People in Mygo are emotional firefighters.

"Mayu-san! You're so fast!" she couldn't help but cheer, then eagerly looked at Takamatsu Akari, whose cheeks were even redder, "Akari-san! Can I add you? Is that okay?"

Takamatsu was a little flustered by her straightforward and enthusiastic response, but still said softly, "Um... okay."

"Yay—!" Aine immediately pulled out her phone and quickly sent a friend request. Seeing that Takamatsu Akari had accepted the request as well, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

She carefully put her phone away, not rushing to invite Gao Songdeng to join the band.

Although recruiting team members is an important task, we cannot rush it, especially with a sensitive child like Deng.

She plans to get to know him gradually through LINE first, and then invite him in person at a suitable time after school, so that they will have more time to chat.

In high spirits, Aine turned to Ishikawa Mayu, leaning slightly towards him, and lowered her voice to begin chatting casually in a familiar tone: "By the way, how was your Golden Week? Did you finish your project?"

"Yeah, I finally finished before the deadline." Ishikawa Mayu nodded and leaned back against the table in relaxation. "I was almost exhausted."

Upon hearing this, Ai Yin immediately pouted and glanced at him with a hint of reproach: "That's right! I've wanted to ask you out to change things up several times before, but you always said you were too busy and didn't have time! Now you're finally completely free, right?"

Hearing what she said, Ishikawa Mayu sighed helplessly.

"You also said that you often lose track of time when we chat... You should take full responsibility for the problem of not being able to go out and have fun."

Upon hearing this, Aine blinked a little shyly at first, but then the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up, revealing a sly smile that was a mixture of apology and a little bit of smugness.

So chatting with me makes him lose track of time.

Although this discovery made her inexplicably happy, she couldn't take all the blame, so she raised her arm and gently nudged Ishikawa Mayu's shoulder with her elbow, without much force.

"Well, you can't entirely blame me!" She puffed out her cheeks slightly, trying to make her words more convincing, but the smile in her eyes was hard to hide. "It's just that Mayu-san lacked self-control! Besides... I was just trying to cheer you on!"

Ishikawa Mayu instinctively wanted to open her mouth to refute, but when she met Chisaya Ayane's bright, mischievous, and expectant eyes, as well as her confident and adorable expression that said, "Anyway, you can't do anything to me," the words of rebuttal suddenly got stuck in her throat.

Damn it, it seems I really can't refute her with a straight face... After all, every time I say I'll talk about it next time, I'm easily led into continuing the conversation...

He opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing. He could only give up and quickly turned his head away, avoiding Aine's overly bright gaze.

Seeing his guilty look, Chihaya Aine's smile became even brighter and more smug.

Fortunately, the bell for the morning meeting rang on time like a savior, and the homeroom teacher appeared at the door, temporarily resolving Ishikawa Mayu's predicament.

Chihaya Aine returned to her seat contentedly with light steps, feeling as if it were the first day of a holiday rather than the last.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Falling Down

The school bell rang melodiously in the school building, announcing the end of today's classes. The atmosphere in the classroom instantly became lively, and students began packing their bags and discussing their plans for the day.

Chihaya Aine practically jumped to Ishikawa Maho's desk as the bell rang.

Don't forget our plan for today!

“I’m not that forgetful,” Ishikawa Mayu pouted. “But it’s Akari’s turn to be on duty today, so we’ll definitely have to wait for her.”

"hum"

Chihaya Aine hummed smugly, looking like she'd planned this all along. "We can help each other out, more people means faster work! Plus, we can boost Akari-san's affection level at the same time, killing two birds with one stone~"

Upon hearing this, Ishikawa Mayu glanced at her with some disdain: "You... your ulterior motives are a bit too obvious. If you're going to help, just help. Why bring up the matter of building up goodwill?"

Chihaya Aine, on the contrary, raised her chin even more triumphantly and waved her index finger in front of him.

"Mayu-kun! This is called strategy! Do you understand strategy? Getting on good terms with Akari-kun is a crucial part of our band's grand plan!"

Ishikawa Mayu sighed. She had never won a verbal battle with this girl; there was just no way to deal with her.

"Takamatsu-kun!" Aine walked up to the podium and gave Takamatsu, who was wiping the blackboard, a friendly smile. "If it's your turn to clean the blackboard, let us help you. The three of you can finish quickly together!"

Takamatsu Akari paused, her hand holding the rag trembling. A look of obvious embarrassment crossed her face, and she instinctively shook her head to refuse, "N-no, it's alright... I can manage myself..."

