Girls' Wishing Tree

The girl couldn't really say seven for a moment.

She is a transfer student who followed in the footsteps of girl bands like Poppin Party. After watching Space's closing performance, she decided to come to Tokyo from another city. She is currently living in a bathhouse owned by a relative and earning some pocket money by working part-time at LiveHouseGalaxy. Her knowledge of the bands performing at Galaxy is indeed limited.

"Um...I'm not sure...If you need me to, I can keep an eye on it for you."

"Add me your contact information." Gao Muying took out her phone: VII Zero Shrimp Service Silk VI Strike Seven "My name is Gao Muying, and I'm the support bassist."

The girl didn't refuse. She took out her phone and exchanged contact information with Sakura: "My name is Asahi Rikka, I'm a guitarist, and I haven't found a band yet."

"If you can't find a band, you can go to the Aigaoka Sakura Shrine. I heard that making wishes there is very effective." Takagi Sakura advertised for herself.

But the girl suddenly brightened up and immediately started talking: "Ms. Takagi, do you know Sakura Shrine too? The shrine maiden's guitar is amazing! She borrowed Popipa's lead singer's guitar and played two songs. I've saved them on my phone and listened to them so many times. They're amazing! I've already learned those guitar parts! I've always wanted to learn them before visiting, but... I'm a little embarrassed to go because I can't be as good as the shrine maiden."

"Ahem..." Takagi Sakura coughed twice guiltily and adjusted her sunglasses with her hand - the Stage Manifestation Card brought a master-level skill, how could anyone replicate it perfectly?

However, if this girl went to the shrine with the mentality of a "holy pilgrimage", she would probably be disappointed. Currently, I can only play a few tunes casually; I don't have that kind of strong guitar playing ability.

Or capture Goto Ichiri and let her communicate with this girl named Asahi Rika?

"Ah, I think I've said too much. You're a bassist, so you might not know how much her playing means to guitarists! She's really amazing. A producer has already posted a notice offering 5 yen to anyone who can arrange a meeting with the Guitar Miko!"

Takagi Sakura scratched her face and said, "Let's talk about supporting the bassist."

"I'll help you keep an eye out for information about the supporting bassist!"

"Well, thanks. I see this band is going to support the bassist today, so I came to take a look... SICKHACK. The salary is quite good, but he also needs to be able to sing." Takagi Sakura dialed the contact number.

"Hello? Hello, I'm the backup bassist, Sakura Takagi... Um, I can play the psychedelic rock style, and you can give singing a try. Are you guys coming over now... What? From the hospital? Oh, the lead bass singer drank and had his stomach pumped in the hospital, and he's still on saline drip, so he can't perform today?... Okay, you can give it a try first. If it's suitable, we can perform tonight... Okay, fine, I'll meet you at Galaxy."

The first call resulted in the first business, so Gao Mu did not make any more calls. Instead, he sat in a public area, took out his bass and practiced his finger flexibility for a while.

Asahi Rikka, who was working part-time, couldn't accompany her all the time, so other girls who played music came to Sakura Takagi and watched her play the bass. However, Sakura Takagi was just practicing basic skills such as finger rolling, so they only watched for a minute or two at most.

Chapter 43 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 3. Expired Matcha Candy

If we don't count her appearance at the Flower Festival, this was Sakura Takagi's first time on stage.

Not only did he have to play the bass, but he also had to be the lead singer, and there were only two hours from the time he got the sheet music to the time he went on stage.

Although the band members said that as long as they could present the general performance effect, Takagi Sakura was still a little nervous.

"Our lead bassist, Kikuri Hiroi, is unable to perform at this performance due to health reasons, so we've temporarily found a backup bassist, Ms. Takagi, to provide us with today's bass and vocals. Ms. Takagi, could you please introduce yourself?"

"Ah...um...I'm Takagi Sakura, the support bassist. Today I will cooperate with everyone in the band and try my best to bring the best listening experience to the audience." Takagi Sakura, who was a little nervous, gripped the bass neck tightly, then suddenly let go and performed a simple bass solo, and the drummer also played a few beats to her rhythm.

The only person with a dialog box in the audience was Rikka Asahi, who came as a staff member. She didn't know the rest of the people.

Takagi Sakura took a few deep breaths before starting to play and sing according to the music score.

