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

Yue keenly noticed that Riki had just mentioned a familiar name. The reason she noticed the anomaly so quickly was because she had been inspired by Ms. Hachiman Kairin when she suggested finding a supporting musician.

Li hope hung up the phone and turned to Yue, saying, "I've already asked my classmate to keep an eye on the stray cats for me. Let's go there as soon as possible."

"Lixi-kun... Before we go, let me ask you this: is one of your classmates named Hachiman Kairin?"

Yue asked tentatively, a hint of doubt in her voice.

"Things can't be this coincidental... The only person I know who seems unrelated is actually connected? Is Tokyo really that small?"

Two months after transferring schools, I posted #漆尔删淋IV玖妻删`IV (It's amazing how everyone I know is connected to each other; in a way, it's too much of a coincidence).

"Um... Yue, do you know her too?"

Lixi didn't think as much as Yue did. She just thought that Yue happened to know Hailing. After all, Hailing usually worked as a support musician for 30 bands, so it wasn't surprising that Yue knew Hailing through various channels.

"Well... let's say we know each other. We've exchanged contact information."

Yue nodded and said.

Yue's words coincided with Lixi's guess, and she didn't ask any more questions, but urged, "Let's hurry over, Hailing just said that Lena seems to be waking up."

----------

With Yue's financial support, the two took a taxi to Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy.

When Yue took out her wallet to pay the taxi fare, her movements seemed somewhat hesitant. She slowly took out her wallet, opened it, and withdrew the sufficient amount of money.

However, when she handed the money to the driver, her fingers trembled slightly, as if she was reluctant to put the money down.

Her eyes revealed a hint of heartache and helplessness. Her original plan to cut back on spending for the next two weeks had already cost her a large sum of money in just a few days.

After paying, the two quickly arrived at the courtyard and saw Lena still sleeping in the tree and Hailing sitting below playing on her phone.

"They've finally arrived? Li hope and this one... ah, that little lady from the subway last time..."

Hai Ling clearly still had some recollection of her brief encounter with Yue on the subway, and she quickly recalled it after a quick search of her memory.

"I never expected to be in the same band as Li hope!"

"It's great to see you again, Hailing. I really owe you a lot for what happened on the subway last time. The planning staff had been handling the moving of my instruments, and I really have to thank you for saving me a repair and inspection fee."

Yue and Hailing exchanged pleasantries and greetings.

"Is she that kind of entertainer? Last time I heard someone else carrying the instruments, I thought she was some kind of rich girl."

Hai Ling was slightly surprised that she had misjudged Hinasaki's identity last time.

"It's nothing, just a small favor. Since you're already here, I'll be going now. Don't forget your drinks tomorrow."

"understood."

Lixi waved to indicate that he understood, then looked up at Lena on the tree trunk, who seemed to be waking up.

Lena rubbed her eyes, and after seeing the tree trunk in front of her, she quickly remembered that she had climbed the tree to sleep that afternoon because she was sleepy.

"Heave-ho~"

Lena's physical abilities are just like the impression she gives off; she's as agile as a cat, and she climbed down from the tree with ease.

"Stray cat! Why didn't you come to rehearsal today!"

She simply tilted her head at Lixi, who was looking at her with some annoyance.

I'm hungry!

When the performance begins: Chapter 53 Lena and her grandmother

"what?"

Faced with Kaname's answer, Shiina Ritsuki felt a surge of confusion in her mind. She couldn't understand Kaname's thought process for the time being. She had asked why Kaname hadn't come to rehearsal, but Kaname's answer was that she was hungry.

"No... Stray Cat, the question I'm asking you is why you didn't come to the rehearsal?"

"Um... I was sleepy, so I found a place to sleep after school."

When Lena said this, she spoke with an air of entitlement, seemingly without any remorse for missing the band's rehearsal.

"Huh—? Just for that reason?"

Lixi was shocked by the reason why the stray cat skipped the rehearsal. Her eyes widened slightly, revealing a hint of shock and confusion. Her tone carried a slight anger, expressing her dissatisfaction with Lenai's casual excuse.

If Lena had found a suitable reason, Lixi wouldn't have been so angry.

I'm hungry.

Seeing that Riki did not respond to her request, Lena turned her attention to Hinasaki Tsuki next to her. With a slight upturn of her lips, she told Tsuki her needs in a relaxed tone.

"Haha... Lixi, how about we go grab a bite to eat first?"

She and Lixi hadn't eaten before starting Revue, but now that Lenai reminded them, they felt a little hungry.

"Tsk... There's a noodle shop nearby that's having a promotion right now, and I happen to have a coupon. Let's go there."

After hearing what Renai and Yue said, Shiina Tatsuki also felt that her stomach seemed a little hungry and she felt a little restless.

Do you have buckwheat noodles?

Upon hearing Lixi's suggestion to go to the noodle shop, Le Nai became exceptionally excited. Her heterochromatic eyes sparkled with anticipation as she eagerly inquired whether they had her favorite buckwheat noodles. Her expression revealed her unwavering desire and anticipation for her favorite food.

