Green plums cannot become lovers.

She pointed to the pink-haired girl curled up in a ball on the sofa.

She was practicing the piano alone in a corner of the park, and she looked... well, how should I put it...

Hongxia carefully considered her choice of words.

"Something seems off."

"Something's not right?" An and Asuka asked.

"It's like... she was squatting in a cardboard box practicing the piano."

"Cardboard box?"

"Yeah! It was one of those big cardboard boxes used for storing appliances! She put the box in a corner of the park and squatted inside playing the guitar!" Hongxia's expression was somewhat complicated. "I initially thought it was some kind of performance art..."

An and Asuka fell silent.

He looked at the pink-haired girl again.

The girl met his gaze, trembled, and shrank back even lower, almost burying her head in her knees. But her blue eyes continued to peek at him cautiously through the gaps in her arms.

"And then?" he asked.

“Then I went over and talked to her,” Nijika Ichichi continued, recalling the scene. “At first, she was super nervous. I asked her what her name was, and it took her a while to finally say ‘Ichiri Goto.’ I asked her if she had formed a band since she played the guitar so well, and she said no. I asked her if she wanted to form one, and she stopped talking.”

Kita chimed in, "Later, Nijika-chan brought her back! We kept trying to persuade her to join us on the way, but she kept refusing..."

“But her guitar skills are really amazing!” Nijika Ichichi emphasized. “I listened to her for a long time, and her technique is much better than we imagined! And it’s the kind of solid fundamentals! If she could join us, our band would be complete!”

She looked at the figure curled up in a ball on the sofa, her eyes full of expectation.

"So we're trying to persuade her now..."

An and Asuka nodded, roughly understanding the situation.

A lonely girl with excellent guitar skills is found by Nijigasaki in a park and then brought back to try to recruit her.

That sounds like it fits Nijigasaki's style perfectly.

He looked at the girl named Goto Ichiri again.

The girl remained huddled in the corner of the sofa, but her blue eyes continued to peek at him stubbornly through the gaps in her arms.

That look in his eyes was strange—not the wariness of someone afraid of strangers, nor the embarrassment of someone being stared at.

It's more like a... confirmation.

It was as if they were confirming whether he really existed.

An and Asuka paused for a moment, then asked:

"You know me?"

Goto Ichiri's body stiffened abruptly.

Then, her face flushed red at a visible speed—from her cheeks to her ears, and from her ears to her neck, her whole face turned as red as a boiled shrimp.

Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, emitting some indistinct breathy sounds, but she couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"What's wrong with her?" Kita asked curiously.

“I don’t know…” Hongxia also looked bewildered.

Just when everyone thought she might faint from holding her breath, Goto Ichiri finally let out a sound as faint as a mosquito's buzz:

"Is...is it Asuka-senpai...?"

The voice was so soft it sounded like someone talking to themselves; if it weren't so quiet, it would be inaudible.

An and Asuka nodded: "It's me."

Goto Ichiri's eyes widened instantly.

Then--

"Waaaaaaahh ...

She suddenly clutched her head, burying herself deeper into the sofa, letting out a mournful cry that was difficult to decipher.

"It really is Asuka-senpai! The living Asuka-senpai! The talking Asuka-senpai! Right in front of me! Three meters! No, two meters! Only two meters away from me!"

She spoke incredibly fast, but her voice remained pitifully soft, as if she were talking to herself.

"What should I do? What should I say?! Is my expression weird?! Is my hair a mess? Are my clothes sloppy?! If I had known I would see Asuka-senpai today, I should have dressed up properly! No, I don't have anything presentable to wear! I'm doomed, I'm doomed, I'm doomed—"

Anwa Asuka: "............"

He looked at Hongxia.

Hongxia looked at him, her expression saying, "I didn't know it would turn out like this."

Kita leaned closer and whispered, "Goto-kun, are you... a fan of Anwa-senpai?"

Goto Ichiri's movements suddenly stopped.

She remained frozen in place, her head in her hands, like a stone statue.

The silence lasted for three seconds.

Then, she said in an even softer voice:

"......Yes."

The word "yes" was so soft it was almost inaudible, but everyone heard it clearly.

Kita's eyes lit up: "Wow! So you're a fan!"

