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

Toyokawa Kiyoshi spoke in a cold voice.

Shoko Toyokawa sat in the back seat, cautiously looking out the window through the glass.

Maybach had already turned on the lights, allowing her to see outside in the dim light.

The sky outside was very dark; such a pitch-black night was a rarity in all of Tokyo.

As Toyokawa Shoko fastened her seatbelt in the back seat, a rumble of thunder sounded outside.

"The thunder is getting louder and louder..."

Toyokawa Shoko and Toyokawa Kiyoko thought at the same time.

Amidst the explosive thunder and the subsequent lightning that ripped through the night, the Maybach's headlights shot out two beams of light as it drove into the depths of the night.

"Father……"

After driving for a while, Toyokawa Shoko said somewhat uneasily.

"Where are we going?"

Tokyo International Airport.

Toyokawa Kiyoshi said, glancing back at his daughter sitting upright in the back seat, and sighed deeply.

Tokyo International Airport?

Toyokawa Shoko exclaimed in disbelief.

"Where are we going to go and what are we going to do? Father, you wouldn't be thinking of..."

"Xiao Xiang, listen to me first," Toyokawa Kiyoshi said calmly.

"These things are complicated, and I will try to explain them to you in a simple way."

"Now, there's a set of clothes I finally managed to find in the back seat. It definitely won't fit you, because it's my school uniform from when I was at Kassel College, so you can just take it."

"There is a letter and a card in your pocket. Don't lose them. They are proof of your identity."

"What?" Toyokawa Shoko was immediately confused, but Toyokawa Kiyoko continued speaking rapidly:

“I’ve already bought a plane ticket from Tokyo to Chicago. Once there, you spend five dollars on a one-way ticket on the Blue Line subway to Clinton Station, and then walk all the way to Chicago Union Station.”

“At the platform, you take the card from your pocket, swipe it on the gate, and an express train, number CC1000, will arrive. At that time, you hand the letter from your pocket to the train conductor, and he will know what to do.”

He spoke very quickly, as if he were giving his final instructions.

"Father……"

Toyokawa Shoko opened her mouth in surprise.

For some reason, she sensed a hint of resolve in these words, much like the copy of "Snow Country" she had once borrowed from Nan Yun Yuyue; it seemed as if this was a farewell.

"This is what you're going to do next, and now I'll explain why to you slowly."

Kiyoshi Toyokawa kept his eyes fixed ahead. Even in the dead of night in Tokyo, there were still many cars on the road, and he was wary of someone suddenly blocking his way.

"The world is not as calm and peaceful as you used to see it; there are also extraordinary beings hidden in the shadows."

"They are called hybrids, and according to legend, they are the bloodline passed down from the intercourse between humans and dragons in ancient times."

"And you are one of them."

"What? Father... what are you saying?"

Toyokawa Shoko suddenly felt something was wrong. What was going on? She had been living a peaceful life for more than ten years, and there was nothing unusual about it.

Kassel College... mixed-race... what is all this about?

Could my father have lost his mind?

Toyokawa Kiyokazu patiently explained:

"Don't rush, listen to me first."

“The bloodline in your veins is far stronger than I imagined. Your mother and I were against you getting involved in mixed-race society, but now it seems... we were wrong.”

"The bloodline of hybrids is a curse, and it never changes according to human will... I should have realized this long ago."

"Your mother and I are both born A-grade mixed-race according to the standards of Kassel College."

“As our daughter, your bloodline rank is at least A-level, or even higher.”

……

Toyokawa Shoko was completely stunned.

Just as she was about to say something, another clap of thunder sounded outside the car window.

Boom! ! !

Toyokawa Shoko had never heard such loud thunder in his life; it was as if a god was roaring in the sky.

Two seconds later, a silver rift suddenly opened in the sky, and pale lightning poured down from the gap in the clouds, wildly roaming among the clouds and shattering the entire sky into pieces.

Then, a downpour began.

The rain poured down, and in the blink of an eye, the world was left with only a gray, chaotic mess.

In June, Tokyo was hit by unprecedented torrential rains due to some unknown reason.

Through the rain, a Maybach and a Porsche 911 were heading towards Tokyo International Airport.

Chapter 123 Rainy Night, Overpass, Maybach (Prologue)

crackling-

Outside the car window, it was pouring rain.

