You are Toyokawa Shoko, then who am I?

The question lingering in my mind is still the one that has troubled me for many years.

Do you deserve it?

"Okay, that's all for today, Shiina-san, Toyokawa-san."

Rinrinzi put away the coffee in her hand and said, "I have taught you everything I need to teach you. You learn quickly and you have memorized most of the coffee recipes. So you can go home now. Remember to come to work at the same time tomorrow. Let's practice making coffee again!"

"Okay, goodbye, manager."

Shiina Riki nodded.

"Goodbye, Shinji-nee."

Toyokawa Sho also said goodbye.

"?"

Two doubtful glances were cast at Toyokawa Sho.

"Aren't you going clothes shopping with your boss tonight?"

Shiina Riki asked.

"The boss said to go at eight o'clock, and it's only seven o'clock now."

Toyokawa Sho pointed at the Jue Ying he had left outside the store, "Didn't you forget that we still have to return the bicycle to Tugumi-senpai?"

"I can handle that kind of thing myself, you don't have to come with me again--"

Shiina Riki shook her hands. She was now a little hesitant and not ready to go back with Toyokawa Sho and give him a cell phone on the way.

But before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Rinrinko, who was covering her mouth and laughing.

"Shiina-san, it's really not safe for a girl to walk alone at night. Just let Toyokawa-san go with you."

As she spoke, Rinrinko waved her hand, and she seemed to be possessed by a spirit of drama, imitating the tone of the shoguns in the Taiga dramas.

"Mr. Toyokawa, I leave the task of escorting Princess Shiina to you."

Toyokawa Sho cooperated very well and performed the corresponding etiquette of a subject, so as not to leave Rinrinko alone in embarrassment.

He had acted in Taiga dramas, so he had some knowledge of the subject. His movements were standard and neat, and his tone and words were like a calm warrior who had fought through hundreds of battlefields and emerged from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"Please rest assured, sir. I, Toyokawa Sho, am willing to guarantee this mission with my own name. Whether it's the Tiger of Kai from the Takeda clan or the Dragon of Echigo, who has achieved the title of military god, I will do my utmost to protect Princess Shiina! Even if I fight to the last drop of my blood, I will become a loyal soul and guard her side!"

"Great!"

General Rinrinzi was overjoyed, "What a brave general! Lord Toyokawa is truly my trusted general and most beloved minister. I truly admire your rare loyalty! The Princess... I leave her to you!"

"Fengchuan has received the order!"

Acting requires a sense of belief. Toyokawa Sho clasped his fists, and his blood seemed to be boiling. He walked to Shiina Riki, who was almost unable to hold back her laughter, with a serious face. His voice was sonorous and powerful, which made people trust him.

"Princess, please follow me. Time waits for no one. I need to escort you to the territory tonight."

"puff……"

Shiina Riki could have held back at first, but when she saw Toyokawa Sho walking up to her with such a serious face, she couldn't help it after all. She turned her head away and laughed with her body trembling.

When Toyokawa Sho saw that Riki was laughing, the warrior shadow created by his acting skills faded from his body, and his solemn face turned into his usual smile. He helped Riki pick up his schoolbag, then walked to the door and shouted at Riki.

"Let's go, Lixi."

"Ahem...wait for me a moment, Xiang. I'll be there soon."

Rinrinko watched the two of them leave the store with a smile on her face. She stroked her face with her hands and couldn't help but say that classic line.

"Is this youth..."

On the other side, Fengchuan Xiang pushed Jueying out of the carport.

He carried Lixi's light schoolbag on his shoulder and placed the bicycle on the right side of his body, pushing it slowly.

Li Xi felt a little empty-handed, so he walked with his hands behind his back on the left side of Toyokawa Sho and strolled with him on the streets at night.

At seven or eight o'clock in the night, it is still dark. The brilliant neon lights replace the stars in the sky and, along with the street lights, dispel the darkness in the streets. The pedestrians are like water and their laughter is like music.

White-collar workers who just got off work would drag their friends and seniors from the same period to sing at the izakaya. Pairs of students came out of the mall and discussed something enthusiastically, perhaps watching a movie or finding a light novel that just caught their eye. Not far away, a couple who were flirting with each other looked at the time, it seemed that it was time too, so they held a bag of dolls they had grabbed from the claw machine and discussed where to go for a bite to eat.

