Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

Ryo looked at a girl with long flaxen hair who was walking towards the cafe behind Akie.

"You could say that." Qiu Hui sighed.

She suddenly had a bad feeling.

No matter what Su Shi and Xiangzi want to talk about, perhaps the result will not be very good.

After a brief greeting, Qiu Hui temporarily said goodbye to the three people and followed Su Shi.

Everyone who had ended the band also began to discuss the matter.

"That bass player seemed like a nice guy," Ryo sighed, "but now he looks like he's been dumped. What happened?"

"Well, there are all kinds of relationship disputes in the band, right?" Nijixia smiled, "If it's Akie-chan, I feel like I won't be able to suppress my urge to help."

"Akie..." Ichiri looked at Akie's back with a resentful look, "...you're really popular."

"But, after all, that's the private matter of other bands." Hong Xia said, "It's better for us not to get involved, okay?"

"Such an interesting thing... ahem, I mean, as long as it's related to Qiu Hui, it's related to me." Liang said sternly, and then followed secretly as if he had no choice.

"Me too..." Goto Ichiri also nodded vigorously and followed behind Ryo.

"Hey! You two! Seriously..."

Helpless, Hongxia had to follow them.

And behind them at this moment, there was a trio consisting of Aine, Riki and Deng.

……

A cafe attached to RiNG.

Toyokawa Shoko, who had been waiting here for a long time, stood up, looked at Su Shi who was rushing over with a gloomy face.

Su Shi, who saw Xiangzi with her own eyes, smiled for a moment, but when she saw the expression on Xiangzi's face, the smile froze in an instant.

Although there were still traces of tears on her face that had not been completely wiped away, Toyokawa Shoko was forcing herself to put on a calm and ruthless expression at this moment.

"Su Shi, you're here." She said in a businesslike tone.

Although her attitude seemed so distant, in Su Shi's eyes, such an attitude obviously could not be regarded as a clear rejection.

Yes, that means there is still hope for me...

Su Shi, who has never thought about what to do after failure, can only try his best to capture all possible positive signals, while constantly resonating and amplifying them in his brain to comfort his fragile and uneasy heart.

"Xiao Xiang... I'm sorry! I didn't mean to play Kasuga Kage! I know how important this song is to Xiao Xiang, so this song was not originally in our plan..."

"Sushi, wait a moment."

Xiangzi interrupted Su Shi's apology coldly.

“…Huh?”

"Now is not the time to discuss this..."

Xiangzi closed his eyes, clenched his fists slightly, and forced himself to calm down at least on the surface.

"…We'll talk when Akie comes."

She said in a forced calm tone.

Chapter 95: Qiu Hui is caught in the middle

Qiu Hui?

Why mention Qiu Hui?

Although it is possible that Qiu Hui had met Xiao Xiang and knew her...

But, is the relationship between them close enough to call each other by their names?

Moreover, we have to wait until Qiu Hui arrives before we can talk?

The next thing we want to talk about is how Xiaoxiang can return to the band, right?

No matter what, Senior Akihime is just a support staff, why must she be present for the discussion?

"Why?" Su Shi asked subconsciously, "This is a matter between Xiaoxiang and me..."

"What happened between you and me?" Xiangzi sneered and shook his head. "At this point, do you still think so?"

Until a moment ago, she was immersed in the complex emotions of witnessing Deng's growth and realizing that she was no longer needed. But at this moment, she felt an urge to almost laugh out loud because of the absurdity of Yi Shi's remarks.

Now, Deng has finally found a partner who can guide her forward...

...I have been thinking about this since a while ago. But Su Shi, what are you doing now?

“I… No, that’s not the case! I…”

Su Shi realized that she had made a mistake and tried hard to make up for it. She thought she had prepared her lines carefully, but they were vulnerable in the face of the unexpected incident.

At this moment, Xiangzi made her feel more terrified than ever before.

It's not like she hasn't been rejected before, nor has she never received a bad attitude from the other party...

But think about it carefully, if the person who was glaring at you is now laughing, is this really a good thing?

Just when Su Shi was at a loss, a turning point appeared in an unexpected place.

"…Shoko-san."

Qiu Hui seemed to have just finished dealing with something and hurried to the two of them.

Her eyes quickly swept over Su Shi who was out of control, Mu who had been shrinking in the corner because he felt he had no say, and finally stopped on Xiangzi who was sneering.

"The matter of Kasuga Kage..."

"Cough, cough, um!" Xiangzi suddenly started coughing violently, and his face became gloomy.

The cold and slightly sarcastic smile on her face disappeared hastily the moment her eyes met Qiu Hui's.

She was trying to change her expression in such a hurry that she failed to coordinate properly, resulting in an awkward half-smile.

“…I know.”

