Their restricted abilities are refreshed every week.

After the performance, each band would wait backstage for store manager Matsuo to come and collect the rent.

Judging from his income and expenditure, his behavior is no different from doing charity.

When Shirakawa Haru walked from the audience seats to the backstage door, he heard a familiar voice arguing with a group of people.

"What do you mean you don't have to come tomorrow? Didn't we agree that I would be your band's bassist until the end of three months from now?"

"Hachiman Kailing, don't you understand? I've told you many times. What I mean is that you don't have to come to our band's live performances in the future."

"Why? We were discussing the performance plan for the next month a few days ago, why did it happen so suddenly——"

"Why, ask yourself, don't you really understand?"

Hachiman Kailing held the bass in her arms, her exotic outfit became wrinkled, and even her leather shoes were covered with dust during the performance, and her voice sounded hoarse.

Her face was full of confusion, and her eyes occasionally revealed a hint of clarity, but then they became cloudy again, as dull and lifeless as a pool of stagnant water.

"Hailing-chan..." The girl from the band that Shirakawa Haru had met last time was also standing opposite Hachiman Hailing, with a dissatisfied look and a guilty look on her face. "If possible, could you please not come to our band next time?"

"You also mean..." Hachiman Kailing said, "Is my performance too bad? If so, I can go back and practice more, and I will meet your performance requirements."

"That's not true!" The girl who had invited Hachiman Kailing to the beach last time raised her eyebrows nervously. "Kailing's performance was amazing. Even if I wasn't in the audience, I could feel the surging emotions just by standing next to you..."

The girl closed her eyes in pain. "We can't keep up with Xiao Hailing's strength. The reason we formed the band was just to give friends a place to gather and relax. Standing next to Xiao Hailing, the pressure is too much."

"I'm sorry!" After saying that, she burst into tears. The band members behind her handed her tissues and surrounded her as she left the backstage.

"So, Hachiman Kailing, now you should know where your problem lies, right?" said the boy standing opposite Hachiman Kailing. He was the one who had quarreled with Hachiman Kailing at the beginning.

Hachiman Kailing held the neck of the bass without saying a word.

The boy seemed unwilling to wait for Hachiman Kailing to answer his question, so he turned and walked towards the door with his teammates.

He was tall, and in the past, Hachiman Kailing could match his temperament with her temperament and cold expression, but today, she seemed a little weak and helpless.

"Hachiman Kailing, I actually respect you very much. You have such superb bass skills, but you stay in a band like ours and play house. Although I have no right to interfere with your choice, I still suggest that you join a band." He said.

"Even though I really don't want to say this, limiting your bass performance based on the strength of each band is really insulting and hurtful to people's self-esteem." The boy's voice was a little dull.

"Our skills are not that great, but we all really love music." The boy said finally.

Hachiman Kailing, who was still deceiving herself, was stunned for a moment after hearing this sentence. Finally, she could no longer maintain the expression on her face. She kept a tense face when she walked into the backstage.

Her turquoise eyes flashed across the ripples on the surface of the autumn pond, and her tightly closed lips were slightly pursed. She touched her face and found that it was a little wet, and then she wiped her face vigorously with the back of her hand.

In fact, she had long known that her behavior would cause dissatisfaction among other members of the band, but she did not expect that this day would come so quickly and so violently.

And for some reason, all of a sudden, all the bands she supported seemed to want her to stop supporting their performances.

As the boy walked past Manager Matsuo, he apologized to him and said that they really couldn't bear it anymore.

Manager Matsuo nodded in understanding.

All the bands dispersed at once, and now only Shirakawa Haru, Manager Matsuo, and Hachiman Kailing were left in this office building.

Manager Matsuo was the first to walk into the backstage and tried to comfort Hachiman Kailing with his unique silly expressions and jokes, but it had little effect.

He was a little helpless. After all, he was not even married yet and was a little overwhelmed by the situation when dealing with high school girls.

Women are troublesome to him, and they feel inferior to... a piano store.

Manager Matsuo winked at Shirakawa Haru to let him in, then he walked out of the backstage, leaving the two young men alone.

