A band simulator, but all girl-heavy!

"I don't blame you...so please don't cry because of me."

Xiangzi will never forget this voice in his life.

This moment will become eternal in her mind.

She slowly raised her head, looking in the direction of the sound and touch. Every second seemed to stretch for a century, and everything around her moved in slow motion until her tear-blurred eyes caught sight of a familiar figure.

Through the dim light, she saw the pair of stars.

Like the emerald of the universe, she sparkled with pure, clear, emerald green light. Even the brightest moonlight could not conceal her dazzling brilliance. Those sparkling, sparkling eyes were right in front of him, gazing at Xiangzi tenderly.

The owner of those eyes knelt in front of Xiangzi, his white hands gently stroking her wet cheeks, wiping away the tears that were helplessly sliding down.

The rain took away all the good things in Xiangzi's life, including his spring. But at this moment, the most important person, whom she thought she had lost forever, was right here.

That person did not disappear, she did not cease to exist, she did not go anywhere. In Xiangzi's most helpless and broken moment, she was by Xiangzi's side, reaching out her hand to wipe away her tears.

"……sunflower?"

Xiangzi parted his lips helplessly, staring blankly at the girl in front of him. After a long while, he squeezed out a name with difficulty from his throat.

"I'm here."

Aoi's smile blossomed in front of her, as dazzling and warm as the sun piercing through the clouds, completely dispelling the gloom that had broken her heart on that cold rainy day.

The hands gently stroked Xiangzi's cheeks, fingertips ran across every inch of her skin, wiping her still moist eyes. The words were gentle, but full of reassuring power.

She said lightly: "I am here, and I am still here..."

At this moment, Xiangzi's brain was truly blank.

She no longer cared whether what she saw was an illusion or whether it was all a hoax. To her, there was only one thing that really mattered.

——Aoi is beside her.

“Aoi… Aoi! Ugh… Ah… Aoi…”

Xiangzi rushed over regardless of everything, and wrapped his arms around Aoi's not-so-broad shoulders. His fingers passed through her beige hair, feeling Aoi's body temperature under the fabric.

Aoi didn't dodge at all, and didn't care about the water stains all over her body. She hugged her gently like a mother, gently stroking her already wet hair with one hand, and patiently listened to Xiangzi's collapse mixed with tears.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I need Aoi... I can't leave you... Don't leave me... Don't leave... Please..."

She almost didn't know what she was saying, but she was still trying hard to convey her guilt and longing, fearing that when she came to her senses she would find that there was nothing in her arms.

But that didn't happen, because the coldness soaked by the rain was quickly dispelled in Aoi's warm embrace, along with the sadness driven away by Aoi's words.

Aoi told her word by word, smiling:

"I won't leave you, Xiangzi..."

208

Chapter 208 Please smile for me.

Shoko Toyokawa's life has changed dramatically.

From leaving her warm home, to her father's collapse and his voluntary withdrawal from the band, to discovering that Aoi had disappeared from her side...it was as if an invisible force had completely overturned and recast her life. What happened in just one week changed her life for almost a decade.

She lost her home, her pampered life as a young lady, and Crychic and her most important friend at the same time, but now... that friend is back.

No one in this world remembers her anymore, not even Aoi's family members remember her anymore, but only Xiangzi remembers her, only Xiangzi can see her, can feel her embrace...

Shoko Toyokawa is not a detective or a scientist, nor does she have any flexible rational thinking. She can't figure out what is going on. There is only one answer that comes to her mind - Aoi has not disappeared, and now Aoi belongs to her alone.

She thought that such thoughts were despicable, even evil. Although such a serious and incredible thing had happened to her friend, she vaguely felt a sense of relief.

Not only was she glad that Aoi was back, she was also happy... Only she could see Aoi, only she could remember Aoi. That girl, as warm and beautiful as a sunflower, could only rely on her now, and belong only to her.

She shouldn't think like this...

This situation is terrible, this situation is wrong, isn't it? How can someone be forgotten by the whole world? Not even her own mother remembers her... and most importantly - no one else seems to see her either.

When Xiangzi hugged Kui and cried loudly at the entrance, his father seemed to have woken up for a while. It was obvious that he could not see Kui in Xiangzi's arms at all, but was just worried about why she was crying.

Now, Aoi seems to have become a ghost that belongs only to Xiangzi...

Why? What should we do? How can we solve this problem?

She felt that it should be dealt with properly… After all, this wasn't right, was it?

