A band simulator, but all girl-heavy!

Fortunately, it has been a while since school was over, and most of the students have left. There are no faculty or staff patrolling. If I were caught here, it probably wouldn't be as simple as writing a self-criticism.

With a guilty conscience, they finally stopped in the direction of the atrium. Mu stood there silently, looking towards the exit of the teaching building.

Nagasaki Suyo was sitting under a tree in the courtyard, her flaxen hair covered with mottled shadows of the trees, and her expression was lonely. She looked completely different from her usual gentle smile, broken and melancholy.

"Thank you Wakaba-san! Deng, let's go over there quickly."

After thanking him, Aiyin immediately ran over with the lamp, leaving Mu standing there like a puppet, watching everything with an expressionless face.

"Sushi-kun!"

The afternoon hours, approaching dusk, were exceptionally quiet. All that could be heard was the rustling of leaves in the wind and the occasional shouts echoing from the distant playground. Therefore, Aine's call became particularly loud and powerful, instantly dragging Su Shi back from the silence.

She widened her eyes in surprise, looking at the two people wearing Yuqiu uniforms. She didn't know what to say for a moment, but just exclaimed subconsciously.

"...Why are you two here?"

"It's because Sushi-san didn't reply to my messages! He didn't even go to band practice!"

Aine complained somewhat dissatisfiedly, “In the end, I ended up sitting here alone in a daze!”

"Um, sorry, I forgot to tell you."

Su Shi had a flat smile on his face. "I don't want to continue playing in a band. I guess I'm tired of it. You don't have to wait for me."

"Eh."

The expression on Aine's face gradually froze, and the words that were about to come out of her mouth were stuck. She just stared blankly at Su Shi, "...What did you say?"

"I'm quitting the band."

Su Shi was still smiling. "It's time for all this to end. The band's playing house should also end, right?"

Still said it out loud.

This is almost a statement of self-destruction... In this case, they will probably be disappointed in themselves.

“…It’s not over yet!!”

What broke the silence was Deng's almost roaring cry and her sudden step forward to grab Su Shi's wrist.

Not only Su Shi, but even Aine was frightened by her. They looked at this little penguin who was usually timid and retreating and always moved forward under everyone's protection, at a loss, and almost desperately held Su Shi's hand.

"…It's not over yet, and I won't let it end."

Tears sparkled in Deng's eyes.

111

Chapter 111 I wanted to end it all myself...

She had made peace with herself.

This is Nagasaki Suyo's explanation for all her current actions.

The beauty she experienced in this band and the hope and warmth she felt from Xiaokui have surpassed the feelings that Crychic brought her. She can no longer live without Xiaokui. It is like she has tasted poison and is already terminally ill.

Crychic, who had caused Aoi to leave countless times, was no longer needed.

And she, Nagasaki Suyo, is no longer needed by Xiaokui.

In this case, the band has no meaning to exist, and the lifelong commitment is as weak as a joke, with no need to execute it at all.

Everyone is nice and she likes everyone in the band, but the most important and crucial one is Aoi.

After suffering so many blows and such heavy injuries, Su Shi felt that she had used up all the tears in her life. Even if she was sad, she could not cry out loud anymore. She was too tired to move.

But... she didn't expect that even after seeing such a dream, everyone still didn't choose to give up.

Especially Deng, they had experienced so many dreams together. Su Shi had witnessed Deng's transformation from a timid girl who spoke in a soft voice to someone who dared to sing her heart out on the stage. Now she had witnessed her breaking away from her usual timid behavior and shouting out her heart out.

But... what's the point? Aoi won't be back, will she? That Aoi who ended the band so easily, so happily, standing on the stage and smiling just like in her dream, who had suffered so much in her dream, will she really stand by them again?

Moreover, with this unexpected event happening again in her dream, Aoi must be even more reluctant to come back. After all, even she herself had already decided to give up...

"That's meaningless. As for Deng, you've seen as many dreams as I have, but you haven't seen the future, have you?"

Su Shi gradually regained his composure. The smile disappeared from his face, but he still pretended to be calm as if he was talking about an ordinary little thing.

"None of the bands I was with, Crychic, and now my current band, made it to the end. They all ended in failure. I think Aoi also thought the same way, which is why she joined other bands."

“…We have already sworn an oath.”

Deng bit his lower lip slightly and said in a trembling voice, "Everyone, together... for the rest of our lives, until the end of our lives."

"That was a dream, right? People can't control their thoughts..."

"I swore it in real life too!"

The sound of the lights suddenly rose, drowning out Su Shi's unfinished words, "Together for a lifetime, never apart... We all swore together in the RING coffee shop."

"that……"

Su Shi sighed deeply, frowning slightly, and said lightly, "That was just a lie to keep Deng and Li Xi. I really wanted to form a band at the time, and I didn't think about it for the rest of my life. I just said it to go with the flow."

He really gave up on himself.

Nagasaki Suyo doesn't want to hurt anyone, even though she really thought about using Aine, Deng, and Riki, but the only thing she doesn't want to admit is that she has hurt others.

But at this moment, these words seemed to have magical power, constantly seeping out from her twisted and dark emotions, and conveying them to the two people who were desperately trying to save her.

"Mr. Sushi..."

Aine frowned slightly, her expression wavering, but she ultimately said nothing. Deng's expression remained steadfast, as if the words hadn't caused her much harm, and she continued to stare at Sushi.

"Then... Su Shi doesn't want it? Just like what we said in the dream, to be together forever..."

Of course I do.

but……

"It was just a dream."

Su Shi tried hard to suppress her struggling heart and said coldly, "Besides, didn't the dream finally break down? Aoi left, just like Xiangzi, and she will never come back... So, it will be the same in reality."

