Green plums cannot become lovers.

"Yes, the accompaniment by the birds is very good..."

Faced with An and Asuka's praise, Aoyama Nanami blushed slightly. After practicing together for more than ten days, she also felt her progress, especially after he often dragged her to perform in front of people, her fear of the stage gradually disappeared.

Progress is something that makes people happy.

Keep it up!

"Yinglin, I will definitely do it."

"come on."

"Ok!"

The boy's encouragement inspired Aoyama Nanami, and the two looked at each other and smiled. However, this scene made Marina, who was sitting on the lawn nearby as a spectator, feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Asuka." She got up and ran to An and Asuka's side, grabbed his arm, and looked at Aoyama Nanami with hostile eyes.

Ever since Asuka and this girl formed the 'Bluebird' duo, Asuka's attention has been almost entirely drawn to her, and she hasn't had any time to play with them at all.

"Maria, what's wrong?"

"I want to go home."

Upon hearing this, An and Asuka looked up at the sky and found that the sun was indeed beginning to set.

"Then let's go home."

"What's wrong? Did someone upset you today?"

On the way back, Marina held onto An and Asuka's hands tightly, and glared at him with an angry look.

An and Asuka couldn't stand being stared at any longer, so they finally asked.

"What do you say?"

Okay, there's no need to guess anymore, it's definitely him.

[Host, you've been spending a lot of time with Aoyama Nanami these past two weeks, which has made Marina jealous.]

You don't need to say it.

An and Asuka muttered a curse to themselves, then carefully considered how to appease the guy.

When Marina saw that he didn't speak, she thought that he was getting impatient with her behavior. Thinking about how close the boy and the girl had been, she felt uneasy.

She was afraid that the boy would distance himself from her if he made new friends.

Thinking of this, Marina couldn't help but bite her lip, feeling a pang of sadness. Just then, the boy suddenly broke free of her hand, which she had been holding, and she watched him run away.

Marina was taken aback, and the bittersweet feeling in her heart turned into a slight stinging pain. She couldn't help but lower her head and look at the road.

But just then, the boy's voice rang out again.

"Marina."

The girl subconsciously looked up at him.

"Raise your hands."

"..."

"Honestly, you're usually so outgoing. Why are you being so reserved this time?"

The boy's tone was full of helplessness because she hadn't obediently raised her hand. Then, he took her hand in his own.

Marina watched as the boy put a rough grass ring on his wrist, with a small white flower woven on it.

It was a somewhat familiar little flower. She remembered the boy in front of her telling her the name of this flower, but she had forgotten it.

"This is a wreath that bears witness to our friendship."

She looked at the boy in front of her and said, "That means I will never leave you."

"Are you relieved now?"

"you you......"

I will never leave her... Is that true?

"Were you so moved you wanted to cry?"

"I don't want to cry! You're the one who wants to cry! You crybaby!"

Faced with An and Asuka's teasing, Marina forcefully threw mud at them with her eyes welling up with tears.

"Yes, yes." An and Asuka didn't want to tease the girl at this time, so they accepted everything from her with a smile.

He would accept any bad mood or unhappiness, because if he didn't cherish her, he didn't know who else in the world would.

"..."

With such a tolerant boy around, Marina's bad moods come and go quickly.

"Let's go home."

As she spoke, Marina naturally tried to hold An and Asuka's hands, but he dodged her hand immediately.

"Wait a minute." An and Asuka pulled out another identical grass ring from somewhere and looked at the silent Kuze Shizuka.

"Shizuka, this is for you. Give me your hand."

"I can do it myself."

Kuse Shizuka wasn't as bold as Yueyi Er Yishan Wu?|| Jiu Liu San Zhuo Marina. Although she was also a little sad because of the boy's 'distance' over the past two weeks, she understood that he was doing something important.

Therefore, she wouldn't react as intensely as Marina. Although she believed that if she were like Marina, she would also be cared for and loved by the boy in front of her.

But she didn't, because she was worried that her emotions would put pressure on the boy and make him unhappy.

But he didn't. Even in such a situation, he didn't forget himself. He never neglected himself.

"If you come by yourself, then there's no point in doing it."

"Because only a contract involving both people is complete."

"Okay, give me your hand now."

Seeing the boy's smiling face, Shizuka Kuze finally obediently raised her hand.

She saw the boy slip a wreath adorned with small white flowers onto her wrist.

"Alright, now we'll never be apart again, and our friendship will last forever."

An and Asuka took Marina and Shizuka's hands and announced.

[Congratulations, host! You've solved the problem of your childhood sweetheart's jealousy. Now you can relax and flirt with other women outside.]

