We agreed to be in a band for life, what the heck is Dragon Raja?

I……

Her lips twitched, unsure of what to say.

Toyokawa Shoko suddenly felt herself enveloped in fear.

Normally, she rarely feels different from others.

Despite being the only daughter of the Toyokawa Group and living in a Western-style villa in the former Furukawa Garden of Tokyo, she still enjoys a privileged status.

But apart from that, she felt no different from other girls her age.

Toyokawa Shoko never dreamed that she could draw such a picture unconsciously.

A sense of absurdity, that she was actually different from ordinary people, filled her mind, making her feel somewhat alienated from the world.

"Could it be that I..."

Shoko Toyokawa then realized what was going on.

If there were a mirror in front of her right now, you would see that her pupils are terrifyingly bright.

Normally, that golden hue is just bright, but now it is so captivating.

Previously, at Yuzawa Cafe, when she first saw Takamatsu Akari's lyrics, she felt that something was calling out to her from within her consciousness.

However, she didn't pay too much attention to it at the time, simply thinking that she was just a little sensitive because she was too touched by the lyrics.

Little did I know that all of this was foreshadowed at the time.

Toyokawa Shoko took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

But judging from what just happened...

Fortunately, I am still myself.

However, deep within her memory, there seemed to be something hidden that she didn't know about, which suddenly surfaced when she was immersed in the lyrics.

The melody of the song became clearer.

Shoko Toyokawa suddenly felt as if she had grasped the initial feeling she wanted to hold onto regarding "Spring Shadows".

Was it... because of the singing?

No, it's also related to the lyrics of the song "The Lamp".

Who exactly is that student named Deng?

Toyokawa Shoko remembered this crucial question.

It was because of Gao Songdeng's lyrics that she suddenly had this feeling.

However, everyone else around me seemed to be perfectly normal.

Nan Yun Yuyue is the band's instructor. He is very experienced in forming bands, and it is thanks to him that the band was able to integrate so quickly.

Ruoye Mu was her childhood friend; the two grew up together. However, compared to when they were young, Ruoye Mu was now somewhat taciturn.

Besides these, there's the gentle Nagasaki Motoyo, and the seemingly cold but warm-hearted Shiina Tatsuki...

In fact, if we disregard Gao Songdeng's mysterious lyrics, in everyday interactions, despite her somewhat introverted and reserved personality, she is actually a very good person.

And now...

Shoko Toyokawa discovers that the truth is not as she thought.

She stared intently at the picture, trying to decipher its meaning.

"I really did put together a great band..."

Toyokawa Shoko murmured.

In Chapter 97, "Spring Shadows in Music," Wakaba Mutsumi's Invitation

This sudden change certainly startled Toyokawa Shoko.

She looked down at Gao Songdeng's notebook, where the lyrics seemed to have returned to their original form, with the girl's delicate handwriting still displayed, waiting for her to compose the music.

"The melody..."

Shoko Toyokawa recalled what she and the band members had said.

Initially, she only wanted to compose a piece of music that matched Gao Songdeng's lyrics, and never imagined that something like this would happen.

However, the melody of that song seemed to be imprinted in her mind, and it would play whenever she thought of it, as if she had heard it a thousand times. She didn't need to deliberately memorize it.

"Should we write it down now...?"

Despite thinking this, Toyokawa Shoko remained silent, looking out the window.

Outside her study window was a small tree, about twenty years old, which was replanted during the last renovation of the old Koga Garden.

right now,

The sky was already turning red with the color of the setting sun.

Orange-red light spilled down from the horizon, shining on the small tree by the window.

Toyokawa Shoko silently stared at everything outside the window, her eyes beginning to lose focus.

After sitting for a while, she got up from the study and walked out.

Tapping.

Shoko Toyokawa went downstairs from her room on the second floor and came to the piano that had been with her since she was a child.

"Ugh……"

She sat gently on the piano bench and remained motionless for a long time.

Toyokawa Shoko's thoughts were now in complete disarray.

Her mind was filled with all sorts of philosophical questions.

Questions such as "Who am I?", "What happened to me?", "Where is everyone else?" came one after another like waves on the beach, gradually covering every inch of her heart.

"I……"

Toyokawa Shoko raised her hand and looked at her palm.

Just now, my palms felt a little hot; I don't know if it was because I was nervous or for some other reason.

