Loneliness and Rock and Roll with Band Observer

“Come to think of it, Akie’s classmates will be here this time too.” Ichiri said, “Including Aine, who we met at the store last time.”

"Yes!" Kita seemed to be looking forward to it, "She seems to be a very cheerful and bright person. It's a pleasure to get along with her!"

"So Kita thinks so, right?" Ichiri said with a smile, "Besides, she seems to be very close to Akie."

"What's wrong?" Kita asked, "Is there any problem?"

"…Nothing." Ichiri shook his head with a determined look.

It would be inappropriate to still worry about such things at this point.

No matter how many shortcomings I have, at least as a "guitar hero", I will never lose to anyone in guitar playing.

So, even if I only rely on the guitar, I am... qualified to stand next to Qiu Hui, right?

The girl, no longer confused by this, began to think about what she was going to do at tomorrow's study session in the closet filled with the smell of mothballs.

Chapter 27: Five plus two combination

The next day, before school.

Takamatsu Deng opened the notebook in front of him and took out a uniquely shaped stone from the pocket of his school uniform.

She pressed the small stone that had been wiped clean long ago onto the paper, then took out a pen and began to carefully trace the outline of the stone on the paper of her notebook.

The stone is not alone on the paper. A quick sketch of a finch stands to its right, stepping on a "branch" of lyrics-like words.

Under the branches live a group of watermelon worms, with dense lines drawing a sense of demarcation between light and shadow. Various pictures and words are interwoven together, constructing a small world according to the unique logic of their owners.

Chihaya Aine stood beside her, and after noticing her actions, she said nothing more, but just watched her trace the outline of the stone on the paper stroke by stroke.

“…Ah, Aine.”

In the end, it was Deng who first noticed Aine. She put down her pen, put away the small stone, closed her notebook, and apologized in a panic: “Sorry, I kept you waiting…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay for me to wait a little longer.” Aine waved her hands and smiled, “But if Deng-chan thinks it’s okay, then let’s go together, right?”

"Yeah." Deng nodded, "Today is a study session."

At this time, Qiu Hui, who was standing outside the door, greeted Deng.

"Please wait a moment, senpai. We will be there soon!"

After Deng packed her things, Aine and Deng walked out of the classroom together.

"The place we arranged to meet was at Ijichi-san's house."

Qiu Hui habitually adjusted her glasses while introducing the destination to the two.

“It feels a bit strange that my family lives above a live house.” Aine commented.

"Will everyone who finished the band come?" Deng asked, "Except Akirako."

"Yes." Akie nodded. "Because I'm familiar with everyone, Akie ran away saying something weird like 'It's so troublesome, you have to take my place in this kind of thing.' So I became the one who participated in the study session... After all, I just wanted to cram for the final exam."

"I see." Deng smiled, "I feel like this is quite like Akizo-sensei's style."

"Really?" Qiu Hui nodded. "That's right. After all, she always does what she wants on stage."

Ai Ne, who knew the truth, watched the interaction between the two and couldn't help laughing.

“…Aine, is there anything funny?”

"No, no, there's nothing funny about it at all."

Deng looked at Qiu Hui and then at Aine, wondering what they were talking about.

The three of them set out from Hanegaoka and took the train to Shimokitazawa.

At the exit of the station, we happened to meet Xiuhua and her duo who were also taking the train.

"Hello everyone!" Kita took the initiative to greet the three people.

And Aine, who was also a Yangkaku, went over to him naturally and started chatting with Kita.

“Aine, you’re amazing.” Deng exclaimed as he looked at the two of them who naturally started chatting about common topics among high school girls.

"There are also people who can't fit in so smoothly."

After saying that, Akie smiled and greeted Goto Ichiri.

"This is the Takamatsu-san that Akie mentioned earlier, right?" Kita noticed Deng and turned around, "Let me introduce you, this is Goto Ichiri, the guitarist who will be the last of our band!"

"Hello, Goto-san." Deng greeted him a little stiffly, but he could read the enthusiasm in his eyes. "Your performance last time was really amazing!"

After the last performance, Deng, who was a fan of Akihoko, naturally became a fan of the band. Now, she seemed to be a little excited to be able to get close to the person she admired before.

"Thank you for the compliment. I'm Goto Ichiri." Ichiri nodded. "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble everyone a lot during this study session, because I don't have much confidence in my studies..."

“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Aine approached very familiarly, “Let me, the second-ranked in the class, help everyone!”

"Second in the class?" Kita exclaimed in shock, and soon developed a subtle desire to win, "Hmm, but I won't lose either!"

Goto Ichiri, caught between the two, was at a loss as to what to do.

Qiu Hui smiled and said, "You are so energetic."

At this time, she received a message from Hong Xia in the group chat of the ending band.

"Ryo and I are waiting in the store, everyone just come over!"

Qiu Hui put away her phone and motioned for everyone to follow.

The five people who met walked out of the station and headed towards STARRY.

Along the way, Aine and Kita chatted about fashion topics that high school girls would talk about, while Touma and Ichiri surrounded Akie.

"Um, speaking of which, the recent one..."

Qiu Hui noticed that today, Ichiri seemed to be trying to find topics to talk about actively.

"Which one?" she asked.

"Hmm...how should I put it, it's just..."

Yili made a bitter face and racked his brains to find a topic to talk about.

"That's it... Oh, that's right! The promotional photo! The promotional photo!"

