Girls' Wishing Tree

She once thought that there would be many more times like that, but the cruel reality played a joke on her.

Just two weeks later, she was forced to wear the same ribbon to attend the funeral of her most important relative.

Now, the ribbon that was taken off the snack box and embroidered with words of encouragement is still tied in her hair, but her mother's departure has changed from an unbearable pain to a dark rain covering her life.

Hongxia bit her lower lip and drummed the drums mechanically. Sakura's storytelling voice could still be heard in her ears: "Leave, mother Suzhi, Zu Yuanjian, Budao..." (I will listen to my mother and watch the road I walk after leaving.)

The drumsticks suddenly slipped from her sweaty palms, and Hongxia quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. Ying pressed a trigger, and the stage fog machine sprayed a lavender mist at the perfect moment, temporarily blocking the audience's view from the stage.

In the smoke, she seemed to see her sister yelling and quitting her band a few years ago on a rainy night; she saw Starry slowly starting to operate, and she saw herself clumsily learning to play the drums...

This is the power of music.

"Hongxia, come on?" Rika's reminder suddenly came from the earphone.

Hong Xia suddenly woke up and found that the drumbeat had stopped without her knowing when, and she had burst into tears without her knowing when.

She followed the rhythm a little awkwardly, not even knowing what she was beating, but she finally understood why she joined such a rebellious band.

What I want to rebel against is a life that is not gentle enough to me.

After her mother passed away, her sister gave up on becoming a musician and ran Starry to give herself the feeling of a "starry sky". She wanted to raise the drumstick to life and play the most unyielding rhythm.

"Look ahead, to the future, walk towards the future. (Look ahead, there is the future, walk towards the future, step by step)" Ying finally finished singing the song, turned her head to look at Hongxia, and found that her eyes were a little red, so she immediately turned her gaze towards Rupa.

But Rupa was not there. She was comforting Zhi, whose tears had already fallen on the keyboard.

Sakura suddenly realized that the song might be a little too destructive for the people on the stage - Rupa and Hongxia's mother is no longer around, and Zhi is also an abandoned child.

Including herself, there are only two mothers among the six people on the stage. For a band with an average age of less than 20 years old, it can only be said that there are too many coincidences.

Sakura was still trying to figure out how to get the band to continue performing when she suddenly felt someone squeeze her shoulder.

She turned around and saw that it was Nina standing in front of the microphone. "Sakura's song is beautiful! It's really beautiful! We'll sing more next. Thank you, Sakura!"

"Nina..." Sakura asked in a low voice, "Is it okay now?"

"It's okay." Nina raised a hand. "Actually, my dad came today! He doesn't agree with me being the lead singer of the band!"

Jingqin Muneo was so surprised by this sudden interaction that he opened his mouth slightly. Then, Ninai said something that she would never say at home.

"But I will use my singing to make him agree!" Rencai shouted loudly into the microphone. Because the voice was a little too loud, the whole studio was filled with a "buzzing" sound.

Chapter 186 Harvest, Band and BangDream: 34, Potential and Recognition

The LiveHouse stage lights dimmed one after another, and the lights in the auditorium came on. Nina clutched her sweat-soaked microphone cover and stared at the motionless figure in the last row. Icera Muneo's dark gray suit stood out like a stubborn rock amid the crowd leaving.

Yes, she finally found her family when the crowd left.

Renai lowered her hand holding the microphone, and the microphone pointed at the speaker, suddenly producing a shrill howling sound. She hurriedly turned off the switch and put the microphone back on the microphone stand.

"I... will go look for them." Rencai jumped off the stage, the rings on her clothes jingling, and her performance shoes tapping in the empty auditorium.

“Hiina…” Zhi reached out his hand towards Hiina’s back, but was held down by Rupa.

"This is Rencai's own business." Hongxia, her makeup smudged from tears, also came over: "Let's go backstage first."

