Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

But Linghua still listened with great interest.

It was as if she, a young lady of high status, rich experience and good at dealing with people, did not hear any flaws in the words of Xiangzi and others.

——With a wonderful tacit understanding, the two sides stopped their exploration of each other at a perfect line.

Anyway, Xiangzi’s storytelling skills are pretty good, so it’s okay to treat them as some rural tales, right?

There were questions and answers, with occasional comments from other girls: since the events themselves were all true, their comments made Xiangzi's memories extremely three-dimensional, making the flaws in the background seem insignificant.

First, Xiangzi said that he saw an introverted girl on the street of Fontaine and was attracted by the poems she wrote.

This romantic encounter made Linghua sigh with what could perhaps be called envy.

Su Shi also joked that it was Xiangzi's first time to use the "beverage machine" and he made a noise because he didn't know how to operate it.

Xiangzi was embarrassed by this, and Linghua looked at their extremely natural interaction and smiled with her eyes narrowed.

They talked about the miracle of their meeting, the great success of their debut performance, the criticisms that followed, and their disintegration...

Recounting these experiences of just a few months from an outsider's perspective, I can't help but feel as if I were in another world: we've been through so much. It turns out that if even a single missing link had been missing, we might not have been able to sit together and calmly recount the past.

China and Ayaka listened quietly to their stories. As the hot tea cooled, the Kanjo Bugyo's followers arrived to remind them that the departure time was approaching. Finally, Crychik's past connected to the present.

"It's just like the plot in a novel." Linghua said.

Xiangzi smiled and shook his head. "Looking back now, it's really hard to refute."

Although it may seem a bit shameless coming from her as the "source of all evil", she was really deeply moved by this miraculous encounter, separation, and reunion: they turned what should have been ordinary adolescent troubles into the ups and downs of a TV series... Although she wanted to go back and beat herself up when she recalled it, now that the dust has settled, those bitternesses seem to have become necessary embellishments.

Ugh. I can't tell Su Shi this. That woman will definitely beat up the present Xiangzi on behalf of the future Xiangzi if she hears it.

Gao Songdeng said softly, "It's a good thing that we can still get together."

If Su Shi hadn't pulled her out of the abyss.

If she had never seen the "starlight" called Zheli from the beginning.

If, she couldn't muster up that moment of courage until the very end.

Their once intertwined lives may become completely parallel lines after that rain.

"lamp……"

Xiangzi looked into Deng's calm eyes, speechless for a long while, before turning the astonishment on his face into a smile.

"I must also thank you for meeting me." Linghua stroked her chest and said solemnly.

The girl's ears seemed to still linger with the exotic music and Takamatsu's lyrical voice. After learning about the origins of the five people's gathering and understanding the paths they had taken, the beautiful music seemed to have gained a certain weight.

And that must be a kind of "freedom" that she has never experienced in her life so far.

"Thank you for bringing this beautiful song across the ocean to me. For me, meeting you all here is a 'miracle' that belongs only to me."

Xiangzi waved his hand and said, "Miss Linghua, you are too kind. I should thank you for taking the time to give us this opportunity."

"No. The company's business is simply fulfilling its obligations."

The girl deftly opened her folding fan to cover her smiling lips.

"Even if Miss Qianli hadn't written, with the size of the Kanding Fengxing and your abilities, it wouldn't be difficult to secure a stage at the festival. Now it's my turn to lend a hand. How fortunate I am."

"—After all, this is a festival for the Inazuma people, not a festival for the shrine."

She said softly. On this summer afternoon.

The breeze, the sunshine, and a silhouette as white as snow.

●

After a long journey, he devoted himself to the performance——

Once they were ready to go home, everyone suddenly became depressed and returned to their cars.

Even Su Shi, who was sitting in the driver's seat when he came, no longer insisted this time and squeezed into a car with everyone.

Baodeng Zheli confirmed that everyone was seated, closed the door for the girls, and turned to nod at Linghua, who had seen them off. "Miss Shenli will have to take care of the specific time and location arrangements."

Linghua still smiled, "No. It's my duty."

This girl looks quite gentle and is actually very pleasant to be around, but although she is good at reading micro-expressions, or the flexing of facial muscles, she still cannot grasp the other person's actual emotions.

