Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

The little girl bowed slightly in a serious manner, and her childish voice coupled with the serious lines made people laugh.

"Togawa-san, this is Niri," Mrs. Goto introduced. "She's Ichiri's younger sister."

"...I can tell from the name alone."

Erli's sister came forward and looked at Qiu Hui carefully.

Then, with an innocent smile, he said:

"Hey, are you the friend my sister hired?"

Hearing this, Qiu Hui almost spit out the drink in her mouth.

“…No, that’s not the case.” Akie explained, “We are from the same band…”

"Band! I know!" Erli smiled, "Then, how much is the appearance fee?"

"…We are not in that kind of relationship!"

"Eri, isn't this very rude?" Mrs. Goto lectured with a stern face.

She then turned around and said to Qiu Hui apologetically, "I'm sorry, Erli..."

"It's okay, it's okay." Qiu Hui waved her hand, "I don't mind. It's actually interesting that she knows a lot as a child."

"I know my sister very well!" Erli said happily.

"Okay, okay, let's go play with Jimmy Henry? Don't disturb Sister Togawa, okay?" Mrs. Goto said with a smile.

"Um... no!" Erli looked around, "I want to play with my sister!"

Qiu Hui stood up, bent down in front of Erli, and looked at him levelly.

"I'm sorry, but Ichiri has something important to talk to me about later. So listen to mom and go play with Jimmy Hen, okay?"

"……Oh well!"

Erli turned around and went to look for the puppy.

Looking at Erli's jogging back, Qiu Hui smiled and said, "...Sister. I'm the youngest in my family, so sometimes I think it would be nice to have a younger brother or sister - or something like that."

She paused and continued, "We were talking about the formation of the band just now, right? Actually..."

……

Goto-san lives in a very happy family.

After talking with the parents of the Goto family for a while, Togawa Akeie made this judgment.

The subconscious sense of restraint that had arisen when facing a strange adult quickly dissipated.

“…That’s great.” Goto-san nodded with emotion. “It seems that Ichiri’s companions are all quite reliable people.”

"There are some unreliable guys out there too," Akie said with a smile.

"Actually, I've been curious since a while ago. Why would Togawa, who studies in Haneda, run into Ichiri and the others?" asked Mrs. Goto.

"Well... actually I just wanted to find someone to form a band, so when I was looking for people to try my luck, I happened to meet Ijichi-san and Yamada-san from the band." Akie answered, "As for Goto-san, she was actually someone Ijichi-san happened to meet on the street."

"It's really a dramatic experience." Mrs. Goto laughed, "Ichiri is really something. He didn't even tell us about such a good thing beforehand..."

"Maybe she deliberately planned to wait for an opportunity like this to give you two a surprise." Qiu Hui covered her mouth and chuckled.

“She might really think so.”

Mrs. Goto raised her head slightly and looked in a certain direction upstairs.

"My son Ichiri has always been a child who thinks differently from the average person. Perhaps because of this, he is often misunderstood and ignored by others, and gradually develops an overly introverted personality."

Having said this, she looked at Qiu Hui with gratitude.

"It's great for her to meet someone as steady and gentle as Togawa-san. Please take care of our Ichiri from now on, okay?"

"I don't deserve it. I think I'm lucky to have met Goto-san..."

Qiu Hui lowered her head in fear.

"Perhaps it's because her way of thinking is different from that of ordinary people..."

...That's why it's so easy for you to treat me as a friend.

The second half of the sentence was not spoken.

At this moment, Goto's voice came from upstairs.

“…Akie! I’m almost done!”

"Oh, it looks like Ichiri is ready too." Mrs. Goto said, "Well, we adults won't bother you any more. After all, we still have band matters to deal with, right?"

"Well, I'll go up first then."

"Oh, by the way, Togawa-san said that he was planning to stay the night, right? Actually, we just happened to have a guest room prepared for this purpose... Although it was never put to use before, it can finally be put to use now."

"Thank you so much for bothering you two... Ah, there is one more thing." Akie added, "I will probably leave very early tomorrow. After all, this place is actually quite far from Hanegaoka."

On the one hand, considering the commuting time...

...On the other hand, if you get up early, you might be able to buy the last of yesterday's expiring items at the convenience store.

The discounts are usually quite impressive and it is an ideal choice for breakfast.

"Oh, we understand." Mrs. Goto smiled.

After saying goodbye to the Goto couple, Akie went upstairs and came to the door of Goto Ichiri's room.

She herself was already waiting there.

"Ah... um, Akie... this is my room." Goto Ichiri timidly opened the sliding door, "To be honest, it's quite boring in here... Please forgive me for the poor hospitality..."

Akihime stepped through the sliding door and what came into view was... an ordinary room.

There was nothing special about the furnishings or the way they were placed. The only thing worth noting was a sense of emptiness, as if it had been deliberately cleaned up.

"...Please do as you please. But please don't try to open that closet. There might be... well, anyway, that place is not suitable for public viewing, hehe."

