Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

"No, it wasn't the first time," Ayako seemed a little hurt. "At that time, Ayako didn't know anything. It was the first time I joined the guild. I was too happy to play dungeons with everyone. I didn't know the rules, so everyone ignored Ayako later... It was only after I met Rin Rin that Ayako really met someone who could play NFO with me."

"Me too..." Rinko said as she used her skills, "I used to only play alone... After meeting Xiao Yazi, I realized how much fun it is to play games with others..."

"It was Xiao Yazi...you used your healing magic to save me." She said it without thinking too much. However, as soon as she said it, she immediately regretted it.

Is this sentence too extreme?

Obviously, when my feelings towards her were just pure friendship, I would not shy away from saying such things.

But now, Rinko is worried.

Xiao Yazi, will you think too much?

But, it should be okay... This kind of thing should happen between ordinary friends... right?

She could only wait anxiously for Yazi to speak.

It was originally just a short gap, but it seemed so long in the tormenting mood.

On the screen, the two of them were still cooperating as usual. But that didn't mean that Yazi was playing the game seriously. Those operations were almost integrated into their blood, and they didn't need to think about it at all.

"…Rinlin." said Ako.

"...Yes." Hearing the other party's tone, Rinko felt a little uneasy.

"Today is the first time that Ayako fights a boss with so many people." Ayako's tone is much more relaxed than usual. "Unconsciously, we already have so many partners."

"..."

"There will be more in the future," Ayako stopped her operation, "but Rinrin is different. At that time, the only person who comforted the excluded Ayako was Rinrin."

"Xiao Yazi..."

There is an irrepressible urge in my heart... It is an emotion that cannot be expressed with a keyboard, it can only be expressed in the most instinctive and freest way!

Rinko also stopped her operation and turned around, but saw Ako staring at her.

"Linlin, do you like Ako?"

With an innocent expression, he asked this question.

Rinko's mind went blank for a moment and she was speechless.

However, she knew that her expression had already revealed the answer.

To this, Ayako responded: “I’m sorry.”

The impulse rising in my heart suddenly stopped.

Only then did I realize that a room with only two people was so empty and lonely.

Rinko lowered her head silently, not daring to continue looking at Ayako's face.

"But, only now." These words brought life back to her eyes.

Rinko raised her head again and found that Ako's eyes were also avoiding her.

"What Ako knows is that she may be more immature than everyone else... Ako is a little immature in many aspects." Ako said, "PAREO is younger than Ako, but she is more thoughtful than Ako; Shizi is the same age as Ako, and she often says some cool things with Ako, but when it comes to doing things, she seems to be a different person... In short, Ako can't be as cool as them, and she still can't understand many things, such as what it feels like to be liked."

"Ako feels that Ako's feelings for Rinrin should only be pure friendship. However, if Ako falls in love with someone in the future, it is hard to imagine that it will be someone other than Rinrin."

Ako suddenly stopped avoiding him and looked Rinko in the eye: "Rinko, can you make a promise with me?"

She suddenly changed her self-reference and used "I" directly.

"What?" Rinko asked. Her heartbeat was accelerating.

"We will always be the most handsome partners," Ako said, "We have to return to reality together, and then Rinlin will keep waiting - until the day when I can love you in another way."

"Before that, Linlin, you have to keep loving me." Ayako stretched out her little finger, but her momentum suddenly softened. "Isn't that unfair..."

Linlin held her mouth, let out a relaxed sigh, and hooked Yazi's little finger.

"I am willing."

There are still a lot of green peppers and celery in today's dishes.

Shiko frowned and secretly stuffed the green peppers to Kita and Ichiri. She liked celery, but like Ako, she couldn't stand green peppers.

"Yazi, you are not allowed to be picky about food today." Lisa stared at Yazi.

Hongxia stared at Shizi: "You too."

Shizi put down his chopsticks and fell into deep thought.

These days, without exception, it's a hodgepodge of those vegetables that everyone hates the most.

It's the same whether it's Hongxia cooking, Lisa, MASKING, Sa-ling, or Nana cooking.

"Hey," she said with a gloomy face, "everyone, tell me the truth...are these the only vegetables left in the kitchen?"

Hongxia, Lisa, MASKING, Saaya, and Nana all turned their faces away.

"If you don't eat it..." said Hongxia.

"It's about to break..." Lisa continued.

“And there’s still two days’ supply.” MASKING said, “Why can we make banana cakes but not green pepper cakes…”

"What is that? It sounds scary..." Ako's eyes were almost losing their luster, and she looked at Rinko. "Rinko..."

"Okay..." Rinko stretched out her chopsticks and picked up the green pepper in front of Ayako.

Lisa looked at this side helplessly, and was about to remind her, but she saw Ako picking up the celery in Rinko's bowl again.

In the brief moment of distraction, she discovered that there were a lot more bitter gourds in her bowl, and the cup in front of her was replaced with the honey tea originally intended for Youxi.

This time, she was completely unable to say anything.

Saya felt someone was looking at her, and when she turned around, she saw Hina's teasing eyes as expected.

"What's the matter?"

"Would you like to give me the carrots?" Hinai asked, "I'll trade them for French fries."

"I'm not a child anymore." Saya ignored him and lowered her head again, only to find that the exchange had been completed.

She looked over in surprise: "You--" She found that Ricai had finished the few remaining fries she had and was staring at hers.

Helpless and amused, Sayo pushed the bowl between the two of them: "Let's eat together."

"Eat one at the same time?" Hina's eyes lit up.

