Mygo, are you all yanderes?

We must find a way to fool Gao Songdeng away.

"But Su Shi, you..."

Takamatsu Akari wanted to continue, but Nagasaki Sosuke's next words cut her off mid-sentence.

"Xiaodeng, Lixi and I are leaving now. You should go home soon too."

Nagasaki Motoyo's expression turned cold. This time, she didn't maintain her usual gentle tone, but instead appeared somewhat indifferent.

This was the most reasonable and least likely way for her to think of to anger Shiina Tatsuki.

"……what……"

Takamatsu was startled by Nagasaki Motoyo's sudden change in expression. Her initial surge of courage gradually faded as Nagasaki Motoyo briefly revealed her true colors. She lowered her head softly and opened her mouth.

"Leave this place to..."

"Deng, you should go back now."

Shiina Riki saw Nagasaki Motoyo and Takamatsu Akari interacting and walked over in a bad mood, interrupting Nagasaki Motoyo and gently comforting Takamatsu Akari.

"but……"

"It's alright, leave this to me and Su Shi, nothing bad will happen."

"……Um."

Takamatsu gave a soft reply, then quietly turned and walked towards his home.

"I'm leaving now..."

After watching Takamatsu Akari walk away, Shiina Tatsuki turned her gaze back to Nagasaki Motoyo, her brows furrowed as she spoke.

"Su Shi, what exactly do you want to do?"

"Little Lantern, she really does like Kusano Akira."

Nagasaki Motoyo's deep, bright eyes, as clear as the sea, remained fixed on the direction where Takamatsu Akari had left. Even when Shiina Tatsuki spoke to her, she did not look away, but instead uttered a nonsensical remark.

"Just tell me directly, stop beating around the bush."

Shiina Riki looked at Nagasaki Motoyo and clicked her tongue softly.

She dislikes things that are roundabout and prefers Nagasaki Motoyo to just say what she means rather than be a riddle teller.

"Lixi, I hate Kusano Akira."

Nagasaki Motoyo finally shifted her gaze away from Takamatsu Akari and turned her attention back to Shiina Tatsuki, speaking to her earnestly.

"...So?"

“I want him to leave our band.”

"Are you crazy?!"

Shiina Riki took two steps forward, his tone becoming very impatient.

Takamatsu Akari finally agreed to reunite with the band, but at this crucial moment, Nagasaki Motoyo actually went and did something to sabotage the band. How could Shiina Tatsuki not be angry?

Why are you saying this at this time?

"Are you still thinking about reviving your Crychic? Are you still thinking about your Toyokawa Shoko?!"

"No, I didn't."

Nagasaki Motoyo unconsciously rubbed her fingertips again. Looking at Shiina Tatsuki's angry expression, she calmly explained.

"I simply dislike Akira Kusano."

"Isn't that even stranger? Why do you hate him? Don't you two walk together every day?"

Shiina Riki looked at Nagasaki Motoyo with confusion. In her opinion, Nagasaki Motoyo had absolutely no reason to dislike Kusano Akira.

"Did you know, Riki, Kusano Akira knows Komugi?"

Nagasaki Motoyo took out her phone and showed Shiina Tatsuki her chat history with Wakaba Mutsu.

"This is a message Xiao Mu sent me last night—don't you find it strange? Why would Xiao Mu be in contact with him? They shouldn't know each other, right?"

"And Mutsu was asking me for Kusano Akira's home address."

"..."

Shiina Riki vaguely guessed why Nagasaki Motoyo disliked Kusano Akira; it seemed she had had a similar thought not long ago.

8 However, she still decided to test Nagasaki Motoyo first.

5. "So, you suspect... that Kusano Akira has ill intentions?"

7. "That's it."

6. Nagasaki Motoyo nodded.

6. "...I think you should not be so nervous. I talked about these things when I chatted with him privately before."

Shiina Tatsuki recalled her conversation with Kusano Akira and Kusano Akira's dark circles, which were not much smaller than hers. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke to Nagasaki Motoyo.

4 Now that she knew that Nagasaki Motoyo was worried about this reason, her anger naturally dissipated, since she had actually guessed the same thing as Nagasaki Motoyo.

4. It is reasonable for Nagasaki Motoyo to have such suspicions.

2. "Lixi, he has connections with Xiaomu, without our knowledge."

Nagasaki Motoyo's expression changed slightly. In her prediction, Shiina Tatsuki should have sensed something was wrong and started to get angry, but she wasn't angry at all, and her expression didn't even change much.

She sensed something was wrong when her plans took an unexpected turn.

"I know this."

Shiina Tatsuki coughed lightly, trying to defend Kusano Akira.

"Didn't he say that he's a fan of ours, so it's not surprising that we get to know each other?"

Author's Note: Here's one chapter for now, the rest will be updated tonight.

Volume 1: Chapter 55 (2k) - Shiina Tatsuki's Rejection

"You think this is normal?"

Nagasaki Motoyo bit her lip, her expression turning somewhat unpleasant.

