They are in the music show, but I am a stranger to them

Mu: [Well, then, Xiang, do you need my help with your keyboard? ]

Xiangzi: […I can borrow the keyboard from Fanxing, you don’t need to worry.]

Faced with the pain point that Mu had accidentally touched again, Xiangzi quickly calmed down after applying a little force with his fingers this time.

Xiangzi knew that if this live performance was to be perfect, Mu's skills were a must.

In the future, if he and Chen Qi were to form a new band, Chen Qi would definitely not abandon Mu.

Now, just take it as a time to adapt again. After all, we will still have a long time to spend together in the future, and I can't always be so cold to Mu, otherwise Chen Qi will be unhappy.

……

At the same time, at Tsukinomori Girls' College, after seeing Xiangzi's reply, Mu silently put his phone back into his bag.

Next to Mu, a girl who was wearing the same school uniform as Mu, but with a slimmer figure, long chestnut hair, and a gentle face, couldn't help but come over and ask curiously:

"Xiao Mu? Who sent you the message?"

"…It's Xiang."

Before the long-haired girl beside him came over, Mu, after a brief silence, chose to tell the girl part of the truth and said:

"Xiang and I are planning to go to a live show."

However, when Mu said this, the expression of the long-haired girl beside her froze for a moment, and her original curious expression suddenly disappeared, and she said a little awkwardly:

"Ah...it's Xiaoxiang..."

"It's really rare that Xiaoxiang is actually interested in other bands' live performances."

Mu silently looked at the gentle girl, and when he saw the unnatural expression on her face when Xiangzi was mentioned, he sighed silently in his heart.

Mu understood that Su Shi was different from himself.

He understood the reason why Xiangzi left, and he knew even better why Qi did not stop Xiangzi at that time. In this regard, in the past six months, Mu could be said to be the person who knew Chen Qi's true situation and thoughts best. Even Xiangzi did not know as much as Mu.

But from Su Shi's perspective...what Xiangzi did was indeed completely destroy the band that she had been trying to maintain.

Even Mu himself, because Qi was misunderstood by everyone, still felt a little resentful towards Xiangzi's decisiveness at the time, and he even didn't want Chen Qi to be involved in Xiangzi's affairs again.

Qi, he has done his best. He shouldn't worry about anyone anymore, he should... enjoy his freedom alone.

As for Xiang...

Does she want to inherit Qi's dream, or use this dream and Qi's power to change her own predicament?

Mu knew that no matter what Xiangzi's ultimate goal was, he could not criticize Xiangzi.

More importantly, Qi...won't blame Xiang.

"Xiangzi has lost everything. How can we, who have no worries about food and clothing, use our own thinking to judge Xiangzi's behavior? That would be too condescending."

"Mu, if you meet Xiangzi again in the future, don't say anything that would hurt her self-esteem. Do you understand?"

...Qi's words still echo clearly in Mu's mind today. Mu did take Chen Qi's words to heart, so she had no objection to Xiangzi's idea of ​​recruiting Chen Qi into the band.

But facing Su Shi, the person who tried hard to maintain the situation even when the band was on the verge of disbanding, even though she might have misunderstood Chen Qi, Mu had no way of harboring any ill will towards her.

After all, Su Shi, like Deng and Li Xi, knew too little. But at least, Su Shi did not do anything to hurt Chen Qi, let alone say anything to hurt Chen Qi.

This is enough for Mu to still treat Su Shi as his friend.

"Xiang, she is not a bad person."

In the end, Mu, who didn't know who to blame, just sighed and made an excuse for Xiangzi in an expressionless and toneless manner like a puppet.

However, Nagasaki Suyo, who was standing beside Mu, rarely agreed with Mu's words. She just chose to remain silent, forced a smile, and changed the subject:

"So, Xiaomu, are you going to meet Xiaoxiang?"

"If possible, can I go with you? I also want to talk to Xiaoxiang about some things in the past..."

"--no."

However, Su Shi had only said this casually. But before she even finished her words, Mu rejected Su Shi's request without hesitation.

For a moment, there was a brief silence between the two girls. After looking at each other, Mu's slightly nervous expression gradually returned to her usual puppet state, and she explained in a calm tone:

"She said that only I can go with her."

