Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

A large group of ten people, including four parties involved and six onlookers, came to the open space that looked like a park.

It was late at night and the street lights had just been turned on. You could see clearly where the lights were, but where the lights were not, it was better for onlookers to hide.

Because it is a park, there are naturally green belts including trees and bushes.

"There's some grass here, can we hide in there?" Yili suggested.

"You can also hide behind a tree." Ryo nodded in agreement, "It's a pity there's no camouflage. This would make the camouflage more effective."

"There's no need for that..." Hong Xia sighed, "...Why would I follow you guys and do something like this?"

The three of them each found suitable bushes and trees, hid there, and prepared to observe the actions of Qiu Hui and her group.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Aiyin and the others also found their own positions.

"Let's choose here."

Xiangzi turned around and instantly attracted the attention of everyone in the grass.

"Xiao Xiang..."

Looking at Suze's completely inappropriate expression, Chihaya Aine felt particularly uneasy.

Su Shi...how did it become like this?

Was the incident with Kasuga Kage really such a big shock to her?

Chapter 98 Meddlesome

Chihaya Aine was already feeling uneasy.

And her uneasy premonition was soon fulfilled.

Hiding behind a low bush, she and her bandmates witnessed the confrontation between Su Shi and Xiangzi.

The topic started with Kasuga Kage and gradually shifted to CRYCHIC, and the tension in Xiangzi's words became stronger and stronger.

They heard Xiangzi angrily denounce Su Shi's wishful thinking, and criticized her for having an awareness not even as good as that of a supporting musician.

Then the supporting musician himself was heard to stand up and analyze Su Shi's thoughts in a way that everyone was familiar with. He then stepped back with a pale face and stood aside with a lost look on his face.

senior……

Aine felt a pang in her heart at Akie's bad complexion and confused look. She didn't even have time to care about Akie's analysis itself, or the fact that she herself was also a member of the group that Su Shi regarded as an outsider.

But the current situation did not leave her much time to feel sad.

Because she caught a glimpse of Li Xi's movements from the corner of her eye - she clenched her fists, stood up straight, and seemed to be about to rush out of the bushes in the next second -

"Rikki! Calm down!"

Aiyin stood up quickly, exerting strength that she herself didn't know where it came from, and actually pushed Riki back into the bushes.

“Aine, what are you doing?”

"Rikki, what are you doing? If we rush out now, the situation will get out of control! Besides, we followed them here secretly, how can we rush out like this?"

Although Aine was still a little confused about the situation, at least from the perspective of social common sense, rushing out now was absolutely not an option!

“Aine… do you have any idea about Suyo?”

Li Xi was so angry that his veins were almost exposed. His face, which usually looked like a graceful beauty without any expression, now looked like an angry King Kong statue.

“You heard what Akie said, right? You and the stray cat are both outsiders, both being used as tools to revive CRYCHIC… It’s a pity that you, as the person involved, can still sit still!”

“Well, although, although Senior did say that… I think there must be some misunderstandings here, right?” Aine lowered her voice and defended, “Because of Kasuga Kage’s incident, Motoyo and Shoko-san were both deeply hurt; and Senior became nervous and uneasy because of their incident…”

"...Deng, what do you think?"

Aine turned her head in an upset mood and looked at Deng who had remained silent beside her.

In fact, Aine didn’t have much confidence in her own judgment.

She didn't hear the conversation between Su Shi and Xiangzi, nor Akie's analysis very carefully, and she was still troubled by Akie's current emotions and her relationship with other people.

So she subconsciously thought that maybe she could ask Xiao Deng for her opinion.

"Suyo..."

Deng never dared to draw a firm conclusion.

"...I believe she has no ill intentions. But sometimes...I don't know what she is thinking."

As the three of them were arguing, time passed quietly.

When Lixi realized this, she also realized something terrible: when everyone was arguing, they had missed a lot of the content of the conversation!

"Stop arguing for now and pay more attention to Su Shi... huh?"

When she turned her head, she happened to see a scene that made her pupils shocked.

Sushi knelt down.

To Toyokawa Shoko.

“Ah.” Aine was startled.

"..." Deng said nothing.

"..."

Everyone was silent.

He watched Xiangzi leave in silence, and watched Su Shi kneeling there, motionless.

silence.

Then, he watched in silence as Qiu Hui walked towards Su Shi who was kneeling on the ground and stretched out her hand to her.

……

"……Do not touch me."

Su Shi made a sound as thin as a mosquito's buzz.

The words were imperative, but the tone was almost begging.

Or, even further. Qiu Hui had a feeling: the voice that Su Shi made at this moment sounded like some kind of mechanical reminder sound. The part of her own voice was so thin that it was almost impossible to distinguish.