"Probably...it's a noodle shop after all..."

Lixi's answer to this question wasn't very detailed either, since she had always gone to that noodle shop to eat ramen before.

----------

"Speaking of which, when did Renai-chan start sleeping up in the tree?"

On their way from Hana to the noodle shop recommended by Riki, Yue suddenly asked Rakuna with some curiosity.

"Um... after school."

Although Lena didn't know why Yue would ask her this question, she still answered truthfully.

"Phew...that's good."

Yue had initially thought that Rakuna, with her personality, would admit to skipping class in the afternoon to sleep in a tree, but the other person's answer temporarily salvaged her image of Hanasakigawa Girls' Academy a little.

"Um... because I skipped class to sleep before, and I got a really bad scolding from the teacher."

Lena seemed to remember what happened last time, and a slightly dejected expression appeared on her face.

"So... you stopped skipping class because you got scolded? But it's good that you admit your mistakes and correct them. Remember to come to training on time in the future, Lenai. We sent you so many messages before and you didn't reply."

Lena shook her head, took her phone out of her pocket, and handed it to Yue.

"Huh?" Yue took the phone from Lena with a bit of confusion and found that there were more than 300 unread messages on it.

"Lanna-chan, how come you have so many unread messages? Are you really reading them again?"

Lena recalled that she usually checked the message summary in the notification interface, so she nodded and replied to Yue, "I saw it."

"...Lena, how do you usually see things?" Yue asked Lena with some suspicion. She was a little cautious about Lena's behavior, which was different from that of normal people. She stared at Lena, trying to find a clue from her performance and reaction.

"Hmm... I saw the message in the notification interface," Lena replied, her tone completely unchanged, still showing that she didn't care at all.

"Just looking at the message in the notification interface doesn't really count as reading it..."

Li hope, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, finally understood why all the messages he sent to Le Nai were unread in reality.

"Sigh... Renai-chan, you'll have to check the information in the software interface from now on."

Yue helplessly guided Rakuna step by step, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked Rakuna, "Speaking of which... Rakuna, you should be able to reply to messages, right?"

"……Um?"

Lena tilted her head towards the moon, her eyes slightly narrowed, her expression a little confused, her gaze revealing a hint of bewilderment.

Yue could sense that Rakuna seemed to completely misunderstand the question she was asking, or perhaps she was confused about its meaning.

Although it could be seen from Lena's slightly furrowed brows and the look of doubt in her eyes that she was probably trying to understand what Yue was saying, it also reflected that Lena most likely wouldn't reply to Yue's message.

"...Hey, Renai-chan, watch carefully, this is how you reply to messages."

Yue once again felt that Momoko's guess about Rakuna might actually be correct, after all, she had never seen a middle school student who didn't know how to use a cell phone.

"Mmm, mmm."

Lena stood quietly to the side, her eyes fixed on Yue's fingers as she manipulated the phone. Her little head bobbed up and down, as if she was really learning how to operate the phone, but Yue doubted how much she could actually remember.

"Speaking of which, Lenai, who do you usually live with? Haven't they taught you how to use a cell phone?"

After teaching Rakuna, Yue asked this question.

"Um... I'm always with my grandma."

"No wonder...but Lena's grandmother was quite a legendary figure...to raise a child with such a rock 'n' roll personality like Lena."

Yue expressed her feelings about the way Grandma Rana raised the child. If possible, she would also like to communicate with her to find out how to raise a human-shaped cat child like Rana.

"Speaking of which... Stray Cat, you said your guitar also belonged to your grandma, right? Did your grandma also play in a band?"

When Lixi heard Le Nai mention her grandmother, he remembered that Le Nai had mentioned in the recording studio that her guitar had been used by her grandmother. If they were to work backwards in age, Le Nai's Nana must have been playing in a rock band at least in the 50s.

Thinking about it this way, Le Nai's rock and roll spirit is probably inherited from her family.

"Yes, Grandma also founded a live house."

Speaking of this, Yue remembered seeing Lena in front of Space before, and a bold idea suddenly popped into her mind.

"Could it be that your grandmother, Lena, is the founder of Tsuzuki Shisen? Space?"

When the Stage Opens: Chapter Fifty-Four - Familiar Faces in the Noodle Shop

"Yes, Space was created by my grandma. I originally thought it would stay there forever."

Lena nodded, indicating that Yue was right.

"She's actually Tsuzuki-senpai's granddaughter... Come to think of it, they do look somewhat alike. But does that mean Tsuzuki-senpai's white hair was his natural hair color?"

Lixi looked at Lena's face, and then remembered Tsuzuki-senpai who had come to Ring to give guidance before. After careful comparison, he found that the two looked quite similar.

"But... does this mean we've found a reason why Lena wants to join the band?"

After hearing what Lena said, Yue finally solved a long-standing mystery: why Lena had chosen their band.