After being elected as the governor of Tokyo, he will debut as a band!

Then, the moment the intro started, Shoko noticed Chihaya Aine's unusual behavior.

The prelude had already begun, but after the first off-key note was played, Aine froze completely. For the next few seconds, the pink-haired girl's fingertips hovered on the trembling platform above the strings.

On the other side, since she didn't hear the rhythm guitar, Yoro Nai directly pressed the chords with her left hand, while her right hand displayed the amazing skill of playing both fingerstyle and pick. She single-handedly covered both the lead guitar and the rhythm guitar, her fingers flying like butterflies between the frets, even leaving afterimages.

Her powerful performance managed to preserve the integrity of "Reaching for the Sky," but the most important thing about a live performance is the performer's emotions, and everyone in the audience could sense Chihaya Aine's state of mind.

Toyokawa Shoko soon heard people around her whispering with dissatisfaction.

"What's going on? Is that guitarist on the side really playing?"

"It was probably a stage mishap. After all, they are a new band, and it's inevitable that all sorts of problems will arise."

“But performing on a formal stage in a commercial performance hall without mastering the piece is irresponsible to the audience. Lena-chan’s playing is quite good, but a band is not a one-person show. If even one member is not in the right state of mind, the performance of the whole band will be affected.”

Because more and more viewers were discussing Chihaya Aine's mistake, even if the other four members performed well, the atmosphere in the venue could not be as enthusiastic as the previous Sick Hack performance.

Aine was clearly aware of this as well. She looked at the audience in a daze, but when she met the gazes of those who were questioning, worried, or urging her, she felt the tension in her heart growing stronger and stronger, and she almost froze.

As expected, it just won't work! Should I... maybe I should just run away? I'll start over with a more ordinary band, one that doesn't debut in three months or perform at the Budokan in six months. If I join a normal high school girl band that just wants to get cheers at the school festival, I'm sure I can stick with it!

Ai Yin suddenly looked up at the passageway to the side of the stage, but Gao Songdeng was standing right between her and the entrance of the passageway. The two immediately met each other's eyes. Gao Songdeng's eyes revealed pure concern, without urging, complaining, or showing any disgust.

As for Akari, even if Aine ran away from the stage, she wouldn't think it was Aine's fault, because she knew what it felt like to stand on the stage, facing a huge audience, and those pressured gazes.

Even for her, the reason she had the courage to stand here and to express her inner cries through other people's songs was because she knew that Li Xi and Su Shi were supporting her, and that Mr. Hack's words made her believe that as long as she could keep singing, she could help Xiao Xiang.

As for Aine, even though she joined the fan club, she is still essentially a person. Su Shi, Li Xi, Le Nai, and even Xiang Zi don't really care about her. So even though she is standing on stage with the five members of "Children of Mi Chong", she is a true lone rocker.

If Aine is able to complete this performance, I think I will admire her very much.

Like her singing voice, Takasatsu Tō's eyes could tell a story, and for a moment, Aine seemed to be able to connect with Tō's heart through those eyes.

"tomorin..."

She muttered something to herself without thinking.

Yes, even if we were to run away, we should do it after we've fought this hard.

But what should I do?

Aine looked towards the audience again, hoping to get help from Shoko or other acquaintances who were mixed in with the audience.

However, Xiangzi only gave her a detached look, and then, as if he had given up on her, turned his attention to Deng's face.

Oh no, I must have angered her now. Xiangzi had high hopes for this live performance. Will I become the sinner she talks about after I leave the stage?

Chihaya Aine stuck out her tongue inwardly and looked away. This time, she saw the members of the Link Band, who had come all the way from Shimokitazawa to see the performance.

Kita stood at the front of the crowd, casting an encouraging look at her with unwavering determination, while shouting at her, "It's just a mishap on your first live performance! Your senior has been through it too, it's no big deal!"

Aine also saw Yamada Ryo and Ijichi Nijika waving at her together. Judging from their mouth shapes, Nijika-senpai seemed to be saying, "No problem, staying on stage is the first step towards a successful band."

As for the cool rice crackers, she seemed to be saying...

"That's great. I wish I could stand on stage like that and do nothing, and still get paid for my performance."

Hello! !

Finally, there was Pochi, standing far back from the crowd.

Pochi looked at Aine, as if he fully understood her nervousness in front of the audience, and nodded to her.

"In that case, I'll lend you my power!"

Pochi's eyes seemed to convey this message.

Then she pulled out a cardboard box from somewhere and raised her hand as if to throw it onto the stage.