Shiina Riki followed Toyokawa Sho quietly.

After the two walked out of the store, they didn't speak for about five minutes, but it was still about a ten-minute walk to Yuze Coffee Shop.

She felt that there was nothing wrong with such a quiet atmosphere, but she was still holding the phone tightly in her pocket, wanting to give it away.

I was racking my brains to put together my speech, and couldn't help but regret why I didn't just give it away at noon.

It wouldn't have dragged on until now, where I'm racking my brains over what to say, how to start the conversation, and how to make this thing, which is obviously nothing, just something of mutual help between friends, sound more natural.

Just when I was feeling extremely confused.

The person next to him spoke.

"Lixi."

She subconsciously looked up and happened to meet the other person's eyes.

At this point, the distance between us is such that we no longer feel embarrassed to look at each other.

As friends, looking each other in the eye when speaking is normal and respectful.

But ever since she squatted outside the door and heard Toyokawa Sho's conversation, her heart could no longer bear such a thing.

To be more precise, it seemed that ever since they sat on the lawn together watching the fireworks yesterday, it had become difficult for her to regard Toyokawa Sho as an ordinary friend.

Even if we just look at each other calmly, we will feel a throbbing sensation.

As long as the other person opens his mouth to speak, his eyes will follow him involuntarily.

Shiina Riki wasn't sure whether she was being affected by the parallel world or whether she really had developed different feelings for this person.

Now, her mind was blank, and she just wanted to listen to Toyokawa Sho speak.

"Actually, when I was talking to the boss in the room this morning, I knew you and the store manager were outside."

However, someone has no moral integrity.

It starts with a bombshell.

Li Xi felt as if his head was buzzing as if it had exploded. He was hiding outside the door and trying hard not to make any sound. The memory of his head and cheeks being as hot as a boiling kettle was still vivid in his mind.

Does this guy know he's out there?

He knew it and still said something so embarrassing! ?

wrong……

He seems to have always been good at saying things that could be misunderstood...

Ahhhhhhhh, really!

Even if you must say it, at least say it tactfully! Do you know how embarrassed I was when I heard it from outside?

Shiina Riki took several deep breaths before she suppressed her surging emotions that were like the sea.

She glared at Toyokawa Sho angrily, but her height of 1.56 meters limited her expression. Her expression might seem extremely cold and chilling in the eyes of girls, but on a man who is usually taller, it would seem cute.

Like a puppy barking angrily, or like a kitten that has been raised for a long time and is getting upset because it is constantly teased, she has been very concerned about whether what Toyokawa Sho said is serious since this morning, but she really can't bring herself to ask this. Besides, if she asks, won't it reveal that she is eavesdropping outside?

But now that Toyokawa Sho has pointed it out, she simply took the opportunity to ask the question she had never dared to ask.

"So...are you serious about what you said?"

"Of course I'm serious."

Toyokawa Sho nodded.

"…Are you serious?"

Li Xi confirmed again.

"I really mean it."

Toyokawa Sho gave further affirmation.

When Shiina Riki looked at Toyokawa Sho's genuine eyes, the shackles that bound her heart began to fall off quickly.

For many things, as long as you take the first step, the rest will become much simpler.

All things are difficult at the beginning. The determination to take a step forward and the resolve to keep going are the most difficult and most important things.

The same is true for speaking.

When you finally say the words you dare not say, the rest of what you want to say will naturally flow out from your heart.

"But I... don't have talents as great as yours. Maybe compared to my peers, I'm a little better, but compared to geniuses like you, I can't even touch you."

Shiina Riki whispered.

"That wild cat was the same. I had to listen to you explain it five or six times before I could memorize the beat, and I practiced for an hour before I could play the drums smoothly. But that wild cat only listened to you explain it roughly once and memorized the entire thing. She also played it perfectly. In the three times we played together, she didn't make a single mistake. Even her coordination with you was incredibly smooth."

"You clearly fought for me to have this recording opportunity, but I didn't perform well at all. Compared to yesterday's performance, my performance today was utterly terrible."

