Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

Aine looked up and down at the school swimsuit that Akie was wearing. The ordinary one-piece design completely covered everything except her limbs and head and neck.

“…There’s basically nothing to apply on here!” Aine complained, “We’ve already covered the most troublesome part, the back. So it should be okay for Senpai to apply the rest on his own, right?”

Even so, Aine still spread the sunscreen evenly on her hands.

"Okay, let's start with the cheeks..."

Aine stretched out her hands and placed them on Akie’s cheeks.

After wiping for a while, the sunscreen had fully covered it, but Aine was reluctant to change places and continued to linger on Akie's cheek.

As if touching alone was not enough, Aiyin simply bent her fingers with a wicked smile, changing the stroking to kneading, and simply treated the soft flesh on Akie's face as dough that could be rolled and flattened.

However, Akie... Akie just let Aine do whatever she wanted with a normal expression, and apart from the occasional irrepressible look in her eyes, she had no other reaction.

“… Why didn’t Senpai react at all?” In the end, it was the bad guy Aine who started to complain first.

"How do you think I should react? Should I stop you?" Qiu Hui asked calmly, "If you are interested in rubbing my face, it's not wrong for me to let you rub it."

"At least you can have a cute reaction..."

Aine pouted her lips in frustration and obediently smeared sunscreen all over Aki's face, then rubbed it over her chin, hugged her neck and rubbed it up and down repeatedly, then the exposed shoulders and the area around the collarbone. The texture of the sunscreen made Aki's fair skin emit an oily sheen on the areas where Aine's slender fingers brushed.

“Come to think of it, Senpai’s skin seems to have gotten better.” Aine asked quietly, her tone sounding a little sour, “Is this also the work of Meow Meng herself?”

"She did put a lot of stuff on me..." Qiu Hui replied, "I don't even understand the effects of many of these things."

This matter-of-fact way of speaking seemed to indicate that she didn't hear the sour meaning in Aine's words.

But perhaps there is also a possibility that she can hear it, but just doesn't care.

"That's right. Since the day I met you, I've never seen you put on makeup or use skin care products... Raise your arms for a moment."

Aine said as she applied the cream on Akie’s arm.

From Akie's perspective, she could just see Aine's slender neck, her long pink hair, and her graceful profile.

Aine exuded a pleasant scent. Although Akie didn't know what it was, it was a normal scent for a high school girl who pursued fashion.

After applying one arm, switch to the other side.

Aine applied it from her shoulders all the way to her palms, then brushed over Akie’s fingers one by one like she was scrubbing chopsticks.

“Senior, have you ever applied sunscreen yourself?” Aine asked abruptly.

"Occasionally," Qiu Hui replied, "If the sun is too strong, I will choose not to go out most of the time."

“Is that so…” Aine smiled.

"Senior, you are really a very casual person. And, you are only so casual when it comes to your own affairs."

Next, it was time to move on to the legs and feet. Aine motioned for Akie to sit down, squeezed out a new layer of sunscreen, spread it evenly, and pressed it on Akie's thighs, rubbing it in from the outside to the inside.

"If it's someone else's business... like me and this band, like Xiao Deng, like everyone who ended the band, the senior will become very serious instead."

"So, from the first time we met, I felt that you were a strange person."

Aiyin smiled and wiped her hair from her calf down to her ankle.

"...Be gentle." Qiu Hui frowned slightly, "It's a little itchy."

"The soles of my feet will itch no matter how lightly you rub them. It was the same when you rubbed me, senpai?"

Aine continued what she was doing, smiling as she continued.

"Since I rarely see people like you, I became interested in you without realizing it, and our relationship gradually became closer. After you agreed to be my support musician, our relationship became even closer, and I think it's not an exaggeration to say that we are close friends."

"I always feel comfortable and at ease when I'm with my seniors, because they always restrain themselves and think about others. Sometimes I really find it strange! Why does someone like my senior not have many friends?"

"…It's mostly my own fault."

In response to Aine’s question, Akie shook her head and answered like this.

Aine wanted to ask more, but Akie spoke first: "Is it my turn now?"

"Yeah, then, come on?"

Aine stood facing Akie. Her swimsuit was just as fancy as the outfit she wore today. The eye-catching design and the large amount of decorative elements complemented each other, making people wonder if it was designed by some tribesmen from the Pacific Islands.

The swimsuit as a whole accentuated Aine's slender and slim figure, and the gorgeous decorations concealed certain innocuous flaws just right.

Akie quickly spread the sunscreen, and then started applying it on Aine’s cheeks.

"In interpersonal relationships, I try to follow a certain principle of 'equivalence'."

"If I receive kindness from others, I must give kindness of equal value in return."

Having said this, Akie bent her fingers expressionlessly and grasped Aine’s cheek.

“…Like this.”

Akie kneaded Aine’s cheek expressionlessly, and the latter immediately burst into a distorted laugh.

"What...what are you doing, senior!" He loves music so much.

Qiu Hui didn't let the joke last too long. She just pinched it twice symbolically and continued to apply sunscreen.

"Well, I think I understand what you mean, Senior."

After laughing, Aine finally understood what Akie meant by "equivalent exchange".

"If I invite you to have lunch with me in the Astronomy Club, then you must ask me to do something in return. Is that right?"

"...Yeah." Akie nodded lightly.

“So, I’m always worried about my ability to pay,” she continued.

