Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

Chapter 60 Today is like the past

My previous loss of composure was clearly seen by Senior Sister Qiu Hui.

The... chemistry among the band members.

If I still have a resistance to this kind of thing, will Akie-senpai... doubt me?

After considering this, Su Shi realized that he seemed to have to do something.

She agreed to help me meet Xiaoxiang because of Aiyin and Aiyin's band.

If...if she realized that I didn't care about this new band...

What will happen?

Nagasaki Suyo realized that she could no longer tolerate any more uncertainty.

I must...learn how to read the air and blend into the atmosphere.

And...if you think about it carefully, now that everyone's relationship has improved and they have become more tacit, what's the harm in that?

After Xiaoxiang and Xiaomu came back... although three guitarists... might be a bit too many, there is always... a way to solve it... well.

CRYCHIC... Even if we have to have two more people...

...Maybe, no, it's not possible.

Su Shi's steps became a little unsteady, and he was almost being pulled forward by Aine.

A series of events that had happened recently had caused her disguise to slip to the brink of danger.

Senior Qiu Hui said that we should think about the worst case scenario.

Maybe what she said makes sense, but I... can't do it.

Even if it's just a thought... I...

Nagasaki Suyo realized that she might be about to break down.

At this point, she couldn't even tell whether what she wanted was Toyokawa Shoko or some illusion created by the tangled thoughts in her heart.

The three of them returned to where the others were, and a layer of white cloth had been laid on the ground.

That seemed to be provided by the watermelon vendor, and it seemed that the needs of playing the watermelon hitting game were fully taken into consideration.

“Okay – who’s going first?” Aine asked while pressing the watermelon in the middle of the white cloth.

She naturally became a host-like role.

“…I’ll do it!”

The first thing he suggested playing with was the lamp.

She nervously covered her eyes with a cloth, picked up the wooden stick, and then carefully turned around on the spot, looking very naive.

"Deng, take your time!" Li Xi looked at the spinning lamp worriedly, "Don't fall, and be careful not to step on anything..."

"Rikki, you're so talkative." Le Nai beside her said softly, then looked intently in the direction of the light.

"Okay, stop!" Aiyin randomly found a chance to call for a stop. Now the watermelon was almost behind the left side of the lamp, about five or six meters away.

In the noisy atmosphere, the first game officially began.

“Light! Turn a little to the right! About… uh, forty-five degrees or something like that!”

"How can the light understand you if you say that!" Li Xi retorted, and then gave instructions in his own way, "Turn left a little, yes, turn a little more! And then... No, not right! Then turn left..."

“Ritsuki, you’re pointing the wrong way!” Aine quickly realized something was wrong, “Deng is facing you, your left and right directions are different! You should turn to the right of Deng!”

"Everyone..." Holding the wooden stick, Deng began to feel confused about the direction to go, "...What should I do?"

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Just listen to me, Deng! Turn a little to the right… ah! You’ve gone too far! Turn to Deng’s left…”

The light was about to turn in the right direction, but at this moment, Le Na, who had been concentrating on watching the game, suddenly spoke.

"Turn around. The watermelon is behind you."

Lenai gave completely wrong instructions without changing his expression.

"Wow! Lenna-chan..."

The light immediately turned 180 degrees and faced everyone with its back.

"Go a little to the left." Lenai smiled and gave new wrong instructions.

"Don't give me orders, stray cat!" Li Xi shouted angrily, "Deng, don't listen to stray cat! Turn back! The direction you were going just now was correct!"

Renai, who was criticized, smiled as if she saw something interesting: "Some are right, some are wrong. It feels more interesting this way."

"Huh? How are we going to play this way..."

However, Aine nodded in surprise as if she had discovered a new world: “Runa-chan, what you said makes sense! When I play the next round, everyone pick two people, one who tells the truth and one who tells a lie! This way, the game will be more difficult and more fun…”

She was halfway through her words when she suddenly changed the subject.

“…But this might be too much for Deng. How about we not make it harder this time and just let Deng hit the watermelon properly?”

After thinking for a moment, Le Na nodded, accepting Aine's advice.

"Okay," she replied, "Then I won't lie anymore."

"Stray cat..." Lixi looked at what was happening in front of him in disbelief.

But she wasn't surprised for long, and quickly refocused on the help light.

The three of them were talking one after another, and the light was getting closer and closer to the watermelon.

The atmosphere gradually became heated up amid the noise.

Among the other two standing aside and watching the fight, Qiu Hui turned her head and looked at Su Shi.

