Tokyo Psychic

"If I could win a 1 billion yen jackpot on the lottery, the first thing I'd do is support you, a former lead singer of a female rock band with only a junior high school diploma."

"Hehehe, you really dare to dream, little brat." Twenty-year-old Kawahara Momoka pushed hard on the shoulders of seventeen-year-old Kurusu Akatsuki, causing him to sway left and right.

*

The two finally left the blocked overpass and arrived at the parking lot near STARRY. The sky was already tinged with a thin layer of crimson.

The dusk firelight is faintly visible in the vast sea of ​​clouds, shining on the body, burning, and filling the heart with the warmth of the transition between spring and summer. The faint blush sticks to the stone-paved streets, and is crushed into brilliant sparks by passing vehicles.

"You're finally here!" As soon as I walked into STARRY's recording studio, I heard Ijichi Hongka's relieved voice.

Yamada Ryo was curled up on the sofa beside him, holding a bag of potato chips and taking off his shoes.

She chewed some potato chips and made a slurred sound, "Nina has a fever today and can't go to band practice."

Shoko Toyokawa, who was doing her homework at the table, looked up at them and said, "There's no way we can rehearse today."

"Well. I can only compose music." Kawahara Ki Momoka put her guitar case against the wall.

"I heard that Ms. Kawahara is a great composer, considering she created something like 'Hollow Box'. Could I entrust the composition to you?"

Ijichi Hongka clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, looking like a shrine maiden worshiping a statue in a shrine, or like a groundhog begging for food, bending down and begging for Kawahara Momoka. She looked very cute.

Everyone tacitly agreed not to make any requests to Toyokawa Shoko.

Even on the Tsuki no Mori campus forum, her name was listed as the composer of the famous, even slightly popular song "Haruhi Shadow"...

"Sure enough, we should go out and collect materials," said Yamada Ryo, who had been eating potato chips. "After all, no one even knows what style the current band should have."

Then she fished out five concert tickets from her pocket.

"It just so happens that there's a really great band performing in Shibuya."

"Morfonica?" Kurusu Akatsuki took the concert ticket from Yamada Ryo.

"Yeah, yeah, I bought a few tickets when I was buying stationery in Shibuya today." Yamada Ryo nodded repeatedly.

"Where do you get the money?" Kurusu Akatsuki, who knew the other party's financial situation well, asked a soul-searching question.

Ijichi Hongxia, who was originally acting coquettishly by holding Kawahara Ki Momoka's arm, suddenly couldn't smile anymore.

"I borrowed it from Hongxia." Yamada Ryo was still chewing potato chips.

Morfonica... Toyokawa Shoko took out the sunglasses she had prepared long ago from her schoolbag and put them on her face. "It's time to go now. Their concert should start at 7:30, right?"

"Yeah," Yamada Ryo stepped his feet in white half-length socks into the pair of sneakers next to the sofa, stretched, and then picked up the box containing the bass.

After saying a brief goodbye to the store manager, everyone walked out of the Livehouse and took the train to Shibuya.

Coincidentally, the advertising screen at the tram station was playing a concert trailer for "Morfonica".

The melodious melody of the violin has a unique power.

The expectations in my heart gradually accumulated.

When the train arrived at the station, these expectations turned into a lightness that allowed them to travel day and night, ignoring the shops and high-rise buildings along the way, and walked lightly to the "Hokkaido Concert Hall" where the concert would be held.

At this time, the concert had already started for half a minute.

Kurusu Akatsuki followed the girls as they looked for a seat in the audience.

The persona "Dioscuri" stood behind him, holding a sketchbook and quickly drawing every detail of the guitar solo being performed by a girl named "Kiritani Toruko" on the stage on the broadcast screen.

(024.webp)

042. The Melancholy of Jing Qinrencai (Six Chapters in One!!)

（报复式加更：1/6、2/6、3/6、4/6、5/6、6/6。）

*

*

Halfway through the concert, Kurusu Akatsuki suddenly felt a slight tiredness rising in her heart.

The audience around were waving cheering sticks in the dark, and the sounds of singing along or cheering, along with the inner fatigue, surged like a tide.

Countless mobile phones were shaking as they took photos that were almost blurred into a ball of light. The audio, whose voice could not be heard at all, was spinning blindly in the processor. In the end, thousands of people were crowding together to rush out of the weak signal of the venue, and the content they wanted to convey was nothing more than a simple sentence or two.

