After being elected as the governor of Tokyo, he will debut as a band!

"Then Sickhack might not be able to continue."

"..."

Aoyama's casual remark caused Deng to unconsciously shrink back.

“Hacksan is exaggerating again,” Hiroi Kikuri walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. “Even if you take off your mask during the performance, the difficulties you bring to Sickhack won’t be more than when I first invited you, since you’re on our side now!”

"Go back to playing your bass."

As they were talking, Yoshida Ginjiro pushed open the door to the preparation room and called them to come on stage to perform.

Takamatsu Akari also went to the live area, where Aine and Riki were waiting for her.

Lixi pulled the light behind her to separate the crowd.

"Deng, are you alright? Xiangzi said you were in the break room, but I thought there might not be many people there, so I didn't bring you out. Have you encountered anything strange lately?"

"The seniors at Sickhack are all great, like Hiroi and Shima, who have been in a band for eight years."

Make way for me: 083 gets the harshest criticism but sells the most tickets!

Eight years is a long time for a band.

It's worth noting that the average marriage duration in Japan is only 11 years.

Moreover, there is absolutely no sign of Sickhack disbanding at present, and the rock (love) marathon between Kikuri Hiroi and Shima Iwashita will undoubtedly continue.

"A two-person band?"

Shiina Ritsuki watched Hiroi Kikuri walk onto the stage and interact with the audience in the front row, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Lamp, if you'd like to form a two-person band with me... I'd definitely stay forever."

"Wait a minute, Shiina-kun, I was the one who invited the Kotobuki Band first!"

Aine grabbed her arm from the other side of the lamp and gave Shiina Tatsuki a possessive look.

"Chihaya-kun...can you be in a band with me for the rest of your life?"

Gao Songdeng muttered softly.

Learning about the story between Kikuri Hiroi and Shima Iwashita gave her some renewed confidence in her dream of "being in a band for life".

But Aine clearly hadn't expected Lantern Festival to say something like that, and after hesitating for a while, she awkwardly declined, saying:

"Um... there's no need to set such a lofty goal right away, is there? From a psychological point of view, setting a small, easily achievable goal first makes it easier to stick to it."

"Then it'll be 8 years..."

"Eight years is too long! We're only in our first year of high school now, but in eight years we'll have finished college, and maybe some of us will be married and have kids!"

"Eight years, is that not enough...?"

"If you can't even last this short time, then don't even talk about inviting the Light Band! Someone as terrible as you will only cause more harm to Light."

"Huh? You're being a bit much... Besides, I didn't say I definitely wouldn't agree. If I could become as popular as Ms. Hiroi, eight years... eight years isn't out of the question..."

"you shut up!"

Ai Yin's defense agitated Li Xi.

"Does being unpopular mean you can quit a band without any scruples?!"

Her voice was so powerful that it even drowned out the intro to a Sickhack performance.

Many audience members were drawn to her words, including Hiroi Kikuri on stage, who all cast strange glances at the three of them.

Gao Songdeng shrugged, her heart and eyes trembling under the gaze of hundreds of people. Even though Li Xi stood in front of her without flinching, it was to no avail.

It was under these circumstances that Aoyama spoke up.

"I just heard someone say that being unpopular is not a reason to leave a band... but what kind of band is considered unpopular?"

Does being criticized and questioned by many people automatically make a band unpopular?

"Then I'd like to ask you something, Ms. Hiroi Kikuri, the lead singer of Sickhack next to me, how much criticism does she receive? Not just online, but even during live performances, she gets a lot of flak, doesn't she? I'll ask you again..."

To put it bluntly, I suspect that right here in this live stream, quite a few audience members are eager to engage in a war of words with her, right?

The audience fell silent for a moment, then erupted in cheers.

"The way Hiroi-sensei sang on stage while drunk was just awful."

"These violent thugs who spray alcohol at the drop of a hat and throw microphones into the crowd, get out of here!"

"They clearly said they were going to play a new piece, but after singing the first line, they started forgetting the lyrics at the second line. They really don't treat the audience like human beings!"

"Hiroi Kikuri, you're a piece of shit!!!"

Hiroi Kikuri was stunned by the scolding, but she quickly recovered and spat into the microphone.

"What's the point of saying so much?! Didn't you bunch of good-for-nothings enjoy the performance?"

After saying that, she showed off her middle finger without hesitation.

"Mother Fxxx!!!"

She was met with a barrage of middle fingers in response.

Seeing this, Hiroi was not angry; instead, he burst into laughter.

"You bunch of trash, your insults aren't strong enough! To be honest, I've completely forgotten the new song I was supposed to perform today! And I drank two big bottles of alcohol before going on stage! And all this junk on the stage, I'm going to smash it all to pieces today! Hey—Gin-chan, did you hear that? Even if you object, it's no use! I'm going to smash it all!!"

"Hiroi, you xxxfuxxx I xxx 8 am!!"

Even the store manager, Yoshida Ginjiro, was stirred up by Hiroi. Now, not only was he giving the middle finger, but the amount of profanity in the cheers became inexplicably high—seriously, is this really cheering?