"Aren't you going to say something and join in the game?"

"Akihime, don't you plan to participate?" Su Shi asked with a smile.

"I... was thinking about something else." Akie replied.

Her eyes were fixed on Chihaya Aine, who was concentrating on observing the light holding a wooden stick, ready to give her advice at any time.

"Can this chaotic feeling be considered as 'understanding'?"

She seemed to be asking Su Shi, but also seemed to be talking to herself.

As for Su Shi, he continued to quietly observe the grand spectacle before him.

"Akie, actually, I suddenly remembered something."

"What's wrong?"

"That was... not long after CRYCHIC was established."

Su Shi raised his head slightly and shifted his gaze from the game scene in front of him to the sea in the distance.

"At that time, in order to help Xiao Deng overcome the problem of not being able to sing, we all went to karaoke together."

Although Su Shi was smiling all the time, Qiu Hui felt that there were some subtle changes in the smile on her face at this moment.

"At that time, it seemed that it was Xiao Xiang's first time to go to such a place. She didn't even know how to use the beverage machine at that time."

Su Shi covered her mouth, suppressing the urge to laugh out loud.

"Originally I wanted Xiao Deng to sing more...but before I knew it, everyone started singing."

"The scene at that time was really chaotic..."

Qiu Hui looked at Su Shi who was smiling meaningfully and asked, "...Does the current situation remind you of that time?"

At this moment, after a long effort, Deng finally succeeded in hitting the watermelon with everyone's help. Aine and Li Xi immediately cheered.

"Um."

Su Shi nodded slightly amid the cheers.

Besides, I feel like… I shouldn’t have remembered it.

She kept this sentence in her heart and didn't say it out loud.

Chapter 61: A Mixture of True and False

Nagasaki Motoyo has always regarded this new band she founded as an intermediate link in rebuilding CRYCHIC.

Therefore, she was always careful to avoid it leaving too many traces in her heart.

At the beginning, there were only Aine and Akie who were recruited simply to stabilize the light.

They are like training wheels on a bicycle; they can be discarded when they have fulfilled their purpose; but there is no harm in keeping them.

But... things began to deviate more and more from Su Shi's original idea.

The relationship between Aine and Tomo, Rakuna's sudden appearance, and everything Akie did for this band...

This new band, which has not even had a name yet, has gradually begun to be tinged with its own unique color.

Moreover, there was no place reserved for Toyokawa Shoko in this new band.

The so-called "worst case scenario" mentioned by Qiu Hui suddenly emerged in Su Shi's mind.

If Xiaoxiang really...

Then, maybe I can consider continuing to be a member of the "new band"...

……no!

Only this, absolutely... no.

I hope Xiaoxiang can come back. I hope CRYCHIC can come back.

Only this point... I...

Su Shi may not have really realized this yet. But now, she has been forced into a dead end with no way out by her own paranoia.

Even if she did feel the pull from the new band to some extent, she could only ignore it.

Otherwise, she would fall into a state of self-collapse due to the contradiction between her thoughts and actions.

I...I must...

At this moment, Aine's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.

"Senior! This time, please, Xiao Deng and Su Shi, command me!"

The watermelon hitting game entered the second round, and now Aine became the new baton holder. She was now selecting new partners with a smile on her face.

"The three of you should discuss it in advance and decide which two will tell the truth and which one will lie!"

It seemed that Aine used the gap between the rotations to come up with a new rule of the game.

"In this way, I have to first determine which person's statement is inconsistent with the other two, and then ignore the wrong instructions! For a watermelon-smashing master like me, this is challenging enough!" She showed a proud expression.

“Aine, is this really okay?” Deng seemed a little uneasy about this arrangement.

“It’s okay!” Aine smiled confidently, “Besides, even if I can’t hit the watermelon, I don’t think it matters. After all, the important thing is the process of trying!”

This statement seemed to create some strange empathy with the lamp.

"In that case," Akie called Suyo and Deng over, and then whispered, "Let's decide who is lying, shall we?"

"Let me do it."

The discussion was ended by Su Shi before it even started.

She was smiling and seemed unusually positive about the role.

"If Su Shi thinks it's appropriate, then let's decide it." Qiu Hui nodded.

Thus, the second round of the watermelon hitting game officially began.

At this moment, Aine was standing with her back to the watermelon.

“Behind her! Turn around… ah, over, over! Turn a little further to your left!” Akie instructed. In order to avoid accidentally saying the wrong thing, she went around behind Aine while speaking, so that the difference between the front and the back would not cause her to accidentally give the wrong direction.