Tokyo Psychic

This group of high school girls who played in a band easily helped her recall her past school days.

Having a boy with impeccable looks in the band will indeed make girls gradually develop a liking for him during training and performances.

Momoka Kawahara once heard a senior rock musician talk about a story about a handsome male lead singer in the band who was cheating on multiple women, and eventually the matter became a big deal and everyone wanted to commit suicide.

Although they don't seem to like Kurusu Akatsuki yet, their affection for her, which is far higher than that of ordinary men, can be seen at a glance - hell, when she thinks about it carefully, she herself doesn't seem to have much aversion to Kurusu Akatsuki.

Now she could only hope that these girls who were still studying could remain more rational on the topic of love, and that Kurusu Akatsuki would not be such a scumbag as to irresponsibly play with their feelings.

Everyone walked into the club building, chatting and laughing, until they saw the bumpy stairs in front of them. The carts filled with musical instruments and digital devices seemed to become extremely heavy all of a sudden.

Gravity always teaches humans to be humble and polite in the face of nature inadvertently.

*

By the time the boys and girls had moved all their belongings into the music classroom, the sky outside the window was gradually approaching dusk.

Flame-like light and heat were revealed among the sea of ​​clouds, and long light and shadows spread among the tables and chairs stacked around the classroom, like a chessboard grid, extending from one end of the classroom to the other until it covered all the space.

Jing Qinrencai closed the door and glanced nervously at the banner hanging above the classroom. She clearly remembered that the content covered underneath was "The Phantom Thieves of the Minds".

"Are we still training today on the song that Ms. Haragi wrote?"

Yamada Ryo looked at Kurusu Akatsuki and suddenly felt eager to try.

Kurusu Akatsuki raised her hand in disapproval. "Our first roadshow is coming up soon. We can't possibly be rehearsing a completely unfamiliar piece."

"Yeah, and it's not very convenient to make music scores right now. Toyokawa-san will have to work part-time later, right?"

Ijichi Hongxia looked at the keyboardist who was adjusting the various keys of the electronic organ.

Feeling the gazes of the crowd, Toyokawa Shoko nodded. "At six o'clock, I'm going to work at the fast food restaurant in Shibuya."

"It's really hard." Momoka Kawahara, the only one qualified to say this, sighed with empathy. As an adult, her daily workload was even heavier than Toyokawa Shoko's... She also had to work part-time at a 24-hour convenience store at nine o'clock in the evening.

Shoko Toyokawa looked at the band's guitarist, who was also a part-time worker, and showed an expression of mutual understanding.

In order to prevent the topic from straying into a more serious and cruel reality, Ichichi Hongxia quickly clapped her hands, "Well then, everyone, cherish your time and rehearse quickly!"

Kurusu Akatsuki added, "You can leave these instruments and equipment in the classroom. We can come back here to practice tomorrow after school... I've already made an agreement with the store manager that we can borrow these equipment until the end of the semester."

He looked around at the girls. "In some ways, this music classroom should be more suitable for us than STARRY's recording studio, right?"

Kawahara Momoka nodded in agreement. "After all, it makes me feel uneasy when I'm constantly occupying other people's workspaces that they have to pay for."

Because of the two rounds of applause from Ijichi Nijika earlier, Yamada Ryo was able to applaud enthusiastically at this time. While clapping, she looked at her best friend with admiration, "Nijika, you really have the potential to become a young lady."

"How can she be the eldest daughter? She is just being taken care of unilaterally by her elder sister!" Ijichi Hongxia quickly waved her hands, trying to skip the topic.

Then Jing Qinrencai turned on the Bluetooth speaker and connected it to her mobile phone.

The voice software started up automatically, and the song "Lost Rivers", which was said to be "the most unpleasant song in the world" and was at the top of the "Recently Played" list, played through the speakers, sending its heart-wrenching and suppressed cries to everyone in the music classroom.

At this moment, the boys and girls in the band really felt as if they were being trampled on the face by a torrent of steel, wearing armor and holding weapons. They felt an inexplicable shock and helplessness.

......

at the same time.

After school, An and Subaru were walking back to their apartment.

Suddenly, a huge guitar case passed in front of her.

The guitar case was like a mountain pressing down on the back of a girl who looked rustic in her pink sportswear, making her a little hunched over and her entire face completely covered by her overly long bangs.

It was wriggling along the street like some kind of snake-like creature that habitually twisted its body.

In her memory, the last guitarist who was a little hunchbacked and deliberately had long bangs was Kurusu Akatsuki.

According to what Jing Serina said in the club, Kurusu Akatsuki's talent on guitar is so high that it can be described as "incredible".

So she thought of the two girls she shared the apartment with. They were both musicians aiming to become professionals, but their band still lacked a lead singer, drummer and guitarist.