After settling his father, Xiangzi took Kui into his bedroom, changed her wet clothes, washed up, and opened the door of his bedroom with trepidation. He saw Kui sitting quietly beside her bed, looking at the gray sky and raindrops outside the window.

The girl with beige hair sat quietly sideways, revealing only her delicate and beautiful profile. Her emerald eyes reflected the gray sky, and the window through which the sky passed reflected the girl's translucent figure floating in the city.

Seeing this scene, Xiangzi finally let go of her worries and gradually relaxed. She was really worried that when she returned to her room, she would see an empty bedroom and that everything she had just seen was just an illusion...

But, as Aoi said, she has always been by Xiangzi's side.

Xiangzi smiled faintly, rubbed his red eyes, and was about to walk towards Aoi to say something, but he didn't know if it was an illusion, he always felt that Aoi on the bed was like a shadow outside the window, faintly transparent... But he blinked again and found nothing unusual.

She rubbed her eyes again, and when she found that such a situation did not occur again, she regarded everything as an illusion, sat down gently beside Aoi, and talked to Aoi about this very serious matter.

But Aoi seemed to downplay it. She didn't know why she was forgotten by everyone, nor why no one could see her. When she talked about all this, she acted as if she was talking about a story that had nothing to do with her. Her expression was relaxed, her tone was flat, without any panic or tension, and she even comforted Xiangzi.

"...At least I still have you, Xiangzi. You can see me and remember me. I'm very happy."

There was a faint smile on Aoi's face, and that smile, reflected by the gray rain outside the window, seemed fragile and sad for some reason, without the radiant temperament of the past.

She reached out and gently wrapped her hands around Xiangzi's. The touch was as warm and soft as ever, making her nostalgic...

"At this moment... when Xiangzi needs me the most, I don't want to leave you. This is the only way... that you, Xiangzi, can willingly accept my help."

"What nonsense are you talking about... You've become like this, and you're still thinking about helping me..."

Xiangzi's eyes trembled slightly. Hearing these words and looking at the still smiling Aoi in front of him, his nose suddenly felt sore and his already red and swollen eyes became moist again: "But I... said such words to you yesterday."

"I don't care... Xiangzi, I don't care what you say to me. I won't force you to cheer up and respond to me when you are sad..."

The warm fingers gently touched Xiangzi's cheek again, gently wiped away the tears from the corners of Xiangzi's eyes: "I just want Xiangzi to be happy."

"But...Aoi..."

"I'm fine, Xiangzi."

"How can it be okay..."

"Since you think so... well, now that we're two people who need help, let's support each other and get through this difficult time, okay?"

"……OK."

Xiangzi's tears could not stop, even though Aoi tried hard to wipe them away, tears carrying her inner guilt, sadness, worry and joy continued to flow down. The eldest lady who was always strong and elegant on weekdays was now as helpless as a little girl who lost her doll, opening her mouth and letting the tears slide silently.

“Cry, cry…”

Aoi's smiling face was reflected in Xiangzi's sight through his tear-blurred eyes. Her warm hands gently stroked Xiangzi's cheeks, wiping away the bitter rain: "Let all your tears dry... Promise me that you will only smile from now on, okay?"

"This kind of thing...this kind of thing...how can I just agree to it so easily..."

Xiangzi's voice was tinged with tears, and he complained in a low voice while sobbing.

"Just promise me, okay?"

Aoi whispered in a sweet and soft voice as if she was acting like a spoiled child.

Looking at Aoi in front of him, looking at those beautiful emerald eyes, and himself reflected in those eyes, Xiangzi felt for a moment that no matter what happened in the future, he would never fall into despair and pain again.

As long as she could gaze into those eyes, as long as she could be embraced by those warm hands, she could do anything...

So, Xiangzi finally agreed to this request.

"it is good……"

"Did we agree?"

Aoi's smile suddenly became sunny and bright, bright enough to dispel all the haze in Xiangzi's heart: "If you break the agreement..."

"What will happen?"

Xiangzi let Aoi wipe away the tears from his eyes. Finally, he couldn't help laughing and asked softly, "Turn into a puppy?"

"Do not."

Aoi's smile seemed to turn into sunshine that pierced through the clouds.

"As punishment, you must put on the cutest smile in front of me every day."

209

Chapter 209 We will only say goodbye when we never see each other again.

In this way, Aoi lived in Xiangzi's house.

After experiencing this, the girls who had grown up together completely put aside their grudges and snuggled up to each other on the narrow bed, hugging each other and falling asleep - in fact, it was because Xiangzi was afraid of not seeing Aoi when she woke up in the morning, so she wanted to hug Aoi and welcome the dreamland together.

