Teacher Daxiang, please teach me how to play Kasuga Shadow!

Sometimes she even felt that she might as well be the one that reached out to grab the light floating in the air.

The petals of the tree, at least they lived with dignity.

But more than all this, she was more unable to accept the mess her life had become, and felt that instead of dwelling on the past, she should work hard to supplement her family income.

But as soon as she returned home and saw the wine bottle on the ground and her unconscious father, Shoko Toyokawa still felt a tightness in her chest.

Because her family no longer had the conditions to allow her to practice the piano, Toyokawa Shoko could only keep the only hobby that supported her spirit in school.

But today, when she arrived at the door of the piano room as usual, she heard the melodious sound of the piano coming from the room.

This was a piano piece she had never heard before. It was soothing yet a little sad.

For a moment, she forgot to push the door open to check, nor did she think about leaving early. Instead, she stopped at the door and listened silently to the unknown song.

However, it was obvious that the person playing this song was not very good at playing the piano. Although Xiangzi had not seen the music score, there were some obviously discordant notes that made the overall melody a little weird. He guessed that it was probably caused by the player's mistake.

But even so, the song, with its sadness and longing that seemed to transcend time, still made Xiangzi inexplicably depressed.

Yes, even though she is unwilling to admit it now and does not want to show her weakness in front of her former band friends, it would be a lie to say that she does not miss those wonderful times.

But in the face of reality, these petty emotions seem ridiculous. After all, there is no going back, right?

At some point, the piano music in the piano room had stopped, and when Xiangzi realized this, she saw the girl playing the piano turning her head to look at her.

She had long brown hair and a fair, delicate face, but no emotion could be seen in her cold purple eyes.

The girl was very beautiful, the type that was hard to forget at first sight, but Shoko Toyokawa had no impression of her at all.

That's right, she doesn't have any friends to talk to in Yuqiu now, and her classmates may only know her last name but not her first name.

"Are you a member of the wind band club?"

Mizushima Ayano looked at the blue-haired girl with twintails standing blankly at the door and asked lightly.

"No... I came here because I heard the piano."

Toyokawa Shoko was a little embarrassed, but her face didn't show much emotion. The habits she had in Tsuki no Mori made her still speak like a young lady now.

"Excuse me, what's the name of this song?"

“This song…”

Mizushima Ayano recalled it, and then patched it up in those fragmented dream memories, and finally pieced together a name that best suited it:

"Yearning that transcends time and space."

"…Missing you?"

When Shoko Toyokawa heard this name, she felt her heart being moved again. This name seemed natural, as if it was the only name that could summarize the profound emotion in the sound of the piano.

With her eyes a little sore, Shoko Toyokawa quickly turned her head away, not wanting to be seen in such an embarrassing state by this strange girl.

But she was praising Mizushima Ayano who had just finished playing.

"It's a beautiful piece of music. Did you compose it yourself?"

"It doesn't count."

Mizushima Ayano thought for a moment and explained calmly, "I don't understand music theory. This is just a tune I dreamed of."

"Um, we usually call this kind of thing originality... Wait, you said you don't understand music theory?!"

As if he had heard some shocking news, Xiangzi, who was originally savoring the sad resonance brought to him by the piano music, was now looking at the girl in front of him with an incredible look.

And only then did she notice that there was indeed no music score on the piano in front of the girl.

"You don't know music theory, so how did you learn piano?"

“…I can’t play the piano.”

"Do you think this kind of joke is funny?" Although Xiangzi didn't know the girl in front of him, he felt a little offended. "You don't understand music theory, then you don't even know how many keys there are on the piano, how many groups they are divided into, and what each note is called?

So how did you manage to play the tune just now?"

Perhaps realizing that he was a little excited, Xiangzi closed his eyes slightly and calmed his breathing.

After reopening her eyes, she didn't continue to ask questions, but she also didn't apologize for what she had just said. She just looked at the strange brown-haired girl in front of her with a questioning look.