"That..." An and Subaru tentatively approached the pink creature in front of them.

"Hey classmate, you must be good at playing guitar, right? Are you interested in playing in a band?"

*

*

*

(10,000 words completed. Please give me a monthly pass!!)

(It's the end of the month, so everyone should vote with whatever tickets or blades they have! These props will be refreshed at the end of each month.)

(By the way, I'd like to recommend a book by a friend in the group. It's a band simulation fanfiction.)

063. Toyokawa Shoko understands people's hearts (two in one)

"New Kawasaki" Arts School.

The principal faced the stopped hands of the office clock, silent and motionless like a wax figure.

There was no trace of spirit in his dazed pupils, which just swallowed the light around him empty. It was not until there were continuous knocks on the door that some vague thoughts emerged.

"Please come in."

Xin Ma Xiaolian whispered.

A short-haired girl with an indifferent expression pushed the door open and walked in. She was wearing an intact watch on her right hand.

Yuzuki Yajima, who was chosen by "God" and trained to be a persona mask user, experienced a total of twelve deaths due to Akatsuki Kurusu in the rainstorm on April 4. All of these deaths were erased along with the "time reversal" activated by An and Subaru.

If the seniors in the organization had not looked at her with eyes that were almost full of pity and regret during the mission today, and then briefly mentioned the experiences in the previous reincarnation, perhaps she would never know that she had been killed again and again without realizing it, and was even unable to put up any effective resistance.

Yuzuki Yajima has only been a personality mask user for a short time. As the "Chosen One", the time resistance she possesses can only offset the "limited time rewind" launched by her own camp.

Before her personality mask fully learned the skill of [Abnormal Time Resistance] under the guidance of God, it was almost impossible to resist this "extraordinary time reversal" beyond her cognition.

It is said that in order to be completely immune to this abnormal time change, the Persona must acquire two extremely special skills: [Memory Archive] and [Memory Reading]——

However, this ability, which involves the essence of mental power and the degree of free manipulation of memory, cannot be acquired through learning or training, but can only be bestowed by "God" by dividing his own power.

But apparently, her faith was not in a sufficiently generous God. To gain potential beyond the norm, she had to pay an equal price.

......

Yajima Yuzuki looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a blank expression, "Mr. Shinma, congratulations, from today on you no longer need to take the 'mind-sealing drug'."

Xin Ma Xiaolian replied slowly, "What about the branch school?"

"All traces have been thoroughly cleaned up. The guests will never return. Soon you won't remember them, me, or all the truths about the world you've come into contact with and understood during this time."

"Then my..."

"Are you referring to those 'dolls'? They've all been transformed into apostles of God. If you absolutely need them, go to the school and make your own selection... Of course, the organization won't be assisting you this time."

Yajima Yuzuki placed her left hand on the pocket watch and twisted it, as if a door had been opened. Soon, something like a sickle stretched out from the twisted "door" behind her, instantly piercing Xinma Xiaolian's head before abruptly withdrawing.

pat.

A CD flew out and landed in Yajima Yuzuki's hands.

She looked at Xin Ma Xiaolian, who was leaning back in his chair with a confused look on his face, and shook her head with some disgust.

"In two days at most, you'll be able to walk and speak normally again. Cherish the little time you have left... Then, do whatever it takes to help us contain that monster called 'Amamiya Ren'."

The personality mask gave this psychological suggestion to the unconscious Xin Ma Xiaolian, and then quickly left the principal's office.

About thirty minutes later.

Xin Ma Xiaolian slowly stood up by holding the armrest of the chair. He felt as if he had had a bizarre dream.

Strange, how did I suddenly fall asleep in the office?

He covered his forehead, feeling as if he had forgotten something very important.

*

The silhouette of the setting sun danced across the dozens of windows in the teaching building, bouncing back and forth repeatedly before finally bursting into the music classroom. Brilliant golden specks of light danced across the desk, like curled fingers, swaying the hands of a clock.

It's already six o'clock in the evening.

The sound of students' discussion gradually faded away, leaving only the birdsong outside the window, the gradually blurred car horns, and the sigh-like metallic vibration of Ijichi Hongxia's somewhat discouraged and frustrated tapping on the scratchboard.

Yamada Ryo encouraged her, "Hongxia's chances of making mistakes are getting lower and lower now. She will definitely be able to practice to 'Perfect' before the performance!"

Ijichi Hongxia pulled the corners of her mouth, but she couldn't be as happy as before, "But, it's obviously me who has been holding everyone back."

Momoka Kawahara, who was putting her guitar into its case, grumbled somewhat helplessly, "Actually, Nijiya's progress is considered 'normal'. It only took her less than a week to practice a new song to the point where she can't make any obvious mistakes. No one can blame you for working so hard."

