Who says meal replacements can’t be eaten as meals?

I'm sorry, I'm a greedy woman. Whether it's Sakuya or Crychic, I won't let go of either of them.

So, the only thing I don’t want to be destroyed is Crychic’s Xiaomu.

The red teacup fell gently, and the smile in Su Shi's eyes disappeared completely.

"Maybe it's because of Sakuya. She's been a little clingy to me lately. We're sisters, but she always makes me worry." Nagasaki Suyo's tone was still gentle.

Ruoye Mu took a sip of juice and nodded slightly.

"Come to think of it, Xiao Mu, although Xiao Xiang and you are childhood sweethearts, you two look like sisters when you walk together." The thumb of her right hand unconsciously touched the fingertips of her left hand, and Su Shi sighed in a worried tone: "I don't know how Xiao Xiang is doing recently. Have you received any news from Xiao Xiang recently?"

Ruoye Mu put down the half-drunk juice and shook his head.

There is a slightly bitter aftertaste left in the mouth, so strange, is this also the taste of vegetables?

When Ye Mu opened his mouth, the sweetness he had just tasted was gone, and bitterness surged into his heart:

"I'll try to contact Xiang..."

Chapter 27: The Godfather of Yuqiu

It rained last night, adding a little chill to the early spring in Yuqiu. The grass in the courtyard was moistened by the rain, and unknown wild flowers were blooming. The small and delicate flowers dotted among them, swaying in the breeze. The school broadcast broadcasted the gentle announcement of the end of school for the students. Today was just an ordinary day. The campus was the most lively after school. The sound of hitting and cheering came from the stadium in the distance. The majority of the students were returning home, playing in groups of three or two, or going to RiNG to play music together, showing off their passionate youth. When we walked to the front of the teaching building, these noises were covered by the soft piano performance.

The wind band had no activities scheduled today, and there were only two people who came together in the large music room.

The piece played by Toyokawa Shoji is the eighth piece in the first volume of Debussy's Preludes. As one of the most recorded pieces of music in Debussy's life, it also has a more familiar name - "The Girl with Flaxen Hair".

The rare pentatonic mode is combined with a harmonious diatonic chord rhythm, and the distorted leading tone allows the melody of the prelude to alternate between coherent and discontinuous movements throughout.

The gentle accompaniment mixes the most delicate emotions and pours out to the only listener.

Unfortunately, the only comment that this flaxen-haired girl, who knew nothing about the piano, could make was "it sounds nice".

About two and a half minutes later, Shoko Toyokawa lowered her slender fingers that were hanging in the air, and the 39-bar G flat major piece was finished.

Somewhat proud of the fact that his skills had not regressed, Xiangzi looked reservedly at Ichinose Sakuya who was sitting obediently in the audience, wanting to hear what praise this country girl could say.

"Beautiful! Xiangzi, your piano playing is really great." Miss Sakuya, noticing Xiangzi's eyes, had her signature clear expression on her face and clapped very hard.

"Alas--" Toyokawa Shoko held her forehead with one hand, and she began to understand what the ancients meant by playing the lute to a cow.

"Is it okay not to go to the Astronomy Department today?" Xiangzi closed the piano cover, obviously not intending to continue playing.

"No problem. I asked for leave from Xiao Deng yesterday. After all, I have an appointment to meet second-year student Togawa today." Sakuya stood up, her long, smooth flaxen hair draped behind her, slightly covering the light blue bass bag she was carrying.

"Sakuya, you really have a lot of friends..." Xiangzi's tone was a little resentful. He glanced at the disappointing Miss Sakuya with his beautiful golden eyes and walked out the door.

Sakuya tilted her head in confusion, then remembered Shoko's last name and said with a slight smile: "We can't really be considered friends, right? This is the first time we've met today, but Togawa-senpai's last name sounds exactly like Toyokawa, both are Togawa."

"It's probably a coincidence that the middle note was omitted, but it's very rude for you to come accompany me when you have an appointment with others." Xiangzi gently blamed the village girl while explaining some common sense to her.

"Because Xiangzi, you said you wanted me to accompany you for a while." With a silly smile, Sakuya continued to explain, "Anyway, Togawa-senpai is also very busy. It seems that she also has the work of the Discipline Committee to do." Recalling the second-year nicknames of Togawa-senpai that her classmates had told her, such as [Iron-faced Judge], [Unknown Godfather of the Club], and [President Yuzawa's White Gloves].

