Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

"A dual personality, it feels like a character in a story, with a mysterious background, cursed by God... In short, it's very cool."

Shizi fell into silence.

"But Ayako knows where Shizi-san's dual personality comes from." Ayako tugged at the hem of her clothes nervously, "No one wants that kind of thing to happen... So, this kind of handsomeness is not good."

"Why is it that he's handsome, but not good? Ako... I've never encountered such a situation before."

Yazi lowered his head, as if talking to himself.

"Is being handsome really what Ako wants to pursue?"

ps: Please comment~

Chapter 11 Wandering in the depths of darkness...

For the first time, Yazi began to question the goals she was pursuing.

Since she was a child, Ako has always been pursuing being cool and even cooler. So she started playing jazz drums, admired Yukina, and tried her best to join Roselia, all because she longed for being cool. Even in her daily life, she wears clothes that she thinks are cool and says things that she thinks are cool.

Until recently.

"Ako, your rhythm is messed up again." During practice, Ako was often criticized by her classmate Yukina.

"Hug, sorry!"

The jazz drums that she used to think were cool, but she had lost her passion for them without realizing it. When the practice was over, she actually felt... relieved. The last time she felt this way was when Roselia was having internal conflicts. But this time, Ako knew that it was purely her own problem.

"Okay, okay, maybe we've been practicing for too long, so we should take a break, right?" Sister Lisa tried to smooth things over as usual.

During the break, Sister Lisa asked, "Ya Zi, are you feeling unwell?"

Seeing her worried look, Ako was unable to respond. "It's okay, it just takes a long time to cast. I just need to recover my MP--!" She responded as usual. Lisa-san can't help me with this matter, Rin-rin can't help me, Yukina-san can't help me, and Saya-san can't help me either.

Only that person - although unintentionally, she was indeed the source of her own problems.

Will she be angry? Yazi waited anxiously for the answer.

"Thank you." She got an unexpected reply.

"Huh?" Yazi raised her head. Although Shizi's eyes were somewhat gloomy, she had a helpless smile on her face, without any sign of anger.

Seeing Azi's doubts, Shizi looked into the distance: "Although I don't want to recall that incident, I will never be angry with you. Don't worry."

"Thanks for coming to me, though."

Before Yazi understood, Shizi changed the subject: "So, you are beginning to lose yourself in your pursuit, right?"

Yazi nodded and looked at Shizi with wide eyes.

"I think that even if some 'handsomeness' is bad, it doesn't mean you have to deny 'handsomeness' itself, right?"

Yazi found it a little difficult to understand.

Shizi stood up, her figure suddenly became tall and unpredictable. She put one hand behind her back, and with the other hand, she held a golden jade slip between two fingers and knocked it on the top of Yazi's head: "Before Xihe rose to fame, how bright was Ruohua - what was it like?" When she said "what was it like", she had returned to her usual appearance.

"I don't understand it but it's very cool - so what does it mean?"

"I just recited the ancient text casually. The meaning and actions have nothing to do with it." Shizi took back the jade slip. "So do you like this style of painting?"

"like!"

"That's good. This kind of handsomeness won't hurt anyone, there's nothing wrong with it, you can continue to pursue it."

"But...but..." Yazi pointed her fingertips, "This kind of bad handsomeness..."

Shizi thought about it for a moment with a blank expression.

Did Yazi used to think that being “handsome” meant everything was good?

"'Handsome' is never perfect," Shizi touched her hair and changed her voice, "Shakespeare once said, 'There is only one true heroism in the world, and that is to love life after recognizing the truth of life.' Meaning, that's it~" She waved her hand exaggeratedly.

"That sentence wasn't said by Shakespeare." Yazi was a little dazed, "Also, I feel like this guy looks a little familiar..."

But Ako seemed to understand what she meant. "It means that even if 'handsomeness' is not perfect, Ako can still pursue her own handsomeness, right?"

"That's right." Shizi sat down and crossed his arms. "I will pursue my handsomeness as well. And, the handsomeness that belongs to Azi must be perfect."

Ako's face lit up, "Really?!"

Shi Zi pointed to the sky with one hand and to the ground with the other: "Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, Azure Sky and Yellow Spring, I can go anywhere. Gods and Buddhas cannot stop me, and demons and ghosts are afraid of me. My words are the will of heaven."

After a while, Yazi raised the corner of his mouth and raised his hand to cover his left eye.

