Momoi Taro wants to form a "don" brother duo, but it's a music anime.

Page 50

The next day, at Tsuki no Mori Academy.

As Ye Mu sat in her seat, she stared blankly at the empty seat not far away, her unease and fear reaching a critical point.

Su Shi didn't come to school again today... What's wrong with her?

Xiao Mu took a deep breath, as if making a decision, and sent a text message to Taro. Yesterday, Miao Meng told her that Aine had returned not long after she left.

She had always known that as long as she trusted Momoi Taro, there would be no problem. This time, she also hoped that Momoi Taro could help Suze...

So she picked up her phone and sent Taro a text message: "Suze, it's probably going to break soon."

She looked at her phone. Besides the message she had just sent to Taro, the next line was a message Sho had sent her yesterday. The reason she had suddenly left yesterday was because Sho had unexpectedly asked to meet her. Staring at the message, her thoughts drifted back to the coffee shop from yesterday.

She sat down opposite Xiangzi. Xiangzi had taken the initiative to meet her, but for some reason, he seemed very uneasy.

After Ruoye Mutsu sat down, Xiangzi gripped her left arm tightly, looked at Ruoye Mutsu uneasily, and hesitated before asking, "Mutsu, has Su Shi said anything to you recently?"

As Xiangzi's other half, she knows best what Xiangzi's action means. Xiangzi only makes this action when he is lying or feeling uneasy. Does Xiangzi know what happened to Su Shi?

“Su Shi didn’t come to school.” Ruo Ye Mu’s words made Xiangzi’s amber eyes tremble slightly. She lowered her head somewhat dejectedly and said softly, “Didn’t I also agree to meet you here that day?”

“It was after that that Su Shi came to see me…” Xiangzi’s words made Ruoye Mu’s eyes widen slightly. She looked at Xiangzi with confusion, waiting for his explanation. Xiangzi picked up his coffee from the table, took a sip, and sighed, “I think she probably found me by following you.”

"Su Shi, why...?" Ruo Ye Mumu looked down at the mango juice on the table, bent down slightly, and stirred the ice cubes in the glass with a straw. Listening to the sound of the ice cubes hitting the glass, Ruo Ye Mumu's eyes became very blank.

Afterwards, Xiangzi recounted their conversation to Ruoye Mu in detail, tightly gripping her left arm with her right hand, and said with self-reproach, "Although Su Shi's behavior that day was too much, after thinking about what I said that day, perhaps I hurt Su Shi too much."

The vibration of her phone interrupted Wakaba Mutsumi's thoughts. It was a reply from Momoi Taro. She glanced down at it.

Taro: What are you saying?

Indeed, her own vague statement couldn't explain the situation, so she told Taro everything. Taro replied that he understood, and that she could leave the rest to Momoi Taro…

"..."

"Metis, what's wrong?"

"Hmm?" A puzzled voice echoed in her mind from Metis: "What? What's wrong?"

"Usually, they'll say things like, 'You trust Momoi Taro too much.'"

"After all... we can't let Xiaomu solve Su Shi's problems, can we?"

"Thank you, Metaphor..."

Meanwhile, after receiving a LINE message from Wakaba Mutsumi, Taro put down his phone and continued working. It wasn't that he didn't care, but for Taro, work was work, and personal matters were personal matters. Personal feelings shouldn't interfere with work.

Nothing unexpected happened at work today. As usual, Taro brought gifts from Saya's bakery for the two of them.

Upon opening the door, Taro saw Aine feeding Rakuna matcha candy. A barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips, which he quickly suppressed before walking in: "Aine, how's your dance practice going?"

"Ah! Taro, you're here!" Aine smiled and jogged over to Taro's side. She took out a fruit sandwich and a matcha cake from the bag he was carrying, handed the cake to Rakuna, and then replied to Taro, "I think it's about time! This kind of dance doesn't seem too difficult."

"Well... considering that you're not good at dancing, I've simplified the difficulty," Taro explained earnestly.

Afterwards, Taro watched the two dancers' performances, made some minor corrections to their movements, and then began the formal recording. The group recorded the dance on their phones in the practice room. Taro said that he would send it to Aine and upload it to social media after he finished the post-production.

"That's all for today." Taro glanced at his watch. Although their recording went smoothly, it was already eight o'clock. He said in a deep voice, "I have something to do later. Aine, can you take Rakuna home? I'll send you the address."

"Leave it to me, Taro!" Aine thumped her chest loudly to reassure Taro, guaranteeing, "Don't worry, I'll definitely get Rana back. Have a safe trip, Taro!"

Taro was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Aine to say such a thing. Apart from Jin, almost no one would speak to him like that. He gave a somewhat awkward smile and nodded, saying, "Oh! I'm going out!"

After saying that, he turned around, pushed open the door to the practice room, and left.

"Why did you say that?" Lena took a small bite of matcha cake, blinking her big eyes at Aine in confusion. Aine tapped her chin with her finger, thought for a moment, and said, "Is it some kind of blessing for family?"

"Then, why did Taro respond?"

