I have pure love with them

Thinking of her current predicament, which had already been seen by Quan himself, refusing this job would not improve her current life in the slightest.

"..."

However, she was unable to let go of her inner pride and make compromises in front of people she knew.

"In addition to this song 'The Girl with Flaxen Hair', does Ms. Toyokawa know the song 'The Street Where the Wind Lives'?"

"……Um."

After seeing Quan making a 'please' gesture to her, Toyokawa Shoko hesitated for a moment, then turned back to look at the piano in front of her. After a slight inner struggle, her hands still fell on the piano keys and played the song 'The Street Where the Wind Lives'.

One person plays and the other listens.

As time passed slowly and the sun gradually set, outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the dim setting sun shone into the living room. Quan slowly stood up and gave his applause to Toyokawa Shoko's playing.

"Thank you."

Facing Izumi's applause, Toyokawa Shoko slowly stood up from the piano and thanked Izumi.

"No, I want to thank you for letting this piano play its original role and letting me enjoy the wonderful music."

Seeing Toyokawa Shoko's complicated expression, Izumi took out his wallet from his arms, took out a banknote from it, and handed it to Toyokawa Shoko with both hands.

"It's not shameful to get paid for your talents, is it?"

Looking into Toyokawa Shoko's amber eyes, there was no smile on Quan's face. Instead, she asked the girl in front of her seriously, which made Toyokawa Shoko swallow back the words that she was about to refuse. She looked at the banknotes that Quan handed over with both hands, and after a moment of silence, she also stretched out her hands to receive them.

If we ignore the ticket revenue from the band's previous live performances, this may be the first time she has been paid for her performance.

"Thanks."

Toyokawa Shoko pursed her lips and was silent for a moment before she suppressed her strong self-esteem and slowly thanked Izumi in front of her.

"I've said it before, I'm the one who needs to be thanked, because you made me appreciate the beauty of the piano."

After expressing her affirmation to Toyokawa Shoko again, the expression on the girl's face gradually relaxed. She stared at the spring in front of her, then lowered her head silently.

……

"You came back very late again today, but Shuangshi wasn't with you. What were you doing?"

Aiyin, who was lying on the sofa, looked at Quan who had returned home. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, and when she noticed that Quan had not brought back any gifts, she lost interest all of a sudden and withdrew her gaze.

"I enjoyed the performance of a pianist. It was an excellent performance and made me understand the beauty of the piano. It's a pity that I didn't learn piano before."

"..."

Sitting next to Aine, he saw the girl tapping on the screen of her phone, seemingly chatting with someone.

"band?"

"Why is it that every time you ask me, it's always about the band? Well, the band is indeed my main after-school activity now, but it can't be considered the only one, right? Can't I have other activities?"

"for example?"

After hearing Aine's dissatisfied answer, Quan was a little surprised. His eyes fell on her, and he was a little curious about what else she could do besides band activities.

"..."

Facing Izumi’s question, Aine fell silent.

In response, Quan just smiled faintly and did not ask any further questions. He sat in the living room for a while, then sat at the dining table with his family to have dinner.

Not long after returning to the room at night, Quan had just opened a medical surgery video, and before he had watched it for long, there was a knock on the door.

"Coming in."

Without waiting for Izumi's response, Aine entered Izumi's room and caught a glimpse of the bloody scene on Izumi's screen.

"What is this? It's horrible...so disgusting!"

"Frontoparietal meningioma surgery instructional video."

"…Why are you watching this kind of video so soon after dinner? Aren't you disgusted?"

After hearing that it was a surgical teaching video, Ai Yi immediately put away the expression on her face, but still glanced at Quan with disgust.

"It's just so-so. If you want to be a doctor, you have to adapt to these things. A doctor can't refuse to perform surgery on a patient just because his internal organs don't look good, right?"

After minimizing the browser, the video disappeared from the screen, and instead, Izumi's computer desktop appeared - a photo of Aine's first live performance.

Seeing the table, Aine fell silent again, her eyes fixed on Izumi’s face.

"Desktop, changed."

"…That's a lot to ask. Never mind."

After hearing Aine's request, Izumi silently changed his desktop to a photo of animals from 'HappyTreeFriends', while Aine stared at Izumi for a while, wanting to say something but finally saying nothing.

"Are you going to be a doctor?"

"No, just checking in."