Was this elegant young lady truly as gentle as she appeared, or had her experience in high positions within Inazuma simply cultivated a knack for cultivating energy far beyond her years? Zheli wasn't shy about imagining strangers as formidable, but judging by this, Xiangzi, who could hold her own against Kamisato Ayaka, was undoubtedly no ordinary being.

Thinking about these irrelevant things, Zheli put away the airs of a "Kanjo Bugyo Guard" and showed an approachable smile. "Well, see you at the festival." Then he turned and went to his carriage.

"Okay. ...Bye, huh?"

“——…….” Zhe Li paused.

The whisper behind him, almost like a breath, did not escape his ears.

"Speaking of -"

Before Linghua could question his stopping, the man turned around again.

"Here at Inazuma, there should be a rehearsal before the big festival performance, right?"

"Rehearsal? Oh, yes. It's true." Linghua answered with a little hesitation.

While the shabukyō (shrine magistrates) are responsible for organizing festivals, their core duties are essentially related to the shrine itself, assisting with rituals and selecting auspicious dates, with a greater emphasis on the actual performance of the festival. Summer festivals, on the other hand, are more like a regular time for people to gather and relax, so their involvement is relatively rare.

In short, although the holding of the festival requires the approval and signature of official documents by the Society Bugyo, they do not have enough manpower to handle the chores in detail - so most of the time, Kamisato Ayaka will only show up before the festival officially takes place to let everyone know that the Society Bugyo is supporting her, and occasionally solve some major problems that ordinary people cannot easily solve.

It is the people of Inazuma themselves who truly ensure that each festival is held smoothly and grandly.

"Then we'll have to ask Ms. Kamisato to review it during the rehearsal. We're new here, and we're afraid we might break the rules."

Linghua was stunned for a moment. "Huh? Ah, no... We don't have such strict rules—"

But Zheli nodded confidently and said, "Well, take care of yourself, Ms. Kamisato. See you at the rehearsal."

“Again… eh?”

Linghua looked at Zheli's back with a bit of helplessness as he left. Then the convoy started and went farther and farther towards the guarding forest at the foot of the mountain.

She kept watching them go away, but her head was dizzy.

Did I make some promises for no apparent reason?

"..."

but.

"Are there any plans at home recently, until the festival?"

"Miss, here's the report from the Assessment Office the other day, and..."

"Let's postpone it for now."

The girl opened her folding fan and savored the stunning scenery captured with her brush.

Flowers, birds, wind and moon are pure and elegant, but they lack the worldly atmosphere and are more filled with the mediocrity of forcing sorrow for the sake of new words.

But when reciting poetry and composing music, one should be inspired by emotion and bound by propriety and morality. Why bother with the futile effort of pretending to be cultured?

Just like that song.

"...We must organize this year's festival well and not lose to previous years."

Chapter 51 of the Box: Autumn Frost and Falling Maple Leaves, Snow Clears and Meets the Toon Tree: Chapter : Strolling

Try to recall your school days.

——School is the source of all suffering.

Regardless of whether they come from a happy or unhappy family, when they go to school, they will face pressure from peers, pressure from schoolwork, pressure from teachers... Sometimes, the pressure from school will even be brought back home, making students lose their last safe haven.

Therefore, students love holidays very much.

Even if it's just temporary, and even if it doesn't mean you're completely free from the pressure of studying (some people still have to attend cram schools, for example), just being able to get away from school is a blessing. It's human nature to want to keep these happy times going.

"I haven't had enough fun at all!" Nagasaki Suyo banged the table.

Bao Deng Zheli said cheerfully, "After all, since summer vacation has begun, your band activities have actually intensified."

For most ordinary middle school students, at least those who have traditionally understood what it means to be a middle school student, playing in a band is just another extracurricular activity. Instead of relaxing during summer break, they've been playing video games, shopping, and eating and drinking, and instead increased the frequency of band practice? And this is even happening during the final summer break of their third year of junior high school?

As expected, she is a band girl born in the world of music.jpg.

"But after the Inazuma Festival, you can take a good rest."

Although it was the result of many coincidences and accidents, the efforts they made during the summer vacation were able to confirm the results with this performance at Inazuma.

