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

"Did you hear this from someone else because of your habit of gossiping to everyone you meet?" Shiina Riki raised an eyebrow, pulled Nanami Natsuki behind her, tossed her a rag, and complained helplessly.

"This is not."

Nanami Natsuki smiled and said very "sincerely", "I just noticed that Shiina-chan's fingers, the base of her thumb and forefinger, and the base of her palms have some calluses, and your arms also have some slightly raised muscles. Considering that this is a café attached to a live house, I guess you must be the drummer in a band."

"...So what if you are? That's no excuse for slacking off during work hours." A hint of melancholy flashed in Shiina Tatsuki's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and said, "Nanami, do you still remember how I taught you to make those drinks yesterday?"

"Of course I remember, I also remember that Earl Grey tea that you insisted I learn..."

"A cup of Earl Grey tea."

"..."

As if deliberately picking up on her words, just as Nanami Natsuki was about to show off her learning achievements, a girl with long brown hair suddenly appeared in front of her, smiling at her and someone behind her.

"Go and make it for her, I have other things to do."

"Li hope!"

"Forehead……"

As Nanami Natsuki watched Shiina Tatsuki turn and leave without looking back, leaving her with this huge mess, and the "mature" girl sitting at the bar in front of her with a conflicted expression, she suddenly felt a strange sense of excitement.

There's a story behind this...

Would you like your Earl Grey tea again?

"I... never mind, I don't want it anymore." Nagasaki Motoyo glanced at Riki's retreating figure, who seemed unwilling to acknowledge her, and looked quite dejected.

She didn't come here specifically to drink Earl Grey tea; she came here to find Lixi, who used to be in the same band as Crychic, because of the Crychic incident.

"and many more."

"……Um?"

Nagasaki Motoyo, who had already turned to leave, turned her head back in surprise when the pretty girl called her name.

Are you Lixi-chan's friend?

Although Shiina and she weren't that close yet, now that Shiina wasn't around, she could try to get closer to her however she wanted.

"I...I guess so."

"A band?" Noticing the surprise in the girl's eyes, Nanami Natsuki added, "Or rather... were you in a band before?"

"How do you know?! She told you everything?!"

"Well... I don't really know how to say it. Oh, right, I don't know what to call you. My name is Nanami Natsuki, you can just call me Natsuki."

"Then you can call me Su Shi." Nagasaki Su Shi didn't pay much attention to these details; all she could think about was what Li hope was thinking.

When the band first broke up, she wondered if it was because the members had reacted too strongly. So she tried to find Lixi, who had been the most vocal at the time, and asked him to apologize to Xiangzi so that they could resolve their conflict.

But she seemed to be wrong. Lixi's attitude was very firm, and Lixi did not think that this was something that could be resolved with an apology.

The truth... seems to be so.

Although more than half a year has passed since Xiangzi's departure from the troupe on June 12 last year, it seems that no one has thought about solving this problem.

Su Shi felt isolated and helpless. She felt as if she was the only one who cared about the past, as if... everyone had lost the memories of laughing and working hard together in the past, but only her memories were completely preserved.

"Hmm... Riki-chan hasn't really talked to me much about the past. Could it be that it's a not-so-pleasant memory?"

"How is that possible!"

Hearing the girl in front of him casually slander his most cherished past from an outsider's perspective, Nagasaki Motoyo suddenly became agitated.

However, after her initial excitement, she realized how ridiculous her actions were.

This Nanami-san... is just making reasonable speculations, right? After all, the past that no one wants to talk about doesn't seem like the kind of beautiful memories she has in mind.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you... Since Lixi doesn't want to entertain me as a guest, I'll leave."

"But I'm a waiter here too. Even though I've only been here a few days, I already know how to make the Earl Grey tea you ordered."

"I have already..."

"Su Shi, isn't it unfair that you're the only one suffering because of shared memories?"

"...Huh?"

Nagasaki Motoyo was a little confused about what was going on. Weren't we just talking about black tea?

"These are memories we created together, these are friends who worked hard for a band, yet after so little time, you can act like nothing ever happened. Isn't that a bit too heartless?"

"you……"

Nagasaki Motoyo wanted to say something agreeable to the girl making black tea in front of her, but she felt that the current atmosphere was a bit strange.

"Why is it that only you care so much? Why would Shiina Tatsuki rather have a stranger deal with you than face you directly? Why should you bear all the pain of this separation alone..."

"Stop talking..."

"Miss Su Shi, would you like to give it a try?"

"Try what?"

Nagasaki Motoyo looked at the black tea that had been pushed in front of her, took a small sip, and thought, "Hmm... the taste seems pretty good, but I always feel that the person who made it is looking at me strangely."

