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

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After a moment's thought, if he remembered correctly, Goto's live performance was in three days, so he decisively declined, saying, "Sorry, I refuse, the timing is a bit too tight."

"I see. Well, there's nothing I can do about it." Xingge said seemingly nonchalantly, "Live, congratulations, you really did an outstanding job."

After saying that, Xingge hung up the phone, and Taro continued walking towards Asukayama Park.

Li Xi sat somewhat uneasily on a bench in Asukayama Park, holding two stacks of paper in her hands. One stack was sealed in plastic, while the other was crumpled paper, as if it had been squeezed in the middle and then unfolded.

She nervously held her phone, looking left and right.

"Tsk... It's almost six o'clock, why hasn't Taro shown up yet?" She looked down at her phone, but Taro still hadn't appeared.

"You said you wanted to see me about something, what is it?" The familiar voice calmed Lixi down a little. She turned her head and saw Taro walking towards her gracefully, wearing that familiar red coat.

Lixi stood up excitedly, then seemed to realize her lapse in composure and sat back down somewhat uneasily. She handed the two outermost copies of the sheet music for "Spring Shadows" to Taro.

"Taro, which of these two sheet music arrangements do you think is better?"

Taro took the sheet music, glanced at it carefully, and without hesitation picked up Xiangzi's copy, confidently shouting, "This one—!"

Li Xi clicked his tongue, as expected... but what was this strange sense of resentment welling up inside him?

She then took out two scores of "Ichishizuku Sora" and handed them to Taro, asking, "What about this one? I revised it based on your feedback, and then added keyboards. The other one is by Xiangzi. Which one is better?"

Taro took it, looked at it carefully, and then pointed to the arrangement written by Xiangzi without hesitation: "This one!"

Lixi gritted her teeth and asked unwillingly, "Why? Isn't this the score we made together last time?"

Recalling how she had broken down and expressed her resentment to Taro that day, she felt a pang of bitterness. Now, Taro's denial only intensified her resentment, and she tried her best to suppress her emotions.

"If it's just two guitars, this part is fine, but if you add a keyboard and keep the original style, the two guitars and the keyboard look like they're fighting."

Taro pointed to the musical phrase that had the biggest problem, which was also the one that Riki cared about the most.

"So, I can only give you 25 points for your rearranged score!" He looked at Lixi sternly, calmly taking a marker from his pocket: "By the way, I would do this..."

He made some simple changes to Xiangzi's score, explained his ideas, and then returned the score to Lixi, completely unaware of Lixi's increasingly gloomy face.

She didn't know what she was feeling, but she tremblingly handed over the last copy of the sheet music, which Taro naturally accepted without hesitation.

Before Lixi could even ask, Taro picked up Xiangzi's composition without hesitation: "Without a doubt, this one is far superior."

"...Where is the difference?" Li Xi asked with a gloomy face. Of course she knew that she couldn't compare to Xiangzi's music; she knew it the moment she saw it.

However, when she heard Taro say it, she still felt very annoyed, but she still patiently asked him.

"It's a simple matter..." Taro spoke eloquently about the differences between the two scores, explaining them to Riki with reason and evidence.

Lixi paused seriously for a long time. Although Taro's words made a lot of sense, it was still unpleasant to feel that his score had been criticized as worthless.

Finally, Taro summarized: "In short, this score was almost rushed out, and even the creative concept is somewhat contradictory. There was probably a long gap between the beginning and the later stages of the composition..."

"Enough!" Li Xi couldn't help but interrupt the other person, and asked almost in despair, "If you were to rate it, how many points would it be?"

Taro thought for a moment, then pointed to what Xiangzi had written. He said seriously, "38 points!"

Then he pointed to what Li Xi had written: "20 points!"

The girl blushed more than any words could express her feelings. Almost snatching the papers from Taro's hand, Riki said, "That's enough! I... I have something to do right now. Excuse me!"

After saying that, Lixi turned and ran away quickly, leaving only a few drops of salty liquid in the air...

Taro watched Riki leave, somewhat bewildered. Even he knew that Riki seemed quite dissatisfied with what he had said...