"Then can you get up by yourself?"

Su Shi refused to answer.

"Then, how about letting Wakaba-san help you?" Akihime gave the next alternative plan.

"Do not touch me."

The results were completely consistent.

If Ye Mu continued to stand there, motionless, looking at Su Shi and Qiu Hui beside her, there was an expression in his eyes that he didn't know whether to consider it sadness or something else.

"But... I can't just leave you here forever." Qiu Hui sighed, "You are... the bassist of 'that band', and you are also my employer. Even if it's just from a professional ethics point of view, I have an obligation to help you."

"No one... asked you to do this..."

As soon as he said this, Su Shi regretted it and quickly shut his mouth.

She herself had just been told this by Toyokawa Shoko who had just passed away.

"Yeah." A pale Qiu Hui smiled bitterly, "No one asked me to do this."

“No one asked me to help Deng resolve her worries, no one asked me to care about the stray cats, no one asked me to worry about Aine’s depression… I am a paid support musician, my job is just to play the keyboard, and in fact, my job is already over.”

"But……"

She let out a meaningful sigh, and at the same time reached out and forcefully embraced Su Shi's body.

"Wait a minute, what are you going to do?"

Su Shi let out a weak scream.

"…I'll help you change your position."

Qiu Hui hugged Su Shi around the waist and tried to lift her up... but she didn't lift her up. This was because Qiu Hui's physical strength was not that good.

However, this action still triggered Su Shi's instinct, causing her to start moving consciously for some reason, and finally she ended up sitting on the ground.

Then, Qiu Hui took out a pack of tissues from her pocket.

“…It’s all bleeding.”

She pulled out a piece of paper and gently wiped the wound on Su Shi's knee that was scratched by his rash kneeling, wiping away the blood and sand together.

"If the light was on, I should be able to get out a Band-Aid or something, but unfortunately I only have tissues... Don't move."

Su Shi, who was feeling a little dizzy due to the sudden change of posture, looked drowsily at Qiu Hui who was helping him clean the wound on his knee.

Mu, who was not far away, widened his eyes and watched all this in silence.

“What… are you doing?”

Su Shi asked weakly.

"have a finger in the pie."

Having finished the work at hand, Akie replied expressionlessly.

"...Or rather, completing the additional workload."

"Moshi, can you... explain it to me again? About CRYCHIC, about you and Xiangzi, about the new band..."

Qiu Hui's expression was more serious than ever before.

"And what about using us?"

Chapter 99: The world is about to break down

Su Shi sat on the ground, saying nothing.

She really looked like she didn't want to explain anything, and it seemed like she didn't even want to move her lips.

If it weren't for Qiu Hui's intervention, she might not even be willing to change her kneeling position. With the dark night as the background, she would continue to exist like this until an unknown time, like a religious painting depicting a pious penitent.

Having said that, whether she was repenting or thinking about something else, Qiu Hui had no way of knowing.

Since she really didn't want to speak, Qiu Hui didn't intend to force it.

She just continued with her work, carefully wiping away the sand and blood stains around Su Shi's knees.

After the confrontation between Su Shi and Xiangzi just now, Qiu Hui already had a general understanding of her thoughts.

She invited us to join the band because she was impressed by my relationship with Aine and Touma.

Aiyin wanted to be the lead guitarist, and this position had nothing to do with Xiangzi; but Xiangzi and I were both keyboardists, so they didn't give me the status of a formal member, but instead paid me to be a supporting member.

To be honest, if it weren't for the planning of this supporting musician, Akie would never have been able to join Aine's band.

Therefore, even though she was used as a pure prop, Qiu Hui did not feel too dissatisfied. After all, judging from the results, this arrangement did meet her needs.

"Su Shi, even though you did this, I personally won't blame you."

Qiu Hui spoke slowly while helping Su Shi clean the wound.

"You made it clear to me at the beginning about the conditions for supporting the musicians, and I accepted them. So you don't owe me anything, and you might as well feel more at ease when you accept my help."

Qiu Hui's face was calm and her tone seemed like she was talking to herself. She didn't seem to care whether Su Shi really listened to her or not.

Su Shi continued to respond with silence, with a hint of confusion between his brows.

She felt like she wanted to thank him, she needed to apologize, she needed to speak, but she couldn't overcome the attraction between her lips.

"But...someone will blame you."

Qiu Hui paused for a moment.

“Aine, and Ryuna… No, actually everyone in that band. You should apologize to them.”

Yes, "that" band. Now Akie is no longer a supporting musician there.

Her expression was very serious, even cold and ruthless.

Her assertion was not compromised in the slightest. She was willing to take Su Shi's feelings into consideration, but not on this issue.