After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

"Metis, thank you for bringing Xiao Mu here, giving me a chance to stop all of this."

A perfunctory thank you was given, without mentioning the "friend" matter that Metis most wanted to know.

But for some reason, Metis suddenly felt much lighter. He opened his eyes again, which had been closed, and took one last look at the dazzling neon lights outside the window with his golden pupils.

A smile involuntarily crept onto her lips, but she didn't know how to respond to Toyokawa Yuu's question for a moment.

A moment later, a calm voice responded from the darkness.

"I am Xiao Mu."

I'm not feeling well, please take a day off.

I'm feeling a bit unwell, with chest tightness and shortness of breath. I took some medicine and feel drowsy, so I'm taking a day off.

Purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding purple potato pudding

Chapter 92 When the Sun Meets the Cucumber (8k)

Nine years and three hundred and fifty-eight days before Toyokawa Shoko's death, in the morning.

......................................................

Golden sunlight pierced the sky, dispelling the gloom of the night.

Perhaps it was a slight change in the light in the room, or perhaps it was her biological clock starting to react, but Toyokawa Yuu slowly opened her eyes and raised her hand that was pressed against her forehead.

The light entered her eyes, but what appeared in Toyokawa Yuu's vision was not a spotless ceiling, but a somewhat blurry light green.

With a few forceful blinks, Toyokawa Yuu's vision gradually cleared, and the blurry patches of color in front of her became solid.

"Youyu, are you awake?"

A gentle greeting reached Toyokawa Yuu's ears. Wakaba Mutsu opened her golden eyes and quietly looked at the boy in front of her.

Because Metis had left Ruoye's house in a hurry last night, he didn't bring anything except his guitar, cell phone, and some change for transportation, so the girl was still wearing her usual clothes.

The dark dress was covered with crisscrossing stripes, the white floral collar was neatly folded up, and a scarf was wrapped around the girl's neck.

Her light green hair was partially draped down her back by gravity, with only a few strands falling over her shoulders, the pale color contrasting sharply with her dark clothes.

A fresh, youthful scent wafted over her, but unlike Chihaya Aine's vibrant enthusiasm, Wakaba Mutsumi looked like a newly sprouted bud, fragile and quiet.

Most importantly, Ruoye Mu's golden eyes were very close, quietly meeting Toyokawa Yuu's gaze.

The distance between the two was less than 20 centimeters, and Yuu Toyokawa, who had already regained consciousness, could even feel the slight breath of Mutsu Wakaba exhaling from his nose.

Upon opening her eyes, she was met with a scene that was enough to send her nerves into overdrive. Toyokawa Yuu's brain was momentarily stunned, and then her body moved even faster than her brain could process. She instinctively sat up from the sofa and put some distance between herself and the girl.

"Xiao Mu?"

Yuu Toyokawa spoke, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

Logically speaking, a girl with such calm eyes and a tranquil temperament should undoubtedly be Mutsuka Wakaba.

But given Wakaba Mutsu's personality, would she really get this close to me so easily?

"What are you doing?"

The petite figure crouching beside the sofa slowly stood up. Ruoye Mu tilted her head slightly, looking at Toyokawa Yuu, who seemed a little frightened, and didn't seem to understand why he reacted so strongly.

However, the well-behaved girl still answered Toyokawa Yuu's question seriously.

"Waiting for you to get up."

The voice was flat, as if it were telling some ordinary story, and that was indeed the case.

Although Metis was in control of the body when he came to seek help from Yuu Toyokawa early yesterday morning, the conversation between the two was also heard by Mutsuka Wakaba without any error.

Since he told me to stay away from school and the band for the time being, I have nothing to do except wait for Yuu Toyokawa to wake up.

After all, he was still asleep, and she couldn't possibly play the guitar to disturb his peaceful sleep. Besides, she wasn't the type of person who liked to surf the internet on her phone.

In the end, all I could do was quietly wait for him to get up.

Looking at Toyokawa Yuu, who was gently pinching her brow and seemed to be not getting enough rest, Wakaba Mutsu lowered her eyes and looked somewhat unfocused.

Did my arrival disturb his rest?

After all, the sofa was so long that Yuu Toyokawa couldn't even stretch her legs out when she lay down; she could only let the lower half of her legs dangle in the air.

