After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Page 131

Shiina Tatsuki was puzzled by Toyokawa Yuu's sentiments.

She's not some weirdo whose social circle consists only of bands. Hachiman Kairin is her classmate and good friend, and Wakaba Mutsumi has known her for a long time. There's nothing wrong with her caring about their situation.

"You care about your friends outside the band, but you don't care about the members inside the band... Shiina Tatsuki, don't look too far ahead, look around more."

If Yuu Toyokawa considered her chance encounter with Tatsuki Shiina at the train station merely a coincidence...

So, the moment the girl opened her mouth to probe him, he inevitably became suspicious.

Because Shiina Tatsuki and Nagasaki Sosei both declined, he knew that MyGO!!!!! had a rehearsal today.

That's why he met Chihaya Aine today and agreed to bring Wakaba Mutsu out this weekend.

It must be some kind of scheme by Nagasaki Sase again... That woman is just so annoying.

"When have I ever not cared about my teammates?"

Wanting to ask a question but inexplicably facing such unfounded accusations, Shiina Riki's eyes widened, and even his previously respectful tone towards a stranger changed slightly.

I don't care about my teammates? That's utterly absurd.

If I really didn't care about the band, I should have been sleeping at home right now, instead of sitting in the station in the cold wind with nothing to do.

"Is that so? Are you really aware of MyGO!!!!!'s current situation?"

"Of course, Light is writing a new song for MyGO!!!!! lately, Ai-on's guitar skills are getting better and better, and Wildcat comes to rehearse on time every day. Everything is reassuring, except..."

As if she was in a hurry to refute Toyokawa Yuu's accusations, Shiina Tatsuki's tone was somewhat agitated, but when she was about to mention Nagasaki Sase, she suddenly realized something and paused.

Some of the excited voices stopped abruptly, and the carriage fell silent for a moment, but Toyokawa Yuu continued her conversation.

"Besides sending you to find me, Nagasaki Sase, right?"

Seeing the sudden stunned expression on the black-haired girl's face, Toyokawa Yuu knew she had guessed correctly.

Originally, I just wanted to trick this seemingly straightforward and innocent girl, but I didn't expect it to be true.

Nagasaki Sasuke is such a unreasonable and argumentative woman.

Does she really know what it means to accidentally get involved in something like this...? Does she want to ruin Aine's band?

The barely concealed disgust flashed across his face.

"So, because of your and Nagasaki Sase's absence today, Ms. Takamatsu Akari has been distracted, and Aine has been practicing so much to improve her guitar skills that she has to put bandages on her fingers. Are you aware of that?"

"What......"

If the previous moment was merely an embarrassing moment of being exposed, then at this moment, Shiina Tatsuki was truly frozen in place.

She truly had no idea about this... but how did Toyokawa Yuu know?

"This afternoon, I was invited by Aine to go to [RING] with Shoko, and I was also invited by Takamatsu Akari to watch MyGO!!!!!'s next live performance... If it weren't for your and Nagasaki Sase's absence, I might not have had this honor."

pleasure......

The habitual polite smile on Toyokawa Yuu's lips now looked like a mockery to Shiina Tatsuki, as if to say that even an outsider like him knew his band better than he did.

"Don't blame yourself so much. The most boisterous people get the most attention, while the quiet ones are always ignored. That's human nature. But if you want to manage your band well, you can't let that happen... This is the experience of someone who's been there."

If you suppress the most troublesome person once, they will usually learn their lesson. But if you don't pay much attention to those who are usually quiet, they might suddenly cause some big trouble.

Yuu Toyokawa, who is troubled by both Hatsune Miku and Mutsumi Wakaba, has recently been feeling quite deeply about it.

"Why... are you telling me this?"

This time, Shiina Tatsuki did not refute Toyokawa Yuu's condescending teaching, and it took her a while to squeeze out the question from between her teeth.

The two weren't close; they'd only met a few times at most. There was no need for them to say these things to me.

"...It's none of your business. Just pay more attention to your teammates. No matter how much trouble one person causes, it's only their own problem. The more people get involved with so-called good intentions, the greater the impact on the band, unless..."

The feeling of the train slowing down and swaying gradually came, and the wheels rolled slowly into Akabane Station. Toyokawa Yuu also withdrew her gaze from Shiina Tatsuki.

"Unless you don't care about your band at all, it's best to make it clear to others as soon as possible. Maybe you just think it's fun, but to some people it might be serious."

After confirming that the train had come to a complete stop, Toyokawa Yuu got up and left, leaving Shiina Tatsuki alone still sitting in her seat.

