Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

At the end, the band's side was "full", but "over there" was not yet.

So, she was referring to the arrangement of the guitarist, Qiu Hui thought.

One is responsible for the lead vocals and the other is responsible for the rhythm. Generally, two guitarists are enough in a band.

The rhythm guitar in the band is played by the lead singer Kita, while here, there is only Aine as the sole guitarist.

That's why she said that at that time.

Could it be that she had already had the intention of joining this band since then...

...But why did you come up with this plan? Is there anything special about this band?

Qiu Hui was a little confused.

At the same time, Su Shi was confused by Lena's statement. She rubbed her fingers nervously and said in a slightly trembling voice: "...Why? It's so sudden, and Lena only plays here occasionally, right? Why..."

Li Xi expressed his attitude with a cold face: "What's wrong with that?"

"Huh?" Su Shi turned his head and looked in Li Xi's direction in disbelief.

"Isn't it a good thing that such a great guitarist is willing to join our band?" Lixi said.

"It's a good thing, but this is a little too sudden..."

While the two were arguing, Lenai had quietly walked to his seat.

"The ensemble." She interrupted their conversation. "When does it start?"

"..."

Putting her instrument aside for the moment, Qiu Hui quietly watched the situation of the other five people.

After Le Nai spoke, the five of them finally started to play together.

Although the song she played was not Kasuga Kage, but a new song that Le Na had never heard of before, after a brief reading of the score, she quickly mastered the trick of playing it.

In the following ensemble, she displayed her usual superb skills and strong presence.

Although he was able to keep up with the rhythm of the drummer and bass, and was not as prone to making mistakes due to unfamiliarity as Goto Ichiri who had just started playing with others; however, Rakuna seemed to stand out from the crowd, which made the overall atmosphere of the ensemble quite subtle.

The band's already tenuous sense of unity now became even more shaky.

Chapter 42 Low Pressure

How to do?

What to do? What to do? What to do?

After the song was over, Chihaya Aine felt that she had never been so aware as she was now that the guitar strap could bring such a heavy pressure.

Am I really too naive?

I actually had thoughts like "this is good enough", "I'm making progress anyway", "I'll stop here", and I thought "we're all students anyway, no matter how hard we work it'll all be the same in the end"...

The sudden appearance of the guitarist shattered her fantasy.

As a result, I had a very strong urge to escape.

Just like in STARRY...

…I felt so embarrassed in front of Goto-san’s overwhelming skills that I didn’t want to be in the same space with her and just ran away.

Rikki seems to be talking to everyone about something... probably something to do with the ensemble just now. Is he giving a review?

But I couldn't hear clearly... How should I put it, it was like diving into a swimming pool and I had no idea what was being said on the shore.

Aiyin hugged the guitar tightly in her arms, trying to confirm her existence through the hard touch of the guitar body and the weight of the shoulder strap.

A tense feeling like lack of oxygen invades every corner from the lungs to the brain.

She noticed that Togawa Aie, who looked worried, seemed to be approaching here.

So, before the brain could react, the body unconsciously took half a step back in the opposite direction.

Please...senior, don't come to comfort me at this time.

I can guess it to some extent. Senior should be struggling to find the right words at this time, right?

Trying so hard to avoid hurting the useless me...

…will make me more aware of my own incompetence.

So senior, please... don't... at this time...

Aine lowered her head and turned away.

Suddenly I felt ridiculous.

After just watching the performance, he had the audacity to say things like "I found the feeling of playing in a band seriously."

As a result, when I really encounter difficulties, I will still be so timid and subconsciously think about how to escape...

“Aine!”

Following the voice, I saw it was Shiina Tatsuki.

She had just evaluated everyone's performance, both affirming the good points and pointing out the mistakes mercilessly.

And now it was Aine’s turn.

"...Didn't you say you've already practiced it?"

Li Xi seemed to be trying very hard to control himself so as not to make his expression too bad.

"Although I feel I've made some progress in the first half... but I've been making stupid mistakes since the middle. What's going on?"

Although he tried hard to restrain himself, Lixi's slightly raised tone still made people feel a little uneasy.

“…I’m sorry.” Aine lowered her head slightly.

Facing Riki's slightly aggressive behavior, Aine did not fight back or make excuses for herself as she did in the past.

