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

"Wait... Nanami Natsuki?" Toyokawa Kiyoko was stunned for a moment before realizing that this Nanami Natsuki seemed to be the girl he met when he was in jail the time before last.

"Father, are you still going to play dumb now? Just because Grandpa is angry with you, do you really intend to keep everything a secret forever and let it sink into the sea?!"

"..."

Looking at his incredibly confident daughter, Toyokawa Kiyoko suddenly felt a strange sense of superiority.

See? No matter how well you do, you still made the mistake of being too arrogant... As a father, it's despicable to have such thoughts about your daughter.

However, the fulfilled and satisfied expression on his daughter's face every day when she came home from work these days was too glaring. The pressure made him feel suffocated, as if he was a ridiculous child in every way except for the shell of an adult.

Why could my daughter accept such illogical paranormal phenomena so quickly? Why could she, a minor, integrate into adult society so easily?

No... that can't be it. It's just that she hasn't encountered the truly cruel aspects of adult society yet. She's still applying a child's perspective to the harsh realities of the Tokyo workplace, and she hasn't yet encountered the kind of setbacks that come with it.

He speculated so maliciously, yet he was also genuinely worried... because Xiangzi was, after all, his daughter. On the one hand, he didn't want to be inferior to his daughter and become someone she utterly despised; on the other hand, he didn't want his daughter to suffer the same setbacks as him and become despondent.

However, regarding Hatsune Miku's identity, Toyokawa Kiyotaka couldn't bring himself to tell the truth, because, as Shoko said... he was just someone who cared too much about what others thought.

"So... you're planning to confront your grandfather?"

"...I will go to him, but not now."

"Yeah……"

"I don't understand, why do you, Father, still choose to run away when Nanami has already overcome this hurdle?"

Nanami Mai didn't know if he hadn't gotten over this hurdle, but Toyokawa Kiyokazu was very clear that Hatsune Miku would never tell Shoko the truth.

People choose to escape because they care too much. Hatsune Miku values ​​her current life the most, so she will inevitably continue to hide the truth in order to maintain the status quo.

"Xiao Xiang...have you never run away from anything?"

"Escape, run away...run away from what? How could I possibly run away..."

"Really? Then you are indeed much better than me."

"..."

Hearing her father's words, Toyokawa Shoko suddenly felt extremely anxious, and her face showed some unease, as if she had just climbed to the top of a mountain and suddenly fallen off a cliff, all her composure gone.

Crychic...everyone...Su Shi...these are all things she's trying to escape.

What terrified Xiangzi the most was that after her fruitless conversation with Su Shi, she subconsciously concluded that she had tried her best and done everything she could, rather than seeing it as yet another instance of self-escape.

"Here's your beer."

"Ah."

It seemed that the father and daughter were going to end this fruitless conversation here. Toyokawa Kiyotaka watched his daughter's departing figure, his eyes filled with nothing but desolation.

…………

"Sister, are you there?"

Standing in front of her older sister Maki's bedroom door, Shiina Tatsuki hesitated for a long time before finally knocking, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it.

Is it really okay to go and participate in this kind of experiment with that little devil?

However, in order to strengthen his resolve and to get Nanami Natsuki to apologize and admit her mistake, Riki began to feel that doing so was necessary.

"Lixi? Come in."

Upon hearing her sister's voice, Lixi became nervous again, but she still chose to push open the door and go inside.

My sister's room is very tidy. The bookshelves are filled with many books on music theory and composition, as well as some of the honor certificates she has received in the past, and photos taken with club members when she was studying at Haneoka.

Standing in the very center, her older sister's confident smile was so dazzling that Lixi couldn't help but feel a little inferior.

Not long after she entered the room, Shiina Maki, who was studying at her desk, turned around and looked at her younger sister, Ritsuki, with a smile in her eyes full of curiosity and anticipation.

"Sis...are you studying?"

"Yes, after all, the college entrance exam is coming soon. We have to put our hobbies aside for now. Getting into our ideal university is more important."

"Huh?" Li hope was slightly taken aback. Of course, she knew that her sister was already a senior in high school, but she never thought that her sister would temporarily put aside her favorite subject, music. "But isn't that your greatest hobby? Sister, didn't you say before that music is the thing you can't give up... And what about your friends? Have they decided to stop like this too?"

"It's okay, I still have you, Lixi. Seeing you working hard for what you love makes me very happy. Besides, I'm only taking a temporary break. How could I possibly give up on it?"

To stop for a while... that's a cruel statement.

If it were her, Li hope felt she definitely wouldn't dare to stop so easily. After all, she wasn't a genius, and if she couldn't keep chasing, she would definitely be left far behind by others.

"I want to give up."

"...Huh?"

“I…” Li Xi frowned, trying to look up at her sister’s eyes. “Sister, I don’t want to play music anymore. I’m tired. No matter how hard I try, I can’t do this kind of thing well… I really can’t keep going.”

Chapter 45 Running away is shameful, but it's nothing compared to how shameful Nanami Natsuki is (1/2)

"Sit here, let's talk."