"Ha ha ha ha ha……"

"The ancient curse wandering in the depths of darkness, the upside-down mithril sword, the pitch-black crystal enshrined in the ruined temple..." The violent dark aura overflowed from Yazi's body, and her pupils flashed scarlet blood. She was about to get out of control!

Shizi did not dare to neglect and immediately got ready: "The world is changing, yin and yang are gone, the bottom of Naraku is where all living things return..."

When Rinko came out yawning, she saw Ako and Shiko playing childishly like this.

"Ah, is it time? Goodbye, my old enemy and best friend!" Yazi said goodbye to Shizi exaggeratedly and jumped into the tent.

"You two... seem to be getting along... very well..." Rinko looked at the entrance of the tent with satisfaction.

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

Thank you for coming to see me, Yazi.

Whether it’s for my other self who wants to create summer memories, or for me…

"Great Demon Princess Ako, revive!" During the band practice, Ako sat in front of the jazz drums again, full of energy.

"It looks like you've recovered, Ako." Youkina was naturally happy to see this.

"That's right! Shizi-san used super cool healing magic on me! At that time..." Ako talked about the scene in an exaggerated manner.

These days, Xiduo noticed something unusual: "Xiao Yazi often comes to play with classmate Wu recently."

"Stand users are attracted to each other..." Shizi pressed his forehead in a pretentious manner, "But I've been wanting to ask you for a long time. Except for Ryo, you call us all by our last names, and even Ryo calls us "senior sister". Why do you only call Ako by her first name?"

"Because little Ayako is so cute!" Kita's eyes were shining, "Don't you want to hug her? Don't you want to rub her head?"

"Cute... Although it is indeed cute, she will be sad if she hears it." Shizi suddenly showed a triumphant expression, "By the way, I rubbed Yazi's head in exchange for passing on an ancient immortal scroll to her."

Hearing this, Xiduo cried and made a fuss: "Ahhh, I also want to play with Xiao Yazi, how did Wu do it?" She leaned close to Shizi's face, and Shizi instinctively took a step back: "Well... maybe she thinks my fighting posture is very handsome?"

"Eh?" Kita glanced at Shizi, "It's changed... Don't be silent when the personality changes, it will scare me..."

“But, the fighting posture…” Kita recalled Shiko’s second-year posture during the battle and held his head, “I absolutely can’t do something like that!”

Shizi looked at the camera placed aside: "Don't you often ask me to take pictures when you zoom in?"

"That's different... But I understand! I must rub Xiao Yazi's head..."

Ako came over at this time. Kita quickly covered her mouth, blushed, and then changed the subject: "Little Ako? Aren't you still practicing?" Normally, Roselia's practice time is far from over.

"Yukina-san said that there is not much free time today, so the remaining time will be given to the closing band."

Because they only had one drum set from CiRCLE, the two bands had to practice at different times. Roselia practiced almost every day, and although the Ending Band didn’t practice so frequently at the beginning, they gradually increased their practice frequency under Roselia’s influence.

Hearing this, Kita had no time to stop him, and Shiko had already knocked her out expertly. When she woke up with the help of Ako, she had become the Shiko she was in the band again.

Kita looked at her speechlessly: "You're being lazy again..."

"Hmm? What what?"

"fine."

ps: Please comment~

ps: I really like Yazi, why is she not very popular in the group? qwq

Chapter 12 This is Roselia

"Xiao Xiduo~ Can the pace be faster~"

"Okay, Ijichi-senpai!"

"Then start from the last phrase again, one, two, three, four!"

The five-member ensemble's music sounded again. Today, the band practice for the final band was still going on. But at this time, Yukina was listening. She crossed her arms, showing her usual stern expression, paying attention to the final band practice.

"If you don't mind, can I sit in on your training?" When she made this request, Hong Xia wanted to refuse at first. After all, her own lead guitarist probably wouldn't be able to accept it.

"Today's practice time is a bit short, so we think we should work on other aspects. Roselia's goal is the absolute pinnacle, and to achieve this goal, it is necessary to be exposed to a variety of bands and music styles. So, please allow me to watch the end of the band's practice."

However, looking at that serious face, Hong Xia couldn't bear to say no...

Sorry, little Pochi.

Actually, it wasn't just Ichiri who was nervous. Yuki had this big Buddha statue next to her, and even though she said "Don't worry about me", who wouldn't worry about me?

