After dropping out of school, I chose to join a girls' band.

"Just breaking even is, in my opinion, a losing proposition."

“This Ms. Toyokawa Shoko is not just a pretty face with a surname. You can completely leave the band to her to set up and run.”

However, Sakura Sakura flipped through the resume of Shoko Toyokawa that she had collected and said...

"She's just a high school kid. Her only resume is a high school band that disbanded in less than a few months and an award for outstanding telephone customer service. I really don't know where you get the confidence to think she can run a commercial band."

"Isn't a band run entirely by high school students a pretty big gimmick?"

"However, this gimmick is already being used by RAS... But since you've recommended her so highly, we can certainly let her give it a try."

According to the original script that Peach got from Giraffe, the other party managed to build a completely commercial band simply by relying on his surname and connections.

She was eager to see what kind of "galactic battleship" Toyokawa Shoko would be able to assemble, now that she had already provided him with the top talent in the entertainment industry and the resources behind Sakura.

"I'm really looking forward to performing on stage with you again as a band... no, in this dialect, it should be... Bang?"

That's right, Momoko went to great lengths to write the script so that Toyokawa Shoko could obtain better resources to form ave_mujica.

Her ultimate goal was to perform with Ave_mujica's band (against Bang) at the second Bangdream competition.

When the performance begins: Chapter Ninety I will not be your messenger

"I feel... I've been bothering your house a bit too much lately."

Although it wasn't his first time visiting Hinasaki's home, Shiina Tatsuki was still a little reserved.

"It's alright. My family isn't here, so I'm quite happy that Lixi came to keep me company."

Yue walked to the cabinet and casually took out a box of coffee beans.

"I remember Lixi, you like to drink coffee, right?"

Although it was a question, Yue's words were full of affirmation.

"Ah... there's no need for that. Instant coffee is enough."

Seeing that Yue seemed to be preparing to make hand-ground coffee, Lixi quickly tried to dissuade her. As an employee working in the coffee shop, she knew how troublesome it was to make hand-ground coffee.

Although she does enjoy coffee, as a guest, she didn't want Yue to be too busy.

"It's okay. If my elders found out that I served instant coffee to guests at home, I would get a scolding."

As Yue spoke with a smile, she gently shook the hand grinder in her hand, carefully pouring coffee beans into the grinder.

Her gaze was focused and gentle, and each turn of the millstone was both composed and powerful. As the millstone turned, the coffee beans made a soft grinding sound, as if playing a beautiful melody that filled the entire room.

Looking at Yue's very skillful movements, and considering what Yue had just mentioned about being scolded by her parents, Li Xi tentatively asked, "Does Yue's family also like to drink coffee?"

“My family members used to work at the coffee shop and had a good relationship with the owner. The coffee beans we use now are mailed to our family by the owner’s wife, whom I have never met.”

Yue continued grinding coffee beans by hand, gradually slowing down her movements. When the coffee beans were ground into a fine and even powder, she stopped.

Put the ground coffee into the coffee pot, then start boiling water. The water temperature is just right, with tiny bubbles rising and releasing an enticing coffee aroma.

She watched as the coffee gradually transformed into a fragrant cup, the crisp sound of water droplets falling from the pot adding a touch of liveliness to the scene.

Finally, Yue gently poured the coffee into the cup, and a rich coffee aroma immediately filled the air.

Lixi brought the cup to her nose, took a deep breath, and enjoyed the aroma of the coffee.

"The quality seems pretty good?"

Although the coffee beans Lixi used in Ring were not high-end, she had never tasted what the aroma of high-end coffee beans should be like.

However, after smelling the aroma of Yue's coffee, she felt that high-grade coffee beans should have this rich and mellow aroma.

Milk or candy?

Yue then walked over with a can of milk and a can of sugar and asked Li hope.

"All we need is milk."

Lixi took the milk from Yue's hand, poured it into the coffee, and habitually made a milk foam on top.

"Lixi's skills are pretty good."

Yue praised the coffee-colored heart-shaped pattern on Lixi's cup.

"I've always wanted to learn how to make latte art, but I thought that I just make coffee for myself at home, so there's no need to go through all that trouble. I can just add it in directly."

"If... Yue wants to learn, I can teach you whenever you have time."

After saying this, Lixi blushed slightly. To hide it, she slowly raised the coffee cup to her lips and carefully tasted it.

When her lips touched the rim of the cup, she felt its smoothness, slowly took a sip of coffee, letting it spread on her tongue and fully savoring its rich flavor.

The coffee unfolded in her mouth, releasing a rich flavor; she could feel its intensity and smoothness, as well as a subtle bitterness.

"If things go smoothly with the band, I'll ask for your advice, Shiina Tatsuki-sensei~~"

Yue deliberately dragged out Li hope's name and the word "teacher" to make them particularly long.

Ms. Shiina Riki sensed Yue's teasing, and with a hint of shyness on her face, she once again covered her smile with her coffee cup.

