Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

"How could that be possible!" Li Xi's face turned red with anxiety, "Deng obviously sang so well! The response after the performance was also great, wasn't it? Even Toyokawa Shoko herself praised your singing, didn't she?"

Shiina Riki unconsciously showed an aggressive and tough attitude.

But even so, in front of Lixi, the seemingly timid Deng never showed any sign of retreating.

"I think, that must be just to comfort me..."

The sound of the lamp seemed to have a slight tone of crying.

"Because Xiao Xiang is such a gentle person. So, even though she knew that I sang badly, she still encouraged me... Even when she was disappointed in me, she still claimed that it was her own problem when she withdrew..."

Deng's statement was completely beyond Shiina Riki's expectations.

"...So, Deng has always thought... like this?" Li Xi asked dully, "So after Xiangzi left, he never came to practice?"

Deng didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.

"Why would Deng think like that? It's obviously not your fault at all!"

Li Xi seemed to be so anxious that he was about to cry.

"Tomoe, do you like Toyokawa Shoko that much? It's obviously that girl's fault, but you would rather blame yourself than blame her?"

Li Xi's questioning seemed to make Deng even more frustrated.

"I'm sorry. My fault..."

The atmosphere seemed to be changing in a subtle direction.

Aine couldn't sit still anymore and interrupted their conversation, "Riki's attitude is so bad! This isn't communication anymore, it's more like a quarrel!"

Riki glared at Aine fiercely: "Don't interrupt me if you have no connection with me! You don't understand CRYCHIC!"

"Please, everyone please stop quarreling, okay?" Su Shi was a little anxious to smooth things over. "Xiao Deng, don't blame yourself so much. Xiao Li Xi, can you speak a little softer? After all, after what happened, it's a rare opportunity for everyone to get together..."

Qiu Hui, who was watching everything from the side, shook her head helplessly.

It's so rare for us to communicate together and it turned out like this... No wonder the band disbanded in the first place.

Chapter 99: Qiu Hui's famous reasoning

"Excuse me, can I ask a question?" Qiu Hui raised her hand and sought everyone's opinion.

The atmosphere between the four people gradually became tense, but under the influence of sudden external force, they temporarily returned to a relatively stable state.

Before he could adjust his expression, Riki turned around and asked, "...What do you want to ask, Togawa-senpai?"

Aine and Tomo also looked in Akie's direction.

Although Li Xi's view is "irrelevant people should not interrupt", Qiu Hui, as an irrelevant person, has become a buffering factor that prevents conflicts with everyone present.

Even Li Xi, who had the worst temper, seemed to maintain a pretty good attitude towards her for some reason.

"My question is..." Akie sorted out her thoughts a little, "First, the original keyboard player Toyokawa Shoko unclearly announced that she would quit the band. This was the cause of everything. Then, Takamatsu-san seemed to be hit hard by this and did not come to practice. This was the first consequence..."

After that, she asked, "...So, from the time Takamatsu-san didn't come to practice until CRYCHIC disbanded... in fact, it was almost disbanded, did anything else happen in between? What was the direct cause of the disbandment?"

Even if the band's founder quits, the remaining members may still be able to continue. This is Qiu Hui's view.

"...The most direct reason is that Xiao Deng, who was shocked, didn't come to practice." Su Shi sighed, "After all, if there is no lead singer, the rest of us don't know what to practice even if we want to continue."

"I've been waiting for the light, hoping she'll come back." Li Xi shook his head, "But..."

After hearing the two people's statements, Gao Songdeng clenched his fists slightly.

"I see... As expected, it's my fault that CRYCHIC disbanded." She said in tears, "Xiao Xiang left because I didn't sing well. After that, I left without permission, didn't dare to face everyone, and didn't even reply to messages, which made..."

“That’s not the case! This isn’t the fault of the lamp…”

Li Xi, who was originally planning to excuse Deng as usual, had his words stuck in his mouth as soon as they were about to leave.

It is an indisputable fact that we cannot practice after the lights go off.

Even for Li Xi, it seemed difficult to reasonably excuse Deng this time.

Her face turned red and she wanted to say something several times, but in the end she couldn't.

Looking at Deng who was about to cry, even Aine was at a loss for a moment. Apart from comforting Deng, she couldn't say anything new.

At this time, facing the chaotic situation, the bystander Akiie Togawa, standing on the standpoint of a bystander, came to a relatively calm conclusion without much personal feelings.

