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

Page 16

Chapter Fourteen, Practiced

The train station was just a short distance from the fast food restaurant. To avoid being late, Taro decided... to run!

Rather than waiting for a bus that may never arrive, it's better to run there yourself.

He quickly arrived at RiNG's store and saw the flaxen-haired girl he had met yesterday. The flaxen-haired girl also saw Taro and greeted him, "Good day, Mr. Momoi."

"Good evening, Nagasaki," Taro replied, then glanced at his watch. "I thought I'd have to wait for you."

Su Shi didn't quite understand the meaning behind Taro's words, so she habitually changed the subject: "Mr. Momoi, don't you have to attend the band's practice? Let's talk as we walk?"

"No, I don't need to practice." Taro replied habitually, but his body still reacted as he walked into the store: "Among the team members, Aine is the one who needs the most practice. Besides, you don't need everyone to be there to practice, do you?"

Hearing those somewhat familiar words, Su Shi's heart skipped a beat, and her smiling face almost froze. It reminded her of that rainy night, that evening…

"I'm here today to talk about something..."

"We can practice even if I'm not there, right? There's no rule that everyone has to be there to practice..."

"The lamp is the one that needs the most practice! What have you been doing all this time...?"

However, she quickly calmed herself down and told herself that this person had only met Deng by chance, and that these were all coincidences.

“But I really didn’t expect it. The person Mr. Momoi said he wanted to reform the band was actually Kodama.” Su Shi followed closely behind him, her voice trembling.

"I see. Is this someone you know?" Taro didn't seem to care much and greeted Ritsuki, "Shiina, good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Lixi." Su Shi greeted her as well. This was double good news! She had been looking for Lixi several times before without success. It seemed she had been working in the backstage area. She never expected to run into her so soon, and now there was Xiangzi too…

Upon seeing Su Shi, Li Xi's face stiffened slightly for a moment before he nodded and said, "Good afternoon, Su Shi, Mr. Taro."

Suddenly, as if she had just remembered something, she said, "Oh right, I've already given your sheet music to Wildcat. I didn't expect she was from our school... I occasionally see her in the junior high section, and she said she knew the significance of it... She should be coming on Sunday afternoon."

"Yes, in that case, we can try a full-scale training session on Sunday." Taro nodded, looking very satisfied.

"Um...? What do you mean by 'wildcat'?" Su Shi asked casually, trying to get into the conversation.

Li Xi's expression wasn't very good, but he still explained, "He's a very skilled guitarist who often comes here to perform live. He joined Mr. Taro's band."

"By the way, Mr. Momoi asked me if I knew Kodama, didn't he?" Su Shi smiled and changed the subject with a slightly sharp, high-pitched voice, her thumbs unconsciously overlapping and shifting positions. "Kodama, Riki, and I are in the same band..."

Su Shi wanted to take the opportunity to mention Xiangzi's name to see if Taro knew anything about it. But Taro suddenly interrupted her, saying, "Isn't this a good idea?"

"Huh?" Su Shi didn't quite understand what Taro meant.

“With partners who share the same goal, working together on the same task will surely make progress faster,” Taro said.

“I don’t think it matters what happens to those two.” Li Xi crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and tilted his head down at an angle, making an indifferent expression: “It doesn’t matter if we find someone to replace them.”

“But…” Su Shi couldn’t help but want to argue.

"It seems your awareness is still insufficient." Taro narrowed his eyes and raised his head slightly. "Then you two should have a proper discussion and discuss it until it's appropriate. I'll go check on their practice first."

Taro stepped away from the two of them, giving them ample space to argue.

The two people left behind looked at each other, and the atmosphere became slightly awkward and subtle.

Taro pushed open the door to the practice room. Akari was sitting on the floor drawing and writing, Meowme was playing the drums, and Aine was slowly learning the guitar by looking at a tutorial. Hearing the door open, the three of them looked towards the door and saw Taro walking in alone.

Aiyin glanced at the time on her phone—4:51. Instantly, a smug smile spread across her face.

"Peach, why didn't you show up on time today? Did you realize it's not good to keep the pretty girl waiting too long... Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch!!!"

As Aine spoke, Taro walked over and, while she was speaking, grabbed her head and pinched it hard: "Meaningless, servants. Start practicing now!"