Remember the girl who missed the Yokohama performance at the "Starlight" concert hall because she had to take care of her younger sister at home? She believed Aoyama's advice that "our next performance is suitable for all ages, you can bring your sister!" and brought her elementary school-aged sister to the Sickhack live show today, only to encounter this unexpected turn of events—

Unable to express her grievances, she tried to cover her younger sister's ears to keep her away from the foul language. However, her younger sister, who was still in elementary school, was even more enthusiastic than her. She even climbed onto the back of a strange woman and started spouting nonsense in her childish voice towards the stage.

Holding drumsticks, Aoyama delivered a furious solo that temporarily silenced the cacophony of profanities. In that brief moment, he used the same powerful and infectious tone he often employed in campaign speeches and parliamentary debates to ask his final question.

"So, do you like Kikuri Hiroi and support Sickhack?!"

"Yes!!"

The simultaneous shouts nearly lifted the roof off Folt.

Even the drinks in the glasses on the bar were splashed out by the vibrations of the sound.

"So, please enjoy our new song even though the lead singer forgot the lyrics!"

……

The song is over.

Shiina Riki suddenly came to his senses.

—Oh no, the atmosphere just now was just too great, Mr. Hack's drum set was so captivating, I was completely immersed in it and forgot about the lights.

I hope she wasn't scared away by what just happened.

"Light, are you alright..."

Turning his head, Lixi found that Deng was still standing beside him.

But she was already in tears.

"Lixi, it's so great that you like music..."

"I also want to sing songs that move people, just like Ms. Hiroi. Although I know I can never sing like Ms. Hiroi, I still want to make my own voice heard."

"Deng, you can do it! As long as we all work together, we definitely can!"

Lixi gripped the lamp's hand tightly. She felt strength in the lamp's eyes, and at that moment, she was filled with confidence to form the band again.

Make way for me: 084 She was completely ignored on stage.

"Lixi, I have a question I'd like to ask."

"Light, you speak."

“Well…” Takamatsu Akari raised her hand, clenched her fist, and then raised the middle bar. “What does Ms. Hiroi and everyone else mean by this gesture?”

"This……"

Lixi was speechless.

How am I supposed to answer that? Oh, and what about that pink-haired girl who doesn't seem very bright?

Why did you end up sitting by the wall?

"Hey! Come here for a second."

Ai Yin, who had just had a blast with the crazy adults, was sitting down to calm herself down when Li Xi suddenly pulled her up, and she felt a bit of a lack of blood flow to her brain.

"What's up, Rikki?"

"W-What Rikki? Don't talk nonsense!" Lixi blushed slightly, but because she had been asked a terrible question by Deng, she couldn't care less about getting angry at the moment. "Anyway, come here for a moment."

"Hey, Deng, why don't you ask her?"

"Chihaya-san, what does the gesture that Hiroi-san and the others made mean?"

“Oh, this is a dunk…” Chihaya Aine shuddered, quickly changing her words before they came out, “This means ‘thank you very much’.”

“I see… So Ms. Hiroi and the audience were thanking each other,” Takamatsu Akari said thoughtfully. “This kind of relationship between fans and idols is truly enviable.”

"Then, Kodama, you should also express your gratitude to Shiina-kun in the same way!"

With her intelligence once again at its peak, Aine couldn't help but have a mischievous thought.

Takamatsu Akari, this innocent little lamb, is no match for Chihaya Ayane, this cunning girl, when it comes to playing mind games.

She turned around solemnly to face Lixi, and slowly raised her hands...

Tonic!

Lixi's heart was screaming, but she couldn't stop Deng's actions—after all, if she did stop him, and Deng asked her why she stopped him, she wouldn't be able to tell her the truth.

Just then, from behind the lamp, a divine hand reached out, placed on the lamp's arm, and pressed it down.

"Chihaya-kun, don't play pranks with the light."

It was Toyokawa Shoko who made the move.

"Light, remember, don't use this gesture on other people."

"Xiao Xiang."

"Where have you been again? You promised to invite me to watch the show, but you ran off again."

As soon as Lixi saw Xiangzi, he was filled with anger, and the tension he felt when facing the lamp earlier was completely forgotten.

"I have things to do."

"Huh? What kind of talk is that..."

“I admit my rudeness…but anyway, Deng, I’m glad you enjoyed the show.”

"You invited Deng just for this? You let Deng see a...not bad show, and you think that makes all the past things disappear?"

“I didn’t think that way… I just listened to other people’s advice that problems that can’t be solved shouldn’t stop us from having happiness in the present moment.”

"Xiao Xiang."

Deng and Xiangzi locked eyes, but at least for this moment, she no longer tried to escape by looking away.

"Even if we can't face the audience as a band for the time being, at least sing our hearts out in karaoke..."

Xiangzi's gaze was complicated.

He left behind those words and then turned to leave.

But the lamp caught a glimpse of her and asked softly.

"Xiao Xiang... can we still come to live shows together in the future?"

"...There is a chance."

……

Shoko Toyokawa bypassed the crowd and came to the semi-open area located behind the stage.