"Can I think that," she said to everyone, "the most direct reason for the band's disbandment was that Takamatsu-san chose to leave the band because he felt he couldn't face everyone?"

"…Maybe, in general, you can say that." Su Shi admitted reluctantly.

Li Xi wanted to say something, but finally nodded silently.

"Then let's discuss this further. The 'indirect cause' that led to this 'direct cause' was that Takamatsu-san didn't sing well... well, she 'thought' that she didn't sing well the song that Toyokawa Shoko wrote for her, which led to her quitting the band. Is that right? Takamatsu-san?"

"Don't be so harsh on the lights!" Li Xi was a little annoyed.

But Deng just nodded, indicating that he agreed with Qiu Hui's conclusion.

"Okay. Then, what is the 'root cause' that led to the 'indirect cause' of 'Toyokawa Shoko quitting the band'?" Akie asked, "Is it really because Takamatsu-san didn't sing well?"

This time, Togawa Ake remained in a "relaxed" state of mind. She simply listened to CRYCHIC's affairs with an "interested" attitude, without any emotional attitude mixed in.

Therefore, she might be the one who could make the most calm analysis among all the people present.

"What you mean is... why Xiaoxiang plans to leave the band?" Su Shi asked.

"Yes." Akie nodded. "Takamatsu-san thought that Toyokawa Shoko's departure was caused by her, which led to a series of subsequent problems. So, if we can find evidence to disprove the proposition that 'Toyokawa Shoko's departure was caused by Takamatsu-san', the misunderstanding should be resolved."

Riki and Sushi looked at Qiu Hui in silence, thinking about the suggestion she made.

"...Maybe, it is true." Lixi nodded slightly.

"Akie-senpai helped us calm down," Suyo said with a smile, "Thank you very much."

“Hmm…” Aine questioned, “Of course this would be the best. But the question is, how are you going to disprove this question, senior? You and I are both outsiders to CRYCHIC, right? How can we possibly know what Toyokawa-san’s motives are?”

Akie nodded, "Aine has a point. However, I feel that, precisely because I am an outsider, I can look at Toyokawa-san's thoughts from a more objective standpoint."

She looked at everyone and explained, "As members of the band, we have a deep emotional connection with each other, so if something goes wrong with the other party, we may subconsciously think it is our fault."

"But as mentioned before, Toyokawa-san actually mentioned a long time ago that the reason for leaving the band was "personal reasons". As a band member, you may subconsciously think that she was just being polite; however, as an outsider, I tend to think that she should be telling the truth."

At this time, Gao Songdeng suddenly nodded and unexpectedly took the initiative to speak: "Just now, Li Xi also said it. Maybe I didn't want to blame Xiaoxiang, so I subconsciously put the responsibility on myself."

Qiu Hui nodded: "Because we are friends, we subconsciously want to take the responsibility from each other and bear it ourselves. I can understand this feeling...but it is not conducive to thinking about the problem itself."

She continued, "As for my argument... Actually, there is only one main one, which is 'After graduating from junior high school, Toyokawa Shoko transferred to a regular high school.'"

"Moyo-san, you're a bandmate of Toyokawa-san, but you don't even know where she transferred to. This is really suspicious - if she just gave up the band because of Takamatsu-san's poor performance, then is it necessary for her to break off all ties with everyone to this extent?"

Nagasaki Suyo fell into deep thought. After a long while, she spoke up: "After I heard the news, my first reaction was that Xiaoxiang might have transferred to Yuqiu because of the band's matter..."

"That's totally impossible." Akie shook her head firmly. "As a student of Tsuki no Mori, Suyo-san must know better than me what this kind of school for young ladies that goes from junior high school to high school means."

"You can imagine this. Toyokawa-san asked her parents to transfer schools just because she was unhappy playing in a band, and her parents actually agreed—"

"——Motoyo-san and Takamatsu-san, if you put yourself in the shoes of an outsider, you should be able to realize how ridiculous this statement is."

Chapter 100: A band for life!

Having said that, the conclusion is obvious.

Aine suddenly understood, nodded repeatedly, and said, “That’s right! Motoyo-san can also try to imagine this. If you go to your parents now and say, ‘Because the band members’ performance is too bad, I want to leave Tsuki no Mori’, is it really possible for them to agree? They will just think you are playing an April Fool’s joke, right?”

"…Maybe, it's really like that." Nagasaki Motoyo nodded slowly and heavily.

Transferring schools is a very serious matter.

Even without considering the special factors of Tsuki no Mori Girls' Academy, this decision could not be made casually based on the students' whim.

