They are really too low!

At that very moment, Toyokawa Shoko smelled a faint, almost imperceptible odor, somewhat fishy and foul, yet also carrying a girl's delicate fragrance.

The first thing that came to mind for Toyokawa Shoko was the smell of squid; he no longer smelled of clean laundry detergent.

That's strange. What was he doing just now? Didn't we agree to fix the computer?

Toyokawa Shoko felt strange, but she didn't seem to dislike the squid smell. On the contrary, she found it somewhat delicious, and her body began to stir.

"Toyokawa-kun?" Hoshino asked tentatively.

"Ah, I was thinking about how to handle the final melody and accompaniment." Toyokawa Shoko snapped out of her reverie, looking embarrassed. She had actually gotten lost in thought because of the smell of a boy. "Sorry, I got a little engrossed."

The excuse was crude, but for some reason, Hoshino didn't press the matter further.

“This can still be improved.” Toyokawa Shoko sorted out her thoughts, her slender white index finger landing on a piece of accompaniment. “If we add piano music here, the melody will be even more beautiful…”

The girl who was now in the zone was actually a good teacher. She was very familiar with various musical instruments and had more practical experience than Hoshino Mi.

Hoshino listened attentively beside her, occasionally asking the girl questions until she understood before moving on to the next one.

Perhaps feeling that mere theory wasn't enough, Hoshino took out his guitar and, together with Toyokawa Shoko, improvised a revised melody to see how it went.

If the effect is good, then it can be kept; if not, it will continue to be improved until both Hoshino and Toyokawa are satisfied.

Compared to chatting online, one-on-one offline learning is undoubtedly more convenient for Hoshino to master the skill of "Music Theory LV2".

Not long after, Kasugano Sora reappeared at the door of the room, this time claiming that she didn't know where she had put her things and asked Hoshino Mi to help her find them.

As Hoshino left once again, Toyokawa Shoko felt even more puzzled. She seemed to hear a sound coming from outside the door, which sounded like splashing water.

A short while later, when Hoshino returned, she smelled an even stronger scent.

Moreover, Toyokawa Shoko could see Kasugano Sora standing behind her, licking her lips like a kitten, with a trace of milk remaining at the corner of her mouth, giving off a strangely smug feeling.

After finishing this task, Kasugano Sora gave Toyokawa Shoko a provocative look before turning and leaving.

Chapter Ninety-Three: A quarrel between friends?

Back in the room, Hoshino tried hard to hide her expression.

Fortunately, Toyokawa Shoko didn't seem to smell his scent; she just looked at him with slight curiosity, probably wondering why he had taken so long.

"Where were we?" Hoshino saw that she wasn't sitting next to her, but rather sitting awkwardly in a chair.

"Speaking of instrumentation, have you tried electronic software?" Toyokawa Shoko noticed this small detail, but didn't show any unusual reaction. The faint scent lingered in the room, making the girl feel a little uncomfortable.

"I've used it a few times, but I haven't gotten it working properly yet." Hoshino was a little embarrassed. Actually, the entire score was a draft, which he had just written out this week. He then quickly brought it over to Toyokawa Shoko for a look.

Toyokawa Shoko could guess what he meant, so she said, "Can we turn on the computer? If we have the software, we can test it now and see how the finished product turns out."

Hoshino thought this would work too. Those professional music production software programs were a bit complicated, and it would be a good opportunity to ask Toyokawa Shoko for advice.

However, he just didn't expect Toyokawa Shoko to be so efficient; they had just finished discussing it and now they wanted to test the software.

When Toyokawa Shoko saw him turn on his computer, she knew it wouldn't be appropriate for him to continue sitting on the bed, so she got up and walked over to him. The closer she got, the stronger the smell became.

Strangely enough, Toyokawa Shoko sniffed slightly and discovered that the smell was coming from below Hoshino Mi's clothes, which were still clean above.

Toyokawa Shoko glanced at it, looking puzzled. There was nothing strange about it, so why did it smell like this?

If she were a girl with a vivid imagination, she would probably have already realized what was happening by now, blushing as she looked at Hoshino Mi.

Unfortunately, Toyokawa Shoko was an innocent young lady who was not only inexperienced but also unable to make the connection to such a strange scene.

Because it would be very impolite to point out that the other person smelled bad, Toyokawa Shoko had no choice but to pretend she didn't know. Besides, she didn't dislike the strange smell, but her body inexplicably felt hot.

As Toyokawa Shoko approached, Hoshino paused. Perhaps it was psychological, but he felt the scent was getting stronger and stronger, especially since it clashed with the pleasant scent of a girl.

As Hoshino opened the music production software interface, Toyokawa Shoko stared at it intently for a while.

"Change the instrumentation, modify the melody and harmony as I just mentioned, and let the piano come in at the beginning, with the bass here."

Shoko Toyokawa pointed and gestured from the side, and after Hoshino made some changes, he simply let go of her hands.

