On one hand, there is the decline in students' academic ability, which is their main job, and on the other hand, there is the continued harassment by the pervert. For the safety of my precious daughter, these two combined give us sufficient reasons to stop it."

The other party's explanation was very detailed, and Suzumiya Chisato already clearly understood the conflicts and rifts between her and her parents.

Kita Ikuyo was staring at Suzumiya Chisato's opening and closing mouth. For some reason, when she heard her referring to her and saying the word "my dear daughter", she unconsciously clamped her legs together.

Although it was very shameful and unspeakable, she did shiver slightly all over, and it seemed that an electric current suddenly passed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, making her want to scream for a moment, but fortunately she pursed her lips tightly and held it back.

"Thank you Yudai for telling me this."

"Ah…no, nothing…nothing!"

"?"

Chisato Suzumiya was a little confused about Kita Ikuyo's sudden strange tone, but she didn't think too much about it.

"So the reason why you were late this morning, Yudai..."

"Well, I had another argument with my parents at home about performing at the summer festival.

I had been hiding this from them before, and hadn't told them about this, but they somehow found out about my activities for today from the summer festival poster, or through some other means, so they blocked my door early in the morning and wouldn't let me go out.

They have always spoiled me, but this time, they were unwilling to give in to my determination to continue on the path of music. They didn't want me to appear on stage again, and they didn't want me to continue to show my face in public, so as to avoid being targeted by more people with bad intentions."

"I can understand their feelings... But in this case, how did you manage to go out today, Yudai?"

"Because... I didn't want all the hard work you put in for so long to go to waste, so I used a little trick and told a lie..."

"What's the panic?"

"I said, I have signed a contract with someone else for this performance. If I can't go on stage smoothly, a lawyer's letter will be sent to me later, and I will have to pay a large sum of money for this."

Kita Ikuyo showed a smug expression as if she was waiting for praise.

And Suzumiya Chisato was also very tactful in expressing her praise.

"You are amazing. However, apart from this lie, there must be some other reasons that could make your parents let you go so easily."

"..."

This time, Kita Ikuyo was silent for a long time.

Suzumiya Chisato did not rush and waited quietly.

Kita Ikuyo clenched her hands, her nails digging deep into her palms.

"...I promised them that as long as they can allow me to go out today and successfully finish today's performance, I will listen to them and follow their ideas in the future..."

"Eh?!"

This extremely loud sound of surprise did not come from the calm-looking Chisato Suzumiya's mouth.

Instead, it came from behind him, around the corner.

Suzumiya Chisato didn't look back, and Kita Ikuyo stared blankly at the place behind him.

Several girls rushed over, passed Suzumiya Chisato, and gathered in front of Kita Ikuyo.

"Everyone? When did you stay there?"

"How can this be? Didn't we agree that we should work together to become a super popular band and keep working hard?"

Ijichi Hinikaka grabbed Kita Ikuyo's hands, her face full of anxiety.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier about the conflict between you and your parents? We are partners, and it is not a matter of course that we should face difficulties together."

Yamada Ryoya spoke up from the side.

"That...that..."

Goto Ichiri felt that at this time, she should say something to comfort Yuyo like the other two teammates, but when this thought really came to her mind, she didn't know what to say.

She forgot her own nature. Xingge was not good at speaking and usually acted as the mascot in the band.

Therefore, after stumbling for a long time, she just gave a thumbs up.