Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

"It's nothing, I'm just...maybe I'm a little insecure, haha."

Chu Hua's smile this time seemed a little less polished than her usual perfect idol-style smile, so Xiao didn't take her words seriously.

"Because I always feel that Xiaojun has no shortage of friends..."

After pretending to be strong for a while, Chu Hua finally lowered her head and said a little bit of her true feelings with a somewhat gloomy expression.

It turns out that I lacked a sense of security in this area.

Xiao raised an eyebrow. Given Hatsune Miku's terrifying ability to track people and her strong preference for girls, it was indeed normal for her to notice that there were other band girls around her.

However, the fact that he's so uneasy about something like this shows that Aunt Hatsune's preference for daughters is even more severe than he imagined.

"But Chuhua's importance to me has nothing to do with them. Whether they are here or not, you are a very important person to me."

Xiao thought for a moment and then blurted out these words, but in fact, there was only one core argument.

That means Chu Hua's place in his heart will never be taken away by anyone else.

“...I see. If Xiaojun said it... well, I believe you.”

Chu Hua's smile seemed to have regained some vitality, and her eyes were no longer filled with gloom, showing some relief and calm.

Although Chu Hua often has a strange sense of crisis, fortunately she is a very easy girl to coax.

The way to coax someone is simple: just be sincere enough.

"But Xiaojun, is there really nothing you're hiding from me...?"

Suppressing her unease, a hint of worry and jealousy appeared on Misaka Chuka's face.

Knowing that the boy in front of her was willing to give her his precious sincerity, Chu Hua was already very happy—but unfortunately, people are always greedy.

Having received some of his care, she wanted to be with him all the time. After saying some heartfelt words, she wanted to become a soulmate with him.

That's why Mitsumi Hatsuka is so bothered by the existence of other people.

She wasn't stupid or blind; she heard the scene of the boy and the girl with light green hair hugging that day, as well as some of their conversation.

Leaving aside Su Shi and the others for the time being, Xiao had never told him just how important Ye Mu was to him.

So this is what it feels like to have your heart clenched by someone.

Chu Hua didn't actually expect Xiao Hui to give her a satisfactory answer; she was simply savoring the bitterness swirling in her heart.

This was a feeling that even Xiangzi had never given her.

Is this considered... being jealous?

She stopped speaking and simply lowered her head, silently analyzing this unique emotion she had never experienced before.

Of course, Xiao cannot possibly know Chu Hua's various psychological activities at present.

In his view, Chu Hua was just a little concerned that someone might take away his hard-won friend. After all, a sentimental little girl had come to Tokyo alone and didn't have many friends. It was only natural that she would feel a little possessive when she finally met someone who shared her interests.

"I'm sorry, if there's anything I haven't told Chu Hua... it's only because I need to keep it a secret for a while, and I can only tell you after the outcome of this matter."

Therefore, he did not intend to fabricate new lies to temporarily cover up the truth, since a lie that has been exposed requires an even bigger lie to cover it up.

“I understand. If Xiaojun has her own plans, it's normal for her not to tell others. It's just… I hope Xiaojun… can…”

Chu Hua seemed to sense his unspeakable difficulties, so she chose not to press him further, but she also found it hard to express her own needs.

I hope he will choose me.

Regardless of who the other person is, I hope they will always be by my side.

Chu Hua herself knew how willful and selfish this request was, so she opened her mouth but couldn't bring herself to say it.

"I hope you... can consider things more thoroughly when making a decision..."

In the end, she changed the forceful imperative sentence into a gentle, calm, and harmless suggestion.

Is this guy having a tantrum?

Although Xiao couldn't accurately guess Chu Hua's thoughts, her hesitant and timid demeanor still caught Xiao's attention.

"...Don't put the choice in other people's hands. You are the one who should make the choice, Chuhua."

So without a second thought, he used this offhand remark to crush Chu Hua's attempt to cover up her blunder.

He didn't mind Aunt Hatsune showing him the possessiveness that comes with friendship, after all, it was proof that she valued him—even if it was just the possessiveness between friends, she would probably act very horrible and heavy about it.

"Eh?"

Of course, Chu Hua, who looked somewhat surprised, could interpret this as a completely different suggestion.

"Don't willingly be the one who gets chosen. Even if we're friends, you can choose between me and Xiangzi—don't feel conflicted. Even if you choose Xiangzi instead of me, I won't blame you."

After all, he wouldn't be surprised that Aunt Hatsune chose Xiangzi over himself.

So... go ahead and boldly pursue what you want.

Seeing the glimmer of light in the eyes of the blonde girl who had initially seemed hesitant, Xiao gave her final piece of advice with satisfaction.

His suggestion stemmed not only from a heartfelt wish that Hatsune Miku wouldn't suffer from internal conflict—

It also contains, to some extent, a psychological attempt to compensate for the guilt.

The person she cherishes is about to be hurt because of his decision, and if saying such things could ease his guilt, he would say them a thousand times over.

MYGO's rehearsals are still ongoing, and the upcoming Livehouse show will ensure that all scheduled guests attend on time.

No one could stop this performance that was scheduled to take place, not even Hatsune Miku.

Chapter Seventy-Three: The First and Last Time

Before going on stage to perform again, Shiina Tatsuki did not have much of a psychological fluctuation.

After all, when she was a member of CRYCHIC, she had already stepped onto the stage of her dreams with several outstanding teammates, winning thunderous applause and cheers from the audience with perfect teamwork.

In other words, she has seen enough of the world.

