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

Instead of the expected feeling of falling to the ground, I felt someone catching me with strong arms.

With one hand supporting her under her armpit and the other supporting her waist, she was able to keep from falling.

Nagasaki Motoyo quickly composed herself, stood firm, and thanked the other person softly while looking up at their face.

"Shirakawa-kun?"

A ripple appeared in Nagasaki Motoyo's eyes; she hadn't expected the other person to appear here.

Shirakawa withdrew his hands and smiled.

"I heard that Pastel Palettes is the guest performer today, so I came to check it out."

This is a lie.

He's here because today's system task is to come and watch the live performance.

Currently, the system's tasks are mostly ordinary tasks like watching live performances and having tea, with rewards typically being 5 or 10 points, and 5 or 10 yen.

When Motoyo Nagasaki turned around, Motoyo's gaze followed her. Seeing that the other person suddenly stumbled and was about to fall, Motoyo immediately wanted to act, but hesitated because she was still holding a glass of orange juice.

Then she saw Shirakawa Ze rush over and support her.

After seeing that Shirakawa Sawa's arms had absorbed the entire weight of Nagasaki Motoyo's body, plus the extra force generated when she fell, and remained completely unmoved, Wakaba Mutsu whispered something.

"Solid"

After Nagasaki Motoyo regained her footing, Shirakawa Sawa looked her over and sensed that something was wrong with her, so he asked,

"Nagasaki-kun, are you alright?"

Nagasaki Motoyo gently shook her head.

"I'm fine."

"Thank you so much."

"I'm going out to sit for a while."

Shirakawa Ze was a little worried, so he went out with her.

Ruoye Mutsu watched the two figures as they walked away, standing still without moving, her eyes devoid of any emotion.

After the two figures completely disappeared, she turned to look at the stage, waiting for the live performance to begin...

A huge thank you to [Enernal] for providing paid data today!

Volume 1: Chapter 45 It would be great if we could be friends

After leaving the performance hall, Nagasaki Motoyo looked at Shirakawa Sawa with a faint apologetic expression.

"I'm so sorry to have troubled you."

The latter said it was okay, and gestured towards the second floor.

"You don't seem to be feeling well. Would you like to go upstairs and rest for a bit?"

Nagasaki Motoyo gently shook her head.

"Thank you for your concern, I'll just go home and rest."

As she left the performance hall, she realized that she couldn't even find someone to confide in.

She considered herself to be closest to four people, but Ruo Ye Mu was either silent or made a blunder; Shiina Tatsuki was like Schrödinger's cat, and she had no idea if she could understand her; Takamatsu Akari deliberately avoided her; and Toyokawa Shoko was someone she couldn't even talk to...

Although Shirakawa Sawa in front of him was someone he could talk to and someone he could confide in, he didn't have a good relationship with him at all.

So Nagasaki Motoyo didn't want to stay here any longer; she just wanted to go home and snuggle in bed to play on her phone.

"I'll take you home."

Just as Nagasaki Motoyo was about to turn around, she heard Shirakawa Sawa's voice.

She looked at the other person with some surprise.

"Eh?"

Shirakawa Sawa began to explain.

“You don’t look too good, so I hope to see you home safely.”

"Firstly, it's something I can live with in my own conscience, and secondly, I also have to consider your place in Deng Jiang's heart."

"If she finds out that I clearly sensed something was wrong with you today and didn't take any action, she'll definitely blame me."

That's absolutely true. Seeing how dazed and confused she looked, I really didn't feel comfortable letting her go home alone.

If Takamatsu Akari were there, even if she didn't go back with him, she would have asked someone else to go with her.

Nagasaki Motoyo suddenly felt a lump in her throat, but she held back her tears.

She knew that Gao Songdeng was a sensitive person, but often didn't know how to express it.

Therefore, she had no doubts about what the other party said.

Without saying anything more, Nagasaki Motoyo nodded in agreement, then turned and walked towards home.

The entire journey was speechless.

When they arrived at the bottom of Roppongi Hills Residence, Nagasaki Motoyo looked up at Shirakawa Sawa with gratitude on her face.

"Shirakawa-kun, my home is in this building."

"You've worked so hard, please have a cup of tea before you go."

She paused for a moment, then continued,

"If there's nothing urgent, I would like to sincerely invite you to have a cup of tea."

Shirakawa Ze nodded and then followed her upstairs.

After entering, Nagasaki Motoyo gestured for him to sit on the sofa for a while.

After a while, she brought two cups of black tea and some snacks and placed them on the table.

"Please feel free to do so."

Shirakawa Sawa picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then looked out the window without saying a word.

After a moment of silence, Nagasaki Motoyo spoke.

"Did you mention anything about the band before, Deng-chan?"

Shirakawa Ze turned to look at her.

"They mentioned it briefly, but didn't say anything particularly specific."

Nagasaki Motoyo nodded, her eyes lowered.

"Then Lixi probably won't say anything..."

Shirakawa suddenly sensed a pessimism emanating from the person in front of him who most wanted to revive CRYCHIC.

He knew this was probably a temporary emotion, but he was still a little surprised.

Nagasaki Motoyo continued looking at the table, then slowly spoke, her voice tinged with confusion.

"Shirakawa-kun, do you think I've tried hard enough?"

Shirakawa Ze nodded.

"They must have worked hard enough."

Nagasaki Motoyo's voice trembled slightly.

"Then...why didn't my efforts work?"

"If that's the case, then what's the point of my efforts?"

The thought that everyone was still like strangers made her heart clench.

Upon hearing this, Shirakawa Ze roughly understood the other person's inner conflict.

"Actually, Nagasaki's efforts were quite effective."

Nagasaki Motoyo suddenly looked up at the opposite side, hope and tears mingling in her eyes.

She knew that when the other person said that, they must know something that she didn't.

Shirakawa Sawa pulled out a tissue and handed it over, saying at the same time,

"Yesterday afternoon, because of our school festival, I went out for coffee with Tou-chan and Riki."

"Then I saw the girl you called Xiao Xiang walk in together with the girl who was standing next to you in the performance hall earlier."

Upon hearing that all four of her former teammates had appeared in those two sentences, Nagasaki Motoyo immediately stopped all her emotions and thoughts, sat up straight, and focused all her attention on the other person.

Shirakawa spoke slowly.

"The girl named Xiaoxiang turned around and left as soon as she saw us, and the girl with her followed her."

Nagasaki Motoyo's eyes darkened.

Shirakawa Sawa continued.

"Later, the girl who was with her came back and asked me to help her connect with them."

"I didn't understand, so I didn't agree at the time."

Nagasaki Motoyo recalled what she had said to Wakaba Mutsumi when she first met Shirakawa Sawa, and a feeling of emotion welled up inside her.

“Xiao Mu… has always remembered this…”

She then remembered that Takamatsu Akari and Shiina Tatsuki were also present when Wakaba Mutsu said those words, and immediately asked...

"and then?"

Shirakawa Sawa told the truth.

"They told me to contact you first and ask if you've encountered any problems."

Nagasaki Motoyo looked into the other person's eyes and unconsciously leaned forward slightly.

"I hope Shirakawa-san wouldn't make up a story to comfort me."