"It's okay! Let's help each other out!" Aine clearly left no room for refusal, taking another broom from behind the door and handing it to Ishikawa Mayu, while she picked up a clean rag and started wiping the blackboard. "Akira-kun, go throw away the trash."

Seeing the two already taking action, Takamatsu Akari couldn't bring herself to refuse anymore, and could only whisper her thanks: "...Well, thank you."

She picked up the two sorted bags of trash and walked out of the classroom, looking slightly flustered. Aine and Ishikawa Mayu were extremely efficient; one quickly wiped the blackboard clean, and the other swiftly put the desks and chairs back in their places and swept. Before long, the classroom was cleaned.

"Done!" Aine clapped her hands in satisfaction, then glanced at the time with a puzzled look. "Huh? Why isn't Akari back yet? Does it really take this long to throw out the trash?"

"Go and see."

Aine nodded immediately, turned around and ran out of the classroom, while Ishikawa Mayu followed behind her at a leisurely pace.

"Hurry up, Mayu-kun!" Aine urged, turning around without stopping.

Ishikawa Mayu pretended not to hear; as an energy-saving advocate, he had no desire to waste his energy on running.

As she strolled leisurely down the stairs and stepped out of the teaching building, she heard Chihaya Ayane calling out from ahead, her voice rising with a hint of amusement: "Takamatsu-kun—! So you're here!"

Ishikawa Mayu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Takamatsu Akari looking up, intently watching the swallows under the eaves. Her profile looked particularly focused and gentle in the afterglow of the setting sun. She was clearly completely immersed in observing the world of birds and did not even hear Aine's call.

Chihaya Aine was clearly also drawn to the discovery of the light, and while laughing and talking, she quickened her pace to get closer and see what was going on.

Ishikawa Mayu's gaze unconsciously followed Aine's cheerful, deer-like figure, then suddenly fixed on the ground in front of her—the trash bag that Takamatsu Akari had casually tossed aside!

“Hey! Watch out—” he blurted out, trying to warn.

But it was too late.

Aine's attention was completely drawn to the lamp and the swallows, and she didn't notice where she was stepping. Her toes landed squarely on the bulging garbage bag.

"Wow!"

Chihaya Aine fell to the ground, and after getting up, she gasped for breath.

"it hurts……"

Takamatsu Akari turned around blankly, seemingly not quite snapping out of her reverie of observing the bird. Looking at Chihaya Aine sitting on the ground, she asked hesitantly, "...You fell down?"

Although Chihaya Aine's eyes were brimming with tears from the pain, she still managed to force a reassuring smile at the light and waved her hand.

"It's nothing, it's nothing... I just tripped..."

She gasped for breath and muttered softly, "It hurts..."

As if triggered by some keyword, Takamatsu Akari murmured, "Band-Aid..."

She suddenly remembered something, turned around and ran into the teaching building.

"Wait! Don't go..." Chihaya Aine instinctively reached out in the direction the light had disappeared, but couldn't stop her. She looked at the empty corridor, then turned to look at the culprit—the trash bag—at her feet, and whispered with a mix of grievance and helplessness, "The trash... hasn't been thrown away yet..."

"Why bother with the garbage when it's like this?"

A voice, clearly blaming, rang out above her head.

Before she knew it, Ishikawa Mayu had appeared beside her, his brows furrowed, and he flicked her forehead with his index finger.

Ai Yin looked up and saw it was him. Although her knees still hurt, she subconsciously chuckled, looking a little silly.

Seeing her like this, Ishikawa Mayu's anger and inexplicable anxiety were instantly replaced by helplessness.

He sighed, squatted down beside her, and looked at her hand clutching her knee and her slightly scraped palm. "Where did you hurt yourself? Is there anywhere else besides your knee? Can you move it?"

"My knee... I bumped it, it hurts so much... and my palm got scraped too..." She gasped softly, extending her reddened palm slightly towards him, as if silently seeking some comfort.

She knew that although the guy in front of her was complaining, he actually cared about her a lot.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she quickly added, her tone becoming serious.

"But! It's not Deng's fault! She must have been so focused on Yanzi that she forgot... It's all my fault for running too fast and not watching where I was going!"

As she spoke, she tried to force a smile to comfort Zhenyu, though her face was contorted with pain, making her look somewhat silly...

"Hehe...it was my carelessness..."

Ishikawa Mayu sighed and could only go along with her words, saying, "...That's definitely your fault. You couldn't even see such a big trash bag lying there, why were you running in such a hurry..."

Despite saying that, his actions were quite the opposite.

He carefully held Chihaya Aine's outstretched wrist and examined it closely by the light.

