Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

I have to admit that I still have a little yearning for it in my heart.

After all, I have been busy with various work matters almost every day this semester, and I have hardly had any chance to relax.

Although my work as a light novel writer and keyboard player would not decrease much even during the summer vacation, at least I would not have to stay in school every day, so I would naturally have a lot more free time.

And…this summer vacation is different from the previous ones.

Originally, Qiu Hui's holiday plan was basically to stay in the room playing games all day, or find a few seasonal anime to watch from beginning to end in one go, or wander around aimlessly in a place where she had no idea what it was for all day... In short, it was very subtle.

But this time it's different.

I can find everyone who has finished their band, and Aine and the others... and have the legendary "gathering" event!

For example, eating together, shopping, traveling, and even the legendary activity "training together" that originally only existed in the two-dimensional world!

"I...could it be that I have already touched the edge of 'real life' little by little?" Akie smiled self-deprecatingly.

I am really looking forward to the arrival of summer vacation...

...Especially considering that after the new work is released, I will probably have a lot more spare money on hand, this expectation becomes even stronger.

Although it was already very late, considering that the security situation around the apartment was still good, Qiu Hui decided to go downstairs to relax and stretch her body while thinking about her future plans.

After the new work is released, how should I use the spare money on hand?

First of all, maybe you should consider living somewhere else.

This rental house was originally chosen by my sister just to provide me with a temporary place to stay.

After staying in a small suite for such a long time, do you think it’s time to consider moving to a better place?

Walking on the sidewalk under the tall buildings, Qiu Hui was thinking.

It may be a bit expensive to rent a house by yourself. If the conditions are right, you may consider sharing the house.

In addition to renting a house... there are also musical instruments. I am about to sign a contract with an agency, and I will continue to use the entry-level model I have...

...Ah, and it seems that the cost of musical instruments can be reimbursed by the agency. This will give you more options.

And... well, although my personality is not that fussy, I am now more or less a member of the entertainment industry, and I am afraid that I will occasionally attend formal occasions such as signing meetings in the future. Should I prepare a few more sets of clothes for this?

Oh, and there are cosmetics. Well, how should I put it, appropriate decoration is also... necessary.

I never paid attention to this aspect before, because even if I dressed up beautifully, I didn’t know who to show it to.

But, if it were now...

Thinking of this, Qiu Hui couldn't help but blush.

…What are you doing?

I actually thought about dressing up a little prettier in front of Aine...

Qiu Hui shook her head and calmed herself down.

Didn’t I just happen to meet a famous fashion blogger before? Aine seemed to like him too.

If you have any questions in this area in the future, maybe you can try to consult her...

Chapter 106 Let’s go to the planetarium!

has it ended?

It's probably over.

A few days later, the final exam finally reached the last subject.

The last subject was Japanese history. After finishing this subject, the only things left were the closing ceremony and other trivial matters.

In other words, the first semester of this academic year has come to an end.

After handing in the paper, Qiu Hui began to pack up and prepare to leave.

Sports and art department clubs may have major competitions in the summer, so many students stay in school after the exams to prepare for the competitions.

But for Qiu Hui, none of this has anything to do with her. She does all her work outside of school.

After several days of intense discussion on the contract, they finally came up with a more relaxed version. The contract provided the band with a considerable degree of autonomy in terms of creation and activity arrangement, and even managed to give Qiu Hui and Liang a title on the production team.

The part of liability for breach of contract, which Qiu Hui was also very concerned about, was reduced to almost nothing after repeated negotiations.

Of course, as a bargaining chip, the agreed share of the profits given to the band was also lowered significantly.

But fortunately, after repeated confirmation with other members of the band, they didn't seem to take the income level too seriously.

All in all, it is a relatively acceptable result.

At the library, the release process was also going quite smoothly. The illustrators were making unexpectedly fast progress, and Kasumi Shiko estimated that it might not even take until August to complete a series of preparatory processes and officially start preparing for printing, publishing, and the final release.

Qiu Hui originally thought that she might need to handle some things herself, but according to Kasumi Shiko, since the previous work had achieved certain results, some administrative work could be done by the library, and she didn't have to do the same as a newcomer.

Regardless, less workload is a good thing.

Therefore, Qiu Hui is now in a good mood because of this.

"...Akie-senpai."

"Light?" Qiu Hui turned her head and saw who was coming.

Even though their relationship is now closer, Deng still acts somewhat cautious in front of others.

She slowly approached Qiu Hui and asked in a not very confident tone, "The activity report of the Astronomy Club has been submitted. So, is Qiu Hui-senpai free now?"

Qiu Hui thought about it and realized that since the work that she thought would be assigned to her did not come, it seemed that there was no special arrangement for today.

The band has no practice arrangements for the time being, and Su Shi and Li Xi have no plans to gather everyone together.

"I'm fine." Akie replied, "Is Deng planning to invite me?"

“…Yeah.” Touma nodded, “I invited Aine as well…but it seems like she’s already made plans with other friends.”

Looking at the somewhat disappointed Deng, Akie nodded as if she felt the same way: "Aine is very good at blending in with the atmosphere, she must have a lot of friends in the class..."

Come to think of it, if I want to know about Aine's situation, can I ask Deng? After all, they are in the same class and have a close relationship.

“…By the way, Deng, Aine should be quite popular in the class right now?” she asked.

“That should be… that’s it.” Deng looked as if he was trying to recall, “As far as I can remember, there were people in the class who became friends with Aine…”

“…No need to list them one by one.” Akie smiled, “We can talk about Aine’s matter later on the way, let’s decide what to do first, right? After all, it was Deng who invited me, so let Deng decide.”