Hiss—

Stop, Ichinose Sakuya, it's rude to think about it any further. These titles must just be a compliment to Togawa-senpai for being serious and responsible at work! I hope he's an easy-going senior.

"Anyway, we're still in time... probably." He turned on his phone and saw that there were less than five minutes left until the agreed time!

"Sorry, Xiangzi, I'm leaving first. The piano sounds very nice." After hurriedly saying goodbye to Xiangzi, Miss Sakuya took out the classic Japanese drama female high-piano and disappeared around the corner of the corridor in an instant.

"Really..." Xiangzi chuckled and shook his head. It was almost time for him to go to work.

======

Togawa Aki, as the discipline committee member of Yugaoka, or more precisely, the deputy discipline committee member who is responsible for rectifying the student clubs, came to the student union to clock in as usual. After finishing the paperwork at hand, she should have personally gone to each club to issue a notice and request rectification as usual, but today she had something else to do.

Due to her hands-on work attitude, ruthlessly strict scrutiny, serious personality and strong sense of responsibility, as well as her willingness to help with the aftermath, many clubs have been reformed and taken care of by her, so Togawa Akiie's reputation in the academy is quite polarized.

As many people feared her surprise inspections as she did, so many people were grateful for her help. Many newly established societies that encountered difficulties were put back on track through her.

The campus is a little deserted today, probably because of the joint performance of Roselia and Afterglow at CiRCLE today. Many students in Yugaoka are fans of these two girl bands.

Togawa Akie is not very interested in girl bands. She is a typical top student with excellent grades and has practiced a little on musical instruments, but she thinks that she is not suitable for the current "big girl band era". Although she is surprised that idolized girl bands can create such a huge economic value, it is still too difficult for her to stand on the stage surrounded by the spotlight and the eager eyes of the audience.

It can be said that if it weren't for Ruomai's impulsive enthusiasm, a boring person like me would never have participated in such a thing as forming a girl band.

【NyaAki】…This name sounds so embarrassing. If you don’t know it, you might think it’s a cat veterinary hospital.

But since it was Ruomai who came up with the name, let's just use it as it is.

After bidding farewell to her juniors in the Student Union and taking off the red armband representing the Discipline Committee member from her shoulders, Qiu Hui ended her work in the Student Union early today, which was a rare event.

Walking in the deserted corridor, there are still about five minutes until the agreed time. At my current speed, I should be able to get back to Group C of Year 2 just in time.

But it was not good to keep the other person waiting for too long, so Qiu Hui slightly quickened her pace.

The bassist candidate who I made an appointment with to go to RiNG for the screening today seems to be named... Ichinose?

My brain was looking through the basic information of this lively junior in the categorized storage room, when suddenly a burst of hurried footsteps came from behind me.

Qiu Hui frowned subconsciously due to her long career as a discipline committee member. Although Rikka was usually responsible for this kind of thing, she might have to play the role of an educator today.

Reaching out to stop the flaxen-haired girl who was approaching her quickly, Qiu Hui spoke softly:

"Classmate, you are not allowed to run in the corridor even after school."

Chapter 28 Red Supercar Two-seater

The campus of Hanegaoka was quiet after school, and Miss Ichinose felt a chill in her heart.

The black-haired senior in front of him was stuck in the middle of the corridor. On the right was the second-year C group classroom, and on the left wall was a large "No Running" sign.

Ms. Sakuya just felt like she was the stick figure surrounded by slashes and circles on the slogan.

"Classmate, you are not allowed to run in the corridor even after school." The black-haired senior said softly.

"I'm sorry! I will pay attention next time, but I have an appointment, can you please let me go, senior?" Ms. Sakuya apologized with her hands clasped together and blinked her eyes very skillfully to act cute.

"Are you... first-year Ichinose-san?" Togawa Akeie asked uncertainly, looking at the bass bag on Sakuya's back.

"Oh, could it be... Togawa-senpai? I was so scared, I almost thought I was going to be late." Patting her chest, Ms. Sakuya also felt relieved. "Sorry, sorry, I ran all the way here because I was worried about missing the appointment with senior. I will definitely not run around anymore in the future."

"It's okay, Ichinose-san wasn't late, was she? But you should be careful next time. Although the marble corridors in the school are not easy to slip on, it will still hurt if you fall." Togawa Akee's tone was very calm.

