People in Mygo are emotional firefighters.

Then, he picked up the spoon he had just used, scooped out a whole spoonful from the edge of the pudding bowl that had been neglected for a while, and brought it to Su Shi's lips.

"You didn't eat just now, did you?" His tone wasn't a question, but rather one of knowing certainty.

Su Shi watched his natural movements and the spoon in his hand, her cheeks flushing slightly, but she still obediently opened her mouth and accepted this feeding with subtle indirect contact. The silky pudding melted in her mouth, and the sweetness seemed even stronger than before.

Ishikawa Mayu watched as Su Shi obediently ate the pudding. Although her eyes were still red, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly because of the sweets and his clumsy attempts to comfort her. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

He put the empty pudding bowl aside and then stood up.

“Anyway, I didn’t eat enough at Lixi’s house,” he said casually as he walked towards the kitchen, opening the refrigerator to search for ingredients, and then turned back to ask, “I’m making some late-night snacks now, want to eat with me?”

As Nagasaki Motoyo gazed at his tall yet somewhat adorably clumsy back, the bittersweet feeling he had soothed in her heart was replaced by a more intense, exhilarating emotion. She gently licked the corner of her lips, where the sweetness of the pudding seemed to linger, along with… a more subtle, intimate scent that belonged to him.

A bold, slightly cunning idea, like a new sprout breaking through the soil, quietly emerged.

She stood up, walked lightly to the kitchen doorway, leaned against the doorframe, tilted her head, and gazed at his busy back with her blue eyes, which had just been washed by tears but were now strikingly bright. Her voice carried a deliberately drawn-out, sweet ending:

"Shinba-kun~"

Ishikawa Mayu was taking eggs and leftover rice out of the refrigerator when she heard this and subconsciously made a "Huh?" sound before turning around.

Su Shi's face was flushed with a mixture of shyness and a little pride. She lightly touched her lips with her fingertips, her eyes innocent yet mischievous, and asked softly:

"Just now...did that count as...indirect kissing?"

"—!!!!"

Chapter 109 The trump card is gone?

May 17th, Sunday, evening.

Ishikawa Mayu sat at his desk in his apartment, the cold light from the screen reflecting on his complex expression.

The video wasn't very long; it only recorded the members' nervous or awkward self-introductions in front of the camera. It didn't even capture the sudden intrusion of the stray cat named Yoro Nai.

However, this simple video clip now seems to carry immense weight.

His fingertip hovered above the mouse, unable to bring himself to click upload.

His mind was replaying the "disastrous" live stream from the night before last—just because Ai Yin asked if he wanted to practice the piano via video, he lost his composure and had to end the stream at lightning speed in front of thousands of fans, which even led to subsequent segmented analysis and a frenzy of "solving the case".

He scratched his hair in frustration.

Escape and hiding may bring temporary peace, but that is not the meaning of a band.

When he agreed to Aine's request, wasn't it precisely because he wanted to seek a breakthrough?

We can't keep hesitating and not releasing it, can we?

Ishikawa Mayu took a deep breath, as if making a firm decision, and opened the LINE group chat for the band members. Rather than agonizing alone, she decided...

[Zhenyu: Everyone, I've finished editing the behind-the-scenes footage we filmed. Please take a look and give me your feedback. I plan to upload it to my social media accounts; it'll be the band's first unofficial appearance, is that okay?]

[Mayu: [Video File]]

After the message was sent, he held his breath and waited, anticipating all sorts of possibilities, especially Li hope's opposition.

However, the response was surprisingly smooth.

[Aine: Wow! It's already cut! I want to see it! I want to see it! (≧?≦)]

[Su Shi: Hehe, Zhenyu-kun is really quick.]

[Light: ...Hmm.]

[Lixi: Whatever. Just don't make it too weird.]