It's like watching prey.

"Try it...let others feel the same entanglement and pain as you, at least you can't really pretend that nothing happened, right?"

"This kind of thing..."

"It's very simple. Just extract all the emotions and memories you have about the band from your mind during the time after the band broke up, and then put them into someone else's body, right?"

"...Huh?"

Chapter 9 Nanami is such a little angel (1/2)

"Are you kidding me? How could something like that possibly be possible?"

"Indeed..."

Nanami Natsuki smiled, neither directly denying nor confirming, but simply sat at the bar, chatting casually with Suze in front of her.

"Assuming someone could actually do that, would you be willing to do it, Su Shi?"

"Hmm... if it involves taking away someone's memories, I don't think anyone would agree to that, right?"

Motoyo Nagasaki was clearly also very interested in this interesting hypothesis, although a hypothesis will always remain just a hypothesis and can never become reality.

"That's not necessarily true. If it were me... I wouldn't want to remember many things from the past. I'd rather forget them. That way, life would be more comfortable instead of being constantly immersed in the sadness of the past."

"...But wouldn't that be the same as running away?"

"Running away is shameful, but it's useful."

"Can……"

Nagasaki Motoyo wanted to argue, but she felt it was inappropriate to judge other people's choices so casually, since she didn't know anything about the past of this unfamiliar girl whose name she only knew.

Is escaping really a good choice?

Nagasaki Motoyo was somewhat confused because she knew that the reason she could be so determined was because the hypothesis proposed by Nanami Natsuki was not valid. Memories cannot be easily erased like writing on a blackboard. The more you try to discard a memory, the more it will replay in your mind.

Memories of estrangement from classmates during elementary school due to her parents' divorce; memories of watching her mother's busy figure during junior high school, feeling both guilty and helpless while complaining; and... memories related to Crychic, the place that gave her a sense of identity and value.

"You haven't left yet?"

The one speaking was Shiina Riki, who had gone backstage to find something to do and guessed that Suze was unwilling to leave because of her cold attitude.

When she returned to the front desk, she saw that Nagasaki Motoyo had not left but was sitting at the bar chatting non-stop with her new colleague, Nanami Natsuki. She felt a little annoyed.

How come this Nanami Natsuki is so gossipy?

"Li hope!"

"I've already said I can't apologize to Xiangzi, so give up."

Xiangzi?

Nanami Natsuki narrowed her eyes slightly. Although she only had a small guess in her mind at the moment, after all, there was more than one Shoko in the whole of Tokyo.

"...Lixi, are you just going to give up like this? What about Xiaodeng...?"

"Don't bring up these things with Deng."

"...So in the end, only I care?"

Nagasaki Motoyo bit her lip, speaking with a tone that was both unwilling and aggrieved.

"..." Shiina Ritsuki felt a little reluctant, but her expression remained indifferent. "Suse, Crychic is a thing of the past."

"Heh, that's all in the past..."

"Finish your tea and leave. Don't come looking for me here again unless you stop bringing up those things. Also..." Shiina Ritsuki glanced at Nanami Natsuki, who seemed to enjoy the drama, "Nami, it's time for you to get off work."

"OK~"

Watching Nanami Natsuki, who had just been chatting with her, walk towards the backstage area, Nagasaki Motoyo knew... this was Ritsuki giving her her final dismissal.

Staying here would only be pointless. She wanted to find the other band members... but apart from Xiao Mu, who refused to explain anything to her, she really couldn't find any of her former teammates.

Why didn't they think of asking for Xiaoxiang and Xiaodeng's contact information before? Hmm... maybe because they were always together back then, they never imagined that one day they would suddenly be separated?

After finishing the last bit of black tea and paying the money to the silent Riki, Nagasaki Motoyo prepared to turn and leave.

But as soon as she stepped out of the live house, she heard someone calling her name from behind.

"You are... Nanami?"

Nagasaki Motoyo looked at the gothic girl in front of her. The girl, who was originally several centimeters shorter than her, seemed to be about the same height as her after putting on mid-heel shoes.

"Su Shi, are you free later?"

"Hmm... I do have time, but you called me because you want..."

I want to help you.

"Help me?" Nagasaki Motoyo looked at the girl with a gentle smile on her face with a puzzled expression.

"Suze didn't do anything wrong, did she?" Nanami Natsuki tried her best to bridge the gap between them. "Was the band's disbandment because of you, Suze?"

"of course not……"

"Then why should someone who did nothing wrong and just wants to repair the relationship suffer this treatment? Why won't Lixi listen to you? Why does she just want to avoid facing the issue?"