Ichiri, who finally found a topic to talk about, couldn't wait to start talking.

"Indeed. Hongxia seemed to have mentioned it before. What's the matter?"

"Ah, nothing much, just, uh, if we want to take pictures, where do you think is a good place to go, Aki?"

"Don't ask me." Qiu Hui shook her head. "You should ask Qiu Rongzi about this matter. Although I am her friend, I can't make decisions for her."

"Oh, that's right!" Goto Ichiri realized as if he had just woken up from a dream that there was such a setting.

Then, doesn’t that mean that I almost accidentally revealed Aki Ryouko’s true identity in front of Takamatsu-san?

"Yeah, sorry, um, I didn't realize that..."

"There's no need to apologize for something like this, right?" Akie asked doubtfully.

"Indeed! Uh, there's no need to apologize for this..."

Goto Ichiri realized that he was about to mess things up, and suddenly became extremely nervous.

Akie also noticed this and quickly tried to comfort him, trying to find the right words to tell Ichiri that she didn't care about what happened before without revealing the situation to Takamatsu, a classmate next to her.

Fortunately, the topic between Aine and Kita turned to guitar at some point.

Since we are talking about guitar, it is natural to talk about Yili.

Therefore, Goto Ichiri, who was included in the rhythm of the conversation between the two Yangjiao, seemed to have no time to worry about the previous events for the time being.

“Hey, Gotou-san, how can I play the guitar well?” Aine asked excitedly, “Although I am now considered a guitarist in a band, I am not in the same league as Gotou-san… How can I become as good as Gotou-san?”

"Hehe, I'm not that exaggerated..." Ichiri laughed a little too proud of himself, "Because I don't have many friends and don't often participate in activities, so I spend most of my time playing guitar, that's all..."

At the same time, Takamatsu Deng looked at the three people happily discussing the topic of guitar and smiled.

Chapter 28: Topics of the Band

The five people walked into the STARRY store one after another. Liang and Hongxia, who had been waiting inside, immediately came forward to greet them.

"Good afternoon, everyone!" Nijixia looked at everyone with a smile, "And Chihaya-san and Takamatsu-san!"

“Just call me Aine.” Aine responded, “Good afternoon, Nijika-chan!”

"Well, that's all, good afternoon, Aine-chan!"

After Hongxia finished speaking, she turned and walked towards the paper cup that had been prepared long ago and was placed beside her.

"I will be the host for you today! Have some water first. We also have drinks, right?"

"You've suddenly become so distant, Hongxia." Liang on the side complained, "There are only two unfamiliar faces."

"Thank you, Xiao Hongxia!" Aiyin walked forward without hesitation and took the paper cup generously.

"...Thank you." Deng's reaction was a little reserved, but he still accepted Hongxia's hospitality.

Kita suggested, "How about we all take a short break and start today's study in the store? After the official business hours start, we can move to Hongxia's house to continue."

"I have no objection." Liang nodded.

Qiu Hui looked towards the corner of the store and said, "There just so happens to be a table that's big enough, so how about we go there first?"

The five members of the assembled closing band, as well as Aine and Touma, sat in a circle around a large table.

"It's suddenly become so lively." Hong Xia exclaimed, "This is probably the first time so many people have come to my house."

Kita seemed to be enjoying the happy atmosphere: "I think this is great!"

"Before we start the study session, how about we talk about something else and relax for a while?" Hong Xia suggested.

"So, what should we talk about?"

After saying that, Kita looked at Ichiri.

"What do you think is a good topic to talk about, Xiao Yili?" she asked.

"Eh? Why did you ask for my opinion?"

Although he was a little flustered, Yili still thought for a moment and put forward his idea with some uncertainty.

“Um, aren’t Aine and Takamatsu also forming a band now? I thought… how about we talk about the band?”

"That's a good proposal." Ryo nodded, "Pochi sometimes makes solid suggestions."

"Although I'm a little worried that Ryo will become even more absent-minded because of this...but it's indeed a good idea." Hongxia also agreed.

After all, this is a topic of concern to everyone present.

Moreover, since the situations on both sides are different, there are many areas for expansion.

"By the way, speaking of the band, the number of people following the band has been increasing recently!" Kita, who is very good at using social media, excitedly told everyone, "Many people left comments saying that they regretted not coming to see the first performance, or that they still wanted more after watching it, and hoped that we could upload more performance videos!"

"That would be great." Qiu Hui nodded. "For the time being, everyone should focus on the final exams. After the exams, let's try to record a video together."

At this moment, she suddenly remembered what Xia Shizi mentioned yesterday.

I was so busy thinking about the contract that I forgot to tell you about it.

Akie was about to speak, but then she remembered that according to the setting, this should be something only "Akirako" knew.

So she still didn't say anything and continued watching everyone discuss.

I'll tell everyone in the group chat when the band is done, she thought.

“Speaking of which, there’s a great recording studio over at RiNG.” Aiyin suggested, “Why don’t you guys go there and record some audio? Not only can you post it on social or video sites, you might even be able to upload it to streaming platforms!”

"Really?" Hong Xia asked in surprise, "That's amazing, wouldn't that make them like real professional band members?"

"Well, we will become professional band members sooner or later." Ryo smiled confidently, "This is also thanks to Akirako."

"Yes, indeed." Ichiri agreed, "Akirako really helped us a lot, in many ways!"

After saying that, she turned around and looked at Qiu Hui who was standing beside her.

"...Akie also helped a lot in the background."