"Oh, oh..."

Nagasaki Suyo also nodded half-believingly. In the end, Mu did not say anything more to his good friend. He just bowed slightly to Suyo and took the initiative to walk towards the school gate.

Su Shi also watched her friend gradually leave her. When Mu's figure completely disappeared from her sight, a sudden gleam of light flashed through Su Shi's mind.

Wait... Xiaomu and Xiaoxiang went to a live show together? Their relationship didn't seem that good before, right?

Moreover, Xiaomu and Xiaoxiang don’t usually have the habit of chasing stars. I’ve never heard that they particularly admire any band, but now they are actually going to watch a live show together?

Then, who is the person they care about so much that they even made an appointment to watch a live show together?

Su Shi pondered it carefully for a while, and suddenly, a clear outline gradually emerged in her mind.

Could it be——

"Aqi?"

And the moment Nagasaki Suyo whispered the name in a doubtful tone, there was no second option in her mind.

However, when the girl murmured the name, her eyes flashed with a moment of tenderness, but were quickly suppressed by her reason. Her expression immediately became sour, and finally turned into an extremely complicated emotion, not knowing whether it was sorrow or resentment.

……

"Woo..."

And it was unknown how long it had passed, but Hong Xia, who had had a sound sleep on the sofa in the practice room, finally opened her hazy eyes. The habit she had developed at home for a long time made her have no attachment to the soft sofa and blanket. She yawned and sat up.

"Ah~ What am I...ah, I think I fell asleep at night."

"Also... whose coat am I wearing? It's so big... it doesn't look like it belongs to my sister."

Maybe it was because she slept for too long that Hongxia's memory was still stuck on last night. Plus, [Stars] was an underground livehouse, so Hongxia didn't notice the passage of time in her drowsiness.

As the triangular hair on Hongxia's head stood up again, she gradually regained consciousness. Because the air-conditioning temperature in the room was very low, Hongxia felt a little cold, so she put on a coat that she didn't know where she came from.

Hong Xia, who was still not very clear-headed, noticed Liang who was still sleeping on the sofa next to her. She dragged her tired body forward to wake up her friend.

"Liang, Liang, wake up quickly. It will be too late if you don't practice now. It will be time to go to school soon."

"We still have to go to school tomorrow. If we don't hurry up and practice, our performance tonight will be delayed."

"Woo..."

At Hongxia's call, Liang frowned in his sleep, and finally climbed up from the sofa in a daze, like a cat stretching.

"Good morning, Hongxia."

Liang, who was half asleep and half awake, rubbed his eyes and soon noticed Hongxia's ill-fitting coat and the sofa under him that was obviously moved in from outside.

After Liang sorted out his thoughts for a short while, he thought he understood the truth and said to Hong Xia in a calm tone:

"Hongxia, I really troubled you yesterday."

"It's not easy for you, Hongxia, to move two sofas that big by yourself, right?"

As a good friend, Liang was of course aware of Hongxia's strength. Although Hongxia, as a drummer, was a little stronger than Liang, who often didn't have enough food, it was still difficult to move two sofas by himself and carry her onto the sofa without Liang even noticing.

It was still okay for Liang herself. As the end of the month approached, her pocket money was almost gone, so she had lost some weight during this period.

But these two sofas, Hong Xia, who had no one to help her, must have spent a lot of energy to move them in. Liang was a little touched, and he rarely felt guilty and said:

"Hongxia, what would you like to eat for breakfast? I can treat you if it's under 100 yen."

"Then you can't buy anything at all, right? No, no, no, that's not the point."

Hong Xia complained almost reflexively, then quickly shook her head to clear her mind. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Hong Xia asked Liang in a horrified tone, as if she was grasping at the last straw:

"Liang, are you saying that you didn't move this sofa yesterday?"

"……no."

Liang, who reacted belatedly, took out the mobile phone from his pocket. Soon, the time displayed on the glowing phone made Liang fall into a long silence.

"Four twenty-three... that's ten minutes past when I fell asleep. It's a small matter."

"This is no small matter! It's already 4pm?!"

However, Hong Xia did not deceive herself like Liang. As a model student, Hong Xia made a sharp sound almost reflexively after she reacted. Without saying a word, she picked up her schoolbag beside her and ran out.