It was a bit difficult for her to read the scores of two tracks at the same time. Fortunately, she could play several instruments and had a solid knowledge of music theory. Even if she relied on instinct, she could express what she wanted to express.

Takagi Sakura had no vocal training, but her voice was sweet, making up for her lack of technique—in short, the dryad had a voice gifted by God. Combined with her musical skills and her singing pitch, the performance was quite good.

Although SICKHACK's old fans are fond of the original lead singer Hiroi Kikuri's lazy voice and distinctive stage presence, they are still very tolerant of the temporary new lead singer.

Hiroi Kikuri is the type of person who is very relaxed on stage and interacts a lot with the audience. When she is drunk, she will take off one of her shoes while performing a solo and put her foot on the shoulder of the audience in the front row.

Sakura Takagi stood very properly in the lead singer's position, and the spotlight hardly moved. Her eyes were on the music score most of the time. She occasionally interacted with the audience, but was a little shy. Coupled with her sweet voice, her girlish charm was almost natural.

Even the musicians who cooperated with her consciously turned down the distortion a bit.

"Thank you everyone! I hope you will continue to support SICKHACK!" After singing all the scheduled songs, Sakura Takagi waved goodbye to the audience and walked backstage.

"Ms. Takagi, your bass is really impressive for a young person." As agreed, the band members handed a 10,000 yen bill to Takagi Sakura and said, "Leave me your contact information. Maybe we can work together in the future."

Sakura Takagi did not refuse. She exchanged contact information with the other party, drank a glass of water backstage, and rested for a few minutes before walking out of LiveHouseGalaxy alone with her bass on her back.

To her surprise, Rika Asahi was waiting for her at the door.

"Ms. Takagi, you're truly amazing! You're able to achieve this level even with a temporary collaboration with the orchestra!"

"Just call me Sakura. I'll call you Rikka too." Sakura adjusted the strap of her bass bag and smiled at Rikka.

"Of course... I just want to ask, does Sakura have any ideas about forming a band? If you're short of a guitarist... I can give it a try!"

"Okay, I'll contact you if we need a guitarist." Takagi Sakura didn't expect that she would have an unexpected gain - when Rikka made her request, an option box popped up next to her:

[Under your guidance, the girl embarked on the path of becoming a "band guitarist." Please select the specific direction of guidance:]

[A. The girl will abandon her dreams of becoming a band guitarist, but she will encounter a pressure cooker-type band producer.]

[B. The girl will be the guitarist of the band, but all the band members will be from other places.]

[C. The girl will be the guitarist in the band, but the band will be a mixed-gender group.]

All three options seem reasonable.

There are actually quite a lot of pressure cooker-type producers. If a band is full of laughter and there is no one to put pressure on it, it will sometimes be difficult for the band to reach professional standards; there are many outsiders who come to Tokyo to pursue their dreams, so it is normal to get together as a band; as for the third option, although some people jokingly call this world the "era of big girl bands", there are still many male musicians active, and gender-mixed bands are a very common combination.

Because all three options were too common, Takagi Sakura didn't know what to choose.

She took out three candies from her pocket and spread out her palm: "Lihua, which candy do you think is more delicious?"

"Huh?" Rikka was stunned for a moment, not expecting Takagi Sakura to jump to such a topic. However, after a brief thought, she made a choice: "Let's... this blue one."

"I'll give them all to you. I have to go back today. See you next time if there's a chance." Takagi Sakura stuffed all three candies into Rikka's hands.

Since Rikka chose the candy on the far left, Takagi Sakura chose "A".

Let's put some pressure on her, maybe Rikka can become a super awesome guitarist?

When Takagi Sakura returned to the shrine, it was already late, but the lights in the training room were still on.

The only person who has the key to the training room is Kaname Lenai.

This girl who just started junior high school stays here so late?

Sakura hurried to the training room and knocked twice on the door. "Le Na?"

There was no sound from inside.

Takagi Sakura pushed open the door and found Lena lying on the tatami, holding the old guitar in her arms, already asleep. Perhaps sensing someone opening the door, the silver-haired girl lying on the floor opened her pair of different-colored eyes.

"Sakura..." Lena sat up, put the guitar aside, and crawled to Takagi Sakura using her hands and knees. She sniffed her clothes a few times: "It's the smell of the stage."

"Well, I went to LiveHouseGalaxy today and played bass as a support musician." Takagi Sakura put down her bass bag and touched Lenai's head.

