All the people who like me are other people’s girlfriends! ?

I wonder if other girls have ever been to the police station. Probably not, since while it symbolizes order and security, it also represents change and a departure from daily life.

This was her second time visiting the police station. The policewoman guarding her happened to be the same person she had met last time. She didn't know what to say, so she just bowed her head in shame and apologized. Her father hadn't actually committed a crime; he had just passed out drunk on the street and was brought here. So she simply filled out a form and took him away.

Drip, drip, the rain continued to fall.

The girl listened to the sound of the rain, sharing half of her umbrella with her father. She thought back to the distant past, how her father must have held an umbrella for her like this when she was little, sheltering her from the wind and rain. But why…

"Why do you drink so much, Dad?"

Her voice was soft, almost drowned out by the rain, but the helplessness, anger, and disappointment within it were as sharp as knives. She wasn't afraid of hardship, truly not. If her father were willing to work hard with her, she could grit her teeth and persevere no matter how difficult life became, but…

"Xiangzi, Dad will try his best..."

The man kept repeating the same sentence, one she had heard countless times. When her father used to say it, it carried the calm and unwavering weight of the ocean, giving her peace of mind. But now, with his stubble, sunken eyes, and clouded gaze as if veiled by mist, even his words sounded light and weightless.

"Father……"

She gritted her teeth.

I'm not going to care about you anymore—

The words lingered on his lips, but he couldn't bring himself to say them; all that remained was a sigh.

"I'll take you home first; I have other important things to do next."

Toyokawa Shoko tried her best to make her tone sound indifferent.

Holding an umbrella in one hand and supporting her father with the other, she walked home. The crowds were silent, submerged in the rain.

Because she was afraid her father would fall, she walked close to the wall. Just then, her father's body slumped down, one hand supporting himself against the wall, and he weakly retched, seemingly a lingering effect of a hangover.

Dry heaving turned into vomiting.

Shoko Toyokawa looked down at the man, feeling the strange looks from passersby, her face full of disgust. Her damned father was causing trouble for others again…

Tokyo was still beautiful in the rain. Parents held two umbrellas, leading their children by the little hands. Young couples huddled under the eaves to avoid the rain, their eyes brimming with shy glances at each other's skin as they accidentally touched. Neon lights spread across the wet ground like colorful paints, dazzling and mesmerizing... But all of this seemed so far away from her.

To hold an umbrella for her father, half of her body was soaked, as if even her warmth had been stolen away. The chill seeped into her bones, like falling into a dark, bottomless sea, leaving her exhausted and heartbroken.

Suddenly, she seemed to hear a voice.

Is it an illusion?

"Xiang...zi?"

That was a very familiar sound, one I would never forget.

She desperately wished she had misheard, but that it wasn't a hallucination.

Shoko Toyokawa turned her head slowly, taken aback.

She saw the girl on the other side of the street.

This person had long, flowing black hair that reached past their shoulders, exuding a dashing and heroic air. Their signature phoenix eyes were slightly upturned, and their amethyst-like pupils appeared particularly proud in the rain. A beauty mark under their eye added a certain unapproachable and aloof aura.

This is Shiina Tatsuki.

She was once determined to walk together with her, a community of shared destiny.

At this moment, she was looking at herself blankly and hesitantly, as if she had seen something incredible.

Li Xi...? She saw everything?

Time seemed to freeze, and Toyokawa Shoko was stunned, followed by shame, pain, and embarrassment.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound appeared in my ears.

No sound can be heard.

Why...of all times?

Why... of all people? Li Xi.

The moment their eyes met, Toyokawa Shoko trembled, her face turning deathly pale, as if she had been dragged back to that cold, rainy day—

She returned to the recording studio that held their memories. Mu sat by the window, gazing blankly at the rain. Su Shi rushed anxiously to her side. Li Xi frowned; the atmosphere was as heavy as the deepest part of the ocean. And then…

It was me turning away, standing in the rain, crying.

Why not explain the reason for leaving Crychic to everyone?

Shoko Toyokawa would occasionally ask herself these questions, and soon all sorts of answers would emerge: because it was meaningless, because she couldn't say it, because she didn't want everyone to worry...

These may all be true, but now that Shoko sees Shiina Tatsuki, she understands the real reason.

—She just didn't want her former friends to see her in such a wretched state.

Not wanting them to see the once elegant "Toyokawa Shoko," she disheveledly helped her drunken father out of the police station.

She didn't want to be pitied.

Her personality might really be terrible.

She was arrogant, with meaningless reserve and pride. Perhaps she had gotten along so well with them before, but it was only because she was in a high position and was a leader. When she fell to the bottom of her life, she would subconsciously feel inferior and worthless from head to toe, and completely inappropriate.

So, my confidence, my insistence on elegance and beauty, were only supported by my family background and money?

This realization caused her stomach cramps, and she almost vomited.

wow-

The sound of rain suddenly became clear, pulling Toyokawa Shoko back to this world, a world that was so cold.

She took a breath and didn't look at Lixi again. Only one thought was in her mind: to leave this place and escape as far away as possible, or to find a place where no one would find her and hide herself, so that she wouldn't have to face all of this.

With her last bit of strength, she pulled her father, who had collapsed to the ground, into a taxi parked by the roadside.

She shouldn't have bothered with that bastard, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. The taxi fare was expensive, but she didn't care. She casually took out some money from her wallet, handed it to the driver, and gave him an address.

