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

Ijichi Hoshika put forward her demands.

"Why go through all that trouble? If you want to hide your identity, just wear a mask," Aoyama interjected. "I carry several masks with me. Aine, whichever one you want, just pick one."

Ijichi Hoshika poked Aoyama with her finger, meaning that he shouldn't say anything if he didn't understand the situation, and then made additional requests.

"Oh, I almost forgot, there's one more requirement... that is, after the makeover, you can't be too conspicuous; ideally, you should be able to easily blend into the crowd. So, Ms. PA, can you help me with this?"

"no problem!"

Miss Pa snapped her fingers with great confidence, then stared at the seven people present with a thoughtful expression.

"There is."

Both she and Ijichi Seika have long, flowing hair, so they don't usually carry hair ties with them. However, Nijika and Kita both have side ponytails, so to avoid the situation where their hair ties accidentally break and they have to let their hair down, they would definitely have extra hair ties on them.

So she borrowed two hair ties from the two of them and made Chihaya Aine's hair into twin ponytails.

Then, she put the black-rimmed glasses with light-filtering and eye protection that she wore while playing games on Chihaya Aine, and finally used an eyebrow pencil to draw a pseudo-light and shadow makeup on Chihaya Aine's face to make her face look slimmer.

When the group looked at Chihaya Aine again, they immediately felt as if she were a completely different person.

“That’s not enough… If you want to be even less conspicuous, you need to work on your clothes…” Ms. PA looked Aine up and down for a while, but was still not satisfied, so she turned her gaze to Pochi, who was wearing a pink tracksuit, “Pochi-chan, could you take off your tracksuit top and lend it to Aine for a bit?”

"Eh?"

Pochi turned pale and clutched his collar tightly with both hands.

It wasn't that she was unwilling to lend clothes to Ai Yin; after all, Ai Yin had been learning guitar from her for so long and had an incredibly sweet tongue, which had already raised her favorability level to a very high level.

She was just worried that her clothes would smell of her gloomy scent and make Aine feel uncomfortable.

In addition, taking off her clothes at home and outside the stage is a very stressful thing for her, which is why she showed such tension and resistance.

"Should I...take it off here?"

"Of course not. Master Boqi can just take off his coat and give it to me in the practice room. I'll return the clean coat when I come to practice the day after tomorrow."

Chihaya Aine promised.

If it were anyone else, there wouldn't be any problem taking it off in public. After all, Boqi was wearing a "Band of Links" team T-shirt under his tracksuit, so there was no "welcome" scenario where his breasts would be exposed when he unzipped his tracksuit.

Aoyama noticed Boqi's embarrassment and took out a mask from his pocket and handed it to her—girls have spare hair ties, and Aoyama naturally had spare masks as well.

Unlike the mask he usually wore, the spare mask was modeled after the mask used in Sichuan opera face-changing performances. It was made of silk and bamboo strips, and when folded, it was about the same size as a waiter, making it very lightweight and portable.

For people with social anxiety, this kind of face-covering device can really give them courage.

After Aoyama put the mask on Bochi, Bochi couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, looking much calmer.

Then, she took off her upper body sportswear and, just like a father in a samurai family during the Warring States period handing over his samurai armor, which he had worn all his life, to his son, she held the sportswear in both hands and handed it to Chihaya Aine.

"I... I've lent you my power, Aine. Go do what you want to do!"

"Master Pochi, I will not let you down!"

Aine took the tracksuit, draped it over herself, and strode out under the satisfied gazes of Ichiji Seika and Ms. PA.

……

"What is Xiao Aiyin doing? It sounds like she's going to pick a fight."

"Fighting is probably impossible, but with the disguise and the need to avoid attracting attention... it gives the impression that he's trying to sneak into some wealthy mansion to steal treasure. Damn it, why didn't this kid call me when he had the chance? I'm a great lookout; as long as there's a green belt nearby, I can keep watch for at least three days straight."

Looking at the shop door that was creaking loudly from being slammed by Chihaya Aine, Iji Nijika and Yamada Ryo muttered to themselves.

"What are you thinking about?"

Aoyama couldn't help but comment on Yamada Ryo's outrageous remarks.

"Aiyin is fighting for the future of her band. Do you think all girl bands in the world are as united as the Bond Band?"

"It's not uncommon for band members to be half-hearted."

Ichichi Hoshige added.

“I don’t quite understand,” Hongxia tilted her head, looking puzzled, but then she smiled brightly. “But I think the band can take it slow. Even a group of half-hearted people can slowly make progress…”

“That’s right,” Yamada Ryo nodded in Conan’s signature “I’ve seen through everything” gesture, subtly echoing his wife’s sentiment. “Just a few months ago, Ikuyo was a missing person, and Kotori was a perfectly ripe mango. Now they’re going to be on the preliminary stage of the ‘Goshicho Cup’.”