But it is these simple, numerous and even noisy texts, pictures, and videos that together become an indispensable part of this performance, extending the influence of the singing to further places like sound.

Kurusu Akatsuki held the guitar case, but his index finger and thumb were clenched, unconsciously tapping the surface of the case in a rhythmic sound.

The songs from the performance came out from speakers on all sides, pouring over the entire venue like a flood.

Momoka Kawaharaki, who was sitting next to him, was listening to the singing attentively, while trying to break down in her mind the coordination and collaboration between the different instruments in each segment.

She was lost in thought, the guitar's sense of rhythm was too strong, and the drummer was even more amazing, each beat was followed by an extremely fast... Wait, this didn't seem to be the sound of drums, right?

The sound seemed to come from...

Momoka Kawahara suddenly turned around and saw Akatsuki Kurusu unconsciously poking the guitar case with his fingers beside her.

There are soft thumps as my fingers hit the guitar case, but if you listen carefully, you'll find they perfectly match the guitar sounds in "Morfonica."

Is it possible to perfectly separate the guitar melody in such an environment?

Momoka Kawahara looked around. The noise and bustle were too much, and the guitar sound coming from the tube speakers was terribly distorted. She couldn't help but be stunned.

She looked at Kurusu Akatsuki's right hand, and all her thoughts returned to the meaning of the word "talent".

Kawahara Momoka couldn't help but lean closer to Kurusu Akatsuki's shoulder so that he could hear her voice, "Have you learned it?"

"What did you learn?" Kurusu Akatsuki's right hand stopped, and he realized belatedly that he had been knocking on the guitar case for a long time.

At this moment, he looked up and found that "Dioscuri" was standing behind him with a pen in one hand and a sketchbook in the other.

Personality mask?

When did it come out?!

Then he looked at the girls in the band on the stage, and an electric feeling ran through his arms to his fingertips, becoming an indescribable sense of familiarity.

It seemed that as long as conditions permitted, he could immediately stand on the stage and replace the guitarist named "Kiritani Toruko", becoming a part of the band tacitly and harmoniously with exactly the same style and technique.

When did the Personality Mask have this function? Kurusu Akatsuki stared at the "Dioscuri" above her head.

His abilities should be limited to [saving] and [loading] memories.

Soon, Kurusu Akatsuki realized it.

This body inherently possesses unparalleled musical talent. "Amamiya Ren"'s love and belief in rock and roll, even after his death, still serves as the power of the "heart", flowing through his fingertips, becoming a kind of natural confidence, as if he can cope with any performance.

Every detail of Toru Kiritani's guitar playing, recorded through the images of "Dioscuri", has become a memory that will never fade. They are poured into the body and, after being processed by the residual "heart", transformed into skills that truly belong to him.

Kurusu Akatsuki could feel her heartbeat getting faster and faster as the music progressed.

He understood that it was the "heart" that remained in his body that was excited about this performance, and then the personality mask that was born based on the "heart" of "Amamiya Ren" was revealed with the drastic changes in this subconscious.

So, when will you awaken for the third time? He looked into the eyes of Dioscuri until He slowly disappeared from reality, leaving no trace.

"Why aren't you talking?" The ignored Kawahara Ki Momoka poked Kurusu Akatsuki's shoulder with her elbow in dissatisfaction.

"It seems I have learned it." Kurusu Akatsuki said with a strange expression, "I can already play this piece."

"How did you do that?" Kawahara Ki Momoka's question seemed particularly vague in the noisy environment.

Kurusu Akatsuki thought for a moment and said, "As I listened more and more, I naturally knew how to play it."

"At least tell me about your insights."

"Have you seen Naruto? It's probably like Hashirama Senju, where he can just clap his hands and unleash any ninjutsu he wants."

"This is obviously wrong! How perfunctory! Even the example was wrong!" Kawahara Momoka couldn't help but complain.

"That's the 'Eye of Seeing the Ancients' from 'Sword Language'. Just by looking at it once, you can learn the opponent's moves and skills."

Kawahara Momoka stared at him for a while, "You, are you really some gifted male protagonist from some light novel?"

Kurusu Akatsuki nodded calmly, indicating that he was probably indeed that one in a million genius.

Sitting on the other side, Ijichi Hongka was typing away furiously on the numeric keys on her phone, sharing her experiences at the concert with her friends at school.

