A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

Just as Toyokawa Shoko put aside her wandering thoughts and prepared to enjoy the live performance with a purer heart, the lights in the venue suddenly went out. Immediately afterwards, a spotlight illuminated the corner of the stage.

And when everyone's eyes subconsciously gathered towards the location where the spotlight was shining, the next second, the dazzling golden star pattern caused the clouds that had been accumulating for a long time to finally burst into deafening thunder.

【Summer Zodiac】appears.

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

Under the light, the golden embroidery emits a little bit of light that is even more stunning than what is shown in the MV.

And when she stood still and formally faced all the audience below the stage, the originally extremely noisy audience seats instantly fell into silence.

Including Shoko Toyokawa, who was in the last row, she subconsciously straightened her back and looked at the person on the stage almost dully.

(…So beautiful.)

No matter how complicated her thoughts and ideas were before, they became unimportant the moment she saw Hoshino Ai.

At this moment, on this stage, in the entire [RiNG]... no, in this world.

There will never be another person...who can shine brighter than Hoshino Ai!

"…………"

On the other side, when Chihaya Tetsuya actually saw Hoshino Ai, his expression was first stunned for a moment, and then turned into an uncontrollable smile.

No longer separated by the lens, no longer an image that only exists on the Internet.

After countless fruitless searches, he waited for seven years to reach this place which was only more than ten meters away.

He is no longer the poor orphan with nothing, and she has grown into such a bright and beautiful girl.

This gap and emotion that seemed like a lifetime ago made Chihaya Tetsuya's eyes even feel a little warm.

He subconsciously reached out and covered his mouth with his hand, as if trying to hide his excitement and hesitation at the moment. However, how could such a violent movement escape the attention of Hoshino Ai on the stage?

"...!"

Even though the only spotlight left in the venue at this moment was the spotlight overhead, and even though the faint reflection was not enough to see the faces of the audience below, Hoshino Ai still caught sight of Chihaya Tetsuya from the last row in an instant.

Having already stood still, she had originally planned to start a simple interaction with the fans and audience present, just like in her previous performances.

However, when she actually saw Chihaya Tetsuya's face, her business model, which had long been integrated into her muscle memory, could not function normally no matter what.

"..."

At the same time, seeing that Hoshino Ai was slow to greet the audience as usual, but was staring blankly in one direction, Sanjiao Chuhua immediately understood what had happened.

It seems that no further opening remarks are needed at this point, either for the expectant audience or for this unfortunate couple who have been waiting for each other for seven years.

Thinking of this, Sanjiao Chuhua first smiled silently in his heart, and then made a gesture to the drummer of the band behind him.

Da, da, da, da…

The show begins——

Chapter 62: Puzzle Star ループ

(The title is taken from the song of the same name by Nayutan Star. It is recommended to read this chapter with that song.)

(Specially recommend the cover version of [PAREO X Hikawa Nichiya])

The moment the accompaniment sounded, the spotlight instantly spread out and turned into a circular light spot rotating around the stage.

At the same time, the brilliant lights not only illuminated the entire stage and venue, but also outlined a galaxy-like image on the ground with the rotating light spots.

This unexpected and stunning opening made the entire venue boil over.

Even Wakaba Mutsu, who had already witnessed various stages and performances under the influence of his parents, could not help but be deeply shocked.

"[RiNG]'s lighting system... can even produce effects like this..."

She first subconsciously looked up at the lights above, but then she immediately understood that this seemingly complex and advanced visual effect was actually composed of only two parts of lights.

One is a colorful headlight that serves as a starry sky background, while the other is a spotlight that can regularly focus and disperse.

This is not some high-end control system, but a basic function that many stages have.

However, being able to combine and use them so skillfully without any sense of abruptness in the visual effects requires a lot of professional ability and stage experience.

【Summer Zodiac】had already surpassed all the previous bands in terms of stage effects just from the moment of opening.

Under this opening light that amazed everyone, the Live officially began——

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

[In the corner of the galaxy, the planets are constantly rotating]

[An echo of the radio wave recording came back.]

[How many times has this happened? ]

Generally speaking, if a lighter song is chosen as the first song in a live performance, the singer’s lack of emotion and state can easily create a discordant tone with the song at the beginning. However, with the support of Sanjiao Chuhua’s extremely stable breath and singing skills, the performance had the quality of a recording studio.

The starry sky-themed long dress emitted a faint fluorescence under the light, as deep and mysterious as the starry sky.

Compared with the brilliance of Hoshino Ai, the existence of Mitsuka Hatsuka is more like a black hole that makes it difficult to look away once you look at it.

