Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

Xiao coughed a couple of times, trying to get away with it. He didn't want Su Shi to join his harmonious world of two.

Say.

"...I'm sorry, Su Shi, I have to refuse you for the second time today."

Motoyo Nagasaki's smile froze.

The blonde girl hiding in the corner at the end of the road, who also heard this, blinked and gently covered the corners of her mouth that were turning up with her hand.

Of course, she absolutely could not laugh out loud.

"W-why? Xiaojun shouldn't be going out today, right?"

Nagasaki Motoyo tried her best to remain calm, but her question only made Akatsuki's expression even stranger.

"...Today is the day I promised Lixi I would go to the practice room to compete against her. I have to leave after lunch... Su Shi, have you forgotten?"

"what…"

Miss Su Shi suddenly realized that there was such a thing—but she had been thinking about how to play against Sanjiao Chuhua, and had completely forgotten about it.

"Judging from your expression, you only just remembered."

Xiao sighed, wondering what Su Shi had been doing these past few days. It turned out that only Li Xi was seriously studying how to become stronger.

This is clearly not how he remembers it.

Although Aunt Su Shi in my memory always felt resentful about the disbandment of C Group, she always looked at the people in front of her with gentle eyes. Whether it was Li Xi, Aine, or Deng, Su Shi would always keep their affairs in her heart.

Xiao felt a bit disappointed.

"Sigh... that's how it is. I'll be leaving in an hour or two. If Su Shi wants to ask me out, next time she should send me a text message on Line beforehand."

"Is that so... Then let's reschedule for another day, Xiaojun..."

After the boy sighed and turned back into the apartment lobby, Chu Hua quietly emerged from the corner.

Even from that distance, she could tell that the invitation had made neither of them happy.

"..."

Nagasaki Motoyo remained silent, her heart still unsettled by what had just happened.

With her keen sensitivity, she naturally noticed the slight disappointment in the boy's eyes.

That was a feeling of disappointment towards her.

That's normal, since both Lixi and Xiao often mentioned it to her whenever she went to the recording studio, but she completely forgot about it.

That's right, she wanted to take Kazama back just to have a better chance of winning Shoko back, so that everyone in CRYCHIC could go back to the past.

It wasn't just Xiangzi, but everyone else too.

But in order to achieve this goal, she completely forgot about Li Xi.

It seems she's not even really looking at everyone right now.

—So far, has what she has adhered to and practiced truly been a principle of consistency between words and deeds?

Nagasaki Motoyo remained silent as the blonde girl gradually approached her.

If Chu Hua wanted to say something hurtful, she could easily rub salt into Su Shi's wounds right now.

For example, something like, "It seems you don't care about Xiaojun and everyone as much as you think," or something like, "It seems he doesn't really want to go out with you, so don't keep trying to win him over."

However, Misaka Hatsuka did not want to become such a difficult and mean person.

"Su Shi, things didn't go so well so far. But there's nothing we can do about it, we just ran into Xiao Jun's appointment with someone else."

She slowly walked to the brown-haired girl with her head down, her gaze towards Su Shi filled with both concern and a hint of relief.

Perhaps it was because she sensed the possibility that "I am the more important person in his heart."

"Looks like it's my turn next."

After Chu Hua passed by and left, Su Shi remained in the same spot.

She needs to think carefully about what her original intention was.

Chapter 54 Please, Kazama-sensei!

I feel somewhat restless and uneasy.

In the RiNG recording studio, Xiao, fiddling with the bass, let the strings guide his emotions, venting all the frustration in his heart into the music.

Generally speaking, whether it's Su Shi or Li Xi, as long as they invite Xiao to go out and play together, he would feel flattered.

But this time, he just couldn't feel happy.

Even a fool could see that Su Shi's well-prepared appearance meant she had ulterior motives, let alone Xiao, who had spent every day with her and been raised by her.

Of course, Ye Xiao liked and respected Nagasaki Su Shi from the bottom of her heart—but all of this was based on the fact that she still remembered Su Shi as the Aunt Su Shi who kept everyone in her heart and, despite being somewhat biased towards women, still wholeheartedly wanted what was best for everyone.

I felt that Aunt Su Shi was a bit unfamiliar this morning.

Moreover, she clearly said she wanted to rebuild CRYCHIC, but she completely forgot the day that Lixi and Xiao agreed to compete against each other on the drum set.

With a crisp and clean slide, Xiaoshun raised the slider in mid-air in the same motion as strumming the guitar strings, and only put down the slider and bass when the aftersound gradually faded away.

Even though he vented his frustration through music, he still feels very annoyed.

Could it be that she placed too many expectations on Nagasaki Motoyo that shouldn't have been hers... that led to this sense of disappointment after discovering that Motoyo wasn't the Aunt Motoyo she remembered?

Indeed, he wasn't even sure if history in this world would unfold as he remembered, yet he presumptuously expected the aunties to become the people he remembered—

To put it bluntly, he's a bit too self-centered.

Of course, this somewhat gloomy mood was only temporarily relieved when Lixi pushed open the door and walked in.

"Oh, so you're finally not afraid of the fight, Kazama? You even arrived before me. I thought you were going to back out today too."

Shiina Tatsuki, who usually keeps a straight face, smiled slightly after seeing who was in the recording studio.

"...What's wrong? You seem to be in a bad mood?"

Of course, she quickly noticed the gloom on the boy's face, so she asked him directly.

"Huh? Kazama-kun doesn't seem to be in a good mood?"