"Why don't you do it?"

Toyokawa Shoko was more familiar with the process than he was. Rather than wasting time clumsily trying to do it himself, he decided to just ask a substitute to help him.

Hoshino wisely gave up his seat to Toyokawa Shoko and stood aside like a good student.

Toyokawa Shoko didn't stand on ceremony and actually sat down. She didn't know how to fix computers, but she knew how to operate them.

What might have been a clunky interface for Hoshino Mi was handled with remarkable fluidity and responsiveness by Toyokawa Shoko, who was extremely skilled at it.

Before long, she had completely altered Hoshino Mi's musical score.

However, the moment the melody appeared, Hoshino Mi had to admit that the revised version of the song was indeed better.

“That should be about right. Next, we just need to fine-tune it,” Toyokawa Shoko said. “You can learn how to use a mixer; it produces pretty good results.”

"I was suddenly discouraged by you. I was quite confident, thinking that at most you would point out a few mistakes, but I didn't expect that the whole song would have to be changed, and it would sound even better than before." Hoshino sighed.

Toyokawa Shoko felt a little embarrassed. In her eyes, these were just trivial things she did on a whim, not worth mentioning.

"It's because you're not familiar with the basic musical forms yet. With more experience, you'll be just like me. Don't be discouraged," was the only encouragement Toyokawa Shoko could offer.

Hoshino smiled, accepting her encouragement, and then asked, "Did you often write songs before?"

"Although I had studied piano, most of the time I was just performing, and sometimes I would improvise a piece like Xiao Mu, but it wasn't really songwriting, until later..."

At this point, Toyokawa Shoko paused.

"Did you see your seniors' bands perform, which is why you thought about forming your own band and writing a song with emotion?" Hoshino asked.

“Well, but I didn’t write the song.” Toyokawa Shoko said somewhat dejectedly, “I saw the lyrics to the song by the lantern, and that’s when I thought I had to write a decent piece of music for her.”

Although she was the one who formed the band at the time, it was Gao Songdeng who was able to sing with that emotion, and it was Gao Songdeng's lyrics that deeply moved her.

It was through the presence of Takamatsu Akira that Toyokawa Shoko felt for the first time so intensely the emotions residing in the lyrics—a cry unique to humankind.

Sadly, she probably won't hear that sound again.

Suddenly, a very familiar melody appeared.

Toyokawa Shoko was taken aback at first, then suddenly turned her head and looked at Hoshino Mi, who was playing the guitar. Her pupils trembled slightly, and her face was full of shock.

She knew it too well; there was no mistake in this melody!

Hoshino Mi is actually playing "Kasuga Kage"!

For a moment, Toyokawa Shoko was almost completely stunned. She had thought that she might meet them again, but definitely not in this kind of situation, and not to hear this song again.

I never expected that it was Hoshino Mi who played the melody of this song; it shouldn't have been him.

"How do you know this song!" Toyokawa Shoko couldn't help but ask. She had never mentioned this song before, so how did Hoshino Mi know it?

“I ran into your teammate.” Hoshino paused for a moment. “The place that Mutsu took me to seems to be the place where you used to practice. Shiina works as a waitress there, and Nagasaki probably came over to say hello, so we ran into each other.”

Toyokawa Shoko's pupils were shocked. He hadn't seen them for only a week, yet he was able to run into Nagasaki Motoyo and Shiina Tatsuki!

It's one thing to run into him, but he even knows about "Spring Shadows." Did Wakaba Mutsumi and Nagasaki Motoyo tell him about it on their own initiative?

Moreover, it was actually in that place that Wakaba Mutsu betrayed her?

Toyokawa Shoko immediately dismissed this conjecture, as Wakaba Mutsumi, her childhood friend, would never betray her.

"Did Nagasaki tell you about 'Kasuga no Kage'?" Toyokawa Shoko's voice was cold.

"Are you so cold to her?" Hoshino had imagined Toyokawa Shoko's reaction, but seeing her like this still made him feel a little strange.

"I'm a stranger to them now, so there's no need to care about how they address me." Toyokawa Shoko pursed her lips, her voice cold, though it sounded somewhat awkward. "Did you talk to her about anything?"

"We didn't really talk much. She seemed to think of me as a friend of Xiao Mu, and then she showed me some videos of you practicing before." Hoshino thought for a moment, "It was the first time I heard your music, and it was quite nice."

Toyokawa Shoko's expression softened a bit. Hoshino was relieved to see that he had no connection with them; it seemed like it was just a chance encounter.

"Don't talk to them too much."

"why?"

"..."

Is it because of you?

“Nagasaki is a very troublesome person. If she finds out that you have a relationship with me, she will keep interrogating you.”

"So, you don't want her to know your current situation?"

Toyokawa Shoko remained silent; in a sense, this reluctance to answer was also a form of response.