And then, when the song came to Hoshino Ai's part, the warm atmosphere at the scene instantly reached its peak——

【In the distant universe, I fell in love with you】

[Even though I understand that I cannot convey it]

[Ahh, it seems like the feeling of wanting to see you keeps repeating itself]

【My mind is full of this matter, and there is no room for other thoughts】

Although to other audiences, the two people on the stage were just performing their performances normally, Chihaya Tetsuya in the audience was very clear that ever since Hoshino Ai picked up the microphone, her eyes were always fixed on him.

【Ahh, I want to see you now】

[The days with this thought are constantly repeating]

[On this spinning orbit, you are still not by my side]

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

"...It's totally dedicated to Chihaya-nii."

Toyokawa Shoko, who was standing next to Chihaya Tetsuya, could naturally feel Hoshino Ai's gaze as well.

Combined with the content of the lyrics, she was 100% sure that Hoshino Ai chose this song entirely for the purpose of singing it to Chihaya Tetsuya.

but……

"Is it because the emotions are too strong... My condition is really too good."

Looking at Hoshino Ai who was at the center of the stage, Toyokawa Shoko said almost absentmindedly:

"Even if it's a song dedicated to just one person, it still has an aura that's enough to move the entire audience..."

That is a performance state that has nothing to do with appearance.

Her eyes, movements, and the strong emotions mixed in with her singing brought all the audience into her performance.

In addition, the perfect harmony of Triangle Chuhua and the thematic and visually appealing lighting also created this impeccable live effect.

It was clearly just a Livehouse stage, but the performance level was no less than that of a professional one.

This is the most popular new idol group on the entire Internet right now - [Summer Zodiac].

"...Even if I just insist on expressing myself, is that enough to create such an effect that it can infect the entire audience?"

In addition to being amazed, Shoko Toyokawa's inner understanding of the stage and the performance was completely subverted and changed.

At the end of her sight, the golden starlight on Hoshino Ai's body became even brighter.

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

Just like a planet in orbit, I can clearly see him, but I still can't touch him.

This uneasy feeling, mixed with the joy of being stared at by him, made Hoshino Ai's mood reach an unprecedented high.

She had clearly been on stage many times before, but this time... she could clearly feel that she had completely integrated into the stage and the song.

But the more she immersed herself in it, the more she couldn't take her eyes off him.

Because the person she was looking at was the only reason why she was standing on this stage.

This first-magnitude star, shining for only one person, was now uncontrollably radiating an unprecedented brilliance.

[I can't reach it, but I still see it. What should I do next? 】

【After getting closer to you who was far away, I finally understood】

Towards the person who was so close yet so far away, Hoshino Ai stretched out her hand——

[Ahhh, even though I can't see you, the feeling keeps repeating itself]

My heart beats for you, that's the only thing I can be sure of.

【That's all I need】

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

"..."

From the moment Hoshino Ai's singing began, Chihaya Tetsuya never moved.

For him, who already knew Hoshino Ai's feelings, he naturally would not ignore the emotions in this song.

Even after seven years, the look in her eyes when she looked at him on the stage was still exactly the same as it was seven years ago.

It turned out that the little girl had already fallen deeply in love since then.

Ah, the world changes, and we keep repeating the cycle.

My thoughts have drawn a track just to chase you.

【Ahh, I want to see you right away】

[Repeating cycle in life]

[On this spinning orbit, you are still not by my side]

[I can’t think of anything else.]

"That's right..."

He couldn't help but murmur.

"Really... I just haven't noticed it until now..."

As the song gradually came to an end, the "planetary ring" above the stage began to rotate and spread faster.

And when the light spread to its maximum range, he, who was in the last row, was just on the outermost "track".

It was at this moment that Hoshino Ai looked straight at him. With the anticipation of meeting him soon, she softly sang the last lyrics -

【Perhaps this is because of the existence of "love."】

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

The singing and accompaniment gradually faded away, and the lights also changed to what they were before the two appeared on stage.

However, the aftermath of this live performance turned into an extremely enthusiastic response that took a long time to dissipate from the venue.

Just like at the beginning, Hoshino Ai still said nothing after the performance.

After she and Sankaku Hatsuka bowed wordlessly to the boiling audience, she turned her gaze to Chihaya Tetsuya again and smiled an extremely bright smile.

The next second, with cheers that nearly overturned the entire RiNG, the Summer Zodiac live performance came to an end.

Chapter 63: Calmness in Madness

After 【Summer Zodiac】left the stage, the entire venue was still immersed in their perfect performance.

Not long after, with a shout of "Encore" from the front row, the entire venue fell into a very uniform cheer -

"Encore! Encore! Encore!"

“…This is not good.”

After hearing this overwhelming cheer, Shoko Toyokawa immediately frowned.