Although the meeting was a little sudden, it was normal to think about it. After all, there were not many students in school at this time. It was only then that Sakuya had time to carefully look at the senior in front of her.

The long black hair was well-maintained, with a healthy sheen, combed behind her head, and half-tied with a bright yellow hairband near the end. The bangs were neatly cut, and the delicate face had a pearly luster of long-maintained skin, white, rosy, and shiny. The glasses were low-key black-framed, but Sakuya felt that the shiny frame was probably not cheaper than her own bass. The light black eyes revealed a bit of the majesty of a long-time superior, and if you get closer, you can even smell the pleasant fragrance of cosmetics.

Togawa-san must be very careful about his appearance, right? Or maybe someone often helps him with his makeup.

Togawa Aie looked at the girl in front of her who was slightly taller than her and nodded slightly. She always felt that there was a clear feeling about this child, and she seemed a little unreliable.

"Just call me Akie. Please wait here for a while, Ichinose-san."

"Then you can just call me Sakuya, Akiie-senpai." Miss Sakuya has always been willing to follow instructions.

As she packed her school backpack, Akihiro finally found the part about Ichinose Sakuya in her archives. She had thought the name looked familiar, having seen it on Rikka's watch list.

I remember the reason for being on the list was... suspected of having lesbian relationships, and it seemed like he had more than one partner...

But I'm not very confident in this regard, so I'll just pretend I didn't see it.

The campus, which had been bustling all day, was now quite quiet. Two people walked one after the other along the stone-paved path towards the gate.

"Sakuya-san, it may be a bit presumptuous, but can I ask how long you have been playing the bass?" Akie asked using a polite sentence structure.

"As for me, I started learning bass in the first year of junior high school, right?" Ms. Sakuya stretched out her slender fingers to count, and then nodded with certainty. "At first, my junior high school friend was a little shy and didn't dare to go to bass lessons alone, so she dragged me along. Later, after a few times, I gradually fell in love with it. It has been more than three years now."

"So, is it because of your interest that you want to join the band?" Qiu Hui continued to ask.

"Eh? That's true, but...what is this? A background check? Akiie-senpai is interviewing me so soon?" Sakuya made a joke and quickened his pace to catch up with Akiie in front of him.

"Indeed, sorry, it seems my occupational disease has come back. I was thinking that Sakuya-san might be my future teammate, so I asked a lot of questions without realizing it." Akihime smiled and explained, realizing that her questions were a bit inappropriate. "Well, let's discuss this topic again when we get to RiNG."

======

There was no conversation along the way until we arrived at the gate of Yuqiu.

Logically speaking, at this point, the Yuqiu Gate should be deserted, if not sparsely populated.

Today, unusually, there was a small crowd gathered, and the female high school students who had just finished track and field practice exclaimed from afar.

Sakuya stood on tiptoe out of curiosity and soon discovered the reason.

The crisp sound of the whistle broke the quiet atmosphere of the campus, and a streamlined rose-red supercar stopped in front of the two. Sakuya tilted his head and stared at the car logo for a few seconds, but he didn't understand it. There was a black horse leaping high on the yellow shield, and it looked very expensive anyway.

Sitting in the driver's seat is a purple-haired woman wearing polarized sunglasses and dressed quite maturely. The light gray off-shoulder dress always makes people unconsciously shift their eyes to the two slender shoulder straps.

The car window rolled down. The girl held the steering wheel with one hand and lifted her sunglasses with the other hand, revealing her shining pink pupils. She looked Sakuya up and down, smiled at her, and turned to look at Togawa Akee who was a little at a loss beside her.

The confused Ms. Sakuya also smiled and then turned to look at Senior Akiie beside her.

Senior Qiu Hui, who always gives people a calm and rational feeling, was unusually shy. I don’t know if it was because of the sunset, but her fair face was already covered with red clouds.

"Ruomai...you never told me before that you would come to pick me up." Miss Qiu Hui spoke to the girl in front of her with some displeasure.

"What a surprise, meow meow~, it's not bad for the eldest daughter of the Togawa family to experience the private car ride occasionally." The girl called Ruomai was very casual and said in a frivolous tone. "Come up by yourself, if you delay any longer, maybe tomorrow all the students in Yuqiu will know that their iron-faced discipline committee member is secretly keeping a little wife outside."

"Sorry, Sakuya-san, maybe... you have to go to RiNG by yourself today. See you then." After quickly saying sorry to Sakuya, Miss Akie quickly and skillfully opened the door and walked in.

