You are Toyokawa Shoko, then who am I?

"lowest!"

"Look, I'm blocking him!"

"Shut up!"

The last sentence was said by Tatsuki Shiina himself.

She rushed forward and quickly covered the bloody mouth of the demon with both hands. Her breathing became disordered and sweat poured down. She was afraid that if she was late for another second, she would hear the damn demon say something strange in her voice...!

"I'm going to study the five lying methods..." (Shiina-san, I can't breathe)

“Ah, sorry.”

Shiina Riki also noticed that this action was a bit inappropriate. After retracting his two small hands, he put them behind his back uncomfortably, like a blooming magnolia, slender and white, with a lustrous luster in the halo.

Looking at the face in front of her that was so similar to Toyokawa Shoko, she felt mixed emotions.

He recalled the memory of rushing forward and blocking the idiot who didn't react even when being grabbed by someone.

Only then did she realize that she was now... treating him like a lamp.

Just as alone (physically).

He also possesses a powerful singing voice that can touch her heart.

This guy……

It's very similar to a lamp.

But not like that.

Deng doesn't have the same amazing and terrifying talent as him, and he doesn't usually say strange things.

He would never turn around on the stage, look back, and look at me with such wholehearted trust.

This feeling of being trusted and entrusted to the task makes me instinctively want to respond to his expectations, and even lean against the microphone with him and sing out the voice that I have always wanted to express in my heart.

Even a lamp can't do that.

No, what am I thinking...

Shiina Riki lowered his eyes, and his lavender eyes, as bright as late cherry blossoms, flashed with complex emotions.

She sighed and thought that it was probably because she hadn't seen Deng come to practice in the past few days, so she had such random thoughts.

Just yesterday she was still looking for the shadow of Toyokawa Shoko in Toyokawa Sho, trying to dig out the truth from his mouth about why Toyokawa Shoko wanted to quit the team.

But after the performance just now, in which I poured out all the feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem, sense of gap, and other things that have troubled me for years through my performance.

She actually felt it for a moment.

Will Shoko Toyokawa come back?

It seems that it is no longer that important.

If someone wants to quit the band, just let her quit the band, why are you so obsessed with getting her back?

Rather than sitting there like an abandoned dog, wagging his tail and begging her to have mercy and change her mind and come back to the band.

Why not just kick her aside and pull Toyokawa Sho, who is right in front of you, into Crychic?

Anyway...

They must be the same person.

ps: Tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, the explosion will be

020. Can You Really Stand by His Side in the Future? (Update 1/4)

wrong.

No, no, no, no, no.

This idea is too radical...!?

What on earth am I thinking about...

Shiina Riki shook his head like a drum, quickly throwing the terrible thought behind him, and then stared at Toyokawa Sho who was slumped in the chair next to him with a resentful look.

It's all this guy's fault...

Ever since I came into contact with him, I've been thinking about strange things in my mind, and sometimes I even see some mental hallucinations...!

hateful.

If I hadn't seen that you sang well, composed music well, played the guitar well, and played the drums so well that I was convinced, I would have long ago -

Wait.

Why am I only talking about his strengths?

What about the disadvantages?

What are his shortcomings?

This guy doesn't look... well, he's quite pleasing to the eye. I feel like he's more suitable for debuting in the entertainment industry as a model or something like that rather than forming a band.

But how can appearance be so convenient? It's just a pale skull! If a person only has a pretty face, then he is just a vase with a beautiful exterior and rotten cotton inside!

If we talk about the most important thing about a person, it must be his inner qualities, right?

Yes, it’s inside!

A guy like him doesn't have a... personality... It seems that there's nothing wrong with him except that he always speaks with a weird accent and is a little bit childish sometimes.

He was also very relaxed when dealing with those girls just now. He's much easier to get along with than a guy like me who treats people coldly...

Damn it, self-cultivation is also an aspect that cannot be ignored!

This guy has no manners at all... Not necessarily. If this guy is really the same person as Toyokawa Shoko, then he is at least a rich young master.

I heard that children from those giant chaebol families are expected to master the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting from a young age. They read world literature and even have original works of famous artists hanging in their rooms...

Talking about the issue of self-cultivation to people who grew up in this kind of environment...

Ahhhhhh——!

Doesn't this guy have any flaws at all...!?

Shiina Riki's expression became increasingly ugly.

She didn't understand why she couldn't find any negative evidence to attack the other party even though she was so picky about finding fault.

The answer is actually very simple.

Extra emotions (×) arose in her heart.

She seems to have a tendency to become Xiang's guard (?).

Even when she finds fault in her heart, she will more or less defend herself from the other party's perspective. If she goes further, it will probably threaten Deng's absolute throne in her heart and completely unlock the single-player mode.

She didn't even realize that the tone of her inner thoughts had gradually become similar to someone else's. To use the words of Sobu High School next door, the terrible white fungus was proliferating!

"Shiina-san, your gaze is so scary."

From the beginning, Toyokawa Sho felt a heavy gaze pressing on him, so he hugged his body and shivered exaggeratedly on purpose to tease Li Xi.