Ijichi Hoshika had just poured herself a beer, intending to reward herself for the meeting with her underwear, when she heard Yamada Ryo mention the 'Gigocho Cup' and said, "Oh, right, I just got back and haven't had a chance to tell you yet. There are five venues for the preliminary rounds, three outdoor and two indoor, all of which are large venues that can accommodate more than a thousand spectators. There will also be live broadcasts and rebroadcasts on TV. I don't think you've ever performed in front of so many people before, have you? Don't just stand there on stage and make a fool of yourselves in front of all of Tokyo."

Upon hearing this, Pochi, who was still enjoying the novelty of the mask, froze instantly.

"

One, one thousand? "

She murmured the number, and then fell backward.

Qingshan reacted quickly, pushing a bar stool over to catch her.

"Boqi-chan, it's just a venue with a capacity of a thousand people, and you're already this nervous? There's a chance in a few days, would you like me to take you there to broaden your horizons?"

Igomachi Music Awards: 099 Retreat is Impossible

"Su Shi, would it be convenient for you to come out and meet me?"

As soon as she boarded the tram, Toyokawa Shoko made a phone call to Nagasaki Motoyo.

Nagasaki Motoyo was at home at the time, with Wakaba Mutsuko also there.

In the past few days, out of guilt and a desire to make amends, Nagasaki Motoyo has been inseparable from Wakaba Mutsumi, not only at school but also by taking her home after school.

Wakaba Mutsu's parents didn't mind at all. As long as Wakaba Mutsu went home to sleep every night, it was her freedom to go wherever she wanted the rest of the time. Staying with Nagasaki Motoyo, a girl from Tsuki no Mori Academy, was much better than going to the yakuza or a company run by former yakuza members.

As for Nagasaki Motoyo, she was even more carefree. Her mother might not even come home once a month, so let alone bringing people home after school, no one would care if she played music at home.

"What? You're at home and it's inconvenient for you to come out? Xiao Mu is with you too?" Toyokawa Shoko looked conflicted, but remembering what Aoyama had told her before, she mustered up the courage of "nothing ventured, nothing gained," and said, "If it's convenient, I'd like to come to your house to find you."

For some reason, Nagasaki Motoyo on the other end of the phone exclaimed in surprise, with a hint of joy in her voice, "Eh? Saki-chan is coming to my house? Then I'd better prepare properly... It's been so long since the three of us sat down together for tea like we did in junior high."

During junior high school, Nagasaki Motoyo, Wakaba Mutsu, and Toyokawa Shoko were all students at Tsukimori Junior High School. They were inseparable at school and often got together for tea after school.

Unfortunately, those days are gone forever. Nagasaki Motoyo misses those times, but for Toyokawa Shoko, the memories of the past are just a burden.

"No need to prepare anything. I don't plan to enter your house. I'll leave after we make things clear at the door."

"Eh? But that would make it seem like our family is not very hospitable..."

Nagasaki Motoyo thought to herself, "Xiao Xiang, you're just being stubborn on the phone. Once you get here, I'll drag you straight into my house. You can't possibly turn around and run away then."

Once is enough for this "you run, I run" scenario to play out; I won't let it happen a second time.

On the other end of the phone, Toyokawa Shoko shivered, a bad feeling creeping into her heart.

But retreating is impossible.

Besides, we're all girls, so there's no danger between us. As long as we don't put in the drinks or food she takes out, we'll be perfectly safe.

"Let's talk about the specifics when we meet."

After saying that, Toyokawa Shoko hung up the phone, gazing at the scenery flashing past outside the tram, carefully considering her next words.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the same carriage, Chihaya Aine, who was covering her face with a travel brochure she had picked up from the platform, was secretly observing this side.

She wasn't very far from Toyokawa Shoko, but because the latter hadn't expected to be followed and hadn't observed the other passengers in the carriage, she didn't recognize her in disguise at all.

However, she heard everything Toyokawa Shoko said on the phone—

Xiao Xiang then went to Su Shi's house, but he didn't plan to visit her home like a normal visit, where he would have tea and chat. Instead, he planned to explain what he needed to say at the door and then leave. However, Su Shi didn't want to do that; she seemed to intend to give Xiao Xiang a proper welcome.

That's so nice! I wish I could be treated as warmly as Su Shi... But Su Shi never invites me to her house, and even if I hint that I want to visit her this weekend, she'll pretend not to understand or change the subject.

Should I take this opportunity to visit Su Shi's house? Once you've broken the ice the first time, it's much easier to do it a second or third time—that's how girls are.

……

Aoyama looked this way; he had just finished a piece of music and was testing it on the guitar that Chihaya Aine had left here.

This song is an adaptation by Muto Aoyama of the Grammy Award-winning song "Rolling in the Deep," incorporating Japanese rock elements and lyrics that are closer to the cultural style of Japan.

