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

"Seriously, I'm really looking forward to what surprises Miss Xiangzi will give me today, like chocolates, holding each other's little fingers while shopping, giving each other small trinkets, taking photo booth pictures, going to the amusement park... So, you have to make it up to me."

Toyokawa Shoko closed her eyes, as if imagining that scene.

"...What does Kiyono-kun want?"

A moment later, the young lady in his arms raised her head slightly, her damp blue hair clinging to her cheeks. She turned her face slightly toward Qingye, her lips like roses glistening with dew, soft and alluring.

Kiyono gazed into the depths of the rain.

The glow of neon lights in the distance blurred in the rain, the sound of trams passing by mingled with the sound of rain, and the damp wind lifted the corners of their clothes.

He tightened his embrace and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"—Live with me, Xiangzi."

?031. Xiangzi confesses his feelings and receives a reply of [5K].

Living together, living together?

Kiyono-kun wants to live with me?!

Hearing the boy who was embracing her say those words in her ear, Toyokawa Shoko's heart skipped a beat, and her fair cheeks flushed red at a visible speed. The burning heat seemed to make even the raindrops falling on them make a slight "sizzling" sound.

Even the most innocent young girl understands what cohabitation between a man and a woman means.

Rainwater streamed down their intertwined necks, forming a warm brook at their collarbones.

Meanwhile, Toyokawa Shoko gradually discovered a terrible truth: she simply had no way of refusing Kiyono's requests.

So she became even more shy and flustered.

However, she quickly calmed down and felt ashamed of her thoughts. Kiyono-kun wasn't that kind of person...

Xiangzi turned his head to the side, and the distant lights pierced through the rain, illuminating the boy's eyelashes, which were covered with water droplets.

She believed she understood Kiyono. This boy was warm, cheerful, and gentle, but also intelligent and decisive. He had always been watching her, encouraging her when she ran away, and giving her advice when she was confused... He had always been watching her.

It illuminates the way forward for her.

Even this very moment—

He had no ill intentions; he simply wanted to pull her out of the mire and face the future together with her.

Drip, drip, drip, the June raindrops continued to fall, but she no longer felt the cold.

"Kiyono-kun, you have no idea what I've been going through lately."

The blue-haired girl rubbed against his arm like a wet kitten and whispered.

Why am I saying all this?

The most important thing she should do right now is to leave this place, find shelter from the rain, and take a shower... She thinks it's because it's so warm, like when you suddenly wake up from a nightmare and feel lost and helpless, a pair of hands come from behind and pull you into a warm embrace.

It was a faint flutter of excitement, an impulse to speak freely, to share all my grievances and complaints, all my dreams and pursuits with the person in front of me.

These are words that could only be uttered in the midst of a downpour like this.

This must be a heart that can only open up under the dark clouds at this moment.

Toyokawa Shoko felt both unfortunate and fortunate. Since leaving her family, her pride and self-esteem had been gradually eroded by various aspects of life.

But then she met a boy as warm as the sun, and a beautiful story unfolded, melting away the sharp, hard ice that had risen in her heart.

and so--

Give all her hidden pain, her suffering, her vulnerability, and her soul to this person.

“My father caused huge losses to the family company and was kicked out of the Toyokawa family. He drinks heavily every day. I work every day, but there's still no way to make a living. I had to drop out of Tsukimori School and go to Haneoka School, which offers scholarships…”

She clutched the fabric of Kiyono's clothes at her chest, and the flashing car lights in the rain made the raindrops falling on her face look like glistening tears.

"How I longed to... how I longed to continue on this path with everyone, but when my father was taken to the police station that day, I finally understood that the past life... could never be returned to."

Her voice gradually faded, yet strangely it pierced through the patter of rain, each word striking a clear chord in one's heart.

"And today... everything I desperately tried to hide was seen by Lixi..."

A turbulent wave surged within her. She wanted to talk to him in a better way, to convey all her feelings to him, but all she could say were pale and powerless words.

Kiyono listened silently.

What were Toyokawa Shoko's feelings and awareness when she lived this kind of life? How many embarrassing and heartbreaking things did she encounter?

Judging from his experience, the girl's situation wasn't actually that difficult. If she were just down on her luck, Xiangzi wouldn't have such charm.

What he truly admired was Xiangzi's character in the face of adversity. No matter how difficult things got, she gritted her teeth and didn't ask anyone for help. Instead, she worked to support her family, squeezed out time to practice the piano, and shouldered the burden of her useless father.

Like a sunflower blooming in the night, shining brightly under the only starlight.

Just as a blade is dulled to sharpen its edge, it conceals its once proud brilliance, like steel that has been forged, bursting forth with an even more intense and resolute brilliance within its restraint.

Looking at a girl like that, I can't help but want to do something.

Kiyono instinctively hugged the girl in his arms tighter. Her body looked unusually thin and pitifully emaciated in the rain, and he could not feel any of that dignified and resilient spirit.

"What will Kiyono-kun think when he finds out about all this? Will he think I'm stupid? Or... pitiful?"

Toyokawa Shoko shifted slightly, her fingers tightening slightly between his clothes, her expression uneasy. It was the first time she had ever laid herself bare to someone like this, her chest feeling as if it had been ripped open, her heart laid naked before him, leaving her with a sense of emptiness and unease.

“I think it’s beautiful,” Kiyono suddenly said.

"beautiful?"

"Like the last snowflakes of early spring, like the fleeting cherry blossoms of late spring, like the lotus that blooms for a moment in the summer night, like the red leaves that stubbornly refuse to fall in the autumn chill, stubborn, pure and exquisitely beautiful."

Kiyono looked tenderly into her eyes.

