My daily life is getting weird because I am caught between being in a band and being an idol.

"No matter how I think about it, it doesn't make sense... It must be related to her coming to Tokyo... To be more precise, if my guess is correct, it's someone she met in her hometown of Kumamoto. After all, she's known me since the first day she arrived in Tokyo, so she shouldn't have had time to meet anyone else. Therefore, it can only be someone she met in Kumamoto, and she seems quite resentful, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hold back for even a few seconds before running out."

After hearing Chaoyang's analysis, Anhe Mao felt relieved.

"...Thank goodness we weren't in the front row. What if she had charged forward? We wouldn't have gotten arrested!"

"That's unlikely... but losing money is certain... and it might be an astronomical figure. After all, the venue fee alone is over 300 million a day."

During this period, Chaoyang has also learned a lot and has a good grasp of the prices of various event venues in Tokyo.

"Wow..."

Even though An and Subaru came from well-off families, they still felt a bit scared after hearing the numbers.

As they were talking, the two had already gone outside.

Outside, the performance had already begun, and compared to the bustling crowd just moments before, it was now deserted. Renna was standing not far from the inner gate.

Just as Subaru was about to approach, Asahi stopped her.

"what happened?"

Subaru looked puzzled.

"Let her vent for a while,"

Chaoyang calmly explained.

"She's probably going to start yelling."

As expected, Nina suddenly turned to the empty street and began cursing wildly in the Kumamoto dialect, as if her long-suppressed emotions had finally found an outlet.

"Are you her mother? How do you understand everything she's been saying and what she's trying to do since just now?"

Chaoyang then started laughing.

"After all, I've worked in the service industry for many years, so this level of performance is quite normal."

"That's right~"

I don't believe you for a second. This guy is definitely a huge fan of Nina, otherwise he wouldn't know so much about her. I heard from Momoka that he's only known Nina for a few days longer than me... Is he secretly spying on Nina?

If Asahi knew what An and Subaru were thinking, he would definitely loudly defend himself, saying that he was wronged. He only thought that Nina was cute when they first met, but he lost interest completely after that.

The reason he's being nice to her now is entirely because Nina's immature behavior makes Asahi subconsciously treat her like his own little sister.

"...You piece of shit, die!!!!!!!!!"

Rencai's final roar finally attracted the attention of a few passersby.

In the end, they just assumed it was a child having a drunken tantrum.

"What the hell?! What the hell?! What the hell is that?!"

Nina roared and turned to look at Subaru and Asahi.

"...Please translate this."

Subaru directly asked Asahi.

"I guess he's trying to say, 'Why did that lead singer become the lead singer of Diamond Dust?'"

"How dare they defile the diamond dust, which happens to be my favorite diamond dust. It's clearly my treasure."

By this time, Chaoyang had already learned about the person named Hina from Rencai's inner voice. It seemed that they used to be close friends, but they had broken off their friendship.

Judging from the jumbled fragments of her thoughts, she chose to ignore and stand by when Renna was being bullied.

Of course, Chaoyang understood that this was just Rencai's subjective opinion, and it was hard to say what the objective reality was.

"Nina, is that lead singer a friend of yours from the past?"

"Um... but we've already broken off all contact..."

"Did they do anything really bad to you?"

"..."

By this time, Chaoyang already knew the answer, but in fact, he didn't.

However, Chaoyang also understands this feeling. If he were bullied and his friends stood by and did nothing, then they would not be worth the effort to be friends with him.

There's no need for someone as resentful as Rencai.

"Ha... I even thought she stole your boyfriend, Nina-chan..."

An and Subaru looked disappointed, and they felt the same way. Since the other party had not hurt them, why were they so emotional?

Upon hearing this, Nina angrily rushed up and bit Subaru, who screamed in pain.

"Ouch! It hurts!"

Renna glared at her angrily.

"Someone like Subaru, who can talk to anyone and has countless friends, would never understand what it feels like to be betrayed by your best friend!"

Chaoyang couldn't stand it anymore and, as usual, tapped Rencai's forehead to cool her down.

“Nina, that’s enough. Now Miss Anhe is your friend, right? She’s not your punching bag… You hate that kid so much you’re itching to get back at her, but she’s jumping around on stage and doesn’t care what you’re doing or thinking at all.”

"Then, what can I do!"

Rencai felt a little aggrieved.

"Of course, it's about making the band bigger and stronger together with Subaru and Momoka. If you're doing better than the other person, and they dislike you, seeing you doing better than them will definitely make them feel very uncomfortable, like having a fishbone stuck in their throat."

"To grow bigger and stronger? ... Hmm... Um... Subaru-chan, I'm sorry."

Upon hearing Asahi's solution, Nina seemed to have found her goal, and at the same time, she regained her senses and immediately apologized to Subaru, who was wiping his hands with a handkerchief.

Subaru wiped Nina's drool away and sighed, but his tone softened.

"I'm sorry, I'm used to Nina-chan being like this. But as Mr. Hiraishi said, it's really pointless to waste your feelings on someone who doesn't care about you. Like you said, I do have a lot of friends, I meet new ones every year, and I lose contact with others. But you know what? These are all part of life. Friends aren't necessarily for life, sometimes they just accompany you for a while. What's important is not those who have left, but the people who are still by your side right now."

"Subaru-chan..."

After hearing Subaru's words, Nina's eyes welled up with tears, as if she had finally found an outlet for her emotions. Suddenly, she burst into tears, like a child, jumping up and throwing herself at Subaru, hugging her tightly.

Subaru was startled by Nina's sudden action, and almost stumbled, but she quickly smiled and gently patted Nina's back to comfort her.

At this moment, Nina got off Subaru and ran towards Asahi, delivering a rocket headbutt... or rather, a hug... but she didn't control the force well, making it look like an attack.

