Tokyo Three Generations

His workstation was piled high with documents as always, but he had no interest in looking at them now. He picked up a cigarette case, skillfully took out a cigarette, lit it with a lighter, took a deep drag, exhaled, and finally closed his eyes in bliss.

He suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for the gentle words of the hostess named Ningning.

Even though it was just a fling, at least I did gain some emotional value.

He decided to go sit for a while after get off work today, not for the investigation, but just to relax...

140, fled in panic

It's another new day of learning.

Wearing her brand-new Haneoka Academy uniform, Chihaya Aine stepped into the school she had just transferred to, her steps full of youthful energy.

At first, Chihaya Aine, as a rare "transfer student," caused a minor commotion in the class when she entered the new class, as she was a little overwhelmed by the enthusiastic questions from her classmates.

However, after this period of adjustment, the students have gotten used to her presence and no longer crowd around her to ask her all sorts of questions.

Thus, her new campus life began with trepidation, but gradually calmed down amidst the calm.

For Chihaya Aine, this was a good thing. After all, her past experiences had left her with too many shadows. She no longer aspired to become a school idol; she just wanted to make new friends in this new environment, find a decent place in her small circle, and then spend her high school years peacefully.

Of course, in addition to this "small goal", she has recently added a new life goal.

That is—to form a band!

To this day, she still vividly remembers every moment and detail of her meeting with Miss Toyokawa.

Beneath the young lady's polite and humble exterior lay a deep-seated arrogance that she could never forget.

Because she couldn't stand the other party's condescending attitude, she knowingly did the wrong thing and chose to "rebel," causing the situation to get out of control and eventually inexplicably turn into a band competition between the two sides.

She immediately regretted it, but what's done is done. Since she had already made that boast, it was impossible to take it back.

The situation was extremely dire, even hopeless. Her musical skills were not high, and she had lost her network of classmates from junior high school, so she had to start building a band from scratch.

Despite her despair, since things had come to this point, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and face the challenge head-on.

Even if she loses, she wants to give it her all and lose fair and square. It would be too pathetic to walk into the young lady's room empty-handed without even being able to form a band. She would rather die than end up like that.

So recently, while attending classes, she has also been looking around the classroom and campus, hoping to find suitable bandmates.

Fortunately, Haneoka Academy has a very strong musical atmosphere, and there are quite a few students in the school who are engaged in vocal music, so Aine saw a glimmer of hope.

During this break between classes, Chihaya Aine spotted one of her "candidates" in the hallway.

This person was her classmate. She had a very low profile, spoke very little, and always kept to herself. Her classmates rarely paid attention to her.

At this moment, the student looked up, seemingly oblivious to everyone else, watching the chicks in the nest at the end of the corridor, completely absorbed and unaware of the outside world.

That's why she felt that if she invited the other person, they would be happy to accept.

As for her musical ability, that can only be judged by the instrument—besides, even if it's bad, it can't be much worse than mine.

Let's solve the problem of whether we have it or not first, and then we can address the issue of skill level.

With that thought in mind, Chihaya Aine took the initiative to go up to the other person and greeted them.

"Um, wait a minute!"

The female student, who had been looking down, slowly raised her head, her eyes full of confusion, as if she was not used to being disturbed.

Faced with the questioning look in the other person's eyes, Chihaya Aine suddenly felt a little worried, fearing that the other person was a difficult person to deal with.

However, she suppressed her worries and tried her best to show a friendly smile.

"You must be Takamatsu Akari! My name is Chihaya Aine, and I just transferred here. It's nice to meet you!"

"Hmm..." Takamatsu Akari nodded slightly, but there was still doubt in her eyes. "Excuse me...?"

Seeing how sparing she was with words, Aine felt even more disheartened.

However, since the topic had already been started, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and persevere.

"Speaking of which, do you like music? I'm planning to form a band and am looking for bandmates. Would you like to join me?"

Faced with her enthusiasm and smile, the doubt in Gao Songdeng's eyes gradually disappeared.

"Want to form a band with me?" she repeated.

"Hmm! What do you think? It's a great idea, isn't it?" Ai Yin perked up again when she saw a chance, and kept promoting herself, "Once we form a band, we can all play together, it'll definitely be a lot of fun, right?"

After she finished speaking, she tilted her head slightly, looked at the other person with a bright smile, and waited for a reply.

Having once been the student council president, she possesses a smile that's practically a "killer move." It's safe to say that during her junior high school years, whenever she made a request like this, her classmates almost never refused (although she wouldn't make any unreasonable requests).

However, that was all in the past.

Chihaya Aine didn't notice that there wasn't much surprise or excitement in the other person's eyes, but rather more hesitation and regret.

“Thank you…” Gao Songdeng replied softly, “But, but… I already have a band.”

It withered.

Chihaya Aine's bright smile vanished instantly.

She usually seemed to be a loner and didn't interact much with her classmates, so how did she suddenly have her own band? It wasn't that she suspected the other person was lying, but she was very disappointed.

Seeing her disappointed look, Gao Songdeng felt embarrassed instead.

She also had a good impression of the sunny girl who took the initiative to greet her.

“If you’d like to join our band, I… I can ask around for you, Chihaya.” She struggled to overcome her shyness and managed to say those words.

Although the band already has five members, which seems like a full complement, having one or two extra substitutes shouldn't be a problem. At least their own teammates probably wouldn't care too much.

In her understanding, her band was no different from a "group of friends." Since it was a group of friends, there was naturally no need for so many restrictions.

Huh? I was supposed to be the one recruiting people, how did it suddenly become someone else recruiting me?

Ai Yin was surprised at first, but soon her thoughts changed.

