People in Mygo are emotional firefighters.

Her attitude was so clear it was almost a matter of course, as if joining a newly formed band where the relationships between members weren't even fully sorted out was as simple and natural as eating a parfait.

Chihaya Aine finally couldn't hold back any longer, and almost blurted out, her voice trembling with excitement, "Why...?"

But as soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately realized her lapse in composure.

What gave me the right to question a stranger? Besides, Zhenyu seemed to have a good relationship with this child. Would being so aggressive embarrass Zhenyu? Would it make me seem petty?

"Uh……"

As if burned, she immediately stopped talking, letting out a short, awkward syllable, and quickly lowered her head.

Ishikawa Mayu could certainly understand Aine's feelings at that moment. She had just been bluntly told by Riki that her skill level was insufficient, and now, in the blink of an eye, a highly skilled Rakuna had appeared…

This comparison was undoubtedly a huge blow to Aine, a girl who craved recognition and was a little vain.

He gently tugged at Ai Yin's sleeve, signaling her not to overthink it.

Then, he took another half step forward, looked at Yao Lena who was engrossed in enjoying her parfait, and asked:

"Lena, I'm a little curious, why did you choose to join us? With your skill level, you should have received many invitations from other bands."

Upon hearing this, Yoro Nai looked up from her matcha parfait and licked the cream off her lips.

“They’re all boring women,” she said in a flat tone, then her gaze shifted between Akari and Mayu, “but…”

Shiina Tatsuki keenly noticed that Rakuna's gaze was focused on Akari. She immediately stepped forward, instinctively blocking Takamatsu Akari's path, her brows furrowed and her tone wary: "What do you want?"

Yoru Nai seemed completely oblivious to Riki's wariness. Her gaze passed over Riki's shoulder, landing on Takamatsu Akari and Ishikawa Mayu, and she finished the second half of her sentence in her characteristically flat and emotionless tone:

"Two interesting people."

Shiina Tatsuki's brows furrowed immediately, his tone filled with undisguised wariness and warning: "Hey! You, don't even think about getting your hands on Tsubaki!"

Nagasaki Motoyo was taken aback by Rakuna's overly direct, even somewhat offensive, "interesting" comment.

"She'll be scared if you do that."

Her voice was gentle, but her gaze swept over Ishikawa Mayu without leaving a trace. A very faint unease, which she herself did not want to delve into, swept through her heart—why "two people"? Why put Mayu-kun and Kodama together?

However, the most vehement reaction came from Chihaya Aine.

The confidence that had been severely damaged by the technological gap was broken when Rakuna completely ignored him and only labeled Akari and Mayu as "funny."

She suddenly raised her head, which had been hanging down, her face pale and her lips tightly pressed together.

“Um…” Her voice was a little hoarse, interrupting Lixi’s warning to Lenai and attracting everyone’s attention. She tried to make her voice sound calm, and even tried to force a smile, but the curve was stiff and fragile. “I… I suddenly remembered that I have something to do.”

Shiina Tatsuki, already furious because of Rakuna's words, turned around impatiently upon hearing this: "Huh? Now?"

Chihaya Aine didn't look at Riki. She took a deep breath and then bowed stiffly towards the crowd.

"Sorry, I'll contact you again next time..."

Before Chihaya Aine could even finish saying "I'll contact you next time," she had already turned around as if fleeing, her steps somewhat unsteady as she quickly walked towards the coffee shop entrance, giving no one else time to react.

As Ishikawa Mayu watched her almost fleeing figure, and her back, which tried to straighten but still revealed a hint of panic and fragility, he sighed softly in his heart.

He withdrew his gaze, turned to the remaining group of people with varying expressions, and said calmly, "I also have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, he didn't wait for a response and started walking towards the door.

Watching the two disappear through the doorway one after the other, Nagasaki Motoyo's hands, clasped together on her lap, unconsciously clenched, her neatly manicured nails digging slightly into her palms. She lowered her eyelashes, trying to conceal the turbulent emotions surging in her eyes, a mixture of worry and an indescribable bitterness.

Shiina Tatsuki crossed his arms, staring at the empty doorway, and clicked his tongue in annoyance, muttering under his breath, "What are those two... doing...?"

One is technically incompetent and overly sensitive, the other is not even that close but always loves to meddle... They're such a pain.

Takamatsu Akari sat quietly in place, her light brown eyes filled with confusion and a little unease. She looked in the direction where Aine and Mayu had left, then glanced at Suze and Riki beside her, whose atmosphere was subtly tense. Her small hands unconsciously clutched the hem of her clothes.

"Has the band ended?"

Ask Lena to put down the empty parfait in her hand and ask softly.

Before the remaining three people, each with a different expression, could respond, she stood up on her own, pulled over her suitcase leaning against the table, and, as if having completed her "sightseeing" task for the day, said casually:

"Bye-Bye."