You can't expect something good to come out of a dog's mouth.

Woof woof woof!

Although the system's words were unpleasant, it was true that after appeasing Marina and Shizuka, the two girls became more supportive of his 'cause'.

Not only did she stop being jealous, but her relationship with Aoyama Nanami also improved dramatically.

As temperatures gradually moderated in October, students began to switch to their autumn school uniforms.

Today is the start of the preliminary rounds, and all the students participating in the performances have to go to the city's stadium. However, due to the selective selection process by their school, coupled with some uncontrollable factors, only fewer than twenty students were able to board the school bus to go.

Then, several more people were eliminated in the qualifiers.

"The situation is not good."

Matsue Sakura looked helplessly at the team that had only ten people left; this was a completely bad start.

"The judges this year seem to be much stricter than the last year."

Another teacher said.

"Ah."

Sakura Matsue nodded worriedly. If things continued like this, their school might not be able to achieve any good results this year.

Although there are two very good kids in their team, no matter how good they are, they are all self-taught and cannot compare with those children who have been trained from a young age.

Volume 1: Chapter 27 The Light of Fireflies

It wasn't until they actually participated in the competition that An and Asuka truly felt the strength of their opponents and the weakness of their school.

Bel canto, soprano, ballet, piano, violin... Aren't these elementary school students a bit too outrageous? He clearly didn't see this level of skill in the previous recordings.

There are already less than ten people left in the qualifiers, so the losses will likely be even greater in the main tournament.

He never expected that his first competition would involve facing the Dark Ages of Turmoil; even he found it somewhat challenging.

An and Asuka crossed their arms and thought seriously.

"You little rascal, what are you thinking about with that deep look on your face?"

“I’m thinking I might really have to get serious about dealing with them,” An and Asuka replied expressionlessly.

"Pfft~" He couldn't hold it in anymore.

As everyone watched An and Asuka speaking with such serious expressions, they couldn't help but laugh. The somewhat solemn atmosphere was brightened considerably by his words.

"You're so amazing, kid." Songyue Ying couldn't help but pinch Anhe Asuka's cheek. "Since you put it that way, if you don't get a good ranking, I'll have to train you separately every day from now on."

"Please allow me to retract what I just said."

"Da~me~"

"Tsk."

"Nanami, let's practice a new piece today."

After returning from the stadium where the competition was held, An and Asuka found Aoyama Nanami and decided to practice a new song again.

"Hey, a new song?"

Aoyama Nanami was somewhat surprised by An and Asuka's decision.

"Yes, we need to practice a new piece again."

An and Asuka looked at Aoyama Nanami with a serious expression and told her their thoughts.

"Our current reserves are no longer sufficient to cope with this competition."

After watching those guys perform, he realized that simply playing the school song or folk songs on stage wasn't enough; he needed a song that could truly impress the judges and the audience.

Otherwise, they will eventually be eliminated.

"Then, what songs should we practice?"

After listening to An and Asuka's explanation, Aoyama Nanami gradually realized the crisis. However, she was completely unsure which song to practice.

In the past two weeks, they have only practiced three songs: one school song and two folk songs, which they originally thought would be enough to handle the competition.

Now she has to start practicing the new song again, and she doesn't know if she can manage it. After all, if she really wants to beat her competitors, she has to work on the difficulty of the song, but she may not be able to master a song that is too difficult in a short time.

"Don't worry, it's a very simple song."

As An and Asuka spoke, they took a sheet of music out of their bag and handed it to Aoyama Nanami.

After a moment of surprise, the girl reached out and took it, then looked down at it.

"The Light of Fireflies..."

Upon seeing the song title, she couldn't help but read it aloud. Only then did she continue reading.

The imagery of fireflies, snow-covered windows, and diligent study by the cold window remains ever new.

"Unbeknownst to me, several years have passed; I open the door to bid farewell to my classmates."

The first two lines of the lyrics alone were enough to make Aoyama Nanami's pupils contract slightly, because the lyrics were truly exceptional.

With her heart churning for the song, Aoyama Nanami tried to suppress the unknown emotions within her and continued watching.

"Whether it's waiting or parting, today countless thoughts converge here."

"Wishing you happiness, let us sing in harmony."

The lyrics to this song are short, just a few lines, but after reading them, Aoyama Nanami felt a sense of loss, as if she were really standing at the school gate, saying goodbye to her old friends.

When she came to her senses, she found herself in the music classroom, with the boy right in front of her.

"Birds..."

Aoyama Nanami opened his mouth, his hands tightly gripping the sheet music, but he didn't know what to say.