"Xiao Kui, she finally came back..."

The sound of the lamp gradually became weaker, but it was clearly heard by Su Shi, like lighting a lamp in the dark night.

She didn't react for a moment, her blue eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at the lamp in confusion, as if she didn't understand the meaning of this sentence.

"Eh?"

"A few days after Aine and Suyo stopped coming to the band...Aoi came back."

Deng placed his hand lightly on his chest and whispered with a lonely and regretful tone, "She said... because she got caught in the rain earlier, she had a very bad fever, so she hasn't been able to attend practice."

"...Liar."

Su Shi lowered his head and almost squeezed out these words from his throat.

"Because she saw that everyone was gone... Xiao Kui finally left in despair. She didn't abandon us. If everyone was there at that time, we would definitely be able to walk together to the end in our dream."

There was a glimmer of hope in Deng's eyes, "Let's be together forever and form a band for the rest of our lives."

“…It’s a lie!”

Su Shi suddenly raised her head, her hair a little messy from the violent movement, and her pupils trembled as she looked at the light in front of her. "Are you trying to say... that the band in my dream broke up because we didn't persevere? Are you trying to say... that it's my fault?"

"Sushi said... the band will break up, and it's not anyone's fault."

Deng said softly.

"...Then why did the band break up?"

Su Shi's eyes gradually dimmed. She had indeed said such words, but she had never thought that her and Deng's roles had been reversed at this moment. "Why is it always like this... It seems that every time I can succeed if I try harder, but it always ends in failure. Every time I break everyone's hearts beyond repair, but every time they hope that I can cheer up..."

"Because everyone... doesn't believe in that agreement so firmly."

The light spoke.

"That doesn't make sense, does it? Because, Xiao Kui... do you really believe that Xiao Kui will come back?"

The truly sad thing is not the setbacks or the repeated failures, but the fact that she herself said these desperate words.

The moment a person truly fails is the moment she admits that she has failed.

"Xiao Kui, I will be back."

But precisely because of this, when she has been defeated miserably and has decided to give up everything, the person who still reaches out to her will shine so brightly.

Deng's eyes sparkled with light. "Just like the song 'Light' is so important to us... this song 'Film' that Xiaokui suggested we write together will definitely convey our feelings to her."

Use songs to convey the feelings that words cannot express.

"I don't want to give up no matter what...because Xiaokui is right there."

Deng murmured softly, "Su Shi... I want Xiao Kui to come back."

When I came to my senses, my eyes were already wet with tears, my words were choked with sobs, I couldn't utter a single effective word, and could only desperately wipe away the tears.

She thought her tears had dried up.

She wanted to end it all by herself...

but……

Only those hands, she didn't want to let go no matter what.

"I...I also...don't want to give up Xiaokui."

The broken mask finally fell off.

112

Chapter 112 Crimson Thorns.

"Let's stop here for today. Thank you all for your hard work."

Another ordinary day.

As evening approached, the few people who had been practicing in the recording studio finished their training for the day. Taoxiang took off the shoulder strap of her guitar and nodded to everyone with a smile, "I think we'll have to slow down our practice a bit in the next few days."

"Eh? Why?"

Renai blinked in confusion, "Are there any activities?"

"Golden Week is coming soon, and my place of work will be quite busy then..."

Taoxiang sighed softly, "Besides, there's still a lot of room for improvement in the new song. Let's change the tune first."

Their new songs were actually excellent, perfect. However, after listening to the student band's songs, I always felt like something was missing, like a beautifully assembled model missing a tiny, beautiful part. No matter how gorgeous the exterior was, it still wasn't complete.

When she thought of this, Nina couldn't help but think of ending the band, those high school girls younger than her, and Saotome Aoi.

She cared about that band very much, not only because they were so young but had achieved things that she could never hope to achieve, but also because there was a certain power in their music, a power that Renai admired very much.

It was like listening to the song "Empty Box" many years ago. I felt a strong vitality in my heart, quietly blooming under the guidance of the notes.

She cared so much about it that she even dreamed about the girl playing the violin last night.

In the dream, that Saotome-san seemed to be Subaru's childhood sweetheart. For some reason, she didn't join the final band, but instead came to their original band when they were still the 'New Kawasaki Trio', and competed with her for the lead vocalist position.

In the dream, Rencai naturally didn't know Aoi. She could still clearly recall the feeling of unwillingness and dissatisfaction. To her, it was like a stranger suddenly came to take away her place, just like a cat's territory was threatened by an alien cat. It was enough to make her furious.

However, after waking up, she didn't care so much. After all, they were not in the same band as her, so there was no sense of crisis at all. She could only regard it as a strange dream.

"Hin~na! Are you going somewhere to have some fun today?"

This ordinary day was drawing to a close. Momoka and the others said their goodbyes and dispersed one by one. Subaru once again approached her with great interest and whispered in a bewitching tone, "I can take you to Chiyoda today~ It's the legendary Ochanomizu..."

"Don't go."

"Hey~ why?!"

"I'm tired today, I need to rest! Subaru, don't you need to catch an early bus back to Shibuya from Kawasaki?"

"Ah~ Anyway, where we're going is Tokyo, so the only one who'll have to worry about missing the last bus is Ninana!"

This conversation was just like any other, just an ordinary day.

However, Subaru seemed a little excited today. When he first arrived at the practice room, he was full of enthusiasm and wanted to tell everyone something very interesting. However, he was interrupted by Satoshi who was eager to start training and was unable to say it.

Maybe it was some strange anecdote seen in the arts school. After all, I heard that there is always a lot of gossip in that kind of school.