Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

“Ah! He ran away!” Aine said in surprise.

The female student fled from the sight of the three people without hesitation.

"Who ran away?" asked Deng, who hadn't figured out the situation yet.

“She’s a classmate I met in the music room before.” Aine sighed, “Actually, I tried to form a band with her, but I was rejected in the end.”

"Music room?" Deng seemed to have remembered something but wasn't sure.

"I seem to have seen this person somewhere..." Qiu Hui shook her head, "but I can't remember where."

It was probably not an important occasion, so I can’t remember it clearly.

“Why did you run away all of a sudden?” Aine sighed, “But, this is not something we should be concerned about.”

Qiu Hui also nodded helplessly.

Well, since I didn’t remember it at all, it means it’s not important!

Chapter 70: House Girl Business

Togawa Aie spent the afternoon in a state of half sleep and half wakefulness.

Now, class time can be considered a rare relaxation for her.

If this continues, the final exam will become very troublesome, right?

Although she had this thought, Qiu Hui still had no intention of attending the class seriously.

She spent the afternoon class time thinking about questions like "What if I named the protagonist A 'Ayumi'?"

After school, Qiu Hui naturally went straight to STARRY.

On the tram, she received a new message from her editor.

In addition to following the progress of the new work, Kasumi Shiko also gave a special reminder in the message: "It would be better to operate the social account of 'Akirako' more actively from now on."

"Does business mean posting more updates?"

“Yes. Now that account has basically never posted anything except information about your work, right? Now you can try to post some content related to your daily life. Of course, it would be best if it can hint that you are preparing to play in a band.”

"I see. So, is there anything I should be careful about in terms of my appearance?"

"That's not necessary." Kasumi Shiko replied decisively, "On the one hand, it's not a big deal if you appear without makeup; on the other hand, being a little 'untidy' can help create a different personality."

Personality?

When she saw this word, Qiu Hui felt as if she understood something.

"I understand. She doesn't care about her appearance, she's into otaku entertainment, and although she's decadent and dark, she's unreasonably good-looking. In short, she's trying to create a low-distance image with the audience, like an anime character?"... This feeling of "If I could meet her, I might be able to win her over with my rich otaku experience and asshole-like personality." I understand.

"What a brilliant summary." Kasumi Shiko replied, "Since you understand it so well, there's no need for me to waste my words. Ah, by the way, you must be very busy with work recently, right?"

"It's been busy, in many ways."

"While I personally hope that you can take good care of yourself, there is still one thing I want to remind you of: if you feel that you don't look good recently, don't try to hide it. It's okay to show it directly in your updates."

"Why? Won't it affect your image?"

"If you look bad, you'll give people the impression that you're working hard, and the clumsiness of not knowing how to cover it up will also add to the character image you just described." Kasumi Shiko explained, "Also, it can arouse the sympathy of fans."

"What a subtle business method." Qiu Hui replied with a frown.

"So I'm just saying this, please don't do anything stupid like deliberately straining yourself for this effect."

The editor's reply made Qiu Hui burst into laughter.

Even if I don't push myself, I can still make my complexion worse. How about that, isn't it amazing?

"Ah, there's one more thing." Kasumi Shiko added, "After discussion at the library, considering the increase in your workload, we decided to give you an extra subsidy. It's probably been transferred to your account now, so please check it in time."

Qiu Hui's pupils trembled.

She opened the payment app and checked the incoming bill. The number on it almost made her drop her balance.

Great, I declare that I will reconcile with Shenming Library until this money is spent!

"Thank you so much! This means a lot to me!"

"Don't be so quick to thank me." Kasumi Shiko pointed out the problem. "This money is an investment made in advance considering the possible commercial value of the band's business in the future. So, you should also be prepared to be under pressure in this regard."

"I know." Akie replied with a smile.

The "pressure" on the band side has long been as much as it can be.

After the train arrived at the station, Qiu Hui got off and came to the entrance of STARRY.

I took out my cell phone and casually took a photo of the stairs and the shop sign.

"The atmosphere was surprisingly good."

Accompanied by this somewhat nonsensical text, Qiu Hui casually posted this photo on her social network account.

As for how it will be interpreted by followers, that is none of my business.

The most important thing now is to continue practicing in order to successfully carry out the first stage performance.

After arriving at the store and briefly greeting everyone, Qiu Hui began today's practice.

After deciding on the direction and goal, practice becomes an extremely boring process with little change.