Rather, I am just apologizing with a sincere attitude.

"what?"

Shiina Riki was stunned when he realized that the other party was actually apologizing seriously.

"I'm sorry, Li Xi. I got distracted."

"Wait, you?"

Li Xi realized that the other party was not even joking about his name anymore.

"Shiina-san!" Akie was about to shout, "Please, please...at least not at this time..."

Togawa-senpai's anxious look and Aine's abnormal attitude almost made Riki realize intuitively that he might have said something wrong.

Having said that, she couldn't really lower herself to apologize for it.

"..." Li Xi turned his face away helplessly without saying a word.

"Everyone, don't be so depressed. I think the ensemble just now was very good overall. Although Lena-chan couldn't cooperate well with everyone, I don't think there are any major problems with other parts..." Su Shi tried to smooth things over.

And the lamp, was watching everyone silently.

Aine forced herself to smile, Tachibana was speechless, Motoyo tried in vain to liven up the atmosphere, Akie seemed at a loss next to Aine, and Rakuna was completely out of touch and didn't care about anything except the performance itself.

Ichichi-san is right. Deng thought, at this time, it won’t work without a leader…

...But who can be the team leader?

What can I do...

……

Outside the recording studio, inside RiNG's cafe.

Today's practice ended in a slightly awkward atmosphere.

As one of the most important contributors to the current atmosphere, Le Nai seemed to be completely unconcerned about the current situation and was completely focused on the matcha parfait in front of her.

Su Shi looked embarrassed and talked to Li Xi beside him.

"This girl used to play in the store occasionally, right? And, like Riki said before, she's the type who likes to run around. Why did she suddenly want to join us?"

Su Shi said this while rubbing her fingers nervously. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she would subconsciously react like this.

"I don't know the reason either."

Li Xi shook his head, looking normal.

"But I don't care about the reason. If I let a stray cat play the lead guitar, the possibilities of the arrangement will be broadened, and I think this is not a bad thing."

Su Shi nodded: "Li Xi... is really serious about the band."

Li Xi pretended not to see the other party's hidden meaning and responded, "It's natural to be serious, right? At least it can't be worse than Xiangzi."

A trace of gloom passed across Su Shi's face.

During the CRYCHIC period, Shoko Toyokawa was responsible for all the composition and arrangement work for the band.

And now, the person who volunteered to take over Xiangzi's job was the drummer Shiina Tatsuki.

"...Lixi, to be honest, I was surprised to learn that you were planning to start composing and arranging music." Su Shi said.

"You think I don't look like someone who would do these jobs?" Li Xi raised his eyebrows slightly.

"No, I just feel..."

Su Shi explained in a panic.

"...You probably think Xiangzi is better." Li Xi said bluntly, "I know."

After saying that, she turned her head somewhat dejectedly and looked at Lenai who was devouring the parfait.

"No, I never thought about it that way! I'm really happy to be able to form a band with Li Xi and Xiao Deng again!"

"……Yeah?"

Li Xi shook his head with a smile, then turned his gaze to the three people on the other side.

At this moment, Aine was sandwiched between Deng and Akie, and they seemed to be chatting about something.

That guy's expression was weird. Although he looked like he was smiling, it felt like that wasn't the case at all...

…Are you feeling depressed because of your performance just now, so you are being comforted by Deng and Togawa-senpai?

"...I'm a little envious of that guy." Li Xi sighed helplessly, "He obviously doesn't know anything, but..."

She lowered her head and drummed her fingers on the bar counter to vent her inner distress.

Not long after, she turned her head and looked at Su Shi beside her.

"Su Shi." Her expression was very serious.

Without waiting for a response, she continued, "...Even if it's just for the sake of the lamp, there is one thing I want you to remember."

"What?"

"This band..."

Riki looked towards Aine.

"…It's not just hers."

Then she turned to look at Su Shi.

"But, it's not just yours either."

"..."

Su Shi didn't say much, just nodded slightly.

"I understand." She smiled and said, "I have always hoped that this time we can communicate well and move forward together..."

"...Don't be like that again."

Chapter 43: Aine's Melancholy

At this time, after finishing the matcha parfait in front of her, Lenai stood up and walked towards the other three people not far away.