Such a cramped space, if it were Wakaba Mutsu herself, she could barely squeeze in by curling up, but for Toyokawa Yuu, it was just torture.

"Youyu, take a rest."

Ruoye Mu pointed to the bed beside her, her tone unchanged, but her golden eyes held a hint of emotion.

It felt somewhat like a command, but strangely, it didn't evoke any resistance; instead, you could sense the care it contained.

However, in response to Wakaba Mutsu's concern, Toyokawa Yuu simply shook her head slowly.

"No, I have other things to do."

Yuu Toyokawa took out her phone and glanced at the time; it was already quite late.

It's currently the time for high school students to start school, and barring any unforeseen circumstances...

Before Yuu Toyokawa could even fully process the thought, her phone vibrated, and a message arrived right on time.

Toyokawa Shoko: [Yuu, take me to school.]

really......

Upon seeing the text message displayed on her phone screen, Yuu Toyokawa wore an expression of unsurprised surprise.

Ever since she asked me to take her to school yesterday morning, that young lady seems to have grown somewhat fond of this way of making things difficult for me.

Of course, it's also possible that they simply want to get some money from him for school travel expenses and breakfast.

"Xiang's news?"

Yuu Toyokawa's actions didn't seem to conceal the presence of Mutsuka Wakaba, and since she was now standing up straight, even though she was petite, her line of sight was higher than the boy sitting on the sofa.

Naturally, the message sent by Yuu Toyokawa's phone also caught her eye.

Looking at the brief, almost command-like text message sent by Toyokawa Shoko, a hint of confusion flashed in Wakaba Mutsu's eyes.

Their practiced tone suggested that this wasn't the first time Toyokawa Shoko and Toyokawa Yuu had done something like this.

Is Xiang really that arrogant?

Ruoye Mutsu shifted her gaze upwards, recalling for a moment.

In his memory, Toyokawa Shoko, who always gently illuminated the road ahead like moonlight, had almost never used such a commanding tone.

Even when the pressure was so immense that he felt like he was about to break down, and he dragged me into forming Ave Mujica, his tone was stern rather than gentle.

It seems that she only displays such willfulness and arrogance when facing Toyokawa Yuu.

Conversely, in Wakaba Mutsu's memory, Toyokawa Yuu, who was always gentle and could maintain a calm demeanor even when faced with a major mistake by Hachiman Kairin at work, seemed to have only ever argued with Toyokawa Shoko.

These two... are so strange.

"Youyu, a reply?"

Seeing that Toyokawa Yuu hadn't replied to the message for a long time and seemed to be lost in thought, Wakaba Mutsu gently reminded her.

If Ye Mu didn't know what Toyokawa Yuu was thinking about, she could see obvious weighing and contemplation on the boy's face, as if he was worried about something.

However, now that the message has been opened, Xiangzi must have received a "read" notification. It's not right to keep delaying a reply.

Reminded by Wakaba Mutsu, Toyokawa Yuu quickly weighed her options.

Yuu Toyokawa: [I'm not going.]

The words were concise, without even providing any decent reasons; they were merely stating the speaker's attitude.

In the past, Toyokawa Yuu wouldn't have minded indulging that young lady's capriciousness, but not today.

It's too early. I can't be sure of Minami Mori's attitude towards Wakaba Mutsumi running away from home and coming to my house... or the attitude of Toyokawa Sadaharu, who is behind her.

He couldn't leave Wakaba Muku alone at home right now. If he went out in the morning and came back to find that the girl who had come to him for help overnight had disappeared, then he would be in big trouble.

At that time, even if I wanted to bring Ruoye Mu back, I wouldn't know where to get her back.

Therefore, at least for today, Toyokawa Yuu cannot let Wakaba Mutsumi out of her sight.

After sending the message from her phone, Toyokawa Yuu was about to turn it off.

Judging from the attitude of Toyokawa Shoko, who called him yesterday noon to get to the bottom of things after he refused to answer her questions about his psychological trauma without explanation, it's clear that Shoko was determined to get to the bottom of things.

In a little while, that young lady will probably call directly to demand an explanation.

To Toyokawa Yuu's surprise, the young lady replied much faster than he had expected; he hadn't even had time to turn off his phone.

Shoko Toyokawa: [I understand.]

