Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

“If I don’t teach you properly, she’ll give up her right to treat everyone to matcha parfaits every month to Aine. That won’t do.”

"So it was all for Parfait after all..."

"But if Xiao wants to learn, I will teach her."

She walked over to the boy and casually picked up her usual guitar, which was placed next to the chair.

Then, without warning, the melody came from where Lena's fingertips met the guitar strings.

Sometimes relaxed, sometimes rapid, the guitar music, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, kept the boy's eyes glued to Lena as she completed a freestyle performance.

Reflected in the boy's radiant pupils was Lena's figure, shimmering in the sunlight as she intently and recklessly performed her signature act.

Le Nai is just like Liu Yiqi, who shines brightly on stage with everyone.

Young Xiao had a seed of longing planted in her heart, simply because the figures of the older aunts were so dazzling and so worthy of admiration.

"I...I want to learn!"

"Oh, that's a good start. Hold your guitar up high, I'm going to teach you the first and simplest chord."

"it is good!!"

The video ends abruptly here, and Lixi silently puts his phone away.

"...I think you've all noticed that something's not right."

She didn't say it explicitly, but simply raised her eyes slightly to observe the expressions of Kazama and Hatsuka.

“This…侕⑼柒陆⒐ yi?鏾VI+II 镏;越+ 〕仪”

The black-haired boy's expression seemed somewhat guilty, as if the video shouldn't have been there in the first place, and his eyes began to dart around and evade.

"Hey—is this a picture of Xiaojun when she was little? Finally, we can see something moving. She's so cute."

However, Chu Hua's reaction was a bit off.

Instead of showing any surprise, her eyes lit up when she saw the little boy who looked remarkably like Kazama. Even after the video ended, she continued to reminisce with great interest and a bright smile.

"...In short, that's all I wanted to say."

Lixi was a little confused by Chuhua's reaction, but after clearing her throat, she managed to maintain a relatively rational attitude and looked at the boy sitting opposite her again.

"Do you have anything to explain, Kazama?"

Lixi didn't say anything more, but that short sentence made her attitude crystal clear.

Indeed, this boy looks exactly like a young Kazama Akira no matter how you look at him.

The other woman in the video is none other than Yao Le Nai—although, judging from her appearance alone, she seems more like Le Nai who has become more mature and composed after experiencing many trials and tribulations.

That's why Lixi came to him demanding an explanation.

How did the young Kazama Akatsuki and the mature woman Kaname Rakuna end up in the same video?

"Well………"

Kazama's usually eloquent mouth was now completely blocked, as if it were sealed with cement. Like a student caught cheating during an exam, his mind went blank and his heart skipped a beat.

No way, not again.

Having just resolved Chu Hua's identity crisis, another video recording past events suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Who exactly is it that keeps releasing these videos and photos, trying to expose his past?

"Lixi, where did you get this video?"

“Eh? From whom did you get it… Of course, from Su Shi.”

Lixi was completely unaware that Kazama's way of answering questions was essentially just an attempt to avoid the main point of the conversation, and he was simply led by the nose and his attention was diverted.

"Although she repeatedly told me not to spread it around... she didn't tell me what exactly happened. Besides, showing it to the person involved shouldn't be considered spreading it around, right?"

Li Xi rolled his eyes as he recalled and added to the story, while Kazama exchanged a glance with Chu Hua, who was sitting directly opposite him.

I'm not close enough with Lixi to tell her Xiaojun's true identity—Chuhua didn't say anything, but still conveyed this information with her clear eyes, which were like purple crystals.

At least outwardly, she looked surprised, just like Kazama, and didn't even know that the video existed.

"Could it be a prank? With artificial intelligence technology so advanced these days, this video might just be a fabricated prank."

Chu Hua seemed to sense Xiao's panic and confusion, so she knowingly took over the conversation to help him out. Hmm, I feel like I've heard this kind of excuse somewhere before.

At the same time, this was also a test of her attitude towards Li Xi.

