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

No... What she really longs for is for others to praise her as a "genius" and acknowledge that she also has irreplaceable talent in music.

If she cannot be on the same level as geniuses, her inferiority complex will be amplified every time she moves forward but fails to achieve anything.

Why... why, even though she tried her best, could she not reach the level of her sister and Xiangzi? Why did everyone regard all her efforts as futile and never have any higher expectations for her from the beginning?

At the starting line, I told her that as long as she tried her best, she could win; halfway through the race, I told her that she hadn't tried hard enough, otherwise she wouldn't have been overtaken by so much; and finally, when she crossed the finish line in first place and was enjoying everyone's praise, you comforted me and said that she had done very well, and that in my heart she was number one.

What is this all about? What has she been insisting on all along? Is it just to be a foil for the champion, a tool to make the competition look more exciting?

That's so unfair...

"Xiaoyue, what are you talking about?"

Su Shi's sudden appearance seemed to give Li hope a chance to catch her breath. She knew that Nanami, who always pretended to be a good girl in front of Su Shi, was unlikely to break down her defenses any further.

"Ugh... Actually, I wanted to learn to play the drums from Riki-chan, but... but Riki said I have no talent and that I should just go to sleep."

"What?!" Nagasaki Sosei glanced at Shiina Tatsuki, whose eyes were wide open, then turned to Nanami Natsuki and began to comfort her, "Natsuki, don't listen to her. What kind of excuse is it to not have talent? As long as you want to learn and are willing to work hard, you will definitely succeed..."

"Nagasaki Motoyo, what do you know?! Let me tell you, I've been putting up with you for far too long!!!"

Shiina Riki finally snapped, and just as her emotions erupted, she happened to see Nanami Natsuki's wicked smile as she looked at her.

Chapter 41 Why Did Our Girls Band Turn Out Like This? (1/2)

"What does the band mean to you? You probably just use it as a place to vent your frustrations, right? When you're practicing together, it's like you're saying the results don't matter at all, as long as we're together every day, right?"

Although Shiina Ritsuki knew very well that she had fallen for Nanami Natsuki's trap, she couldn't help but want to vent her dissatisfaction on Nagasaki Motoyo.

Seeing Su Shi's bewildered expression, Li hope didn't give her a chance to retort and immediately followed up with her next sentence.

Have you thought about everyone's future? Have you really considered what each member of the band wants? Can you understand why no one wants to talk about the past after the band broke up?!

“You only think about yourself. You just want to use the band as your safe haven. You fantasize that everyone can live peacefully every day as long as everyone can provide you with the sense of security you want.”

"No, what are you saying..."

"Listen to me carefully!"

Seeing Shiina Ritsuki's murderous look, the passersby in the cafe glanced at her curiously and then wisely looked away. Nanami Natsuki, on the other hand, had no intention of getting involved or saying anything. She simply rested her chin on her hands, swayed her twin tails, and watched with great interest.

"Stop putting on that nice guy face and saying those unrealistic things. You've never understood anyone. If everything could be achieved with just a few words like 'just try your best,' why would the band have disbanded?"

"It's ridiculous... In the end, you chose to give up all your memories, and all you wanted in the end was for others to understand and accept you. I didn't understand it before, but now I think... this is probably the most likely choice you would make."

"..."

Seeing that Shiina Riki seemed to be gradually calming down, Suze belatedly said, "Although I don't know why you're telling me all this, you probably want to say these unspoken words to the person who has a similar name and looks to me."

"Hehe...maybe so."

Shiina Tatsuki felt a sense of desperate helplessness, realizing that her outburst had ultimately been like punching cotton.

The Nagasaki Motoyo in front of me is not the same Motoyo as before. The meaning of saying all this now may only be known after she regains her memories in a few days.

But... by then, will they still be able to talk to each other calmly?

The rift had widened considerably, and it all stemmed from a simple comforting remark Su Shi made to Nanami. She had completely lost her composure because of that one sentence.

Why is this?

Shiina Riki certainly knew the answer to this question, because at that moment she had completely regarded Nagasaki Motoyo as an ordinary person who had abandoned their shared memories. After removing the filter of those memories, Motoyo immediately revealed that she was just one of the many passersby who did not understand her inner thoughts.

When everyone was still a member of Crychic, Su Shi would never reveal her true thoughts. She would only try to please everyone, including herself. So even if Li hope sensed something was wrong, she didn't react much.

But if Crychic had never existed, would I have become friends with Su Shi?

Surely not...

To be honest, Li hope realized that she didn't understand Su Shi at all, who hid herself away and always chose to cater to others. Her words just now were merely a guess after assuming Su Shi's identity.

From the very beginning, she couldn't see anything in Su Shi that felt real to her.

Upon closer reflection, everyone in Crychic had different goals, so even without Xiangzi's sudden departure, the band members might have parted ways someday.

That day may have been quite ordinary, so ordinary that people might not even remember exactly when it started.

Without a shared goal, people start to have new ideas as they enter a new phase of their lives. It started with the fact that the band members couldn't always get together, then everyone began to downplay the necessity of band practice, and finally... Crychic became a dead name.

In other words, Xiangzi's sudden collapse actually gave everyone room for imagination, making people wonder if they would have gone further without that incident.

