I became the emperor in the comic book series.

It was the woman next to them who realized what was happening and took the initiative to speak, "Yili's child is a bit introverted, but I can tell she's been very happy and confident lately. Thank you so much for taking care of her. Please come to our home sometime."

"You're too kind. I'll definitely do it when I have the chance."

Higashino Akira nodded seriously. Perhaps sensing that the child was also not very talkative, his wife patted her husband, who was still about to ask questions, and smiled gently, nodding without asking any more.

Just then, it was the turn of the closing band to take the stage.

Goto Ichiri's pupils dilated violently as she watched her boyfriend chatting happily with her parents (from Pochi's perspective).

"It's my sister!" Erli, who had been watching the stage, saw her and waved happily to Ichiri.

Following Jiri's prompting, Higashino Akira and Ichiri's parents looked over and nodded to her.

"Is that pink-haired girl your girlfriend?"

Beside him, a girl dressed in casual clothes with black stockings and a pink rabbit hair clip asked him curiously.

Without turning his head, Higashino Akira replied, "Yes."

Mai Sakurajima raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, looking at him with a somewhat subtle expression. "You already have a girlfriend, so why were you teasing that girl just now?"

“I never said I only had one girlfriend.” Turning his head to look at the girl who seemed a little unable to accept this, Higashino Akira smiled frankly. “Otherwise, why do you think I asked you out? Just because you looked pitiful? Did I have a sudden burst of kindness and want to feed this wild bunny girl so you wouldn’t starve to death?”

"Then you might be disappointed, I don't like your type of guy."

“I don’t need you to like me.” Higashino Akira didn’t care about Sakurajima Mai’s rejection. “I’m just waiting to make you understand that I won’t forget you, and then give you a chance to return to normal. In exchange, your future life belongs to me. If you don’t agree, I won’t force you, but I won’t continue to help you either.”

In my heart, who cares?

Feelings can be cultivated. Higashino Akira did not steal her love or force her; everything was voluntary. As long as they agreed to be with him, they could only have contact with him in terms of romantic relationships. Over time, their feelings deepened.

It doesn't matter if the feelings aren't deep; that's not the point after all.

Mai Sakurajima didn't say anything. She took a bite of the mochi that Akira Higashino had bought for her on the way here, and turned her gaze toward the stage, watching quietly.

Since her last return, she has found that she can't even do normal shopping. To this day, she can't even go back home. Her information and existence in this world are rapidly disappearing.

If it weren't for his help, perhaps after some time, she would have died quietly in some unknown place, and no one would have remembered that Mai Sakurajima ever existed, nor would anyone have been able to see her.

Beside them, Mrs. Goto and her husband exchanged a glance, looking at each other with some concern. They hadn't expected this seemingly normal young man to suddenly start talking to himself in front of an empty space. In an instant, they understood why their daughter had suddenly started talking about her boyfriend.

On stage, as the leader, with the performance about to begin, Hongxia took the initiative to introduce herself: "Hello everyone, this is the Band (Ending) Band. Next, we will be performing 'Guitar, Loneliness, and the Blue Planet'."

After the brief introductions, the four girls looked at each other, nodded, and the drummer started playing the rhythm, and the song began.

"The sudden downpour"

I hate myself for not bringing an umbrella.

I'm too lazy to care about the sky's mood.

During the changing of the seasons

What outerwear should I wear?

Where have spring and autumn gone?

The pressures of the information age are suffocating.

......"

Higashino Akira nodded lightly to the rhythm, feeling that the song was not bad. The lead singer's voice was quite different from her image as a young and beautiful girl, but her overall strength was quite good.

Tear...

When his sleeve was tugged, Higashino Akira turned around and saw Yurikawa Hana, who had somehow appeared, covering her mouth with one hand and asking him a question in a low voice.

"Brother Dongye, why isn't that blue-haired guitarist's guitar making any sound?"

Mrs. Goto & her father: ?

Mai Sakurajima:?

Akira Higashino glanced at Miko, who was pretending not to care but actually eavesdropping, and chuckled.

Well, these two are definitely best friends.

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

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

P.S.: Bonus chapter. I'm also making up for the extra chapter I promised yesterday, but I didn't feel well and had to cancel. I still owe 10 chapters.

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Love Asteroid

Looking around, as if this were some major secret, Higashino Akio waved to Yurikawa Hana, then leaned slightly to the side and lowered his head to get closer.

Seeing this, Yuri Kawana also put on a serious expression and moved closer to cooperate.

Higashino Akira leaned close to Yurikawa Hana's ear and deliberately lowered his voice, saying, "Because that's a bass."

In an instant, the girl's eyes widened, her expression went blank, her face turned from white to red, gradually heating up. She turned her head and looked at the man beside her with disbelief mixed with shyness.

Higashino Akira returned her a bright and sunny smile.

Not far behind, Yotsuya Miko, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, was only glad that she was quiet and not as cheerful as Koka, otherwise she might be the one who was killed in the club now.

So sometimes, being introverted has its advantages, right?

The Goto couple next to her had slightly upturned lips and slightly distorted expressions, clearly struggling to suppress their laughter. But being well-mannered adults, they were too embarrassed to laugh out loud, lest the little girl be so shy that she exploded on the spot.

Amidst laughter and conversation, the band's first song on stage gradually came to an end. However, the audience response was not very good. After all, they were a new band with little experience and no fan base. Although the song was of decent quality, their performance lacked energy and failed to energize the crowd.

Even among the already sparse number of customers at this time, some were quietly complaining:

"As expected, there's nothing to see here."

"I really shouldn't have come so early."

