You are Toyokawa Shoko, then who am I?

Then she found out.

The man who destroyed everything of Toyokawa Sho in the previous timeline turned out to be a decent human being in this timeline, willing to face the bad life again for his children.

Sanjiao Chuhua walked over to Wakaba Mu and sat down next to him, and spoke to him sincerely.

"Xiao Mu, from my understanding of Xiao Xiang, he probably left Toyokawa Shoko because he couldn't face the psychological trauma of his father... But now Toyokawa Shoko wants to get close to Xiao Xiang again. Even if Xiao Xiang can accept her, how will Xiao Xiang face her father?"

"—"

hum-

My ears began to buzz with chaotic tinnitus.

Wakaba Mu was stumped by Mikado Hatsuka's question. This was something she had not considered, and it was also the biggest flaw in her vision that Toyokawa Sho and Toyokawa Shoko could finally open up to each other again.

She found herself powerless to do anything about it.

Couldn't find any solution.

All the words he wanted to say were blocked in his throat, leaving only the painful beating of his heart, which was being tightly grasped in his chest. Even his already firm determination began to waver.

Sanjiao Chuhua saw Ruoye Mu's confusion, so he seized the opportunity, rubbed the corners of his eyes which were a little red, and then continued.

"I hope you can understand me. I just... I just don't want Xiaoxiang to get hurt again..."

"Every time something happens, Xiao Xiang hides it. Even though he's clearly hurting, he still tries to maintain a calm demeanor, shouldering the responsibility of leading the team and keeping us moving forward. I really don't want fate to be so cruel to him again..."

As she spoke, she gently held Wakaba Mu's hand.

"Please, Xiaomu, Xiaoxiang needs us. I know it's hard for you to be caught in the middle, so I won't ask you to do anything. You just need to watch from the side."

"……I……"

Ruo Ye Mu suppressed the anxiety that had risen to the extreme in her heart. She lowered her head and her eyes wandered helplessly on the floor.

"As expected... is it still very reluctant?"

Sanjiao Chuhua looked at Ruoye Mu's uneasy appearance, thought for a while, and then said softly.

"Then from now on, the one who will always be by Xiaoxiang's side will no longer be you, but me. Is that okay?"

Wakaba Mu raised his face stiffly, and his shattered heart was torn into pieces by these hammer-like words.

"You should know that I like Xiao Xiang too,"

Sanjiao Chuhua murmured, "My feelings for Xiaoxiang are definitely no less than anyone else's. I want to be with him forever. This is my greatest wish."

"But...actually, I do have selfish motives. Frankly speaking, I want to be the most important person to Xiao Xiang. I think everyone has this in mind. It's just that you, Xiao Mu, are too important to Xiao Xiang, so everyone tacitly agrees not to covet your position."

Sanjiao Chuhua looked straight into Ruoye Mu's eyes.

"But now, Xiaomu, if you can't even choose Xiaoxiang... I won't let this opportunity go."

Tick.

The sweat on his cheeks dripped onto the back of his hands.

At this moment, Ruo Ye Mu's mind was completely pushed to the edge of the cliff by Sanjiaochu, as if his whole body was being burned back and forth in a raging fire, but he could not escape no matter what.

She recalled the heartbeat she felt when Toyokawa Sho kissed her forehead that day, and the message of condolence he sent her when she returned home, as well as the contact she had with An and Tendou yesterday specifically for her.

Wakaba Mu subconsciously shook his head in resistance...

She didn't want to give her most special place in Toyokawa Shoko's heart to someone else, but she couldn't just ignore Toyokawa Shoko either.

On both sides is her half body.

On both sides are people she wants to protect.

She couldn't give up anyone for either side.

She just wants everyone to be together well.

Why……

Why can't even such a simple thing be done——

"Xiao Mu, are you worried that I will tell Toyokawa Shoko the truth directly and that it might hurt her, so you're unwilling to do so?"

Seeing that even after such excitement, Sanjiao Chuhua still couldn't get Ruoye Mu to be his teammate, he stopped forcing him, let go of the other's hand, and said frankly.

