You are Toyokawa Shoko, then who am I?

She was thinking that she was too easy to please... At the same time, she was pinching the balloon doll in her hand with her ten fingers, trying to distract herself from the embarrassment she was feeling.

"…I'm sorry, I wasn't right."

She apologized subconsciously, and then realized that the selfishness she had been suppressing began to rebound, growing rapidly in her heart at an alarming rate.

Continue to stay with each other if you want.

I want to tell the other person everything in my heart without reservation.

I want the other person to know how hard and painful it is for me to give in and restrain myself, and then get the proper reward.

But isn’t this just acting like a spoiled child…!?

Li Xi bit his teeth hard, his flesh-colored cheeks showing a beautiful light blush. He wanted to use all his strength to hold back the growing weakness in his heart, but he heard what the person next to him said.

"And don't apologize."

"...Then what should I do?"

"You should hold your head high and sit next to me confidently, because you've done something truly remarkable. It's all thanks to you that Mu was able to come here today."

"Why would Xiang know that?"

Li Xi leaned back slightly. This matter should only be known to her and Ruo Ye Mu.

"Mu told me."

Toyokawa Sho is calm.

"Who—? Mu?"

Li Xi's face was full of surprise.

The guy who had ended Crychic with just one sentence was now speaking for her...?

"Um,"

Toyokawa Sho nodded, then smiled and said, "Are you surprised? It doesn't seem like something she would do."

Li Xi looked away awkwardly and did not answer.

In her opinion, the biggest culprit for the disbandment of Crychic was Shoko Toyokawa, followed closely by Mutsushi Wakaba, which led to her always having some prejudice against these two people.

And now she heard from Toyokawa Sho that it was Wakaba Mu who told what she did behind her back, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.

The opinions he had about Wakaba Mu quickly disappeared, and he was followed by guilt for wasting his time by staying with Toyokawa Sho.

Others are thinking about you, but you are holding them back?

How can this work!

"Xiang, I'm fine. You should go up and find Mu first."

"Are you in such a hurry to push me out?"

Toyokawa Sho teased, "Then I'll really go up and look for Mu."

"Go...go."

Li Xi bit his lips tightly and closed his eyes unwillingly.

"Once we're up there, we're going to hold hands, hug each other, and drink juice from the same glass through two straws. Is that okay?"

Seeing this, Toyokawa Sho continued to joke with joy.

"Didn't you two just meet?!"

Li Xi was so anxious that he almost stood up.

Her figure was shaky, and her once invincible figure was stained with several terrifying sword wounds. Her pretty face was filled with visible anxiety and reluctance, and she didn't notice that she had fallen into the hands of the other party.

Oh!

Two days ago, someone was still an imperial hero who could kill the great demon Tzeentch with a sword and dominate the warship with a sword. Now, his offense and defense have changed, his advantage is gone, and he has become a plaything in the hands of that demon.

"That's true, but I and Mu are childhood sweethearts."

Toyokawa Sho smiled and made a scissors sign, repeatedly moving his two fingers together and apart quickly. "Hasn't your Excellency heard that there's a saying that there are only two kinds of girls in the world: childhood sweethearts, and girls who aren't childhood sweethearts?"

"...What a weird classification. It doesn't make any sense."

Li Xi complained, "Heh, the person who came up with this classification had better marry her childhood sweetheart in the future, otherwise I will look down on her."

"You seem very dissatisfied?"

"Of course I'm not convinced,"

Li Xi was furious, completely oblivious to the fact that someone was setting her up, "This totally disregards those who had no friends as a child!"

"Then why are you pushing me out?"

Toyokawa Sho teased with a smile.

"..."

Lixi was stuck.

Only then did she realize that someone had been setting a trap for her step by step since the beginning, but it was too late. She had already fallen into the trap, was unarmed and had no way out.

She squeezed the balloon doll in her hand again, and after a while, she stammered and spoke.

"I was just thinking..."

"Thinking my feelings are more important than your own affairs?"

"……Eh?"

Li Xi blinked, not expecting that what he wanted to say would come out of the other person's mouth.

Compared to the bright colored lights downstairs, the lights in the stairwell are much dimmer, just a faint glow, but this seems to be enough. Even the faintest light will feel dazzling when it shines on the other person.

Facing Toyokawa Sho's calm gaze, she fiddled with her nervous fingers, took a deep breath, and then admitted it with gritted teeth.

"I do think so,"

Li Xi retracted his gaze and said, "Because I want to be a drummer who can be worthy of you and make you proud."

"I've been working hard on my skills, but my talent is limited, and I can't see any significant improvement in the short term. If there's anything else I can do to help you, it's to do my best to make everyone accept you and help you find a sense of belonging in this world as soon as possible... or something like that."

"Do you think I'm being too self-righteous?"

