In front of Ryoko's house... Soyo gently pressed the doorbell, waiting for someone inside to open the door for her.
In fact, she had been sending messages to Shouko, but after receiving no reply.
She followed her previous decision and took a car directly to Shouko's home, which she had learned about earlier.
For Soyo, this was also her first time visiting Shouko's home.
Although coming unannounced was a bit hasty and impolite.
For the sake of the CRYCHIC Band, she was naturally unwilling to just let it go.
Compared to the overly prideful Sakiko, she believed she would surely get an answer from Shouko tonight.
While Soyo was thinking about how to ask Shouko in her heart.
The door was pushed open... the very cute younger sister, Yuzuru, walked out from inside.
She looked at Soyo cautiously: "Excuse me, who are you, and is there something you need from us??"
Soyo bowed slightly and smiled gently: "I am Soyo, you must be little Yuzuru. Shouko and I are in the same band. I have some urgent business with her today, so I came to visit without prior notice. I'm really sorry."
"A friend of Big Sister's..."
Yuzuru asked again: "Then what is the name of my sister's band??"
"CRYCHIC..."
Fearing Yuzuru didn't hear clearly, Soyo said it again: "CRYCHIC Band."
"Okay, I understand."
Yuzuru nodded with a smile and stepped forward to open the door.
She led Soyo into the house.
"Big Sister, my sister isn't back yet. Why did someone from her band suddenly come looking for her? Did something happen?"
"Yes, that's why it's a bit urgent. You don't need to worry about me, I'll just wait in the living room. Go ahead and do your things."
"Okay..."
Yuzuru hurried into the living room.
She found the photo album Shouko had taken before and flipped through it.
After seeing that Soyo was indeed one of the band members in it, she finally felt completely at ease.
Standing on a stool, she poured a glass of water and looked back to see that Soyo had already come in.
She smiled and placed the water on the table: "Big Sister, I'm going to do my homework first. Please have some hot water. It's quite chilly after the rain."
"Mm, thank you..."
Soyo nodded with a smile, watching Yuzuru run up to the second floor with a 'thump thump thump'.
Only then did she sit on the sofa, pick up the cup, and take a gentle sip of the hot water.
Immediately, as a warm current flowed into her abdomen, she felt much better overall.
"A very ordinary, but very warm family."
Scanning the interior layout, Soyo made a smiling evaluation.
Then, she took out her phone and sent a message to her mother saying she might not come home tonight.
Although she knew her mother was always busy and rarely came home.
To prevent her from worrying if she suddenly went back and saw that Soyo wasn't home.
Explaining in advance was naturally for the best.
Then... Soyo sent another message to Mutsumi, but didn't get a reply until over ten minutes later.
The message indicated that Mutsumi had not found Sakiko.
However, she had already received a message from Sakiko and should be able to see her soon.
"As expected, there's definitely a problem between Sakiko and Shouko, a big problem!!!"
Seeing that even Mutsumi, Sakiko's childhood friend and follower, hadn't been able to find Saki's whereabouts.
Soyo became more certain of her inner suspicion; she was indeed right to come to Shouko's house.
After nodding with great certainty, she sent some kind words to Mutsumi, telling her to keep an eye on the situation.
And here, she quietly waited for Shouko's return.
In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed... She didn't wait for Shouko to return, but instead for Shouko's mother, Ryoko.
Soyo hurriedly stood up and bowed politely in greeting.
"Oh, Soyo-chan, right? I've heard Shouko mention you. You haven't eaten yet, have you? Don't rush off tonight, I'll make a portion for you too."
"Thank you, Auntie. I have some things to discuss with Shouko today, so I might not be going back tonight."
"Oh, no problem. There's extra bedding at home, don't worry. Haha, it's rare for the house to be this lively."
Ryoko's mood was also quite good as she looked at the well-mannered Soyo.
In fact, over the years, she had always been worried that Shouko, who had a hearing impairment, would be bullied outside.
Now that she had actually met a member of the same band, she felt a lot more relieved.
That's good... My strong-willed Shouko, the friends you've made are really nice.
As time passed again... half an hour later, Shouko walked in with an excited face.
On her way back just now, she had unexpectedly gained over ten thousand anger values.
With the mindset of getting something for free, she directly did a ten-pull in the gacha area.
Then... she directly pulled ten [Wrath Auras].
They could, without reason, put a unit into an enraged state.
In a situation where the unit's anger was self-generated rather than passively generated, the anger effect would be doubled.
Duration: ten minutes.
If used properly... Shouko felt that after squeezing a target dry, she should be able to get a very considerable income of anger values.
However, she hadn't decided who these ten people would be for the time being.
"Shouko, you're finally back. Your friend from the band came to see you."
"Shouko, I'm sorry for coming directly to your home to find you."
Listening to her mother's words and seeing Soyo apologizing and bowing to her.
Shouko also nodded with a smile: "It's fine. Since you're here, don't go back tonight."
Nodding, Soyo smiled apologetically: "Okay, then I'll be troubling you tonight."
"It's no trouble..."
Shouko waved her hand and smiled: "After we finish eating, let's go up and go over our recent textbooks. Your grades are better, so you can help me out."
Soyo nodded with a quick smile of understanding: "Okay, no problem. After all, I have things I need Shouko's help with too."
As Ryoko was cooking, the smile on her face grew even more radiant as she heard her daughter and friend getting along so harmoniously.
They chatted amiably for a few minutes in the living room... Neither Shouko nor Soyo mentioned anything about the disbandment of the CRYCHIC Band.
At the dinner table, they chatted and laughed with Ryoko and Yuzuru.
Until after finishing the meal, Soyo took the initiative to help clear the table.
But she was directly stopped by Ryoko: "There's no need, I'll do it. You're a guest, how can I let you do these things?"
And at this time... Shouko, carrying her schoolbag, smiled at Soyo: "Let's go, let's head upstairs."
Soyo, who had been waiting impatiently, hurried to say okay.
"Mom, Soyo and I are going up now..."
"Okay, I'll bring some after-dinner dessert up to you later."
"No need, Mom, it's too much trouble. You've worked all day and it hasn't been easy. What we're talking about is a bit private, and we'll be sharing a bed too."
"Alright, alright, I understand. Shouko has her own secrets now, doesn't she?"
Ryoko watched as Shouko pulled Soyo upstairs with a thud-thud-thud of footsteps.
The smile on Ryoko's face grew increasingly radiant.