In the gloomy rain, the glass curtain walls of office buildings were blurred into a gray blur, and the whole of Tokyo seemed to be submerged in a swaying basin of water. The wheels of the Maybach rolled over the flooded roads, splashing water up to waist height.

Shoko Toyokawa silently looked out the car window.

She felt as if her heart had suddenly calmed down, and those inexplicable situations from the past seemed to finally have a suitable explanation.

Hybrids...

It turns out I still have this kind of bloodline in me.

Toyokawa Shoko reminisced about her past.

When she was a child, she didn't feel that she was any different from other people. If she had to say something, it would be that she was slightly stronger than her peers, but that didn't really tell her anything.

It wasn't until recent events that she truly realized her unusual nature.

First, there was the thrill I felt when I saw Takamatsu Todori's lyrics, then the scenes I saw while composing music for Haruhi Kage, and the hand-drawn scrolls, and then the feeling of suddenly resonating with something when I went on stage...

Everything, all the doubts buried in my heart, exploded like a punctured balloon under my father's words, shattering the truth into pieces.

Is this situation caused by the bloodline within me?

Toyokawa Shoko thought to herself.

If that's the case, are the friends who accompany me also like me?

For some reason, although the main source of her 'spiritual vision' was "Spring Shadow," with lyrics by Takamatsu Akari, the first image that popped into her mind was Nangumo Ugetsu's face.

Is he... just like me?

now,

Her father, Kiyotaka Toyokawa, was still talking to her about mixed-race people:

“We who have dragon blood are not strictly speaking true humans, which is why we are called hybrids.”

"Our existence is caught between humans and dragons, but we are difficult to be accepted by both sides. Coupled with the curse in our blood, we gradually become alienated from ordinary people..."

Ultimately, we will feel a kind of eternal loneliness.

"And this sense of loneliness is called 'the sorrow of blood'."

"This sense of loneliness constantly reminds us that we are not ordinary people. Only by being with our own kind can we eliminate it, which is why hybrids naturally gather together..."

Blood sorrow?

Toyokawa Shoko paused for a moment, puzzled.

She knew Wakaba Mutsu from childhood, and on the island, she played with Sankaku Hatsuka.

Then, in junior high school, I made many friends, including Ugetsu Nagumo, Motoyo Nagasaki, Akari Takamatsu, and Tatsuki Shiina...

I have never actually felt particularly lonely growing up.

What exactly did the father mean by this sense of loneliness?

Toyokawa Shoko listened silently.

Until the very end, she heard the words, "Hybrids will naturally gather together."

Swah——

At that moment, the Maybach's windshield wipers parted a curtain of rain.

As the wipers swayed up and down, Toyokawa Shoko thought of the band she had formed.

Crychic.

The faces of the members flashed before her eyes, along with scenes of their rehearsals and performances.

Shoko Toyokawa cherishes her friendship with her bandmates and has a deep sense of belonging to Crychic.

A community that plays music together and shares a common destiny.

She still remembers what she said when she first formed the band, and believes that the whole band has been working towards that goal.

but now……

The phrase 'Hybrids will naturally gather together' kept echoing in her mind.

Could it be... that they are like me?

Is it because I'm with them that I've never felt lonely?

The melody of Spring Shadow began to echo in her mind:

"I'm alone in this world"

"In this fading spring"

“Every year I just feel cold”

……

These are lyrics that Takasatsu Akira wrote in her notebook.

Before meeting them, had Takamatsu Akari lived such a lonely life?

Is this why she joined the band without hesitation when Nanon Ugetsu invited her to?

And... what about Nangumo Ugetsu?

In Toyokawa Shoko's mind, fragments of memories about herself and Nagumo Ugetsu surfaced.

According to him, he previously attended Kamogawa Central Middle School, but was recommended to study at Tsukimori School because of his excellent grades.

On his first day of transferring to the school, he met this boy. It was somewhat unexpected, because he accidentally tackled him on the rooftop, and that's how they met.

At that time, I even helped him all the way to the school clinic.

I originally did these things out of remorse, but who would have thought that the two of us would become very good friends?

Toyokawa Shoko smiled.

For some reason, her mood suddenly improved.

Despite the torrential rain outside, her father was telling her about things he had never heard of before, about mixed-race society.

But she seemed to find a sense of peace in this memory.

but……

If her father were to send her abroad, she would likely not be able to see Nan Yun Yuyue for a very long time.

Time is absolutely the best medicine to make memories fade.

Even the most profound memories will gradually fade with the passage of time.