Fengchuan Xiang listened to her quietly, shook his head and said, "How could it be? I am too happy to be valued by you like this."

"Really?"

"of course it's true."

Toyokawa Sho patiently assured Li Xi again, then stretched out his right hand, gently placed it on the top of Li Xi's head, and stroked it slowly and in small movements, as if stroking the hair.

With the first foundation before.

After being touched for the second time, Li Xi was somewhat accustomed to it. It was no longer like the first time when he trembled as soon as the other person's hand touched him.

She buried her cheeks deep in her body, so that the blush on her face could not be seen, but her burning ears were still exposed, which was beyond her ability to deal with.

It would be too deliberate to just block it with her hands, but if she didn't block it, she would be seen. In the end, she simply gave up thinking and just hugged her legs with her face buried, like a dog with shiny hair, allowing the other person to touch her slowly.

"Actually, I've thought about it. I might meet Mu today. She and I always seem to have a strange connection. Even though we're far apart, we can still feel each other more or less."

Toyokawa Sho spoke slowly.

"But I soon felt that this was an unrealistic idea because Mu didn't know I existed, let alone where I was."

"If she really came to look for me, it could only be that Sushi and you told her. But Sushi probably doesn't know where I am, and I think Lixi, compared to Mu, who has an average relationship with you, would contact Deng first, or not contact him at all. Because if I don't contact anyone, you will be the only Crychic member who stays with me during this period."

When Li Xi heard this, she immediately wanted to raise her head and say that she did not have such a desire to monopolize the thing.

But she couldn't say it out loud, and she asked herself, hadn't she been thinking about being alone with Toyokawa Sho from the beginning until now?

Unable to openly say that he had a clear conscience, Li Xi stopped talking. He just raised his head slightly from his thigh, revealing only a little bit of his eyes, and tilted his head slightly to look at Fengchuan Xiang next to him.

His hands were clenched into fists and his ears were burning red.

"So I concluded that Mu wouldn't come to see me today, but in fact, Mu did come to see me today, and the person who asked her to come to me was you, who I thought would never contact her on her own initiative."

As he said this, Toyokawa Sho withdrew his hand, his voice filled with emotion.

"What a great character you have, Riki."

"Huh? I didn't—"

Li Xi muttered.

"I just...want to help you as much as I can...it's not anything great at all."

"That's why I say you're great."

Toyokawa Sho said softly, "In life, there are very few people who can stand firmly by your side. The older you get, the closer you get to society, where the reality is filled with thick fog and it's always dark. Even if you search slowly with a lantern, you'll still trip and fall when you're not paying attention."

"The people around you will help you up, ask if you're hurt, and if you say you're fine, they'll just ignore it. If you say you're worried, they won't care. It's just a superficial process. It's hard to see the sincerity of someone scolding you and worrying about you as a child anymore."

"In the past four days, I haven't actually helped you at all. At most, I just said some nice words, but you still treat me so preciously..."

Toyokawa Sho sighed.

"I feel unworthy of it."

"No, you really helped me a lot!"

Li Xi hurriedly said, "The matter of the song, the matter of self-confidence, and many, many things, all came from you helping me—"

Toyokawa Sho looked at Riki's anxious expression. Because she had buried her face just now, some hair was still stuck on her face.

He reached out and helped slowly remove the hair from her already warm face. Li Xi opened his eyes slightly, then looked away, closed his mouth, and waited silently with some nervousness.

"Am I that good?"

Toyokawa Sho asked with a smile.

Li Xi resisted the urge to say "of course it's that good", and just nodded slightly.

What a good woman.

Toyokawa Sho withdrew his hand and his eyes softened.

"Thank you, Lixi."

Li Xi was stunned.

Thinking back to what Ruoye Mu had said to her before, she couldn't help but mutter to herself, Xiang actually said that...

"No matter what, you helped me this time. Even if Mu didn't come today, it doesn't matter. The moment you took the initiative to contact Mu, I already owed you a lot."

"So, if you're willing, I'll take responsibility for you. You're already someone I can be proud of."

"Eh……?"

Li Xi didn't react for a while.

This will hold you accountable, what does that mean?

I saw Toyokawa Sho standing up, holding the tray he had placed aside in both hands.

"However, you will probably still say something like I'm not worthy of you. That's okay. I can wait with you until you accept yourself. I will be with you."

Done.

Li Xi saw Toyokawa Sho giving her a bright smile.

Then he said, "The stairs are too hard and uncomfortable to sit on. Go down or come up to sit." Then he went up to the second floor carrying the tray.

Li Xi stared blankly at Toyokawa Sho's figure disappearing.

Until about two minutes later.

Only then did she realize what these words meant.

thump.

thump.

It's the heart beating faster.

My cheeks were burning hot.

There seemed to be a sound similar to a kettle boiling.