At that moment, a pink figure suddenly darted out from behind Lixi.

"What's wrong? Is it because practicing alone is too boring? It's okay, not only Rikki, but I'm here to keep Kazama company too!"

Upon hearing the news, Chihaya Aine immediately made her presence known, and the energetic smile on her face dispelled some of the gloom in Akatsuki's heart.

However, Li Xi, who was standing in front of her, showed a hint of impatience.

"Don't look at me, I didn't invite this guy. It's all your fault, Kazama, for setting up that 'Loving Family' group chat. Our showdown today couldn't be kept secret from her."

"Hehe~ Even if you two don't agree on a time in the group chat, I'll still ask Tomorin what you two are planning to do! Anyway, Riki, you'll tell Tomorin everything, right~?"

Ai Yin slyly covered her face and smiled, while Li Xi's expression instantly changed from impatience to a hint of embarrassment and anger.

"So what!"

"Hey hey—Kazama-sensei, I'm here to tattle!"

However, before Lixi could react, Aine immediately ran behind Xiao and hid, raising her hand seriously like a top student.

"Riki just bought a can of cappuccino outside RiNG to give you, but then felt too embarrassed to drink it all by herself! I caught her doing all this!"

"Hey—you bastard!!!"

Alright, Lixi is really pushed to her limit now. Her fair and delicate face is almost completely covered with a color redder than an apple.

"Hey, don't misunderstand, Kazama! I just thought—it would be really unfair if I were the only one to get supplies before the big battle, so I thought I'd bring you a can too."

Xiao, who was initially feeling a bit down, was amused by Li Xi's unexpectedly cute appearance, and the gloom in her eyes was completely swept away.

"Bring me a can too? Does that mean you drank one yourself, Lixi? I ​​don't remember you having a coffee before this big battle, did you?"

He pointed out this detail with a smile, and Ai Yin, who was hiding behind him, immediately nodded vigorously to add to it.

"That's right, that's right. Riki, ever since Kazama-sensei mentioned it last time, she's started drinking canned coffee too!"

"Oh~ I see. So that's how it is in Lixi's heart. But it's okay, I like you too."

"You—both of you!"

Looking at these two cunning and eloquent individuals, Ms. Shiina Ritsuki's face turned pale and then red, and she couldn't utter a single rebuttal after struggling for a long time.

There is a sense of powerlessness in having been falsely accused of pornography but having nowhere to prove one's innocence.

Akatsuki and Aine silently reached a consensus to tease Riki together, and coincidentally, the tongue-tied Riki Shiina was helpless against the two of them.

She could only walk to the drum set with her arms crossed, pouting, and awkwardly brush off the topic.

"Kazama, aren't you supposed to be really strong? You shouldn't need my supplies, right? Don't cry if you end up losing to me."

"Don't cry...it's pitiful."

As soon as she finished speaking, a white cat, who had somehow managed to push open the door and enter, squatted down next to a seat in the stands and poked half its head out.

"Poor thing, you need a parfait to cheer up."

"Lanna-chan, you actually want to take this opportunity to eat parfait with the loser, right?"

Aine's witty remark successfully exposed Ronai's plan, but neither Riki nor Akatsuki took it too seriously.

"Okay, the loser treats Lena to a matcha parfait, how about it?"

Xiao smiled and stomped her head. The frustration that had been building up in her heart had already disappeared because of Ai Yin and Li Xi's antics.

He might not know how others are, but the two of them have always been the same as he remembered them, never changing.

"Hmph, bring it on."

Lixi smiled dismissively and sat down in front of the drum set, ready to go.

She seemed very motivated, but Xiao was still somewhat absent-minded and unwilling to fight.

Thanks to Ai Yin and Li Xi, his mood has indeed improved, but none of the problems have been solved, have they?

Putting Su Shi's unusual behavior aside for the time being, the matter of Xiangzi's death, which could directly determine everyone's fate, remains a mystery to him.

rather say……

Kazama was somewhat lost in thought as he watched Riki, who was sitting in front of the drum set, eager to try her hand at it.

Su Shi may still be living in the past, but Li Xi is no longer like that.

...Does history really need to be changed?

Chapter 55 The Direction of Li Xi's Heart

The explosive drumbeats once again shattered the silence in the recording studio, shaking the eardrums of everyone present.

After a period of hard practice and seemingly unintentional guidance from Kazama, Riki has gained new insights into rhythm and power control, and his performance now appears exceptionally skillful.

She had been waiting for this day for a long time.

A burning fighting spirit blazed in her eyes, until the powerful drumbeats, accompanied by a resounding rhythm, gradually advanced to their climax, finally concluding with the sharp, metallic clang of the drumsticks striking metal.

Shiina Tatsuki completed his solo performance, which he had been practicing for one or two weeks, with a smooth and effortless style.

Ever since discovering that Kazama had gone easy on her and Rakuna during their joint performance, Shiina Tatsuki had been waiting for this day to come.

He was waiting to use all his strength to test the depth of the boy named Kazama Akatsuki.

This enigmatic boy, whose origins are unknown, yet who is proficient in most musical instruments—

How much of his strength did he actually hold back back then?

Perhaps it was because she had just finished a thrilling performance, or perhaps it was because she couldn't wait to find out the secret of Kazama, but when Riki turned her gaze to the boy beside her, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

Just like any teenager who has fallen in love.

Of course, she knew this was just due to the suspension bridge effect.

Even though she noticed her piercing gaze, Xiao simply stood there, smiling and clapping at her.