Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

As Aiyin was talking, she felt a little unsure.

She lowered her head with a complicated expression, and unconsciously reached out her hand to gently fiddle with Qiu Hui's loose hair.

Although, now Su Shi intends to provide compensation for the senior's support activities there...

...But is it really a good idea to continue to increase the workload for my seniors on my own initiative?

I should ask Senpai about this after he wakes up, Aine thought.

"Hmm... don't move..." Qiu Hui suddenly let out a low grunt.

“Ah!” Aine was so frightened that she quickly pulled her hand back, “Senior, are you awake?”

Qiu Hui continued to lie on the table, and seemed to be talking in her sleep.

"Hmm, uh. Don't...really..."

Qiu Hui uttered fragmented sentences while she was sleeping.

At this time, Deng leaned down slightly and looked at Qiu Hui with some concern.

Aine also looked along with the light and noticed her curled up in pain. Was it a nightmare?

Akie seemed to be continuing to say something, but Aine could no longer understand what she was saying.

Those strange syllables and their combinations seem to belong to another language different from Japanese.

But even so, she could read the emotions conveyed by the syllables.

Is she really having a nightmare? Would it be better to wake her up...

"Ahhhhh!"

Qiu Hui jumped up from the table as if she had received an electric shock.

She looked around in confusion.

“The classroom… and then, Aine and… Takamatsu-san.”

Qiu Hui, who was sweating profusely, picked up her glasses from the table and put them on.

"What do you want to talk to me about? Do you want to have lunch together?"

Qiu Hui looked down at her schoolbag and smiled apologetically.

"I was too lazy to prepare anything today, so I only brought dry goods like biscuits. So..."

Unexpectedly, Takamatsu Deng was the first to speak timidly: "It has been decided that we will have a good talk with everyone in the band today. So, I hope that Akiie-senpai, you can also come..."

Her voice became smaller and smaller as she spoke, and she seemed quite unconfident.

"Is that so? That's great." Qiu Hui smiled. "I happen to have band practice today. I'll ask them if I can take a day off..."

Aine frowned at Akie’s response.

“What are you going to do if they don’t agree?” Aine asked.

"Then we can only go practice, right?" Akie answered as if it was a matter of course, "I also said that we should give priority to that..."

“No—no!” Aine suddenly raised her voice, “Senior, you must come this afternoon! No excuses are allowed! Just tell the people at the band that you need to take a leave this afternoon!”

"Huh? Why suddenly..." Qiu Hui was a little confused.

“Aine!” Deng anxiously tugged at the edge of Aine’s clothes, “You don’t have to force it, Akiie-senpai, it’s okay…”

“It’s not that it doesn’t matter! This is the important moment when Deng finally made up his mind, how can you be absent at this time?” Aine raised her head and stared at Akie with a determined look.

I feel like I can probably understand my senior’s personality now, she thought.

If I just asked her to take more rest and take care of her health, she would definitely agree with a smile and then turn a deaf ear to it!

You have to find a reason like this that she can't refuse, so that she has to put down her work!

"...That's right." Akie adjusted her glasses, looking a little embarrassed. "I understand. I won't ask for your opinions this time. I will just say that I can't come because of something. After all, it's just an ordinary practice, so I should..."

Seeing this, Aine finally breathed a sigh of relief.

My senior said yesterday that he was going for training...but what did he end up doing?

But no matter what he did, it is definitely unacceptable to sleep like this before lunch time!

She saw Qiu Hui take out her cell phone, send a message in the group chat, and then nodded with satisfaction.

"It's happily decided. See you at RiNG then!"

"...Yeah." Although Qiu Hui felt embarrassed, she still nodded.

The first performance is getting closer. Is it really okay to skip practice now?

But, since Aine and Takamatsu-san are so eager to invite me to go with them, it would not be good to refuse.

However, since Dengdu has already decided to communicate properly and is ready to join the band, why is it necessary to invite me over specifically?

How strange! I am just an insignificant supporting musician...

Qiu Hui, who had just woken up from a "nap", still felt a little dizzy.

She currently lacks a clear understanding of the situation she is facing.

Chapter 96: Surrounded by Concern

After school, inside the STARRY store.

"By the way, it was Akiie who took the initiative to say that she couldn't come today!" Nijixia exclaimed, "How rare!"

"Actually, she's helping out in a classmate's band right now," Ryo said. "She probably went there today, too."

"Really? That must be hard."

"She seems to be enjoying it, so maybe it's okay?" Ryo looked up at the ceiling.

Since Qiu Hui couldn't come due to some matters, the band's team practice that was supposed to end today was simply cancelled.

Therefore, the only two people left in STARRY now are Hongxia who already lives here, and Liang who comes here as usual to eat and drink for free.

"Well... But, to be honest. Although I might forget it accidentally during practice, if I take a short break like now..." Hong Xia sighed helplessly, "... I will realize how tired I am."

"That's right." Liang Shen nodded in agreement, "So I always adhere to the principle of 'paying attention to rest anytime, anywhere' during my activities."

"Don't talk about laziness as if it's some kind of strategy!"

On this afternoon when there was no practice scheduled, the two friends enjoyed a rare leisure time in the store.

Sitting on a high stool at the bar, Hong Xia swung her legs and asked, "By the way, when do you think the first performance will be scheduled?"

