A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

She stared blankly at the figure that was completely beyond his expectations, and murmured in an unbelievable tone:

"Why are you here... and Xiangzi, what's that uniform you're wearing..."

"Long time no see...Sushi."

Just like she did at CRYCHIC a year ago, Toyokawa Shoko smiled and said to Nagasaki Motoyo:

"Today, let's say everything we want to say in one breath."

........................

When she was in the fifth grade of elementary school, Nagasaki Suyo lost her complete family because her parents divorced.

After that, her mother achieved great success in her career, which not only allowed her to live in a high-end apartment, but also allowed her to successfully enter an aristocratic women's college.

However, behind this flashy appearance, the huge and empty room made it impossible for her to feel the warmth of family, and in order to play the role of a qualified "young lady", the fatigue and disharmony from the bottom of her heart also made it difficult for her to fully integrate into the role.

Unable to find her own home, she lived a lonely and exhausted life like a ghost drifting in this world - until the appearance of Toyokawa Shoko and [CRYCHIC].

Both the recognition of her playing ability and the sincere acceptance of her made Nagasaki Suyo feel unprecedented fulfillment and happiness.

For her, compared to the empty luxury apartment and the aristocratic school where she could never fit in, [CRYCHIC] was the only place that could make her feel a sense of belonging.

“The time I spent with everyone in forming CRYCHIC was truly the happiest time of my life so far… Until now, it has been my only spiritual support.”

Having said that, she suddenly raised her head and looked at Toyokawa Shoko who was sitting in front of her with extremely sincere eyes.

"So... I'm counting on you, Xiangzi. Although I don't know why you left in the first place, now that you've come back to us, let's re-form [CRYCHIC]! This time, I will definitely cherish this band and you even more than before. As long as you're willing to come back, I'm willing to do anything for you!"

As she spoke, Nagasaki Motoyo's voice began to tremble slightly, and her originally upright sitting posture could no longer be maintained because of the trembling of her shoulders.

"I really beg you, don't end this on your own like you did before..."

"You're not the only one who cherishes that time... Sushi."

Compared to the excited Nagasaki Suyo, Toyokawa Shoko just sat there quietly, her expression as calm as when she first sat down.

"Tomo, Ritsuki, Mu, and I... our feelings towards CRYCHIC may differ. But... our desire to cherish these memories is undoubtedly the same."

"Eh!? Really?!"

Nagasaki Suyo, who thought that the two of them had exactly the same idea, suddenly looked up with a look of surprise.

"That means, Xiangzi, you and I both want to go back to those days—"

However, before she could finish her next words, Toyokawa Shoko's slight shaking of her head froze the joy on her face.

"But the past is only the past, Sushi. Don't you understand yet? Even if the five of us cherish those times, some things that have been lost are destined to never come back."

As Shoko Toyokawa spoke, she touched her uniform.

"Although it's not convenient to explain it to you in detail, you should have noticed... I'm wearing Hanaoka's uniform, not Tsukinomori's."

"Isn't it because you moved that you chose to change schools nearby—"

"Not only that, now besides being an ordinary student, I have another identity. That is, I am the apprentice of Chihaya Tetsuya, the deputy designer of the [KaZoKu] studio."

Under Nagasaki Suyo's increasingly astonished gaze, Toyokawa Shoko said:

"Except for the time I sleep every day, the rest of the time is either spent in school or at work...and this is my life now."

"Designer...apprentice..."

Nagasaki Suyo's gaze shifted between Toyokawa Shoko and Chihaya Tetsuya several times before she murmured:

"No wonder Chihaya-san came along... Then, Shoko, your piano—"

“Although I still borrow the piano in the music classroom during breaks, I don’t have much time to practice anymore.”

"A designer's apprenticeship job, do I have to do it every day..."

"Yes, the working hours are from six to ten every evening."

"how so……"

Even the dumbest person should understand at this point that something must have happened in Toyokawa Shoko's family.