"I really don't know. I just kept dreaming about someone playing the piano. I felt like I had memorized how she played, so I wanted to give it a try."

Mizushima Ayano was telling the truth.

A few months ago, she had no interest in music and to be honest, she herself had no interest in many things that others were pursuing.

The melodies and lyrics in her dream might have been the first time she felt curious about something unfamiliar.

Mizushima Ayano didn't know whether those songs already existed in this world. She only knew that when she woke up from her dream, those memories not only did not quickly dissipate like bubbles in the sun, but were instead solidified by time and became a bright specimen.

Today I followed Aine to school and confirmed that her class was not the same as mine.

During this time, Ayano always had an inexplicable urge in her mind, wanting to find a piano to play the song in her dream yesterday.

But after all, I was still not very skilled and played a lot of wrong notes along the way.

“…I don’t understand.”

Shoko Toyokawa looked at Ayano Mizushima, who didn't seem to be lying. She just felt a little frustrated.

But no matter what, geniuses like the one in front of her have indeed appeared before. Perhaps the only thing that surprised her was that such a person actually appeared in front of her.

"Can you play the piano?" asked Mizushima Ayano.

"I?"

"Ah."

"I know a little bit." In front of such a weirdo, Toyokawa Shoko felt a little embarrassed to say that she was good at piano.

But when she saw Mizushima Ayano standing up to make room for her, for some reason, Toyokawa Shoko, who had originally planned to leave, suddenly didn't want to leave anymore.

Under the indifferent gaze of the purple-eyed girl beside him, Xiangzi lifted the hem of his skirt and sat elegantly on the piano stool. Then, after thinking for a moment, he recalled the melody he had just heard outside the door and played "Yearning Across Time and Space" again.

This song itself is actually not very difficult. The key lies in the emotions contained in the song.

Compared with Mizushima Ayano's mechanical reproduction, Toyokawa Shoko's performance of "Yearning Across Time and Space" based on her memories, which is very touching in itself, is obviously more beautiful and easier to immerse in.

But as she was playing, Toyokawa Shoko suddenly pressed her hands down heavily. With a clang, the heavy notes came like an uninvited period, forcibly ending the piano piece that had not yet reached its end.

"……Feel sorry."

“You play very well.”

The emotions in the piano music are obviously more real, as if the girl really has a heavy longing for some past events.

"Thank you, what's your name?"

Shoko, who had returned to her young lady mode, looked at Mizushima Ayano gently and asked with a smile.

"Mizushima Ayano, first grade, Class C."

"My name is Toyokawa Shoko, first grade, Class B. It seems we're in the same year." At this point, perhaps feeling compelled to say something, Shoko added, "You're quite talented, and it's not too late to learn now. You could actually consider studying piano."

Learning piano?

For Mizushima Ayano, this was an option that had never appeared in her life.

But the strange thing is that she doesn't feel disgusted at this moment. Perhaps if she tells her family about this decision, her parents who have always thought she is too cold will be very supportive.

Her family's financial situation was pretty good. Although she wasn't a rich lady, she could still afford to buy a piano and hire a teacher.

Of course, she wasn't trying this just for anyone's verbal support.

Moreover, Toyokawa Shoko's performance just now did move her a little. Apart from the emotions that burst out for no apparent reason at the end, the combination of notes produced by the piano did arouse some interest in her.

"Can you teach me?" Mizushima Ayano looked at Toyokawa Shoko and asked with a smile, "If you have time, of course I can pay you."

It is too troublesome to find someone to teach you or ask your family for advice.

What Mizushima Ayano hates most is trouble, which is the main reason why she refused to pick up Aine at the airport.

Mizushima Ayano thought that the girl in front of her was indeed good at piano. If conditions permitted, she would like to find someone to learn piano skills with less time cost.

But as soon as she said this, Xiangzi's face in front of Ayano suddenly changed.

