Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

Mitsuka, who is skilled at being evasive and making polite remarks, is definitely not trying to fool anyone now.

"But Su Shi, that's not how it is, is it?"

She abruptly changed the subject, instantly taking the lead.

"If Su Shi only sees Xiao Jun as a helper to get Xiao Xiang back..."

Triangle Chuhua showed some leniency, softening the word "tool" into "helper".

She gave Su Shi a deep look, then walked past her.

"Then don't take him away from me too."

In the fleeting moment as they passed each other, Chu Hua left behind these whispered words.

"...I can do anything."

Although Su Shi's expression was not exactly pleasant, she still murmured to herself after watching the four people getting along happily in the corridor.

"I'll do anything for CRYCHIC."

Chu Hua paused in her steps as she was about to leave.

"..."

In the end, she simply sighed silently and walked out of RiNG.

Ding.

The camera monitoring RiNG moved slightly.

The confrontation between Chu Hua and Su Shi, including their drumming competition in the recording studio and Xiao and Li Xi's conversation in the corridor, were all captured by the livehouse's surveillance system.

An elderly woman stood behind the staff in the monitoring room, watched the screen for a while, and then turned her back.

Her aged voice showed no sign of fatigue, but rather was full of composure and deep thought.

"Indeed, as Lena said... she's an interesting child."

Chapter Fifty-Eight: Xiangzi's Night of the Living Dead

When Xiao was young, he actually felt for a period of time that he was living in the shadow of Toyokawa Shoko.

Mutsu's mother adopted him because of her eyes, which resembled Xiangzi's, and Aunt Hatsune treated him gently because of those eyes.

It took him more than a decade of hard work to get along and get along with everyone, which gradually made them treat him as the unique Ruo Yexiao and become a true family member.

While Xiangzi was still alive, Xiao could understand Su Shi's mentality of using him as a tool to win back Xiangzi, since Aunt Aiyin, who had a similar experience, had also confided in him.

But as long as they treat each other sincerely, he believes that he will eventually build a unique bond with everyone, just like when he was a child.

...Well, I can only say that I believe it for now.

After all, as long as Toyokawa Shoko's death is not a foregone conclusion, he cannot be sure that things will develop as history has in his memory.

In other words—

Did Toyokawa Shoko really have a reason to live?

After resolving the rift with Lixi through a drum set competition, he had actually begun to like this time and space that didn't belong to him.

It's true that everyone would be down for a while without her, but they will still carry on with their lives while remembering her.

And even if he didn't want Xiangzi to die the way he did in history, what could he do?

To put it another way—when, where, and why did Toyokawa Shoko die?

My thoughts are a jumbled mess; there are many things I still don't understand.

The only certainty is that he doesn't have much time left.

"Xiaojun...Xiaojun?"

The gentle call brought the boy back to reality.

"what……"

He came to his senses and saw that Chu Hua, who had been watching him the whole time, had a worried look on her face.

"What's wrong? You seem a little distracted all day."

"It's nothing... cough cough, I've just had a lot of worries lately."

Xiao Qing cleared his throat. He wouldn't lie to Chu Hua, but it wasn't convenient for him to confide his troubles to her either.

Before they knew it, it was Saturday. Although Chu Hua only wanted Xiao to take him to his favorite places, this was undoubtedly a difficult request for him as a time traveler.

So for now they're just taking walks on the streets near their home, and Chu Hua is being very well-behaved and sensible by not asking any questions.

She simply stayed by his side quietly, caring about everything concerning him.

This made it even harder for Xiao to tell her about her troubles.

"Actually, your childhood sweetheart is about to die, and I'm still hesitating about whether to save her"—how could he say such a thing?

"...It must have been very hard."

Chu Hua saw that he didn't continue speaking, so she didn't press him further, but her gaze towards the boy was filled with slightly complicated emotions.

"Well?"

Xiao, who had just come to her senses, did not understand what Chu Hua was referring to.

"Even if Xiaojun doesn't say it, I can sense it. You've been silently bearing some secrets all along."

Women are naturally intuitive, let alone a woman like Chu Hua who can practically communicate with spirits.

What's most commendable is that, upon noticing something amiss, she neither pressed for answers like Li Xi did, nor did she try to exploit herself like Su Shi did.

"It must be tough for one person to bear all this alone, right?"

She simply placed her hand lightly on the boy's clothes, slightly overstepping the line but knowing perfectly well how to handle the situation as she tugged at his sleeve.

"Of course, I think there must be a reason why you don't want to tell others."

The blonde girl smiled slightly, making it clear that she "absolutely wouldn't interfere."

He's really considerate.

"Of course, after all, I'm the one who knows Xiaojun best, right?"

—How did this guy know what he was thinking? .月-漪⑵依⑶⑸kqi九榴散（二）g

Chu Hua's unsolicited answer startled Kazama, and his somewhat surprised expression only deepened the smile on Chu Hua's face.