She really overlooked the fact that Kusano Akira had said from the beginning that he was a fan of Crychic, so even if people found out about his contact with Wakaba Mutsumi, they would just act like Shiina Tatsuki doesn't care.

"What if I said that his harmonious understanding was based on lies?"

Fortunately, she wasn't completely without options.

Nagasaki Motoyo was glad she had asked a few more questions during the day and learned about Kusano Akira's lie from Wakaba Mutsu. Otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to persuade Shiina Tatsuki now.

"Lies? What are you talking about?"

Shiina Riki felt a little curious after hearing Nagasaki Motoyo's words.

She wasn't worried about Kusano Akira's character for the time being, but she was indeed curious about what other lies Kusano Akira could tell to make Nagasaki Motoyo insist on her ideas.

"Is such that……"

Nagasaki Sosei then told Shiina Tatsuki all the news and her speculations from when she met Wakaba Mutsu and Kusano Akira during the day until Wakaba Mutsu secretly sent messages to people.

"That's just the way it is."

After saying all this, Nagasaki Motoyo let out a soft sigh, her blue eyes revealing a confident expression.

"..."

Shiina Tatsuki opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything. She could only rub her temples, her head aching.

"So, this is what happened where you are?"

"Yes."

"..."

Shiina Tatsuki sighed heavily. She wondered if Kusano Akira's behavior was really as Nagasaki Motoyo had said. If it was, she really didn't know how to exonerate him.

However, Shiina Tatsuki still wanted to believe Kusano Akira, after all, Kusano Akira's dark circles and his more skilled technique than at the beginning couldn't lie.

“Lixi, that’s why I need your help to kick him out.”

Nagasaki Motoyo said earnestly, a confident smile playing on her lips. She believed that Shiina Tatsuki would believe her after hearing all this.

"……Do not."

However, Shiina Tatsuki still surprised her by rejecting her again.

"Why!"

Nagasaki Motoyo's perfect expression finally cracked a little. She grabbed Shiina Riki's hand with an anxious expression she had never seen since they met.

"Why are you still unwilling? I've already said so much...!"

Nagasaki Motoyo really felt something was wrong. It wasn't just others, but even Shiina Tatsuki, whom she considered very reliable, was acting this way.

Could it be that even with Shiina Ritsuki, she was still too late?

"Sigh... Let me tell you about what I talked about with him."

Shiina Riki gently brushed Nagasaki Motoyo's hand away, and said with a weary expression.

"...Okay, go ahead and say it."

Upon hearing Shiina Tatsuki's words, Nagasaki Motoyo took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Your concern is that Kusano is a scumbag, and that he joined the band because he's a womanizer who just wants to play with people's feelings and even do worse things—right?"

"Yes."

Nagasaki Motoyo nodded, agreeing with Shiina Tatsuki's statement.

"I thought so too, just this morning."

"Then you should understand me."

When Nagasaki Motoyo heard Shiina Riki say that she had also thought about this, her brows relaxed a little. This at least showed that Shiina Riki was not as easily swayed as the others.

But given that, Nagasaki Motoyo didn't quite understand why Shiina Tatsuki still disagreed, so she asked another question.

“I understand your thoughts, so the conversation between Kusano and I was about this.”

"At that time, Kusano called me over to talk about the 'study session,' and after we finished talking about it, I called him over again."

"..."

"There's not much to say about Chat 9, just a few sentences." ≤§5◎

Shiina Tatsuki leaned gently against the railing of the overpass, her hands resting on the bars, her violet eyes gazing at the endless stream of cars below, and she let out a soft breath.

"And they're all just empty words, pointless to say—but I discovered something in them."

"Kusano cares deeply about the band."

"He takes the band very seriously. Have you looked closely at his hands?"

"His hand...? What happened to his hand?"

Nagasaki Motoyo looked blankly at Shiina Tatsuki; she really hadn't paid much attention to Kusano Akira's health.

"You didn't notice anything... but surely you would have noticed something in his performance? You must have been able to spot the problem with his performance."

"That's true, his practice today wasn't very good."

Nagasaki Motoyo recalled Kusano Akira's performance today.

"Simply put, he was practicing while ignoring the injury on his hand—and although he didn't seem to care much about the injury, it looked quite frightening."

“I don’t think he’s a scumbag. What scumbag would go to such lengths for his lust? — If there were one, I would really think he’s amazing.”

"Moreover, according to Ai Yin and his dark circles, he stays up very late every day when he gets home, and the reason for staying up late is to practice his keyboard alone."

"So, Su Shi, although I understand your thoughts, I choose to believe him."

After Shiina Tatsuki finished speaking, he got up and walked a bit under the overpass.

"Let's go first, I still need to go back and revise the sheet music."

"..."

Nagasaki Motoyo quickly caught up with Shiina Tatsuki, and the two walked side by side. Nagasaki Motoyo glanced at Shiina Tatsuki beside her and said.