Once they had settled on their instruments, Yuzuha, who never missed a chance to join the fun, naturally joined in too.
Yuzuha picked up the suona again, but just as she was about to work herself into the right mood and play, she stopped. She looked at the others and asked, "By the way, is your main style rock or DJ music?"
"Miss Yuzuha, I think you mean pop music."
Aria set down the erhu in her hands and said thoughtfully, "Though we've tried the other major genres over the past year too."
"I see!"
Yuzuha glanced at Sunna again. Hmm, Sunna's gyaru style gave her a wild idea.
"How about trying a musical style unique to Weifei Land? Most of our fans are underground. It'd suit your style perfectly."
"Underground? Like the underground shows at 404 Concert Hall?" Sunna met Yuzuha's gaze and asked curiously.
Yuzuha blinked and pointed at the concrete floor beneath their feet. "Literally underground. The fans are all under the ground. Around here, we call it the Funeral Love Band. Our specialty is offbeat songs about heartbreak!"
"That's enough, Yuzuha. You're misleading people again."
Just then, a tall, intimidating figure walked into the room.
"Mato? What are you doing here?"
Yuzuha raised an eyebrow as Mato approached. Though she was clearly annoyed, she still introduced him to the Angels of Delusion.
"This is Mato Komano. He's a high school student like me. He might look scary, but he's actually gentle and generous."
"Hello, everyone. I'm Mato Komano. Just call me Mato."
Mato Komano took two steps forward and glanced at the paper flowers on the floor.
Then he bent down, picked up the sign that had fallen earlier, and held it up for everyone to see. He spoke with a helpless sigh.
"I came to stop you from misleading people, of course."
Three large characters were written on the sign: "Funeral Band." The "Love" from Yuzuha's version was nowhere to be seen.
After hearing Mato Komano's explanation, the Angels of Delusion were speechless. Except Griseo, of course. This novel experience really did bring a peculiar color.
It turned out this had been one of Yuzuha's strange ideas. She had formed a band with Mato Komano and a few others.
They mainly took paid gigs, whether at funerals, birthday banquets, one-month celebrations for babies, or anything else...
"Mato, I don't like the sound of that." Yuzuha walked over and turned to Sunna. "Sunna, all music is connected, isn't it?"
"Uh..." As an arranger, Sunna wanted to argue, but Yuzuha had a point, crude as she'd put it.
"I know it's connected, but our music used to connect to the underworld..."
Mato Komano pressed a hand to his forehead and said helplessly, "Can't we learn from them and connect to live houses and music festivals instead?"
"So what? Mato, tell me—can't these instruments be played?"
Unconvinced, Yuzuha pointed at the instruments in their hands.
"Look, I've got a wind instrument, the suona. Sunna's got percussion, the cymbals. And Nangong's got a string instrument, the erhu!"
At Yuzuha's defense, Mato Komano remembered certain embarrassing episodes from their past and stopped holding back.
"And what about our old fans? Most of them listened lying down! Where was their feedback? We never got any!"
"Who says? Sometimes they visited our dreams, you know." Yuzuha played with Cauldron, and the tanuki on her shoulder nodded along as if testifying for her.
Mato Komano: "..."
"Nangong, try this one."
"Mm, it's delicious!!"
While the two were bickering, Nangong had taken Griseo back to the dessert table and started stuffing herself again.
Sunna: "Aria, is this a performance too?"
Aria: "My logic core indicates that this appears to be a comedy double act."
Suddenly, the wooden door to the hall was pushed open again.
A man walked in wearing glasses and a bright floral suit, with a small bag in his hand. His dress shoes clicked across the concrete floor.
"Excuse me... is this the 'Funeral [ ] Band'?"
The man entered the room and took off his glasses. After looking around the hall, decorated with white cloth and paper flowers, he confirmed he had the right place and relaxed a little.
Then he introduced himself. "Hello, everyone. My name is Songxi."
"Songxi... as in 'send someone west'?" Yuzuha stared at the man in surprise. His outfit was striking enough, and even his name was unusual.
"It's Songxi... Ahem. Miss Yuzuha, are you and your band still available for bookings?" Songxi loosened the collar of his floral suit, trying to ease the awkwardness.
"We call them tours, not bookings! That sounds so soulless."
Yuzuha corrected him with a straight face, then her tone turned solemn. "We do it to give every departed soul a dignified farewell!"
"It's like this, Miss Yuzuha. I'd like to invite you to perform at a Celebratory Mourning. The old gentleman was ninety-two. He had no illness or misfortune and was surrounded by children and grandchildren."
"Oh, I see! You should've said so sooner!"
At the words "Celebratory Mourning," Yuzuha's expression changed at once. She'd thought he was here to challenge them.
"Don't worry, we'll take it! We definitely will! Our members may be young, but I promise we'll give the old gentleman a send-off that's both lively and dignified."
Yuzuha enthusiastically began introducing her "members."
Behind her, Mato held a hand to his forehead, looking utterly helpless. Nangong, Sunna, and the others couldn't very well interrupt, so they stood quietly to one side and watched.
After all, a Celebratory Mourning was different from an ordinary funeral. For an elder blessed with a long life and a full family to pass away peacefully, without illness, was especially rare!
This was a post-apocalyptic world, only eleven years after the Old Capital had fallen.
Turning the job down would only spoil the occasion!!
Seeing Yuzuha readily accept the job and give him the Angels of Delusion's account, Songxi brightened. They had over ten thousand followers, and even had "Angel" in their name. He promptly took out his phone and transferred the money on the spot.
"I've sent the performance fee and the address. I'll leave my old man's Celebratory Mourning in your hands, Miss Yuzuha."
Songxi warmly shook Yuzuha's hand, then turned to Nangong and the others and gave them a flirtatious wink.
"See you soon, honeys."
With that, Songxi picked up his little bag and walked away, his dress shoes clicking as he went.
After Songxi left, Mato folded his arms and looked at Yuzuha in disbelief. "There are only two of us. How are we supposed to take this job?"
"Heh, we've got four more people right here!"
Yuzuha raised both hands beside her head like a beckoning cat, hoping to get away with it by being cute. Mato, however, rolled his eyes without mercy.
"Mato, if you keep being such a spoilsport, no girl will ever like you."
After teasing her partner with a grin, Yuzuha turned toward Nangong, who was tucked away in a corner, busily devouring desserts.
Nangong was the captain, after all. Yuzuha darted over, grabbed her hand, and looked at her with utter sincerity. "Nangong, please! I'm begging you!"
For a moment, Nangong looked at Sunna and Aria. The three exchanged glances, unsure how to answer.
Griseo was the one who spoke up. "Nangong, Sunna, Aria, I want to go and see."
Why was Griseo so curious? Because she had seen a different color.
It was the complete opposite of how she understood death...
Surely the color associated with death should have been sorrow. But she had seen something else. Songxi carried relief and Blessing.
Before you continue