Then, Nagasaki Suyo suddenly raised her head again and said in an extremely urgent tone:

"Um, Xiangzi! If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know! If you need to borrow money, I can ask my mother—"

"Nagasaki Suyo."

Toyokawa Shoko read out her full name in an extremely serious tone.

"Since you cherish our time at Crychik, you should understand that once that kind of interest relationship develops between us, that originally pure and innocent relationship will be completely tainted... We will no longer be classmates and friends, but creditors and debtors. Do you wish for that kind of relationship with me?"

"Of course not! I certainly hope to be friends with Xiangzi forever!"

Nagasaki Suyo hurriedly explained:

"But, if I don't do something, Xiangzi will never come back to [CRYCHIC]..."

"That's right, and this is the main reason why I came to see you today."

As Shoko Toyokawa spoke, she opened her bag and took out a carefully folded piece of manuscript paper.

"Su Shi, no matter how much you miss CRYCHIC, it is destined to never come back. Instead of dwelling on the past, I hope you can pay more attention to the present and the future."

"This design is my first work as a designer. It's my first step towards the future, and it's also my apology and farewell to you—"

"Please, give up on reorganizing [CRYCHIC]."

Chapter 22: Because it is a nightmare, the mumbling is particularly clear

Looking at the neatly folded manuscript paper in front of her, Nagasaki Suyo seemed to have pressed the pause button and was unable to respond for a long time.

And Toyokawa Shoko did not urge her, but just waited quietly for the other party to make her own choice.

“………………Why?”

It was unknown how long it took before Nagasaki Suyo finally squeezed out this question from her throat in a daze.

"Both Deng and Li Xi seem to have shaken off the shackles of those memories. Mu has been indifferent to everything from the beginning, and now even Xiangzi seems to want to completely cut ties with the past... Eh? Am I the only one who can't move on from that past? Am I the only one who will be left with nothing if I lose everyone? Am I the only one who truly wants to form a band for life?"

"Su Shi..."

Hearing this, Ruo Yemu, who had been silent since the beginning, raised his head, as if he wanted to say something.

However, Nagasaki Suyo's dull voice showed no sign of stopping at all -

"This is so unfair... Just because you can do it, I should naturally keep up with you and embrace your so-called future? Yes, you have indeed found your own path, but what about me? What should I do?"

Having said this, she raised her head and revealed a miserable smile full of emptiness and struggle.

"I've been waiting for you all since then, even though we went to different schools, even though we no longer had anything in common to talk about, even though I was the only one sending you holiday greetings during New Year's Eve and Obon... I always believed that we could get together again. Once we form a band, we're a community of shared destiny... Xiangzi, you told me that, right? Could it be that it was all a lie?"

"Perhaps you won't believe my answer...but to me at that time, this sentence was not a lie."

Toyokawa Shoko shook her head.

"It's just that this world isn't gentle enough to take all sincere promises for granted."

"…………"

After hearing this, Nagasaki Suyo fell silent again. Then she turned her head to look at Wakaba Mu and asked:

"Mu, you and Xiangzi are childhood sweethearts, right? Can't you help her at all?"

"..."

Wakaba Mu turned his eyes away silently, with a rare look of frustration on his face.

"It's like this again. No words, no explanations."

Nagasaki Motoyo leaned back in her chair, and the miserable smile on her face faded away powerlessly into nothingness.

"If you think the band is boring, then why are you still wasting your time here? Since you knew what happened to Xiangzi, why didn't you offer any explanation for her afterwards? Why did you join CRYCHIC? What does the band mean to you?"

"........."

After hearing this, Wakaba Mu subconsciously raised her head and wanted to explain something. However, when she saw Nagasaki Suyo's eyes full of disappointment and Toyokawa Shoko's calm expression beside her, she finally just bit her lips and lowered her head again.

"..."

Looking at Wakaba Mu's helpless look, Nagasaki Suyo shook her head and didn't want to pay any more attention to her.

