Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

“…Thank you for your help.” Akiie solemnly handed the menu back to Aine.

"I'm not sure what your taste is like, so if you have any dietary restrictions, please let me know in advance."

"It's okay, just order whatever you think is appropriate... I have no objection."

Qiu Hui even felt a little touched at this moment.

The other party cleverly shifted the focus of the conversation away from the embarrassing topic of "price".

What a gentle person...

The waiter handed Aine a menu, and she quickly ordered the dishes with the ease of a regular customer, and handed the menu back to the waiter.

"Do you come here often?" Qiu Hui asked.

"This is my third time here today."

"Only your third time? You seem like a regular customer the way you order food."

“Because I’ve referred to posts by food bloggers before… ah, that’s right!”

Aine took out her cell phone and moved slightly to the side of her seat.

"Sure enough, we should take a picture together at this time. Can you come over and sit over here, senpai?"

"Eh?" Qiu Hui was a little confused, "You want to take a photo with me?"

“Yeah!” Aine nodded as a matter of course, “Since we’re here, wouldn’t it be weird if we don’t take a picture?”

"I don't have this habit..."

Although she said this, Akie still stood up honestly and walked over to Aine.

The other party seems to be in high spirits, so I shouldn't act too negatively, right?

"Let me make it clear in advance that I'm not very photogenic..."

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Aine said confidently, “I’ll use my superb photography skills to handle this!”

She turned on the camera and switched it to front mode. She held the phone high in one hand, and with the other hand she naturally put her arm around Qiu Hui and made a V sign on her shoulder.

"Are you going to shoot?"

“Ah! Um, I’ll adjust my expression a bit…”

"Three, two, one, yeah!"

Aiyin pressed the shutter button, and the picture on the phone froze instantly.

"It looks good! Let's take a few more pictures. Can you make some gestures, senpai?"

"I'm not used to it..."

"It's okay if you don't do it, just raise the corners of your mouth a little more. Three..."

Carried away by Aine’s passion, Akiie saw herself in the picture taken with the front camera for the first time in a long time.

"Well, that's fine... Which one do you think is the best, Senior?"

Aiyin displayed several photos that she had just taken in a loop.

To be honest, Qiu Hui felt that she didn't see the difference at all.

“They all feel the same.” She looked at her gloomy face on the screen, “Only the last one is quite different… but I smiled too deliberately here, which makes people feel scary instead.”

The corners of his mouth seemed to be pulled up and nailed tightly, making people feel that he was either being threatened with a gun, or he was playing a role in a horror movie specifically used to make the atmosphere creepy.

“…Indeed.” Even Aine had to accept this.

“If you force yourself to smile, you’ll end up like this,” Qiu Hui sighed. “So, when I take photos, I usually keep a blank expression.”

“Really? It feels a bit shameful… Then I’ll choose this one!” Aine picked out the one in which she smiled the best.

Looking at this selected photo, Qiu Hui suddenly had a question: "Has this photo been automatically processed? Beautify it or something like that?"

I look much better in the photo than in real life.

“Indeed, it does. Generally speaking, all mobile phones nowadays have this function, right?” Aine asked, “And it can be processed manually afterwards! As for you, Senpai, it can become very cute with just a little processing!”

Having said that, she put down her phone temporarily, and looked at Qiu Hui's face carefully as if she was investigating something.

"Hmm..." She frowned slightly. "Come to think of it, Senior does not look very well. I guess you don't take care of yourself very often, right?"

"I don't have that much free time." Qiu Hui didn't say much, just shook her head.

Aine stared at Aki’e’s rather haggard face, who was wearing glasses, for a while.

"Actually, I just happen to know a very good beauty blogger! Although she covers brands of all grades, her series on 100-yen store cosmetics is the most unique. I think you might be able to use it, so I'll forward it to you first?"

"...Thank you very much." Akie nodded.

Makeup…I don’t really want to bother with that kind of thing.

Even when the time comes that you need to show up in public, the library will send someone to take care of things like image management.

As for Aine, we are not even in the same grade...

"I feel like you've taken great care of me." Qiu Hui was a little nervous as she tried to find her words. "I'm a little embarrassed..."

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it!” Aine said with a smile, “But Senior, even though he already has a band, he still agreed to come to my place to support me. I’m the one who should feel embarrassed!”

"..."

Qiu Hui felt a little ashamed and didn't dare to look the other person in the eye.

