In music anime, band girls won't be alone.

Shirakawa Ze nodded.

"Yes, they should be home by now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shirakawa's phone vibrated; it was a message from Takamatsu Akari.

"Zejun, I'm home."

He showed his phone screen to Shiina Tatsuki and replied with an "okay" emoji.

Shiina Riki nodded, stopped what she was doing, and stood quietly behind the counter.

"Buzz~"

Shirakawa Sawa's phone vibrated again.

He opened his phone and saw a message from Motoyo Nagasaki.

"Shirakawa-kun, would it be convenient for us to meet today?"

Volume 1: Chapter 22 Do you really enjoy having others act as your mouthpiece?

Upon seeing the message from Nagasaki Motoyo, Shirakawa Sawa replied with a message.

"I'm at RiNG now, and Shiina-kun is there too. Do you want to come?"

Upon seeing this reply, Nagasaki Motoyo's face darkened.

What does this sentence mean?

Why specifically mention Li Xi?

“When he came to RiNG, Lixi was not there, and neither Dengjiang nor Lixi would bring up the CRYCHIC incident.”

"Could it be that Lixi told him about me going to see her yesterday?"

"No, she probably wouldn't. She wouldn't say something like that. It wouldn't do her any good; in fact, it would damage her image in front of Deng Jiang..."

"Then why did he say that?"

After thinking it over, she couldn't quite figure out what the other person meant, but she couldn't keep pondering it, so she sent a message.

"Excuse me, I'd like it to be just the two of us today. Let's find a quiet place. Should we choose?"

Shirakawa Sawa: "You decide."

Nagasaki Motoyo chose a relatively upscale coffee shop and sent them the address.

"Let's meet here, Shirakawa-kun. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

Shirakawa Sawa replied with an "okay," then continued sitting at the counter drinking coffee. Fifteen minutes later, he left RiNG and headed to the coffee shop that Nagasaki Motoyo had mentioned.

Before even reaching the coffee shop, I could see the other person sitting on the bench by the entrance from afar.

As he got closer, Nagasaki Motoyo noticed him, immediately smiled, and stood up.

Good afternoon, Shirakawa-kun.

A smile also appeared on Shirakawa Sawa's face.

"good afternoon."

Nagasaki Motoyo maintained her smile and gestured towards the coffee shop.

"Let's go in first."

As the two walked in, a system notification sounded in Shirakawa Ze's mind.

"Congratulations, host, for successfully interacting with five different girls today and unlocking today's mission - [Eating dinner in a setting other than your own home]. The mission reward is 1 point and 10 yen."

"If you have dinner with someone of the opposite sex, the mission reward will be ten times higher."

Shirakawa Ze thought back to yesterday morning when the system told him that there would be even more interesting and rewarding tasks. If such tasks could be considered interesting, then the system must have a rather perverse sense of humor.

After they ordered, Nagasaki Motoyo looked at Shirakawa Sawa, her smile still there, but a hint of melancholy in her eyes. She spoke softly, her voice deliberately crafted.

"Shirakawa-kun, I'm so glad you came today."

"I contacted you this time because..."

"Sigh, I don't know how to say it."

Have you heard Deng Jiang or Li Xi talk about CRCHIC?

Shirakawa looked at her, his expression indifferent.

"No."

Nagasaki Motoyo's expression grew even more melancholy.

"Last year, Deng Jiang, Li Xi, me, and two other people formed a band called CRYCHIC. We practiced together, worked hard together, and spent a wonderful and happy time together."

"But no one expected that after the band's first live performance, the leader and founder would suddenly leave the band without any reason."

"Dengjiang saw some comments online and thought that it was her fault that led to the captain leaving the band. Since then, she has been blaming herself, stopped practicing, stopped contacting us, and even deliberately avoided us."

“I’ve been trying to communicate with her, but she’s always refused to see me and doesn’t reply to my messages.”

"It's not just Deng Jiang; the other members are also having less and less contact with each other."

"I really don't want to see the situation worsen like this, and I don't want us to continue to fall apart."

"I think the main reason for this is that we haven't sat down and communicated properly. As long as we can communicate face-to-face, everything will be fine."

Nagasaki Motoyo paused here, observing the other party's reaction.

But the other person's face didn't seem to show any reaction, no emotional fluctuation, and no indication of agreement or disagreement; they just quietly looked at her.

Nagasaki Motoyo felt that things were getting a bit tricky.

If you want someone to help you, you definitely need to have something that can move them; otherwise, why would they help you?

Therefore, Nagasaki Motoyo initially planned to start with emotions and launch a direct attack to see if she could move the other party.

Besides this plan, choosing this coffee shop was also deliberate.

Because this coffee shop is quite upscale in terms of both its decor and price range, she can glean some information from the other person's behavior after entering the coffee shop.

If the other party seems uneasy, as if they've never been to such a place before, then you can try using money as a weapon.

However, once the other person entered the coffee shop, their demeanor and posture were quite natural and relaxed, as if they were a regular customer of such places.

This made Nagasaki Motoyo give up the idea of ​​using money as a weapon.

So she focused her efforts on emotional appeal.

But after listening to her talk for so long, the other person didn't react at all.

The two plans she had prepared both seemed unfeasible, which left her somewhat at a loss.

At this point, the waiter brought over the black tea and some snacks they had ordered.

Nagasaki Motoyo picked up her black tea, took a sip, then looked at Shirakawa Sawa and decided to just tell him directly.

"Shirakawa-san, you and Touka-chan seem to be quite close at school, right?"

Shirakawa Ze shook his head.

"No."

"They also have good relationships outside of school."

Nagasaki Motoyo was somewhat speechless, but she didn't show it.

"Shirakawa-san, if it's possible, could you help me arrange a meeting with Touka-chan?"

"I will thank you."

Shirakawa put down his cup and looked at the girl opposite him.

"No."

"Since the cause is between you two, and the outcome is also between you two, then you shouldn't involve me, an unrelated person."

"If Dengjiang doesn't want to see you, you should be thinking about how to talk to her and persuade her, instead of trying to persuade me."

"Nagasaki-san, do you really enjoy having others act as your mouthpiece?"

Nagasaki Motoyo felt as if lightning had struck her brain. She stared at the boy in front of her in astonishment. His calm eyes now seemed to be mercilessly judging her.

"I……"

She opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything more. Her whole body was numb from the shock, and she remained motionless.

Shirakawa Ze gestured to the waiter.

The waiter nodded and brought the bill over.

After glancing at it, Shirakawa Sawa took out the corresponding amount of money, placed it on the bill, and then got up and left.

Volume 1: Chapter 23 You're a Little Too Concerned About Your Own Feelings

After leaving the coffee shop, Shirakawa checked the time and it was already 5 p.m. Remembering the tickets that Ichiji Nijika had given him the day before yesterday, he decided to go and check out STARRY.

When he first met Nagasaki Motoyo and saw that she deliberately steered the conversation toward Takamatsu Akari, he had already anticipated what would happen today.

What the other party said today was undeniably sincere, and Shirakawa Ze knew that she truly wanted to revive CRYCHIC.

However, sincerity does not necessarily mean that one will be accepted by others.

Given his current situation, there is no reason for him to help Nagasaki Motoyo contact Takamatsu Akari.

If he did that, he would actually hurt Takamatsu Akari, and he wouldn't get any positive emotional feedback from Nagasaki Motoyo either, which would be pleasing neither side.

At this point, the latter simply uses it as a tool.

He has no reason to knowingly and eagerly try to matchmake others.

The things he said were just the reactions of a normal person in that situation.

……

At this moment, in the coffee shop, Nagasaki Motoyo had recovered a little.