Miss Sakuya came back to her senses only after the red taillights disappeared in the dazzling sunset light.

"Akie-senpai... could it be the eldest lady?"

Ms. Sakuya, who had not yet boarded the bus, was alone in the wind, muttering to herself. A look of confusion and shock appeared on her face; she moved her lips but did not say anything for a long time. When the slightly cold spring breeze blew on her face, she suddenly realized that there was a sad and thick barrier between her and the senior Akiie she had just met.

Chapter 29: Miao Mengqin's Special Selection

The subway was much more crowded than usual during the evening rush hour. I stood on tiptoe and looked around. On both sides were office workers who were looking down at their phones. I felt a little out of place with my bass bag on my back. I sighed for a while at the emptiness of the train. After making myself laugh with the thought that "the train I'm riding is much more expensive than Akiie-senpai's", the inertia of inertia belatedly reminded Miss Sakuya that the train had arrived.

"Excuse me~"

I pushed open the door of the recording studio quietly and seemed to be the last one to arrive.

There were three folding tables placed side by side in the room. The tall Ruomai was directing the black-haired staff to install the magic button that often appeared in talent shows. As if she saw Sakuya coming in, the very mature purple-haired lady took two or three steps to Sakuya and made her classic rocking cat gesture.

"Welcome, meow meow~ Is this the kid I saw at school before? What's his name?"

Suppressing the strange feeling that suddenly arose in her heart, as if she had inadvertently walked into a talent show, Ms. Sakuya took a half step back awkwardly.

"Ahahaha... I'm Ichinose Sakuya, the bassist who came to take the test today." Sakuya glanced unconfidently at Akiie-senpai, who had her hands covering her face and was literally too embarrassed to face anyone. Then she was sure that she had not walked into the wrong practice room.

"Okay! Sakiko, you are today's contestant No. 2. Your seat will be next to Haizi." Miao Meng seemed very satisfied with Sakiya's dull reaction. She turned away and let the camera fully record the clear expression of the Uji village girl.

Eh? He called me by my nickname the first time we met. What a strong social skill.

Ms. Sakuya, who was inexplicably nervous, walked to Hailing, who was crossing her arms, and sat down next to her.

Hai Ling was still wearing the familiar black leather jacket and red belly-baring top today, and the ends of her shoulder-length black hair were slightly curled upwards.

When he saw Sakuya coming, he simply greeted her and continued to sit quietly with his eyes closed.

After casually waving his hand to send away the unknown black-haired staff, Miao Meng replicated the cat waving to the camera in the corner. "Good morning, noon and evening~ Meow Meow Meow, today's video is a special selection of Miao Meng's own band!"

"The band [NyaAki] that I told you about before will soon decide on its exclusive bassist. So who will it be?" Miss Miao Meng, holding a camera, approached the two bassists.

"Could it be Haizi, the cold bass mercenary who exudes the aura of a professional band member?"

"It's Hai Ling." Hai Ling opened her angular turquoise eyes and glanced at the camera, then said calmly.

"Oh, this is a nickname, okay, let's take a look at another one." The camera turned with Meow Meng and captured Ms. Sakiya with her hands around the bass bag. "Sakiko is still wearing Yugaoka's uniform, is it to show her youthfulness?"

what?

Uh?

Hey——!

"Is this being filmed?" Ms. Sakuya asked clearly.

"Of course, but it's not a live broadcast, so you can relax." Miao Meng explained.

"Is that so... No, no, no, that's not right. Why did it suddenly become a weird talent show?" Ms. Sakuya finally reacted as her CPU finally caught up with the system process.

"Oh, it clearly says on the recruitment poster that you have to cooperate in the video recording. Didn't Sakiko read it carefully?" Miao Meng asked with interest.

Eh… I can’t say that I was performing some weird etiquette between bassists with the person sitting next to me at that time and I didn’t pay any attention to the recruitment.

“Ahaha, sorry, maybe I missed it. Could you give me a code when the time comes, Meow Meng? It’s a bit…” Miss Sakuya murmured, hiding her face behind her bass bag to hide her embarrassment.

"It's Meow Meng's dear!" After correcting Sakuya's way of addressing her, Meow Meng smiled playfully and continued to speak to the camera. "Sakuya looks like a shy child, but her bass skills may be surprisingly good!"