[Aine: Ahhh, you saw me! Isn't your opening pose super cute?! Although your guitar playing was a little... ahem, the overall feeling was amazing! Thanks to Mayu for the editing! I wholeheartedly support uploading it! (★ω★)]

[Su Shi: Everyone seems very focused. Shin'ya-kun captured everyone's personality very well, especially the part where Koyuki mustered up the courage to speak; the editing was very gentle. I have no objections.]

[Light: ...I, I didn't speak very well...my voice was too soft, and I stuttered a little...I'm sorry...]

[Aine: That's not true! Little Lantern is so cute! That timid look is so endearing! Isn't that right, Suze-kun!]

[Su Shi: Yes, Xiao Deng tried her best, and the effect is very realistic and touching.]

[Li hope: ...Tsk. Cut out my part. It's too stupid.]

[Aine: Eh—?! No way, Riki! How unique! And the part where Mayu gives the drumsticks back to you at the end was so—cute! It makes me feel like our band has a great relationship!]

[Riki: ...Huh?! Who, who's in love with that guy?! And don't call me Riki!]

[Aine: Hehe~ I hit the nail on the head, Riki! You're clearly really interested in your interactions with Mayu-san! (????) That feeling of 'annoying but surprisingly cooperative,' isn't that Riki's style? So cute!]

[Aine: And when Mayu handed the drumsticks back at the end, even though you glared at him, you still took them! Isn't that a sign of a good relationship?! (￣▽￣)~*]

After the message was sent, the group fell into a brief silence. The notification indicating "typing is in progress" flashed a few times next to Lixi's name, then disappeared, repeating this process repeatedly, as if one could imagine how the person on the other end of the screen was struggling to organize their thoughts, and how embarrassed and annoyed they were as they deleted the message.

Two or three minutes passed, and just when Ishikawa Mayu thought that Ritsuki would not reply and was about to say something to ease the atmosphere, her message finally arrived, with words that conveyed a forced indifference and self-abandonment.

[Li hope: ...Do whatever you want. Even if you upload it, don't expect me to read the comments. Those pointless things will only ruin my mood.]

This seemingly impatient compromise caused Ishikawa Mayu's tightly clenched lips to relax almost imperceptibly.

Li hope... is really cute.

The thought came to mind naturally.

Although she always sounds fierce, speaks with a barbed tongue, and frequently clicks her tongue, appearing extremely impatient, she is actually more serious and responsible than anyone else, whether it was before at RiNG or this afternoon when we were learning music arrangement in her room.

He recalled that afternoon; although Li hope still had a furrowed brow and his tone wasn't exactly gentle, he was exceptionally meticulous when explaining the key points of the arrangement. He would even explain it repeatedly in different ways until Li Xi fully understood when Li Xi stumbled over a misunderstanding. He could clearly feel the patience and rigor hidden beneath Li Xi's irritable exterior.

If you could be a little more frank, revealing just a tiny bit of that clumsy tenderness instead of hiding it all in anger... wouldn't that be better?

The thought only flashed through his mind; he shook his head and chuckled. Forget it, that kind of Lixi wouldn't be Lixi anymore.

He turned his attention back to the group chat, his fingers tapping on the keyboard:

[Mayu: Okay, since everyone basically has no objections, I'll upload it then.]

[Mayu: I mainly wanted to document the beginning of our band, as a small memento.]

[Zhenyu: I will specify that this is a behind-the-scenes clip from the band's daily life, so please don't worry too much about the reactions in the comments section. Like Lixi said, watching it will affect your mood.]

After sending these messages, he took a deep breath and reopened the backend of his various platform accounts.

This time, he did not hesitate.

Move your mouse, select the file, and click upload.

Title: [When Socially Anxious High School Students Form a Band... Capturing Some Precious Moments]

Check the box to publish.

The progress bar slowly moved, eventually displaying the message "Upload successful".

He let out a soft breath, leaning back in his chair, a mixture of relief and slight trepidation filling his chest. Whatever the outcome, he had at least taken this step.