"I want to go live too." Le Nai grabbed the corner of Takagi Sakura's clothes: "Play guitar, live, I like it."

"I brought you some candy." Takagi Sakura took out a bag of matcha flavored candy from her pocket - she already knew Lenai's taste. This little guy was greedy and particularly preferred matcha flavor.

It was already late, and she had to trick Lenai back home. However, the matcha candies, which had never had any problems before, were no longer effective today.

"Live." Although Lenai's eyes were on Tangtang, he was still shouting about Live.

"I'll take you next time." Ying sighed helplessly. "Remember to check your phone. I'll let you know. Tonight, I'll take you home first, otherwise Tsuzuki-senpai will worry."

"Home, it's closed. Here, it smells like home."

Takagi Sakura tore open the package of matcha candy, stuffed one into Lena's mouth, then helped her put the guitar into the guitar case, and said in an irrefutable tone: "Now I'll take you home."

"Okay—" Lenai drawled out her response reluctantly.

Chapter 44 Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 4. I Cut Myself

A month has passed quickly since Takagi Sakura became the great tree demon.

She still stayed in the shrine most of the time, maintaining ten hours of guitar training and five hours of violin training every day. The rest of the time was spent looking for support musician jobs in several nearby LiveHouses, and reproducing some of the most impressive musical works in her previous life.

Once she found a job as a support musician that needed both a guitarist and a bassist, and even brought Kaname along to play.

Unfortunately, Yaya Lenai was not happy with her performance - this time, a wealthy girl who wanted to be a lead singer hired three support musicians, a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer, to help her realize her dream of forming a band, but her singing was really hard to describe.

"Next time, don't call me for something like this." These were Lenai's exact words.

But it is very difficult for support musicians to choose jobs, and sometimes they have to do jobs that require people to "fawn over them".

This is still a good thing. Sometimes, after the performance, people will even find fault and deduct money.

Therefore, Takagi Sakura decided to end her job as a support musician - this kind of work not only did not make her much money, but it was also really unfair to herself.

She wanted to form her own band, use the shrine as a base, and use low-cost online activities to sell albums.

With this in mind, she immediately began to prepare candidates. She herself could play guitar, violin, bass, and lead vocals, but it was obviously impossible for one person to have three pairs of hands at the same time. If she played the violin during the band performance, it would also affect the reception of the vocals.

Among the girls in bands she knew, the ones that had appeared so far... seemed to be all guitarists - Goto Ichiri, Kaname Runa, Asahi Rikka, and half-guitarist Chihaya Aine.

Well...if Blind Gil can screw in the pickguard and tune octaves he's half a guitarist.

Apart from the guitarist, there is really no girl who can play other instruments but does not have a band.

Oyama Mahiro may become a keyboard player in the future, but even God doesn't know how long this "later" will be.

It is easy to play a song on the keyboard, but to learn to the level of being able to join a band requires more talent and hard work than other instruments.

Since there are so many guitarists, why not try out an online guitar program with Lu Ying starting in 1980?

Takagi Sakura immediately sent a message to Kaname Rakuna - the person she wanted to invite was Kaname Rakuna's grandmother, Chikuto Shifune.

As the guest of the first episode, she is the perfect choice. She was a guitarist who toured the world and was one of the pioneers of the era of big girl bands. She is impeccable both in terms of personal achievements and in training the younger generation.

If the program receives good response online, we can do another episode of GuitarHero, that is, an interview with Ichiri Goto. She is a relatively recognized online guitarist of the new generation and also has a certain popularity.

Next up could be Hikawa Hina and Hanazono Tae, who could talk about the role of guitarist in a band. Once we're done with three episodes, we'll have the foundation to invite another talented guest. If we can't get one, Hikawa Hina's twin sisters are also guitarists, so we could drag Kaname out for a segment...

Takagi Sakura immediately went to a used store and, with the money she'd earned as a support musician, bought a laptop in decent condition. It wasn't a high-end computer, but it was enough for editing videos shot on her phone and connecting it to a mixer for some recording work.

She was recording the handwritten music score into her computer when someone suddenly entered the shrine.

After the forty-nine-day vigil, the shrine had reopened, and it was normal for people to come in. Takagi Sakura left the keyboard, walked out of the training room, and glanced at the courtyard.

It was Kagurazaka Ayame, the granddaughter of the old priest. Takagi Sakura was grateful to the old priest, so she sincerely wanted to do her best to help the old priest take care of his granddaughter.

