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

"It's all Xiangzi's fault for suddenly quitting, otherwise Crychic wouldn't have disbanded."

"No...it's not Xiangzi's fault. It's all because I sang badly that Xiangzi quit and the band disbanded."

"No, that's not true! Deng sang very well!"

"That's right, Deng, your rendition of 'Spring Shadow' back then was really amazing."

Yue echoed Lixi's praise of Deng, but the image of Deng crying a few days ago when she suddenly met that blue-haired girl at the classroom door flashed before her eyes.

Connecting this with what Li hope said about Xiangzi's sudden departure, Crychic's disbandment was all because of that girl called Xiangzi.

If she remembers correctly, the scholarship notice board when she enrolled listed Toyokawa Shoko from Class 1-B. If there was no other person with the same name, this Toyokawa Shoko was most likely the keyboardist for Crychic.

Before the Stage Opens: Chapter Five: Fictional Reasoning and the Giraffe

"Li Xi? I'm sorry, I don't know your surname yet, so I can only call you by your first name."

"I've done some analysis, and putting aside other indirect factors, the fundamental reason for Crychic's disbandment is because that girl named Xiangzi left, right?"

Yue, biting the straw that was long since empty, gave a brief summary of what she had just heard.

"Yes, if Xiangzi hadn't suddenly asked to leave the band that day, the band would never have disbanded."

"So, what reason did Ms. Xiangzi give for leaving the team? She couldn't have left without telling you anything, could she?"

When Yue asked her this question, she paused for a moment, recalling the scene from that day in her mind, but Deng had already given her the answer before she could.

"Xiao Xiang... said it was her own fault and had nothing to do with us."

"I see..."

Yue continued chewing on the now-dry straw, took out her phone, skillfully opened the Crychic homepage, and clicked on the rehearsal video.

"Miss Xiangzi, you attended Tsukinomori Middle School, right? These clothes shouldn't be borrowed or rented."

"Xiangzi, she did go to Yuezhi Forest for junior high school, but I don't know where she is now. However, I can at least confirm that she is not in Yuezhi Forest. Su Shi has been trying to find her but has not been able to."

"Xiangzi..."

The lamp seemed to sense something, but swallowed its words halfway through.

"Unlike Seisho, which focuses on cultivating performing arts skills, Tsukinomori, as far as I know, is a school for young ladies, where most students complete both junior high and high school."

"The reason I left Seisho was to focus on my studies, which is why I transferred to Yuukoka. This was one of the first reasons for the transfer—I wanted a better learning environment."

"For Xiangzi, who has studied at the Tsukimori Junior High School for three years, she probably won't give up on entering the senior high school unless something unexpected happens. But it's undeniable that the possibility of suddenly transferring from a high school to another school and wanting to specialize in her studies is not zero."

"But that can't be a reason for her to quit, right? Even if she transferred schools, the band activities could still continue, right?"

Lixi immediately refuted Yue's reasoning and pointed out its flaws.

"That's right, but transferring schools for studies and giving up the band for studies are both possible, whether individually or as a group."

"This creates a contradiction: if you were prepared to transfer schools and give up the band for your studies, then you shouldn't have formed Crychic in the first place. This leads to my second line of reasoning."

"Miss Xiangzi's sudden decision to give up the band and transfer schools must be related to this. The most likely explanation is that something unexpected happened during this period, leading to her transfer and departure from Crychic."

Li hope bit her lip. "Speaking of which, when she came to announce her withdrawal, her condition and expression were indeed very bad."

"In addition, when Ms. Xiangzi left the band, she said it was for her own reasons, so it must be that Ms. Xiangzi encountered some unexpected changes that made it impossible for her to continue playing in the band and chose to transfer from Tsukinomori."

--------------

On the tram, Yue, Deng, and Lixi sat side by side. The conversation they had just hadn't seemed to lift Deng out of her gloom; instead, it had made her even more negative and depressed.

“I am very grateful to Senior Meng (2/) Ling^8 Wuling Jiusan (6) Jiuchu Saki. I will leave with you first.”

"See you tomorrow, Moon."

See you tomorrow~

As the tram arrived at the platform, Riki stood up and walked out of the carriage with Tamamo. The train continued its journey, taking Yue to the next platform.

Since Deng and Lixi got off the train, only Yue was left in the empty carriage. The train had been traveling for more than 10 minutes, but still hadn't reached the next station.

"Speaking of which, is this train usually this empty? And... the distance between the two stops seems a bit long, is it just my imagination?"

Yue felt that this scene of being alone was somewhat familiar, and she had a feeling that she would see an acquaintance at any moment.

"I hope it's just my imagination... I've already left Shengxiang, so they shouldn't come looking for me again..."

Things didn't go as planned, though. A familiar bell rang in her ears, followed by a round giraffe logo rolling past her.

The top of the train abruptly retracted to both sides, turning the originally enclosed tram into an open-air structure. Meanwhile, a track appeared on the other side, and a similar train gradually caught up.

As the two trains gradually came to a relative stop, just as Yue had expected, the giraffe appeared before her in the tram, which also had its roof open.

Good evening, Hinasaki-kun.

"If I could, I really wouldn't want to see you, Mr. Giraffe."

"I would be very sad to hear that. After all, it is a great loss for a stage girl to run away from the stage. If she also hates me, it would be even more heartbreaking."

The giraffe feigned a heartbroken voice.