"But I'm the only one who keeps making mistakes..."

"Since mistakes are inevitable, just keep practicing. The drummer in my previous band would often struggle with unfamiliar songs for a long time."

"Sister Momoka!" Ijichi Hongka threw herself into Kawaharaki Momoka's arms with tears in her eyes.

As the only adult in the band, Momoka Kawahara had no choice but to take in this girl who was beaten to a pulp by her friends of the same age with their "gift" and "talent", and then comfort her with gentle words.

"Oh, so corny." Yamada Ryo waved his hand, moved away from them, and moved closer to the band's lead singer.

Jing Qin Rencai blinked her eyes. Even though the idol she once admired the most was getting close to a girl of the same age, she didn't feel anything special.

Since when, the space occupied by Ms. Kawaharaki, who composed and sang "Empty Box", has shrunk to the narrowest corner in her heart, which is extremely lacking in security and identity.

"Jing Qin," Kurusu Xiao's voice suddenly sounded behind her.

Jing Qinrencai turned around reflexively, and then a key was thrown into her hand.

Kurusu Akatsuki waved at her and said, "Please help lock the door before you leave."

"Where is Amamiya-san going?" Jingqin Renna, who seemed to be indifferent to everything, suddenly felt a little nervous.

"Working part-time with Toyokawa-san."

"Will STARRY not suspend operations?"

"Fast food restaurant, fast food restaurant, the salary is 1,200 yen an hour."

Then Kurusu Akatsuki followed Toyokawa Shoko out of the music classroom.

At this time, Jing Qinren turned her head and found that Yamada Ryo was looking at her with an interested look, as if he was observing a uniquely shaped beetle.

......

As dusk deepened, the city's hazy light, obscured by the lofty night sky, faded from view. The taillights of the cars beneath the overpass resembled a rushing, blood-red river, splashing and roaring as they poured into the orderly, steel forest that stood before Kurusu Akatsuki.

Following behind him, Toyokawa Shoko inadvertently looked up and saw the last faint flame on the horizon, completely extinguished in a gap in the clouds. In that moment, the city's prosperity and loneliness seemed to have found a balance, forming an indescribable sense of vast and empty nothingness. The whole world seemed to have fallen into a strange silence.

The peace of mind lasted only a very brief moment, and was immediately replaced by all kinds of troubles in life that made me so upset that I wanted to cry: my alcoholic and gambling father, relatives who had almost cut off contact with me, and my best friends and band from junior high school who I was forced to abandon as I grew up.

Those precious memories were submerged in the gray mist called "time" and "life" that rushed in from the other side of the crossroads of life, and then covered with a thick layer of dust. If you want to touch them again, you will inevitably get your hands dirty.

After leaving the band training, Shoko Toyokawa's mental state deteriorated at an almost visible speed.

The narrow and slender shoulders trembled with the girl's steps, as if they were carrying a weight that was invisible to others.

It wasn't until they were out of the school gate that Kurusu Akatsuki came up to her and patted her arm. "You might not believe this, but I found 500,000 yen today."

"Five hundred thousand..." Toyokawa Shoko pursed her lips, "Did you call the police?"

"I didn't report the money to the police. The owner said he would just give it to me as a gift."

"Amemiya-san, please don't make such jokes. You are not someone who is willing to accept other people's pity." Toyokawa Shoko's expression seemed to become serious all of a sudden.

Kurusu Akatsuki pulled a bulging wallet from his pocket, counted out four hundred thousand from it, and handed it to Toyokawa Shoko. "Let me be honest, I'm actually a legendary candidate standing at the pinnacle of academic ability in this school. This money is the monthly tribute the school pays me."

Toyokawa Shoko stared at him with worry and annoyance, showing no intention of accepting the money. "Amamiya-san, please stop trying to fool me with these suspicious excuses."

"It's actually a 'reason'."

Kurusu Akatsuki was shocked that Toyokawa Shoko didn't believe him—it made sense. How could a high school student who spent most of his day working and playing in a band possibly devote so much energy to his studies? Even if he was a "problem-solving master" who excelled in exams, as described by Iserina, he couldn't possibly be so skilled as to warrant such a high price.

Shoko Toyokawa, who also has excellent grades, often secretly recites texts and reviews test questions during her part-time jobs. Her main study time is at night after finishing her part-time job.

But Kurusu Akatsuki's night time is clearly allocated to video games.

He even often argued with Yamada Ryo about hot news about certain games or professional competitions until late at night.

The already scarce study time has to be divided and occupied again and again. No matter how talented he is, it is impossible for him to achieve extraordinary results.

unless......

Unless he is the protagonist of a light novel, his life is blessed.

Shoko Toyokawa respects and admires Akira Kurusu's decision to repay the debt.