"If we can't pay the price for the 'goodwill' between each other, there is no way to maintain the friendship."

"So... I decided to make as few friends as possible to avoid getting into too much debt."

Akie stated in a nonchalant tone, her hands resting just on either side of Aine’s neck.

Chapter 56 Reasons for liking

“How should I put it? I feel like I can understand it a little bit… but, after all, I still can’t agree with it!”

Aine’s mood also became heavy due to Akie’s words.

She wanted to get rid of this unpleasant feeling, so she subconsciously retorted, "If you keep thinking about this, your life will be tiring and painful!"

“If I may…” Akie said softly, caressing Aine’s upper arms with both her hands, “…I don’t want to hold this view either. However, this phenomenon objectively exists, just like an apple hanging on a tree will fall to the ground and cannot be refuted.”

"If my efforts do not receive the rewards I 'deserve'... I will also feel dissatisfied, sad, angry, and disgusted with the other party."

Akie stared at the reflection in Aine’s eyes.

“Or rather, Aine, you can also imagine this situation.”

"If I hadn't had lunch with you, talked with you, helped you with the band, and encouraged you when you were feeling down..."

"So, in your eyes, am I just a senior classmate who you don't have much impression of?"

Aine’s pupils shrank slightly, and her eyes dodged unnaturally.

“…Don’t use such hurtful words.” She protested softly, “Wouldn’t it seem like I’m just treating you as a tool?”

"That's not an offensive statement at all." Akie shook her head in confusion. "If my side as a 'tool' wasn't well received, why would anyone pay attention to my side as a 'human'?"

After applying the lotion on Aine’s arms, it was time to apply it on her abdomen and back.

Akie went around behind Aine and put her hands on the exposed skin of her back.

The touch from the palm of his hand indicated that the other person was trembling slightly due to emotional excitement.

"...Then why do you like me, Senior?"

Aiyin's tone didn't change much. She lowered her voice deliberately to avoid attracting other people's attention.

"Is it because I am also a kind of 'useful tool' for you, Senior?"

Since Aine had her back to Akie, she couldn't see the former's expression.

"Of course not."

Akie said this calmly and matter-of-factly without hesitation.

“Aine never thinks like me. She instinctively feels that judging people from the perspective of tools is harmful to them.”

"You are willing to treat me as a friend and play in a band with me, but it's not because I have done anything for you, but just because... I'm just guessing, maybe you find me interesting for some reason, anyway, it's for a reason that has nothing to do with 'exchange'."

“What I like is Aine, who is completely different from me.”

Akie said as she faithfully performed her duty of applying sunscreen.

For a moment, she thought about whether she should just hug Aine from behind.

But after only thinking about it for a moment, she felt that this was too abrupt and gave up the plan.

She just quietly continued with the task at hand while waiting for Aine's reaction.

"Because I am different from you...that's why you like me?"

Although her expression could not be seen, Aine’s tone already showed her surprise.

"So, Senior, do you really hate yourself?"

Aine asked this question because she couldn’t believe it.

"Yeah. I've never really liked myself..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Qiu Hui changed her mind and said something else.

"...No, I can't say always."

She recalled some not particularly pleasant memories.

"When I was in junior high school, something happened that caused a conflict between me and my family, and I ended up running away from home..."

Qiu Hui spoke expressionlessly, and her tone sounded like she was talking about a classmate she hadn't seen for a long time and whose name she couldn't even remember.

"…I was a rebellious kid. My mind was full of overused big words like 'self' and 'dignity'. I ran away from home with the intention of fulfilling my own ambitions, but ended up making a mess of things. Not only did I not accomplish anything, I ended up causing trouble for the people who were willing to help me."

"Ever since then, I've actually hated myself. At the worst point, I even seriously considered whether I still had any need to continue to exist..."

"Wait a minute! What does that mean? Could it be that..."

Aine shouted out loud, attracting everyone’s attention.

"It's no big deal, it's all over." Qiu Hui smiled and shook her head, then looked at the others whose attention had been drawn, "It's okay, we were just chatting."

After saying that, she smiled at the light that was casting a worried look at her not far away, telling her not to worry.

"...Now, I've almost figured it out." Akie smiled and shook her head, "And I'm a little relieved."

"Now, I have... it's a stretch to call it a career, but I have a 'job' anyway. Thanks to the library's arrangement of putting it on the shelves, I also made a few good friends. In fact, I am very satisfied with my current life situation..."

As she said that, Akie suddenly shook her head vigorously, even though Aine, whose back was turned to her, couldn’t see it at all.

"…Sorry, I said something boring."

After saying that, Qiu Hui remained silent and just applied sunscreen quietly.

...Why are you bringing up these old stories again?

It shouldn't be like this.

What I thought and how painful it was at that time are all things of the past and are not worth discussing at all.

Bringing up these things now would be like selling suffering in exchange for sympathy, or even a bit like using Aine’s kindness to blackmail her.

"Please forget what I just said..."

"I won't forget."

Aine suddenly turned around and tightly grasped Akie’s hand, not even noticing that there was still some sticky sunscreen left on it.

"Senior, do you know that? Nine out of ten characters who hear lines like this will remember the things they should forget even more clearly!"

Her smile at this moment is a little brighter than the summer sun outside the window.

"..."

Qiu Hui didn't know how to respond, so she could only lower her head shyly.