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

"Aine! Riki! Deng! Lenai! Stop eating, we need to hurry up and get in."

She knew that words and actions alone probably wouldn't be enough to get everyone, especially Lena, to take immediate action, so she grabbed everyone and pushed them toward the door, while also politely saying goodbye to the seniors at Popipa: "Excuse me, see you later."

"Oh...see you later."

Ichigaya Arisa doesn't know why Tsuki is suddenly so excited.

Not long after Yue and the others left, Karen pulled Kagura Hikaru and Oba Nana into the restaurant.

"Hey, Xiao Guang must be hungry after sitting on a plane all night. Want to try the food here?"

"Um……"

Kagura Hikaru touched her stomach and nodded.

"Ah, isn't this the Popipa team?"

Compared to Kagura Hikaru, who was thinking about how to solve her own stomach problem, and Karen, who was focused on Hikaru, Ooba Nana noticed the five members of Popipa and pulled two of them, who were about to get food, to go up and greet them.

"Nana-chan, Karen-chan, Hikaru, it's been a long time."

After performing at Shengxiang, Aicheng Hualian introduced the members of Group 99 to the members of Popipa, so everyone knew each other.

"Arisa was just talking about you guys, and I didn't expect you to come so soon after Kozuki left."

"Xiaoyue?"

Nana noticed that the name the other person mentioned sounded somewhat familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't match it with any face in her memory.

"That's Aine-chan's bandmate."

Seeing that Nana seemed to be pondering the question of who Yue was, Kagura Hikaru took the initiative to remind her.

"So it was that skirt-wearing Lu who grabbed the seagull's hideous spot!"

After being reminded by Hikaru, Nana finally remembered the name of the person she had mentioned in her previous conversation with Aine.

Tae Hanazono said, "It seems that Kozuki is your former junior and fan. She left with the band members after hearing that you had a special performance."

"Xiao Guang, did you hear that? There's even a female student who's a fan of ours!"

Karen Aijo was very excited after hearing what Tae Hanazono said. She excitedly spoke to Hikaru, just like a golden retriever that had been longing for praise.

"Yes, I heard you."

Kagura Hikaru nodded and praised Karen.

Compared to Hikari Kagura and Karen Aijo, Nana Ohba, who has experienced many reenactments before, is clearly more closely associated with giraffes.

She had heard from the other party that several interesting individuals had emerged in this year's Shengxiang, and one of them even had a style reminiscent of her own back then.

"Well, I'm really looking forward to meeting this former junior."

--------

Leaving aside the group of people looking for food in the restaurant, Yue and her group of five had already entered the theater after having their tickets checked.

Peach gave them seats in the third row from the front, a perfect distance from the stage where they could clearly see everything on stage.

The remaining seats were already occupied by students from other schools in Tokyo, and it seemed that quite a few parents had also come to watch the performance. She could even see Seisho's school uniform.

However, I didn't see my classmates, whom I knew well. They must all be backstage preparing for the performance.

Yue casually stopped Ryuna, who was trying to slip away, and said softly, "Ryuna-chan, if you insist on watching until the end and don't run around, I'll treat you to matcha parfaits for a week straight."

Lena's eyes sparkled with anticipation. Her love for matcha parfait was obvious, and Yue's suggestion hit her right where it hurt. She considered for a moment, then held up two fingers to Yue, stating her condition: "Two weeks!"

Yue nodded: "Two weeks it is!"

Enticed by the two weeks of Buffet provided by Yue, Lena sat obediently in her seat, her hands on her knees, displaying an unusual quietness. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and she kept turning her little head, looking left and right.

Hopefully nothing unexpected happens...

Seeing that Rakuna had almost settled down, Tsukigami silently prayed in his heart.

Turning their attention away from the biggest problem, the key figure Renai, Riki, who was sitting next to her, had already leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes to rest, seemingly wanting to take this time to recharge.

The other small lamp looked at the stage in front of it, without saying a word or doing anything.

Yue, who doesn't quite understand Xiaodeng's emotions, can't glean any clues from Xiaodeng's current expression.

But since Xiaodeng was unlikely to cause any trouble under normal circumstances, Yue glanced past Xiaodeng and looked at Aine.

At this moment, Ai Yin was looking at her phone. The music showed a girl with hair color similar to a small lamp, holding something and introducing it.

Is Aine cheating on her boyfriend?

Looking at the female anchor on Ai Yin's phone, at first glance she does seem similar to a lamp, but upon closer inspection, some differences can be seen.

Unfortunately, with two people in between, Yue couldn't hear what the female anchor on Ai Yin's phone was saying.

----------

Before long, most of the seats in the theater were occupied, and Yue could still see Kasumi waving to them from not far away.

Immediately afterwards, all the devices on the stage started up, and as the announcement came over the loudspeaker, the curtain was slowly drawn back up.

The first school to perform was one she had never heard of in a month. Their performance level was about the same as that of the Haneoka Drama Club, which had not received any guidance. They could barely be considered average among ordinary high schools.