In the group chat, Ai Yin was still enthusiastically discussing the video details with Su Shi when a private chat window suddenly popped up on his phone screen.

Sender: Shiina Tatsuki.

[Lixi: Hello.]

[Lixi: The video has been uploaded, right?]

[Zhenyu: Yes, it was just uploaded successfully and is still under review.]

[Li hope: ...Keep an eye on the comments section then.]

Ishikawa Mayu was taken aback, not expecting Tatsuki to specifically message him about this. She even said she didn't read comments, but it turns out she cares quite a bit.

[Mayu: Okay, I'll keep an eye out. Are you worried about...bad comments?]

[Lixi: Mainly the lights.]

[Li hope: Before... after that Crychic performance, some idiots said stupid things online, like "the way Deng sang was too desperate."]

[Lixi: After that, although Deng didn't say anything, she was indeed depressed for a while and became even more afraid of standing in front of people.]

[Li hope: This was just a self-introduction; she didn't sing. But... in case some clueless person talks nonsense again... keep an eye on things. If you see anything you don't like, delete it or ban them.]

It turned out to be the case.

Ishikawa Mayu immediately understood why Riki had sought him out privately. She didn't care what others thought of her, or even how others thought of the band as a whole, but she would never allow anyone, in any form, to hurt Takamatsu Akari again.

He tapped his fingertip lightly and replied earnestly:

[Mayu: Understood. I'll keep a close eye on the comments section and won't let any negative comments affect the lighting.]

[Mayu: Riki, you really care about the lamp.]

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Lixi's reply popped up after a while. It was still brief, but the tone was unexpectedly calm, even with a sense of matter-of-fact composure.

[Lixi: ...She's the lead singer, of course.]

Ishikawa Mayu stared at the words on the screen, slightly stunned.

Not right.

This reaction... is really strange.

If it were the old Li hope, being directly pointed out for his special attention to the lamp would have made him jump up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, using an even fiercer attitude to cover up his inner embarrassment.

But now...

She actually admitted it so readily?

Ishikawa Mayu stared at her phone screen, her brows furrowed slightly, her fingers unconsciously rubbing her chin.

Has Li hope changed recently?

He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different. But he just felt that Shiina Tatsuki, who had once poured almost all her emotions and attention into the lamp, seemed... subtly different?

However, this "difference" also stirred a strange thought within him—

It’s over.

In that case...

Does this mean we can no longer easily use "lights" as a "trump card" to "control" this hot-tempered drummer in certain situations?

Thinking that there might be one less effective way to deal with Li hope's temper in the future, Ishikawa Mayu suddenly felt that Li Xi's "growth" might not be entirely a good thing for her.

He shook his head, somewhat amused and exasperated, suppressing this small "regret" and refocusing his attention on his conversation with Lixi.

[Mayu: Don't worry, I'll be careful. I won't let the light see anything bad.]

[Lixi: ...Oh. Then it's up to you.]

Open a bounty

As the title suggests, I'm posting a reward.

1,500 recommendation votes and 1,000 words

150 monthly tickets and 1,000 words

Three thousand reward words

Thirty blades for a thousand words

Let's run it for a week first and see. If there's no pressure, I'll go all out.

At the start of the bounty, the player had 2652 recommended votes, 261 total monthly votes, 12468 total tips, and 81 total "blades" (a type of virtual weapon). The calculations will begin from these figures.

Feel free to tip me; I have plenty of drafts saved up.

（字数规则：1000-1499=1k，1500-1999=1.5k，以此类推）

Chapter 110 Teacher Maha?

Chihaya Aine pressed the pause button on the tablet for what felt like the umpteenth time.

The guitar tutorial video on the screen froze on a complex fingering, and the teacher's explanation abruptly stopped. Somewhat annoyed, she tossed the tablet aside, picked up the electric guitar on her lap, and haphazardly strummed the strings, producing a few off-key, muffled sounds.