Dong, Chapter Nineteen: Even the Moon Lies

Taro composed himself and went to the practice room of the Dong Brothers. Without saying anything, he started practicing.

Of course, Taro's skill is beyond question. Even when his mind is racing, his practice remains perfect.

Soon, the practice time was over. As always, Hailing said "thank you for your hard work" to everyone and then left with her bass bag.

The other three, however, all stayed behind, looking at Taro with worried eyes.

"Taro, what's wrong?" Aine's eyes were full of worry as she gently tugged at Taro's sleeve. "You seem to have something on your mind today?"

“That’s right.” Ruomai seemed to have returned to her usual self, walked to Taro’s side and nudged him in the waist: “This is nothing like my general.”

Ruomai reverted to calling Taro by her own name, and she had her own reasons for doing so. After all, many people call him Taro, and it was important to show her own uniqueness.

Rakuna quietly walked over and tugged at Taro's sleeve. Taro looked at her, and her heterochromatic eyes were filled with worry.

Then, she reached into her pocket, clenched her little fist and extended it toward Taro, then opened her palm, revealing a piece of sencha candy lying in her hand.

"Taro~ candy~" She handed the candy to Taro, who hesitated for a moment before accepting it, his voice slightly hesitant: "Am I... that obvious?"

It wasn't that obvious, after all, Hailing didn't notice anything unusual, did she? Of course, it's also possible that she did notice, but didn't say anything.

"No, it's just that during practice, Taro's song..." Aine touched the corner of her lips with her index finger, her eyes lowered, trying hard to think of how to describe it: "The technique is still perfect, but I always feel like something is missing..."

"That's it! Courage! That's how it should be described, right?" Ai Yin pointed her index finger to the sky, a flash of inspiration coming to her, and she finally thought of a suitable adjective.

"Taro is confused," Renai added softly.

"..." After being comforted by the servants, Taro thought to himself, "What an outrageous master." He then briefly recounted what had just happened.

"It's really going too far... but Taro can't lie, can he?" Aine thought for a moment and could only comfort Taro like this.

Lena tilted her head and didn't say anything.

“This isn’t like a typical general!” Ruomai looked at Taro, patted him on the back, and said, “A typical general would say something like, ‘I was just telling the truth.’”

Hearing the servants' words of comfort, Taro calmed down a little, but the turmoil within him still could not be suppressed.

Aine could also see that Taro was still not in a good state. After thinking for a moment, she took out a card from her bag and handed it to Taro.

"What's this?" Taro looked at the card Aine handed him with a puzzled expression, examining it carefully. It looked like an annual pass for some kind of event, with a high-end design, but without any special markings.

Aine's words confirmed Taro's idea: "I'm a member of the astronomy club for the time being, so I got an annual pass for this planetarium. I sometimes go with Touka. When I'm feeling down, looking at the stars always makes me feel a lot more relaxed."

Aine blushed slightly. In fact, this card did have some connection with Takamatsu Akari.

It was during one of Takamatsu's invitations that I felt that astrology could calm my mind and suppress some of the messy and inappropriate thoughts in my mind, such as night raids or attacks.

Well... anyway, after coming here so many times, I just got an annual pass.

"...I'll accept these two." Taro put the candy and the annual pass into his arms, walked to the door, and said softly, a little awkwardly, "I'll just say thank you for now. Well then, I'll be going now."

After saying that, he turned around and left the practice room.

"Have a safe journey." Aine waved with a smile, and only then did Rana belatedly add a sentence.

"Usually, Aine would want the general to say something again, right?" Ruomai smiled and took Aine's guitar bag, handing it to her.

"I've grown too," Aine pouted, puffing out her cheeks in a disgruntled complaint, before straightening her expression. "Gratitude can be conveyed in just one sentence..."

"I hope the general can recover. This is the first time I've seen him so frustrated." Ruomai looked at the closed door and sighed, thinking how hard life was.

"Hmph, I already saw it in my dream." Aine thought to herself with a hint of smugness. "Oh no, what's with this subtle feeling that I've won?"