But her body didn't react in any other way, and the feeling disappeared when she sat on the piano bench.

rustle--

Toyokawa Shoko gently rubbed her left palm with her right hand. The temperature on it was now normal, and there was nothing unusual.

She turned to the side and looked back at the round table not far from the piano.

Above, the doll of her mother still sits there, smiling gently at her.

"Mother……"

Toyokawa Shoko muttered to herself.

She 'painted' the picture while seeing the scene deep in her memory.

Toyokawa Shoko didn't know if what she saw in the 'vision' was real or not, after all, that memory was too far back, almost sixteen years ago, based on her current age.

More than a decade has passed, and I have no way of verifying the truth of this matter.

but……

Toyokawa Shoko's heart skipped a beat.

The scene in that 'vision' was so realistic that every detail was terrifying.

A stormy night in a cold hospital ward.

The mother was holding her newborn child and weeping sadly.

The scene was so impactful that she preferred to believe she had just had a nightmare.

"how so……"

Toyokawa Shoko recalled a scene from her childhood when her mother held her.

From the time she was a few years old and had clear memories, to the first time she learned a musical instrument, and then to the time she grew up on her own, her mother held her many times throughout various stages of her life.

These scenes flashed through my memory like lightning.

In Toyokawa Shoko's memory, her mother had always been a gentle and refined person, and had never shown such an emotional reaction as seen in her 'vision'.

The weeping was so mournful that it was definitely not the kind of weeping that comes from pain or joy at the birth of a new life.

Toyokawa Shoko sat silently, staring at the doll that resembled a mother.

Although her expression had changed several times in a short period of time, the doll in front of her remained the same as before.

How could a doll change its appearance? His mother had already passed away from illness, and the doll's image was merely a way of remembering her; naturally, it couldn't answer the question in Xiangzi's mind.

Toyokawa Shoko sighed, and just as she was about to get up, she suddenly remembered something else.

That was a relative she had never met.

—My own maternal grandmother.

My maternal grandmother also had the surname Toyokawa, and my father said that she had been in charge of the Toyokawa Group.

It wasn't until after her death that her maternal grandfather, Toyokawa Sadaharu, fully took over the group's major businesses and became its leader.

Toyokawa Shoko had no memory of her maternal grandmother whatsoever, and had never even seen a photograph of her in her home.

Logically speaking, in a large family, people should value this kind of kinship. It may be less important, but it must not be misplaced.

Moreover, the Toyokawa Group is a commercial conglomerate, and its leader, as the face of the group, must make public appearances on various occasions.

It's quite unusual that there isn't even a single photograph of the grandmother, who was previously the president of the Toyokawa Group, at home.

Shoko Toyokawa's thoughts were in turmoil.

Before today's incident, she had never realized that there were so many things in her family that seemed a bit off.

She was too young in the past to notice anything unusual, and her elders took care of many things. Under the protection of her family, she had no access to such matters.

"Ugh……"

Shoko Toyokawa couldn't help but sigh.

She stood up, walked to the doll, and looked at it.

"Mother... if only you were still here..."

A few tears rolled down Toyokawa Shoko's cheeks.

Just now, she was missing her mother terribly.

But then, Toyokawa Shoko wiped away the tear stains with her clean white wrist and adjusted her expression.

“Grandfather must know something.”

Toyokawa Shoko thought to himself.

He is now the head of the Toyokawa Group, and many decisions within the Toyokawa family are made through his hands.

However, there have been many new business ventures and meetings to attend to in the group recently, so much so that he hasn't been home for three or four days.

My father has also been busy lately because the group has an investment-related matter that requires him to travel all over Tokyo for meetings.

However, according to my father, this matter is nearing its end and will be over soon.

Toyokawa Shoko wasn't quite sure why her father was in such a hurry to complete this investment.

She had heard before that every investment the group made was carefully considered. Most new companies and emerging businesses would undergo a two- or three-month or even six-month evaluation period before receiving subsequent funding.

But even though only about a week has passed, he has almost gone through the entire investment process by working overtime.

"It only takes a little over a week... to complete the whole process. My father has been working way too hard lately."

Toyokawa Shoko thought to herself.

Now, her grandfather and father are not at home; only she and a few maids live there.

“There might be a picture of my maternal grandmother in my grandfather’s study.”

"Let's go check Grandpa's study; we might find something there."