Of course, what she worried about did not happen. Every time she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was always Aoi's peaceful sleeping face or her emerald green eyes.

The girl transformed into a ghost and accompanied Xiangzi, helping him do various things, while Xiangzi desperately searched for clues for the girl.

However, even though she tried her best, she could not find the reason why Aoi disappeared. Since that day, she tried hard to find a lot of information, asked various people, and searched all the channels she could find, but to no avail.

A person is suddenly forgotten by others, and even disappears from concrete things like group photos, band videos, names in the class roll call book, elementary school graduation photos... Everything that can prove her disappears, as if Saotome Aoi does not exist in this world at all.

During the investigation, even Xiangzi sometimes vaguely doubted her own memory, wondering if the problem was with her or if all this was just a fantasy in her mind.

Does Aoi really exist?

But she would dismiss such questions, perhaps because Aoi was in her own home, because she had such clear childhood memories of Aoi, and because there was always a vacant figure in the photos that had been erased... Xiangzi insisted on believing that Aoi existed, but everyone had inexplicably forgotten her.

This world is erasing Aoi's existence.

But Xiangzi would not allow such a thing, because if she didn't even remember Aoi and still denied Aoi's existence, Saotome Aoi would really disappear from this world.

Maybe even Aoi can doubt herself, but Xiangzi cannot. She is the only one in the world who can prove Aoi's existence, so she must cheer up...

Under the influence of such emotions, Xiangzi accepted Aoi's advice and continued to live passionately and hard even if he encountered a major change that required him to leave home.

Aoi would accompany her to find a part-time job, would carefully teach her how to clean, would do housework with her, and would accompany her to do various things that originally seemed hard and boring.

Under Aoi's warm smile, these things that made her feel broken and painful no longer became tormenting and painful. Instead, they became sweet and charming, like a cake with cream and icing.

It was like there was a little sun in her world that belonged only to her, and would always illuminate every corner of her life...

With Aoi's company, Xiangzi's life improved significantly.

She successfully learned to take care of the housework. Even though her father was still decadent and addicted to alcohol, and the house was full of wine bottles, she no longer felt too irritated. She even studied the layout and organization of the room with Aoi, and turned this shabby little nest that she originally looked down upon into a small but exquisite and beautiful room.

She learned to cook a variety of dishes, but most of the dishes that Aoi learned were made with expensive ingredients. The two of them also studied and learned some dishes that used cheaper ingredients, and even invented a dark dish named after Aoi.

She covered her room with sticky notes and notes, recording her short-term and long-term goals, including advice from Aoi and her own expectations of what she wanted to do after the current disaster and suffering were over.

With Aoi's help, she found a very reliable part-time job in a simple but very pleasing music cafe. The manager was a kind and amiable aunt. In addition to cleaning and receiving guests, the job assigned to Xiangzi in the cafe was to play the piano in the store in his spare time, and the remuneration was very considerable.

After Toyokawa Shoko's life gradually fell apart, she did not fall into depravity, but instead became better and better. Under her influence, her father seemed to have recently started to try harder to find a job and drank less.

Yesterday's sun illuminates her tomorrow's dawn...

“…I’m such an idiot.”

On a quiet night, the starry sky outside the window of Tokyo was still sparse and faint, and the street lights made up the entirety of this kingdom that never sleeps. Xiangzi lay quietly on his bed, gazing at the ceiling of the dim room. Beside him, Aoi clung tightly to her arm, emitting the same reassuring warmth as always.

"Why are you suddenly calling yourself an idiot?"

Aoi couldn't help laughing, her laughter was as sweet as wind chimes in the summer breeze, and it made the atmosphere gentle in the quiet night.

"…accepting a little help, things don't seem to get any worse…"

Xiangzi turned her head slightly, and Aoi's delicate face was close to her. Her bright eyes were shining and blinking as she stared at her.

Seeing Aoi like this, Xiangzi couldn't help but smile and said softly: "Thank you... Maybe I was too willful back then..."

"Xiangzi is not wrong..."

Aoi shook her head slightly, her face gleaming with anticipation. "So, Xiangzi is willing to go back to the band? Talk to everyone at Crychic..."

"……sunflower."

The smile on Xiangzi's face gradually froze, and he soon turned away with some embarrassment. After a long silence, he replied: "...I haven't thought about it yet."

"Or do you not want everyone to know about this?"

"...You know, I can't possibly play in a band in my current state."

"Without Xiangzi and me, Crychic wouldn't be able to survive..."