"Who knows." Liang replied nonchalantly, "Whenever you are ready, you can go."

"I think I might be able to pass my sister's examination soon..." Hong Xia held her chin with one hand, imagining the possible results, "But my sister is very strict. Maybe I need to work harder."

"Come to think of it, don't you think Akie is also very strict?" Ryo suddenly said, "Especially towards herself."

"Aki-e..." Hongxia nodded, "I do feel that way. After all, she joined our band as a celebrity, so does she have a mission?"

She put down her hand that was supporting her chin, stretched her body forward, and laid down on the bar table.

"Although I have thought about ending our band and going to the Budokan, releasing a record that sells well, and becoming a well-known band...but I never thought that this day would come so soon."

Hongxia, who was lying on the table, turned her head and looked at Liang who was sitting next to her.

“To be honest, I was worried about what to do if the tickets sold were not enough to pay for the performance,” she said. “But after Akie revealed her identity, I felt that… maybe after the first performance, we will suddenly become popular and become a hot topic on the Internet?”

"The forces behind Akie will definitely add fuel to the fire." Ryo nodded, "This is to be expected."

"As expected!" Hong Xia said with a smile, "I should thank her for this..."

"…But I guess she won't be able to accept your gratitude, Hongxia." Liang suddenly spoke very seriously.

Facing the puzzled Nijixia, she continued to explain, "The End is a band made up of everyone's personalities. It exists for fun. Akie, although she found this place by herself at first because of work needs, now she probably has some sense of identity with this place."

"Hmm. So what?"

"What impact will the intervention of commercial factors have on the end of the band, and how should she, as the primary person responsible for all of this, deal with it? I think she is probably thinking about such questions now." Liang said thoughtfully.

"Perhaps, Nijixia, you will see the power behind Akie as an opportunity; but I guess she herself may be more inclined to see those things as a hidden danger." Liang said seriously, "Because I think so too, so I can understand her point of view."

"So, Akie has been thinking about this kind of thing all along?" Hongxia was a little surprised, "No wonder. Xiao Kita also told me before that Akie..."

"Akie is trying hard to make her presence useful in ending the band."

Liang said with a serious look.

“So, I think… maybe we should do something and try to make the band a place where she can feel happy.”

Looking at the expression that almost never appeared on Liang's face, Hongxia seemed to have the illusion that "she no longer recognized the other person."

"Ryo, you actually say something so reasonable and gentle..."

“…After all, Akie promised to give me half of the money she earned from helping out in other bands. I will never forget such a great favor.”

"...Ryo, you bastard! I knew it!"

……

On the train, Aine was happily checking her phone.

Togawa Akie sat beside her, looking sleepy.

Gao Songdeng looked at her with concern, as if he was afraid that she would accidentally fall asleep and miss her stop.

"Anyway, I'm going to borrow your keyboard player today!"

Aiyin sent a message to the bassist of the band she had ended up meeting at RiNG. They had exchanged contact information in the studio before.

The other party quickly sent a reply: "It's nice to give that guy a break once in a while."

“That’s true. But I do care about it. Did you guys end up being a professional band that practices Spartanism?” Aine typed quickly, “When I saw my senior today, I was really shocked. It felt like I was trying too hard and was about to burn to ashes!”

"She's the only one who's spartan," Ryo replied. "She even decided to spend her entire day training."

"I see. It must be hard to form a band with a guy like that, right?"

"Indeed. After all, Akie doesn't know how to take care of herself. We will have to do it for her. As teammates, we will continue to work hard, and we also hope that you can be more generous in the compensation standards."

"I understand! Speaking of which, we're almost at the station, let's talk later!"

Aine smiled and put her phone away.

“Senior, don’t continue sleeping!” Aine patted Akie’s shoulder, “Let’s get off at the next stop!”

"...Ah? Oh. I see." Akie opened her eyes and shook her head vigorously. "Phew, it's okay. I feel like I'm almost awake now."

She stretched out her hand habitually and pressed hard a few times with her index finger around the temple.

She didn't know whether it was really effective or because of the placebo effect caused by long-term habit, but the resolution of the world in her eyes seemed to become much higher in an instant.

The train started to slow down, and both Touma and Aine stood up from their chairs.

"Senpai, stop sitting there. It's time to get off, okay?"

Facing the hand that Aine extended, Akie slowly reached out her hand and held it.

"……Um."

Although she was almost awake, Qiu Hui deliberately slowed down her movements to give the illusion that she was still in a daze.

...Because I'm a little greedy, I want to enjoy the feeling of being stared at by caring eyes a little longer.

Chapter 97 Prelude to the Meeting

The moment she stepped into the door of RiNG, Qiu Hui felt that she seemed to have perfectly recovered to her normal state.

Normal enough to think about things in the same way as usual

Now it seems that the amount of practice yesterday might have been a little too much, Qiu Hui thought.

Even if we consider efficiency alone, this kind of "effort" that will lead to serious errors in the state is unacceptable.

The short-term efficiency improvement is exchanged for long-term efficiency loss; even from an accounting perspective, this is a cost-effective move.

Sitting down in the cafe, Qiu Hui began to take some time to think about the subsequent training arrangements.

At present, it is unrealistic to complete a week's training on the rest day; should the time be shortened appropriately? Or should it be completed over several days...