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

Page 7

Unsurprisingly, Taro lost. After all, how could he possibly win if he told others what he was going to play?

"I lost again," Taro said, looking at his fist. "I must win next time!"

“Taro,” Ms. Sanae said in a loving, elder’s tone, “honesty is a good thing, but to be honest to this extent is to be a fool.”

The employee who had just won against Taro coughed and interrupted the administrator: "Sanae really looks incredibly young."

He stood up dramatically, drawing out the last syllable, and gestured with his finger to indicate the number 4, saying to the entire audience with a meaningful look, "Looks like less than 40—"

"Huh? Do I look that young?" Ms. Sanae asked, seemingly pleased. Everyone naturally echoed her sentiments. Ms. Sanae's eyes lingered on Taro beside her, and she patted his arm, asking, "Um, Taro, how old do I look?"

Upon hearing Ms. Sanae's question, Taro carefully examined her, smiled, and, under Ms. Sanae's expectant gaze, replied, "68 years old!"

Everyone in the workroom couldn't help but look away. Ms. Sanae sighed, "You got it right, Taro."

In an awkward atmosphere, everyone quickly finished their meal. Taro quickly filled the delivery truck and drove off to do some fieldwork.

"Really, senior, you'll suffer losses if you do this." Toyokawa Shoko muttered to herself as she sorted the fast food.

Next time, I'll help Taro-senpai avoid the rock-paper-scissors game.

Thinking this, she smiled and began her work again. But her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to that day.

It was an ordinary day, yet it also seemed rather extraordinary. My useless old man had been arrested and taken to the police station again. When I was taking him home, I ran into my senior colleague.

My senior said he had an expression that said he felt abandoned by the whole world. What exactly was that expression? I still haven't seen it myself.

However, she would never forget her predecessor from that time. At that time, she was staring at her dejected father, completely unaware of the pedestrians on the street, and so Xiangzi accidentally bumped into Taro, who was dressed in casual clothes.

Of course, she immediately apologized: "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going, it was an accident, I'm really sorry."

That day, the senior colleague neither acted like he didn't want to cause trouble like others, nor did he seem very angry. He simply said with his usual sincere smile, "We've become connected."

"Um...?" Would it have been better if I had greeted the other person naturally back then?

"Excuse me?" That was just a casual greeting at the time, and I thought the senior was a strange person.

"What's wrong? You look like the whole world has abandoned you. If you have any troubles, you can talk to me about them."

"No, there's nothing there." Xiangzi's expression became indifferent, wanting to quickly move on from the topic.

"If there's nothing there, why would you have that expression?" At that moment, Xiangzi only found his elder's words annoying: "You're really so high and mighty. No need for you to bother, Dad, let's go."

"Xiangzi... Dad can't keep going anymore," the man seemed half-drunk. But his words made Xiangzi grit his teeth. That bastard father...

"Cheer up!" Taro grabbed the dejected man's shoulder excitedly. "There's no one in this world who can't make it!"

"You have to start by believing in yourself, okay!?" Taro grabbed the man, looking very excited. "I believe you. No matter what setbacks you encounter, if you keep dwelling on the past, it will cause pain to those who believe in you!"

The man seemed to have sobered up a bit, and he subconsciously murmured, "Ruisui..." He then glanced at Xiangzi, who was standing there stunned.

"But I..." the man hesitated, wanting to say something.

"I understand." The senior smiled confidently at himself and said, "Lend me your father."

After that, I don't know what Taro-senpai did to my father. My father became more motivated, and I didn't want to just stay at home anymore; I wanted to work to help support my father and contribute to the household expenses. My senpai even vouched for me, so I really caused him a lot of trouble.

After that, with the money the two of them earned from working, plus the money their senior lent their father, their father opened a ramen shop. No one knows where he learned the technique, but thanks to this, their father's life was able to start anew.

[I absolutely, absolutely have to do something for my seniors—]

"The delivery's here. Mr. Toyokawa Kiyoshi," Taro, whom Shoko had been nagging, pushed open the door of a ramen shop: "Signature or stamp? Thanks."

"Yo, Taro." With a smile, Seika waved to Taro. "Isn't it a bit too formal to call him by his full name now?"

