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

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"The moon can lie too. It doesn't actually emit light; it just reflects the sun's light." She gazed at the moon, her voice gentle, with a storytelling quality.

Rather than seeing the moon, she saw her sister and herself... To this day, she is still trying to find out why her sister used her name.

“But the moon is more trustworthy than the sun,” Hatsune Miku said in an extremely gentle voice, “because you can look at it.”

So, an older sister who's like the moon must be trustworthy, right? She asked herself this, then smiled at Taro.

"I see." Taro looked enlightened and praised, "That's very well said."

"It's just some nice words." Chu Hua smiled, then looked at Taro, her smile fading as she said seriously, "But Mr. Taro has his own charm, a charm that I think surpasses even the moon."

“So, Mr. Taro, use Mr. Taro’s method to impress your friend.” She said this, then gave a big smile: “Because Mr. Taro looks very impressive.”

Compared to herself, who didn't even have the courage to tell him the truth or face her sister, she was truly much more impressive—she genuinely felt that way.

“Using my own method…” Taro raised his head and smiled, “I understand. Well then… I’ll thank you.”

"It would be great if I could help Mr. Taro." Chu Hua nodded and chuckled.

"How's your bass practice going?" Taro suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Chu Hua was slightly taken aback, then gave a somewhat forced smile: "It's alright... Why would Mr. Taro know?"

She was certain that her older sister didn't practice bass, which meant that what Mr. Taro said was indeed true, but...?

Before Chu Hua could think too much about it, Taro answered her question: "Because of the scar on your finger."

Chu Hua looked at her fingers and asked softly, "Isn't a guitar similar? Why does Mr. Taro think it's a bass?"

"Because, the damage that guitars cause to the fingers is usually limited to the fingers of one hand, but you have scars on both hands, so it's highly likely that you're a fingerstyle bassist."

"By the way, my band's bassist is a pick player."

"Huh? Mr. Taro is still playing in a band?" Chu Hua's pale purple eyes widened slightly, showing great surprise.

"Yes, and there will be a live performance soon. Although it's not confirmed yet, we've already decided to do it."

"Can I go see it?" Chu Hua's eyes were full of anticipation.

"Okay, I'll let you know on Line later. I added your Line account last time."

Taro's answer made Hatsuka's face stiffen slightly. Then, she gave a natural smile, took out her phone again, opened Line, and said, "The account I accidentally added last time was for work. If it's possible, could you please add it again?"

“Sure.” Taro readily took out his phone and scanned the QR code on her Line. Then he casually remarked, “You’ve changed your phone too.”

"Work phone, work phone." Hatsune (no mistake) gave a brief, perfunctory reply, then stood up: "I have something to do later, so, Mr. Taro. See you next time."

"Ah, see you next time." Taro watched her leave, then picked up his phone...

Dong, Episode 20, my live performance, come and see!

"Moshi moshi. Is this Xingge store manager?" Taro calmly answered the phone: "Yes, it's me. I wanted to ask, about the live performance you mentioned, have you found the person yet?"

"Yes, I will participate." Taro hung up the phone. His gaze was deep.

Just as Taro hung up the phone, it rang again. He glanced down at it and saw it was Aine calling. He answered immediately.

"Aine? What's wrong?"

From the other end of the phone came Ai-yin's sweet voice: "Oh, I asked Deng, and this is what happened with Li-xi..."

"...Did it help you?" Aine asked with a smile.

“Ah, very useful…” Taro said softly, “I didn’t know anything about her.”

"I'm so glad I could help you." Aine chuckled, then suddenly said seriously, "Taro, good luck! That's all for now, see you tomorrow."

After saying that, he hung up the phone without waiting for Taro's reply. Taro was slightly taken aback and took a deep breath.

With that, the preliminary preparations are complete. Next...

Let's focus our time and space on Lixi. She hurriedly returned home from the park, without even exchanging any words with her family. She quickly ate a few bites of lunch and then returned to her room without saying a word.

"This won't do..." She deleted the piece she had just written and started over. Her fingertips trembled slightly as she hovered over the delete key.

"This won't work either...!" Li Xi pursed her lips, her eyes vacant as she manipulated the mouse, clearing the content once more. The blinking cursor on the screen seemed to mock her futile efforts.

Back home, she forced herself to try revising the score as Taro had suggested, but no matter what she did, she couldn't find anything she liked. Each attempt felt like a reminder of that conversation and the pain that followed.

Finally, when his inspiration dried up, Lixi collapsed onto the table, utterly exhausted...

She knew perfectly well that she was the one who called Taro over, that she was the one who insisted on getting his opinion, and that it was an undeniable fact that her piece was inferior to Xiangzi's.

This is good, that is good, I know it all, I know it so clearly it's unsettling. But even so, despite all this, I still couldn't control myself and made that move towards Taro.

This kind of me...

The thought of myself doing such a thing...

"The worst..." (The worst...)

Her throat tightened, and she muttered something under her breath, burying her face deeply in her arms as if trying to shut out the entire world. Had Taro's attitude last time given her the wrong signal? Was that why she was acting this way?

No, maybe there's no need for any signal at all; it's just that I'm inherently foolish and lack a sense of propriety.

She mocked herself in a self-deprecating way, her body trembling slightly, but she still forced her stiff fingers to continue composing... Since Xiangzi's was better, she might as well use the current one, the arrangement of "Wheel Rain"... Anyway, no matter how much she struggled, it was all in vain.

Anyway, if I can't compare to Xiangzi, is it even worth trying?

From childhood to adulthood, I seem to have always lived in my sister's shadow... After joining the band, I was immediately trapped in Xiangzi's shadow again, and after that, there was the insurmountable mountain of Momoi Taro.