"Don't worry, I won't do that. Xiao Xiang certainly doesn't want me to hurt others for him. I... don't want to be someone that Xiao Xiang hates."

Sanjiao Chuhua slowly revealed a gentle smile.

Maybe it’s a natural talent, her smile always has a bright glow, so beautiful that it’s hard to look away.

Although the darkness beneath this light is very heavy, she can always control herself and consistently use tenderness and sunshine to comfort everyone around her.

"My idea isn't that radical, actually. I just want to step in and act as a link between Toyokawa Shoko and Xiao Xiang. That way, I'll have ample opportunities to influence them. Xiao Mu must be thinking the same thing, right?"

"You just wanted Xiaoxiang and her to reconcile in the end, but I wanted her relationship with Xiaoxiang to become increasingly distant, until they gave up the bond of being the same self and ended up living different lives."

Ruoye Mu blinked, and the tension and depression he had just felt slowly faded away.

"……How to do it?"

"There are many ways. The simplest one is to keep her busy, so busy that she doesn't have enough time to interact with Xiaoxiang."

Sanjiao Chuhua stretched out a finger and spoke with a smile.

"Based on my observations over this period of time, she doesn't seem to possess the same incredible talent as Xiaoxiang, and is far from capable of handling the same high-intensity work load as Xiaoxiang. So, as long as she's busy, that's all that matters. Whether it's for her parents or for herself, she'll have a reason to work hard, which is why I agreed to invite her to help."

"I can use Saturday's performance as an opportunity to bring her into our agency, or maybe take her to some other promising direction to keep her busy. She seems to cherish Xiao Xiang very much? That's great, she'll definitely work even harder."

"Because Xiaoxiang will continue to rise higher and higher, if she wants to keep up with Xiaoxiang's pace, she can only work very hard. But how can her career be promoted so easily?"

After listening to the plan proposed by Sanjiao Chuhua, Ruo Yemu opened her mouth slightly. She didn't expect Sanjiao Chuhua to take such a gentle approach.

With the information they now have, they could have mercilessly killed Toyokawa Shoko with a single blow, but they said they didn't intend to do so...

"...Really, that's all?"

"Of course we have some other plans, but we can't tell Xiao Mu about them. We are now in the enemy camp."

Done.

Another flash of white appeared before my eyes.

Sanjiao Chuhua closed his eyes and covered his ears. After the loud thunder had finished, he smiled and said to Ruoye Mu.

"But, after all, we're all thinking about Xiao Xiang in our own ways. Xiao Mu, I won't force you to cooperate with me, but at least I hope we can work together on certain things, such as... preventing Xiao Xiang from coming into contact with scumbags, and performing on stage this Saturday."

"As for the rest, it all depends on our own efforts. I won't interfere with you, and you won't interfere with me. Whoever has the better skills will decide whether Xiao Xiang will eventually become what they expect. How about that?"

Sanjiao Chuhua smiled and stretched out her slender hand. Although her face still looked as childish as that of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old, the cheerfulness in her words and her non-compulsive attitude showed her adult side.

Ruoye Mu stared blankly at the hand that was handed to him, never expecting that things would unfold like this in the end.

think carefully.

What Sanjiao Chuhua said is indeed true.

There are many things that overlap between them, but the final outcomes they want to achieve are different. However, this relationship of seeking common interests in the early stages...can indeed lead to cooperation.

As long as the other party does not choose to tell Toyokawa Shoko the truth directly and escalate the situation to an irreversible point, then everything can be negotiated.

Ruoye Mu lowered his eyes silently.

Finally, I made a decision in my heart and chose to hold the hand in front of me.

But that's when.

The door to the living room was pushed open forcefully.

The heavy, muffled sound was like another thunder that pierced the sky. The peaceful atmosphere that had finally returned to normal fell to the bottom at an alarming speed, just like a stock with huge losses.

"..."

No one speaks.

Because this was an emergency that no one had anticipated.

The blue-haired girl, whose shoulders were wet from the rain and whose expression was so gloomy that it was impossible to see clearly, stood silently at the door of the living room, not saying a word. She just stared at the pair of hands that were clasped together, and staggered back a step weakly.