Taro walked over, a confident smile on his face, and placed the delivery box next to Seigo: "Work rules."

Qing stamped the express delivery slip and said to him with a smile, "Thank you so much for taking care of me before. You not only found me a job, but also taught me so much. You even lent me money to open a shop."

"After all, we've become acquainted," Taro said with his usual smile, patting Paqing on the shoulder. "Besides, haven't you been paying back your money every month? Keep it up!"

“Yeah, thank you so much. You’re a really amazing guy,” Qinggao said, lost in thought. “Although it did startle me at first when you dragged me to do sit-ups and push-ups.”

"This is to cultivate both spirit and physique; this is the most effective way to build self-confidence." Taro smiled. "Anyway, I have work to do here, so please excuse me."

"Mr. Momotaro is truly an incredible person," Kiyoko murmured to himself, then smiled and greeted the guests who entered, "Welcome."

Meanwhile, Taro finished delivering his remaining packages and drove back to the company. Xiangzi was still at the company, working on order processing.

"Xiangzi, good morning. Why haven't you left yet?" It's four o'clock in the afternoon, already time to get off work.

"Ah, good morning, senior." Xiangzi looked up and smiled at Taro, then lowered her head and continued working, saying, "I usually cause a lot of trouble for senior Taro and Ms. Sanae, so I'll work a little longer today since I have some time."

"More than that," Taro said, supporting Xiangzi's shoulders. When Xiangzi looked up at him, Taro looked into Xiangzi's eyes and said, "Your father needs you too. Don't forget what's truly important. Don't give up on your own happiness. That's what I'm telling you."

“The truly important thing… happiness…” In Toyokawa Shoko’s mind, not her father, but also her mother were replaying. Her eyes were filled with a hint of confusion.

"Yes! If you have any troubles, feel free to talk to me." The senior said what he had said when they first met: "After all, we are connected by fate."

Xiangzi's mouth opened slightly, as if he wanted to say something. In the end, he could only watch as Taro walked into the changing room.

No, I can't say it... Troubles aren't something you can easily talk about...

Xiangzi's eyes welled up with bitterness as she watched Taro change his clothes and pack his things. A hint of curiosity crossed her face; normally, Taro-senpai would work even later. "Taro-senpai? Are you already off work?"

"Hmm." Taro finished getting ready and then replied, "After all, I had an appointment with someone, wouldn't it be bad to be late?"

"Huh? Is this the legendary date?!" Xiangzi covered her mouth in surprise, her two pigtails swaying like a startled octopus in self-defense.

"I think so, right? The definition of a date is an activity where we agree on a time and place to meet in advance. If we agree on a meeting, then it should be correct." Taro answered Shoko's question very naturally.

"Could it be... a girlfriend?" Xiangzi stammered, his eyes full of curiosity.

“If you mean female friends, then yes,” Taro said, his resolve unwavering. “But if you mean romantic partners, then no.”

"I see..." For some reason, Xiangzi breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "So, what are you going to do, senior?"

Taro smiled happily: "Band activities!"

"When did you form a band, senior?" Xiangzi asked curiously.

“Yesterday!” Taro answered with great confidence. “Well then, I went out.”

"Ah, take care on your journey," Xiangzi waved as she watched Taro's retreating figure. Unaware of the longing, pain, resentment, and jealousy that filled her eyes, Xiangzi's gaze was now filled with these emotions.

[Oh, I see... Taro-senpai has formed a band too.]

The fifth episode was formed.

After leaving the company, Taro headed straight for RING. He had lived for this moment since birth, so how could he not want to get to his destination as soon as possible?

After walking for a while, Taro stopped and focused his gaze on one spot. He checked his watch; there was still plenty of time. He had left a little early, so everything should be fine.

He slowly walked to the spot where his gaze was focused and squatted down: "Are you looking for something?"

The gray-haired girl, who was squatting on the ground, heard someone talking to her, so she looked up. Her crimson eyes were filled with the fear of a weak little animal seeing its predator.

"You and I are destined to meet," Taro said with a sincere smile. "If you don't mind, I'll help you look too."

"Um..." The gray-haired girl stood up nervously, looking around. She bowed nervously and said, "Um, goodbye!"

She ran away quickly, and something clattered and fell to the ground.