After leaving the practice room, Taro headed towards the planetarium where Aine had given him the ticket. Getting in wasn't difficult, and Taro was inside quickly.

Taro isn't very good at discussing constellations; he's good at talking about stars, but that's about it.

He walked out calmly, but it did nothing to ease his mood.

"Mr. Taro?" A somewhat familiar voice came from behind him, and Taro turned around to look.

The voice came from a girl with medium-length blonde hair, wearing a white baseball cap, a black T-shirt, and khaki culottes. Her deep purple eyes held a hint of surprise.

“It’s you…” Taro’s eyes showed a hint of realization. He said calmly, “As an idol, you’re quite leisurely. Hatsuka.”

That's right, the person who came was none other than Triangle Chuhua. The real Triangle Chuhua.

"Haha..." She laughed a little awkwardly, but a little thrill actually flashed through her heart when she heard Taro address her.

My sister's schedule must be very busy. As a highly influential idol, it's easy to find out about her schedule.

She came here knowing her sister was filming a commercial in Shibuya. Otherwise, she might have run into her sister. She still wasn't ready to face her.

The girl carefully examined Momoi Taro. Although she had only met him once, his confident demeanor had left a very deep impression on her.

But Taro was no longer as confident as before. She asked cautiously, "Mr. Taro, you don't look well?"

Taro paused for a moment, then gave a rare wry smile: "Is it that obvious?"

Chu Hua smiled. Here with Taro, she could keep referring to herself as such, which made her feel very relaxed.

Arriving in Tokyo alone, unable to even use her own name, this frustration was constantly suppressed within her.

But with Taro, she could use her own name freely. This made her feel unusually relaxed: "Would you like to chat for a bit?"

Taro thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay!"

So the two of them sat down on the stairs. Taro remarked, "I didn't expect you to like astrology too."

Chu Hua relaxed her hands and placed them on the stairs, gazing up at the sky as she said to Taro, "Actually, I don't really like stars or anything like that..."

"Then why did you come here?" Taro was a little puzzled. He didn't like astrology, yet he came to the planetarium. It didn't seem like he had made an appointment with someone. It made people unable to resist their curiosity.

"Actually, she's someone I know... a very important person." Chu Hua recalled the past and said softly, "She really likes stars. But even though I've known her for so long, I only recently realized that I don't really know her. Right now, my understanding of her is almost like that of a stranger. It's ironic, considering we're practically family."

“My dear…” Upon hearing this, Taro also looked up at the starry sky. The Tokyo sky occasionally revealed stars, but it couldn't compare to those in a planetarium. The slightly dim North Star hung high in the sky, and he murmured:

"Family is a very rare bond, and it is extremely difficult to sever it." Since he learned about his background from Wakaba Mutsu, he has accepted the fact that he only has two family members left.

"Yes, I think so too." Hatsune smiled and said softly, "Right now, I'm trying to understand her better."

After speaking, Chu Hua turned to look at Taro, her voice gentle: "What about Mr. Taro? Can you tell me about it? Why do you look so troubled?"

Taro remained silent for a moment, then recounted the whole story to Hatsuka. He explained how his words had deeply upset acquaintances when questioned—

After listening, Chu Hua asked thoughtfully, "Then? Has Mr. Taro never lied even once since he was born?"

"Yes, I just can't say it. Because of this, I sometimes hurt others," Taro said softly, looking up at the full moon in the sky. Then he lowered his head and glanced at Hatsuka: "What do you think?"

"I really like you." Chu Hua's words contained an indescribable complex emotion: "I can't help but lie, but I really find you very charming. I admire and respect you very much."

“However, I think there are beautiful lies in the world,” she said, taking a deep breath.

Rather than saying she believed, it would be more accurate to say she wanted to believe it... to believe that what her sister was doing now was all based on a beautiful lie.

"A beautiful lie?" Taro clearly couldn't understand, looking at Hatsuka and waiting for her explanation.

“For example… that moon.” Chu Hua looked up at the silvery full moon, and Taro also looked up.