My palms were indeed rubbed red and covered in dust, but fortunately, only the surface was red and swollen, and there was no broken skin or bleeding.

"Where's your knee? Let me see," he said softly, his gaze shifting to the knee she had been clutching.

Chihaya Aine carefully moved her hand away. Underneath her school uniform skirt, her knee was in a similar condition—a small patch of skin was rubbed red and slightly warm, but there were no open wounds.

"Does it hurt here? Do you feel anything wrong with your bones? Try moving it a bit?"

Ishikawa Mayu gently pressed around her knee to perform a final check.

"It's just a little burning... but my bones are definitely fine," Ai Yin replied softly, and gently moved her knee as instructed, confirming that it was indeed alright.

If she were alone, she would probably just dust herself off and get back on her feet after a bump of her head.

But now that someone is anxiously checking on her, the feeling of being cared for and valued makes her unconsciously amplify that slight pain, and her tone becomes more like a spoiled, aggrieved complaint.

After confirming that she really only had a very minor scratch, Ishikawa Mayu's tense shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly, realizing that she might have overreacted a bit.

“…Clumsy.” He looked away, his tone returning to its usual calm, trying to hide the tension he had felt just moments before.

He took out a small pack of individually wrapped wet wipes from his pocket, tore it open, and pulled out one wipe.

Instead of handing the wet wipe directly to Chihaya Aine, he awkwardly but carefully pinched one corner of the wipe and gently wiped her reddened palms and knees, brushing away the tiny specks of dust.

"Don't move," his voice was lower than usual, his gaze focused intently on her hands, his movements gentle, as if afraid of hurting her, "They look dirty."

Chihaya Aine obediently held out her palms, feeling the cool touch of the wet wipe and his somewhat cautious movements.

She lowered her head slightly and could see his drooping eyelashes and his rarely seen, serious and focused profile, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but quietly turn up.

"Don't be so careless next time..."

Ishikawa Mayu stood up, glanced at the two garbage bags still lying not far away, and then looked at Aine sitting on the cold floor.

"The garbage dump isn't far from here, I'll go take care of these two. Then let's go to the Astronomy Club area to rest for a bit, there are chairs there, it's better than sitting here. I'll also see if Takamatsu needs any help."

"Um"

Chihaya Aine nodded.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Don't Crowd So Close

"You don't need me to help you, do you?"

After throwing away the trash, Ishikawa Mayu turned around and saw that Chihaya Aine had already stood up. Hesitantly, she asked again.

Upon hearing this, Chihaya Aine squinted and made an exaggerated "you underestimated me" expression.

"Mahana-san, you're underestimating me too much! I only tripped a little!"

As she spoke, to prove she was unharmed, she lightly hopped around twice, even looking at him with a hint of provocation.

"Look, I'm completely unaffected! Believe me or not, I'll race you right now, and you won't be able to catch me!"

Ishikawa Mayu fell silent, recalling that this guy had been the last runner in relay races for all three years of junior high school.

And that day, this guy actually managed to drag me, a grown man, up to the rooftop—that's some seriously incredible physical strength…

It doesn't seem impossible, does it?

"By the way, did Deng go to the Astronomy Department?"

"I think so. I saw she had some Band-Aids on her side earlier."

The two of them went to the Astronomy Department together. The door was ajar. Ishikawa Mayu gently pushed it open and saw Takamatsu Akari with her back to them, rummaging through something on the table.

Hearing the noise at the door, Akari turned around abruptly. Seeing them, especially Chihaya Aine who was being slightly protected behind Ishikawa Mayu, a complex expression of apology and relief immediately appeared on her face. She quickly walked over, holding a small tin box in her hands, and handed it directly to Aine.

"Which one do you want to use?" she whispered.

Ai Yin looked down curiously and saw that the tin box was full of cute bandages with various patterns and animals printed on them. It was like a small bandage museum.

"Can I use it?"

"Um

Takamatsu Akari nodded, not daring to look at Chihaya Aine.

"I'm sorry," Chihaya Aine said with a smile, taking the band-aid with the penguin pattern on top. "I like penguins."

Takamatsu's eyes seemed to light up; her initial nervousness and apology were instantly replaced by enthusiasm for sharing.

"This is a bearded penguin. It has whisker-like markings on its face and belongs to the Adelie penguin genus..."

As she spoke, she even began rummaging through the tin box, quickly finding several other different penguin-patterned bandages. She proudly presented them to Ai Yin, introducing them as if they were her most prized possessions:

"This...this is an emperor penguin, it has orange-yellow feathers on its neck..."