Sakura was crouching behind the fence on the second floor of the auditorium, just able to hear the conversation between Nina and her family.

Zong Nan could still smell a slightly pungent and restless atmosphere in the air, which was the aftertaste of the performance.

His eyes swept across the empty studio, finally stopping at the purple highlights on Renai's hair. He unbuttoned the button on his collar, his Adam's apple rolling three times before he managed to utter, "To drop out... at least a guardian's signature is required."

Nina stopped and tilted her head to the side—her "defensive stance."

This method is very effective whether it is dealing with nagging or teaching.

But today, what she waited for was neither nagging nor teaching.

But a warm big hand.

This hand, whose skin had become rough and loose due to age, helped Rencai straighten her bangs and sideburns.

"You...have grown up."

"Huh?" A hint of surprise flashed in Rencai's eyes.

Jingqin Muneo looked at Nina with a complicated expression: "Now that you have made the decision, let's go ahead with it."

Renai glanced at her sister, as if to confirm whether the familiar yet unfamiliar man in front of her was her father.

But she quickly turned her gaze back to her father's face.

It was a face carved by time. Middle-aged people don't have the same wrinkles carved by time as old people, but compared to their youth, they can still see the traces of time.

The wrinkled skin at the corners of the eyes, the stubble that appeared again after cleaning, the wrinkles around the Adam's apple...

The father in my memory is indeed changing slowly.

"I'll go to the Budokan—we will go to the Budokan! Also, I want to learn guitar!" Nina suddenly raised her voice.

Sakura didn't listen any further. She had to get to the door early to stop Renai's family and invite them to dinner.

She quietly rushed to the door of LiveHouse through the employee passage and bought a bottle of cherry blossom-flavored soda from the vending machine.

Although she was sure that this was definitely the cherry blossom flavor made with "Science and Brutality" after just one sip, when she took a few sips while waiting for someone, she found that the taste was just right.

She drank it in small sips. When she had finished one-third of the bottle, her father and sister finally came out.

Jingqin Zongnan had completely lost the calmness he had before when facing his daughter. His body became much more hunched, as if he had made a very helpless decision.

"Hello, I'm the shrine maiden of Sakura Shrine and an investor in the band Niina." Sakura extended her hand to the two of them. "Would you mind giving me a chance to treat you to a meal?"

Icera Muneo seemed a little surprised - Sakura, as a guest performer, left a deep impression on him, or rather, in his eyes, Sakura was an excellent singer.

"Do you... think highly of Rencai?" He finally managed to utter these words.

"Of course." Sakura smiled sincerely. "Rather than saying I'm optimistic about Nina, it's more that I'm impressed by her vocal condition and love for music. How about we go to an izakaya and talk while we eat?"

The izakaya's warm curtains swayed gently in the night breeze, and when Sakura lifted the curtains, she startled the copper wind chimes under the eaves.

The three of them sat down, and Ying turned on the recording function on her phone and placed it in a hidden place.

Zongnan quickly made his choice on the menu, obviously not focused on eating.

"In order to make up for the regret of not receiving systematic music education, Jina works hard every day to study vocal techniques, stage performance, musical instruments, and courses such as art history." Sakura poured the warm sake into Muneo's ceramic cup, and the wine spread out in ripples.

Ying continued, "I'm not sure if you'll believe this, but as the band's lead singer, Nina's progress has been phenomenal. She started from scratch and has made tremendous progress in just six months. You don't have to worry about Nina making a living. Even if she doesn't succeed as a lead singer, she can still support herself in the stage industry."

Zong Nan tried to keep his fingertips still, but the wine in the glass revealed its trembling.

"You should be able to find out my identity. My name is Sakura Takagi, and I'm a shrine maiden at Sakura Shrine. I'm quite famous among Tokyo high school girls." Sakura showed Muneo her social media accounts. "I have 100,000 followers, and another 250,000 on Chinese platforms."