"That's true. However, I'm not talking about what happens after the festival, but what happens during it."

"Oh?"

I saw Su Shi slowly raised the corner of her mouth: "Let's go buy a yukata together."

"Yukata? Oh, I do think it's necessary..."

Standing by, Shoko Toyokawa folded the rag with a thoughtful expression on her face.

A few days ago, when I went to Kamisato Yashiki and accepted the "interview" of Kamisato Ayaka, they were dressed no differently than usual: these styles are very rare among Inazuma, and seem to deepen the image of their characters who "traveled across the ocean and went to a foreign country several generations ago."

However, after all, Inazuma isn't a truly isolated island nation, and there are always truly knowledgeable travelers who will surely recognize these novel costumes that don't belong to any particular country. If they were to perform on stage wearing modern clothes, it would be a bit too conspicuous.

The reason why there was no commotion this time was that they stayed in the carriage from beginning to end until Kamisato Yashiki appeared.

"Hmm. Even if we're not at Inazuma, I think CRYCHIC should get their own uniforms."

Costumes are also part of the band's style. Composing music to suit Takamatsu Touma's lyrics alone took Shoko a lot of effort. For example, the song "Shiori" (Bookmark) that he performed for Ayaka was the result of discussions with everyone this month.

Clothes that can express the "scream" and "struggle" of the lights?

"Eh? Team uniforms?" "Eh?"

Su Shi asked in confusion, which made Xiangzi also confused.

"Isn't Sushi-san talking about CRYCHIC's performance?"

"...I just said I wanted to buy a yukata."

She had heard that Inazuma's summer festival would be held for several consecutive days, so no matter how hard they tried, they only needed to work hard on that day, and they could enjoy themselves at the festival for the rest of the days.

It’s a rare summer vacation, and I don’t want to be without any good memories!

Oh, I was talking about the good memories with Zheli, not that performing with everyone from CRYCHIC was not good.

"Forget it. It's not like I can only buy one anyway." Su Shi reluctantly agreed to Xiangzi's suggestion.

She really couldn't imagine herself and her friends going on stage in casual clothes and playing modern pop music for the bewildered guests in kimonos... There has to be a limit to novelty!

"Eh..." Hearing the awkwardness in Su Shi's tone, Xiangzi now understood.

It turns out that this woman was inviting the man on a date!

Because she didn't think of this in front of her... No, can you two talk about this in private?

Shoko Toyokawa couldn't help but look down at Su Shi's pensive profile with a cold look.

Not long after, Su Shi suddenly clapped his hands together, turned around and smiled at Xiangzi. This smile, which he didn't know if it could be described as malicious, gave Xiangzi goosebumps, as if the other person had heard his inner complaints a moment ago.

"By the way, Xiaoxiang, do you want to go shopping with me?"

"Me, me too?" Xiangzi was stunned.

"I was thinking of asking Xiao Mu to come along. Since it's a 'team uniform', we should take everyone's opinions into consideration, right?"

Su Shi covered her mouth and smiled, her tone somewhat teasing.

It was just clothes shopping, so she didn't have such a strong desire to exclude the third wheel: Zhe Li was accompanying her anyway, so it was enough for her to choose clothes for him. If she really wanted to be alone, the festival day would be the highlight; before that, she didn't care.

"Since classmate Su Shi said so..." Xiangzi hesitated a little.

Thinking carefully, she didn't seem to have ever gone shopping with friends, picking out clothes. Before running away from home, her schedule was almost entirely tied up in her tutoring. Although she got along well with her classmates, she never made any close friends. It wasn't until this year, when classes were drastically reduced and she had more free time for the first time in her life, that she formed the band now called CRYCHIC.

In other words, "going shopping happily with friends", which sounds like an ordinary little thing at first glance, is actually a rare experience for Shoko Toyokawa.

She thought for a moment and said, "Then let's also send invitations to Deng and Lixi."

Since Su Shi herself didn't mind being interrupted on her "date," she might as well turn this trip into a real group activity. She'd been planning to send a reminder in the group chat, asking everyone to clean their kimonos. But since they were going to wear them for the performance, it would be better to buy a new one.

As for pocket money, I still have a little bit saved up from before -

"I can pay the bill for Xiaoxiang." Su Shi suddenly said.