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

Deng, it turns out that she is not the same kind of person as herself, but her relationship with her outstanding brother is surprisingly harmonious.

It turns out that from the beginning to the end... I... have always been just being sentimental.

In fact, I have always been alone.

That day, after witnessing that the "friend" he thought he felt the same way as him had completely drawn a line between himself and himself and became a person from two different worlds, Shiina Tatsuki lowered his head deeply.

She once again felt the oppressive feeling called "loneliness" falling heavily on her heart.

……

dislike.

Shiina Riki really dislikes Chen Qi, the guy who talks to himself.

"Since I have joined this band, it is definitely not just for fun. Our goal is to complete professionalization as soon as possible and become a professional band with income and achievements."

"For this purpose, I specifically consulted a senior who had formed a band before and asked her about the training intensity of a professional band, so the training intensity will be very high."

"Everyone, I'm not joking, so if anyone still has hesitations, feel free to ask. I don't think I'm suitable to be a behind-the-scenes leader. If someone has different ideas from me, it's not too late."

This guy said something like this. If anyone still has any objections, wouldn't it be clearly saying that they are not capable enough and feel that they cannot meet the requirements of a professional band?

Even though she had experienced so many setbacks and blows, Li Xi still gritted her teeth and said nothing, accepting the difficult challenge that she had never thought of before, even though she still had some worries in her heart about Chen Qi's arrogant attitude of "looking down on" her.

Afterwards, she thoroughly felt what "the training intensity of a professional band" meant.

Li Xi's initial guess was not wrong. Chen Qi's musical talent was no less than Xiangzi's. No, it might even be on the same level as Xiangzi's.

Chen Qi, who had strong arranging and lyric writing abilities, quickly became a core member like Xiangzi just a few days after joining the band. Soon, the two people, who were almost equal in talent and ability, took over the arranging and lyric writing work of the band.

This also caused Lixi, who was the only one in the band besides Xiangzi who could have a say in the arrangement, to completely lose his few opportunities to perform and completely became an ordinary member of the band with no characteristics.

After that, in just one week, thanks to the efforts of Chen Qi and Xiangzi, the band's new song was completed.

At that point, they hadn’t even practiced “Haruhi Shadow” to perfection, and the newly completed piece added yet another burden to everyone—especially Li Xi, who was on drums.

Drums are more difficult to learn than other instruments, and they are extremely important in a band. The pressure, physical and mental exhaustion that a song brings to a drummer are enormous.

Li Xi is a person who does not want to fall behind. No matter what he does, as long as he makes up his mind, he will do it to the end.

This also meant that, in the face of the gradually increasing pressure, Li Xi chose to bring out his enthusiasm that had been dormant for who knows how long and burn his own nature!

When everyone had left the recording studio, she sneaked into another recording studio she had booked and practiced there.

When everyone was asleep, she chose to further teach herself how to compose music on the Internet. Even though her pupils were red and swollen and bloodshot, she persevered.

I made up for my sleep in class during the day and almost slept until school was over. From the afternoon to the evening, I worked hard on myself, wanting to catch up with those geniuses.

Even though her wrists were red and swollen, and even though her energy was gone, she never thought of giving up.

But... this is what makes Shiina Riki feel even more desperate - she has tried so hard, and burned out everything, but still cannot catch up with the footsteps of those geniuses.

"Everyone, the new song is out! Chen Qi and I have come up with a name for the new song, called 'Lost Star Calling'!"

Just two weeks later, that day, when Li Xi was exhausted and felt drowsy, suddenly, Xiangzi, who had just come with Chen Qi, announced another news to everyone.

"Huh? So fast?" Nagasaki Suyo, who didn't notice Li Xi's dazed expression, also showed a bit of surprise, and said to Chen Qi and Xiangzi with an embarrassed expression:

"We haven't even practiced the last song well yet, Aqi, Xiaoxiang, your cooperation is too tacit, isn't it?"

"In fact, most of the credit goes to Chen Qi. I just made some modifications on the side." Xiangzi did not take any credit for himself. He honestly attributed all the credit to Chen Qi, and then smiled casually:

"In fact, Chen Qi had already finished composing this piece last week. I was just afraid that everyone would be under too much pressure, so I deliberately put it aside for a week."

"There are three songs that we will rehearse next. Li Xi, you and Su Shi will have to work harder. Let's work hard together!"

Try harder... a little longer?

Ha, haha…I see.

You bunch of geniuses will definitely not be able to see or understand the efforts of a mortal like me, right?

Unintentionally, Xiangzi's words, which did not contain any malicious intent, became the last straw that broke Lixi's spirit at this moment, completely breaking Lixi's nerves that had been tense due to long-term hard work.

"boom!"

"Lixi?!"