After calming down, Nagasaki Suyo quickly realized this.

On the other side, Gao Songdeng also seemed to come to his senses.

"So, Xiaoxiang didn't leave because of me?" She looked at Qiu Hui with anticipation in her eyes.

"Yes. I think that 'Toyokawa Shoko had to transfer schools for some reasons' is the fundamental reason why 'Toyokawa Shoko left the band.'" Akie nodded to express her affirmation of Deng.

"However, as for why Toyokawa Shoko wants to transfer schools... that's not something I can guess." Akie shook her head, "After all, I don't know her."

If we consider the facts that everyone knows, we can only come to this conclusion.

However, there is one fact that Su Shi and others do not know, and Qiu Hui did not say it.

That is, she once met Toyokawa Shoko in a convenience store, when she was rushing to buy expiring goods with her.

Transferred from a school for young ladies to a regular high school, and developed a habit of buying expired products...

...From these two conditions, it is easy to guess that "she has financial problems."

But Togawa Akie did not forget her role as a bystander.

She has the same respect for Toyokawa Shoko's position as she does for the former CRYCHIC members in front of her.

If Lian Su Shi doesn't know what happened to Toyokawa Shoko, it means that the latter must have a reason to hide her current situation at all costs.

Whether it was self-esteem or some other reason... Togawa Aie didn't care.

The only thing she was sure of was that, from a neutral perspective, even if Toyokawa Shoko was just a stranger she had never met... no, a stranger she had only met twice, she still had the obligation to respect the other person's right to privacy.

Therefore, she did not intend to tell everyone about the speculation that "Toyokawa Shoko might have encountered financial difficulties."

Of course, she might go to Toyokawa Shoko herself to try to understand the whole story afterwards, but that was just an act of satisfying personal curiosity, and of course it had to be done with the consent of the person herself.

"I see. That means it's not my fault..."

Gao Songdeng was about to smile, but soon realized a new problem.

"…But Xiao Xiang must have encountered some troubles that we can't even tell us about."

Nagasaki Motoyo nodded slightly: "...Yes. What kind of trouble is it?"

There was a disturbing fluctuation reflected in her eyes.

"What does that have to do with us?" Li Xi said angrily, "Anyway, now that the misunderstanding with Deng has been resolved, Deng doesn't have to blame himself for what happened to that guy anymore. That's the most important thing, right?"

"...That's right." Nagasaki Motoyo put away her slightly gloomy mood and nodded, "That means we may be able to start over. Right?"

She held up three fingers and counted with a smile.

"Me, Li Xi, and Xiao Deng. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up and Xiao Deng no longer needs to blame herself for what happened back then, can we re-form the band and continue to play the music that everyone wants to play?"

"...Yes." Li Xi nodded, "This is the most important thing."

She looked at Gao Songdeng gently, waiting for her decision.

"...Hey, wait a minute!" Chihaya Aine suddenly realized that something was wrong, "Moyo-san, Riki, and Deng...what about me? What about me!"

“…Your words don’t matter, right?” Riki looked at Aine with a bit of indifference, “After all, she’s just an outsider.”

“Hey! That’s too much!” Aine protested sternly, “Senpai, please say a few more words to her…”

However, Li Xi's cold expression seemed to relax a little.

"...But if you must come." She lowered her voice and said reluctantly, "then work hard and don't let Deng down. Do you understand?"

Shiina Riki deliberately lowered his head, as if he was talking to the table.

Aine couldn't help laughing, and her mood suddenly cleared up: "Ritsuki, you are such a tsundere!"

"This is because you helped Deng." Li Xi's eyes were cold, "Don't think of anything weird for me."

“Ritsuki, you better stop being so harsh.” Sushi adjusted the atmosphere as usual, “After all, Aine-san also made a great contribution to Xiao Deng being able to communicate with everyone this time…”

Looking at the three people whose tension was finally no longer so strong, Gao Songdeng finally smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"lifetime."

“Eh? What?” Aine asked, her expression clearly showing some surprise.

"For a lifetime!" Takamatsu Deng raised his head and looked at everyone with a determined gaze, "Moshi, Riki, and Aine too! This time, let's form a band together for life!"

A lifetime. Qiu Hui smiled. Takamatsu-san had said something similar in the private room before.

"Yes!" Li Xi, who had been prepared, nodded vigorously, "I swear, I will form a band with Deng for the rest of my life!"

"Then I'll swear too?" Su Shi said with a smile, "To form a band for the rest of my life."