"Hmm... what you said makes sense, but isn't this a bit too realistic... AI that can reproduce voice and movements so perfectly, it'll probably be several years before it appears again, right?"

Okay, judging from Li Xi's confused and hesitant appearance, we can be fairly certain that she is unaware of the previous photo of Su Shi and Ruo Ye Xiao.

Xiao's eyes flickered slightly. It was now clear that Chu Hua was not the one who released the video—besides, neither she nor Li Xi should have that kind of channel.

In principle, videos and photos from the past should not exist in this world.

But their sudden and bizarre appearance made it hard for Kazama not to imagine that there might be someone in this world who knew his true identity and had the ability to transmit such things.

But who did it?

"According to what Lixi just said, this video was obtained from Su Shi."

Chu Hua's detective personality kicked in again, and after a brief moment of thought, she raised a crucial question.

"Could you recount what happened at the time? Or, how did Lixi find out about the video?"

"It would be hard not to know... after all, it was back then..."

Li Xi's gaze darkened, his thoughts drifting back to a day or two ago.

Chapter Sixteen: I Just Love This Arrogant Widow Flavor

Actually, the person who started this incident was not Nagasaki Motoyo; rather, she was just an unrelated person who accidentally discovered the video.

The clock needs to be turned back a day or two. At the same long table near the bar in RiNG, several girls were sitting around the table idly passing the time.

"Ah—it's such a hot summer, and we haven't had any performances since the last one. This is so unbearable."

The pink-haired girl, her head drooping and her upper body slumped on the table, fiddled with her phone. Only the increasing number of followers on her SNS social media app flashing on the screen could make her raise an unpleasant brow.

Chihaya Aine, a girl who has already realized her dream of forming a band.

Her next goal is to become popular again, or at least to gain the admiration and adoration of many girls her age—or rather, that was her ultimate purpose in wanting to join the band.

Since stepping onto that stage, many people who enjoy watching band performances have indeed become her followers on social media and Instagram, which has certainly satisfied some of Ai Yin's vanity.

But she always felt that this was not enough.

Something seems to be missing.

After the performance, she decorated her social media profile to resemble that of "MYGO guitarist Chihaya Aion," and a steady stream of people became interested in her and started following her because of the performance.

Kazama-sensei's SNS is probably the same, right? With such a handsome face, he must have a lot of female fans who like bands, right?

So, she didn't even know if her guitar teacher had any social media accounts.

"Sigh... Is Kazama-sensei still preparing to form a new group with Shoko and the others?"

Aine, her thoughts tangled and a little melancholy, unconsciously murmured her troubles aloud.

And there's always a feeling that the band feels empty without the presence of a certain young man.

"If he himself is hiding this kind of thing, it means he doesn't really want others to know or care... umm."

Sitting opposite the pink-haired girl, the blue-haired girl busied herself stuffing the last bite of pudding into her mouth. After devouring all the remaining food on the dessert plate, she patted her slightly protruding belly with satisfaction.

"Ah—that was delicious. *burp*..."

Since meeting Chihaya Aine, Anna Hanami has quickly become a chat buddy who can go out shopping together. They also become like-minded partners because of their positive and outgoing personalities and shared interests.

Saying they share the same interests might be a bit of an exaggeration. After all, high school girls are the kind of creatures who can talk for ten days or half a month about the hottest topics of the moment, and even become best friends, as long as they can get along.

In short, in this sweltering summer, Chihaya Aine and fellow social butterfly Anna Hanami became friends and made plans to go out together to spend time at RiNG's shop today.

"Apricot sauce, I'm not curious or worried at all about what Kazama-sensei has been up to lately."

Ain, bored and giving up on checking how many followers she had gained on social media, put down her phone and looked up at the blue-haired girl sitting directly opposite her, who was pushing her clean dessert plate aside.

Although many girls send her private messages like "Guitar player is so handsome" and "Looking forward to your next performance!", Ai Yin should theoretically appreciate this.