After Lixi finally regained her usual serious, icy demeanor, she frowned and asked Yue, "...Speaking of the band...Yue, do you have any good ideas?"

"Yes...no..."

Tsuki nodded and then shook her head, leaving Shiina Riki completely confused.

"Moon...do you have a way or not?"

Shiina Riki's words were filled with doubt; she had no idea what Tsuki meant by her riddle-like statement.

Seeing Li hope's puzzled expression, Yue took the initiative to explain, "Yes... it means that no matter what Su Shi or Tao Zi does, I have a backup plan to deal with it."

Hearing Yue's words, Li Xi felt a little relieved, but she was still very curious about what Yue meant by "nothing" and asked.

"What does 'not have' mean?"

"The premise of my backup plan is that we can find out what they are going to do. If it's like when Su Shi was looking for Xiangzi, and we can't even find the person, then we are helpless."

"Then is there no way for us to take the initiative?"

Li hope asked.

But Yue quickly countered with a question: "Our most serious problem right now is... we don't know what they're going to do or when they'll do it. Unless we keep an eye on their movements around the clock, we have no way to... Speaking of which, Lixi, do you know Su Shi's class number and home address?"

When Tsuki asked her that question, Shiina Tatsuki realized their current predicament.

"……have no idea……"

Yue rubbed her swollen and aching temples helplessly and said, "I was also at fault... I know everyone's home address, except for Lixi and Sushi. I originally thought that I probably wouldn't need to visit them, so I didn't bother to find out the information. But now that I need it, I don't know it."

"Perhaps... I could go ask? But what do we need this for?"

Li hope thought of the guitarist from Crychic, Mutsumi Wakaba, who was in the same class as Nagasaki Motoyo and might know Motoyo's home address.

Yue said, "It's not very useful. It's just so that if we really can't find a way to persuade Su Shi-chan to come back, we can consider going directly to her house."

"Ah... Mu replied... Huh?"

Yue noticed that Li hope's expression was a bit off after seeing the message, so she moved closer to him and peered at the message.

On the small phone screen, the message from the girl with the cucumber flower avatar was clearly displayed.

"I will not be your mouthpiece."

When the performance begins: Chapter Ninety-One: Cooking

"what?"

Shiina Tatsuki looked at the message from Wakaba Mutsu on her phone, somewhat puzzled.

Did I do something to offend her?

Shiina Tatsuki frowned, staring at the message sent by Wakaba Mutsu on her phone screen, her expression showing some doubt and confusion.

She thought about her own language expression and it seemed that there was nothing wrong with it. Then she recalled her previous conversation with Wakaba Mutsu and it seemed that she had not touched any sore spots in the other party.

"Perhaps...it's also because of Su Shi?"

After a moment's thought, and connecting the relationship between Wakaba Mutsu and Toyokawa Shoko, Yue quickly came up with a general guess.

"I originally wanted to find Su Shi, but because of Su Shi, I couldn't find her at all..."

When Shiina Ritsuki heard the name, a wave of regret washed over her. She recalled the time when she agreed to join the band with Suze and felt that she shouldn't have agreed to form the band in the first place.

In terms of manpower, she, Aine, Akari, and Tsuki are basically enough. If they need a bassist, she can simply call Hailin over to help.

"If things don't work out with Wakaba-san..."

Seeing that Riki couldn't get any information from Wakaba Mutsu, Yue quickly thought of Morfonica, whom she had seen with Shoko in Tsuki no Mori. If she remembered correctly, there seemed to be a student council president from Tsuki no Mori there.

"Lixi, do you know Morfonica's senior?"

After hearing Morfonica's name, Lixi quickly understood what Yue meant.

"You mean... through Rui-senpai?"

Although she had a new direction, Shiina Tatsuki's face showed a hint of difficulty. She didn't really want to bother others unless absolutely necessary.

"I've only ever met Morfonica's seniors once, during performances... but perhaps I could ask Kasumi-senpai or Ririko-senpai for help getting in touch..."

"Kasumi-senpai?"

Upon hearing Li hope's name, Yue thought for a moment and then said to her, "Then... Li hope, let's go to Meteor Hall together tomorrow."

"Meteor Hall? That century-old pawnshop near Flower Girl? That's fine, but do we really need to go there?"

When Lixi heard Yue mention Meteor Hall, a look of confusion immediately appeared on her face.

It's obvious that Riki doesn't know that the members of Popipa actually have a practice room in the basement of Meteor Hall, and probably doesn't know that it's actually Ichigaya Arisaki's home.

"Lixi, you didn't know that?"

When Yue saw the bewildered look on Li hope's face, a smile appeared on her face. She suddenly became very curious about how interesting Li hope's expression would be when she met the Popipa seniors tomorrow.

Li hope shook his head and said, "What do you know? All I know is that it's a pawn shop near Hua Nu. I've never been there before. Is there something special about it?"

"It's okay, you'll know when you go tomorrow, Lixi."

Yue used her professional facial expression management skills to try her best not to look too strange.