For a mortal like myself, the deeper I delve into whatever I do, the more I can perceive it.

For an ordinary person like myself, no matter what I do... the more I try my best to delve deeper, the clearer and more desperately I can perceive that gap that cannot be narrowed.

The reason I fled today... Ah... Now, I can finally figure it out clearly.

The moment Taro began his evaluation, deep in her heart, under the undeniable weight of his words, she instantly became certain—she could never surpass Shoko, her sister, and Taro. All her strength drained away in that instant.

So, overwhelmed by that sudden, suffocating despair, she ran away. Like a clown. Utterly ugly, utterly foolish…

Thinking of this, Lixi could no longer hold on and slumped heavily onto the table, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. She truly was hopelessly weak; she lacked even the courage to face reality.

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, tears streamed down her face without warning, falling drop by drop onto the sheet music on the table.

What are these tears? And what is this expression? This kind of thing...

What else can it do but make me despise myself even more?

Consciousness gradually blurred amidst exhaustion and a torrent of emotions, and in a daze, Lixi fell asleep.

She hadn't had a proper rest in a long time, and the exhausting, uncontrollable surge of emotions she'd just experienced made her sleep very soundly. It was as if she wanted to escape all this disgusting stuff.

Ding-dong, ding-dong—

The doorbell rang at Shiina's house, but Riki was still asleep and naturally couldn't answer it.

The one who opened the door was Maki Shiina.

She looked at the handsome young man in the red coat outside the door with surprise; his expression looked very serious.

"Um, Mr. Momoi? You're here to see Ritsuki, right? She's in her room right now."

When Maki saw Taro, she clung to him like a lifeline, telling him about what happened last time. Maki realized that she was also one of the sources of pressure for Riki.

If I were to intervene, things would not only fail to improve, but would actually get worse and spiral out of control.

"Ah, I understand." Taro nodded slightly, frankly admitting his purpose; he needed to clearly convey his thoughts to Riki.

"Ah, Riki's room might be locked. Mr. Momoi knows where Riki's room is, right?" Maki's tone was tinged with worry.

Lixi, who had been in a daze, opened her eyes and just happened to hear what her sister said, her heart skipped a beat.

The soundproofing in this house isn't very good. Lixi practices drums at home, and he doesn't even use electronic drums; he uses an air drum.

Therefore, she also clearly heard what her older sister said.

Mr. Momoi...? Taro's here? No! Absolutely not! She absolutely mustn't see him at this time. Just the thought of facing him filled her with an intense sense of shame that almost suffocated her.

She panicked and scrambled to her feet, stumbling to the mirror—the person in the mirror indeed had red and swollen eyes. How could she possibly show herself in such a disheveled state, especially to him?

So she practically scrambled to the door and frantically slammed the latch shut inside. It was as if that tiny metal bolt could shut out all the realities she didn't want to face.

Then I climbed into bed, wrapped myself tightly in the blanket, and pretended to be asleep. But my heart was pounding in my chest like a drum.

Bang, bang, bang—the sound of the door being violently shaken, followed by the older sister's increasingly worried voice: "The door is locked tight, it seems to be locked from the inside. I'll call out and see—"

"Lixi—Lixi—" Then came the sound of banging on the door. Lixi, who was already pretending to be asleep, naturally couldn't respond.

Taro, standing outside the door, gave a small smile and calmly said, "I will pay for the door."

ha?

Riki, who was inside the door, was startled when she heard Taro's voice, not understanding what Taro meant.

Maki was equally dumbfounded and confused. She stared blankly, watching Taro take a half step back, place his hands firmly on the door, and instantly tense up all his muscles to push hard!

With a sickening metallic creak, the heavy iron door, along with its torn frame and deformed hinges, was pushed inward by him. Then, Taro quickly caught the door, preventing the poor floor from suffering.

That's right, the door, which was still locked, was pushed open by Taro with his strength.

Both Riki and Maki were frozen in place, staring in shock at Taro, who remained calm after accomplishing all this. He placed the twisted door panel aside as if it were merely moving a chair and said calmly, "As I said, I will compensate you for the price. Maki, can I speak with Riki alone?"

"Ah...yes...um, please, please go ahead...please." Her mind was completely blank, but her body acted instinctively, and she walked downstairs absentmindedly, her mind still replaying the unbelievable scene from moments before.

Taro calmly lifted the broken door and leaned it against the wall. Then he walked to Riki's bedside, looked down at the feigning-sleep Riki, and said, "Shiina Riki, I have something to say to you."

"I have nothing to say to you!" Li Xi sat up abruptly, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion, clearly resisting the conversation: "You! You took someone else's door down, what are you trying to do..."

"That's not up to you. You listen to me properly." Taro interrupted Riki's words rudely and without mercy, his tone resolute, just like that tyrannical Taro.

As mentioned above, the soundproofing in this room wasn't very good, let alone with Taro's loud and imposing voice. Maki, downstairs, vaguely heard Taro's words and looked upstairs with even more worry.

At this moment, Riki seemed to be nailed to the bed by an invisible force, completely overwhelmed by Taro's aura. He could only look at Taro in surprise, his throat tight, unable to speak.

Taro lowered his voice: "Aine asked Takamatsu about your situation and then told me."

Lixi stopped talking and just stared blankly at Taro.

"You... feel inferior because there are always people around you who are more outstanding than you, right?" Taro's voice was very certain. Riki turned his head slightly, not wanting to answer the question.

In fact, what Takamatsu Akari told Aine was that Riki only studied at Haneoka when he was in junior high school, and that he had a very famous older sister in Haneoka.

These are all Taro's own deductions.