He shook her head forcefully, causing Aine to stagger back two steps, waiting for their questions. Aine and Nyan naturally shared their questions from practice with Taro, who readily provided answers.

"Then, you two, please recite the sheet music I gave you in its entirety once more!" After answering the question, Taro looked at Meow Dream.

"Understood, General." Meow Dream had no objections. Taro, as a teacher, was undoubtedly passing… no, even excellent, perhaps even beyond that—perfect…

Having such a teacher, Miaomeng was naturally very happy. So, following Taro's instructions, she played the drum score.

"It's basically very good. The rhythm is fine, 28 points." Having moved beyond the beginner level, Taro is quite satisfied with his progress, which is much faster than he expected. "But it's not enough to just hit the drums. In addition to hitting them, you need to think of some movements. The drumbeats aren't dense enough for the whole song. You need to make good use of the spare time."

"Haha, as expected of a general. Your standards are really high." Miao Meng's face was a little stiff. Seriously, do you want to hear what you're saying? A four-minute piece, and the total blank time you left is less than five seconds. You expect me to do something during that time? Isn't that a bit too much to ask?

"Okay, I'll play it for you once, and you can refer to my movements to set up the filling movements during the blank time." Taro said this and walked over. Meowmee got up from her chair and handed him the drumsticks.

Taro sat down on the drum set without hesitation and began to play. Naturally, the rhythm was perfect, and the drumbeats were very precise.

But for some reason, even though they were both playing, the other person's performance felt more powerful than his. And as he himself said, in the short time he had free time, he added some fancy performance moves such as spinning drumsticks and tossing two drumsticks in the air to exchange them.

"Does that make sense now?" Taro stood up and handed the drumsticks back.

"Yes, General." Indeed, this was the difference in talent. Meow Dream narrowed her eyes, smiling as she praised Taro's abilities, then returned to her seat seemingly unconcerned.

Taro's suggestion was undoubtedly correct, but it wasn't suitable for her current situation. So, she needed to become more familiar with the basics before thinking about anything else.

"Aine, it's your turn." Taro directed her to begin playing the guitar.

"I understand!" Aine confidently began playing her sheet music. The guitar part was much simpler, since Aine was only playing the rhythm guitar. Taro left the more difficult task to Rakuna.

Although Ai Yin's playing was not very skillful, she did not make any mistakes.

"20 points, still not enough. I had you do rhythm guitar so you could bring out your strengths. Right now, you can only focus on the guitar and can't do anything else." Taro gave his assessment.

"Sigh... I really tried my best." Aine's voice was a little low: "Can't you praise me more?"

“If it’s not good, it’s not good.” Taro’s answer was quite firm.

"I'm the type who improves more easily when praised~" Aine said in her cloyingly sweet voice, "Praise me~"

Taro frowned and asked, "Will praising you... make you improve?"

Seeing that Taro seemed a little hesitant, Aine quickly pressed her advantage: "That's right, that's right! People get more motivation to do things when they receive positive feedback, and that's how they improve. Don't you think so, Nyan-chan?"

Miaomeng nodded with a smile, agreeing, "Yes, that's how humans are; they improve more easily when they receive positive feedback."

Miaomeng wasn't particularly bothered to help her little fan. But to be honest, she was a bit jealous of the fan's talent. Even though the fan's guitar skills were currently far behind her own drumming level, the time and effort they'd put into it were on completely different levels.

She wasn't actually a complete beginner to the drums; after all, it's very difficult for complete beginners to learn the drums. She had practiced the drums for a while before, and this was just her picking it up again.

However, my current level has surpassed my past level, and a gap in progress has emerged.

This young fan didn't practice for as long as I did, but her progress was much faster. That's a difference in talent...

However, they can still be considered a band. In a way, she was quite happy about Aine's progress.

“I think so too, Mr. Momoi.” A distinctive, trembling voice came from behind Taro. Everyone turned around and saw that it was indeed Nagasaki Motoyo.

Taro thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Then..."

Let's rewind to a slightly earlier time. Taro left behind the conflict between Riki and Suze, leaving the two of them staring at each other in bewilderment.

"Xiao Lixi, how can you say that? Xiao Xiang must have a reason for saying such things. It's too much to say something like that before we even know if she'll be back."

After a long silence, Su Shi finally broke the silence: "Moreover, as long as Mu Ye comes back, the four of us together will definitely be able to invite Xiao Xiang back."