Even if you can't see any progress at all, or even feel that it's worse than before, you can only repeat it over and over again. There is no other way.

After all the members arrived, everyone in the band started the scheduled ensemble training.

Once, twice, and then a third time. All we can do is continue to hope that the so-called "tacit understanding" can emerge accidentally from this repetition.

……

at the same time.

The gate of Hanegaoka Girls' College.

The time for club activities is coming to an end, and more and more students are preparing to leave school.

At this time, a thin figure standing at the school gate attracted the attention of many students passing by the school gate.

"Eh? Isn't that Tsuki no Mori's school uniform?"

"It must be that legendary school for young ladies, so cool!"

"She's really beautiful, just like a doll!"

Standing at the gate of Yugaoka School, the female student Yue Minomori ignored the discussions of others and just stared in the direction of the teaching building, waiting for her only goal to appear.

"By the way, this child seems to be the daughter of the 'Wakaba' family, right?"

"Not good! I heard her mother is a superstar!"

"As expected of you being a student of Tsuki no Mori, I'm so envious just thinking about it!"

The girl called "Ruoye" had a calm expression as always. She ignored the envy of others and just waited silently for the person she was waiting for.

A figure walking out of the main entrance made her eyes twitch slightly.

"...Xiang." She spoke as if she was calling someone, but also as if she was talking to herself.

Across the entire school square, her whisper obviously could not be heard by the other party.

However, she could feel that the other party had also noticed her standing at the main entrance.

The other party, the blue-haired girl with a headband called "Xiang", gritted her teeth and trotted towards her.

"..."

Toyokawa Shoko was in a very bad mood at the moment.

Since lunch break, she has been meeting people she doesn't want to meet.

The first one was the student named Yugaoka whom I met at the convenience store... That guy undoubtedly saw how embarrassed I was when I was rushing to buy expired products.

Unexpectedly, misfortunes never come singly. The person who came with that guy turned out to be...

Xiangzi felt a phantom pain in his chest.

Fortunately, she probably...didn’t see me.

In any case, I don't want to meet her at this time.

It was bad enough to meet her, but I didn't expect that she would meet me in the afternoon after school...

...Why did even "Mu" appear here?

Chapter 71: Undercurrent on the Other Side

Shoko quickened his pace and ran past the Tsukinomori student named "Mu" as if he was just a stranger with whom he had nothing to do.

Mu's expression remained unchanged. She quietly watched Xiangzi run for a distance, and then followed him at a trot.

After running to a place far away from the school gate, Xiangzi slowed down and stopped.

She turned around and looked anxiously at Mu who was following her.

"Mu!" Xiangzi panted and came to Mu, "Why did you come to Yuqiu?"

"…Because, you never replied." Mu's expression didn't change much.

"Then you shouldn't have been so conspicuous..."

Xiangzi shook his head vigorously and his expression turned gloomy.

She seemed to have thought of a possibility, so after a brief pause, she asked the question again.

"...Did Sushi ask you to come here?"

Her tone was cold to below zero.

"..." Mu said nothing.

But in fact, it is equivalent to default.

"…I'm sorry." Xiangzi sighed, "I was a little too excited just now."

She then looked around, as if to make sure there was no one she knew nearby.

"Let's find a place to sit down and talk," Xiangzi suggested, "... let's go to the usual store."

……

Hanezawa Cafe.

"…It tastes good."

With mixed feelings, Xiangzi stared at the deep red, rich liquid in front of him that exuded the aroma of tea.

A long-missed taste.

She raised her head and looked at Mu in front of her.

The latter looked down at the table like a child who had done something wrong.

"Why do you want to do something so conspicuous? If someone notices you..."

"…Because Su Shi is worried about you." Mu said in a low voice.

"Su Shi?" Xiangzi's face showed a trace of disgust, "What is her plan? Mu, can you tell her that you didn't see me this time?"

"..." Mu said nothing.

But Xiangzi could feel that her attitude this time was a silent rejection.

"That's right." Xiangzi sighed, "It's impossible for Mu to lie like that."

She put down the teacup in her hand and said seriously, "Even so, Mu, you can't always be a mouthpiece for others. What Nagasaki Suyo plans is her own business. It has nothing to do with Mu, right?"

"..." Mu still said nothing and continued to maintain the submissive attitude of a child being taught a lesson by his elders.

Seeing Mu's lowered eyebrows, Xiangzi felt reluctant to continue talking.