After all, even if I had to make a decision, I wouldn't quite know what to do.

If you are alone, it will be easy to make a decision; but if a second person is involved, you will inevitably have to consider that person's feelings.

Because she doesn't want to spend time dealing with conflicts, when encountering such situations, Qiu Hui usually leaves the decision-making power to others.

"Then...how about we go to the planetarium together?"

Deng, however, has a strong opinion in this regard and can make up his mind easily.

Although she always appears somewhat cautious and shy, she seems to express strong emotions when it comes to things that she cares about.

The eager look on her face made it hard to refuse the lamp, not to mention that Qiu Hui already had some interest in the planetarium.

After all, we have eaten lunch in the astronomy department so many times, and with Deng’s occasional indoctrination, we will be more or less interested in it through what we see and hear.

"Well, it's decided then." Akie said, "Let Deng choose the specific location, right? After all, I don't know much about it."

"Okay! Then let's go to the one near Sunshine City...it's very close to the aquarium we went to last time!"

With Qiu Hui's consent, Deng's enthusiasm immediately became high.

"It's very close... That's right, after all, it's a comprehensive commercial district." Qiu Hui nodded, "Then, may I trouble Xiao Deng to lead the way?"

"Hmm!" Deng walked ahead excitedly, "Akie-senpai, you probably haven't been there before, right? There seems to be an event there right now..."

Deng now seemed a little too excited because Qiu Hui accepted the invitation.

Just like when she enthusiastically introduced the activities of the astronomy club when she first went to the astronomy room, now she also chatters about things related to the planetarium.

Although he usually behaves like a taciturn and socially anxious person, he actually has a very strong inner desire to share and express himself.

As long as you find the right person, this passion can be expressed smoothly.

In this regard, it is very different from a real social phobia like Pochi.

Walking beside Deng, Qiu Hui smiled and thought about questions like these in her mind.

Although she occasionally appreciates space-themed works, the starry sky is just a background for the active space station and spacecraft to her. Qiu Hui really doesn't understand what Deng said about the topics related to the stars themselves. But even so, she didn't want to spoil Deng's fun, so she just smiled and listened.

This one-sided conversation lasted for quite some time.

Until the topic unknowingly shifted to a direction that Akie could answer.

“…By the way, Akiie-senpai, when will Aki Aiko-sensei’s new work be released?”

Deng started talking about the novels of Akihoko, also known as Akihime.

"She told me that the book itself has been completed and is now going through the publishing process." Qiu Hui replied, "It will probably be officially released before August."

"That's great..." Deng smiled, "I'm looking forward to it. It's based on a band and focuses on relationships..."

As he spoke, the lamp's smile gradually faded, replaced by a hint of melancholy.

Perhaps she was thinking of her past experience of forming a band? Qiu Hui guessed.

Chapter 107 Randomly Refreshed Chuhua

"Akirako told me," Akie pretended to be indifferent and said in an interview tone, "When writing this book, she tried to refer to many conflicts in real bands. In order to fit the identity of a high school girl and give people a refreshing feeling at the same time, she pondered over this for a long time."

I have indeed been thinking hard for a long time, Qiu Hui thought.

About halfway through the first volume, I actually began to regret writing about this topic.

First of all, there are so many characters introduced that it is hard to grasp the main point.

Secondly, it is inevitable to involve a lot of boring and dull professional elements. I am not confident that I can write this kind of thing well, but they are indispensable to the establishment of this story.

Last but not least, this slightly innovative plot arrangement may not be accepted by the market.

If the market performance of the new work is unexpectedly bad, then...

Qiu Hui shook her head.

Having said that, this kind of thing shouldn't be told to Deng.

She turned her head and looked into the lamp's face.

Deng is a pure reader. She turns a blind eye to those plots and designs that are deliberately arranged for commercial needs, and pays more attention to the emotional core.

So, even if the market response is bad... I hope she will like this new work, Akie thought.

"The conflict in the band...ah."

Deng seemed to be very interested in this topic and asked, "What are ordinary band conflicts like?"

"Well, most of them are due to disagreements on creative directions or problems in personal relationships... However, in most cases, they are just trivial matters." Akie said casually, "After all, bands are... unexpectedly loose groups if there are no conflicts of interest. Even disbanding is common..."

At this point, Akie seemed to realize that something was wrong, so she added to Deng: "...Of course, Deng hopes that the band can continue as long as possible, and this idea is certainly not wrong. I'm not saying that it's strange to think so."

"...Thank you, Akiie-senpai." What he said just now seemed to make Deng feel a little better.

The change in Deng's expression gave Qiu Hui a slightly different feeling.

A band is a loose group, and everyone just plays together.

But for Deng, the significance of CRYCHIC may be more than just a band.

What kind of existence does Xiangzi, the classmate who invited Deng to form a band at that time, have in her heart...

Thinking about questions like these, the two arrived at the door of the planetarium.

Since I bought an annual pass, I didn't need to buy another ticket. It was a discount period in the afternoon, so the ticket price was quite affordable.

After selling their tickets and entering the venue, the two walked into the screening room.

"It's really impressive." Akie looked up at the tall spherical dome. "The images of the starry sky are projected on it, right? And then there is music and commentary, and the audience lies on the recliners and watches. I remember it should be this mode?"

"Akie-senpai, you seem to know a lot about this!" Deng said excitedly, "Have you been here before?"

"This is my first time here. I've only heard of it somewhere before."