Yamada Ryo was quiet, holding the popcorn and not moving, like a sculpture.

Shoko Toyokawa, wearing large square-framed sunglasses, has stood up and is holding up her cell phone to record the video.

Kawahara Momoka turned her gaze away from the girls across from her. "Do you have any ideas for the band's new song?"

Kurusu Akatsuki looked at the band performing on the stage, a yearning in his eyes that he himself wasn't aware of. "I don't know how to compose music, but just now I suddenly had some extra melodies in my head, and I also thought of a few lyrics that I'm quite satisfied with."

"Well, let's discuss it together in the band tomorrow." Looking at the five girls on the stage who were cooperating perfectly with each other and smiling brightly, she couldn't help but think of her past self.

At that time, she had not yet quit her original band, and it seemed that when she played, she would feel joy like them, involuntarily, integrating her dissatisfaction with life and even her longing for the future into the outburst of singing, and pushing the strings with the pick with passion and excitement, as if a general with great strategies and great ambitions had found his own mount, waving his weapons and rushing towards the unknown reed field. However, the incomparable tacit understanding, the indescribable confidence and emotion are the joy unique to rock and roll.

After a while, Kawahara Momoka suddenly said, "Are you free at nine o'clock tonight?"

"Ms. Kawaharaki is afraid to go home alone?"

"I just want to drink."

"Okay." Kurusu Akatsuki answered readily.

"You are not allowed to drink. Minors should obey the law."

"..."

The performance on the stage continues.

The drumsticks hit with powerful sounds, dispelling the surprise that the bassist's impromptu solo had just brought to the audience.

The sound of the drums was overly bright, like thunder, deliberately creating an "unpleasant" atmosphere.

It was as if someone was suddenly running in an empty corridor wearing indoor shoes. The sound of footsteps echoed in the narrow and enclosed space, making people unconsciously feel a little panic in their hearts.

*

The petite and slender girl was blocked by a group of people in the corridor of the teaching building.

On the window on one side, Jing Qinrencai's face, filled with panic, was vaguely reflected.

She covered her bleeding forehead and stumbled back.

But someone immediately caught up with her and grabbed her collar.

Immediately afterwards, Jing Qinrencai was pressed to the cold ground.

The girls had surrounded her and were punching and kicking her, cursing and mocking her.

A clear pain came from the wound on his forehead where the fist had hit him again, and then scalding liquid slowly flowed down his face.

Jing Qinrencai, who was lying on the floor in her pajamas, got up in a somewhat embarrassed manner and repeatedly wiped the tears from her face with her hands.

She picked up the thermometer from the bedside table, pointed it at her forehead and pressed the switch.

Beep...beep, the monotonous electronic prompt sound rang out in the dimly lit bedroom.

"Thirty-eight and a half degrees... Damn it, the fever had clearly started to subside by noon."

She pulled a napkin over her mouth, sneezed, and stumbled out of the bedroom.

In the bathroom, Jing Qinrencai looked at her tearful eyes, her cheeks and ears red from the fever, and felt the weakness and aches in her body, feeling very depressed.

Everyone in the band should be rehearsing now, right?

Maybe they've finished rehearsing and are already having dinner together in Shimokitazawa...

Jing Qinrencai really doesn't like the feeling of being alone.

Especially after she has experienced the horror of being "isolated", "excluded" and "bullying", she feels increasingly insecure.

So when she finally makes new friends, she will cherish them very much and enjoy the warmth that this friendship brings.

Jing Qinrencai adjusted the faucet to heating mode, then took her own towel, wiped her face with hot water, and staggered back to the bedroom.

Everyone in the band...what are you doing now?

She knelt on the bed, reached under the pillow and groped around, finally finding the phone with message bubbles constantly lighting up on the screen.

It was Ijichi Nikka, Yamada Ryo, Kawahara Momoka, Toyokawa Shoko... Even the bad-tempered Amemiya sent a message.

[Ijichi Nikka: Nina! Morfonica's concert was truly amazing! (Uploaded "Concert Video".mp4)]

[Ijichi Nikka: Are you feeling better?]

Yamada Ryo: (Expressionless selfie.jpg), (Live photo from the concert.jpg)

[Kawahara Momoka: When you're sick, you can try singing in your dreams. I heard it can be very helpful.]