"I'm sorry, but if it were me, I probably would have been angry too."

“…What?” Li hope looked at Su Shi with some surprise.

"After all, if your friend is really the kind of person you described, then she must be a very pathetic person, only thinking about herself, passively keeping her distance from others at all times, and as a friend in a band, she can't even put herself in other people's shoes to understand their thoughts..."

"...That statement really surprised me."

"Shiina-kun, I want to ask you... what are you really thinking right now? There's no need to stay with a band like this, right? After all, we didn't understand each other from the very beginning."

"Whether I'm reluctant to leave... who knows?"

"Then let me give you a suggestion."

The smile on Nagasaki Motoyo's face when she said those words surprised Riki. "Cherish those who can understand you; those are the people you should value."

"Also... perhaps what I just said angered you, but I still stand by my point of view."

"..."

Seeing that Li hope didn't speak, Nagasaki Suze said to herself, "Perhaps I'm not so obsessed with the size of the gap between myself and geniuses, but I still think that people always have to work hard. Is the result really that important?"

"Isn't the process of striving what's important?"

No... the result is important.

Shiina Tatsuki didn't directly refute this time because she knew that people's views wouldn't change so easily. For her, if the result was bad, the more time she spent trying, the more she would feel how pathetic she looked.

"Ah...it's already time for Xiaoyue to get off work before I knew it. Well then...Shiina-kun, I'll go home with Xiaoyue now."

"Um……"

"Wait a minute." Nanami Natsuki, who had been watching the game without saying a word, suddenly spoke up, "Suze, could you go outside and wait for me for a bit? I want to talk to Riki-chan."

"Okay, okay, Xiaoyue, that's just how you are, always wanting to do good deeds."

"..."

What good deed did she do? Seeing her clash with Su Shi, this girl must be thrilled!

Sure enough, after Su Shi left first, Nanami Natsuki immediately brought her little head over, but the "sadness" that suddenly appeared on her face made Li hope feel itchy all over.

"Waaaaah... Why did our girl band turn out like this...?"

"...Natsuki Nanami, how have you managed to survive until now?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It's a miracle you've survived until now without being beaten to death."

"..."

Chapter 42 Nanami Natsuki's Two Questions (2/2)

"This is the outcome you wanted, isn't it?"

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"Isn't your idea that I should have a conflict with Su Shi, so that if she retaliates against you later, I won't switch sides and stand on her side?"

"No way...you're thinking too badly of me."

Shiina Tatsuki rolled her eyes. Although she really wanted to punch someone, she figured if she actually did, the girl would immediately lie down and pretend to be pitiful.

The concept of shame simply doesn't exist for Nanami Natsuki. After all, she was willing to be a puppet for her seniors and let them manipulate her in order to extract information from her.

In that case, Riki became quite curious about Nanami Natsuki. She was curious about what kind of experiences would make this girl have such a personality. It seemed that she was very disdainful of positive words such as "friendship", "trust" and "dreams", and only wanted to see the "wonderful" scene after friendship was lost, trust collapsed and dreams were shattered.

Actually, this statement itself is not wrong, because whether in this life or the previous life, Nanami Natsuki's family relationships were not very harmonious.

That's why Nanami Natsuki was able to accept the identity of her other self in this parallel world so quickly.

Of course, Lixi wouldn't know any of this; she was simply curious about why the girl who had come to work 10 days ago had such a twisted personality.

"I've been thinking about it... Maybe we should cancel the deal. Since Su Shi has already decided to abandon those memories that are superfluous to her, why should I interfere with her?"

"After all, that way I won't have to worry about her coming over and saying those unrealistic things anymore."

"Wait, wait... this won't do! It won't work, it won't work, it won't work!"

Every time Nanami Natsuki said "no," she would stomp her foot on the ground, just like a childish little girl who kept acting helpless after being refused when her parents refused to buy her a toy at the supermarket.

"Why not? I only withdrew my request."

"No means no, because the deal has already been made."

"..."

Is that really the reason? Shiina Riki looked at Nanami Natsuki suspiciously. She always felt that this girl never spoke the truth.

"And don't you hope that Su Shi will regret it after she finds out everything? After all, if she knew that Li Xi-chan was so loyal and righteous, and would think about making amends... maybe she would take the initiative to understand everyone and change from then on?"

"I……"

"You can't go back on your word."

"Alright, alright." Shiina Tatsuki said helplessly, skipping the topic and returning to the previous one, "You were just trying to provoke me, weren't you?"

"Ah."

"...You just admit it like that?"

Why can't we acknowledge doing good deeds?

A shameless remark left Shiina Riki speechless, and he couldn't help but reach out and grab Nanami Natsuki's collar.

However, his hand was slapped down mid-air, and the other party then said, "You have to pay extra to take advantage of me. You want to get something for nothing?"

"..." Shiina Riki was too lazy to argue with this kind of person. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke, "You should just give up. Although I admit that I envy Shoko and her sister, I am not the kind of person who would resent those geniuses because of this."

"Other people's talents are ultimately theirs. I can't take away other people's talents just because I want to succeed."

"What if those talents were given up voluntarily by others?"

"……what?"

"It's incredible, isn't it? Something that's so important and precious to you, Lixi, something you've always dreamed of having... and those people just say they don't want it anymore."