"How do you feel now?" Shirakawa Haru walked to Hachiman Kailing and asked, "This feeling of being expelled by your 'teammates' must not be pleasant." He did not communicate with Hachiman Kailing at the beginning. He waited until she wiped away her tears and calmed down before speaking.

"That's not bad. I've thought about it before." Hachiman Kailing's expression returned to its original state, but her eyes were cloudy, as if covered by a layer of shadow. "Although I'm a little surprised, it's also within my expectations."

"But you just cried." Baichuan Qing said bluntly, "You look really sad." Baichuan Qing has no experience of being expelled. If there is a place that can't accommodate him, he will just pack up and leave without any attachment.

"...Since you can see that I'm upset, Shirakawa-kun, please stop provoking me." The backstage space was different from the stage space. The lights here were very bright. Hachiman Kailing turned her head to look at Shirakawa Haru who was sitting next to her. When their eyes met, she could see the concern in Shirakawa Haru's eyes. She blushed for a moment, then quickly cooled down, "Fans shouldn't make idols angry."

"Students can't make teachers angry." Shirakawa Haru made a rare joke.

He is not a person who likes to joke, and the store manager Matsuo also said that Shirakawa Haru "understands human nature" in this regard.

"It's a bit hot inside. Do you want to go outside to get some cool air?" Hachiman Kailing stood up from the stool. She observed Shirakawa Haru's reaction and suddenly a faint smile appeared on her face.

She then walked out of the backstage and came outside the office building.

Some questions don't need to be answered.

Shirakawa Haru followed Hachiman Kailing and found a relatively clean flower bed to sit on.

Today, store manager Matsuo held a "small music festival". He rented a space on a floor of the office building next door to use as a live stage. The venue was very good and the equipment was extremely complete. Many bands came to participate. When all the bands finished playing, it was already very late.

I had missed the last tram, so if I wanted to go back I had to wait for the next tram, but that would be after dawn.

These words were told to Shirakawa Haru by Hachiman Kailing. She had experienced this kind of thing several times under the manager Matsuo.

Manager Matsuo wanted to take her back in a taxi, but she refused, saying that it would be nice to enjoy the evening breeze and wait for the dawn after the performance.

"So you're just going to sit here like this?" Shirakawa Haru asked, "Aren't you cold?"

"If Shirakawa-kun feels tired, you can go to the music store and rest." Hachiman Kailing lowered her head to look at her leather shoes. They were much cleaner than when she was backstage. "It's a bit cold, but it's just right to clear my head."

A box of chocolate-flavored milk with a panda pattern on it was placed next to Hachiman Kailing. She lowered her head to look at the milk, then shifted her gaze to Shirakawa Haru's face.

"Manager Matsuo asked me to get some supplies for him a while ago, so I bought this while I was there." Shirakawa Haru was drinking milk, biting a straw. The tip of the straw was flattened by his teeth, and it was covered with teeth marks. "He said you have a lot of bands to support today and you'll be very tired, so I wanted to buy you a box of drinks... well, as a reward."

"You won't refuse it, will you?" Shirakawa Haru suddenly turned his head and looked directly into Hachiman Kailing's eyes. "Just consider it a friend's consolation."

"Thank you." Yawata Kairin didn't want to accept the carton of milk because she'd noticed she and Shirakawa Haru were getting a bit close. This was something the store manager, Matsuo, had pointed out that morning. She hadn't initially thought it was a big deal, but after thinking it over, she realized it was indeed the case. She didn't want to start a relationship with someone so quickly, and even if she did, the relationship couldn't heat up too quickly, otherwise it would feel cheap.

Fan and idol, teacher and student, these two identities are enough for her to have necessary daily communication with Shirakawa Haru.

Not too close, but not too distant, it's good like this now.

Don't forget to keep your distance.

But when Hachiman Kailing recalled that when she played the bass on the stage tonight, Shirakawa Haru looked at her with eyes that seemed to be crying, her already soft heart could no longer be hardened. He gave her a new reason, he treated her as a "friend".

Finally she accepted the box of milk.

"Huh...it would be better if it was hot." Hachiman Kailing removed the straw attached to the side of the beverage box, then inserted the straw into the milk box and took a light sip.

The cold liquid flowed into her body and she frowned from the cold.

