Heavy girl? I feel worse than Black Hole Trigger!

The girl was frightened by the sudden roar and took two steps back in panic, making thudding footsteps.

Then, with a swish, the door was flung open by the man. The suddenly lit doorway obscured the girl's vision for a moment. She could only vaguely make out a pair of eyes that looked so fierce that they seemed to be spitting fire.

"You... Xiangzi?"

The man who should be called her father looked down and saw her. His previously stern face froze, and he looked at her in silence for several seconds before forcing a smile and bending down.

"You've had a hard time at school. Are you thirsty? I'll take you to the kitchen—"

The girl subconsciously dodged the man's attempt to hold her hand.

"......" The man's palm hung in the air for a moment, and then he quickly stood up straight by supporting his knees.

The still stiff smile hides an incomprehensible emotion.

He said stiffly: "Jin, you're back so early today?"

"Xiangzi always comes home at this time." The mother's slightly cold voice came from behind the father.

But when her mother walked out from behind her father, her usual gentle smile was on her face. She walked around her father, squatted down in front of her, and said with a smile, "Xiaoxiang, today is... Wednesday. get out of class is over, time to pack up and get ready to see your piano teacher!"

That voice like gentle rain and smile like the sun are exactly the same as the mother in my memory.

There was absolutely no way to connect with the owner of that cold and sharp voice I had heard earlier.

An unfamiliar feeling crept up her spine, making it hard for her to breathe. She looked at her mother's gentle smile, but couldn't help but imagine another harsh expression hidden beneath it...

"Xiao Xiang?"

"Eh. Ah, um, well... I'll go to the classroom right away."

The girl said this hurriedly, then ran towards the piano room without looking back.

Looking back now, that day seems to be the "beginning".

The beginning of the crack that already existed and split the illusion of her seemingly ordinary and happy childhood into two.

……

Thunderous applause took over the fading piano music.

The girl held her head high with pride.

"I cried"

"Goosebumps"

"99 points"

ASSOLUTO Award

The passionate emotions have erased the words in memory, leaving only label-like words to annotate the broken time.

The little girl used her tiny hands to carve out her own glory on the big piano keys.

And she ran towards her mother, who should have been acting as usual, with a big smile on her face.

"……Why."

"what?"

Mother was smiling, but her eyes looked dead.

"Why is there only a piano? Why is there only a piano?"

"Mother?"

"You can obviously... do better... Xiangzi..."

The woman who should be called her mother bent down and grabbed her shoulders.

A little bit, it hurts.

"'Only' is not enough. You are our pride. You must be better."

"...Ah, that's okay. Even if it's just the piano, I'll still reach the top."

The girl's dazed face was reflected in those eyes.

What he saw did not seem to be the person named Toyokawa Shoko, but an unknown curse.

Cursing a woman who tried to escape fate with her child, but was completely lost in the quagmire of inevitability—

……

A year later, my parents divorced and my father stopped coming home.

The following year, she completed all her tutoring courses.

In the third year, she finally met her father and told him that she wanted to continue her piano lessons.

She thought that if she did this, her mother would change her mind.

But compared to the smiling face of my mother whom I miss so much——

The first thing she saw at that moment was her father's face, which seemed to have lost all its light.

……

'What did I do wrong?'

"...No. It doesn't matter if you made a mistake, as long as you make amends."

Even if this body is just the natural result of the name "Toyokawa".

She still has absolute confidence in her talents.

"I can do better."

'I am definitely not "only" like this.'

The girl, who had grown into a young woman, clenched her fists.

So that these hands that disturb the piano keys will no longer hurt anyone.

In order to shoulder the responsibilities that belong to me...

“——————.”

Shoko Toyokawa pushed open the door of the recording studio.

The sudden cold wind that rushed into the room swept away the depression that had accumulated for a long time.

"...Xiao Xiang?"

Nagasaki Sushi suddenly looked back.

The clothes, still showing signs of dampness, could not hide the fire that was quietly burning in those eyes.

"You're finally here. Seriously, you didn't even reply to my messages, and you didn't even come to school today—"

Snap. Toyokawa Shoko grabbed Suyo's wrist.

