Chapter 308
He took the elevator directly to the Underground Street and headed towards the cat cafe.
On his drive back, he received a message from the shop assistant saying that the person he had mentioned wanting to keep an eye on had arrived.
This person was the "acquaintance" he had seen when reviewing the store's security camera footage.
Actually, this wasn't the first time the other person had come; it's just that the previous times he was either busy or the timing wasn't right—for example, Yukino Shita Yukino was there at the time.
Today, being a Monday morning (a workday), high school students wouldn't skip class to come, and he also happened to be free.
Perfect timing! It's time to meet that woman!
He gave a soft hum to himself, then strode confidently toward the Cafe.
He wasn't worried that she would leave soon, because as usual, she would stay for at least several hours each time she came.
Ding-dong~
A rather muffled entrance bell rings out, attracting the attention of the staff without being noisy or startling the cats or customers inside.
The moment he stepped into the shop, he activated his Observational Crimson Eyes, scanning all the customers inside.
He locked onto the other person in just 0.1 seconds.
She was a woman wearing a brown coat, with pale gold-copper eyes and striking yet subtle purple-silver hair.
Her beautiful and delicate face was absolutely among the most attractive in the world, almost as stunning as any of the female band members he knew.
However, that heaven-sent appearance is now somewhat off.
If there's anything amiss... At this moment, she was squatting down, gently stroking the cute and docile kitten in front of her, while revealing a slightly infatuated, even lewd, smile.
This conflict and contrast completely shattered her own gentle and beautiful image.
"..."
Instead of immediately going up to disturb her, Ogura Asahi simply moved to his seat while continuing to observe her with his eyes.
"Miss, what would you like to order today?"
The maid who approached lowered her voice and asked softly.
Because he had a purpose, he didn't want to reveal his identity while he was here.
He nodded to her, casually ordered a drink and a snack as if they were old friends, rested his chin on his hand, silently sizing her up, and decided to remain still for now.
After all, the other party was a college graduate from Haneoka, and he didn't usually have many opportunities to meet him, so he needed to think of a strategy first.
But... even a woman like that can get into university, Japan is really doomed.
Chapter 339 The Ambition to Subdue the Band.
Instead of going up to her and striking up a conversation, wouldn't it be better to let her come to you on her own?
After thinking for a while, when the tea and snacks were served, he quietly said a few words to the maid.
The maid was slightly surprised after hearing this, her gaze shifting back and forth between him and Minato Yukina. After listening to his final instructions, she nodded and left.
Ogura Asahi's lips curled slightly, a glint of light flashed in her eyes, and she revealed her classic mischievous expression.
Soon after, the air inside the store changed noticeably.
It wasn't that anyone made a difficult request, nor was there any disaster or accident; it was simply that the music that had been playing softly in the store had changed.
The originally peaceful, soothing, and tranquil light music and classical music were suddenly changed to popular rock music under someone's instructions.
"..."
"Um?"
The moment the intro started, Minato Yukina's attention, which had been focused on the cat in front of her, was interrupted, and the cat toy froze in mid-air, easily caught by the cat that pounced on it.
She frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.
'Such coincidences do happen sometimes,' she thought to herself.
After a fast-paced and technically superb half-minute intro, the voice of a singer with an identical tone began to play:
"Riche りはいまま Fall Down (Encountered betrayal, fell to the depths of darkness (3)04𫔌?"
"The world is gradually collapsing"
"Heart is drawn and peeled off, and the heat is lost."
"Weakness still penetrates my mind"
"..."
Her cherry-colored, glossy lips moved slightly, and the faint sound, barely audible to anyone else, escaped her lips.
But Ogura Asahi, who had been watching her intently, could easily guess the answer she was going to give: she was saying "LOUDER."
This song is an instrumental piece by Roselia, and it represents her and their origins.
But it wasn't her who created it, but her father.
Minato Yukina's father was also a highly skilled and Talent musician who had his own band.
Minato Yukina, who was deeply influenced by her father from a young age, also yearned for bands and music. She learned to sing from her father since childhood and always looked up to him as the most respected musician.
However, after her father entered the professional world, her creative work was restricted by her agency.
Once, her song was rearranged too outrageously, which led to a conflict with her manager. She was scolded by her manager, which she happened to overhear, making her very indignant.
Later, her father disbanded the band and gave up his dream of performing on the Future World Fes stage. Minato Yukina was greatly affected, and her originally cheerful and smiling personality was impacted.
Extremely unwilling to accept this, in order to fulfill her father's dream, she began to abandon almost all other forms of entertainment and embark on a musical journey.
She initially performed solo at Circle (the second livehouse venue after SPACE) and was known as the "aloof Songstress" by the people there because of her Kanau personality, her technically-first personality, and her outstanding talent.
Later, she formed Roselia with Hikawa Sayo (guitarist, former Disciplinary Committee of Hanasakigawa, now a freshman), who was also a technically gifted player; Udagawa Ako (drummer, then a junior high student, now a sophomore at Haneoka); Ako's gaming best friend Shirabe Rinko (Keyboardist, former Student Council President of Hanasakigawa, now a freshman); and her childhood friend Imai Risa. After that, they experienced many internal conflicts within the band... So, you guys in bands, it's really a traditional skill.
Ogura Asahi shook his head. Of all the bands he'd seen so far, the ones that hadn't had any serious conflicts probably just Kessoku Band —all thanks to Nijika's mom's help.
The next few people set their sights on the FWF stage, where even professional players might fail to qualify. They failed in the first year but succeeded in the second, which is enough to show their strength.
However, although they failed the first year, the reason for their elimination was quite strange. Amidst cheers, the organizers said they were very strong and could go even higher, so they would try again next year... Isn't this rigged?