"The drum beats weren't fast enough, the rhythm wasn't clear enough, and I didn't even give enough emotion to the harmonies. I didn't do anything well, I didn't achieve anything... I felt like a mediocre person who got in through your help and connections. I was completely embarrassed in the practice room. In fact, it seemed that I was just like that."

Shiina Riki clenched his fists.

She herself didn't expect that she would say so much. She lowered her head and didn't look into Toyokawa Sho's eyes, but every word that came out of her mouth was related to Toyokawa Sho.

"If I hadn't met you in line that day and stood next to you, I might not have even passed the interview. If I hadn't practiced with you the next day, I wouldn't even know what I should perform on stage or what kind of drum beat I should play to get the guests' cheers."

"These past few days, you've been the one helping me, supporting me, but I haven't been able to do anything for you. I feel like a burden dragging you down, tugging at your body, dragging you into the same mediocrity as me."

"I don't know, I don't understand..."

Shiina Riki raised his head.

The excessive release of emotions made her crystal clear eyes sparkle with mist, and the deepest scars in her heart were also revealed by her direct words.

"As someone without any talent like me, what qualifications do I have to be treated like this by you? What qualifications do I have to stay by your side forever as you said? If I still have any dignity, I should cut off my dependence on you. At the very least, I should let someone more talented be your drummer..."

"Instead of letting me, a mediocre person like me, hold you back. When you have the chance to spread your wings and fly high, you still have to look back and worry about whether you can take me with you. Just like today, you had to bow your head and ask the boss, begging the boss to let me stay with you."

"I hate this, I really hate this... I hate myself for not being chosen, I hate myself for having these wild thoughts, I hate myself for not having any outstanding talents, and even more I hate myself for making you bow your head...!"

"You also have dignity and self-respect. You are different from me. You and Xiangzi are both young masters and young ladies who grew up in large families. I can feel your pride and dignity from your daily conversation and behavior. People like you would rather die than bow to others, but today you did this for me..."

As Shiina Riki spoke, she let out a choked breath to the side. She bit her lower lip tightly, and tears had already left a clear mark on her cheek.

She had never revealed her inferiority complex to anyone, not even mentioned it briefly.

Whether it was her mother, sister, or friend, she always bore the pressure silently.

Watching others' increasingly dazzling achievements silently strengthens my inferiority complex. Watching geniuses who are more outstanding than me hold up the trophies that belong to them, while I can only look at my works that are really inferior compared to theirs, and retreat self-awarely.

She had never spoken of the scars she had always been reluctant to show to others in such detail and detail as she did today.

If she hadn't heard Toyokawa Sho say those heartfelt words outside the door, if she hadn't gone with Toyokawa Sho to deliver the bicycle, perhaps she would never have said these things.

But fate always weaves coincidences together. Before she walked out of the store, she never thought that she would tell all these things seriously.

It's like they are having a quarrel.

She mustered up her courage and asked the person in front of her with red eyes.

"...Am I really worthy of your attention?"

Toyokawa Sho listened quietly to Riki finish his story.

The two of them parked the car aside and stood on a bridge where almost no one passed by. The traffic below was shining with colorful lights, rushing past like neon lights. The stars in the sky were bright and timeless, as if they were carrying people's thoughts and forming a corresponding galaxy.

In fact, Toyokawa Sho's original intention was just to make Riki appear more natural.

He noticed that ever since Li Xi heard what he said in the morning, his attitude towards him had become a little timid. He always looked like he was hiding something, and the light in his eyes was not as bright as before.

So he threw out an introduction, hoping to use this topic to draw out Li Xi's concerns.

What Toyokawa Sho didn't expect was that his suggestion was like throwing a brick to attract jade. He clearly thought that it would only make her mind a little clearer, but he never thought that it would reveal to him the most difficult scar in her heart.

This is also the time.

Toyokawa Shocai realized it only slowly.

His current feelings for Li Xi are heavy and repressed, which is not in line with the depth of his age.

He regarded Lixi as his only connection in this world, the last straw that could keep him from falling into madness and disorder.

But to Li Xi, he was just a relatively special friend, and he would not have such complex and heavy feelings for her like he did.