Then, without looking back, Toyokawa Shoko rushed into the rain. Her back looked flustered and disheveled, as if she were being chased by something terrible.

Not far away, Shiina Riki subconsciously reached out her hand, then slowly lowered it, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

She still can't believe what she just saw.

——Xiangzi?

—Isn't she the young lady of Tsuki no Mori?

—Was that disheveled, drunk man her father?

—And...did they come from the police station?

Shiina Tatsuki fell into deep thought. At this moment, all the information flowed through her mind like water: Why did Shoko leave the band without a word? Why did she cut off all contact with them? And why didn't Kiyono reveal the reason?

The feeling was so wonderful, it was as if a chain of iron rings had sunk into a large lake, revealing the truth that had been hidden by the lake water.

Wait! There's something more important right now!

Shiina Ritsuki suddenly snapped out of her daze. She could roughly guess Shoko's current feelings, but she had no way to help her. The only one who could...

She quickly took out her phone and made a call to Kiyono.

[Idiot, answer the phone! Something terrible has happened!]

...

The rain intensified, dominating the entire city. Thunder rumbled deep within the clouds, and flashes of lightning ignited everything in a white light before plunging everything back into darkness.

The cold rain had already soaked through Toyokawa Shoko's clothes, and water droplets dripped continuously from her wet hair. She had left her only umbrella on the way she came, and at this moment she was like a doll abandoned by the world, her head hanging low as she wandered in the rainy city.

Her father, who was dead drunk, Lixi's eyes, and the scenes from before kept flashing through her mind. She felt that the last bit of self-esteem she had left was being destroyed little by little.

The best and worst days of her life always seemed to be intertwined like twins.

Perhaps this is her punishment, the girl thought to herself.

Because she hurt Crychic's friends, she will also be punished.

She thought she would break down, tremble, and be overwhelmed by despair like she was in the recording studio that day—but surprisingly, her heartbeat was steady, even calmer than when she bumped into Li Xi earlier.

The shame was still there, the feeling of suffocation was still there, but there was no despair.

She paused, looking down at her soaked skirt and dirty socks, and suddenly realized—

—It turns out, she was already used to this kind of disheveled state.

Or perhaps... it's because someone has already seen her at her worst?

Kiyono's face appeared in my mind.

The boy who always quietly prepared lunch for her when he worked at the convenience store; the silly guy who stubbornly held her hand when she was about to give up, despite the hurt she was experiencing; the gentle person who saw through all her bravado but never called her out on it...

—He already knows.

I know she's no longer a rich girl, I know she has an alcoholic father, and I know she works hard but still struggles to make ends meet.

But he still stood beside her.

why?

It should have been a sad scene, but her chest felt slightly hot.

That person seemed to appear before her eyes, gazing at her tenderly with a smile that could dispel the dark clouds.

Toyokawa Shoko stopped in her tracks, her amber eyes sparkling with moving emotion.

She didn't know if this was right or wrong, but she had nothing left now, truly nothing except Kiyono. So, as long as Kiyono was still there, she wouldn't give up hope, but what if Kiyono abandoned her...

The blue-haired girl looked up and, without realizing it, walked to a familiar overpass. Below the bridge, trams rattled along, and raindrops pattered against the iron railings, making a crisp sound.

In a daze, she seemed to see the scene from that day again—

She stood in front of the overpass, frantically chasing after a four-leaf clover that had been accidentally blown away by the wind.

Shoko Toyokawa instinctively reached out, trying to grab the leaf that was drifting in front of her.

pat.

A drop of rain hit the back of her hand.

At that very moment, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps.

The next second, her body fell heavily to the ground, and a pair of arms tightly embraced her from behind. The force was so great that it almost hurt her, yet it was so warm that it brought tears to her eyes.

"Calm down! Suicide is not an option!"

what.

He found her.

Just like that day.

Toyokawa Shoko didn't turn around or resist. She smiled, placed her hand on his arm that was wrapped around her, and relaxed completely, as if she were soaking in a comfortable hot spring.

The rain poured down on the two of them. Qingye's chest was pressed against her back, and she could feel his rapid heartbeat through the soaked fabric.

The girl murmured:

"Sorry……"

"The person you should apologize to isn't me."

Kiyono sighed—he was originally waiting for the girl at the agreed location, planning to play a trick on Teacher Xiang, but he rushed over the moment he received Lixi's call, and luckily he made it in time.

Throughout the journey, his heart was in his throat, because he knew the girl's personality: earnest, proud, and unwilling to let anyone see her vulnerable or disheveled side. But Li Xi had stumbled upon her in this state...

If he had been any later, the girl might have turned into a flying auspicious creature.

He didn't ask Xiangzi why she had become like this. After hearing Lixi's words, he understood. Xiangzi didn't speak either. They remained in that position, maintaining a tacit understanding.

"Coming to a place like this in this weather, anyone would misunderstand."

"……Um."

"After taking a break, can we continue our date today?"

"……Um."

"Can I touch your breasts while I'm at it?"

"...Huh? No! Not in a place like this!"

Shoko Toyokawa, embarrassed and annoyed, slapped his arm. "You're saying such things that ruin the mood again. Besides, your arm is clearly... well, you know."

"Teacher Da Xiang tastes delicious after the rain."

Kiyono made a joke, then said casually.