So theoretically speaking, their skills have been professional-level from the very beginning, and currently only RAISE ASUILEN can compare to them.
He turned his gaze back to Minato Yukina, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
To his surprise, Roselia, with her strength, was still operating solo.
[Note: To confirm this, I reviewed various videos for a long time and found that the timeline in this Bang Dream is very strange. Roselia signed a contract and debuted because of her success at FWF. Many small and medium-sized companies offered her contracts, but she rejected them all. Later, after seeing their performance at FWF, her manager, Harumi, who was very popular, took the initiative to apply to her top company to sign them. The official performance at FWF was in January of that year (which coincides with the time of the Guam performance with Kasumi and the others in the movie, so Roselia rejected the invitation there), which is 3 months before this. So theoretically, even if they were to sign a contract, it would be near the end of their senior year of high school. However, in the storyline of the game, they had already signed a contract by the time Yukina senior year of high school in the fall at the latest, which is obviously a conflict. Unless they were invited after the first FWF selection (in their second year of high school), but they didn't have that much influence at that time, and there is no mention in the anime that they signed a contract. So let's assume that they hadn't signed a contract yet, and Harumi and her company didn't exist.]
Shouldn't we sign such a promising company as soon as possible?
The reason I want to maintain a good relationship with Afterglow and the others isn't because I'm thinking about anything dirty.
However, even if we now know a way to quickly increase progress, it doesn't mean that the previous methods are no longer effective.
At least half of his current recovery progress has been accelerated using the old methods.
It now seems that the Crystal Palace business is unavoidable, but at least he can reduce the final number of the Crystal Palace employees through these purely platonic friendships.
Otherwise, if he included the possibility of Rumin and the others not being able to provide him with any boosts in the Mirai, he had no intention of actually operating twenty or thirty programs at the same time.
Putting aside whether he can actually do it, and whether it's fair to them, in a realistic physical sense, he really can't handle it...
And what's a faster way to make friends than by connecting with a band of people you can easily become acquainted with?
There are 9 bands with 45 members just from the three schools alone.
Furthermore, most of them are lesbians, determined to be in the same band as Hughie, which carries very low risk. They have excellent relationships with each other, making them perfect targets for exploitation!
If we can sign all the agreements and then develop the treatment gradually, even if we can't cure him completely, it probably won't make too much of a difference.
Even considering Pastel Palettes, who was already signed, he felt that poaching her wouldn't be too difficult, given the unethical practices of the other agency.
[Note: PP Entertainment's unethical practices include, but are not limited to, extreme exploitation (accepting them numerous projects, advertisements, solo performances, idol activities, food tours, song practice, etc.), requiring lead singers to lip-sync, giving songs to others without permission, and having people read scripts on the radio...]
Rather, how exactly have they managed to stay in their jobs until now without changing jobs?
Ha...
The identity of "Ogura Asahi" is truly a heavy responsibility... He sighed softly, bowing his head.
Seriously, these people are having so much fun, are they really okay with this going to happen?
Let's leave the others aside, but some of them probably come from troubled families, right?
For example, there's the only daughter, Tsurumaki Kokoro; the only Mizutake Ran of a flower arrangement sect, Ran Mitake; and similar figures like Seta Kaoru, Hiromachi Nanami, and Toyokawa Shoko... How will they inherit their family businesses in the future?
"... yi; # cite aer] Jiu Emu"
Forget it, there's no point in thinking about it. That's something they'll have to worry about later.
We can only hope that the Tsurumaki Group will develop a technology that allows for female-to-female reproduction as soon as possible.
Soon, the song "LOUDER" ended, and the next song immediately followed.
"しきの(The charming figure of beautiful life)"
"Spinning melody, way of survival"
"Believe me, this is the right way."
"Where did the light disappear? (Where did the light disappear?)"
"..."
Minato Yukina's expression clearly froze again, and she turned back to look at the store's sound system in surprise.
If she weren't so aloof, she would have immediately said "Huh?" on the spot.
Following <LOUDER>, which represents their origin, the second song to be performed is <Neo-Aspect>, which connects their past and Mirai.
Next, could it be...? This thought inexplicably Minato Yukina's mind.
Soon, as if to confirm her thoughts, the song "Song I Am." started playing again.
"Now it can end, right?" As the four-minute music gradually faded, Minato Yukina felt relieved.
Hearing your own songs played outside is fine, but the feeling of having your own songs played on repeat in your favorite store can still create a lot of pressure.
The past, present, Mirai have all been sung; there probably won't be any more...
The next second, the familiar voice shattered her naive thoughts once again.
"The sky is high and the Akabane are flying"
"..."
"Hikari Night Nono (light adorns the water droplets at night)"
"..."
It was as if Roselia's music box had been opened, with songs like "Fire Bird" and "Sanctuary" playing continuously.
"..."
Minato Yukina there, stunned, forgetting even to pet the cat in front of her.
What's going on?
The last few times I came, this wasn't available...
Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore and stood up, walking over to the maid at the counter to ask if she could change the band's music.
"Hey? Want to change the music? This might be a bit..."
After hearing her suggestion, the maid serving as a waitress could only respond with a wry smile.
"Why? Can't the playlist be changed?"
Minato Yukina's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Judging from the other person's expression, they probably don't even know who she is. So it seems that they didn't do this because she's a Roselia fan.
"Because, well..."
Following her master's instructions, the maid glanced at the elegant, silver-white figure in the corner of the shop.
Following her gaze, Minato Yukina took in her entire figure.
Out of politeness towards his good looks, her pupils dilated and contracted slightly, marveling at his appearance.