The first person to react to the current situation was Sanjiao Chuhua. Her pupils widened slightly, and a rare expression of dazedness appeared on her face because her plans had been disrupted.

She had clearly chosen a time period when the other person was not around. She had already done some research beforehand and knew that this place was far away from the other person's father's workplace. How could he possibly get back so quickly... ?

And even if he rushed back, he would still be able to hear the sound of the door opening and closing. In such a narrow room, unless there was a louder sound that could cover it up, otherwise -

what.

Sanjiao Chuhua saw a flash of white before her eyes again, and the rolling thunder responded to the question in her heart with a deafening sound.

...It's thunder.

The thunder drowned out the sound of the door opening...

The gray rainy day made the room dark, so that no one's figure could be seen on the partition...

How could this all happen so coincidentally?

Sanjiao Chuhua murmured to herself in disbelief, and her almost perfect face also broke out a little bit of disobedience. She had never felt so strongly as she did now what it meant to be a mockery of fate.

"...Xiang...I'm sorry——"

Ruoye Mu stood up hurriedly. The palpitations and depression that had just disappeared came back like a flood and engulfed her body and mind.

Her rapid breathing made her vision gradually darken, and even the area she could see began to shrink at a slow speed, but she still forced herself to walk in front of Toyokawa Shoko, wanting to say something to her in person.

"...Chuhua, you go back first."

Toyokawa Shoko ignored him, just crossed her arms, lowered her head, and whispered hoarsely.

"I--"

Sanjiao Chuhua opened her mouth. This incident was caused by her, and it was her negligence that led to the current situation.

She could have resolved all the conflicts in a gentler way, but now she has become the biggest driving force behind the matter by accident. She feels that she needs to take responsibility... At least, she has to take responsibility for Wakaba Mu.

"go back!!"

It was rare for Shoko Toyokawa to use such an intense tone.

"..."

Sanjiao Chuhua looked at Toyokawa Shoko, and then at Wakaba Mutsu, who was visibly on the verge of his mental limit.

After a long silence, in order to avoid exacerbating the conflict, he finally put on a baseball cap, passed by Toyokawa Shoko, walked to the entrance, looked back at Wakaba Mutsu, picked up an umbrella and walked out silently.

The moment I heard the door close.

Shoko Toyokawa's body trembled noticeably.

If Ye Mu noticed this detail, she looked at Toyokawa Shoko, who was silent and just lowered her head, and her mind was in a mess. With her breathing becoming more and more rapid, she found that she could hardly even see Toyokawa Shoko clearly.

She realized she had to say something now, but she was afraid that if she opened her mouth it would make things worse.

She felt as if she was now caught in the dilemma she feared the most. The horrible flames were like two green-faced, fang-toothed demons, crushing all the nerves that kept her normal.

Ruo Ye Mu's heart beat faster and faster, and finally, in the chaos, she said something extremely inappropriate.

"...Xiang, how much did you hear?"

"..."

Shoko Toyokawa took a deep breath and tried to continue with this sentence, but she overestimated her current mental state. With this breath, tears and collapse came out.

She bit her tongue hard to suppress her crying, and knocked hard on the partition with her right hand. The loud sound was like a deafening bomb, which exploded Ruoye Mu's already extremely fragile heart.

"Is this what you want to say to me..."

"No, Xiang——"

Realizing that he had said the wrong thing, Wakaba Mu's pupils shrank to the size of beans.

"You clearly knew all this, so why didn't you tell me...? Why did you hide it from me? If I hadn't forgotten something and came back early, would I have been hidden in your white lies forever? Would I have continued to be so self-aware, treated like a fool, a nuisance, and continue to hurt Xiang?"

"I...was afraid you'd get hurt..."

"Then I won't be hurt now!!!"

Shoko Toyokawa shouted as loud as she could, and her tears and the raindrops on her hair merged together and rolled onto the floor.

The moment she shouted, she realized that she had spoken too loudly. She raised her head and looked at Ruoye Mu, whose expression was extremely aggrieved and almost broken. Her body trembled, and she finally asked through gritted teeth.

"...Do you also think... that my appearance was a mistake for Xiang...? What were you thinking the moment you held her hand?"