People are in Mygo, and I can write their personalities.

"Soyorin! You be the judge, this new girl..."

However, Aine's words got stuck in her throat.

Because she noticed that Su Shi today... seemed a little different.

The gentle, fake smile and soft-spoken Nagasaki Motoyo of the past is gone. In her place is an expressionless, cold-eyed beauty who exudes an aura of "keep away."

Su Shi ignored Ai Yin's calls and didn't exchange pleasantries with the "Lin Gu Zi" who was playing the drum.

She walked straight to her seat, took out her bass, plugged it in, and did so swiftly and efficiently.

"Let's begin."

Su Shi's voice was very calm, so calm it was almost frightening.

"Now that everyone's here, let's not waste any more time. Deng, have you finished writing the lyrics?"

Sitting in the corner, trying to keep a low profile, Takamatsu Akari was called on. Startled, she jumped up and handed over her notebook with both hands, saying, "It's...it's finished...it's based on that...'human's feelings..."

Su Shi took the notebook and quickly glanced at it.

Then, she raised her head, her gaze passing over Ai Yin and looking directly at Lin Gu Zi, who was sitting behind the drum.

"Can you keep up with the pace?"

Lin Guzi stopped what she was doing, and through her mask, she let out a soft laugh: "That's the question I should be asking you, Captain Nagasaki."

Their eyes met in mid-air.

Su Shi wasn't angry at the other party's provocation, not even raising an eyebrow. She simply nodded: "Then let's give it a try. Like I said, if you can't keep up, then get lost."

"W-What's going on?"

Caught in the middle, Aine was completely bewildered. Why did she feel like a newbie who'd accidentally stumbled into a duel between experts? And... when did Soyorin become so domineering?

This feeling... is just like that of Toyokawa Shoko who kicked her out of Crychic!

"Lena, stop eating and get to work."

Su Shi took one last look at the wildcat guitarist who was still munching on matcha bread in the corner.

"Meow?" Lena licked her fingers, still wanting more, and picked up her guitar. "Anything fun?"

"If you play well, I won't mind treating you to ten more loaves of bread."

"make a deal."

At Su Shi's command, this cobbled-together band, each member harboring their own agenda, finally played the first note.

The music blared in the cramped rehearsal room.

This is a new song composed by Lin Guzi. Its rhythm is not complicated, but it is still full of challenges for this group of people who have just come together.

Of course, this "challenge" was mainly aimed at a certain pink-haired guitarist.

"Aiyin, your syncopation is half a beat too slow."

The performance was only halfway through when the drumming abruptly stopped. Lin Guzi mercilessly pounded the cymbals with his drumsticks, producing a piercing sound that interrupted everyone's actions.

"Huh? Really? I think I'm pretty accurate..." Chihaya Aine said somewhat guiltily.

“That’s your misconception,” Lin Guzi said coldly. “If your ears are only for hanging earrings as decoration, then I suggest you donate them to those in need. Your guitar playing is like a duck rolling in a muddy puddles, muddy and utterly unpleasant to listen to.”

"..."

"Lin Guzi, that's enough, you've gone too far."

Seeing Aion's face suddenly turn gloomy for some reason today, Nagasaki Motoyo, even though she had already decided to build a band of her own, was still a little worried about what was happening before her eyes.

At the same time, she was also a little puzzled, because according to the information she had heard from Nanami Natsuki yesterday, Aine should no longer have that kind of shame after being ridiculed.

“Xiaoyue is right.” Chihaya Aine put down her guitar and said with a gloomy face, “Even if I lose my sense of shame, I won’t be happy, because it will make you take me less and less seriously…”

“Ai-yin…”

"I want to quit."

Chapter 137 Aine: Huh? I'm going to commit suicide? (4000 words)

Takamatsu Akari, clutching her notebook, stood behind Aine like a frightened little animal, her gaze fixed intently on the pink-haired girl.

"Aine-chan........"

The lamp shone softly, as if afraid that even a slightly louder sound would shatter the fragile girl before her. She took a small step forward, her outstretched hand pausing in mid-air, seemingly wanting to touch Aine's shoulder, yet hesitant to approach due to the aura of distance emanating from the other.

"Um... everyone actually..."

"Leave me alone."

Chihaya Aine kept her head down, her bangs obscuring her eyes, making it impossible to see her expression. But her voice was unusually clear, carrying an unprecedented coldness and weariness.

"Let me be alone for a while... please? Please, light."

"But......."

"I don't want to hear any words of comfort right now, nor do I want to see any pitying looks from anyone." Aine suddenly raised her head, her eyes, which usually sparkled with cunning and vitality, were now dull and lifeless, with a stubborn red tinge at the corners. "I just want to be alone right now. Please... don't worry about me."

Takamatsu was stunned.

She looked at Aine, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something—like that that's not what everyone meant, or that she really hoped Aine would stay. However, faced with Aine's almost pleading refusal, the taciturn Akari ultimately chose silence.

She didn't want to be the source of more pain for Aine.

".......I see."