"What reason is there? What does this have to do with her being a 'harmful light'?!" Hearing Su Shi say this, Li Xi's anger flared up instantly.

"That day she actually said such a thing to Deng! Deng trusted her so much! And she used that trust to hurt Deng! Until recently, Deng still felt that the disbandment of Kulaixi was his own fault! This kind of person! The worst!"

Su Shi remained silent, unable to refute Li Xi's words. Li Xi, however, relentlessly pressed her attack: "Everyone knows Deng is sensitive! Yet, she still hurt Deng like this!"

Su Shi fell even more silent. She knew Deng's delicate sensitivity all too well. That's why she couldn't say anything. But her extraordinary wisdom kept churning in her mind. After a long while, she finally covered up the question with a smile: "Well, it's best to ask Deng what she thinks about these things. Would you like to come with me to see Deng?"

"I still have work to do..." Before Lixi could finish speaking, Ms. Rinrinko gave him an OK sign: "It's okay, there aren't many customers, I can manage."

Su Shi didn't wait long. If Li Xi stayed here, he would probably become more and more resentful of Xiang Zi. So she took Li Xi's hand and walked towards Taro's practice room.

They had just pushed open the door when Miaomeng was playing the drums.

Their entry didn't disturb anyone; they just stood by the door watching. Lixi looked at Miaomeng with a hint of excitement.

[You're kidding... Didn't you say you were a complete beginner who just started playing the drums? Now you seem to be able to play that well.]

After Miaomeng finished her performance, Lixi heard Taro's comments, and it has to be said, Taro was really strict. Even though it was quite good for someone who hadn't practiced for very long.

"Okay, I'll play it for you, and you can use my movements as a reference to set up the fill-in movements during the blank times," Taro said, walking towards the drum set.

This guy can actually play the drums.

Watching Taro drumming... Riki's feelings were incredibly complex. How to put it? Deep down, she felt a sense of utter defeat. The gap was glaringly obvious, a feeling of utter awe. Geniuses are ranked, and Momoi Taro was undoubtedly at the highest level, possessing talent far surpassing that of her sister and Shoko.

No, I can't keep wallowing in self-pity. How can I be a drummer? I need to go home and practice hard so I can become a drummer worthy of the spotlight.

She made this decision silently, not seeing the momentary shock on Su Shi's face. She had expected Taro to be very skilled, but she hadn't imagined he was this good. And this wasn't even his position in the band.

Next was Aine's test. It was average for both of them. However, considering she'd only been learning for a short time, it was quite impressive.

Then, the two heard Aine asking for praise. Lixi thought that it wasn't worth praising at all, but Su Shi thought that if she could get along well with this pink-haired girl, she might be able to persuade Taro to help her reform the band.

So she spoke up in support of the pink-haired girl...

Chapter Fifteen, he died!?

"Will praising you... make you improve?" Taro said very reluctantly.

"Yes, yes, positive feedback motivates people to do things better and helps them improve. Don't you agree, Meow Dream?"

"Yes, that's how humans are; they improve more easily when they receive positive feedback," Meow Dream said with a smile.

“I think so too, Mr. Momoi,” Nagasaki Motoyo echoed in a low voice.

The little pink-haired girl's tail was almost sticking up, and her eyes were half-closed as she pressed against Taro's arm, looking at him expectantly.

"That's great! Meow-chan, Soyo-san, love!"

"Interesting girl." Cat and Hailing, whose appearance had been refreshed at some point, leaned against the door together.

"Hailing? What are you doing here?" Lixi asked, somewhat surprised. "Weren't you supposed to be supporting another band?"

"The band members had an argument during the band breakup, so they had to end it early." She recounted her experience nonchalantly, "I happened to run into Lena, so I came over to take a look. I didn't expect to see such an interesting scene."

"Well, but I think," Miss Lixi offered her sharp comment, "even if you were just given a few casual compliments, you'd only feel empty."

"Who knows?" Hai Ling replied casually, her gaze fixed on Taro, who looked extremely embarrassed.

"I...I understand." Taro still looked very reluctant.

“Your guitar…” He clutched his heart, the words seeming to be squeezed out one by one. (II) Ling II 亻尔疑伞 Ling Ba Bei: “Very…very…”

Aine widened her mirror-gray eyes, hoping to hear words of praise from the other person.