Rana's words are really hard to understand... Aine thought for a moment, tried hard to understand what Rana meant, and then explained, "Taro did that to put everyone's mind at ease, since we're all family!"

"Aine, Taro, are they family?" The cat tilted its head in even greater confusion.

Aine quickly covered her cheeks, feeling them burning. She wondered why she felt Taro was family, and finally, she stammered, "Probably..."

She thought for a moment, then lowered her hand from her face, her tone becoming calmer: "It's probably because everyone in the band is like family."

Are the band members family...? Lena muttered to herself, but tilted her head, not thinking about anything else.

On the other side, Hai Ling took the printed dance instructions drawn by Taro, flipped through them briefly, then tossed them aside. She took a sip of the prepared egg white powder and complained, "What's the point of this stuff?"

A band should act like a band; dancing is unnecessary. But Taro promised the band's goal is to be number one in Japan, so a commercial debut is a must, right?

She looked at the pieces of her game that had been tossed aside, hesitated for a moment, then shook her head and continued practicing her bass.

Meanwhile, Miaomeng had just finished her collaborative livestream. She glanced at the data and shook her head: "The data seems to have improved slightly. But in reality, it's just riding on someone else's popularity!"

"Ah! I wish Miaomeng could have this kind of popularity someday," Miaomeng said resentfully.

Then she looked at the data from the backstage video again. The data for practicing drums was still very poor. She had to find a way to ride the wave of popularity.

She thought of what happened in the practice room yesterday, and she couldn't help but wonder—Aiko and Rakunako said yesterday that they wanted to dance that strange dance with Daisho, and she wondered how it was going.

She turned off the video in the background, then looked at what Taro had sent her, glanced at his manuscripts, and tried to imagine what it would be like to dance like that—she couldn't quite picture it, but it felt very awkward.

"Well, it's none of my business anyway," Miaomeng stuffed her phone back into her skirt pocket, tilting her head as she pondered what to do next.

But a short while later, the vibration in her pocket made her take her phone out again. She glanced at it—ah, another message from Aiko. Aiko seemed so energetic all day; that's wonderful.

"The dance shoot went very smoothly! Is Miaomeng coming?"

As for dancing... well, I'm just an outsider who only wants to wait until the first live performance ends to see the results before deciding whether to stay. Dancing is completely unnecessary.

-- ①霓硫yiWs|an2〓?迩〢疚『K（ 二）^----------------------------------

After saying goodbye to the two, Taro walked to Suze's duplex high-rise building with a view of the sea and river. Fortunately, his memory was still good, and he remembered the location of Suze's house in Nagasaki fairly clearly.

He learned from Wakaba Mutsu that Nagasaki Motoyo had actually done such a thing... How should I put it, Taro didn't feel anything about it; he was already used to being misunderstood by others.

However, what he couldn't understand was whether he hadn't conveyed his feelings for Mr. Ichinose properly.

This is the only thing he absolutely had to tell her—

Chapter 49, He Apologized (6k)

Nagasaki Motoyo stayed cooped up at home. For the past two or three days, she had hardly done anything. When she was hungry, she would just cook some macaroni. Every day, she would look at her phone and wait for someone to send her a message. Even she herself didn't know what she was waiting for. She didn't have the energy to take a bath. She just lit some incense and got by.

Fortunately, the room's air conditioning is quite good, and she hasn't sweated much these past few days. For the first time in her life, she skipped school under the pretext of sick leave, even lying to her teacher that she was afraid her parents would worry and didn't want the teacher to tell her... Haha, she's such a habitual liar.

She lied to her teachers, lied to her classmates, lied to her family, and even lied to her closest band members… She had always treated them with lies. How can someone who is unwilling to reveal their true feelings expect to be treated with sincerity? Su Shi should have understood this long ago.

ding dong -- ding dong --

The doorbell rang. Who could it be? First, I can rule out classmates and teachers; they don't know my address. If it were my mother, she would have already knocked, and usually she would have told me beforehand on Line. I haven't received the message, and it's not my birthday, so it can't be my mother.

A deliveryman...? A red figure flashed through Su Shi's mind. She shook her head; she hadn't ordered anything. Never mind, instead of thinking about it so much, she'd better go see who it was.

ding dong -- ding dong --

The doorbell rang rhythmically. She walked slowly to the door and peered through the peephole—a familiar face appeared in Su Shi's view: it was Momoi Taro. A slight panic flashed through her mind.

Was he here to hold her accountable? This was the thought that crossed Su Shi's mind. After a moment's hesitation, she gritted her teeth and opened the door. She knew she had wronged Momoi Taro; she couldn't simply escape the punishment she deserved.

The door clicked open, and the two people looked at each other without saying a word, remaining silent for a long time.

Finally, Nagasaki Motoyo broke the silence: "What do you want with me?"

"I came to see you," Taro answered honestly, revealing his purpose.

Su Shi sighed and asked, "You saw it, how does it feel?"

Upon hearing this, Taro looked Su Shi up and down.