When Aine saw this, she broke out in a cold sweat, but luckily someone nearby stopped her.

This person was none other than Aoyama Xiang, who was wearing a mask. He had changed into a hooded outfit and used the hood to hide his masked face in the shadows. In order not to be noticed by the fans and affect the performance of the "Mizuki", he deliberately stayed in the most inconspicuous position at the back, very close to Bochi.

After stopping Pochi, he whispered a few words to Pochi, then straightened up and gave Chihaya Aine a thumbs up.

Immediately afterwards, Pochi took off his blue and yellow crystal hairband and handed it to Aoyama.

After wrapping the headband around his fingers a few times to build up sufficient elastic potential energy, he flicked his wrist and threw the blue and yellow crystal headband.

The next instant, Ai Yin felt a tightness on the left side of her scalp. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Boqi's yellow and blue headdress was already tied on her head.

This is!

Aine sensed something, and then heard Kita, who was closest to the stage, shout in surprise:

"Was that magic?! Aine-chan turned into Pochi? No, Pochi-chan's braid is on the left... So, could this be the legendary Super Aine?"

Sound form!!

……

At this moment, I only want to honor Hong and belittle Xiang.

Isogachi Music Awards: 050 You're suffering just from listening to "Haruhi Kage"?

As mentioned earlier, because Boqi is very socially anxious, Ai Yin would wear the same headband as Boqi when she was learning guitar from him. This way, when Boqi was facing her, he would have a vision like he was looking in a mirror, which greatly relieved his nervousness and allowed the guitar lessons to proceed smoothly.

Later on, Aine could enter a learning state more quickly as soon as she put on the yellow and blue crystal headband, as if it had become a conditioned reflex.

Ai Yin paused for a moment, then subconsciously touched the extra braid on the left side of her head.

Could this be it?

She looked towards Boqi's location again, and what she saw this time made her body tremble even more!

Aoyama pulled out a high stool from somewhere and made Boqi sit on it. Then, he found a book called "Mastering Thirty Guitar Tabs in Thirty Days" and shoved it into Boqi's hands.

Pochi, as if enlightened, opened the poorly written guitar textbook and, just like he had done during the dozen or so guitar lessons he had given Chihaya Aine, raised his hand and gently tapped a page filled with sheet music.

Ai Yin instantly regained the feeling she had in the practice room of the "Starry Night" performance hall.

Although her mind was still rigid, muscle memory began to take over her body at this moment.

A series of beautiful notes flowed from her fingertips, perfectly matching Shiina Tatsuki's drumbeats, Kaname Rakuna's main melody, and Takamatsu Akari's singing.

Ai Yin was shocked. She felt a slight tingling on the left side of her scalp, as if a force was flowing into her body from there. Soon, her body began to sway involuntarily to the rhythm of her movements.

Her mind was completely absorbed in the performance—

Oops! Master Pochi, is this the power you gave me?!

Because Aine found her rhythm midway through the performance, the pressure on Rakuna was greatly reduced. While Akari was happy for Aine, she also began to fully immerse herself in singing.

It can be said that the performance in the second half of the song was much better than the first half. Overall, although there was a minor hiccup at the beginning due to the weather, the performance was excellent overall.

So even after the piece ended, the audience still appreciated it.

"You sang so well! You're the 'Children of Mystery' band, right? From today onwards, I'm your fan!"

"The pink-haired guitarist played quite well! It would be even better if you could play like this from the beginning. I hope to see you perform even better and more fully at the next show."

"How about we perform that song again right now? Anyway, I saw on tonight's schedule that there aren't any other bands scheduled after that."

The fans' suggestion is very reasonable. Even for a very popular band like Sickhack, if something goes wrong during the performance, they will add an extra segment to make up for it. After all, it's not a large-scale commercial performance. The fans can tolerate you making mistakes on stage, and you also have to take care of the fans' feelings and make them feel that the performance they watched was worth the ticket price.

The members of "Mizhong" exchanged glances and decided that singing it again would be appropriate, so they signaled to the stage lighting technician to help readjust the lights to the performance settings.

But Yoroi had a different opinion.

The lead guitar part of "Reaching for the Sky" was too boring for her, especially after Chihaya Aine regained her form, she felt like she was about to fall asleep while playing.

Moreover, what's the point of playing the same song twice? The sound quality of a live performance is far inferior to that of a song recorded in a recording studio. So why do people still want to watch live performances? Isn't it because live performances can better express emotions and create atmosphere?

But if you sing the same song twice in a row, can you still express the full emotion the second time?