"Forehead…"

Shiina Riki responded a little dazedly.

She is a quick-tempered person and tends to act decisively in everything she says and does.

So when she encounters an unexpected situation that causes her fast pace to stop, she will respond a little dazedly like this, giving her brain time to return to normal before reacting.

When she saw Toyokawa Sho with his eyes closed, but pointed out that she was secretly staring at him.

She couldn't help but really wonder if her eyes were too fierce, so fierce that even if others didn't open their eyes, they could feel that she was looking at them...

If you think about it carefully, she was like this when she was in school. It was just a normal glance, but it would always scare the other person so much that they couldn't move.

Then I would want to say something to urge the other person, but that would only scare them even more...

Should I really consider improving my eyesight...?

The girl fell into serious thought.

Little did she know that the guy leaning on the chair next to her was able to feel her gaze without opening his eyes simply because he knew her habits very well.

after awhile.

The door to the staff room was unlocked with a key.

They both turned around and saw that it was the store manager, Ms. Rinrinko.

"Toyokawa-san, Shiina-san! You can come out now. Those girls have already left."

"Really gone?"

Toyokawa Sho said suspiciously. He didn't like the feeling of being surrounded by a group of people.

Although he usually says some strange things, that is just a special defense mechanism in his social mask that deliberately strengthens his aggressiveness in order to protect himself. He is the type of person who has extremely strong social skills but is not keen on socializing.

Ten years of working in society had forced him to develop this social mask that allowed him to smile at everyone, while his true self was carefully hidden beneath the mask.

However, this kind of hard work of trying to please a girl he is not familiar with usually makes him feel physically and mentally exhausted. It feels like he is not pursuing art purely, but rather like a gigolo who is trying hard to attract customers in order to keep his top position.

purity.

Greatly reduced.

"Of course we're leaving. The show's over, and there's no point in staying here," Rinrinko said. "Besides, the tables and chairs in the store aren't fully arranged yet. There are only a few places to sit. I'll have to trouble you to help set them up later."

Does this mean we passed the interview?

Shiina Riki murmured in her heart, to be honest, with the level of performance of The Old Man and the Sea, it was impossible for it to not pass, but she always wanted to receive a definite answer so that she could feel at ease.

Toyokawa Sho glanced at Lixi next to him and guessed without a doubt that Lixi was worried about the interview, so he asked on Lixi's behalf.

"Shinji-sister, how did our interview go?"

Linlinzi clasped his hands together and said happily:

"I was just about to tell you about this. Of course it was approved! I was just singing along with you guys in the audience, Toyokawa-san. You sang so beautifully! The boss even asked me to cut a separate video of you guys, Toyokawa-san, and post it online. This is the first performance video on our official RiNG account!"

Shiina Ritsuki's beautiful eyes widened, her hands clenched into fists, and she shouted "yes" loudly in her heart.

Seeing that Shiina Riki was so happy, Toyokawa Sho reached out his hand to congratulate her.

The two of them clapped their hands in the air, making a crisp sound. They looked at each other and then saw a knowing smile on each other's face.

"You two are so close—" Rinrinko was shown off and rolled her eyes. Indulging her curiosity, she lowered her voice and asked quietly, "Hey, Shiina-san, Toyokawa-san, since I'm the store manager, you don't have to hide anything from me, right?"

Wow.

The smell of a dirty adult.

Toyokawa Sho narrowed his eyes and instinctively sensed a sense of danger.

As a veteran who had come out of the harsh realities of society, he could naturally see that there was a trap hidden in Rinrinko's words, just like when he saw the opponent playing a heavy trap in Yu-Gi-Oh, and his back was drenched in cold sweat.

The best way at this time is to play dumb and wait, otherwise if you step into the trap by mistake, all your options will be gone!

"Hide what?"

However, the quick-tempered Shiina Riki is as good at routine as ever.

Her subconscious answer made Toyokawa Sho beside her stunned, and then he covered his face in silence.

"Are you guys really dating?"

Rinrinko reveals her chaotic true face and peels off the perfect veil of her big sister next door. Hidden underneath is actually a gossipy heart that can never be stopped.

"Look, you and Toyokawa-san worked so well together on stage! I heard even the boss was full of praise for your impromptu performance. Don't look at me like that; I was also trained by the boss, so I do have the most basic professional knowledge. To perform at the level of you, Shiina-san, and Toyokawa-san, you'd need at least four or five years of experience."

Rinrinko raised the corners of her mouth. She was actually just joking and didn't take it as seriously as she said.

As adults, we can't help but tease children when we see them being funny, and when we see the time is right, we make shocking and outrageous remarks.

"So, Shiina-san and Toyokawa-san have known each other for at least four or five years. This is the classic development of childhood sweethearts. Just now, when Toyokawa-san was surrounded, Shiina-san looked anxious. So, they are really dating, right? What started as a childhood acquaintance has blossomed into a sweet love?"

"Huh!? I'm not in a rush!"