"There's a convenience store there that's still open," said Shirakawa Haru.

"I'm just kidding." She said. Looking at Shirakawa Haru's expression, if she said she wanted to drink it, she was afraid he would really buy her a bottle of hot milk.

Shirakawa Haru and Yawata Kailing didn't have much to talk about. They sat on the flower bed, keeping a certain distance, in silence, shrouded in the quiet night. After a while, they took out their mobile phones, unlocked the screens, plugged in headphones, and prepared to greet the dawn.

Hachiman Kailing turned off her phone, placed the empty drink box beside her, and said to Shirakawa Haru, "Are you curious about why I became a support musician?"

"I'm quite curious." Shirakawa Haru was silent for a moment. He glanced at Hachiman Kailing discreetly and found that she had noticed his gaze and was looking at him expressionlessly. Hachiman Kailing had noticed his thoughts and asked this question, "Sorry."

"It's nothing, it's not a big deal anyway." Hachiman Kailing said softly, her voice much softer.

"Before I was even a support musician, I joined a band. The atmosphere was great, and everyone felt like family," Hachiman Kairin says with a nostalgic tone. "But for various reasons, the band had to disband. On our last day of traveling, we decided to take the stage and put on a grand live performance to cap off this youthful yet nostalgic time... But I couldn't make it due to personal reasons."

She smiled tiredly. "By the time I got there, some of them had already left to catch a flight, and the remaining former band members gave me a good scolding. So I thought, how great it would be if someone could take my place on stage and perform music. Although I would be a little unwilling, at least I could keep those precious memories."

"In order to give an explanation to my teammates at that time, I have now become a support musician, providing assistance to bands that cannot perform smoothly due to lack of people." Hachiman Kailing raised her face, and her eyelashes buried in the shadows fluttered like colorful crow feathers.

"This is a very sad story," commented Shirakawa Haru.

"Yeah." Hachiman Kailing said.

"It's almost dawn, do you want us to get up and walk around?"

"Let's take a walk."

At dawn, Shirakawa Haru and Hachiman Kailing stood on the deserted street corner. They endured the night and waited for dawn.

There is dawn before them, but when they turn around it is the proud night with turbulent waves.

Shirakawa Haru walked beside Hachiman Kailing. Behind him, the deep blue, top-heavy waves of the night, carrying the various colors of the renovated soil, quickly receded.

"What are you looking at?" Hachiman Kailing asked Shirakawa Haru quietly, her eyes fixed on the sun hiding behind the clouds uphill ahead. The dawn sunlight was not too glaring, and the pink halo surprised her. She had been waiting for this moment in the wind all night. "You have to look forward."

She wanted to share this wonderful moment with her new friends.

The damp and cold morning air passed through his nasal cavity, and the icy chill went straight from Shirakawa Haru's spine to his brain. The waves of that night left him with a few scattered trivialities: several live performances, the dazzling lights, the pale-faced and red-eyed girl standing on the stage, and what his hungry heart pursued.

The huge waves brought the performance of Hachiman Kairin.

Shirakawa Haru and Hachiman Kailing looked at each other at the same time, and knew what the other was appreciating at the same time.

"What are you going to do next?" Shirakawa Haru asked, "Will you continue to perform live, join bands, and be a support musician?"

"I'll continue to perform live, but I won't be a support musician for now. I'm going to take a break," Hachiman Kairin replied. "I want to really join a band."

"So do you have any favorite band now?" he said.

"No. I don't want to join those bands that look like they're just there for fun." When Hachiman Kailing said this, she thought of Shiina Riki. Shiina Riki had been worried about her band recently, and she thought it was great to be able to devote herself to the band wholeheartedly.

"If I have a band that suits you, would you come?" Baichuan Qing suddenly said.

"Double bass bands are rare, and there are only a handful of them." Hachiman Hailing blinked, "But if you call me then, I will give you priority."

"Thank you."

"Before that, teach your bass first. But I don't think you'll be painting for long."

As the sun rose, Shirakawa Haru and Yawata Kairin stood on a deserted street in their respective cities.

"By the way, there's the matter of tuition fees. I almost forgot about it." Hachiman Kailing walked on the sidewalk where shadows were gradually falling. "From now on, you can use a box of chocolate drinks to offset your tuition fees." She shook the shriveled drinks box in her hand.

