Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

“Oh, right!” Aine said as if she suddenly remembered something, “Something really terrible happened a few days ago!”

Gao Songdeng turned his head and looked at the girl quietly.

"I met Xiaoxiang in the library. That day she..."

Aiyin talked about what happened over the weekend with great interest.

"And then I..."

She vividly described the scene of that day, her little canine teeth appearing and disappearing as she spoke:

"I thought it was over, but then Xiaoxiang suddenly appeared, grabbed the man's hand and said, 'Can I ask why you attacked my friend?'"

"Then what...?"

Gao Songdeng asked, her fingers unconsciously grasped the hem of her skirt, and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.

"Then that person attacked me directly. I was terrified at the time..."

Aine's eyes sparkled, and her tone was filled with admiration:

"She ended up beating them all up by herself! Then she walked over and spoke to them very calmly. Although I couldn't hear the specifics of what she said, the girls' expressions suddenly changed, and they walked away dejected! Xiao Xiang also comforted Eri, telling her to come to him directly if anyone bullied her again..."

As Takamatsu Deng listened to Aine's narration, his eyes gradually became hazy. Memories came flooding back like a tide, carrying a slightly bitter taste.

In her memory, Toyokawa Shoko is the girl who always sits in the corner of the music room, the girl who smiles and says "It's okay, try again" even if she makes a mistake in singing during band rehearsal, and the girl who shouts "I really want to be a human being" with her on the rooftop.

He was also the one who said "I want to quit crychic" with a straight face on that rainy day.

The sound of rain at that time still seems to echo in my ears, mixed with the lingering sound of the guitar.

"Xiaoxiang is really amazing!"

Aine continued to speak excitedly:

"Gentle and brave, no wonder you have always been..."

Midway through her words, Aine suddenly realized that she had touched upon a taboo topic.

She quickly closed her mouth, her long pink hair swaying slightly with her flustered movements.

--Ruined.

The pink-haired dragon realized that he had said something very rude.

The atmosphere fell into a suffocating silence, and even the afternoon sun seemed to be stagnant.

Just then, a gentle voice broke the awkward silence.

Eri walked over, her voice filled with curiosity and tenderness: "I just heard you talking about Toyokawa-san?"

"Ah, yes!"

Aiyin seemed to have grasped a lifeline and quickly changed the subject:

"Eri, you came just in time!"

Eri smiled gently, a smile that reminded her of flowers blooming in early spring. "Actually, I've always wanted to thank Toyokawa-san."

She pulled out a small, beautifully wrapped box from her pocket, tied with a light blue ribbon. "Here... could you please bring it to her for me?"

“Of course, of course!” Aine took the box and placed it together with the cookie box she had prepared. “I just happened to have a thank you gift too!”

The sunlight shone through the window onto the three girls. Gao Songdeng looked at the two gift boxes and suddenly felt something stuck in his throat and couldn't speak.

She thought of many things: the time they spent together in the music room, the days they worked hard to pursue their dreams, and the words they hadn't said.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment, and all the memories became so clear.

"Tomorin..." Aine touched her arm gently and asked worriedly, "Are you okay?"

Takamatsu Deng came back to his senses, met Aine's worried gaze, and shook his head.

For some reason, the star shape of the stone I just saw is no longer complete.

Just like the person in my memory, he gradually became blurred.

Has Xiaoxiang already gone so far in a place that I can't see?

The classroom is still filled with the noise of lunch break, and the sun is still shining warmly on everyone.

But a complex ripple arose in Gao Songdeng's heart. It was nostalgia, confusion, incomprehension, and an inexplicable loss.

She thought of what Xiaoxiang said when he quit crychic.

Is it because I've been stuck in the same place that crychic disbanded...?

"By the way, the light..." Aine suddenly said, "Do you want to..."

Gao Songdeng shook his head and interrupted her, his voice so soft that it was almost inaudible:

“It’s been… a long time.”

She put the star-shaped stone back into her pocket.

After a long while, she hesitated and said:

"Say hello to Xiaoxiang for me."

...

PS: My mind was full of murmurings when I was writing about the lamp.

This chapter has 3,000 words, and there will be an update in the evening.

Chapter 37: Moon Forest's Amazing Emotional Intelligence

As early as when she said the wrong thing, Chihaya Aine knew that she was in trouble.

She was feeling uneasy until her phone vibrated. She picked it up and saw that a panda avatar had sent her a message.

【Rikki: What did you say to Deng again? 】

Rikki: Let’s go to the ring

The light guards were dispatched immediately and it was clear that the situation was quite dire.

........

When Chihaya Aine pushed open the glass door of Ring Cafe, the bell rang crisply.