Qiu Hui did not comment on the room, but sat down on the floor and got straight to the point.

"Let's continue, then? Let's continue discussing the lyrics."

Chapter 47 Lyrics

There wasn't much furniture in the room, which looked as if it had been deliberately cleaned.

Akie sat cross-legged on a cushion beside the low table in the center of the room.

Goto Ichiri brought paper and pen and spread them out on the low table. Then he wrote down the results of the previous discussion on the paper.

Akihé read the words she had already written and expressed her thoughts: "It doesn't feel like a beginning or an end. How about expanding on both sides with this sentence as the core?"

"Then let's start with the beginning." Goto also squatted down and stared at the lyrics manuscript on the table in distress. "Well, what is the most appropriate way to start a song?"

"There's a term called 'bixing' in Chinese poetry, and I think lyrics can probably be written this way," Qiu Hui suggested. "To put it simply, it means describing the scenery or other unrelated things at the beginning."

"Scenery..." Goto thought for a moment and said, "Come to think of it, it seems that many songs about depression start with scenes like rain. Can I write this way, too?"

"Why don't you just give it a try?"

"Well, then... 'Continuous heavy rain', 'Continuous drizzle'..."

Goto picked up the pen and pondered for a while in front of the white paper.

“…Is this okay?”

After a moment's hesitation, she wrote the words "It suddenly started to rain heavily" on the paper.

"Don't ask me if I can do it all the time." Qiu Hui shook her head. "It's okay to be a little confident in your own ideas."

After hearing what Akie said, Goto Ichiri didn't say anything more and continued writing on the paper.

"Ahh, I didn't bring an umbrella either. What a worry."

"How can I know the mood of the sky?"

After some scribbles and revisions, Goto Ichiri stumbled over the lyrics he wrote on the paper.

"...How is it?" she asked without any confidence.

"Hmm..." Akie thought, "The rain at the beginning could be a symbol of the external environment here. It changes randomly depending on the mood of the sky, so it's hard to tell whether to bring an umbrella or not, or how to respond."

"...Actually, I'm a little confused by what Akie said," Goto admitted.

"Sorry, sorry." Akie waved her hand. "If I can't resist the urge to make a long speech, it means that I think the lyrics are well written. I'm glad you think so, Pochi."

Goto nodded, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

However, her smile quickly disappeared as she pondered over the next moment.

Looking at the manuscript paper where she had just written a few sentences, she said with a worried look on her face: "What should I do after this? I feel like this is not going to work, and that is not going to work either..."

"My opinion is that since we have already turned the topic to the inner feelings of the protagonist of the lyrics, how about the next sentence be about looking at a certain problem from the protagonist's perspective?" Akiie suggested.

"A question...?"

Goto Ichiri thought for a moment and immediately made his choice.

"What kind of clothes should we wear at the turn of the season?"

Where have spring and autumn gone?

Akie looked at the lyrics and then looked at the sportswear that Goto Ichiri was wearing.

...Goto-san, you always wear the same sportswear, don't you? Why do you have trouble figuring out what to change into?

Although she had this thought, Qiu Hui did not say it out loud.

"Why did you think of the topic of 'changing clothes'?" She just asked.

Goto replied sheepishly, "...I can wear my own gym clothes, but after all, Kita-san is the lead singer of the band, right?"

“I felt that if it were her, she might be troubled by the problem of dressing in order to keep up with the fashion trends outside, so I tried to write it this way.”

“So you wrote the lyrics from the perspective of a lead singer.” Akie exclaimed, “That’s amazing.”

“No, no, this isn’t something that deserves praise…”

Goto Ichiri had an expression that said "Please praise me more", but he was still self-deprecating as usual.

The lyrics written on the manuscript paper are very similar to the two lines Goto wrote in STARRY. Aki said that all she needs to do next is try to connect the two.

What else would be better to add before these two sentences?

"Since we are expressing our feelings by changing clothes——"

Akie took the pen from Goto and added a few words to the lyrics she had written earlier.

"——Then let's continue to push the emotions forward in a direct and lyrical way."

After finishing writing, Qiu Hui drew a big arrow to connect the two paragraphs of lyrics.

"The pressure of the information age leaves no time to breathe"

"Where am I in this dizzy spiral?"

"Despite the sounds of so many breaths"

"It's strange that the world itself is so quiet"

So it became like this.

"Huh, does it feel like it's time to move on to the chorus now?" Qiu Hui asked.

"Huh?" Goto was a little nervous when asked, "Big, probably..."

Akie looked at the cowering Quan Affirmative Pochi and frowned slightly.

She's always like this. Every time I make a request, she takes a step forward.

Perhaps he was concerned about my perception and therefore did not dare to express his opinion freely.

I really want to say something like, "Pochi, you should have more of an independent opinion when it comes to writing lyrics. Don't always follow my lead, and don't think that denying my opinions is an offense to me."

But even if I said it, it would be useless, it would only increase the pressure she felt. So forget it.