Suddenly, facing Li Xi who suddenly stood up and rushed out of the recording studio without even raising his head, almost no one expected that Li Xi, who was usually the hardest working member of the band, would make such an abnormal move at this time.

"I'll go after her."

Just when everyone was unable to react, Chen Qi seemed to have thought of something. He rushed out of the recording studio and chased after the fleeing Li Xi.

……

Run away, run away quickly, the farther the better, to a place where no one will notice your ugly appearance.

This was the only thought in the mind of the escaping Shiina Riki at that moment. Her stubborn character made her not want anyone to notice her collapsed state. Almost relying on muscle memory, Riki ran all the way and escaped to the overpass that she was most familiar with.

That was the route that Li Xi had to take when he was responsible for delivering the lights home before Chen Qi joined the band.

When she reached the overpass, Li Xi's emotions did not allow her to run any further. She held onto the railing of the overpass tightly with both hands, looking at the tram and railway under the bridge. She could no longer suppress the grievance and indignation in her heart, and roared with all her might towards the front.

This shout seemed to vent all the anger in Lixi's heart in one breath, as if he was cursing the injustice of God, or this unfair world.

Why do people always have to be divided into different classes like this?

Why am I neither a genius nor an ordinary person?

Even if I am just an ordinary person without any talent, when I look at those geniuses who are high above me, at least I will not have any desire to compete with them. Maybe I will just sigh from afar, "This is a genius," and then continue to lower my head.

But why, I can see their figures, but can only follow behind them and watch them get farther and farther away from me.

Even if I try my best, I can only prevent the gap between me and them from getting bigger...that's all.

Confusion, uneasiness, loneliness...all kinds of emotions occupy Lixi's heart now. She can't find the meaning of her efforts all of a sudden. What is the purpose of her progress?

"Lixi!"

However, before Shiina Riki could even figure out the answer to this question, an anxious male voice that sounded familiar to her suddenly exploded beside her.

Li Xi didn't even have time to react before he saw the anxious figure getting closer and closer to him. The next second, Chen Qi, who had rushed over, actually hugged Li Xi's body tightly in his arms.

At that moment, Shiina Riki was stunned, but after a moment, she suddenly reacted. Her eyes were still shedding tears, and when Chen Qi hugged her, she couldn't control her tears because of shame. She kept slapping Chen Qi's body with her hands, and she kept shouting:

"What are you doing! Let me go! Just let me go! You don't have to care what I do!"

"Why would you geniuses care about me?! Can't you just go find a better drummer?!"

"Anyway! Anyway, what's there to care about someone like me? You don't care about the efforts of someone like me at all!"

However, no matter how Li Xi shouted or cried, Chen Qi never let Li Xi go.

On the contrary, he picked up Lixi, who was a head shorter than him, from the ground, and let Lixi's feet dangling in the air while he moved him to a safe place.

Li Xi punched Chen Qi in the chest and back again and again, and her suspended feet kept kicking Chen Qi's calves, but Chen Qi never let her go.

Finally, Li Xi, who was ashamed, angry and collapsed, used her most expressive move.

The next moment, Li Xi opened her mouth and bit the piece of flesh on Chen Qi's shoulder. She was crying so hard that she naturally did not hold back at all in her mouth.

In response to this, Chen Qi just paused noticeably and let out a gasp of pain, then he insisted on carrying Li Xi down from the overpass.

Gradually, as Chen Qi walked down the stairs, Li Xi's struggle in his arms became less and less intense... In the end, she completely opened her mouth and fell on him.

"boom."

After reaching the bottom of the stairs and making sure everything was safe, Chen Qi finally put Li Xi down from his arms. Li Xi, who had completely broken down emotionally, sat limply on the ground, lowering her head silently, letting the tears on her face fall drop by drop.

"…Calm down a bit?"

In response to this, Chen Qi sat down slowly on the sidewalk without any image, facing Li Xi, who was now calmer, and asked softly in a calm tone.

“… Leave me alone.”

Chen Qi had already witnessed the ugly scene. Li Xi, who had calmed down a little, still turned his head away stubbornly. He didn't dare to look directly at Chen Qi, and said while holding back his sobs:

"Let me be frank. I can't keep up with your pace. If you keep someone like me, your goal of having a professional band will never be achieved."

"Kick me out as soon as possible. I have already realized the gap between me and you. Is that enough?"

"——How could that be?" In front of Li Xi, Chen Qi burst into laughter after hearing her words. He took the initiative to stretch out his hand and gently wiped away the tears from the corner of the now fragile eyes of Li Xi.

Then the next second, Li Xi bit his index finger out of reflex.

But this time, Li Xi didn't use too much force, just leaving a line of teeth marks on Chen Qi's index finger.