"Ayame." Takagi Sakura, dressed in casual clothes, came forward to greet her. "Welcome, why didn't you contact me in advance? If I had known you were coming, I could have prepared some food for you."

"No need." Ayame stared blankly at the large cherry tree in the middle of the shrine. "I just... suddenly wanted to come to the shrine to see what it looks like without Grandpa. This cherry tree was this tall when I was very young, and it's still this tall now, and it still blooms bright flowers every year, but now..."

I don’t know where the person has gone, but the cherry blossoms still smile in the spring breeze.

The feeling of things and people having changed is the most likely to evoke the deepest sorrow in people's hearts. Gao Muying didn't know how to comfort the young female editor, so she could only stand with her in the courtyard for a while.

"I watched the Sakura Festival you hosted last time. Several authors are planning to include the role of shrine maiden in their new books. I also believe that you are an excellent shrine maiden. How do you decide to run this shrine in the future?" Ayame was the first to break the somewhat sad silence.

Takagi Sakura made no secret of her plans. "If we continue operating as before, it's probably going to be hard to get this place going. So I'm going to make some changes. I'm going to turn the small shops along the street into shrine-style shops selling girl band merchandise. They can also serve as ticket offices for festivals. Of course, since there's a ticket office, we'll have to clear out a forest and make a stand. Then, we'll turn part of the forest into a girl band theme park, build a new stage, and two soundproof training rooms. That's pretty much it."

Ayame did not immediately offer any opinion on Takagi Sakura's plan.

As an adult, she knew clearly that such a change would require a large sum of money, and it was impossible for Takagi Sakura to come up with this money quickly.

In addition, it is completely impossible for a young person to choose to run a shrine completely according to tradition.

"Then... can you promise me one thing? No matter how the shrine is rebuilt, please don't move or cut down this cherry tree. As long as this tree is there, the shrine will still be the original shrine." Ayame finally made only a small request.

What nonsense are you talking about?

I cut myself?

Takagi Sakura was a little nervous, but she still managed her expression as best she could and agreed in front of Ayame: "No problem, this cherry tree is a feature of the shrine, and there will definitely be no changes."

"That puts my mind at ease. Go ahead and do it, Sakura." Seeing that Takagi Sakura agreed straightforwardly, Ayame was obviously in a good mood. "By the way, there's an illustrator I know who created a set of illustrations of a miko playing guitar. They're very popular on Porn Station right now. The prototype should be you."

As soon as Ayame left, Takagi Sakura took out her cell phone and went to Pornhub - she also wanted to see what the illustrator would draw her like.

The picture wasn't hard to find, but after just a few seconds of looking at it, her face had already turned redder than the cherry blossom petals in spring.

Why are shrine maiden costumes translucent? If there's no guitar covering her vital parts, wouldn't that expose her?

Also, he was clearly playing the guitar, so why did he have such an expression of overflowing happiness?

However, the face of the protagonist in this set of pictures does not look like her, and the red RandomStar has been replaced with a pink fork guitar. She has no way to say that the other party directly used her image.

If I catch which little cutie drew this, I will hang the author from the treetop all night!

Takagi Sakura stamped her feet in anger, but did not confirm the other party's identity with Ayame - after all, this set of pictures was just inspired by her performance, and she was not directly drawn in a realistic way.

Chapter 45: Shrines, Festivals, and Monsters: 5. Street Photography

Tsuzuki Shifune hasn't been interviewed for a long time - it's not that no reporters are willing to interview her, an older guitarist, but that she has always refused due to health reasons.

After she got married, she reduced her band activities and instead focused part of her energy on her family. When her children were in their teens, she opened Space for female musicians, completely stopped her own band activities, and began to help the younger generations form bands.

It was under her influence and that of other pioneers of girl bands that girl bands gradually became a trend in Tokyo.

When Takagi Sakura asked her to be interviewed, Tsuzuki Shifune instinctively wanted to refuse: "I'm already old, and now that Space has closed, it's not appropriate for me to accept an interview."

Takagi Sakura rolled her eyes. "Tsuzuki Shifune-san, my interview isn't about your career as a guitarist, nor is it about LiveHouseSpace. It's about... talking about the charm of guitar with the new generation of guitarists and those who want to be guitarists."

"Talk about the charm of guitar to beginners?" Tsuzuki Shisen showed some interest.