Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

Jiujo Renji interrupted her, his tone rarely showing a soothing tone:

"Eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. Today we took down Winwing, and this is the first step. Let's enjoy the fruits of victory and consolidate our position."

He stretched, moved Xiangzi's slender wrist, and a playful arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Or are you just impatient to hear my detailed plans for your grandfather's retirement? I could tell you right now, like sending him to a lakeside villa in Switzerland for some fishing?"

"I don't want to listen to that!"

Toyokawa Shoko immediately retorted, as if the worried person just now was not her.

"Stop talking nonsense! And don't act recklessly!"

"I know, I know."

Kujo Renji chuckled.

The apartment fell silent again, with only the faint sound of the air conditioner running and the background sounds of the city coming from the distance outside the window.

But in reality, another more direct problem came into his sight.

Ruoye Mu had walked out of the inner room without her noticing. She stood quietly at the entrance of the living room, wearing... surprisingly, a familiar school uniform.

The collar of the white shirt underneath her top was neatly folded, highlighting her fair, almost transparent neck skin.

Her long light green hair was partly draped over her shoulders and partly cascaded down her back, creating a contrast with her grey top. She wore a green plaid skirt, her signature color. The pleats of the skirt swayed slightly with her subtle movements. The plaid was a crisscross of lines of varying shades. The hem of the skirt was moderately long, falling just above her knees, revealing a straight, slender calf, wrapped in proper white or dark stockings.

That's not the uniform of Tsukinomori Girls' Academy.

It was the uniform of Hanegaoka Girls' Academy. It was the spare uniform in "Toyokawa Shoko's" closet.

Jiujo Liansi was a little confused for a moment.

He sat up slightly on the sofa, his amber eyes full of question marks.

"Mu...?" he asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "Why are you wearing...Hyperiod's uniform?"

Ruoye Mu glanced down at her clothes upon hearing this, then raised her head. Her long, light green hair slid gently down as she tilted her head. She stretched out her fingers and gently tugged at the slightly long cuffs. Her golden eyes were calm, and her tone was matter-of-fact.

"Just...right."

"..."

Kujo Renji was momentarily speechless. From a purely physical perspective, this statement was indeed correct. While Toyokawa Shoko looked more... well, more imposing, their figures were indeed very similar: both were slender and slim, and their heights were also very similar.

Mu's figure fits Xiangzi's school uniform perfectly, except that the sleeves and hem may be a little longer.

But that’s not the point at all!

Jiujo Renji felt a dull pain in his temples. He tried to maintain a steady tone and continued to ask:

"So... you went to Tsuki-no-Mori Girls' Academy today wearing your Hanegaoka Girls' Academy uniform?"

Wakaba Mu blinked, then nodded slightly.

"Ah."

"..."

Kujo Renji took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to complain. Luckily, the guard at Tsuki no Mori's gate, perhaps with poor eyesight or perhaps bewildered by Mu's aura, had let her slip in wearing another school's uniform... Wait, how did she get in? Tsuki no Mori's security should be strict.

——Mutou, you don’t have the wall-climbing personality, do you?

Kujo Renji chose to ignore this more troubling possibility for the time being. He turned his attention to another obvious problem.

He raised his hand and pointed at the medium-sized suitcase that Mu had dragged into the living room and placed in the corner.

"you..."

He chose his words carefully. "Didn't you bring your own clothes?"

Wakaba Mutsu followed his finger and looked at the suitcase, with a look of pure confusion on his face, as if asking, "Why do I need to bring clothes?"

She didn't answer immediately, but walked to the suitcase, squatted down, and opened the suitcase buckle with a click.

Kujo Renji also moved over curiously, wanting to see what "necessities" this girl who lacked common sense had brought with her.

The moment the lid of the box was opened, a rich, sweet aroma of mango mixed with some...fresh plant scent hit me in the face.

The first thing that caught my eye was two large family-sized cartons of mango juice, brightly packaged and taking up nearly a third of the suitcase's space.

Next, there was a piece of soft clothing lying alone - but it was actually a replacement outfit for the doll.

And there are fresh, plump, and even a little earthy... cucumbers.

Yes, a real cucumber.

Kujo Renji: "..."

But it's not over yet.

As Mu began to take out the things inside.

In addition to the particularly conspicuous cucumber itself, the suitcase was also filled with various cucumber-related daily necessities:

A piece of emerald green soap with a strong cucumber scent, and the packaging is printed with a cute cucumber cartoon pattern.

A bottle of cucumber-scented body lotion, the texture looks very refreshing.

A towel printed with cucumber patterns.

There's even a palm-sized plush cucumber charm with a goofy expression.

In addition, there were a few old but cleaned stuffed dolls that were obviously the ones that Muhei often held, a few books that looked like sheet music, an empty lunch box, and... nothing else.

Yes, that's gone.

Clothes? Not a single one.

A change of socks? No.

Toothbrush and toothpaste? No.

Comb? No.

There was nothing there that looked like the necessities that a normal person would bring when running away from home or staying in a short-term hotel.

In the entire suitcase, apart from the two boxes of mango juice and the pile of cucumber peripherals, the most useful "daily necessities" is probably the empty lunch box.

Jiujo Renji watched silently as Mu took out those "treasures" one by one and carefully placed them on the floor. There was no expression of something wrong on the girl's face. She even picked up the cucumber soap, put it to her nose and smelled it, revealing a barely perceptible expression of seeming satisfaction.