Yeah! Why do you have to recruit everyone from scratch? You could join someone else's band and then compete with the young lady.

Once she thought of this, her mind suddenly clicked.

Judging from Gao Song's behavior, her band is probably not a very popular group. With her social skills, she might be able to take over the band after joining, which would be a roundabout way to build a team.

Whether it works or not, at least we can ask.

So she cautiously asked the other person.

"So what's the name of your band? Who's the band leader? I'll think about it..."

“Our name is Crychic, and our captain’s name is Toyokawa Shoko,” Takamatsu Akari immediately replied in a low voice.

Chihaya Aine didn't quite understand what it felt like to have everything go black in an instant before, but now she truly experienced it.

The smile on her face froze instantly, and even the corners of her mouth twitched slightly.

Is the world really that small? How could it be such a coincidence? Is someone playing a joke on me?

However, she quickly recalled that Miss Toyokawa did mention to her that she knew someone at Haneoka Academy.

Now it seems that person was indeed my classmate.

...It's truly unbearable.

He ended up recruiting her subordinates instead of his own.

If the young lady knew about this, she'd probably laugh until she cried...

"Chihaya-san? What's wrong?"

Seeing Chihaya Aine's face suddenly freeze, Takamatsu Akari became a little worried and quickly asked her what was wrong.

"It's nothing..." Aine's face was pale, but she still maintained basic politeness. "Never mind, Takamatsu-kun, I... I've decided to form my own band. Thank you for your kind offer!"

After she finished speaking, she subconsciously took two steps back.

However, "misfortunes never come singly," and just as she was feeling agitated, she tripped over a garbage bag and fell to the ground. Because she was only wearing a short skirt and short socks, a lot of skin on her thighs and knees was exposed, and her knees were scraped.

Although it wasn't serious, fine traces of blood were clearly visible seeping out.

Takamatsu covered his mouth and gasped, clearly startled.

However, she quickly realized what was happening, rushed back to her locker, and then ran back quickly.

Still not quite in a daze, Chihaya Aine stared blankly at the other person and... the band-aid she was holding.

She instinctively took the bandages and then discovered that they were mostly covered in penguin designs.

"You like penguins that much?"

“Yes, I think…they’re cute,” Takamatsu Akari replied.

At this moment, Chihaya Aine had already remembered the fact that the other party belonged to the "enemy camp".

However, faced with the kindness emanating from this person and the band-aid in his hand, she simply couldn't muster much hostility.

Moreover, he had shown such a pathetic side in front of her and Miss Toyokawa's best friend.

In an instant, she felt overwhelmed with shame.

Thank you! Goodbye then.

Overwhelmed with shame, she stopped feeling pain in her knee, grabbed the bandage, and practically fled.

Gao Songdeng stared wide-eyed at her departing figure, still unable to understand what had happened.

=============================

In the afternoon, Gao Songdeng finished his lessons for the day and left the school.

However, instead of going straight home, she went to Tsukimori Academy, which was not far from her own school.

Today is another day for their Crychic practice.

She has visited Tsukimori Academy many times recently. At first, she was amazed by how beautiful the school buildings were and how advanced the facilities were, but after visiting several times, she got used to it.

She actually really liked her three teammates from Moon Forest.

Xiangzi, of course, was the "guide" who brought her into the band and allowed her to experience unprecedented joy, for which she was sincerely grateful; as for Nagasaki Motoyo and Wakaba Mutsumi, they were both outstanding individuals, and being with them always gave her the feeling that "it would be so great to be their friend."

As usual, Nagasaki Motoyo arranged today's practice session.

Since the band was formed, the leader, Toyokawa Shoko, seems to have entrusted these daily chores to Suze, who takes them very seriously and handles them in an orderly manner, just like a head housekeeper.

It's impossible not to feel some pressure and inferiority when you're with such outstanding teammates. Gao Songdeng always felt that his skills were not good enough and that he was not worthy of his teammates' abilities.

But this gave her tremendous motivation, and she began to study songwriting and singing diligently, even more so than when she was in school.

Today, outside the Moon Forest Gate, she saw Nagasaki Motoyo again. Her face was beautiful and gentle, and just looking at her made her feel at ease.

Meanwhile, another teammate from another school, Shiina Tatsuki, had also arrived on time.

"Su Shi, Li hope, good afternoon~" She immediately greeted the two of them.

"Good afternoon, Deng." Su Shi greeted her with a smile. "Come inside with me."

Tsukimori Academy is a gathering place for young ladies, so it's not a place for just anyone to enter. Shoko used her special privileges to allow the two students from other schools to come and go with Suze's accompaniment.

However, now that things have come to this point, aren't people curious about who Xiangzi really is and why he has this kind of power?

Su Shi also found them a bit unbelievable.

Should we say they're naive, or just carefree...?

However, since she hadn't been explicitly told off, there was naturally no need for her to say anything.

Actually, it's fine if we don't know. We can all be friends and teammates and enjoy the joy of being in a band together.

With this in mind, she leisurely led the two of them into the school gate and then walked deeper into the campus.

However, unlike before, this time Takamatsu Akari had something on her mind.

What happened today was really strange.

"Su Shi... there's something I want to tell you." She whispered to Su Shi.

After all, after spending this time together, she had subconsciously come to regard Su Shi as a "reliable older sister." Whenever she encountered something strange, she would immediately want to share it with Su Shi and hear her opinion.

"What is it?" Nagasaki Motoyo turned around and asked patiently.

"It was today. I ran into a classmate who wanted to recruit me into her band..." She told Suze the whole story of her meeting with Chihaya Aine.

Nagasaki Motoyo listened quietly, her expression unchanged, but then asked again to confirm, "Was the classmate who recruited you surnamed Chihaya?"