“Wait, Mr. Youyu, you haven’t answered my question from before.”

As Toyokawa Yuu was about to step out of the carriage, Shiina Tatsuki suddenly remembered the purpose of his initial question and quickly pressed for an answer.

"The answer is that it has nothing to do with you, but what I can tell you is that Xiao Mu and Hai Ling are both members of Ave Mujica, and as the band's manager, I will protect their existence no matter what."

Leaving behind those words, the boy's figure disappeared into the night outside the car window, leaving only Shiina Ritsuki still sitting in the same spot.

It wasn't until the train started moving again that the renewed sense of sway pulled her thoughts back.

She leaned weakly against the train seat, covering her eyes with the back of her hand to shut out the lights in the carriage, which, though not very bright, seemed particularly glaring to her at that moment.

"I've lost everything, I'm a complete disaster. Am I just inherently incompatible with the name 'Toyokawa'?"

With his chest, which was already quite well-developed for his age, he rose and fell. Shiina Ritsuki greedily inhaled the not-so-fresh air in the carriage, trying to cool his heart down.

But the troubling feeling of inferiority, which had been growing like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, now weighed heavily on my heart like a long-lost mountain.

Shiina Tatsuki actually has a very strong competitive spirit; otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen Hanasakikawa for her higher education in order to escape the shadow of her older sister.

But no matter how much you try to avoid it, the shadows will always creep up silently, making you realize what a gap truly means.

In terms of musical talent, I am far from being as good as Toyokawa Shoko, who can compose beautiful melodies at will.

In terms of maintaining the band, his understanding of the members' current situations was even less than that of Yuu Toyokawa, someone with whom he didn't have a very deep relationship.

Didn't he know he shouldn't get involved in Nagasaki Sase's petty schemes? But if he left it alone, what if, like before, a band was ruined because of one person's personal affairs?

That's why she wanted to secretly help Nagasaki Sose solve her problem or make her give up when no one else was looking.

But why can't I ever do it well enough?

My older sister, who is musically talented and has strong social skills, would definitely be able to handle this situation with ease, but...

Toyokawa Shoko and Toyokawa Yuu, this pair of adopted siblings... no, according to Soyo, they should be an engaged couple. The two of them together are simply an enhanced version of the older sister. Every time I face them, I am made to feel worthless by comparison, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

With his teeth clenched so tightly they clicked, Shiina Tatsuki put pressure on himself for a long time before his body relaxed as if he had lost all his strength.

Although I don't want to admit it, Toyokawa Yuu is right; I shouldn't have gotten involved in Soyo's affairs.

Therefore, I absolutely do not want to have anything to do with that person again.

Taking out her phone, Shiina Tatsuki opened the contact named "soyo".

Even though it was late at night, Shiina Tatsuki was certain that Nagasaki Sose was not asleep and was waiting for news from him.

Shiina Tatsuki: [It's a failure. I can't help you with this. You should give up as soon as possible.]

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Unaware of the inner struggle the girl named Shiina Ritsuki went through after she got off the bus, Toyokawa Yuu simply walked towards the place she had arranged to meet Toyokawa Kiyoko.

Yuu Toyokawa wasn't sure what she was thinking when she said those things to Tatsuki Shiina; she just assumed she liked to be condescending and a know-it-all.

As for whether Shiina Tatsuki would listen to his advice, he didn't care much. In the entire MyGO!!!!!, only Chihaya Aine could be considered his friend.

Seeing that Nagasaki Sase seemed to be able to easily get everyone to join her in her unreasonable behavior, Toyokawa Yuu felt a little annoyed.

Don't these people have anything productive to do all day?

However, these were just minor emotions, and Toyokawa Yuu wouldn't let such things bother him. He didn't go home in the middle of the night to make a special trip to Akabane just to sulk.

The agreed-upon location was already in sight. Yuu Toyokawa saw that Kiyoko Toyokawa was already sitting on the bench waiting. Under the streetlights, he looked a little better than before. Yuu quickened her pace slightly.

"Qinggao, I have some questions for you."

Without any formalities or pleasantries, Toyokawa Yuu looked at his nominal future father-in-law and got straight to the point.

"It's about Miku Miku, Mana Junda, and Minami Mori."

P.S.: Another box of letters! I feel like I really can't keep up. I'll add another 20,000 words... I'll adjust today and update more tomorrow. I still owe 82,000 words. I feel like I'm back to square one.