"Ugh... Are you bumping into me or hugging me? You almost knocked my lunch out."

Nina finally couldn't bear the emotional turmoil and burst into tears, letting her emotions pour out.

It took Asahi and Subaru quite a while to calm her down and finally stop her crying. Nina wiped away her tears, a determined look appearing on her face.

"I've made up my mind! We must make this band bigger and stronger, surpassing The New Diamond Dust! No matter how much effort it takes!"

After saying that, she took Subaru's hand and said with a determined look that she would go to Momoka that very night to discuss future plans.

"Huh?! What time is it?!"

Subaru glanced at the time in surprise, clearly hesitant.

But Nina didn't care at all and simply pulled Subaru along, ready to set off. Subaru, pulled by the sudden force, looked helpless, as if he were pleading for help from the rising sun.

However, Chaoyang had already seized the opportunity and quickly slipped away like a greased grease on his feet.

Chapter 85: The Glacier Twins Make Their Debut~

"Phew, I'm so full!"

After leaving the concert venue, Chaoyang did not go straight back but took the subway to Ikebukuro to improve his diet and found a newly opened claypot rice restaurant.

After patting his belly and walking out of the store, he immediately started complaining to himself.

"Damn it, a bowl of mushroom and chicken claypot rice costs 1300 yen... It's one thing that the vegetables are meager, but at least give me more rice... Hmm? There's a Longjiang pork knuckle rice place upstairs? I'll try it next time."

Although the taste was decent, the price was indeed a bit high. After all, a bowl of this at a roadside stall in China would only cost around ten yuan. Its price has gone up after being shipped overseas.

At this moment, Chaoyang, with a toothpick in his mouth, looked like a street thug, completely unconcerned about his image.

By this time, Ikebukuro had entered a chaotic, disorderly phase at night, where one could frequently encounter people going crazy and making a scene. Nina, however, seemed perfectly normal in this situation.

Asahi could see people so drunk they were passed out on the ground, and the police couldn't wake them up no matter how hard they tried. But Asahi had seen this kind of scene many times in his previous life, so he decided to just stroll around Ikebukuro to digest his food.

However. .

"…Oh, miss…would you like to have a cup of tea together?"

"Hmm? Are you talking to me?... As expected, you guys are pretty much clueless."

"Huh?...Hmm?"

Just as Asahi reached the vicinity of Minami-Ikebukuro Park, he saw Pastel* problem child, Hikawa Hina.

At this moment, she was communicating with the person who came up to her with an innocent and naive expression, using words that were difficult to understand.

It was obvious that the other person didn't understand what "lu" meant either.

"Hina, I've been looking for you for ages, where have you been?"

Chaoyang went straight up to greet them, or rather, pretended to be someone who had come to keep an appointment, and interrupted the ambiguous conversation.

When Hina saw the rising sun, she simply smiled and greeted it. Her face showed no sign of being bothered or annoyed by the person bothering her, nor was it the kind of performance that comes from running into an acquaintance and being saved.

"Ah~ Good evening~ Producer~~"

"Tch~ So you have company now... Let's go for a bit."

The person who approached her didn't persist, since there was a police station nearby, and he wasn't stupid; he immediately moved on to another target.

"...Hina, don't hang around in places like this late at night. This area is known for its bad security. You're wearing a school uniform and walking around here, it's easy for people to misunderstand you."

This way of educating Hina wasn't simply out of good intentions, but because I also had a guardian-like responsibility to some extent, and I would also have to take some responsibility if something happened to her.

"Huh? What's being misunderstood?"

"...Workers in the sex industry."

Even if Chaoyang doesn't understand, he has to make her understand the gray industry in this world.

"Wow, is this what people think when you walk here at night wearing a school uniform? That's unbelievable!"

"What's so unbelievable about that...? By the way, what are you here for?"

"Human observation, huh~~"

"...Please explain in a way that I can understand."

Asahi covered his face and weakly begged Hina to explain more clearly.

"......Hmm......Let me think, I've been so bored lately since my sister's been away from home. So I thought I'd come out and observe why other people's thoughts differ from mine, and then let me ramble on~"

"chatter......"

Although it's still a bit unclear, to some extent it just means getting hyped up, right? Thinking about it carefully, I guess Hina is the only one who, even if I could hear her inner thoughts, I probably wouldn't understand what she's thinking... Maybe I should take this opportunity to get to know her better.

"In that case, would you like to take a stroll around this area tonight?"

"Sure~~ I often get that feeling when I see the producer too."

"That's really nice."

. .

"...Huh? So that's what the Chinese on the radio means~ I never noticed before, are there really that many Chinese people in Ikebukuro?"

Because the Japanese restaurant was very concerned about the Chinese broadcasts playing in the shopping street, they wanted to understand what it meant. Chaoyang had no choice but to give a simple explanation: it was to remind Chinese people not to be deceived and not to be pulled into restaurants by strangers on the street. If they encountered any difficulties, they should call the reporting hotline or the police.

"Actually, it's only limited to the area around the North Exit; the rest is alright."

"Hey~ Has the producer ever been to one of those kinds of shops?"

"Huh? Are you normal? Is that a question a girl should ask?"

"Huh? Can't I ask?"

"...If you're asking whether I can ask...of course I can, but it's usually the kind of thing guys might joke about. You wouldn't say that to a girl, especially a minor like you, honestly."

Of course, it wasn't entirely Hina's fault. The two of them hadn't walked far when they passed countless hostesses holding signs begging people to come in for drinks. Naturally, Hina, driven by curiosity, didn't shy away from the question and directly asked Asahi.

Seeing that Asahi was unwilling to speak, Hina opened her mouth slightly.

"Huh? So this is a topic that needs to be avoided?"