The lamp took one last deep look at the figure huddled on the desk, clutched its notebook, and left the classroom, turning back every few steps.

As the door clicked shut, the whole world seemed to fall silent.

The classroom in Haneoka was empty at the moment, with only the curtains rustling in the evening breeze and the pink-haired girl sitting on the chair with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Time seems to lose its meaning here.

The setting sun outside the window changed from golden to orange-red, and then gradually sank into the deep blue twilight. The light in the classroom dimmed little by little until it was completely swallowed by darkness, leaving only faint patches of light from the streetlights outside the window.

Chihaya Aine had no idea how long she had been sitting there.

Her legs were numb, but he didn't want to move at all.

Her mind was a jumbled mess, like a ball of yarn tangled by a cat. Su Shi's indifferent gaze, Lin Gu Zi's mocking words, even Nanami Natsuki's ambiguous smile... although she hadn't seen Natsuki for a while.

However, these events kept replaying in her mind like a revolving lantern.

"Losing a sense of shame... Is this what it feels like?"

Ai Yin murmured to herself, her voice sounding particularly desolate in the empty room.

Nanami Natsuki is a liar.

She used to say that once you lose your sense of shame, you won't care about other people's opinions and you can live a carefree life. But now? She certainly doesn't feel ashamed or want to disappear into the ground when she makes a fool of herself like she used to.

Instead, there is a deeper, colder sense of emptiness.

It felt like a piece of my heart had been ripped out, and cold wind was howling inside.

She didn't feel ashamed; she just felt... like a joke. Someone who desperately wanted to fit in, to be the center of attention, to be needed by everyone, only to find that she was just a dispensable substitute from beginning to end, or even a clown who wasn't even a substitute.

"So... this is what they call 'not caring'?"

Aine chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Without a sense of shame, there is no longer a protective shell. All the malice, all the neglect, all the indifference, are like direct blows to her bare nerves, the pain so real, so profound.

"This is so boring..."

She slowly stood up, and because she had been in one position for a long time, her legs felt a sharp, stabbing pain.

Ai Yin didn't turn on the lights, but silently packed her things by the dim light from the window. The moment she slung her guitar bag over her shoulder, she felt an unprecedented weight on her shoulders.

Pushing open the door, the corridor was empty, with only the green indicator light for "Emergency Exit" glowing faintly in the darkness.

She mechanically walked towards the stairwell.

However, when she reached the corner of the stairs, her steps inexplicably stopped.

The stairs leading down lead to the school gate, to that place called "home" that suffocates her, to that real world filled with hypocrisy and lies.

The stairs leading up... lead to the rooftop.

There was nothing there, only the wind and endless night.

She turned around, her back to the way home, and stepped onto the stairs leading to the rooftop.

Each step felt like walking on cotton, light and unreal. When she pushed open the heavy iron door to the rooftop, the cool night wind howled in, ruffling her long pink hair and chilling her already icy heart even more.

"Phew~ This feels so good, this sense of freedom."

The night wind howled, whipping up Chihaya Aine's skirt and making it flutter. She gripped the cold railing with both hands, her body leaning slightly forward, as if she would fall into the abyss woven by neon lights like a kite with a broken string at any moment.

I wish time could stand still here.

....................................

"Aine-chan, you're not going to jump, are you?"

The familiar voice came from behind, carrying a hint of nonchalant mockery, mixed with a touch of elusive "concern".

Aine didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. That "good apprentice" who had made a fool of her and pushed her into this awkward situation, that devil whose mouth was full of lies yet always managed to touch people's hearts—Natsuki Nanami.

In the past, Aine might have panicked and explained, or fled in shame and anger. But now, having lost all sense of shame, her heart is filled with a desolate emptiness, and... a trace of vengeful desire born from being deceived.

She didn't turn around, but simply looked at the bustling traffic below, her voice so calm it didn't sound like she was discussing life and death, but rather like she was discussing the moonlight that night:

"If I really want to jump, what can you do? Catch me with your magical abilities? Or erase my memory after I land and die, making me think I just took a nap?"

Of course she wouldn't jump. Chihaya Aine never considered herself a fool who would try to kill herself over something like this, although... she had indeed acted like a fool in front of Nanami Natsuki.

But the more she heard Xiaona Yue's irritating teasing, the more annoyed she became, so she deliberately said something that sounded like she was about to commit suicide.

There was silence for a few seconds behind me, followed by the sound of footsteps.

Nanami Natsuki walked over to her and, imitating her, placed her hands on the railing. However, because of her height, she had to stand on her tiptoes slightly, which looked somewhat comical.

"I wouldn't catch you, my hand would break." Natsuki turned her head to look at Aine's lifeless profile, her tone suddenly becoming strange, no longer the aggressive sarcasm, but instead carrying a strange...tenderness?

"Aine-chan, do you think that as long as you jump, everyone will regret it? Su Shi will cry and call your name, Li hope will write a song for you, and I will feel guilty for the rest of my life?"

"Wouldn't that be possible?"