But what if Kazama isn't there for the next performance?

He was neither a regular member of their organization nor had he drafted any binding contracts... Could such a free-spirited person really stay by their side forever?

Aine had many doubts about this.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Kazama has a deep bond with you guys. Even if he's busy, he'll eventually come back to you. No rush."

Compared to her, Banami seemed much more carefree. After having afternoon tea, she took out her phone and skillfully started reading online novels. However, her seemingly unintentional remarks could easily sweep away the gloom in Aine's heart.

"It may sound like flattery... but thank you for comforting me, Almond Sauce!"

Little Sun Aine quickly put her smile back on her face; it seemed that in her eyes, this was just something her friend Banami said to cheer her up.

"Don't be so self-deprecating, Aine. I think Anja isn't just joking or teasing, is she? Even if it's not true about herself, she should at least have some confidence in everyone in our team."

Just then, the brown-haired girl who had been quietly sipping her black tea suddenly joined their conversation.

"Leaving aside others, at least the bond between me and Xiaojun is almost as unbreakable as Xingcai said."

Ai Yin blinked after Su Shi finished speaking, sensing that Su Shi was secretly trying to gain something while being polite and smiling.

"Oh my, I didn't realize Soyorin liked Kazama-sensei so much."

The next second, Ai Yin, beaming with delight, punctured Su Shi's seemingly dignified, elegant, and poised facade.

"Varied--"

Su Shi was taken aback when she heard Su Shi suddenly say such a thing. She then completely lost her composure, and her flustered expression was revealed along with her blush.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

"Haha, Soyorin's nose was practically pointing to the sky when she mentioned Kazama-sensei just now, don't think I didn't see it~ Anise-chan saw it too, right?"

"Hmph, that's right, that's right."

Compared to Aine's simple tendency to join in the fun and stir things up, Banami's gaze towards Suze carried a slightly more subtle meaning.

"I didn't expect Soyorin's hidden trait to be tsundere~ Oh well, if you like someone, you like them, what's the big deal? Ah, but if you want to get close to Kazama-sensei, you still need my permission as your last disciple, okay? Soyorin, it would be better if you were a little gentler with me, okay?"

"Who said they wanted to get close to him?! Please, that's enough!"

Oh my, these two girls are playfully bickering and laughing about a boy's love life—it's like something out of a romance novel! Should the book be titled "The Battleground Between the Energetic Apprentice and the Married Teammate" or "My Bandmate Can't Be This Cute"?

Banami smiled knowingly, put her phone on the table, stood up, and walked towards RiNG's restroom.

"Hehe, is it so embarrassing to admit that you like Kazama-sensei and everyone else? Soyorin is so cute~"

"I already said I didn't—wait?"

Just as the two were arguing back and forth, Banai noticed that the screen of the phone on the table lit up.

Both of them were briefly drawn to the light.

Chapter Seventeen: Anna's Magical Cellphone

As soon as she entered the restroom, Banami regretted it a little.

As the saying goes, going to the toilet without your phone is like playing a game without headphones or reading a book without glasses; you won't know how agonizing it is until you try it.

However, with the thought that since she was already there, the blue-haired girl still went to the toilet as if every second was an eternity, and then tidied up her appearance in front of the sink.

"So Su Shi is still so hung up on Kazama... It seems that photo must hold some secret about the two of them."

Although she is the true owner of Kazama Akatsuki's system, what she, Banami, knows is actually about the same as what Aine Motoyo knows.

A photo of two people appearing together out of nowhere—the origin of which is unknown.

[Beep beep, host's task completion status detected, all attributes increased by 5 points. Task to be completed: Ave Mujica's debut! Please become a member of the band and join everyone in welcoming the magnificent masquerade ball!]

And there's this voice that keeps swirling in my head.

"Ugh, so annoying... Luckily, I don't have to manage Kazama's side. He seems to be having a great time with Toyokawa, Hatsuka, and their group."