She was holding a handkerchief, ready to wipe the raindrops from Xiangzi's cheek.

"I'm here to tell you something today."

Toyokawa Shoko looked calm.

Her gaze gently avoided the stunned Su Shi, and lingered for a moment on Takamatsu Deng's dazed face, Shiina Riki's furrowed brows, and Wakaba Mutsu's back looking out the window.

Even without me, we can still get together well.

...You don't need me anymore.

She laughed in her heart, but when she opened her lips, she only breathed out a chill colder than the June rain.

"I want to quit CRYCHIC."

Chapter 78 of Lost Stars: Summer Records: Episode : Finally, Spring Comes to an End

“I want to quit CRYCHIC.”

——The girl’s voice was cold in the chill wind.

Her whole body was soaked by the rain. Even though she had wiped it carefully outside earlier, new raindrops were falling.

The icy chill that washed over her seemed to please her. She stood proudly where she was.

"Xiao Xiang..."

Nagasaki Suyo blinked and smiled habitually:

"Let's sit down and talk first."

Toyokawa Shoko shook her head. This made Nagasaki Suyo narrow her eyes slightly. Her smile faded slightly, and after a moment of silence, she smiled again. "Did something happen? Something you can't tell us?"

"..."

Toyokawa Shoko took a deep breath and turned her head away.

As if trying to escape from Su Shi's extremely sharp gaze, which was different from his soft voice.

"It's my own problem."

"Why?" Nagasaki Motoyo looked at the drenched victim, her blue eyes still clear. "Didn't you enjoy the concert last time? You said you wanted to do it again, didn't you?"

"I never said that."

"……Yeah."

Nagasaki Suyo's voice suddenly became hushed.

"Xiao Xiang started CRYCHIC. But you were the first to quit?"

“——…….”

Shoko Toyokawa lowered her head and remained silent.

Nagasaki Suyo looked at her like that and was about to say something when a voice, fainter than a mosquito, came from behind.

"Are you really going to quit...?"

Nagasaki Sushi suddenly turned around. Takamatsu Deng was sitting on the ground, a mechanical pencil lying next to her scribbled notebook. She looked up timidly, her eyes gleaming like stars dim in the night sky.

The girl's empty expression seemed as fragile as glass.

It's like the second hand has reached the end, leaving only the broken dream clinging to time, wanting this beautiful dream to last a little longer...

——Da da da da, da!

Shiina Riki stomped his feet hard.

In the empty recording studio, the heavy footsteps were unexpectedly loud.

"The light is asking you a question." She frowned, her expression cold, and glared at Toyokawa Shoko at the door. The words that came out of her mouth contained a hint of mockery and harshness: "Besides, you are too irresponsible, aren't you?"

However, this barbed voice received no response.

The blue-haired girl's expression was calm, her eyes downcast. She'd once flashed an unmistakable smile at a single question, always brimming with confidence and enthusiasm. In her memory, the girl named Toyokawa Shoko seemed... forever trapped in the past, in these days that seemed fleeting yet endless.

Just realizing this, the emotions in my chest were suddenly crushed by my heart and injected into my bloodstream——

Shiina Riki stood up in the pain of this moment and shouted, "Why are you not talking?"

"...Lixi." Nagasaki Suyo turned around and looked at her.

But this time, the emotions surging through Shiina Riki's body could no longer be suppressed by just a few words from Su Shi.

"Then could you please not quit in such a troublesome way? Everyone has been waiting for Xiangzi today—"

"Lixi."

Nagasaki Suyo took a step forward and stood in front of Toyokawa Shoko, her calm eyes gazing deeply at Shiina Tatsuki.

Just such a small action, just a pair of eyes that she was used to seeing, Shiina Riki suddenly felt the fire rising in her chest being blown away by a breeze, leaving her speechless for a moment, and she could only close her eyes and turn her head to the side.

Nagasaki Suyo breathed a sigh of relief and was about to turn around—

"...You can still practice even if I'm not here."

"what?"

The ethereal voice easily aroused Shiina Riki's anger.

But Toyokawa Shoko just lowered her eyes.