The smiling expression froze, and a complex look appeared on his face.

Xiangzi lowered her head and seemed to be thinking about something, but when she finally raised her head, she did not respond to Ayano's request. Instead, she smiled and turned around and said:

"We'll talk about it later when we have a chance. The members of the wind band club are coming soon. I'm leaving first. You should leave quickly too."

"..."

Mizushima Ayano looked at Shoko, who seemed to be running away in a panic, and there was a hint of curiosity in her calm eyes.

Chapter 3: Does "Lifetime" refer to the name of the band? (Please collect)

"Ayano-chan~"

Because they had agreed on a time to go home together after the club activities, when Ayano walked out of the gate of Hanaoka Girls' Junior High School with her schoolbag on her back, she saw the familiar pink-haired girl.

However, there was a girl with short silver-gray hair standing in front of the other person, and she looked like a small animal standing next to Aine.

It can be seen that this girl has a somewhat autistic personality.

Unlike Ayano, Ayano felt that she was not opposed to making friends with others, but most of the time she was unable to integrate into the topics of girls of her age. Those overly fanatical loves seemed a little difficult for her to accept, so she could only listen quietly in a relatively calm and kind manner.

Most of her friends from junior high school were happy to chat with her, but only Aine noticed Ayano's personal thoughts and felt puzzled and anxious about her lack of interest in everything.

Aine's most common comment about Ayano is that she is unwilling to fit in and does not want others to fit in with her.

"Let me introduce you to each other. This is a friend I met in class. Her name is Takamatsu Deng. Ayano can just call her Xiao Deng."

"..."

"Xiao Deng, this is my friend who I have played with since childhood.

Mizushima Ayano, just call her Ayano like Xiao Deng."

As she spoke, Aine deliberately covered her mouth with her hands in front of Mizushima Ayano and whispered to the lamp:

"Don't be fooled by Ayano's fierce appearance. She is actually a very gentle person~"

"I can hear you, Aine."

"Hey... By the way, Ayano-chan, Xiao Deng and I have plans to go to KTV together. Ayano, do you want to come?"

Even though she said that, Aine didn’t actually expect her best friend to agree.

Because in her impression, Ayano seldom went to these places with her. Knowing Ayano's personality very well, when Aine wanted to follow the trend and form a band after transferring to another school this time, she never thought of inviting her childhood sweetheart.

When Aine thought about how she had tried every possible way to trick Ayano into watching a live show in her third year of middle school, but it only made Ayano more disgusted with her, she decisively gave up on the remaining possibilities.

Feelings are feelings, and career is career!

How could a mere death stare from a cold face affect her ability to stand out as the student union president?

"Ah."

"Eh??? Ayano, you agreed?"

"What's wrong? Don't you want me to go?" Ayano glanced at Aine lightly, which made Aine feel surprised and a little expectant.

"No, no, of course I'd be happy to have Ayano come along! It's more fun when there are more people~"

Aine's smile was so bright, and coupled with her pink hair, it always made Ayano feel happy.

The three of them walked side by side towards the KTV near the school. The location was chosen by Aine. It was actually not far from where Ayano was observing passers-by yesterday. However, with Ayano's personality, she would never go to such an unfamiliar place.

"There are three of us... Can we use the coupon?"

"Sure." The receptionist smiled and nodded.

While Aine was paying, Ayano noticed that the animal-like girl, Takamatsu Deng, seemed to be looking around.

Sometimes he looked at the wallpaper on the wall, sometimes he looked at the beverage machine in the beverage area.

Deng's eyes seemed to linger on the beverage machine. Seeing this, Ayano stood over and said calmly:

"Are you thirsty?"

"Ah...no."

"Xiao Deng has never sung karaoke before, right?" Aiyin, who was standing next to her, paid the bill and walked over curiously.

"No, I've been here before."

"Really?" Aine blinked, not paying too much attention to the question.