However, at the moment Hong Xia opened the door of the training room, suddenly, the noise that was blocked by the soundproof wall swept in like a tidal wave.

But in front of Hong Xia, bands carrying gig bags, male and female audiences and musicians had already poured into [Fanxing].

Although there are still several hours before the performance officially begins, every band hopes to quickly familiarize themselves with the scene or quickly occupy a better practice room for a final rehearsal.

After all, no one wants to be outdone by other bands. Even though most of them are just amateurs among amateurs, the competition among bands in Japan is so fierce.

Among the crowd, there were two figures busy at the bar, which immediately attracted Hong Xia's attention.

"Excuse me, here's a cup of oolong tea."

Chen Qi: "Okay, Goto-san? A cup of oolong tea, please."

Goto Ichiri: “Hey, hey, okay, okay…”

"Huh? Isn't that Senior Chen Qi?" Behind Hongxia, Liang stuck his head out and quietly reminded Hongxia who was doubting her eyes.

"Why is he working here? And, is the person next to him a new employee?"

"I don't know..." Hong Xia also shook her head, having no idea at all.

But just when the two girls hadn't reacted to what was happening, Xingge, who had been sitting at the desk, noticed them and shouted:

"Hey, those two kids are awake now, you don't have to work anymore."

"it is good."

With Xingge's call, Chen Qi responded promptly, while Xiao Gudu, who was almost half-forced by Xingge to help, quickly collapsed with a look of having already burned out, and returned to his autistic attitude of not wanting to see anyone.

Chen Qi also saw all of Little Lonely's actions. Before leaving, Chen Qi turned around and encouraged Little Lonely, who had curled up into a ball and hid in the trash can, saying:

"You've tried very hard, Goto-san. You're not weak at all now."

"Thank you, thank you for the compliment..."

However, perhaps because he had already communicated too much with others today, Chen Qi's encouragement did not cheer up Xiao Gudu. Instead, his tone revealed a strong sense of fatigue.

Seeing this, Chen Qi knew that Xiao Gudu’s current condition was no longer suitable for communication, so he did not disturb her anymore. Instead, he slowly approached the direction of Hong Xia and Liang who had already woken up.

"Good afternoon, Hongxia, Liang."

"Chen, Senior Chen Qi! Good afternoon!"

However, when she saw Chen Qi approaching her in only a white T-shirt after unbuttoning his work apron, Hong Xia realized belatedly whose jacket she was wearing.

"Well, thank you, Senior Chen Qi, for your help. Liang and I are really grateful for your care today."

When Hong Xia thought of herself and Liang sleeping in the training room, she realized that only Chen Qi had the ability to move the sofa to the training room by himself, and to hold her and Liang in his arms and lie them on the sofa without waking them up, and even cover them with a "quilt"...

Thinking of this, the girl's cheeks instinctively turned red.

On the side, Liang watched Hong Xia's blushing face. After some contemplation, he gradually realized what made Hong Xia shy. He rarely teased Hong Xia, but stood up and expressed his gratitude to Chen Qi in front of him:

"Thank you so much for taking care of me and Hong Xia today, Senior Chen Qi."

"We will clean and iron the jacket before returning it to you, please rest assured."

"Don't worry about it. I just arrived a little early. I've seen how hard you guys train, so I don't think I need to say anything more."

However, facing Hong Xia and Liang who kept thanking him, Chen Qi, who now had a completely different attitude towards this performance and the two girls, also restored his previous easy-going attitude and said to the two girls:

"I left two sandwiches for you. Even though they're a little cold, eat them to fill your stomach first."

"After that, let's hurry up and rehearse a few times. I can't wait to see how pleasing the results of your hard work yesterday are."

"Please, please! Senior Chen Qi!"

Oh, it seems that the feeling given by Senior Chen Qi is a little different from yesterday?

Looking at Chen Qi, whose tone was very gentle and totally different from the strong attitude he had last night, Hong Xia didn't quite understand what Chen Qi was thinking.

Only beside her, Liang quietly revealed a faint smile after seeing Chen Qi's gentle attitude.

It seems that my strategy was not wrong.