Well, they didn't even look up; they were just staring at their phones.

Ignoring the opinions and swaying of others, Akira Higashino clapped enthusiastically, seemingly oblivious to everyone around him.

Once she realized what was happening, Miko Yotsuya quickly followed suit, giving Xiaohua a gentle nudge with her arm so she could join in the clapping.

Beside them, the Goto couple, who had been worried about Ichiri's lackluster performance, followed closely behind. At this point, after the previous performance team left with a group of fans, and the next band with some fame and a fan base had not yet arrived, almost half of the people in the already sparsely populated venue suddenly started clapping.

Instead, the two girls who had just thought the band's performance on stage was not very good raised their heads with some self-doubt.

On stage, Nijika breathed a slight sigh of relief and quickly whispered a reminder to her teammate, who was still nervous because of the lukewarm reception to their previous performance, "Kita-chan, it's time to introduce the next song."

"Okay...okay."

Upon hearing this, Kita, the red-haired girl who was the lead vocalist, quickly put on a polite social smile and began earnestly, "The next song is also one of our original compositions, which we just wrote not long ago... Although our performance and the song are still far from good enough..."

Kita's voice gradually became distorted in her ears, and Goto Ichiri felt a buzzing in her brain. Below the stage, her parents' anxious and concerned gazes, her boyfriend's silent trust, and the audience's thoughts drifted to each other.

'We... our performance and our songs are still far from good enough...'

'but…'

'I don't want things to go on like this!'

The pink-haired girl silently lowered her head, took a deep breath, pressed down on the strings with her left hand, and slid the plectrum quickly with her right hand, unleashing her full technical prowess. After a sudden guitar sound, she broke the deadlock with a solo on a single instrument, and the rhythm became faster, higher, and more urgent!

His professional-level guitar skills were first revealed in this tiny underground livehouse!

The passersby in the audience looked up and stared at the guitarist who had suddenly become so engrossed in the performance!

"Oh! What?! Higashino-san, what's going on?!"

"Why did it suddenly become so intense!"

"Although I didn't understand much, it felt so inspiring!"

Yurikawa exclaimed in surprise, her little fists clenching and unclenching as she held onto Miko's arm. She was swept up in the sudden wave of music, and her body began to sway involuntarily.

"What is this?"

Akira Higashino smiled. "Probably rock."

On stage, the other three band members were stunned for a moment by Bochi-chan's outburst, and they all turned their surprised gazes to her. They quickly came to their senses, and the drummer Ichiji Nijika and bassist Yamada Ryo exchanged a glance and nodded.

The backstage lights and sound system came on, and just as the guitar solo reached its climax, the stage lights suddenly went out. Then, accompanied by the drums and bass, the guitar played an exciting tune again, and the stage lights came on again, changing from the originally plain white light to a dynamic light that flashed and shone with alternating yellow, blue and red lights. The lead singer started singing again.

"That band's songs are to me..."

"The sharp wailing sounded like laughter."

"That band's songs are to me..."

"A piercing noise, like the noise from a road intersection."

Don't push my back!

The train is coming.

"Close your eyes, and the crown of light will illuminate the darkness."

"..."

The two girls who were just complaining unconsciously started to rise onto their tiptoes little by little in time with the singer and the rhythm, until the song ended and the two girls looked at each other.

"It's actually pretty good!"

"Yes."

The other spectators inside the venue were all excited. A girl who came with her friend turned to look at her friend and said in surprise, "The performance just now was so cool!"

"That's right!"

Even passersby reacted this way, so the Goto couple, as parents, were even more delighted. Little girl Goto Jiri, riding on her father's shoulders, clapped her hands loudly, exclaiming, "Big sister is so cool!"

Higashino Akira suddenly turned around and looked behind him. The siscon shop manager, who was standing with his junior, had a cold and unapproachable face that had somehow become adorned with a relieved smile.

I don't know who initially disagreed with ending the band's performance, with many restrictions and various setbacks. In the end, they reluctantly agreed, but only after the band had sold tickets for their basic performance.

The moment Ichiji Hoshika saw the teasing look in Higashino Akira's eyes, the smile on her face vanished instantly. She straightened her face and pretended to be nonchalant and indifferent.

'Ha, how arrogant!'

Higashino Akira turned away, too lazy to look at her any longer, lest he annoy her and cause her to lash out again.

What era are we living in that people are still playing the arrogant and coquettish game?

No wonder I don't have a boyfriend.

That's it, you loser.

Encouraged by the enthusiastic feedback from the audience, Kita's voice became much more cheerful and lively: "That was our second song, 'That Band.' Next up is our band's third original song, 'Love Asteroid.' We hope you enjoy it."

As always, the drums take the lead, the guitar drives the atmosphere with great force, the bass quietly follows the rhythm, the rhythm guitar provides support, and the lead singer opens up the vocals.

"Hiding by the window that can't be cleaned properly"

"Counting the remnants of stardust"

"That Lonely Asteroid"

"The track was off course for seventeen years."

I thought it would happen quietly.

"Passing through nothingness, falling into silence"

"Gravity out of control, Earth's axis tilting"

"In this night that is about to shatter"

But then I stumbled upon your warmth.

"The world has become softer as a result."

"It's so good that I wasn't disliked."

"To meet you"

"It's the only one I want to hide deep in the Earth's core."

A small wish

"..."

Chapter 100 Kita: Is this rock and roll?!?

The singing continued.

The introverted girl with pink hair on the stage kept her head down, not daring to look up. Only the occasional glimpse of her fair earlobes, covered in a blush, revealed her surging emotions.