Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

Originally, Shiina Tatsuki was somewhat hesitant about whether to join Kaname Rakuna and Kazama Akira's duet.

One was a regular customer who frequented the store but didn't know much about it; the other was a handsome woman who, upon first meeting, somehow felt familiar and was easy to get along with. Although it was unclear why these two hit it off so well, they immediately agreed to make friends through entertainment—

Even so, Li Xi had no intention of joining their playful duet, since she didn't want to waste time on such trivial matters after leaving the band.

Until Nagasaki Motoyo smiled and offered her advice.

"I'm curious too, Taki-chan. Shall we go together?"

Li Xi originally wanted to object, but the gentler and more tender the request, the harder it was to refuse. Moreover, Su Shi's expression was gentle yet undeniable as she spoke.

Okay, I might as well give in to her this once. Besides, it's been a long time since I've performed on stage with anyone, even just to practice and get back into the swing of things.

And so, she and Su Shi arrived at Ring's recording studio, just in time for Xiao and Le Nai's first collaboration.

It's a bit ironic, really. The last time Nagasaki Motoyo and I headed to the recording studio together, we were both excited about the same goal and our vision for the future. Now, we're on our way to the recording studio again, walking side by side but keeping our distance and trying to talk to each other as little as possible.

Forget it, there probably won't be a next time.

Upon entering the recording studio, Suze smiled and waved to Banami, then sat down with her in the audience. Riki, on the other hand, pushed open the door and approached the boy and girl, checking that the drum kit was functioning properly.

Do these two guys even know how to make music...?

Watching Lena fiddling with the guitar in a daze, and Kazama pacing back and forth next to the drum set, keyboard, and bass, looking somewhat worried, Riki sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Does the stray cat want to play the guitar? I understand... What about you, Kazama?"

Although the boy called her Lixi affectionately, she didn't feel uncomfortable about it. However, out of basic politeness and to maintain appropriate distance with the opposite sex, Lixi decided to call him by his surname.

Do you have a musical instrument you know how to play?

Seeing him lingering around the instruments, unable to make a decision, Shiina Ritsuki subconsciously assumed that he was just a novice who was still learning an instrument that suited him, or a trendy person who wanted to show off and become popular and only wanted to play an instrument for a short time. He was already mentally prepared that this ensemble performance would not be too serious.

"It's okay if you don't know any of these. Everyone starts learning from scratch. It's never too late to choose something you're interested in and start practicing now."

She tried her best to make her tone sound less harsh, sarcastic, or even merciless. Of course, if Kazama were just a frivolous guy who wanted to learn a musical instrument to show off and pick up girls, she certainly wouldn't be so easy to talk to.

"Ah...no, no, no."

The boy pinched his nose, and after a few seconds he seemed to realize that Kazama, which Riki had just blurted out, was his own name.

He stopped pacing among the instruments and paused in the middle of them, finally giving Lixi a smile that was as gentle as a spring breeze.

"I just don't know which instrument to play."

"……what?"

His answer was quite different from what Shiina Tatsuki had expected.

"It might sound like I'm just bragging, but I'm actually quite good at the drums and guitar. It's just that one of those instruments has already been reserved by Lena, and the other is probably reserved for you, Lixi. But I can take the remaining spots... so how should I choose?"

The young man's smile remained calm and composed, and Shiina Tatsuki keenly sensed a hint of arrogance in his words.

"...So it turns out we took the position you're best at after all."

She raised an eyebrow, crossed her arms in front of her, and scrutinized Xiao, whose expression remained calm, with a sharp gaze.

"Judging from this, Kazama, you must be quite capable."

"I don't dare to take it seriously."

Kazama quickly shook his head. He genuinely felt that he couldn't be compared to Riki and Rakuna, after all, those two had passed on all their knowledge to his mentors—

However, using the guitar skills learned from the fully-fledged Shiina Ritsuki to challenge the younger Shiina Ritsuki should be quite easy.

