Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

Qiu Hui put down the empty water bottle and cleared her throat.

After not singing for so long, I'm not very comfortable singing. I just sang four songs, but I didn't want to sing normally because of the sore throat.

“Senior, isn’t it unexpected that you are good at singing?” Aine at the side applauded.

"It's just the right level for karaoke." Akie shook her head.

Even if we put aside the issue of low durability, she didn't think her performance just now was enough to be the lead singer.

"And my throat hurts! To be honest, I think I need to rest for a while." Qiu Hui continued to look at the other two, "You two can continue?"

"That's fine with me, but are you really not going to sing a few songs, Xiao Deng?"

Aine looked at Touma, who had been staring at the tablet in a trance since a while ago.

"It's rare for you to come here, wouldn't it be a pity to just watch us sing?"

Deng pushed the tablet on the table aside: "No need. I'm not really good at singing."

"Karaoke doesn't have any academic requirements, so it doesn't matter if you're not good at it. Besides, hasn't Xiao Deng been to karaoke before? Did you just watch everyone sing last time?"

"Last time... I came here with everyone in the band." Deng lowered his head.

Aiyin was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook her head.

"I'm sorry for making you think of unpleasant things."

She took the tablet and continued talking while operating it.

"But, maybe I'm just being nosy. But, even if you've experienced failure, there's no need to keep dwelling on it. If you keep dwelling on it, your life will be very difficult, right?"

Aiyin put down the tablet. As the accompaniment of the new music sounded, the mood lights in the private room also flickered in time.

"In that case."

Takamatsu Deng suddenly raised his head and made eye contact with Aine in front of him.

"you can……"

"...Will you listen to me sing for the rest of your life?"

As soon as he finished speaking, even Qiu Hui, who was reaching for the soda bottle next to him, couldn't help but be stunned.

lifetime?

"For a lifetime?" Chihaya Aine was at a loss.

"Um, Takamatsu-san..."

Qiu Hui was also a little confused by Deng's remarks.

Why did you suddenly bring up a topic like "a lifetime"?

Deng seemed to realize that what he said was too shocking.

She fidgeted and struggled internally for a while, then suddenly stood up from her seat.

Then he turned around and ran out of the door.

“Deng-chan!” Aine followed suit.

So, Togawa Aie was the only one left in the private room.

"..." Until now, she still hasn't fully grasped the development of the situation.

The colorful mood lights and the karaoke accompaniment that is still playing tirelessly, still running on its own, make the atmosphere even more indescribable.

"……well."

Qiu Hui picked up the soda bottle and took a big gulp as if she was deliberately showing off.

Although I wanted to follow Aine and chase after her, but when I thought about it carefully, it seemed that I had no reason to do so.

They were classmates, and the violent words of "a lifetime" happened between them.

"…It has nothing to do with me."

Qiu Hui looked at the remaining time mark on the big screen with a bit of loneliness.

There is still a lot of time left.

After giving my voice a short rest, I can continue practicing a few more songs.

Aine had already paid for the private room. I would give her my share when the get out of class is over tomorrow.

My throat hurts and I can't sing now. So I'll use this time to roughly write the outline of the novel by typing it on my phone.

Thinking of this, Togawa Aie continued to do what she was supposed to do.

after a while.

"It's getting late." Qiu Hui thought while looking at her phone.

Because I sang too much, my throat is so sore that I don't even want to talk anymore. That's all for today.

After dealing with the empty bottles and unfinished drinks left on the table, Qiu Hui left the karaoke shop.

It was almost dusk at this moment, but fortunately I had almost completed the outline of the new work by typing it on my mobile phone.

I just need to spend a little more time tonight to do some final revisions, and then I can hand the finished product over to the editor.

Overall, it was a pretty fulfilling day.

At this time, Qiu Hui checked the new messages as usual and found a new message from Ijichi Hongxia.

"Are you free tonight?"

"No special arrangements." Akihime replied.

I wanted to put my phone away and wait for a reply, but as soon as I put the phone in my pocket, Hong Xia’s reply came.

"Then can we come to this store? Everyone who has finished the band will come here! Because the live house cannot be used tonight, but I have something important to discuss with everyone."

"Okay. Is the important thing related to the band?"

"yes!"

Qiu Hui looked at the address sent by Hong Xia. It seemed to be a family restaurant, not too far from the karaoke bar where she was now. If she took the train, she would be there very quickly.

"I'll be there soon."

"OK! That's a great help! See you then?"

"See you then," Akie typed.

Being able to start work anytime and anywhere, this theoretically extremely free arrangement is the charm of being a light novel writer as a profession.

Although she still had the task of finishing the outline, she was still able to find time to participate in the band's closing activities.