"Why are you suddenly contacting me? I've already left Shengxiang and the stage. There shouldn't be anything that can interest you anymore, right?"

Yue lowered her raised head, no longer meeting the giraffe's gaze. Her face was reflected in the tram window in front of her, her long, jet-black hair cascading down her back, her ordinary Haneoka school uniform, and her beautiful face. From any angle, one could not tell why she had attracted the giraffe's attention after leaving the stage.

"Really? I understand."

The two trains then changed tracks and separated, allowing the giraffe to lower its neck and gaze at the moon through the window.

The giraffe looked through the glass at the moon, but it was wearing a completely different performance costume than before.

"Hinasaki-san, you have already stepped onto the stage, you have already joined this stage filled with gravity, this unpredictable stage, you are already on the stage! I understand!"

"Wait, what do you mean? Is another audition about to start? Answer me!"

Without responding to Yue's question, the giraffe simply watched her silently. The train carrying her gradually accelerated, and even though Yue had stood up from her seat and pressed her face against the window, she could only see the giraffe gradually receding into a small dot.

Back in her seat, the roof of the car gradually extended and closed from both sides. Before everything was completely back to normal, Yue looked out the window once again. Through the reflection in the glass, she saw that she was still wearing the same performance costume.

"Am I already... on stage?"

Before the stage opening: Chapter Six, Toyokawa Shoko

When Yue returned home, she quickly washed off the sweat and grime. Just as she was about to blow-dry her hair, a familiar yet unfamiliar number appeared on her phone with the ringtone.

Looking at the contact name on her phone, the image of a sunny, cheerful girl with big pink hair came to mind. While wondering why the other person would call her at this time, she swiped her phone to answer.

"Tsuki-chan! Long time no see!!!"

Before Yue could speak, Taozi's cheerful and lively voice came over.

Peach's voice was infectious. Yue, who was originally struggling to figure out what the giraffe's riddle meant, gradually put aside her worries and joked with her.

"The last time I saw you, Momo, was at the Seisho Festival last month, right? How come it's been so long?"

Wrapped in a bath towel, Yue walked to the sofa and sat down. Her gaze fell on the photo frame on the table, which she picked up. The photo showed ten girls smiling happily.

At that time, she even specially found out the Seisho school uniform to wear to the Seisho Festival, but she didn't expect that Momoko would drag her to take a picture of what was originally a photo of the main group.

On the other end of the phone, Momoko Kurosawa was sitting on the bed, looking at the photos on the table (II) and tentatively asked a question.

"Hey, speaking of the Seisho Festival, Tsuki-chan, haven't you ever thought about coming back and performing on this stage with us?"

Yue tightened her grip on the phone, took a deep breath, and resumed her normal tone of voice.

"Didn't I already tell you, Momo-chan? My current focus is on my studies. My family wants me to work hard for Tokyo University, so I'm sorry."

This is a lie. Hinasaki's family never forced Yue to do anything. Her parents, who were traveling abroad, were very open-minded. Apart from setting a few boundaries for her not to do anything illegal or disorderly, they would support her no matter what she chose to do.

Even when Yue's parents heard that she was going to withdraw from Shengxiang, they didn't ask any questions. They just silently helped her with the withdrawal procedures and Yuqiu's enrollment procedures. At most, they asked if she needed to find a house closer to home.

"Is that so...that's a real shame."

After a moment of silence, Yue spoke first.

"Peach Sauce, is there something you need for this call?"

"Ah—! Right, I almost forgot about the important thing. A while ago, I dreamed that the two of us were wearing Revue outfits and holding auditions with Tokyo Tower as the stage. And also... wait? Where did my draft paper go?"

As Taozi finished speaking, she sat up in bed and began rummaging through the slightly messy table.

"Aoi-chan! Did you see that draft paper I just put on the table? The one with lots of things written on it."

"Didn't I just tell you? I put Peach in the drawer for you."

"Oh right! Sorry, sorry, I forgot. Oh, right! Aoi-chan, would you like to say hello to Tsuki-chan?"

"Eh? Yue?...No, thank you. Momo-chan, just say hello to her for me. I've already met her before."

"Oh right, your house is near Yue-chan's. How cunning of you! You didn't even bring me along. I wanted to see Yue-chan too!"

"Come on, weren't you busy doing your holiday homework back then?"

Through the phone, Yue could vaguely hear Momo talking to her roommate Yuri Saki, and a smile appeared on her lips.

"Peach Jam is still so clumsy, and Aoi still seems so shy."

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Aoi asked me to say hello to Tsuki-chan for you."

"Thank you, please say hello to Aoi for me too."

"Getting back to the main point, I saw a giraffe tonight. It said a lot of things to me that were hard to understand, but basically it said that there is still a fateful bond between me and Yue-chan."

"I think it would be better if I talked to you about this, Yue-chan."

Tokyo Tower? A link?

Yue put down the photo frame in her hand, her fingers unconsciously tapping on the coffee table. The giraffe had actually found both her and Momoko today, and then there was Momoko's dream about the Tokyo Tower...

"Peach Sauce, could you please ask the other people tomorrow if they've seen a giraffe?"

"Okay, I'll go to their dorm and ask right away."

The call was immediately disconnected. Yue leaned back on the sofa, closed her eyes, and tried to piece together the clues from today's events.

Tokyo Tower, a link, a stage? No… it should be a new stage.

When Yue inputted these keywords into her brain, the brain's response was that there were insufficient clues to output anything.

Insufficient clues...