No, no, although it would be very interesting, it would be too disrespectful to teachers and elders.

"Oh? So what position do you think you're good at?"

Li Xi, who had originally just intended to kill some time, became a little excited upon hearing this. She wanted to see if this arrogant guy actually had the strength to match his boast.

"Anything will do."

Faced with Li Xi's questioning, Xiao simply smiled, shrugged, and spread her hands, displaying a calm demeanor that made Banai, who was sitting to the side, unable to help but chuckle.

This kid has finally stopped pretending to be weak and started putting on an act, hasn't he?

"Oh my...it looks like they really will be performing together. I can't wait!"

It was at this moment that Nagasaki Motoyo, who was sitting a seat or two away from Hanami Anna, smiled and made a lighthearted joke.

Anzu Hanami finally snapped out of her daze and looked at the girl who had been sitting next to her at some point. Nagasaki Motoyo, dressed in the Tsuki no Mori Girls' Academy uniform, was elegant and poised. Her long, smooth brown hair made her look like a brown ragdoll cat, delicate and serene.

"this…"

Nagasaki Motoyo's gaze shifted to Hanami, who seemed hesitant to speak, perhaps unsure how to address her.

"Anna Hanami, just call me Hanami! Nagasaki-san... right?"

"Yes, just call me that. Banami... It's a very nice surname."

"Hehe, Nagasaki-kun's name is also like that."

The two social butterflies didn't waste much time greeting each other; they exchanged pleasantries using this unspoken social interaction.

“Speaking of which,” Su Shi said with a slight smile, shifting her gaze, “is Banami-kun also interested in music?”

"Haha, I'm still interested in being an audience member," Yana smiled shyly, her gaze drifting to the calm and gentle-looking boy. "I mainly came to keep that guy company, that's all. And I think he probably just wanted to play some music, right?"

"Is this so?"

Nagasaki Motoyo's smile remained unchanged. After a brief greeting, she turned her gaze back to the three people.

When Banai saw Anja blink, she sensed from the beginning that beneath the seemingly gentle tone of this ragdoll-like girl lay a probing and scrutinizing intent—in this light, her answer must have passed Sose's scrutiny.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Giving Aunt a Cappuccino

Strictly speaking, Anzu Hanami isn't exactly a popular figure at school, nor is she the kind of darling who's second only to the top in a social circle. However, she can still be considered someone who has made good friends and is doing quite well in her class.

Dealing with people who are "real" is actually very simple. As long as you provide them with the emotional value they want, they will reciprocate with the same emotional value. Everyone gets what they need and together they maintain a seemingly harmonious social atmosphere.

Although this might seem a bit hypocritical and polite, Banami didn't care. After all, the young people in the ivory tower were just clumsily imitating the social system of real society. If she couldn't even adapt to this, she would have a lot of trouble when she entered society.

It was precisely because of this that Banami sensed a similar scent from Nagasaki Motoyo, the young lady of Tsukimori Girls' Academy, who was standing next to her.

With her gentle smile, proper manners, and impeccable politeness, she seemed to be a natural in social situations.

I have a feeling that what she just said was a manifestation of possessiveness.

Banami blinked, naturally sensing the unspoken meaning in the other party's words, and pondered Nagasaki Motoyo's intentions in her heart.

After all, this guy came here even though he wasn't going to perform on stage. He was just now using gentle greetings to speculate about her and Kazama's attitude, seemingly a little bothered that they were trying to poach her former teammate...

It's obvious he's got some ulterior motive in mind.

When they met, Bana stuffed the snacks she brought into her mouth without batting an eye, which was tantamount to silencing herself.

In any case, none of this really concerns her; she should just wait and see. What she really needs to worry about now is…

She chewed on her snacks like a hamster, then turned her eyes to look at Kazama, who was staring at Shiina Ritsuki.

The question is whether this guy can live up to his boastful promise.