"Mu..." Kujo Renji felt his voice was a little dry, "Is this... all you brought?"

Ruoye Mu raised her head, and the figure of Jiujo Rensi was reflected in her golden eyes. She nodded seriously: "Yes. Important things."

Important things.

Jiujo Renji looked at the lonely cucumber, then looked at the surrounding pile of cucumbers, and then looked at the two large boxes of mango juice, and fell into deep thought.

His definition of the word "important" may need to be re-examined.

and many more.

Kujo Renji's thoughts suddenly caught a blind spot.

No change of clothes....

Doesn't that mean... I didn't even bring any underwear?

His eyes subconsciously swept over Mu's Yuqiu school uniform. It was Xiangzi's, of that there was no doubt. So... what was underneath the uniform?

An absurd but very likely guess came to his mind.

He looked at the girl in front of him who was arranging the cucumber doll with her head down, and asked with difficulty:

"Mu, are you wearing underwear now?"

Ruoye Mu stopped what she was doing when she heard that. She raised her head and blinked her large, innocent golden eyes. Without saying anything, she nodded gently with an extremely natural expression, as if saying, "It's a nice day today."

so far so good.

At least not in a vacuum.

"..."

But the answer is obvious.

What Mutou is wearing now is Toyokawa Shoko's underwear.

He suddenly complained to Toyokawa Shoko in his consciousness.

"You guys have always been like this?"

"Huh? How is that possible?!"

Ignoring Toyokawa Shoko who was feeling embarrassed and angry in his mind, Kujo Renji turned his gaze back to Wakaba Mutsu in reality.

The girl still maintained her squatting position, looking at him quietly, as if she didn't understand why he suddenly fell silent and why his expression was so subtle.

Kujo Renji sighed deeply, feeling that after taking over Toyokawa Shoko's life, the mess he needed to deal with was much more than he had imagined, and of all kinds.

He stood up, walked to Wakaba Mu, reached out and ruffled her soft light green hair.

"Okay, Mu."

His voice was gentle, a tone he himself hadn't even noticed:

"Let's put these...um, 'important things' away first."

He paused, looked at the girl's confused eyes, and added, "We need to go out now."

Ruoye Mu tilted his head: "Where are you going?"

Kujo Renji looked at the school uniform that belonged to "Toyokawa Shoko" on her body, and thought of the underwear that also belonged to "Toyokawa Shoko" under the school uniform, and sighed again.

"Go buy you some real 'proper' clothes. And...all the things a normal person needs that aren't in your suitcase."

He felt that before considering how to take control of the Toyokawa family, he might have to first teach the talented guitarist around him how to live like a normal person.

This task...seems even more daunting than acquiring a company.

......

At Shibuya Scramble Crossing, the crowds flowed like the ebb and flow of the tide, illuminated by the giant electronic screens. For Wakaba Mutsu, this was undoubtedly a world too noisy and too color-saturated.

Wakaba Mu almost subconsciously took half a step closer to Kujo Renji, her light green hair brushing against his arm, her golden eyes slightly widened, and her fingertips unconsciously and lightly grasped the corner of "Xiangzi's" uniform jacket, with such little force that it was almost imperceptible.

Kujo Renji had a clear goal. He ignored the fancy fashion stores and deafening music around him and took Mu directly into a side alley of Central Street and chose a chain clothing store with a simple style and a complete range of products.

It is relatively quiet here and more suitable for efficiency-oriented shopping.

"We need to buy a lot of things," Kujo Renji tilted his head, "daily clothes, pajamas, underwear, socks... You don't have anything."

Ruo Ye Mu blinked, her golden eyes were like a calm lake, reflecting the bright lights of the store. She said "hmm" softly, indicating that she understood, or in other words, that she would completely obey the arrangements.

"Is it okay to leave it to you?"

Toyokawa Shoko seemed to have anticipated the taste of Kujo Renji and suggested in her mind:

"How about I choose?"

"You wear the same shirt and dress all year round, and you have the nerve to instruct me?"

Kujo Renji sneered in his heart and didn't bother to pay attention to her fashion advice.

Shoko Toyokawa was choked and a little angry, but she didn't know how to refute.

Kujo Renji quickly moved between the shelves. Relying on his memory of Xiangzi, who was extremely similar to Hemu, and his size, he accurately selected several basic T-shirts, underwear, a cotton long skirt that was easy to move in, and two sets of pure cotton pajamas that looked very soft.

Mu followed quietly behind, like a well-behaved shadow, silently taking the clothes handed to him by Lian Si and holding them in his arms.

Her eyes would occasionally flicker to certain colors of clothing—but she never expressed any preference.

"Go try these on." Kujo Renji handed a pile of clothes to Mu and pointed to the fitting room not far away.

Mu nodded, walked in with the clothes and pulled the curtain.

Time passed by minute by minute.

People were coming and going outside, but the fitting room was unusually quiet.

Jiujo Renji stood outside and waited for a moment, his brows furrowed slightly. Given Mu's personality, he probably wouldn't actively seek help when faced with difficulties.

He took a step forward and knocked gently on the door of the fitting room: "Mu? Are you okay? Do you need any help?"

There was a rustling sound of fabric rubbing from inside, followed by Mu's low, slightly confused voice: "...buttons."

really.