Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

Akihide took out a stack of 1,000 yen bills from her bag, laid them out on the table, and stared at the pattern on them in a trance.

This is the reward I received from Suyo as a supporting musician.

Logically speaking, even if we deduct the portion planned to be given to the band as a reserve before the end of the season, this would not be a small amount of money.

But...compared to the money, the reason I participated in Aine's band activities was more to get closer to her.

Qiu Hui sighed and admitted this fact, which made her feel a little ashamed for some reason.

...If you want to make friends so badly, you have to be careful.

This time, you must pay attention to controlling the sense of distance, carefully understand the other person's thoughts, and then make appropriate responses based on the results.

Don't make a joke like last time again.

Thinking of this, some bitter memories came to my mind uncontrollably.

The joke of wishful thinking that someone is a friend, only to find out that this is not the case, has happened once before.

That happened when I just ran away from home...

...At that time, the Newcomer Award had not yet been concluded, and the money earned from odd jobs was not enough.

In such a desperate situation, the first thing that comes to mind is to find a "friend"...

I was not a social expert in junior high school. I didn't know many people and my friendships were not that deep. But I dared to ask for such an unreasonable request as "take me in for a night"... I was really shameless at that time.

Surrounded by bitter memories, Qiu Hui stopped typing, simply left the computer desk, and fell on the bed.

After being accepted by the other party, I did receive his care and consideration during the short stay. At that time, I might really regard that person as a friend... or even a partner of some kind.

However, from the moment I heard that guy suddenly start to persuade me to go home, I realized something was wrong.

Of course, I realized the truth when I overheard him talking to his sister on the phone one day.

It turned out that the guy was following my sister's orders and had received a large sum of money to persuade me to stop making a fuss and go home to reunite with my family, so he was willing to take me in for a while.

…I felt sad for a long time at that time. But now I think about it, it’s only natural.

After all, friendship is based on mutual exchange. If you are not sure that you can pay enough, then don't have unrealistic expectations in return.

Thinking about it now, contrary to my wishful thinking at the time, that classmate and I didn’t have much of a relationship.

If my sister hadn't offered her material benefits in exchange for asking her to take me in first and then find a way to persuade me to go home, how could she have spent so much energy on me?

and so……

Qiu Hui closed her eyes.

It’s better not to have too many wishful expectations on Aine.

Or, if there really is one...

...Then ask yourself what else you can offer in exchange.

Qiu Hui opened her eyes and sat up in bed again.

I want to be friends with Aine.

I want to build a relationship where we can complain to each other, do a lot of things together, in short, take it to the next level.

What should I offer in exchange?

…Let’s start with Shiina-san’s case.

If I can free Aine from the pressure from Shiina-san, allow her to play in the band with a more relaxed attitude, and help her achieve what she wants to achieve through the band, then this is my "value" to her.

Maybe until now, I am still not very good at accurately judging other people's true thoughts.

Well, maybe there is another strategy that can be used.

If you're not sure one is enough, put in two. Three. Ten. A hundred.

As long as the value I demonstrate is so great that it cannot be ignored even with the most stringent standards, then...

...Then even if I make a slightly unreasonable request, I think it won't be a big problem.

If I want to build a further relationship with Aine.

If I wanted her to pay more attention to me instead of others.

Then, I should do my best to demonstrate my "value".

Let's start with Shiina's story...

In the high-rise residential suite on a moonlit night, the girl made a slightly twisted decision.

Chapter 15 Whose Kitten?

The next day, inside the STARRY store.

"Ohhh...it's real money!"

Yamada Ryo played with the banknotes that Akiie brought him, his eyes shining.

Goto Ichiri was also in awe of this income: "That's amazing, this way I can drop out of school without any problem, right? I don't even need to work part-time! This is the ideal state of life..."

"Even if it's real money, it's not sent to you specifically." Hong Xia said seriously, "This money is used to pay for the collective expenses of ending the band, right?"

Qiu Hui nodded: "Yes, and now that the band is ending, maybe we need to open a separate account to keep it separate from the individual members."

"What do you mean by separate accounts?" Hong Xia asked, "Won't it be just the five of us when the band ends?"

"But the five of us are not the 'Ending Band' itself." Akie explained, "For example, even if the members change, the Ending Band is still the Ending Band. From a legal perspective, the Ending Band should be an independent legal entity that is different from its natural person members..."

"…It feels so complicated." Hongxia said.

"Problems involving money are usually very complicated." Qiu Hui smiled.

She once said that she would donate half of her part-time salary from working for Suyo and Aine to the Ending Band.

Although that sentence might have been said in the heat of the moment, after careful consideration, Qiu Hui did not think there was anything wrong with it.

As the scale of the band's activities continues to expand, the various expenses it faces will also rise. Apart from other things, the expenses of participating in large-scale events alone cannot be compared with the LIVEHOUSE quota.

Rather than settling accounts in the name of individual members, it is better to set up a separate account belonging to the band from the beginning to handle these expenses and income. This will be more convenient in accounting and less likely to cause trouble.