"There's no need to make it sound like we're about to break off all contact, is there?" Hoshino sighed softly. "It's not like we're going to die. We were in a band together not long ago, so we can still be considered friends, right?"

“Crychic is over.” Toyokawa Shoko lowered her eyes. “I have nothing to do with them now. I can’t give them what they want.”

Hoshino found it somewhat amusing, and then said, "I was asking if you guys are friends, not if you still want to form a band."

Toyokawa Shoko was slightly taken aback. Were they friends?

“I know what you’re worried about. You don’t want them to know your true situation because you’ll feel ashamed.”

Seeing that Hoshino had pointed out her feelings so bluntly for the first time, Toyokawa Shoko blushed and became somewhat annoyed.

"Please don't make assumptions about my thoughts. The reason we became friends is because of Crychic, it's the band itself that brought us all together!"

Toyokawa Shoko's logic is simple: initially, everyone came for the band, and now that the band is gone, the relationship will naturally end.

The band needed a bassist, which is why Nagasaki Motoyo was chosen. Next was drummer Shiina Tatsuki, and finally vocalist Takamatsu Akari.

Before forming the band, these girls had never even met. Even after they got together, they probably didn't spend more than half a semester together.

Ultimately, without Crychic, they would never have met.

"The five of us are all students from different schools. Besides Crychic, what reason do you think would bring us together?" Toyokawa Shoko said coldly. "Like young ladies, having a leisurely afternoon tea somewhere, slowly chatting about school topics?"

“I didn’t say that,” Hoshino said.

"That's what you mean. You just thought I was a spoiled rich girl who throws tantrums and doesn't care about others at all." Toyokawa Shoko turned her pretty face away. "I have to work. I have to do part-time jobs. Even if they can accept it, so what? I don't have time to have afternoon tea with them."

On that rainy day, she had already realized that there was an insurmountable line between her and them.

She's here, they're over there—that's the gap between reality and ideals.

Toyokawa Shoko's reality is that she has to work, take care of her father at home, and help him get back on his feet. She no longer has the time and energy to maintain the band's existence.

Once the band ends, their relationship will essentially end as well.

After Shoko Toyokawa left, Mutsuko Wakaba also left the band. Next was Akari Takamatsu, whose departure would lead to Tatsuki Shiina leaving as well, leaving only Motoyo Nagasaki in the end.

Like dominoes, once one falls, the rest follow.

"Did Nagasaki-san say something to you? Does she want me to go back?" Toyokawa Shoko said quietly. "It's impossible, I can't go back anymore."

“She wants to meet you,” Hoshino finally said.

"You've only known each other for a short time, why are you already rushing to pass on her message?" Toyokawa Shoko's voice suddenly turned cold, trying to hide her inner pain. She had known him for so long, why wasn't he on her side?

“Not entirely, I’m worried about you.” Hoshino looked into her eyes. “You cut ties with them too cleanly and then kept all the pressure inside. Do you really think that’s the best decision?”

"What do you want to say?" Toyokawa Shoko hated his lecturing attitude.

“I told you last time that you could consider the job of a piano tutor. With Mana’s help, even if you can’t get the tutoring job, she can recommend you for a better one.”

“I’m a high school student, and I can only work part-time for such a short time each week. No one would be willing to hire a high school student.”

"With such short working hours, you should definitely give it a try. Do you really want to work as a convenience store clerk?"

"why not?"

At this point, Toyokawa Shoko almost immediately retorted, and at the same time she noticed a strange meaning in Hoshino Mi's eyes.

"Just as I suspected, you're giving up on yourself," Hoshino said coldly. "You think you're shouldering everything alone and silently giving your all, but you're just escaping reality."

"I'm running away from reality? Why would I be running away from reality?" Toyokawa Shoko found it ridiculous. She had always tried to live her life to the fullest, even giving up her band, and Hoshino Mi was saying that she was running away from reality!

“Because you haven’t made any plans, you don’t know what to do,” Hoshino said calmly. “You feel you don’t have enough time, so you plan to quit the band; you feel you don’t have enough tuition, so you plan to transfer schools; you feel you don’t have enough living expenses, so you plan to find a job…”

"These decisions are simply a matter of inputting a value and getting a result, as simple as drinking water or eating. They are just your instinctive reactions. I don't think you have thought about them."

"You don't know what to do after leaving the band, so you have to cut ties with them. Even if you want to find a job, you have to refuse others. What kind of job do you want to find?"

"What are your plans for the future? Do you want to go to university? If not, what kind of job should you look for? Do you plan to make good use of your personal abilities? What do you plan to do in the next three years? Have you thought it through?"

Faced with Hoshino's barrage of questions, Toyokawa Shoko's expression grew increasingly grim.

"It's none of your business!" Toyokawa Shoko gritted her teeth. "What do you know? You can't possibly understand how I feel right now!"

“I don’t understand. If you think reality is just about finding a part-time job after school and cooking for yourself at home, then I can only say you’re underestimating the difficulty of reality.”