Chapter 120 Wakaba Mutsu: I can't finish it, eat it for me (6k)

Shiina Tatsuki: [It's a failure. I can't help you with this. You should give up as soon as possible.]

In Sase's home in Nagasaki, the brown-haired girl, who had already washed up, sat on a bench on the balcony wearing a white yukata, holding her cell phone in her hand.

The bright moonlight veiled her in silver, and the countless stars looked down upon her, but Nagasaki Sase's smile remained undiminished.

Looking at the message from Shiina Tatsuki on her phone, the girl's indifferent expression suddenly became even more pronounced.

Lixi failed... which is understandable.

Although Mr. Youyu is the same age as us, he started working at a young age and is definitely much more mature than us. He is not so easy to get.

But why would Lixi turn around and advise me to give up too? Did she suffer some kind of blow?

Thinking of this, Nagasaki Sase's face became even more worried.

Even Li Xi won't help me now. Given Mr. You Yu's dislike for me, he'll definitely be wary. Who can I ask for help next?

Those of you from MyGO!!!!! must have already been added to his warning list.

Should we go find Aine? She seems to have the best relationship with Mr. Yuu, maybe...

Nagasaki Sōse tapped lightly on the back of the phone case with her index finger, mentally organizing her thoughts on how to get Riki to explain what had just happened without making her resist.

As Nagasaki Sase was pondering this, he suddenly heard the sound of a door being opened.

Looking up, I saw a woman in a suit walking into the house. Her high heels clattered with practiced steps, but she made very little noise, as if she didn't want to disturb her daughter, who should have been asleep by now.

However, to Ms. Nagasaki's surprise, her daughter, who always claimed to be a staunch advocate of not staying up late, was not sleeping in her bedroom at that moment.

The front door faced the balcony. The mother and daughter looked at each other, and both could see a hint of surprise and embarrassment in their eyes.

"Mom... welcome back."

In the end, it was Nagasaki Sase who reacted first, turned off his phone and put it away, and gave his mother a familiar smile.

Since her daughter was still awake, Ms. Nagasaki stopped being so cautious and threw her briefcase aside, then sprawled out on the sofa in a carefree manner.

"Ugh...it feels like it's been ages since I've been home."

He let out a strange, unintelligible cry, as if that would release all the frustration he had accumulated from working so many consecutive days.

Ms. Nagasaki's legs were kicking and jumping in mid-air, making her look even more girlish than her daughter.

"You must be tired from work. Would you like to eat something first? We still have some ingredients at home that we can use for a late-night snack."

With a smile, Nagasaki Sose walked back to the living room from the balcony and sat down on the sofa.

Looking at her mother, who hadn't been home for many days due to work and was releasing stress by throwing a little tantrum, the girl's face even showed a hint of doting affection.

If outsiders were present, they might mistake the two for mother and daughter.

This is the most common way of getting along in the Nagasaki Sōseki family.

"It's so great to have Soyo here..."

Watching her daughter get up and head to the kitchen to prepare a late-night snack for herself, Ms. Nagasaki sighed with genuine emotion.

She lay on the soft sofa, her lips slightly parted as she breathed softly.

The pressure from long hours of continuous work seems to grind a hole in your heart, and with each breath, a stinging feeling of exhaustion is brought out from that void.

Fortunately, I have a very sensible and gentle daughter, and the warmth of home can gradually mend this emptiness in my heart.

"Work has been going fairly smoothly lately."

He skillfully started a fire at the stove, thanks to his mother's long absences due to work. Nagasaki Sase had developed quite good cooking skills.

"Of course, Mom is working really hard. I've recently started expanding my business into music and entertainment... I really look forward to the day when Soyo will make her debut on stage."

Using the sofa cushions as pillows, Ms. Nagasaki subconsciously dreamed of taking on this kind of business from the company, which she hadn't really ventured into before.

However, not intending to put too much pressure on her daughter, she didn't hold onto it too much and merely made a casual remark.

After all, this matter is still far from being settled, and even Ms. Nagasaki is not blindly confident about this area that she has never been involved in before.

However, at the mere casual remark from his mother, Nagasaki Sase, who was preparing a late-night snack at the stove with his back to her, had a slight change in expression.

My mother wants me to perform on stage, but my skill level...

Although he had played in a band for a while, Nagasaki Sase was well aware of his own instrumental skills, which were at best at the level of a student club.

Nagasaki Sase pursed his lips and didn't speak again.

The flames danced on the stove, quietly licking the bottom of the pot, adding a touch of warmth to this usually quiet house, and gradually bringing the water in the pot to a boil.

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