Chapter 66: Light and Shadow

Chihaya Aine thanked her for supporting the keyboard player.

To be honest, it was hard for Akie to feel truly happy about this matter.

Nagasaki's motivation for forming that new band doesn't seem to be that pure.

The reason why I agreed to that suspicious request was actually for my own personal purposes.

After doing something that was purely selfish and may not necessarily benefit the other party, I really find it... difficult to accept the other party's gratitude calmly.

Chihaya Aine held her chin with one hand and looked at Akie who was emitting a depressed mood.

"Actually, I've felt this way since we first met." She suddenly said, "Senior, I always feel like you're a pretty... heavy person?"

"heavy?"

“I feel like Senpai is the type who thinks about a lot of things behind his back.” Aine confessed, “He always habitually doesn’t say enough when he speaks, and he often thinks about whether his opinions are appropriate. He also often apologizes for no apparent reason…”

The way the other party expressed it made Qiu Hui laugh uncontrollably.

“…Indeed.” She nodded. “If it were me, I probably wouldn’t dare to evaluate you, Aine, in such a straightforward way.”

“Because you’ll take my feelings as a listener and a party involved into consideration, right?” Aine chuckled.

"...Yeah. So, I often feel that some things are better left unsaid."

“I see… If you say that, it reminds me of the day we first met.”

"first?"

“After we chased each other out of the store, you said a lot of weird things to me.” Aine smiled as if she was deliberately teasing someone, “You won’t forget it, right?”

"...I will probably never forget such an embarrassing thing in the foreseeable future."

"To be honest, at that time, I did think that you were a weird person for thinking that way..."

"As expected, it left a bad impression on you, didn't it?"

"It's a little bit... But, think about it the other way around. If Senpai hadn't caught up with me and said those weird things..."

Aine leaned back on the chair and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"...Perhaps I have already forgotten this matter, and I won't remember this person anymore."

She turned around and looked at Qiu Hui.

“So I think there are some things that you should say even if you risk making a mistake.”

Chihaya Aine smiled.

"Because, if you don't speak it out, then no matter how heavy the feelings are, you will never be able to convey them to the other person, right?"

……

at the same time.

At the Goto family's dinner table.

"One mile?"

……

"elder sister?"

……

"Xiao Yili?"

“…Hmm? Ah? Wahhhh!”

Goto Ichiri suddenly realized that someone was calling him and suddenly woke up from his trance.

"Really? You've been distracted since just now..." Mrs. Goto shook her head helplessly, "Please concentrate on eating, okay?"

"I'm sorry..." Goto Ichiri lowered his head and shoveled rice into his mouth in revenge.

"It feels like Ichiri hasn't been in a good state all day." Goto-san was also a little concerned. "Is there something bothering you? Is it something going wrong at school? Or is it something about the band?"

"Nothing!" Goto Ichiri shook his head vigorously, "I don't have anything on my mind! Especially nothing to do with the band!"

Mrs. Goto looked at her daughter with a wry smile. This statement made her even more worried.

"Hey, onee-chan?" asked the adorable little sister, "Is this what is called puberty?"

"No way! Where did you learn such words from, Erli?!"

"Well, but..." Goto scratched his head, "Ichiri, have you really reached this stage? Is it related to your boyfriend's matter?"

"How, how, how is this possible! Boyfriend or something!" Hong Wenyi shook his head repeatedly.

"Ah, not a boyfriend... then..."

Mr. Goto's expression became a little complicated.

"Could it be... a girlfriend?"

“Isn’t this even more impossible? Why would you accept that it’s because of something like that?!”

"If that's not the case, what on earth was Ichiri thinking?" Mrs. Goto said with a smile to smooth things over.

"It's just..."

Yili wanted to defend herself, but she swallowed the words as soon as they came to her lips.

"……nothing."

In the end, I still responded in this perfunctory way.

"After all, we've reached this age..." Mr. Goto sighed, "Isn't it the stage where I can tell my family everything?"

Soon after.

After quickly finishing his meal, Goto Ichiri went upstairs alone and returned to his room.

Then she opened the closet door and went in.

The narrow and dark space calmed her mood a little.

Sure enough, this kind of environment is most suitable for me.

After all...it's just like Qiu Hui said.

I have the right to feel depressed.

A subtle feeling of happiness emerged in Yili's heart.