Hongxia breathed a sigh of relief: "You should have said so earlier! You made us so nervous!"

Liang remained expressionless, but nodded slightly, as if to say, "I see."

Goto Ichiri remained huddled in the corner of the sofa, but her eyes peeked out from between her arms, secretly and cautiously glancing at An and Asuka.

An and Asuka met her gaze.

In those blue eyes, there was tension, embarrassment, and fear, but even more so—

It was a look he had seen many times before.

That's the special kind of radiance fans have when they see their idols.

"Have you been following me for a long time?" he asked.

Goto Ichiri paused for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"From...from when?"

Goto Ichiri was silent for a few seconds, then spoke again in that barely audible voice:

"In sixth grade..."

An and Asuka were taken aback.

Sixth grade?

That was... when he first started posting videos on bico?

Those who started following him back then... they were incredibly loyal fans. After all, he was still a nobody back then.

Looking at the pink-haired girl huddled in the corner of the sofa, as nervous as a frightened little animal, a strange emotion suddenly welled up in his heart.

"Do you remember the video from back then?" he asked.

Goto Ichiri's face flushed even more, but she still nodded.

"I remember... the first video was... a clip you posted... the background music was 'Summer'..."

She spoke slowly, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth, yet each word was clear.

"The second one is... a self-composed piece... the third one is... my daily guitar practice... the fourth one..."

"Stop, stop, stop," An and Asuka interrupted her. "You remember that so clearly?"

Goto Ichiri shrank back and whispered:

"I've...I've watched them many times..."

Kita exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! Goto-kun is a true fan!"

Ichiji Nijika nodded in agreement: "This level of fandom is even more hardcore than mine..."

Liang remained expressionless, but there seemed to be a hint of respect in his eyes.

An and Asuka were silent for a few seconds.

Then he suddenly laughed.

“Alright,” he said, “since you’ve been a fan of mine for so many years, I’ll ask you a question now.”

Goto Ichiri watched him nervously.

Why didn't you accept their invitation to join the band?

Goto Ichiri was taken aback for a moment.

Her mouth opened and closed, then opened and closed again, finally managing to squeeze out a sentence:

"Because... I can't..."

"What do you mean, 'not allowed'?"

"I...I'm the kind of person who...joining the band...would be a hindrance..." Her voice trailed off. "I can only play the piano alone in seclusion...I can't even talk to people...how could I possibly..."

“But they say you play the guitar very well,” An and Asuka said.

Goto Ichiri was stunned.

“Hongxia said she listened to you play the piano in the park for a long time and said your technique was very good and your basic skills were solid,” Anhe Feibiao continued. “She is a drummer herself, so her judgment should be correct.”

Goto Ichiri opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

“Furthermore,” An and Asuka paused, “you’ve been a fan of mine since sixth grade, so let me ask you, do you think I’ve improved over the years?”

Goto Ichiri nodded vigorously.

"Do you know how I improved?"

Goto Ichiri shook his head.

“I practiced,” An and Asuka said. “It wasn’t about practicing alone, but about performing and showcasing in public places to boost my confidence.”

He looked at her.

"Your skills are much better now than mine were back then."

Goto Ichiri's eyes widened.

“So,” An and Asuka said, “what you lack is not skill, but courage.”

He stepped aside, making way for the three girls behind him.

“They won’t dislike you because you stutter, are socially awkward, or are nervous. They just need a guitarist, someone who can make music with them.”

"And you have that ability."

Goto Ichiri stared blankly at him, then at Nijika, Kita, and Ryo behind him.

The three girls looked at her with expectation, encouragement, and a little bit of pleading.

She remained silent for a long time.

Then, in that pitifully small voice, she asked:

"Really...is it okay...?"

"Of course!" Hongxia immediately rushed forward and grabbed her hand. "We'd love to have you!"

“Yeah, yeah!” Kita chimed in, “If Goto-kun joins us, we’ll be a complete band!”

Liang stepped forward and extended a hand to her expressionlessly.

Goto Ichiri looked at the hand, then at the three pairs of eyes in front of him, and finally at An and Asuka.

Anheyi, a private enterprise in Qiba, nodded to her.

She took a deep breath.

Then, she reached out her hand, which was trembling slightly from nervousness, and gently grasped the cool hand.