"What are you thinking about?" Saya broke her fantasy, but picked up a French fry and looked at Hina.

"?" Hina didn't know his intention.

Sayo shook the fries: "Come on, ah——"

Hina was slightly stunned, then she opened her mouth obediently: "Ah——"

Shizi took a sip of the juice and commented: "It's so sweet."

Next to her, Yili poked her waist. Turning her head, she found Yili holding a piece of fried chicken and bringing it to her mouth.

Shizi couldn't help but smile and only bit off half of it. Ichiri fed the remaining half to Kita.

Fried chicken, also delicious.

Chapter 45: Band for Life

There are still twenty-five days until the end of the Audition.

In the studio, the ensemble didn’t sound neat at all, and except for the keyboard, all the instruments were going wrong.

The song finally ended, Hua Lian put down the guitar and sighed deeply.

"Hana-kun, water." Mahiru handed it over and turned to Hikaru, "Hana-kun, a towel."

"Thank you."

"Thank you."

Mahiru handed the other two towels to Kaori and Futaba.

"Ah - Mahiru's keyboard is so good," Futaba exclaimed loudly while wiping the sweat off her face, "I'm totally not good at it, could this be the reason? The gap between stage girls -"

"This should have nothing to do with the stage girl..." Mahiru rubbed her hands embarrassedly, "After all, I'm the only one who has the basics."

"Speaking of which, the bass is really difficult," Xiangzi looked at the instrument in her arms with disdain, "It hurts easily when I press the strings. Can't the score be simplified a bit?"

"The music score provided by Shiko has been simplified again and again," Mahiru comforted her, "She also said..." She thought about it and didn't continue.

"What?" Xiangzi was a little curious.

Hua Lian didn't think too much about it: "She said it would be better to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star if it's more simplified."

“And she also said that if I can play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I can perform in a livehouse.” Xiaoguang added.

"Really?" Futaba was shocked.

"That's what she said," Xiao Guang's eyes looked a little strange, "It seemed a little familiar and nostalgic, as if she had helped me in some way when she played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the livehouse..."

"How is that possible?" Hua Lian waved her hands. "Has Xiao Guang ever been to a livehouse before?"

"No." Xiaoguang shook his head and ignored the feeling.

"In that case," Xiangzi still didn't give up, "Futaba, let's switch instruments. I'll play the drums and you learn the bass."

"How is that possible?" Futaba swung her drumsticks. "I've already started learning, how can I change?"

"You've only been learning for a few days? It should be easy to start from the beginning, right?" Xiangzi held the bass like a pipa and moved in front of Futaba, "Look, just press here and here, and you can..."

Futaba leaned back in disdain: "Don't think playing drums is easy."

"Well, well." Mahiru tried to smooth things over, "If we need to learn at least one song within this month, it might be too late to learn again."

Xiangzi looked at her in confusion: "Mahiru-kun, when did you say that you would learn a song within a month?"

However, the other four people looked at her with the same eyes.

"Hmm? Because there's a one-month deadline, and we just happened to start a band..." Mahiru tried to organize her words, "It just feels like... we should do this? Or how should I put it... I always feel like this should be the default..."

"But I obviously didn't agree." Xiangzi's expression was confused.

"Well, well~" Mahiru could only say, "Come on~"

"And after we return to reality, we will cover more songs and write original songs!" Hua Lian imagined a bright future, "Stage Girls are evolving day by day!"

"Eh..." Xiangzi was too lazy to complain about the wrong catchphrase, "I suddenly feel that the task is so heavy..."

"Oh right," she suddenly remembered, "We've been forming the band for a few days, but haven't we thought of a goal yet, like a band name or something?"

"Goal?" Futaba raised her head and thought for a moment, "It's just an amateur band anyway, what goal can it have?"

"For example... a band for life?" Hua Lian said it naturally, shaking her ponytail.

"But this isn't a word that should be spoken naturally." Xiangzi unconsciously moved a little further away from Hua Lian.

"It seems like all the band girls take being in a band for life as their default option," Mahiru nodded and smiled like the sun, "I have no problem with that."

"This isn't the sun, it's a black hole." Xiangzi was so scared that she couldn't even speak in her Kyoto accent. "What are we complaining about?"

"I don't care." Xiao Guang stroked the guitar, "Playing the guitar is quite interesting, and I will definitely be with Hua Lian for the rest of my life anyway."

"I accidentally said my wedding vows!" Xiangzi felt a chill down her spine. "Have we been pulled into some kind of gravity field..."

"You came in by yourself." Futaba retorted!

Xiangzi rushed over, grabbed Futaba's hand tightly, and shook it back and forth: "Say something! At least Futaba is a normal person, right?"

Futaba's head shook on her neck, "Um... Xiangzi, you are going back to Kyoto after graduation, right?"

"Yes, that's right!" Xiangzi immediately let go of her hand and forced herself to maintain her momentum, "After all, we have to inherit the Senhua School. We won't be able to be with everyone after graduation..."

Hua Lian estimated: "It's a bit far... But I heard that we can rehearse remotely through video calls now, and we can always meet once or twice a year, right?"

"...Do you understand what I want to express?" Xiangzi's brows twitched.

The door was slammed open. "I heard someone doesn't want to be in a band for life?"

Shizi stood behind the door, looking murderous.

"Yes, this is the one~" Hua Lian made way and pointed at Xiang Zi with both hands, "Advisor Shi Zi, please punish her!"

Shizi slid like a sumo wrestler and approached Xiangzi with a ferocious look.