Her long brown hair had lost its former luster, becoming a messy pile of straw on the ground, with split ends and knots everywhere. Her once bright blue eyes had lost their sparkle, and the dark circles around her eyes indicated that the coldness of the wine had affected her mental state.

The clothes were the school uniform of Tsuki no Mori, but they looked a bit dirty, yet she was still wearing them. A pungent, strong lavender scent hit her nose and ears.

“It’s terrible!” Taro answered Su Shi’s question. Su Shi sighed slightly. Sure enough, this Momoi Taro… has always been so blunt. She opened the door, making room, and said, “Come in and let’s talk.”

Taro took off his shoes without ceremony and went into the living room, where he sat down. The dining table was piled high with unwashed dishes and chopsticks, casually stacked to one side. Su Shi took a cup of black tea and placed it in front of Taro, saying in a slightly indifferent voice, "A cup of black tea for 20 minutes, please enjoy."

As soon as she said those words, Su Shi regretted it a little. Shouldn't she have apologized to Momoi Taro instead of saying such unfriendly things? Fortunately, Taro didn't seem to care much.

Taro glanced at her tired face, then picked up his black tea, took a sip, closed his eyes to savor it, and said, "10 o'clock! It only tastes bitter! You need at least three, no, five sugar cubes to make it palatable."

"Is that so...?" Su Shi glanced at the cup of black tea, without any intention of refuting it, and simply sat down on the sofa, asking softly, "The fact that you came here means you know everything, right...?"

"Hmm, I never imagined that you, Ruoye, and Xiangzi were in the same band before. What a coincidence." Taro put down his tea, crossed his arms, and looked down at Su Shi, who was looking down. "I never expected that you would go to such lengths for the band."

"...Didn't Mr. Momoi also say that the band is a cursed destiny, a destiny to be cherished?" She lowered her head, fiddling with her fingers, her expression gloomy.

“That’s right, but there’s a follow-up to that statement!” Taro raised his head and slightly raised his voice, trying to break the somber atmosphere: “Bad ties should be severed.”

"...Are we in the band really that bad off?" She looked at the man who was talking so confidently, somewhat puzzled. The provocation eventually overcame her guilt, and she slammed her hand on the table, questioning the man in front of her: "Is it wrong for me to just want everyone in the band to stay on good terms?"

“No! But kneeling down and stalking him for this is definitely wrong!” Taro’s answer was resolute.

"Can you understand the feeling of my father and mother suddenly disappearing from my life, Mr. Momoi Taro? I just want this new home of the band to continue, is that not enough?!" Suze remained unusually agitated, even pressing herself against Taro, lifting Taro's collar, her bloodshot blue eyes waiting for him.

Taro calmly pulled Su Shi's hand away and answered her question very calmly: "I don't understand! Because I don't have a father or a mother! But what you're doing is absolutely unacceptable!"

"Eh...?" Su Shi's attention was completely diverted from Momoi Taro's denial of her. A strong sense of guilt filled Su Shi's heart. She wanted to slap herself on the spot. She was so damn awful. She had already slandered Taro like that, and now she had hurt his feelings even more...

"I'm sorry..." She thought for a long time but couldn't think of a better way to handle it, so she could only sincerely apologize to Taro: "I didn't know..."

Tai II1 shirt Wu Qi 9 Liu Sanerlang looked at the other party in confusion: "Why apologize?"

"Because...your parents...?" Su Shi asked cautiously, like a police officer defusing a bomb, looking at Taro with the same care. Seeing that Taro seemed genuinely unconcerned, she breathed a sigh of relief and then tried to steer the conversation away from the topic: "Mr. Momoi, aren't you angry?"

"What are you angry about?" Taro leaned back against the sofa, arms crossed, looking very relaxed.

"Mr. Momoi, you know now, right?" She fiddled with her fingers, lowering her head even further, and whispered, "My... misunderstanding of you?"

Su Shi racked her brains, finally managing to come up with a relatively neutral word. After saying it, she inwardly mocked herself. Why couldn't she be more honest about her mistakes?

“It’s a misunderstanding. I’m used to this kind of thing.” Momoi Taro’s words made Su Shi’s heart clench again. She waited for a while before hesitatingly saying, “Mr. Momoi, you know about my situation. My father hasn’t come over since the divorce, and my mother is always busy with work.”

“It’s bitter, it’s the place I consider home…” she said softly, clutching the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands, licking her dry lips, and continued, “Mr. Momoi should be able to understand… when no one is around, it’s suddenly a place where you can be accepted.”

She tried to organize her thoughts, but her words were still somewhat incoherent. However, Taro seemed to understand. He shook his head and said, "I don't understand. My parents abandoned me when I was a baby, and Jin adopted me."

The topic has come up again... Su Shi felt a pang of bitterness in her heart, but she couldn't suppress her curiosity. She wanted to hear, she wanted to hear about Momoi Taro's past. Why did Momoi Taro, who also came from a single-parent family and should have been even more lonely than her, grow up to be like this?

However... now, Su Shi may finally understand a little bit of why Momoi Taro insisted on completing his father's request.