She first looked at the design drawing in front of her, then she suddenly chuckled and pushed it back in front of Toyokawa Shoko.

"I'm sorry, Xiangzi, the only thing I can understand is the music score you wrote. As for the blueprints, I think I will never be able to understand them."

"Mu, the requests from both Xiangzi and me must be very difficult for you, right? Don't worry, from today on, I won't force you to do anything anymore."

"Chihaya-san, although this is just a rough guess, the reason you came here was probably to clarify my attitude, right? After all, I'm forming a band with your most precious sister, and you want to know if I'll use her for my own purposes... Well, now you should know that from the very beginning, I was only thinking about reuniting [CRYCHIC]. As for Aine-san and that stray cat, I didn't take them seriously from the beginning."

She stood up from her seat and said to the three people present in an extremely resolute tone:

"Whether you want to move towards the future is your business, and wanting to live in the past is my own choice. Even if I'm the only one left in the end, I will never admit the end of [CRYCHIC]!"

After saying that, she immediately took a step forward, left her seat without a trace of nostalgia, and walked straight towards the door of the cafe...

........................

"Ahh...it ended up being a mess."

After Nagasaki Suyo left, a lingering sadness finally appeared on Toyokawa Shoko's face.

"The time we spent together was so short, so short that we were only focused on enjoying the happiness of that moment and had no chance to understand each other's past and thoughts..."

As for how long Nagasaki Motoyo had to wait after that, and how painful the obsession this wait had brought her, she had no idea.

Chihaya-kun is right. For Nagasaki Motoyo, the existence of [CRYCHIC] is far more important than she imagined.

as well as--

"I'm sorry, Mu. Actually, you have always valued Su Shi, right..."

Toyokawa Shoko turned her head and looked at her childhood friend who had a depressed look on his face.

"I'm really... sorry for making you do such difficult things."

"Xiangzi...there's no need to apologize to me."

After hearing this, Ruoye Mu shook his head slightly.

"Su Shi was right. I knew everything, but I couldn't give them an explanation that would put their minds at ease, nor could I fully fulfill your request... In the end, I couldn't help either you or Su Shi..."

"It's not your fault."

Toyokawa Shoko shook her head.

"If I had pulled myself together earlier and explained everything in person on that day, maybe Su Shi wouldn't have waited for a whole year with that obsession. Maybe... she wouldn't have been so stubborn as she is now..."

Having said that, she raised her head and looked at Chihaya Tetsuya, who had been silent since just now.

"I'm sorry, Chihaya-nii... I couldn't make her change her mind."

Judging from Chihaya Tetsuya's previous attitude, if Nagasaki Suyo still refuses to repent, he will take direct measures and let Deng and Riki and others expel Nagasaki Suyo from their current band.

And if that happens, Nagasaki Motoyo will probably become a lonely person from now on, with no one to understand or support her...

"Well, although it may be a bit selfish for me to say this, I still hope that Chihaya-nii can give Suyo a little more time--"

"...Huh? Have you finished your self-reflection meeting with Wakaba-san?"

As a result, Chihaya Tetsu acted as if he hadn't heard what Toyokawa Shoko said. He calmly took the design drawing, glanced at it briefly, and then said to her directly:

"Well, then, we should start doing something truly useful... Fengchuan, take this design back to the studio and try to complete the proofing by yourself."

“………………Huh?”

"Wakaba-san, come with me. We should both set off now that Shigaraki-san hasn't gotten too far."

Under Wakaba Mu's dazed gaze, Chihaya Tetsuya said:

"A tantrum-throwing child will only listen to others after he has finished speaking in anger. Now comes the key point of our negotiation today—"

"It's time to wake Nagasaki-san from this year-long nightmare."

Chapter 23: Sentimental girls always have few valuable lines

If you ask everyone individually "Do you miss CRYCHIC?", everyone's answer will definitely be the same.

Even Mu, who lied and said he "never thought forming a band was fun," must have cherished that time from the bottom of his heart.