That's terrifying. Having multiple births is scary enough, but if a woman with multiple births can also read minds, her terror level will increase several notches.

"On the other hand, wouldn't just taking a walk be too boring for you, Chuhua?"

Xiao looked around and very naturally shifted the topic to something unimportant.

"It's okay. If this is something Xiaojun usually likes to do, I feel quite relaxed taking a walk with you."

The girl's smile remained sweet and charming, as if even the boring walk was a uniquely interesting activity for her.

The only place that could possibly connect the two of them is probably the planetarium.

It wasn't that Xiao deliberately didn't take Chu Hua to the places he usually liked to play—it was just that the amusement facilities and shopping malls he liked to go to hadn't even been built decades ago.

It seems that he is a complete outsider in this city.

Is there nothing a stranger can do?

"Actually, I know all of this."

While Xiao was lost in thought, Chu Hua, who had been watching him the whole time, spoke up.

"Xiaojun, actually you have some connection with Su Shi and the others... and even with Xiao Xiang, right?"

"...!"

Kazama's pupils contracted slightly in surprise.

In fact, with Chu Hua's intelligence, it wouldn't be difficult for her to know her relationship with Su Shi and the others—she could have found out even if she had followed them.

He just didn't expect that Chu Hua would bring this up in public, after all, he had always witnessed how much Aunt Hatsune loved to gloss over things in social situations.

“I don’t mean to complain that you kept this from me… I just wanted Xiaojun to know.”

She gently pressed down the brim of the black baseball cap on her head and gazed ahead with tender eyes.

"While it's true that Xiaoxiang is a very important person to me, Xiaojun is also an important person in another sense. I think I will support you unconditionally no matter what you do."

Chu Hua smiled brightly, though her sincerity made Xiao feel a little uncomfortable.

Unconditionally support him... including standing idly by while death looms over Xiao Xiang's impending demise?

"...Is it okay if I'm hiding something from Chu Hua?"

"It's okay, because I was able to arrange a meeting with Xiaojun and let her know my feelings. I've already won over many people, haven't I?"

Chu Hua's smile remained unchanged, and her words were somewhat intriguing.

"whispering sound."

In a small alley behind them, a figure lurking in a corner seemed to scoff.

"So, Xiaojun, you can just relax and do what you want to do... Oh, your phone screen is lit up."

At Chu Hua's friendly reminder, Xiao picked up her phone, which was half-exposed in her shirt pocket, and unlocked the screen.

His relaxed expression instantly tensed up after seeing the contents of the text message.

"What's wrong?"

Chu Hua blinked, her intuition always accurate, and sensed something was amiss.

And her concerns were indeed valid.

Xiao received a message from Mu, which contained only a short line of text.

"Xiao, Xiang said today that she hopes I can join her new band."

Kazama Akatsuki knew exactly what those words meant.

—From this moment on, Toyokawa Shoko's life officially began its countdown.

Chapter Fifty-Nine: So, the butterfly flaps its wings

Just a few days ago, Toyokawa Shoko, who had been busy working to support her family, finally managed to spare a moment of attention at her customer service position, looking at her phone and falling into deep thought.

The screen displayed various messages that Nagasaki Motoyo had sent her over the past few days.

"The weather's been getting warmer lately; spring's gone by faster than I expected. I wonder how you're doing, Xiangzi? Have you been dressing warmly enough? Are you doing well? —Su ​​Shi"

"Recently, Lixi and Deng finally agreed to come back to RiNG's recording studio to practice with me. Thinking back, it feels like it's been so long since we last got together like this. Xiangzi, what about you? Have you picked up the keyboard again lately? —Su ​​Shi"

At first, she didn't pay much attention to such messages. After all, since the C group disbanded, Su Shi often sent her things that seemed to be just sharing her life, but were actually full of hidden meanings.

However, as she scrolled down further, the content of the information became less serene.

"You might not know this, but a boy named Kazama-kun actually put in a lot of effort in this. He's incredibly talented in every way, and seems to know everything about us... I don't know how he did it, but I can tell that Riki really likes him. —Su Shi"

"That Kazama-kun is quite an unexpected surprise... We might even share some similar views. Shoko, you've probably met him before, right? —Su ​​Shi"

Kazama...wait, which Kazama...?

"Hey Toyokawa, break time's over! The client's waiting!"

"Ah... okay! I'll get started right away!"

Before she could even pause and think, her boss's voice suddenly rang out—customer service representative Xiao Xiang had no choice but to sheepishly resume her work mode, greeting every customer who called with a smile.

As the long day ended, the busy work hours came to an end. It wasn't until dusk that Toyokawa Shoko could finally drag her tired body home and take out her phone to ponder how much of Su Shi's words were true or false.

Actually, if Xiangzi had just sent the question to Su Shi, she would definitely have replied, but she would have sent a whole bunch of random things, so Xiangzi hesitated and didn't send it to Su Shi.

Besides, even without asking, she could vaguely sense that Su Shi hadn't lied to her.