The concise answer even made Yuu Toyokawa wonder if she had misread the name and if the person contacting her was actually Kairin Hachiman, not Shoko Toyokawa.

However, the fact that Toyokawa Shoko stopped being unreasonable did make Toyokawa Yuu feel a bit more relaxed.

Stopping her attempt to turn off her phone, Toyokawa Yuu looked up at Wakaba Mutsu again, and the room fell silent for a moment.

He realized that after refusing Toyokawa Shoko's capricious request to take him to school, he seemed to have nothing else to do.

In theory, he should be at his agency now to finish up some work before the celebration banquet that was originally scheduled for tonight.

But now that he has taken in Ruoye Mu, he cannot let her disappear from his sight for the time being, and naturally he cannot go to work alone.

Rather, it's uncertain whether the celebration banquet can even be successfully held after this incident.

The room, which wasn't very big to begin with, fell silent once again.

When he was alone, Toyokawa Yuu didn't feel anything, but now that Wakaba Mutsu is there, he feels that it's a little too quiet.

Yuu Toyokawa dislikes waiting idly. Whether his public opinion guidance plan would work, like it did at the previous concert, is another matter. But he doesn't like the current situation where he has nothing to do but wait for Minami Nami's attitude.

Just as she was pondering, Yuu Toyokawa heard Yuu Toyokazu's gentle voice once again.

"Youyu, breakfast."

A small, light yellow, flaky piece was held by Wakaba Mutsu and brought to Toyokawa Yuu's lips, emitting the simple and unpretentious aroma of portable food.

Seeing that Yuu Toyokawa had unconsciously opened his mouth at her voice, Mukaru Wakaba gently pushed her finger, and the soda cracker she found on the computer desk was put into the boy's mouth.

A slightly diluted salty aroma wafted across Toyokawa Yuu's tongue, and he immediately realized what it was.

This not-so-spacious rental apartment doesn't have a kitchen, so Toyokawa Yuu prepares some biscuits to tide her over.

Compared to some dubious products from outside, these portable foods picked up casually from convenience stores make Toyokawa Yuu feel more at ease eating them.

It's not that he can't eat anything; when he's eating alone, Toyokawa Yuu can still swallow food, but sometimes he inevitably feels a little anxious.

If I remember correctly, that box on the table has been open and left there for two days. I didn't expect it to be found by Wakaba Mutsu.

The cool, dry indoor environment doesn't necessarily mean it will spoil in such a short time, but the taste and texture will inevitably change slightly.

Judging from Ruoye Mu's expression, she seemed to be planning to have this as their breakfast.

Pull your tongue back, so that the tip of your tongue can no longer taste that flavor.

Yuu Toyokawa simply held the soda cracker that Mutsu Wakaba had put into her mouth with her teeth, expressionlessly pulled the cracker out of her mouth, and threw it into the trash can next to her.

As he threw away the soda crackers that Wakaba Mutsumi had fed him, Toyokawa Yuu reached out with his other hand and grabbed the girl's wrist, stopping her from making any further moves.

"Youyu, you don't like it?"

With Toyokawa Yuu holding his wrist, a hint of confusion appeared in Wakaba Mutsu's golden eyes.

She still remembered Toyokawa Yuu's instructions to stay at his house and not go out recently, so naturally she couldn't go out to buy breakfast.

While Toyokawa Yuu was still asleep, Wakaba Mutsu quietly looked around the simply furnished room and found only this small bag of soda crackers on the computer desk.

She doesn't have any picky eating habits, but Toyokawa Yuu seems to be somewhat resistant to having this kind of thing for breakfast.

Even... the act of throwing it directly into the trash can doesn't seem to be explained by simple resistance.

"...Eating these things in the morning is unhealthy, let's go out to eat."

After a moment of silence, Toyokawa Yuu gave her reasons.

Yuu Toyokawa had no problem with having soda crackers for breakfast, but she also understood that a half-empty box of crackers couldn't satisfy two people's appetites.

Taking the half-eaten bag of soda crackers from Wakaba Mutsu's hand, Toyokawa Yuu stood up from the sofa, enduring the slight soreness in her knees.

"Is it okay? You said we couldn't go out."

He gently supported Yuu Toyokawa's slightly unsteady steps, his voice unusually hesitant.