Giving up on her futile efforts, she simply turned around and turned her face away to avoid being seen by Qiu Hui.

"You don't have to explain this to me."

"Well, since Xiangzi-san said there's no need to explain, let's leave it alone for now."

Qiu Hui sighed and came between the two of them.

In fact, her mind was a mess right now.

Rakuna suddenly started playing Kasuga Shadow, which caused such a great mental shock to Shoko, and Shoko's hesitation in turn made Su Shi nervous and uneasy. This series of chain reactions was beyond everyone's expectations, including her own.

No matter what Su Shi and Xiangzi are going to talk about next, it is probably unlikely that they will come to a conclusion under the current circumstances.

"However, Su Shi seems very flustered right now, so I'm afraid she won't be able to have a good conversation. I think we should calm her down a bit and let her calm down a bit, and then we can talk about what you agreed to talk about, how about that?"

After a brief period of deliberation, Qiu Hui finally said these words.

When Xiangzi saw me just now, his expression looked quite unnatural... Was it because he was trying to hide something from me?

She suddenly left the audience crying in the middle of the performance, which must have been a great mental blow.

Moreover, from what I have seen during the time I have been with her, she has always cared a lot about her image and doesn't want others to see her misbehavior.

Well, if I tell her to "calm down", it might just make her even more uneasy.

"...Yeah. Sushi, it's time to calm down."

Xiangzi turned his back to everyone and spoke in a forced cold tone.

"that……"

"Wakaba-san, what's wrong?"

Noticing that Mu, who had been silent from the beginning, suddenly showed a desire to communicate, Qiu Hui went straight up to him.

Wakaba came with Xiangzi as the former CRYCHIC guitarist. Since Su Shi wanted to talk to Xiangzi about the band, Wakaba's opinion was naturally of reference value.

Based on the above general judgment, Qiu Hui decided to listen to Mu's thoughts.

"I……"

There was a flash of panic in Mu's eyes. She seemed not to be used to receiving such immediate feedback from others.

"I think... if we want to talk about this, it would be better... to go somewhere else?"

Mu looked worried, and spoke in a low voice while paying attention to somewhere behind everyone.

"Mu is right." Xiangzi, who had his back to everyone, agreed, "Let's go find an empty space nearby. There are so many people coming and going in RiNG..."

She sighed.

“…Not appropriate.”

So, Su Shi, Xiangzi, Qiu Hui and Mu, the four of them left RiNG in silence, and began to look for a suitable place to talk under Xiangzi's guidance.

Xiangzi walked in the front, followed by Mu, while Su Shi and Qiu Hui walked in the back row together.

For some reason, Qiu Hui always felt like someone was following them.

But there were more important things to worry about right now, so she didn't have the energy to pay too much attention to these details.

"Suyo..."

She turned to look at Su Shi beside her. She wanted to say something to her, but she didn't know how to start.

The outcome of this negotiation was actually a done deal. After all, Xiangzi had emphasized to me countless times that he would never return to that band.

"…Don't be too nervous."

Not knowing how to start the conversation but feeling that she had to say something, Qiu Hui had no choice but to use this very general consolation as her opening remark.

"Mr. Suyo told me, right? You want Mr. Xiangzi to come back for the better development of the band. If you can think carefully from this starting point..."

Qiu Hui knew that Su Shi's chances of success were very slim, but standing on a neutral stance, she still did not want to persuade anyone to change their original attitude.

Therefore, she is still standing on Su Shi's side and providing her with advice...

...But what she didn't expect was that Nagasaki Motoyo's response to her was a completely cold face without even a fake smile.

"Akie-senpai."

She interrupted Qiu Hui ruthlessly.

"How much do you know about Xiaoxiang?"

"What kind of relationship do you have with Xiaoxiang?"

"She even thought of calling you when she encountered something like this... Your relationship with her should be close enough that she knows everything, right?"

"Then why?"

"Why are you still playing dumb in front of me?"

"Why are you still pretending to care about me?"

Su Shi's sharp and even highly aggressive response caused Qiu Hui, who was still thinking about how to save the situation the second before, to suddenly lose consciousness.

……what?

"Pretend" to care about her?

"Moshi..." Akie's tone was a little distorted due to excessive shock, "...Why do you think so?"

Chapter 96 I'm Willing to Do Anything

Akie is shocked by Suyo's reaction.

It wasn't a reaction of feeling betrayed or hurt, but simply a technical incomprehension of why Su Shi would think that way.

Why does she think I'm "pretending" to care about her?

Since she thinks I'm pretending, does that mean she thinks I'm in an enemy position towards her?

Qiu Hui couldn't figure it out for a moment, so she could only remain silent for the time being and wait for Su Shi's subsequent remarks.

"You and Xiao Xiang are already so close... why are you pretending that you don't know her in front of me?"