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

Yue also covered her face. She had long harbored some doubts about Aine's playing skills. After all, if her technique was really good, Aine would definitely have been unable to resist showing it off in front of them, given her personality.

She just didn't expect that Ai Yin's guitar skills were only at a beginner level, and Ai Yin seemed quite proud of it.

No... In reality, Yue couldn't tell whether Aine's attitude was pride or just stubbornness.

Everyone present, except for Deng who knew absolutely nothing about musical instruments, sighed in unison.

"Hey……"

Aine seemed confused: "Why are you sighing?"

Su Shi was sweating profusely, but still tried to defend Aine: "Anyway, let's find some pieces that we can play to practice."

Li hope said, "Is Spring Shadow alright?"

Su Shi and Deng looked at Li hope in surprise.

Even Yue, an outsider to Crychic, looked at Li hope, completely surprised that Li hope would say something so tactless.

"Shouldn't 'Spring Shadow' be a very important track for Crychic? Why was Riki so quick to suggest that this new band play it?"

Hinasaki realized that she didn't seem to understand what Crychic really meant to Riki.

Just as Su Shi was pondering how to persuade Riki to give up the idea of ​​playing Kasuga Kage, Aine spoke up first, complaining, "I've only heard that song once."

Su Shi followed up, saying, "Li hope, isn't Haruhi Kage a bit much..."

Lixi retorted, "What? Are you worried about that guy?"

When Yue heard Li hope's words, she always felt that there was something hidden in them.

"That guy... Lixi, who exactly are you referring to?"

Aine personally believes that Riki was referring to Suze's concern for her, but for Hinasaki, who deeply understands the love and hate in Crychic, it's perfectly reasonable to use Riki's "that guy" to refer to Toyokawa Shoko.

Yue gained a new understanding of Li hope's image.

"Lixi is actually surprisingly cunning, and her language is quite sharp."

After hearing Li hope's words, Su Shi decided to change the subject to Deng. She clearly realized that as long as Xiao Deng refused, the matter would be easy to resolve.

If Yue knew what Su Shi was thinking, she would probably think that Su Shi was well-versed in the Three Kingdoms and had the air of Cao Cao, who held the emperor hostage to command the princes.

"Little Lamp, what do you think?"

Suddenly asked by Su Shi, Deng put her hands in front of her and whispered, "The only band member I'm good at is Kasuga Kage."

"Eh?"

Although the lamp didn't explicitly state it, the actual meaning was that she had no objection to Riki's idea of ​​playing Kasuga Kage.

Aine continued to complain, "Hey~ I've only ever heard that song once."

Suze Kento agreed with the suggestion to play Haruhi Kage, her tone tinged with urgency: "That's true, let's find some simpler pieces to play."

"Aine, here's the sheet music." Li hope ignored Su Shi's words and took out Haruhi's sheet music from her bag and placed it on the shelf.

"Let me take a look..."

Before Ai Yin could even get up to look at the sheet music, the practice room door was suddenly pushed open.

When the stage opens: Chapter Twenty-One - Kaname Rakuna

"I have the sheet music for 'Spring Shadow' here..."

Lixi took out the Spring Day Shadow Music Sheet that she had prepared in advance from her schoolbag and placed it on the shelf.

"I've come to see..."

Before Ai Yin could finish speaking, the door to their rehearsal room was opened.

Everyone turned to look and saw Lena dragging her guitar and effects pedals as she walked in.

Lena asked a question that puzzled everyone: "Aren't we going to play together?"

She opened the case, took out the guitar, and connected the effects pedal and amplifier.

Yue looked at the white-haired girl who suddenly rushed in and said, "Rakuna?"

Aine was somewhat at a loss when faced with the sudden appearance of Ronai. She looked at Ronai's slightly old-fashioned electric guitar, which had a sense of time, and hugged the instrument tightly in her hands with a little fear.

She exclaimed softly, "So rugged..."

After confirming that there was nothing wrong with her instrument, Lena walked freely to the sheet music for "Spring Shadow" that Lixi had placed there, tilted her head and looked at it.

"Wait..." Lixi wanted to stop her, but Lena had already almost finished reading the first page of the sheet music.

After checking the sheet music, Lena walked to the middle of the room on her own. Riki, annoyed by her completely unrestrained presence, called out to her: "Hey..."

But Lena lightly strummed one string to check the tone, adjusted it manually, and then turned to look at everyone.

Only then did the band members see the guitar in Le Nai's hand. The wooden electric guitar in her hand exuded a unique sense of the times. The overall appearance was made of classic wood material. Although the wood paint around it had peeled off over time, revealing the original wood underneath, the whole thing looked natural and simple.

Ai-yin looked at Rakuna's guitar and sighed again, "It's so old..."

Su Shi couldn't help but remark, "It has quite a history."

Lena explained, "This belongs to my maternal grandmother."

She then asked the band members again, "Aren't you going to play together?"

"Huh?" Aine seemed a little flustered by Rakuna's question.

Yue stepped forward and asked, "Rakuna-chan, what do you mean by 'play'?"

Lena gave an answer that no one expected: "The band."

What surprised everyone even more was that after Lena finished speaking, she immediately began to play the song "Haruhi Kage," which she had only seen before, while humming the tune softly.