Taro looked down at the thing that had fallen to the ground: "Hmm...? A stone?"

"Is that person collecting stones?" It seemed he had misunderstood. Taro took out a metal candy jar from his pocket, took out the last candy from it, and then carefully picked up the stones that had fallen to the ground and put them into the candy jar.

He thought for a moment, placed the metal lid on the ground, and then put the candy jar on top of the lid. Exposing the stones inside to the air, he took out a note from his pocket, wrote a few words on it, stuck it on, and then left.

After a while, the gray-haired little animal secretly returned to the place it had fled from, leaving behind a stone that had been abandoned—it was too pitiful.

The little animal, upon returning to the scene, was slightly taken aback. She looked at the ground and saw that the pebbles that should have been scattered were now neatly arranged in a metal candy jar, with a yellow star-shaped sticky note attached to the front of the jar.

She carefully picked up the candy jar and looked at the words written on the note.

"A chance encounter is a connection from a past life; a pebble passed by is a fragment of that connection. You should cherish these fragments of connection. Don't so easily give up the connections you've picked up; hold onto your own destiny well. —From Momoi Taro"

“Fate…?” the girl murmured to herself, recalling the person she had just met. Her red eyes looked at the stone in the candy jar: “Truly… an incredible person.”

Come to think of it... I've never seen sticky notes like this before. Do you think the convenience stores nearby will have them? I'll go look for them.

At the same time, Taro arrived at RiNG's location, pushed open the door and entered. He glanced around and was slightly surprised to find Chihaya Aine and the drummer he had his eye on chatting enthusiastically on the second floor.

He glanced at his watch; it was 4:57, just in time. He strode over to the two men and said, "So you two know each other. Then I'll save myself the trouble of introducing you."

"Huh?" x2

The two of them simultaneously opened their mouths in surprise and uttered a single syllable.

"So, Meow Dream is also a member of the band that Peach invited!" Ai Yin grabbed Meow Dream's hand in surprise. "That's great! If I could be in a band with Meow Dream... hehehe."

Miss Aine's lips curled into an exaggerated smile.

This will definitely become the talk of the class.

But Taro's response poured cold water on Aine's enthusiasm: "No, Yutenji hasn't agreed to join us yet."

"Nyanmu-chan~" Nyanmu pushed up her sunglasses and smiled in response. Then she took Aine's hand and said, "I'm sorry, Nyanmu-chan needs to think about it. But Aine must be really amazing, the guitarist that Momoko took a liking to. If possible, would you like to appear in Nyanmu-chan's video later?"

Meowme secretly changed her name for Taro to Momo, the same name as Aine, which would bring her much closer to Aine psychologically.

"Eh? Me? I want it, I want it!" Aine raised her hand happily.

"Now let's talk about the band." Taro sat down next to Nyanmu without any ceremony. "If you want to film, you can film the practice later."

"Eh~ Is that so?" Meow Dream consciously moved to the inside of the chair. "Then Meow Dream-sama would also like to hear it properly. By the way, what's Aiko's position in the band~"

"Guitar and vocalist Desu!" she exclaimed, raising her hand excitedly.

“Just a guitarist!” Taro forcefully slammed Aine’s hand onto the table and said, “I don’t recall ever acknowledging you as the lead singer.”

"Hey~ Peach's got a bad heart." Aine withdrew her hand reluctantly, pouted and asked, "Then, wasn't it supposed to be about why you used such a strange name?"

"I understand, I will explain properly," Taro took a breath, preparing to answer Aine's question.

"That's a really interesting topic." A voice came from the side, a very distinctive voice: "Could I hear it too?"

Taro crossed his arms and leaned back, while the other two turned around and saw Hailin, dressed very sexily, walking over with a bass case. Under their gazes, she naturally sat down next to Aine, facing Taro.

"I don't recall having a reservation with you today," Taro said curtly.

"After listening to what you said yesterday, even though he's a newbie, as fellow bandmates, it's still better to meet him at least once in a while," Hai Ling said without changing her expression. "I also did some support work for the musicians."

"I see, that's perfect timing. Let me introduce you, this is Hai Ling from the band, the bassist." Taro didn't pay much attention and began to introduce Hai Ling.