After hearing Izumi’s answer, Aine nodded slightly, then slowly sat down on Izumi’s bed.

"Well... the weather is getting hotter and hotter. I'm wondering if I should go buy some summer clothes. Do you have time tomorrow?"

"No band activities tomorrow?"

"It's impossible to have band activities every day, right? We still need some time to rest, so if there's nothing else to do after school tomorrow... Has Shuangshi made an appointment with you?"

Her eyes fell on Izumi, and Aine couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

"No, she didn't tell me about tomorrow."

"Well, it's a deal then!"

"Don't you think I would refuse?"

Looking at Aine who made a decision for him right away, Izumi asked with a smile.

In response to this, Aine did not make any reply, but just stared at Quan with a gloomy look. For a moment, it felt a little scary.

"You have to pay for the clothes yourself."

"Tsk."

Ai Ne, who already knew that Izumi had some assets, had a frustrated look on her face after hearing what Izumi said, but she nodded anyway.

"Then let's meet in Shibuya after school tomorrow, just the two of us!"

Aine got up from the bed and walked in front of Izumi, raised her slender white index finger and emphasized it to Izumi.

"Ah."

After hearing Izumi's answer, Aine nodded in satisfaction and slowly left his room.

“Tomorrow, will you and Aine be alone?”

The last time I went shopping with Aine was when she had just returned to China. Because she had run out of some daily necessities, I accompanied her to buy some new ones. It has been more than a month now, but for Quan, it seems that he doesn't feel anything.

"Is it really because we are together every day?"

Going shopping with Aine and watching her change clothes and put on new clothes of different styles is actually a kind of fun for Quan.

“Next month, after seeing the results, we can let Aine wear the miko costume. It’s worth looking forward to it. Yes, and the class monitor.”

Thinking of the agreement between himself, Aine, and Ayatsuji, a faint smile appeared on Izumi's face. He reopened the browser and was about to continue watching the surgery video when he received a new LINE message reminder.

"Ok?"

Pausing the video that had just started playing again, he looked at the screen of his mobile phone and found that this time it was from Goto Ichiri.

Izumi thought it was Nagasaki Soyo who sent the message to invite her for a date tomorrow, but she was a little surprised. Then she looked at the message sent by the other party.

[Izumi-san...did you take a break?]

[No]

In the past, they would only contact each other before going to bed, but today, Goto Ichiri sent a message early, which made Quan feel that something seemed to be up.

But after the message was sent, the other party did not send a message back after it was "read".

"Ok?"

357. Nagasaki Soyo has a good mother

"There will be a live performance this Thursday, so I wanted to ask Quan Jun if you have time to watch our performance then."

Last night, Goto Ichiri suddenly sent him a message, but then fell silent all of a sudden, leaving Quan confused. When he arrived at school, he asked the girl during the lunch break and got a somewhat unexpected answer.

"A band performance?"

"Ah."

"Have you decided yet?"

"Yes, the tickets have been distributed. Please accept them if you can."

The girl sitting next to Quan took out a live ticket from her pocket and handed it to Quan who was sitting next to her.

"What's the price of the ticket?"

"Eh?"

When he heard Quan asking about the price, Goto Ichiri was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hands towards Quan to indicate that he didn't need it.

"It was Quan Jun who helped me join the band and gave me so much support and encouragement. Without Quan Jun, I would not be able to do anything well on my own, so... for my first live performance, I hope Quan Jun can come and watch."

Goto Ichiri, who was filled with complicated emotions, faced Izumi's gaze, but silently lowered his head, looked at his legs together, and expressed his inner thoughts in a low and soft voice.

Gently squeezing the live ticket in his hand, Quan could feel the girl's body temperature that had not yet dissipated.

"Well, then, I'll accept it. I will definitely come to Yili's first live."

Goto Ichiri, who lowered her head, couldn't help but feel relieved after hearing Izumi's answer. At the same time, she was looking forward to the live performance on Thursday. She wanted Izumi to see her performance on the live stage and let Izumi notice her existence.

"For me, this is the only way to make Izumi-kun keep looking at me..."

……

After school, Izumi, who had already made an appointment with Aine, took the subway to Shibuya after leaving school. She stood quietly outside Shibuya Station, waiting for her sister to arrive.

"There are still twenty minutes until the time we agreed to meet..."