When Li hope heard Le Nai playing "Haruhi Kage," his initially displeased expression turned into one of surprise and delight. If Le Nai joined the band, some of the problems that might have arisen due to Aine's guitar skills could be resolved.

Su Shi's face was visibly gloomy. It could be said that she and Li hope had swapped expressions. She had originally opposed playing the Haruhi Shadow, and now if this free-spirited girl joined the band, her original plan of kicking two people would have to become kicking three.

Aine's expression also fluctuated slightly. Originally, she was unaware of her guitar skills, but after hearing Ronai's performance, even if Aine was oblivious, she knew that her guitar skills were probably not up to par.

Ai Yin held the guitar tightly in her hands, her fingers gripping the neck, trembling slightly, her eyes revealing a hint of tension and unease, hoping to find comfort and support in the guitar in her hands.

"Aine, it's okay..."

Yue noticed Aine's nervousness and gently took her hand that was resting on the neck of the violin.

Ai Yin turned her head and saw Yue's blue eyes filled with worry.

"Moon-chan...I..."

Aine realized that her vulnerable side had been exposed to others and instinctively wanted to explain, but Yue had already anticipated Aine's actions and put her finger in front of her mouth to make a shushing gesture.

"Aine doesn't need to say anything... I understand."

Yue's words were not a lie. She felt a desire to escape when facing someone stronger than herself. She had also experienced this feeling of escapism and fear when facing Momoko before.

After finishing the piece she had just seen, Lena stopped playing. Her fingers slowly moved off the guitar strings and stopped next to the bridge. Her face was full of joy and satisfaction, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, expressing her inner happiness.

Her eyes sparkled with a bright light, revealing an excitement and joy, and her gaze conveyed satisfaction with the music she had just played.

After calming Aine down, Yue glanced around. No one had made a move yet; she guessed they were all shocked by Ryuna's sudden intrusion and playing.

Yue said to Rakuna, "It seems that today's practice will not be able to take place. Rakuna-chan, can you talk to us about it?"

Lenai turned to Yue, her heterochromatic eyes, one blue and one yellow, gleaming with a cunning, cat-like light. The corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, revealing a mischievous yet amusing expression.

Lena said to Yue, "Matcha Parfait~"

"Huh?" Yue didn't expect that even though she had tried her best to express her desire to have a serious talk with Rakuna, the other party would give her such a strange response.

Seeing Yue's bewildered expression, Lena repeated her words: "Matcha parfait~ I want to eat it~"

Yue remembered that when she used to pet Lena, she also needed to order her a matcha parfait.

Yue tentatively asked Rakuna, "Rakuna-chan, do you mean that after we give you a matcha parfait, you'll have a proper talk with us?"

Lena nodded: "Mm!"

--------

With Lena suddenly barging in, Yue and the others lost their will to continue rehearsing, and the first rehearsal ended before it even began.

The group took Le Nai to the coffee shop on the second floor, where Yue ordered a matcha parfait for her as promised.

After Rinrinko served the matcha parfait, Tsuki clearly saw a spark of interest ignite in Ryuna's eyes.

Lena's previously idle gaze suddenly sharpened. Her eyes blinked slightly as she focused on the matcha parfait, her eyes revealing excitement and anticipation.

She remembered this change very clearly. When she went to the cat cafe and fed the cats chicken breast, the cats would suddenly perk up and run to her side, and their eyes were almost the same as Lena's eyes now.

For some reason, Yue remembered that a few nights ago, when she and Taozi saw Lena on their way home, Taozi had made a strange comment about Lena: "Is this child definitely not a cat that has cultivated into a human? In ancient times, she would have been suspected of being a cat demon."

Originally, Yue thought Momoko's evaluation was a bit exaggerated, but now that she has discovered that Rana, like a cat, is disrupting their rehearsals and performances on her own, she feels that Momoko's evaluation may be surprisingly realistic.

"I'm starting!"

Lena was very polite. After saying the words for starting the meal, she picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of ice cream, and put it in her mouth.

When that spoonful of matcha ice cream touched her tongue, a refreshing sweetness immediately filled the air. Lena closed her eyes, savoring the delicious moment.

The cool matcha ice cream melted in her mouth, her lips curled up slightly, her brows relaxed, revealing a satisfied and sweet smile, her face radiating joy.

After swallowing the first bite of ice cream, Lena quickly scooped up another spoonful and put it in her mouth.

Ai-yin looked at Lena, who was happily eating in front of her, with some displeasure: "What's wrong with this child?"

Li hope explained, "She's Ring's stray cat; she often comes over to play."

Watching Lena quickly devour the ice cream in her bowl, Yue recalled the night Lena had asked her for matcha candy: "Lena really likes matcha."

"Hmm." Lena replied to Yue during her meal, "There's also buckwheat noodles."

Su Shi continued using the conventional perspective, following up on Le Nai's words, "They are indeed all delicious. So, Le Nai-chan, what do you mean by wanting to play in a band together?"

Lena swallowed a mouthful of buffet and said, "Let's play in a band together!"

It's clear that Su Shi hasn't yet mastered the skills to communicate with the cat Lena.

"Um... what I wanted to ask was..."

Just as Yue was about to help Su Shi and Le Nai communicate, Deng asked, "Do you want to join the band?"