Then, just as she had arrived, she left the coffee shop silently, leaving behind a white silhouette.

Shiina Tatsuki, overwhelmed by the series of unexpected events, scratched her head in frustration. She turned back, about to say something to Suze and Akari, but her gaze suddenly fixed on the seat Ryuna had just occupied—

There, only an empty matcha parfait bowl and a small spoon placed next to it remained.

Shiina Ritsuki's eyes widened instantly. She pointed at the empty bowl, her voice rising in disbelief, almost cracking:

"She...she ate a parfait and didn't pay!!"

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Hand in Hand

Ishikawa Mayu strode out of RiNG, the evening glow bathing the street in a warm gold.

He soon spotted that familiar pink figure at a street corner not far away.

Chihaya Aine hadn't gone far. She was just holding her guitar case, head down, walking along the sidewalk with a somewhat dragging gait, occasionally kicking innocent little pebbles on the roadside. Her figure looked listless in the setting sun, like a wilted little flower.

Ishikawa Mayu didn't call out to her immediately, but kept a distance of not too close and not too far, silently following behind her.

After walking for a while, Chihaya Aine's pace gradually slowed down.

She had actually noticed the familiar footsteps behind her long ago, walking at a steady pace and maintaining a fixed distance. After walking for a while, the frustration in her heart had actually dissipated somewhat, but some inexplicable emotion prevented her from turning around.

Finally, she stopped at the pedestrian light at the next intersection, and as if she had made up her mind, she turned around.

Ishikawa Mayu also stopped at the right moment, standing a few steps behind her, quietly watching her.

Chihaya Aine looked up, met his gaze, and forced a self-deprecating smile.

"You played so badly, yet you were so smug and boasted about it. After being outplayed, you just ran away like a coward." She tugged at the corner of her mouth, her voice low, "Isn't that embarrassing?"

Ishikawa Mayu walked to her side and stood with her on the sidewalk, their eyes fixed on the changing traffic lights across the street.

“A little,” he calmly admitted.

Chihaya Aine was both embarrassed and angry, her cheeks puffing out slightly: "Mayu-san! Shouldn't you be comforting me at a time like this?!"

“Facts are facts.” Ishikawa Mayu turned her head to look at her puffed-up profile. “Comforting won’t make your fingers suddenly become nimble.”

"Ugh..." Ai Yin was speechless, feeling even more aggrieved. With a hint of despair, she said in a muffled voice, "Then... then why don't you tell Li Xi and Su Shi that I'm not going to play guitar anymore! Anyway, I'm good at singing, so I'll just be like Xiao Deng and only be responsible for singing!"

The moment she finished speaking, Ishikawa Mayu suddenly reached out and gently grasped her hand, which was hanging by her side and slightly clenched.

Ai Yin was suddenly stunned, and the rest of her words got stuck in her throat. She subconsciously looked down at their clasped hands, then looked up at him blankly.

Ishikawa Mayu held her hand, looking intently at her lowered head.

“I remember,” he began, his voice lower than usual, “when someone came back from England, he was like this, thinking of starting over in a different place, and he nervously asked me to keep it a secret, afraid that people would find out about that ‘unglorious’ history.”

"And now? Are you going to use the same method again? You throw away the guitar when you encounter difficulties, and then when Eri and the others actually come to see the live performance, they find out that you, the 'lead guitarist,' are actually only responsible for singing. How are you going to explain that then? Say again, 'I encountered some difficulties, so I changed positions'?"

His words pierced Chihaya Aine's heart like needles, striking at what she cared about most—her reluctance to be seen, her tendency to back down, and her obsession with maintaining a "perfect image."

“I…” Ai Yin opened her mouth, but found that she could not refute it.

“I don’t want to see you like that again.” Ishikawa Mayu’s voice softened, but the grip on her hand tightened slightly. “At least not with me.”

"Then...then what do you suggest we do..." Her voice trailed off, tinged with a hint of dependence, and she unconsciously gripped his fingers tighter in return.

"Practice," Ishikawa Mayu said succinctly. "I'll be with you, so please don't say anything about giving up anymore."

Looking at his calm yet serious face, Chihaya Aine felt most of her gloom dissipate, replaced by a bittersweet and warm feeling.

She suddenly remembered something else, blinked her still slightly moist eyes, and asked, "By the way... what's the deal with the cover song license for 'Here the World'? When did you get it?"

Ishikawa Mayu looked away, her tone returning to its usual calm: "Last night. I happened to have some business at the agency, and I applied for it while I was there."

He paused, then added, "Consider it a backup plan. If we can't find a suitable etude in the short term, or if we need a warm-up piece, at least we have a ready-made option. However..."

His gaze returned to the bustling street ahead, his voice calm yet carrying a barely perceptible hint of anticipation: "I hope that we can eventually play songs that belong to us. A new band should have a new sound."