"I'm fine standing anywhere, Lixi. Didn't I say before? Aside from being a little bad at keyboards, everything else is fine."

"Hmph... Is that so? It seems I underestimated you."

Once Shiina Tatsuki's competitive spirit is successfully ignited, it's not so easy to extinguish.

She glanced at the lonely bass and keyboard placed to the side, and tilted her head slightly to indicate to Xiao.

"Pick the spot you most want to stand in."

That's what they say, but in reality, all he had left to choose from was the bass.

However, Kazama unexpectedly took a step forward and stood in front of the keyboard.

"...Aren't you bad at using keyboards?"

Li Xi frowned slightly, while Le Nai, who was standing to the side, held her guitar and stared intently.

"Compared to the other positions, I'm definitely not as good at keyboards. But just now, Lixi was asking me where I'd most like to stand, right?"

After placing his hands on the piano keys, the boy looked up and gave them a frank smile.

"This is the instrument I'm weakest in all my learning so far. It's perfect that Li Xi and Le Nai are here too. It would be even better if I could get some pointers from you, wouldn't it?"

"Humph……"

Eloquent.

Li Xi snorted irritably, but her expression had softened considerably compared to her previous extremely oppressive demeanor.

"Kazama, your attitude towards learning is much better than I expected."

"Of course, I have always been a very humble and eager-to-learn student."

"Let me make this clear from the start: if you play anything wrong, I will point it out without hesitation."

"learn!"

Lixi sat in front of the drum set, her smile still somewhat melancholy. She knew that sometimes her words were too blunt and could hurt people slightly.

But this guy seemed completely unconcerned, as if he already knew her temperament and was very tolerant and easygoing.

Is this guy up to something, or is he just an ordinary, kind-hearted person?

Shiina Tatsuki was slightly bothered by why this was.

"Then you can import it, keyboardist."

But she quickly put those thoughts aside, straightened up, and picked up the drumsticks that were on the drumhead.

Anyway, let's test this guy's abilities first.

"I've already put the sheet music in front of you, and the same one at Wildcat's. This piece isn't too difficult, so you two should be fine with it, right?"

Shiina Tatsuki is always like this; although he says harsh things, he always puts others first in his actions.

"Oh, I'm fine!"

After Xiao briefly tested the keyboard's sound, she gave her a thumbs up.

"No problem, I won't look."

Lena nodded, picked up her guitar, and got ready to go... Wait, something's not right.

"Hey stray cat, if you're going to play with someone, you should at least look at some sheet music."

Lixi sensed something was wrong, but Xiao, standing to the side, didn't take this behavior, which could potentially drag the team down, seriously at all.

"It's fine, let her do whatever she wants."

Putting aside her eccentric social behavior, Aunt Lena is impeccable in music – even without sheet music, she can keep up with the team's rhythm with her creative solos, and might even deliver an extraordinary performance with a sudden inspiration.

"Kazama, are you so sure?"

Lixi was still a little worried, after all, her confidence and strength were built up through persistent hard work and study.

"Yes, that's called trust!"

"trust."

Following Xiao's unhesitating remark, Lena, who was holding a guitar, nodded in agreement.

Lixi looked left and right, and finally could only sigh helplessly, swallowing back the words "Just spoil her."

A strange, independent stray cat and a cat lover; thankfully, she didn't form a band with these two troublesome individuals.

"Alright, then Kazama, you can import it. Let's begin."

"Is it about to begin... Kazama!"

Just as the boy was about to concentrate on starting his performance, the shouts from the audience brought him back to his senses.

It was Hanami holding a bag of snacks in her hand.

"Keep it up! I really believe in you!"

She hadn't even had time to wipe the crumbs from the corners of her mouth when she raised her hands in a gesture of cheering for him anytime, anywhere, her expression serious and earnest, not like she was joking.

She only came to join in the fun on a whim, I don't know why she took it so seriously.

Kazama was a little amused and exasperated, but he still nodded to her.