There were not many people in the cafe in the evening, with only a few customers sitting in the corner.

Shiina Riki was standing behind the bar wiping coffee cups. When she saw Chihaya Aine come in, she put down the cup in her hand and motioned her to come to the bar.

Nagasaki Suyo was already sitting there, with a steaming cup of latte in her hand.

Chihaya Aine sat down next to Nagasaki Suyo with some trepidation.

"So, what did you say to Deng?" Shiina Riki asked straight to the point while pouring a glass of lemonade for Chihaya Aine.

Chihaya Aine held the water cup in both hands, her eyes evasive: "It's just... something happened over the weekend. I met Xiaoxiang."

Hearing the name "Shoko", Shiina Riki paused and continued to wipe the coffee cup with a little more force.

"She did my friend a favor."

Chihaya Aine continued cautiously:

"A few bad girls were bullying my friend. Xiaoxiang happened to be passing by and taught them a lesson..."

"Heh." Shiina Riki sneered.

Nagasaki Suyo gently stirred her coffee, thinking, "Xiaoxiang has always been like this."

But she unconsciously had doubts in her heart.

Are Xiaoxiang’s skills...really that good?

Or maybe a lot of things happened after she left Crychic that she didn't know about.

Shiina Riki put down his coffee cup, his tone somewhat dissatisfied:

"He acted so well in front of others, but when he left, he couldn't even give a decent reason."

Shiina Riki's words interrupted Nagasaki Suyo's thoughts, and she sighed softly: "Riki..."

I didn't know how to defend Toyokawa Shoko for a long time...

After all, she had some resentment in her heart about the other party leaving without saying goodbye.

She opened her mouth and then whispered, "Perhaps Xiaoxiang has his own reasons..."

"What kind of hardship could make someone not even give a reason?"

Shiina Riki asked back, "Even if you want to leave, you should at least explain it to me face to face."

The café was quiet for a while. Chihaya Aine lowered her head and put away her phone, feeling a little awkward.

When we talked about the past events related to crychic, everyone seemed to be quite resentful.

——Now that things have come to this, let’s pretend to be dead first.

Perhaps the atmosphere was too heavy, and in order to ease the excessive pressure.

Suddenly, Nagasaki Suyo seemed to have thought of something and turned to Chihaya Aine:

“Speaking of which, Aine, that ability you mentioned earlier…how’s it going now?”

This sudden change of topic made Chihaya Aine stunned:

"Eh?"

"That's what you said about being able to see the labels on other people's heads."

Nagasaki Suyo said, with a slight smile on her lips:

"Last time you saw me it said 'Crychic's Relic'."

At that time, after she heard the other party say this, she was still angry and felt that Chihaya Aine was deliberately teasing her.

Looking back now, my reaction at that time was indeed a bit extreme.

It's a good time to bring it up now...on the one hand it can ease the atmosphere, and on the other hand it can eliminate the grudge of leaving without saying goodbye last time.

——This is Yue Zhisen’s amazing emotional intelligence!

"What label?"

Shiina Riki, clearly distracted, raised an eyebrow and asked. She set down the coffee pot, her black ponytail swaying slightly as she leaned forward.

Nagasaki Suyo elegantly picked up the black tea with a faint smile on her lips:

"It's quite interesting to talk about it."

She recounted the story of the "superpower" that Chihaya Aine had told her before:

"One day, Aine suddenly said that she could see labels on other people's heads, like 'corporate slave', 'stomachache', and so on."

"Boring." Li Xi crossed her arms, a look of disapproval on her face. It was obvious that she thought this was just a childish joke.

But Chihaya Aine seemed to be completely oblivious to the two people's attitudes, and instead became more energetic.

Her grey eyes sparkled, and she spoke with great interest:

"This ability seems to have been enhanced recently! Not only can you see simple tags, but you can also see what they've been doing recently!"

This sentence made Su Shi, who was still drinking tea, and Li Xi, who was about to pack up the coffee utensils, stunned at the same time.

The two exchanged glances and saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

Nagasaki Suyo put down her teacup, a hint of temptation hidden under her elegant demeanor: "Really?"

She tilted her head slightly, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. "So what can you see written on my head now?"

Chihaya Aine immediately sat up straight and stared at the top of Su Shi's head seriously.

"Hmm..." She frowned and thought for a moment, "It says 'vegetarian' and 'weight anxiety'."

This sentence was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly causing huge ripples.

Nagasaki Suyo's originally calm expression collapsed in an instant, the elegant mask shattered, revealing the panic hidden underneath.

Her cheeks turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, and even her ears were stained with red.