Upon hearing her sister say such a thing, Shiina Maki became serious, but her seriousness was in attitude, not in expression.

She walked to the bed and patted the spot next to her. Seeing her sister looking conflicted, she helplessly pulled her over.

"You're very nervous."

"..."

Of course I'm nervous!

Lixi is no longer the little tagalong who used to stick to her older sister when she was a child. In the past few years, while she has been determined to catch up with her sister, she has also unknowingly kept a certain distance from her sister.

Moreover, what she just said was ultimately a lie, but did that lie contain any real emotions? She couldn't say for sure...

"What's been going on lately? You know... you haven't told me anything about your band in a long time."

"The band has disbanded."

"Huh?" Maki was taken aback. "When did this happen?"

"About six months ago..."

So you think this is because you didn't do a good job?

Li hope shook his head, then nodded. "Although I wasn't the one who caused the breakup of the band, I found that I had no way to deal with the departure of the most important person in our band."

This is actually the place where Li hope feels the most regretful and helpless.

After Xiangzi left, she didn't intend to leave Crychic immediately, because as Xiangzi herself said, the remaining members of the band should still be able to continue practicing even after she left.

So the next day she still came to the recording studio that everyone frequented, but the truth is that without Xiangzi as her leader, she couldn't do anything well.

Although she didn't explicitly say that she wanted to replace Xiangzi as the band's composer, that's exactly what she was trying to do. But by then, the rest of the band had long since given up on that idea.

Deng's departure amplified her inferiority complex to the extreme, which is one of the reasons why she hasn't gone to find Deng's band during this time... She felt that she was no longer able to replace Xiangzi and become the person who composed music for Deng's lyrics.

"I've tried so hard, but why can't I do it well... I also want to be like my sister, someone who leads everyone to greater heights, but..."

“Lixi…you’re just pushing yourself too hard.” Maki looked at her sister with some pity. “Why are you in such a hurry to prove yourself? Music should bring you joy. You shouldn’t have so much pressure and label all your actions with the goal of achieving something.”

"It's something you love, you shouldn't treat it as a burden. Take a break now and then..."

"That's not how it is..."

"Huh?"

"..."

Upon hearing his sister's words, Li hope suddenly had the illusion that he was hearing Nanami Natsuki's sly laughter.

Her sister did not say the same thing as Su Shi, nor did she tell her to keep trying, or that as long as she worked hard, she could do everything well.

What her sister said hurt her even more, because it meant that everything she had done... forming a band, practicing drums desperately, exchanging ideas on composition with Xiangzi, and finally teaching herself composition after leaving the band... In her sister's eyes, none of this was her "heroic feat" of chasing after someone at all costs.

It's just a form of self-entertainment.

That's true. For my sister, she probably doesn't need to expend so much energy and determination. She can do everything well simply by loving and focusing on music. That's why she feels that taking a break is the best thing for her.

But she couldn't do it...

"Sis, do you know why I've rarely had a conversation with you like this before?"

"Ok?"

Lixi looked at her sister with a complicated expression and said, using the words that Nanami had taught her: "I envy you and I'm jealous of you. You don't need to spend all your energy to do something well like we do. For you, music creation is probably as simple as breathing."

"We're sisters... why can't I do it? Why can't I write a song that makes the light stay on? Why is it that the results of my months of hard work in creating music can't even match the songs that geniuses can write in a single day!"

"Li hope? You..."

"If only my sister weren't a genius."

"...Huh?"

"..."

After saying that, Li hope was stunned. She seemed to have never expected that she would say such hurtful things.

Time and time again, she seems to lose control of her emotions and can't help but say things that hurt others. She is such a pathetic person.

Just as Lixi hesitated for a while before apologizing, she was suddenly hugged by her older sister, Maki.

"I'm sorry, Lixi. I didn't realize I had caused you so much harm. You know what? In my heart, talent isn't the most important thing. What matters is my friends and family."

"..."

"I love the feeling of playing music with my friends, and I also love the feeling of sharing joy with you and Mom and Dad. When you decided to learn the drums, I was really happy because I thought that if we had the same hobby, we would definitely become the closest sisters in the world."

“It’s because your sister didn’t pay attention to your thoughts. If I had to choose between family and talent, I would rather not have those talents that put pressure on you. I would also prefer that our family could happily discuss the day’s events every night. I…”

"Stop talking."

Lixi broke free from Maki's embrace, her expression unnatural, because deep down she didn't want to get that answer.

"Can you pretend you didn't hear what I said today? I... I still don't want to give up like this."

Upon hearing this, Maki gave Riki a smile that made him somewhat disappointed. "Of course, giving up is never the best option."

But that's not what you just said...

Lixi didn't say anything more, but left Maki's room feeling a little down.

Back in his room, Riki suddenly understood what Nanami Natsuki meant by those two questions. Yes... this little rascal wanted exactly this outcome.

She did achieve her goal. Instead of feeling relieved by her sister's comfort, she became even more determined to pursue her talent.