Muneo suddenly stood up and headed for the bathroom, his suit skirt brushing against the soy sauce dish. A dark liquid spread across the wooden tabletop, gradually forming strange shapes. When he returned, Renai's sister pulled out her phone and showed it to him: "Dad, Sakura wasn't lying. I can check it here, too."

The night breeze blew cherry blossoms through the door curtains. The veins on the back of Zongnan's hand, gripping his chopsticks, were visible. He picked up a piece of sashimi and dipped it twice in the soy sauce on the table before putting it in his mouth. "I'm going back now. Tell that kid... Hokkaido lavender honey... is good for the throat."

Chapter 187 Harvest, Band and BangDream: 35, Cat's Confession

The shrine's buildings became a little blurry in the foggy weather. Sakura looked up and saw that the light in her room was on. She guessed that Lenna was inside.

She was really helpless about this "wild cat" coming to sleep in her room.

After the small building was built, she reserved a room for Lenai, but Lenai didn't like going there and preferred to stay in her own room.

Sakura, walking through the courtyard, startled the tits perched on the cherry trees. In the warm yellow light streaming through the window, the sound and shadow of Le Nai playing the guitar could be seen.

I couldn't hear the sound of guitar playing, so it must be that Lenai connected a cabinet simulation and was listening to his own performance with headphones.

Ying gathered herself together, walked up the stairs and opened the door: "I'm back."

Le Nai glanced at Ying, took off her headphones, and then lowered her head for some reason. Sakura, feeling something was wrong, walked over to Le Nai, stretched out her hand, and placed it on her head, gently touching it twice.

What Sakura didn't expect was that Lenai leaned into her arms.

Yes, Le Nai always maintained a close distance with her, but a close distance didn't necessarily mean excessive intimacy. This time, Sakura could even smell a faint scent of buckwheat—that was Le Nai's scent.

"Date me." Lenai's voice was as soft as usual, but what she said scared Sakura.

"Lena, do you know what you are saying?" Ying let go of Lenai, her body a little stiff.

After she traveled through time, she hadn't really thought about it. Her original form was a cherry blossom tree, and she'd been tricked by Minori, and transformed into a girl—yes, her body's various sensations were perfectly normal, but she couldn't really fall in love like a normal girl.

If the other person is Lenai...

As soon as this thought came to mind, Ying suppressed it, and this was not the first time she suppressed such a thought.

Le Nai had shown some affection before, but no matter how you look at it, she was still too young. Even if a girl as innocent as her asked for a relationship, it was not something you could trust so easily.

"What's wrong, Lenai? Are you kidding?" Sakura said patiently.

"If we date, you can sleep with Sakura all the time." Lenai hugged Sakura's waist, and the guitar neck made Sakura feel uncomfortable.

Sakura thought this answer was a bit subtle - in some contexts, "sleep" might mean something other than "sleep", but when Lenai said "sleep", she probably meant "sleep".

"Lena, I didn't stop you from sleeping in my room when you came to the shrine." Sakura patted Lena's back gently, thinking about how to persuade her.

"It's different. You'll be happy when you're with the person you love." Lenai grabbed the miko's sleeve.

Sakura flicked Lenai's forehead gently: "Like isn't a word you can just say casually."

"I know. We can only tell you after we go on a date." Lenai grabbed Sakura's wrist and held her hand firmly. "A date is when two people are alone together. We should be dating now, so there's no problem with you saying you like me."

"Tell me, where did you learn that?" Sakura pinched Lenai's cheeks and gently pulled her chubby little face to the sides.

"...the activity room of the handicraft department." Lenai pulled out a comic book.

Ying took a look at the cover of the book. It showed two girls hugging each other in a very aesthetic style.

This is undoubtedly an Orange book for teenage girls.

It's not difficult to understand that Hanasakigawa is an all-girls school and that there are girls who admire classmates, but it's a bit difficult to explain to Rakuna the entertainment nature of this book.