While walking towards the station, Akie opened the chat interface with Aine.

"I don't know what happened between you, but if you're okay, please let me know. Please."

After replying like this, she put away her phone.

After staying in the rattling carriage for a few minutes and walking for a while, they arrived at the family restaurant that Hongxia had agreed to meet.

Walking into the store following the entrance sound, Qiu Hui immediately noticed Hong Xia who was sitting in the third row on the left side of the entrance.

"Akiie! Over here, over here!" Hongxia stood up and waved.

Qiu Hui came and sat down opposite her: "Me, the first one?"

"Yeah! Pochi-chan and Kita-chan are on their way. As for Ryo..."

There seemed to be a hint of disgust in Hongxia's eyes.

"... She'll come eventually anyway. Don't worry too much about her."

Qiu Hui sat down, picked up the jug filled with lemonade on the table in front of her, filled a cup, and drank it all in one gulp.

"I feel like Qiuhui's voice is a little hoarse?" Hongxia asked with concern.

"Just now, I was singing," Akie responded briefly, "I went too far."

"Oh, I see. Are you with your friends?"

"… barely." Akie nodded.

I don't know how the other party would characterize me... but it's not bad to just treat me as a "friend" for now.

"It would be great if we could get along well with our friends." Hong Xia nodded. "In fact, this time, I asked everyone to come together for a similar purpose."

"specific?"

"To be more specific..."

Hongxia looked at Qiuhui firmly.

"...Actually, I want the band I just formed to become more like a real band!"

Chapter 25 Yin Angle Interaction

"What do you mean by a real band?"

"It feels like everyone is united for the purpose of music," Nijiya explained. "We have practiced many times before, but every time we play together, we each play our own music. There is no tacit understanding at all."

"Isn't that because the technology is not good enough?"

"I admit that there are technical problems. However, I think the reasons are not limited to that."

Hongxia held her cheek with one hand and continued.

"When I formed the band, I named it the 'End' band. Akie, do you know what 'End' means?"

"...It's probably like a 'belt', the feeling of being tied together." Akie guessed.

"You understand." Hong Xia smiled, "But even though the name is like that, we don't feel like we're 'finished' together, but we don't feel like a 'band' either, right?"

"That's true." Qiu Hui nodded, "After all, in a sense, the Ending Band is like a group of five people randomly refreshed from the roadside."

If we leave out Ryo and Nijika who already knew each other, Goto was someone Nijika met on the street by chance, and Kita didn't know any of the other members except Ryo. As for myself, how should I put it, I felt like a gift from a children's meal.

The five people even come from three different high schools, which can be said to emphasize the element of diversity.

Hongxia agreed with Qiuhui's opinion: "That's right! It's precisely because everyone originally had no relationship with each other that I want to emphasize the importance of mutual communication!"

"It's really important to communicate with each other." Akie nodded, "If the band can't unite..."

Thinking of the chaos she had witnessed before, she couldn't help but frown.

"...It will cause a lot of trouble."

"Don't talk like you've experienced it yourself...Ah! Pochi-chan!"

Hongxia stuck her head out and waved to the figure wrapped in a pink sportswear who came in from the door.

"Ijichi-san... and Togawa-san. Great, it looks like I'm not the last one..."

Goto Ichiri nervously sat down next to Hongxia.

…She really likes wearing sportswear, Qiu Hui thought.

"Pochi and everyone are already members of the same band, right? Wouldn't it be a bit strange to continue calling each other by their last names?" Hong Xia invited Pochi enthusiastically, "We just talked about the topic of 'band feeling'. In order to strengthen everyone's familiarity with each other, I suggest that we all call each other by our first names from now on, how about that?"

"Name, name, name?" Goto was a little confused. "Is this okay? Even for someone like me..."

"Of course!" Hong Xia affirmed clearly.

"Thank you... Um, but to be honest, I haven't called anyone other than my relatives by their names for many years..." Goto seemed to be melting under Nijika's sunny temperament, "I feel like it will take some time to get used to it..."

"Several years..." Akie nodded empathetically, "It's not easy. I'm in a similar situation."

Because we are not sure how the other party will view our goodwill, we always address others in a conservative way, using the surname plus a title suffix.

In this way, at least the other party won't hate you for overstepping your authority.

Hong Xia, who has no social pressure, looked at the two people who resonated with each other for strange reasons in confusion: "Why?"

"Well, not calling someone by their name is at least a safe bet," Akie explained. "If the other person doesn't like you that much, not calling them by their name at least won't make you look like an annoying, pushy person."

"If you and your partner are close enough to each other to call each other by name... then to be honest, the other party probably won't care about these little details."