What surprised Li Xi even more was that Chen Qi did not rush to pull out his fingers. Facing Li Xi who was grinning at him but did not speak again, he said with a somewhat ashamed smile:

"On the contrary, I want to thank you, Lixi, for your efforts all along. Even though you forced yourself so much, you didn't choose to give up."

"I personally arranged the intensity of the band's training. I know I pushed everyone to the brink of collapse... But I had my reasons for doing so."

"You may not believe it, but I did this just to keep this band going a little longer."

Feeling that Li Xi's teeth biting his index finger seemed to be a little loose, Chen Qi did not rush to make any moves. He still looked directly into Li Xi's eyes and said patiently:

"Lixi, actually, I have seen all your efforts."

Li Xi: “!”

Chen Qi: "I know. You used your name and employee badge to book two recording studios. Senior Yamabuki, who worked with you, told me about this."

"Also, because your wrist was red and swollen, you had to wear long sleeves to cover it up, and you stayed up late to learn how to compose music. I also heard about it from your sister. Because of this, your sister came to me and had a quarrel with me."

Li Xi: "Sister has also done this kind of thing - wait, why have I never heard you say this?"

Faced with this sudden news, even Shiina Riki was shocked. She immediately let go of Chen Qi's index finger and looked at the smiling Chen Qi with a dull look. Obviously, she knew nothing about all this.

Chen Qi withdrew his finger and faced the dazed Li Xi, but he just smiled and said:

"Yes, I know all this. I also know about Li Xi's efforts."

"But, Lixi, guess what? Why have I never said a word about these things? Even though you are so tired every day, I have never said, 'Take a break'?"

"..." The dazed Li Xi shook his head hesitantly. Chen Qi smiled bitterly, but answered himself with an extremely firm tone:

"——Because I always feel that if I tell a strong girl like you like Lixi not to force yourself, you will feel that I am looking down on you, which may make you squeeze yourself even harder."

...What are you talking about? Am I a masochist? Don't talk like you know me better than I do.

"But now it seems that my idea is wrong... Lixi, you need to lighten your burden now."

"--unnecessary."

However, with the help of Chen Qi's arm, the stubborn Li Xi wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and finally stood up again.

The next moment, she looked at Chen Qi who was slowly standing up in front of her, and at first she unconsciously revealed a smile of relief, but soon suppressed it, turned her head away, and said in a firm tone:

"Since you don't want to kick me out, I will stick with it. I'm not the kind of person who gives up halfway."

"Give me a day to adjust my condition. I will come back to train with you the day after tomorrow. I will make up for the time I have fallen behind."

"But you will always get tired, and there will always be times when you feel stressed, right?" Chen Qi looked at Li Xi in front of him, who had indeed regained his stubborn temper, and reminded Li Xi with a smile:

"Just like today, if I hadn't arrived early, I would have suspected that you were going to commit suicide. You make such a fuss every time. Not to mention you, Li Xi, my heart can't take it either, right?"

"—Then I'll find you! It's you who set the training plan anyway! If I get annoyed, I'll scold you!"

When he thought of his own loss of composure today, the already thin-skinned Li Xi couldn't help but blush a little, but he still suppressed his emotions and said to Chen Qi with a ferocious grin.

In response to this, after a brief silence, Chen Qi did not refute Li Xi. Instead, he raised his hands with a wry smile, indicating that he agreed to Li Xi's plan.

However, for the first time, seeing the man in front of him so embarrassed but having to obey him, Li Xi's mood finally changed a little, and he couldn't help but reveal a faint smile.

But soon, she also noticed the bright red spot on Chen Qi's shoulder that she had bitten.

"... Was my strength that great?" Li Xi looked at Chen Qi's injured shoulder, but couldn't help but ask back. It was not until Chen Qi realized the blood on his shoulder that Li Xi made a helpless expression, slightly turned away and said:

"… Never mind. Anyway, this is my fault. I'll take care of it."

"Come on, come home with me. I'll help you take care of your wounds, so that I won't be able to explain it to you when Deng asks about it."

"No need for it?" Although Chen Qi felt a pain in his shoulder, he raised his eyebrows slightly when Li Xi stretched out his hand to him, and said with some embarrassment:

"I am a male stranger after all. Lixi, your sister is still at home, right? How will you explain it when you take me back?"

Li Xi: "This is my business! When she asks me about it, I will tell her it is none of her business!"

After that, Li Xi grabbed Chen Qi's wrist forcefully and dragged him towards the tram station. Chen Qi, who had no intention of resisting, let Li Xi pull him and followed silently.

This guy——why did he say such a thing! It was nothing, but now I am embarrassed!

However, Chen Qi didn't know that Li Xi, who was pulling him forward, had a slightly red cheek and a heartbeat that was a little faster than before, which was telling of her inner unrest. After all, it was just as Chen Qi said, this was her first time bringing a man home.

As expected, I still don’t like this guy!