"The main reason I came here today is to talk to you all about this in person." Akie admitted, "After all, Kita can't come today because of something. If we're not all here, I don't feel like practicing."

"It's rare that Qiu Hui doesn't want to practice." Hongxia sighed.

“I feel tired sometimes too.”

After that, she looked at everyone and said, "Oh, by the way, there is actually one more thing. I have confirmed that I have something to do tomorrow afternoon, so I can't come."

Today at school, she arranged a meeting time with Shiina Riki via mobile message.

In addition to discussing the arrangement issue, I also have to take this opportunity to talk to her about Aine.

"I see." Hongxia nodded, "Then, the next time we meet will be at the study session before the holiday?"

"Indeed." Akie replied, "I'm really looking forward to it... but I guess I can't really say that. After all, who would look forward to studying?"

"I agree." Liang nodded.

"Me too..." Ichiri expressed his empathy.

Seeing this, Hong Xia laughed awkwardly and said, "Ahaha, it seems like everyone is not very motivated..."

Just then, there was a loud bang at the door.

Qiu Hui looked in the direction of the voice and saw a girl with white hair and a jellyfish head and heterochromic eyes, carrying her guitar case down the stairs.

"Oh, it's a stray cat." Ryoya noticed Rakuna's appearance, "Are you here to play guitar?"

However, Rakuna did not act as Ryo expected.

She dragged the box to the table where four people were sitting, put down the box, dragged another chair over without any hesitation, and sat down next to everyone.

Lenai said nothing, but just looked at everyone quietly. His posture was no different from that of a stray cat encountered on the roadside, or the way his eyes met with a passerby squatting down to observe him.

"Um...Excuse me, classmate, you..."

Ichiri, who was not good at dealing with strangers, stammered as he greeted them.

"It's the woman who plays the guitar." Lena smiled and looked at Ichiri, "You're not going to play today?"

Since Ichiri was at a loss for words due to the other party's straightforward way of addressing her and the direct question, Akie took the initiative to answer for her, "I don't plan to practice today."

"Yeah?"

Le Nai glanced at the four people in front of him and suddenly seemed to understand something.

"The one with red hair," she said bluntly, "didn't come today."

"Yes." Qiu Hui nodded, "No one is here yet, so we don't plan to practice."

"Really..." Lena nodded meaningfully, "Interesting."

Qiu Hui didn't say anything else. After all, she didn't know what was so interesting about "no practice until everyone is here".

The store manager, who was doing nothing at the front desk because there were not many customers in the afternoon, seemed to notice Le Na's appearance.

“Here you are again.”

Xingge took out a bag of matcha milk from the refrigerator, walked over to everyone, and handed it to Lenai.

"I like matcha flavor." Lena took the milk with a smile, "Thank you, manager."

Ryo looked at Rakuna in surprise, "You actually addressed me as the store manager properly... I thought you would call me 'older woman' or something like that."

"...Little kid, don't talk nonsense." Xingge glanced at Liang with some annoyance.

Lenai drank his milk oblivious to the people around him, while the other band members, who had no plans to do so, spent their time and relaxed by observing this unique guitarist.

When she was halfway through drinking, she suddenly put down the milk and looked in the direction of Hongxia.

"The store manager and the woman playing the drums." Le Nai suddenly said, "They look alike."

"Well, since we're sisters, it's only natural that we look like each other, right?" Nijixia said with a smile, "Also, the name 'the woman who plays the drums' sounds a little bit irritating..."

"…It's 'Rakuna', right?" Akie recalled the name she had heard in RiNG before, "How should I put it? We are all high school girls… No. Even if we are not high school girls, it's rude for 'women' to come and go."

Although she was probably not very old judging by her petite figure, she should be a middle school student at least. However, she seemed to have no common sense about social etiquette...

...Thinking back to the other party's genius performance, Qiu Hui could only think that perhaps this was the price of talent.

"Can't we say 'woman'?" Le Na asked curiously, "Then what's the better name?"

"At least use a more euphemistic term..." Hong Xia said with a wry smile, "For example... 'girl' or something like that?"

Lenai was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking.

She quickly smiled and nodded, "Yeah, interesting girl!"

Although the way he speaks sounds strange, it seems that he is still the type that can be communicated with, Akie thought.

After saying that, Le Nai put down the milk that she had not finished drinking: "I will drink more later."

Then he stood up from the chair, put down the instrument case, and took the guitar out.

"Is the performance about to begin?" Hong Xia exclaimed, "What a free-spirited child."

"I think it's a good thing to do whatever you want occasionally." Qiu Hui said with a smile, and she seemed to be in a good mood.

Liang looked at Akie's expression and commented, "That's not something Akie would say. She just got here and she's already talking about troublesome matters like corporate and financial matters."

"Those are two different things," Akie replied.

She smiled as she looked at Lenai who started playing without saying anything.

As the powerful music played, she seemed to relax a little.

Chapter 16: A floating individual

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