"This is a friendship price." Hachiman Kailing glanced at Shirakawa Haru, walked quickly across the traffic light, and disappeared at an intersection.

Chapter 4.6: Making Tables Leads to Delirium (k)

This text message was sent by Shirakawa Haru to Chihaya Aine's mobile phone at six o'clock last night.

For Chihaya Aine, who has always focused on the band, Shirakawa Haru finally feels that it is time for her to officially work in the student council.

In the morning, as usual, Shirakawa Haru wrote little notes to Takamatsu Deng and Goto Ichiri to pass on messages to each other. A lot of things happened between him and these two girls last week.

There are good things and bad things, but generally speaking, there are more good things.

The specific manifestation is that they have become closer to Shirakawa Haru. The frequency of passing notes in class is much higher than before, and they also go to fetch water together after class.

After finishing classes in the afternoon, Shirakawa Haru packed his schoolbag and went to the student office.

Chihaya Aine is on duty today. After school, she needs to wipe the blackboard, close the windows and turn off the lights, so she arrives at the student union office a little later than Shirakawa Haru.

There was a knock on the door. Shirakawa Haru raised his eyes from the page of the book and said, "Come in."

"Chairman, I'm sorry, I'm on duty today, so I'm a little late~" Chihaya Aine pushed open the door of the office and walked in with extremely light steps.

There was a click, and she closed the door.

"Eh...Hinomori Academy's student council office is so beautiful!" Chihaya Aine exclaimed. She looked around like a country girl arriving in a big city for the first time, then took out her phone to take a picture. However, the pictures she took were all centered around the boy sitting at the desk. "It's much nicer than the one at my previous school."

"This office will be where you'll be working from now on." Shirakawa Haru pulled out a chair and asked Chihaya Aine to sit next to him. "You can relax a little and don't be so reserved."

"It's my first time here, and I'm a little nervous," said Chihaya Aine.

"Then why didn't you come earlier? Normally speaking, you should have been working here for at least a week by now." Shirakawa Haru stood up and made a cup of hot tea for Chihaya Aine. "I got this tea from the chairman. Would you like to try it?"

"It tastes good!" Chihaya Aine picked up the teacup, took a sip carefully, and found that the taste of the tea was a little familiar.

She had drunk this tea when she went to visit the leader's home with her father.

My father said that this kind of tea is very expensive, and even leaders would only use this kind of tea to entertain guests during festivals.

"But Chairman, why are there only two of us in the office at this time? There are no people sitting at all the desks?" Chihaya Aine put down her teacup and asked in confusion.

"In the beginning, there were people here," Shirakawa Haru said. "Do you know Vice President Toyokawa? That's Shoko Toyokawa. I brought her into the student union, and I mentored her in her work. After she'd been working here for a while, aside from her and me, there were basically no other people coming to this office."

"Hey... so that's how it is..."

Shirakawa Haru's explanation caused Chihaya Aine to fall silent. Even the sweet aroma of the tea lingering between her lips and teeth was completely dissipated. Her face was full of complex emotions. She thought to herself, "Chairman, you are such an idiot when it comes to relationships!"

Those student council members must have thought of you and Toyokawa Shoko as a potential couple and felt that there was no need for them to stay in this office and watch you two display your affection.

Chihaya Aine remembered that cold face. The impression that Toyokawa Shoko left on her was one of extreme efficiency. Although Toyokawa Shoko still maintained a good posture when walking, she always felt like something was chasing him from behind, and the whole person was like a spring being compressed tightly.

Shoko Toyokawa has a beautiful face and a well-proportioned and beautiful figure. She is the recognized school belle in all grades of Hinomori Academy. Chihaya Aine thinks that she cannot compare with Shoko Toyokawa in terms of appearance and figure.

But she also has her own unique advantages.

She and the chairman are in the same band, so in the future she will definitely spend more time with the chairman than with Toyokawa Shoko.

"Why are you sitting so far away?" Shirakawa Haru moved to the side and then let Chihaya Aine sit in the middle of the desk. "Today I will teach you how to handle the spreadsheets on the computer."