"Really, always saying nice things..." Xiangzi's eyelashes fluttered, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously pursed up.

"So, come live with me, Xiangzi."

Kiyono repeated it firmly, not allowing her to escape.

Then... the two fell into an eerie silence.

When Toyokawa Shoko quietly raised her head, she saw those pupils that seemed to suck people in, making her feel very embarrassed, and she pouted.

"Living together...what does that mean?"

"Live with me, this invincible, handsome young man." He answered confidently, even with a hint of flippant amusement.

"Hmph, this is a lifelong matter, it's not something that can be decided so easily."

Xiangzi made a token attempt to push him away, but then the cold rain slid down the girl's neck and into her collar, making her shiver and shrink back into the boy's arms.

"Hmm? It's just cohabitation, it can't be that serious, can it?" He paused, then said seriously, "Do you know what the divorce and breakup rates are in Asia right now, Miss Xiangzi?"

“…I don’t know about other people’s affairs,” she said softly, “but that’s how it is for me…”

The blue-haired girl gazed at the distant street scene, distorted and blurred by the rain, feeling as if it were another world.

Perhaps realizing what this choice represented, Toyokawa Shoko's originally softened heart began to change again—it was her stubbornness, her reserve, her awkwardness.

The gentler Kiyono was, the less she could accept it with a clear conscience.

However, compared to her cold attitude towards the Crychic bassist, the girl's words sounded more like a girlfriend's coquettishness.

“You have no obligation to help me to this extent. I can do just fine on my own.”

"Given Xiangzi's abilities, that might be true, but it would be very tiring," Qingye said calmly. "I don't want to see you so exhausted."

"..."

The girl's breath caught in her throat for a moment.

Then, with her cheeks slightly flushed, she began to examine her own shortcomings.

"Besides, my damn old man owes 16.8 billion. Do you know what that means? If you were with me... your life would be dragged into an abyss..."

Although it wasn't the money she was swindled out of, and although she could have completely ignored it, that's just how the young girl Toyokawa Shoko was. From the moment she left home with her father, she was prepared for the consequences.

"Over 10 billion? That does sound like a lot."

Kiyono said to himself:

"If you worked at a convenience store, you would have to work for 192 years without eating or drinking. If you used that money to build Tokyo Tower, you could build another iconic building, heavy enough to cast a skyscraper-like shadow on the ground and crush anyone."

Shoko Toyokawa bit her lower lip. She clearly heard the answer she wanted, but she felt her heart growing colder. Cold rain dripped from her hair, gathering and falling onto her beautiful chin.

"Yes, that's it, so..."

She turned her head away, her voice trembling slightly at the end.

“Xiangzi’s family has a lot of debt.” The boy paused, looking down at her face. “But to me, the beauty, purity, and pride of the young girl, Toyokawa Xiangzi, are far more precious than 16.8 billion yen.”

Toyokawa Shoko stared at Kiyono in front of her, her pupils trembling. Suddenly, the girl pressed her hand to her chest and gasped for breath, because she felt a little short of oxygen and that her little brain would stop working if she didn't breathe.

Her cherry blossom-colored lips parted slightly, her face flushed with shyness—

"You, you're just a student, how can you take responsibility for someone else's life...?"

His words were like a pool of spring water.

But Kiyono always has countless ways to instantly turn Toyokawa Shoko back into her soft and sweet mode.

He smiled:

"Whether you can afford it or not, you'll know once you try."

"Ugh... you idiot..."

Toyokawa Shoko covered her burning face with both hands, and whispered words escaped through her fingers.

"Not only that, I'll probably cause you trouble..."

"I know."

"If I stay with you forever, I will become more and more dependent on you..."

"It's ok."

"besides……"

"It's okay. I'll accompany you."

Kiyono suddenly interrupted her, reaching out and gently taking the girl's hand in his.

"Doesn't Xiangzi want to come with me?"

Under Kiyono's gaze, Xiangzi's breathing became more and more rapid, her face flushed with embarrassment. She knew she had to give a straight answer, so she quietly squeezed the boy's hand back and closed her eyes.

She calmed her breathing, and when she opened her eyes, her amber eyes sparkled in the rain, like stars finally breaking through the clouds. At that moment, the girl finally became the confident and bright Toyokawa Shoko she always was. She turned around, faced Kiyono, gently wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered in his ear.

"I am willing."

*

Is this what it feels like to decide to spend your life with someone?

It was a completely different feeling from becoming a musical community with my partners; it was like sinking into a sweet dream.

From today onwards, she can see the boy's smile every day. When they go to sleep at night, they will say goodbye to each other tomorrow. When they wake up in the morning, they can say good morning to each other. If they have time, they can also go to the park to chat.

If it's Sunday, they can cook together in the kitchen and go on a date.

Their lives were intertwined.

From now on, she will be the one smiling beside Kiyono-kun, and she will be the one who brings a smile to Kiyono-kun's face.

The person holding his hand, the person in his eyes, the special person in his heart.

—It's all her.

My heart was pounding, and my guts were pounding.

Xiangzi took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air after the rain.

"Kiyono-kun, I...I'm going home to pack some things."

She released her grip on Kiyono's clothes; her fingertips were cold but no longer trembling. Her voice was soft, yet it had regained its firmness and elegance, as if she had broken through some invisible barrier.

The two walked together to her and her father's house. Since they had decided to move, she needed to pack her clothes and belongings, and most importantly, inform her father.

"Okay, I'll wait for you here." Kiyono nodded with a smile and didn't ask any further questions.

The blue-haired girl smiled at him, then turned and walked towards the peeling paint on the door. She tried to push it, but found it was locked. It seemed her father had returned home safely.