Rakuna wouldn't play such boring music.

Therefore, when the stage lights dimmed, signaling the start of the second performance, Lena pressed the effects pedal in front of her, switching the electric guitar to a different, more powerful tone.

She took the lead and played a completely different intro than the song she had just played.

At first, the other four members of the band did not immediately follow suit, and Nagasaki Motoyo even looked bewildered.

This is the melody of "Spring Shadow". Why play "Spring Shadow"? Xiao Xiang, Xiao Xiang might get hurt.

Su Shi was anxious, but she couldn't stop Le Nai because at that moment, some fans in the audience started talking about "Has another performance accident happened?"

If a new band only has one mishap during its debut performance, it can be explained as an understandable price to pay for growth, since everyone makes mistakes sometimes. However, if two songs in the same performance have major errors, even the most forgiving fans will find it hard to forgive.

For bands aiming to debut, both the technical skills to ensure high-quality live performances and the artistic reputation recognized by fans are indispensable. Making two consecutive "mistakes" in the same performance can easily lead fans to question the band's professionalism, thereby damaging their reputation and future prospects.

Motoyo Nagasaki knew that if "Child of Lost Weight" lost their chance for a short-term debut due to a failed debut, then Shoko Toyokawa might really leave.

Therefore, in order to avoid leaving music fans with the impression of being "unprofessional" or "unserious", Motoyo Nagasaki became the first person to join the performance.

Seeing that Suze had compromised, Shiina Ritsuki no longer hesitated, picked up her drumsticks, and began to play the rhythm that she had played countless times in the past year.

At this point, the performance of "Spring Shadow" was a done deal, and Aine could only follow suit.

Although Xiangzi had already explicitly forbidden the new band from touching this taboo song that carried CRYCHIC's past, he did not take the sheet music away from Deng.

Aine had watched the Crychic performance video and liked the song quite a bit. In addition, she was curious about why Hikari valued the song so much. So, she copied the sheet music without permission in the activity room of the Astronomy Club of Hanekawa Middle School. When she went to the Starry Sky Exhibition Hall to practice the piano, she would take it out and play it from time to time. As a result, she was able to play the part taken from the guitar.

As for Takamatsu lamps...

She had actually wanted to sing this song for a long time.

"Spring Shadow" is filled with the emotions she wanted to express to Xiangzi and confide in him.

Meanwhile, Xiangzi was watching their performance from below the stage. The dozen or so eye contact between the two during their performance of "Reaching the Sky" fueled Deng's growing desire to sing "Spring Shadows."

"His heart is filled with weariness, and his eyes are constantly wandering?"

"I'm alone in this world?"

So, as the prelude to "Spring Shadow" came to an end, her vocals, rich in texture and delicate emotion, resonated throughout the performance hall.

……

Meanwhile, at this time, Toyokawa Shoko...

At this moment, Toyokawa Shoko felt only despair.

She absolutely did not want to hear her former companions play this song in this situation, but she could not stop or condemn their performance.

Kaname Rakuna, who led the way, was the key to her debut in the "Goshicho Cup," and Nagasaki Motoyo cooperated with Rakuna's performance to ensure the quality of the performance and the future of the band.

An arrow from the past struck what is impossible to reach today.

The defense of oneself.

She couldn't help but lower her head and clench her fists.

When she looked up again, there were tear tracks on the corners of her eyes.

"Mr. Hack, can you tell me... does a person have to suffer before they can accomplish something?"

As Takamatsu Akari sang, Toyokawa Shoko gradually retreated to the edge of the crowd and asked Aoyama, who was engrossed in watching the live performance with Bochi:

A large question mark appeared above Qingshan's head.

"What suffering have you endured?"

051. Ms. Toyokawa, you should take the prime minister's seat.

"..."

Toyokawa Shoko looked at Aoyama Mukashi, who was casting a questioning glance at her, and couldn't help but feel a little wronged.

Even someone as outstanding as Governor Aoyama is a rough-around-the-edges man.

How could he possibly understand the sensitive heart of a young girl, and the emotional suffering she had endured?

It was a wrong payment after all.

But what could she do?

Toyokawa Shoko dared not bare her teeth at Aoyama, and could only swallow her grievances.

If it were Nagasaki Motoyo who said those words to her, she would definitely sneer immediately, then retort, "Of course someone high and mighty would think that way," and then walk away.

She remained silent for about a minute before she could process her anger, but the melody of "Spring Shadow" playing in her ears only made her feel more agitated.

She didn't want to stay there any longer; she wanted to find a quiet place.