Lixi, Aiyin, and Deng all seemed quite interested in the performance and watched the whole thing attentively.

As for Rakuna, she had already fallen asleep on Yue's shoulder. Perhaps because drowsiness is contagious, Yue, watching this performance that only had acting skills but lacked much emotion and brilliance, also yawned sleepily.

Fortunately, the second performance was a new play from Rinmeikan called "The Fall of a Prestigious Family," which tells the story of how Rinmeikan, originally one of the four major music and drama academies, is now facing the risk of being merged into the general studies department because its acting department is unable to recruit students due to enrollment issues.

The story of how, despite a series of efforts and struggles, they were unable to defy the tide of the times and ultimately faced it with equanimity.

It must be said that although Rinmeikan did abolish the acting department, as a long-established prestigious school, even though they are now only participating under the name of a club, it is obvious that their instructors are still very experienced. Their costumes, props, and emotional performances are much stronger than the previous program.

This can be seen from the increasingly energetic three people beside Yue and the enthusiastic applause from the audience.

However, Rakuna only opened her eyes slightly when the audience applauded, and then closed them again and fell asleep again as soon as she saw that the performance was not over.

However, starting with Rinmeikan, the performances of several subsequent schools were unremarkable and mediocre, all suffering from the same problem as the first school: the acting was there, but there was almost no emotional expression or highlights.

Just as Yue was about to fall asleep leaning back in her chair, the school name announced over the loudspeaker finally arrived at Seisho Music Academy.

"Next, please enjoy 'The Band's Reenactment' performed by Seisho Music Academy."

Upon hearing Shengxiang's name, Yue patted her face, sat up, and prepared to enjoy Taozi and the others' new script.

Kaoru, who had been sleeping, seemed to sense something and opened her eyes to look at the stage.

"It has an interesting smell..."

When the Stage Begins: Chapter Sixty-Five - This is practically a description of me!

As the stage lights dimmed and the heavy curtain was gently drawn back, the audience seemed to be transported into a completely new world.

The speakers backstage emitted realistic rain sounds, as if a torrential downpour was truly underway.

Above the stage, meticulously crafted prop clouds hang, their delicate gray tones and ever-changing shapes creating a somber and mysterious atmosphere.

The lead character, played by Momoko Kurosawa, walked slowly onto the stage in a white dress. Her steps were firm and elegant, and every movement was full of dramatic tension.

Momoko Kurosawa's character stood in the center of the stage, her eyes deep and full of stories. She began to speak, her voice clear and captivating, as she slowly recited her lines.

"The sky is weeping, the world is shrouded in mist, and I cannot see the road ahead."

"Due to family misfortunes, I am struggling to survive and can no longer continue our friendship."

"On this rainy day of farewell, let me go and say goodbye to them."

The stage lighting and sound effects were perfectly combined with Taozi's performance. Every detail was carefully designed and arranged, making the audience feel as if they were in the story.

Under the dazzling lights, the performance on the stage was in full swing.

However, the two original members of Crychic—Deng and Lixi—had their eyes fixed on the stage, their expressions complex and indescribable.

The lamp's light flickered, and its lips parted slightly, as if marveling at the performance on stage, yet also seemingly carrying a hint of confusion.

Li hope's expression was even more peculiar, with his brows slightly furrowed and his eyes fixed on the stage.

"Lixi, Xiaodeng?"

Yue also noticed that Riki and Deng seemed a little off, and asked them about it with concern.

"nothing."

Lixi never expected that Taozi would use the story of Crychic for an adapted performance. She is now wondering what Toyokawa Shoko would think if she saw this scene on set.

'Xiangzi's expression must have been priceless...'

Is there anything special about this?

On stage, the story had progressed to the point where Peach went to find her former teammates who had left the band. Despite their efforts to persuade her to stay, the protagonist resolutely left the band.

Yue felt that the storyline should be easy to understand from any perspective, so why did Lixi and Xiaodeng show such complicated expressions?

"Moon...don't you know?"

After hearing Yue's words, Li hope realized something was wrong and frowned slightly as he asked Yue.

"You know... what? Do you mean the content of the performance? I really don't know. Peach didn't tell me anything, and she said she would give me a surprise."

Yue glanced at the audience around her, who were engrossed in the stage, and replied in a low voice.

"Moon...you really don't know?"

Just in case, Lixi asked Yue again, which only confused Yue even more.

"What should I know?"

Yue looked at Lixi with a puzzled expression.

Seeing the confusion in Yue's eyes, Li hope realized that Yue was completely unaware of the plot.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask if you know what happens next in the story."

Seeing that Lixi didn't seem to want to tell her the truth, Yue didn't press the matter further, since it's normal to have some little secrets of your own.

"If it's not Yue, then who is it?"

Although Yue didn't ask any further questions, Li hope still fell into thought.

It's obvious that Light didn't know the specifics of Crychic's disbandment, meaning that this information couldn't possibly have been given to Momoko Kurosawa by Light.