In Shiko's long-term missionary propaganda, Roselia's image in their eyes has long become the pinnacle of girl bands that cannot be surpassed. During this period of contact, they sadly discovered that it seems to be true. From the music revealed by Roselia during practice, it can be heard that their comprehensive strength and coordination are far beyond the current end band. Among them, Yukina was called by Shiko as "one of the most authoritative people in the field of music in Bang Dream Project besides Tsuzuki Shifune". Such a senior, just standing there without saying anything will make people sweat profusely, not to mention that this person also has an aura of pressure.

"(The drums are a bit messy. The bass, the keyboard, the guitar...)" Yukina looked at Ichiri who was completely curled up in a cardboard box, "(She doesn't usually play the guitar like this, right?)"

"(As expected, my presence puts too much pressure on them?)" Youxina frowned.

In fact, Youxi just couldn't suppress his curiosity.

Since the two bands met, Yukina had never eavesdropped on the practice of the Ending Band out of politeness. So, apart from some melodies she heard by chance and information she learned from chatting, Yukina still knew nothing about the music of the Ending Band.

Yukina Minato, who has dedicated most of her life to music, is very curious about the music that ended the band.

Her curiosity grew day by day, and finally she couldn't help but make the request.

“(But, after all, it’s better not to disturb them, right?)” Thinking of this, Youkina sighed.

Hong Xia saw the entire scene.

“(Eh? Senior Youxi is sighing? Why? Is it because our skills are too bad? Even though we’re not in good shape today, are we really that bad? Eh?! Is she leaving? Does she think our level is not worth paying attention to?)” Hongxia panicked and made another wrong call.

This mistake was heard by Yili in the cardboard box. "(Xiao Hongxia made a mistake again... Could it be that she is still here? Where was she standing? Was she standing next to me? Wow wow wow wow——I didn't wear a cardboard box when I first performed on stage, but now I have to do this——)"

After finally finishing playing a few songs, Hong Xia quickly announced a break.

Hongxia walked up to Youxina who was watching with sweat on her forehead and said, "How...how is it?"

"It will definitely be okay." Liang looked confident, as if he didn't know who had made so many mistakes just now.

"For cross-work battle strength comparisons, according to the old rules, let the authors fight first... although it seems that a certain Lao Deng can definitely beat Gamakichi." Shizi said something that no one else could understand at all.

"I said I was just here to watch." Youxina really didn't want to put more pressure on them.

"No, Minato-senpai, please teach us!" Kita wiped the sweat off his face and came over. "Although I may have the worst skills among everyone, I also hope to get guidance from Minato-senpai!"

"Me too!" Shiko immediately raised her hand. She just wanted to be criticized by Yukina.

"..." Youxina's eyes softened, "Then I won't be polite."

"First of all, your ability to respond to situations is far from enough. Even if I'm the only one there, you will still perform poorly. This is probably because you haven't held a formal live in real life..."

Yukina's comments were impartial and very on point, and everyone benefited greatly from them.

"…But I understand what kind of band you are."

"?" Shizi felt that this sentence was very familiar. She remembered that this was the evaluation made by the store manager at the end of the band's audition. But why did she feel a little sad?

While Shiko was stunned, Youkina continued: "Stop the band, your skills may not be that great, but there is something in your performance that Roselia doesn't have." She admitted this generously, just like she admitted to other bands she met at girl band parties.

But Yuki still felt unsatisfied. She closed her eyes.

"I haven't been able to fully feel this feeling from practice yet... Want to have a joint live?"

"It's played by our two teams, and the audience is only our live show."

Yuki invited the band to end the show normally.

It was late at night. When everyone else had gone to bed, only Hongxia and Shizi, who were on night duty, were left standing outside the tent.

There was a faint sound of music coming from another tent in the distance. Roselia was still practicing. At this distance, the music didn't seem noisy at all, just like the sound of the wind.

"They are really working hard." Hong Xia sighed.

After finishing the band practice, without Yuki's call, the other four members of Roselia walked into the tent on their own.

"Eh? Do you still want to practice?" Kita looked at the sky outside.

"We took a brief rest before." Saya picked up the guitar.

Lisa handed Youxi a cup of coffee with a sugar cube in it, "Since we've rested, that means we can stay up a little longer tonight."

"Thank you." You Xina took it without changing her expression and took a sip. "Devoting everything to the pinnacle of music, this is Roselia."