This time, when performing at RiNG again, she didn't feel nervous at all, treating it as a test of her practice results—that's how it should be in theory.

However, one of their guitarists couldn't play the most basic chords well on the eve of the performance, which caused Lixi's composure to drop by 10%.

Being able to perform on stage with the lamp she had been longing for again, she sweetly told herself "Good luck, Lixi" at the end of the last day of practice—which made Lixi's composure drop by another 20%.

And another guitarist, whose skill was hard to fathom, continued to treat her with unwavering gentleness during this time, even accompanying her to practice and refine their skills from morning till night, which made Lixi's composure drop considerably.

Li Xi had never given him a kind look before. Most people would have shut up and refused to talk to her again after being given the cold shoulder.

But Kazama Akatsuki is different.

No matter how harshly Li Xi treated her, he could always accurately interpret the kindness or slight inferiority in her words and actions, and then protect her kindness or inferiority in a way that would not embarrass her.

Okay, she might have been a little too loud with him before.

If this guy were to become my stage partner... maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

But can I really match his level and become a qualified partner?

Shiina Tatsuki is skeptical of his own abilities.

"Lixi—hey, Lixi."

"Well……!"

What pulled her back to reality was the cool sensation against her cheek.

Lixi snapped out of her daze, and the boy who had pressed the chilled canned coffee to her face smiled brightly.

"What's wrong? Why are you spacing out before going on stage? Are you nervous?"

Shiina Tatsuki shook her head, trying to keep herself calm.

Today is the day of the performance, the day when this currently unknown band, after nearly half a month of intensive preparation, can finally see the results.

"...I'm not nervous, you idiot."

Of course, this is a lie.

Her thoughts just now were genuine; she was truly upset because of these seemingly trivial matters.

Everyone is still in the practice room, getting all excited for the performance in half an hour.

With a focused expression, Aine was still practicing the chords she was least familiar with repeatedly in front of the mirror. Her fingers seemed to have developed a small callus from the intense training she had been doing.

Su Shi sat properly on the rest area, adjusting the bass, looking calm and composed, which made Li Xi envious of her composure.

Deng sat in the corner looking at the lyrics of the songs to be performed today, seemingly trying to get into the emotions of the music before the audience.

They were all focused on their own tasks and didn't pay attention to Lixi's slight anxiety, which is actually quite normal.

However, Xiao noticed her unease.

He handed over a can of coffee he'd bought from who-knows-where, a reassuring smile playing on his lips.

"Okay, okay, if you're not nervous, can you drink a cappuccino for me? I accidentally bought too much from the vending machine just now, um... it definitely wasn't for anyone on purpose."

That's what she said, but Xiao smiled and winked at her.

"...clumsy."

Lixi calmly took the canned coffee; for some reason, its cool bottle gave her a feeling of warmth at this moment.

"You know you're clumsy, don't you? But if Lixi were comforting me when I was nervous, you would definitely say that, right?"

"Humph……"

Lixi grunted but did not refute it, because she also accepted it as a fact.

"Aren't you nervous? Kazama, this must be your first time performing on stage."

She easily unscrewed the can of coffee and took a sip. The icy liquid flowed down her throat, calming Lixi's somewhat agitated state of mind.

"I'm nervous... how could I not be nervous?"

Xiao took a sip of his canned coffee and murmured to himself, but Li Xi felt that his absent-minded tone didn't seem to indicate that he was nervous about performing on stage.

His gaze was fixed on the door of the lounge, as if he had other concerns besides the audience members who were eagerly waiting in the audience.

I feel inexplicably uneasy.

Lixi took another sip of coffee, secretly hoping that this was just her unreliable intuition playing tricks on her.

Strictly speaking, this cannot be considered CRYCHIC's official comeback, since there are still two "outsiders" in Kazama and Aine.

Even so, Lixi and Deng were doing their best to be on high alert, while Su Shi was slightly distracted while adjusting the bass audio.

She knew very well that this was just a temporary team, or at least she hoped it was.

If we were to go back to the CRYCHIC era, neither Kazama nor Aine could continue to stay in the group.

Kazama and her alliance have broken down, and she can bring him into the group at any time—of course, by reasoning with him and appealing to his emotions.

But if Kazama wanted to replace Shoko, he wouldn't need to go to Hatsuka and ask her not to accept Shoko's invitation to form a new band... that would only leave him homeless, wouldn't it?

I have absolutely no idea what this guy is trying to do; his behavior and logic often seem completely inconsistent.

But precisely because of this, Su Shi couldn't come up with a reasonable basis to expel him from the current temporary team.

She had no choice but to wait for an opportunity, pondering his motives while temporarily agreeing to let him lead everyone onto the long-awaited stage show.

"What's wrong? Su Shi, are you a little nervous too?"

While she was lost in thought, the boy had already silently arrived beside her.

Unlike Su Shi's attitude, which was full of suspicion and doubt, the boy's eyes were filled with nothing but clear concern and worry for her—as if they were just a deeply bound companion comforting each other before going on stage.

"...I'm fine."

Su Shi, who still greeted others with a smile, suddenly lost her composure. However, when faced with Xiao's concern, her tone became unusually indifferent.

Motoyo Nagasaki will not feel guilty about this.

After all, she was willing to do anything to revive C-group, not to mention whether she would disappoint a man she had only known for a short time.

"This should be our first... and last performance together, Xiaojun."

Standing behind the three, she confirmed it in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

His tone remained gentle, but his words carried an undeniable order to leave.