"This is a story." Sakura rolled her eyes and then said, "A story is fiction based on reality. For example, it can assume that the outcome of a major historical event was different from reality. For example, there are novels that assume that the Soviet Union did not disintegrate, but instead hit Europe with a torrent of steel, or works that assume that the Honnoji Incident failed—"

"I don't understand." Lenai tilted her head slightly: "Sakura doesn't like me?"

"It's not that I don't like Lenai, it's... Lenai hasn't grown up yet." Sakura explained in a different way: "If you want to understand things like dating, you have to graduate from high school at least-"

Le Nai narrowed her eyes. "You're lying. You can only get married after you've been dating. There are seniors in high school who dropped out because they wanted to get married, so it's impossible to date after you've graduated from high school."

Sakura was somewhat frustrated by the active thinking of Lena on this matter: "If you don't believe me, you can go back and ask Tsuzuki-senpai."

"Hmm..." Lenai recoiled slightly at the mention of her grandmother's name, "But, being with Sakura makes me really happy..."

"Wait a little longer." Ying deliberately ruffled Lenna's hair: "It's getting late today, rest first."

Lenai changed the subject somewhat unwillingly: "Okay... what about the underground stage performance? If the band's rehearsals continue to be so leisurely... I'm afraid we won't be able to catch up."

Now Deng, Lixi and Hailing are all very willing to come to rehearsal, but the rehearsal results are not particularly good. At least they still need a lot of effort to give high-quality performances on stage.

According to Sakura's booking plan, the band will perform at the Harvest Festival and the opening of the Underground Stage, which may not be very suitable if it is like this.

"During this time, I've been busy with Taoxiang's band. Of course, we haven't neglected our own band either. The songs are already written. When we add a few songs written by Deng, we'll be able to support a single show."

Lenai licked her lips, "Sakura, it's not about the song, it's about training."

"Training." Ying thought for a moment and said, "Everyone has to go to school, so we can only wait until summer vacation to strengthen our training."

"Summer vacation is almost here." Lenai raised her hand: "Training camp!"

Sakura was amused by Lenai, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she reached out her hand and touched it with hers: "Okay, training. I'll make a plan tomorrow and post it in the group."

The two chatted about the band for a while, and tacitly did not mention the past.

Feeling a little sleepy, Sakura washed up, changed into pajamas, and lay down on the bed. Lenai didn't leave either, but lay down beside Sakura. She faced Sakura, who was lying on her back, and the distance between them was less than a foot. Sakura could even feel Lenai's warm breath on her body.

Sakura patted Lenai's back gently a few times, and the stray cat's breathing began to become even and its eyes closed naturally.

But it wasn't so easy for Sakura to fall asleep - she recalled what Lenai had said to her about wanting to date, and she was in a dilemma of wanting to sleep but not being able to, so she had to start counting the leaves on the cherry tree outside the window.

She knew that it was not easy to clear the leaves on her body, so she was just trying to use this method to let the sleepiness cover her consciousness again.

Chapter 188 Harvest, Band and BangDream: 36. I also brought a school swimsuit

Summer vacation, a word that seemed a little distant to Sakura, became within reach as she came into contact with the girls.

"Sayu, I'll ask you to look after the shrine for the next few days. Zhi and Rupa will take turns to come over to look after the store every day, and Lenai and the others will go for a group training." Sakura instructed Sayu while glancing at her phone. Three people had already replied to her message.

Lenai responded the fastest, posting an emoji of a cat nodding frantically in the group chat, followed by Deng's short reply: "I'll go."

Almost immediately following Deng’s message, Lixi also expressed his desire to go to the beach.

So Sakura invited the band members to the shrine for rehearsal and discussed the possibility of a group camp at the beach.

"We'll be gone for four days. I'll book the hotel. Everyone, bring your swimsuits and musical instruments. Hailing, you'd better wear sunglasses."

Hailing turned her face away awkwardly: "Well... I might not be able to go."