"Just by the way?" Aine tilted her head, noticing a hint of awkwardness in his words. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly, and she gently scratched Ishikawa Mayu's palm with her fingers. "Is it really just 'by the way'?"

"However... 'Our Own Song' sounds good!"

Ishikawa Mayu's ears burned slightly, and she mumbled an "Mmm" without offering any further explanation. She simply instinctively tightened her grip on Mayu's hand, as if that would anchor Mayu firmly in her low spirits.

He led her along the sidewalk, bathed in the glow of the setting sun. "Let's go, it's getting late."

Chihaya Aine obediently followed him, keeping half a step to his side. The warmth from his palm was clear and steady, spreading all the way to her still slightly cold fingers, strangely smoothing out the last crease in her heart.

She secretly raised her eyes, looking at his well-defined profile and the still slightly flushed tips of his ears. She felt like a small boat being carefully guided, not about to get lost, and even the evening breeze on her cheeks carried an unprecedented gentleness.

The two walked hand in hand in silence through street after street.

The surrounding noise seemed to be shut out, and all that remained in the world was the warmth of clasped hands and the synchronized, subtle sound of footsteps.

However, every road has an end, and the bright lights at the tram station entrance finally came into view...

Ishikawa Mayu stopped in her tracks.

Almost subconsciously, he subtly tightened his fingers, the soft, delicate touch stirring a strange ripple in his heart. But he quickly released his grip, his fingers slowly slipping from her palm with a hesitation he himself was unaware of.

The sudden loss of warmth from his palm, and the cool air he encountered, made him momentarily disoriented, as if the warmth of his tight grip and... the slight dampness from someone's palm were just a fleeting illusion.

Aine only then belatedly realized what was happening, blinked, and looked at him: "Huh? Mayu-kun, what are you doing here with me? Where's your motorcycle? It's still parked over at RiNG, right?"

Ishikawa Mayu squinted, her face expressionless as she retorted, trying to dispel the inexplicable emptiness in her heart: "You only remembered this now that you've gotten this far? Just say you want me to come with you."

"Hehehe..." Aine feigned ignorance, scratching the back of her head and letting out her signature silly laugh, trying to get away with it. But a small voice inside her murmured: If only this road could be a little longer...

She waved to him, "Well... I'm going back now! See you tomorrow!"

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the turnstile.

Just as she was about to enter the station, Ishikawa Mayu's voice came from behind her, calm yet clear:

"Didn't you say this afternoon that I was a 'knight' and that you wanted to 'replenish my energy' or something?"

Aine's steps suddenly stopped.

"If I don't fully charge you, how will I recharge myself later?"

His voice carried a very faint, almost imperceptible smile.

Chihaya Aine's back stiffened instantly, and her cheeks flushed bright red. She didn't turn around, nor dared to, but only gave a mumbled reply. Then, like a startled rabbit, she quickened her pace in a fluster, almost running into the tram station and disappearing from his sight.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: You're hooked for life too?!

The automatic door closed behind me, shutting out the lingering sweet aroma of matcha parfait in the coffee shop, along with that suffocating awkwardness.

Nagasaki Motoyo stood alone at the entrance of RiNG. The evening breeze, carrying a coolness, brushed against her flushed cheeks, but it couldn't dispel the pent-up frustration in her heart.

Aine's sudden departure, Mayu-kun's unwavering pursuit, Riki's irritable complaints, Akari's bewildered and uneasy gaze, and the white-haired girl who disappeared on her own after finishing her parfait...

Everything was in chaos, completely different from her planned scheme.

Especially... Masahiro didn't even glance at her before eagerly following Chihaya Aine away.

"Tomokazu and I are leaving now." Shiina Riki pulled Takamatsu Tomokazu past her, her tone still stiff, but her steps as she left revealed a hint of relief.

Clearly, the chaotic scene put a lot of pressure on the drummer.

"Okay, be careful on your way." Su Shi maintained her smile, waved goodbye to them, and waited until the two figures disappeared around the street corner.

The smiles vanished the moment they turned away.

She let out a soft breath, her straight shoulders and back slumping almost imperceptibly, and an indescribable weariness and... sense of loss quietly crept into her heart.

Forget it, let's go home.

She carried her bass box and handbag, slowly walking towards the tram stop. Her steps felt heavy, and her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

As she approached the station entrance, her gaze inadvertently swept across the street, and she abruptly stopped in her tracks.

Across the endless stream of traffic, she clearly saw that familiar figure—Ishikawa Mayu, and beside him, the pink-clad Chihaya Aine, who seemed particularly dazzling at that moment.

Ishikawa Mayu released Chihaya Aine's hand, and Chihaya Aine skipped into the station with cheerful steps, disappearing from sight.

Remember to message me when you get home.

"Know it!"