It's worth mentioning that "Rolling in the Deep" is said to be a melody that its composer, Adele Adkins, came up with when she was 20 years old and broke up with a man ten years her senior. It perfectly matches the situation that Aoyama is in now—the four listeners surrounding him listening to him try playing are all high school girls more than ten years younger than him.

Considering that the core of the piece is to express the protagonist's anger, revenge, heartbreak, and self-discovery at being betrayed by a "hypocritical lover," and through the transformation of a young girl from dependence on an older lover to awakening and independence, it highlights the awakening of subjectivity of the weaker party in a relationship. After Aoyama finished playing the piece, he felt a chill from the gazes coming from the "audience seats."

Good music is music that can evoke empathy in listeners.

"Ahem," Qingshan coughed twice, bringing the four members of the Bond Band, who were still immersed in the lingering charm of the song, back to reality. "What do you guys think of this song?"

"This is amazing. Mr. Hack, did you write this song from the perspective of a young woman? Both the melody and the lyrics seem to resonate with my heart."

The one who said this was Kita Ikuyo, whose eyes were shining.

"Just listening to it makes me feel like there are images appearing in my mind's eye... From suppressed whispers to angry outbursts, the strong changes in tone make me feel like the light in my vision is changing in brightness."

Iji Chikurika, who looked thoughtful, was more concerned with the story and emotional expression in the song. She herself is the kind of person who is understanding and empathetic.

"Based on the key of C, the range is very expressive, and the fusion of modern style and rhythm and blues is quite successful... It's a pity that there is only one guitar as an accompaniment instrument. If the middle section had bass and drums, it would have created a strong sense of rhythm. If those had been added, the emotional impact of the song would have been even stronger."

Ryo Yamada, from a performance perspective, expressed his regret at not being able to hear the band's version.

"When Sickhack officially performs this song on stage, you'll hear the effect you want."

Aoyama said as he packed up Chihaya Aine's guitar.

"Could you give me a ticket?"

"Songs of this caliber, especially a premiere, should at least be paid to hear, right?"

"Too."

Ryo Yamada can accept this view; she is still very willing to spend money on music.

"Boqi-chan, what do you think of this song?"

Aoyama turned to look at Pochi, who was sitting upright on the bar stool, and asked.

The other three members of the band Link all gave their opinions, but she remained silent.

"I……"

Boqi suddenly stood up. "I suddenly know what the next song for the Bond Band should be! Manager, I need to ask the manager for a favor first."

Fifty

Town Music Awards: 100 Is your new song addictive?

"Manager... I need to ask the manager for a favor first..."

After saying that, Pochi opened the door and rushed out.

Yamada Ryo chuckled. "Pochi-chan wouldn't be thinking of dating the shop manager to find that feeling between a young girl and an older lover, like in the song 'Haksan,' would she? If it really happens, what will Nijika call Pochi-chan?"

“How could that be?” Ijichi Nijika waved her hand casually, not believing that such a thing would happen. “Poch-chan wouldn’t be that unreliable.”

"It's hard to say. Rock musicians can do anything when they can't find the inspiration to write lyrics and compose music. In some foreign countries, they even use drugs."

What Yamada Ryo said is true. Many rock musicians, especially singer-songwriters, are rather eccentric, and it's not uncommon for them to start a relationship in pursuit of inspiration.

However, Ijichi Nijika has great confidence in both Pochi (his autism) and her older sister (her straightness), so she will not be swayed by Yamada Ryo's exaggerated remarks.

Seeing this, Yamada Ryo also gave up, "Okay, just kidding. It's really unlikely that Pochi-chan would go to the store manager to confess her feelings."

"I'll just say it."

"However, Boqi might ask the shop manager to 'hurt' her feelings in another way—like firing an employee, telling Boqi, 'We need a more cheerful guitarist, so you should go back to staying home.' This way, she could also get an experience similar to being 'betrayed' or 'abandoned' by her lover. But with the shop manager's cold-faced but warm-hearted personality, if she really puts on an act, she might accidentally go too far and actually hurt Boqi's feelings."

"Ah this..."

No one in the world understands her sister better than Ichiji Nijika. She imagined the scene Yamada Ryo described and immediately realized that Yamada Ryo was not exaggerating.

"White teeth, white teeth, white teeth! I can't let that naive older sister, who has no sense of her own intimidation power, do something like that!"

She got up and ran out, shouting as she ran, "Poch-chan, if you're looking for inspiration, find someone with an easier task! Shima-nee and Hakusan are both more suitable for this kind of thing than my sister!"

Yamada Ryo chuckled twice, then noticed Kita Ikuyo staring intently at him.

"Kita-yo, is there something you want to do by looking at me like that?"

"Liang Xianbei, I'm also thinking about writing lyrics for Haksan's new song..."

"Are you trying to steal Boqi-chan's job?"

“No way, I don’t have that kind of talent,” Kita shook his head. “I just want to relieve some of the pressure on Pochi-chan. So, can you help me find some inspiration? It’s about dumping me in the worst way possible after we start dating.”