After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Under this light, Chihaya Aine's smile, which practically screamed "I've finally met my idol!" after meeting Wakaba Mutsu, seemed to glow with a special kind of radiance.

Yuu Toyokawa had considered the possibility of encountering MyGO!!!!! and others in [RING], but she never expected to meet Chihaya Aine alone here.

If the band members all came, the scene would probably be Nagasaki Sose taking the lead and taking MyGO!!!!! Everyone else would then take over the conversation and steer the topic towards Wakaba Mutsumi's skipping of class yesterday afternoon.

When the time comes, you can simply use a reason like "work needs" to shut the other person down.

After all, it's not a holiday today, and it's not early anymore, so it'll be easy to coax them away.

However, this is on the premise that you can successfully gain control of the conversation, such as... steering the conversation toward work or something similar.

But now, looking at Chihaya Aine's "I can even meet my idol successfully like this" expression on her face, Toyokawa Yuu didn't even know how to start a conversation. She couldn't very well ask Wakaba Mutsu for an autograph on the spot, could she?

In the end, Toyokawa Yuu could only ask the simplest question.

"Aine, what are you doing here?"

The composure she had displayed when comforting Wakaba Mutsu was completely gone from her face; Toyokawa Yuu's face even showed some tension.

It's rather strange that a socialite who doesn't have to go to school is taking a well-behaved student from a privileged school to a live music venue for breakfast right before class starts.

Especially since this socialite had just taken this well-behaved student away from school for an entire afternoon yesterday.

Even though he had a good relationship with Chihaya Aine, and believed that with her character and personality she wouldn't doubt or care about trivial matters, he still couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"This..."

To Toyokawa Yuu's surprise, upon hearing her question, Chihaya Aine's originally bright and sunny smile turned somewhat embarrassed.

It was only then that Yuu Toyokawa realized that Aine Chihaya hadn't come in from outside, but had come down from upstairs at [RING] and was about to leave.

"I just woke up a little early today, and there's still some time before class, so I came here to practice by myself for a while."

Chihaya Aine subtly concealed her right hand behind her back, her gaze somewhat unfocused.

It looks like the awkward situation of a seemingly confident genius who claims to do everything with ease, only to be caught secretly working hard behind the scenes.

Noticing Chihaya Aine's actions, Toyokawa Yuu raised an eyebrow.

Just as they were about to ask for more details, the waiter from [RING] brought two breakfasts to them.

"Excuse me, may I ask who these two breakfasts belong to?"

Although only Chihaya Aine among the three hadn't sat down, it was obvious who had ordered the two breakfasts. However, to avoid any misunderstandings, the waiter still checked first.

This unintentional act conveniently saved Chihaya Aine from a difficult situation.

Seeing the two breakfasts brought over by the waiter on a tray, Chihaya Aine immediately realized something and turned her gaze to Toyokawa Yuu and Wakaba Mutsumi, who were sitting across the table from each other.

Especially Toyokawa Yuu, Chihaya Aine's gaze lingered on him for an exceptionally long time.

After a slight hesitation, he smiled at the waiter carrying the tray.

"Miss Rinrinko, thank you for your hard work. Please let me have breakfast."

Since Shiina Tatsuki from MyGO!!!!! works at [RING], and Chihaya Aine also frequents the place, they gradually get to know some of the staff.

This naturally includes the woman in front of her, Ms. Rinrinko, who has been taking care of Shiina Tatsuki as a senior since she first joined the company.

Therefore, Rinrinko had no doubts about Chihaya Aine's actions.

After glancing at Yuu Toyokawa and Mutsumi Wakaba and confirming that they had no objections, he handed the tray to the pink-haired girl with peace of mind.

Taking the tray of breakfast, Chihaya Aine placed one of the portions, along with juice, in front of Wakaba Mutsu, but did not immediately give him the portion that belonged to Toyokawa Yuu.

The pink-haired girl leaned down and whispered in the ear of Yuu Toyokawa, who was sitting in her seat, their hairs mingling together.

"What happened? Didn't you have some psychological trauma? Are you all better now?"

Chihaya Aine's whisper gently reached Toyokawa Yuu's ears, and the warm breath from her mouth flowed over her earlobe, bringing a slight tickling sensation.

It might sound strange, but in fact, after discovering that Toyokawa Yuu and Wakaba Mutsu had gone missing together yesterday at noon, she was actually more worried about Toyokawa Yuu than about Wakaba Mutsu, who was more worrying no matter how you looked at her.

When I asked Toyokawa Shoko if she knew that Toyokawa Yuu had psychological trauma, it was easy to see from her reaction that Toyokawa Shoko didn't even know about it.

And now, she bumps into Toyokawa Yuu and Wakaba Mutsu having breakfast together.

If it were someone else, they might think that the so-called psychological trauma was just a fabrication made up by Yuu Toyokawa to deceive people.

After all, who would hide their psychological trauma from their adopted sister but share it with a friend they've only known for a short time?

Judging solely from the closeness of the relationship, it is not very reasonable.

But Chihaya Aine didn't think so. Although they hadn't spent much time together, she could tell that Toyokawa Yuu was a rather stubborn person.

That kind of self-criticism—the kind of determination to do things even when you're forced to, the constant bracing as if you'd collapse at the slightest sign of weakness—is enough to make anyone feel uneasy just by looking at it.

So, after realizing that Yuu Toyokawa and Mutsu Wakaba were actually there for breakfast, Aine Chihaya, who was supposed to rush to school to prepare for class, chose to slightly delay her schedule.

She didn't believe that Yuu Toyokawa would deceive herself about something like psychological trauma, so now she needed to determine whether Yuu Toyokawa had truly begun to overcome it, or was simply putting on a brave face for the sake of appearances, or...

Chihaya Aine glanced at Wakaba Mutsumi, who was sitting opposite Toyokawa Yuu and had already begun cutting the pastries in front of her with her cutlery. Her movements were elegant and graceful, just like those of a noble lady. A hint of doubt rose in Chihaya Aine's eyes.

Or perhaps, in a moment of hazy consciousness, Yuu Toyokawa subconsciously took the ice water that Yuu had handed him, mistaking him for someone he hadn't been wary of—which was actually Mutsuka Wakaba.

It's not impossible, after all, they're the kind of people who can suddenly skip class to play for an afternoon without saying goodbye to anyone and cut off all contact.

"This...no."

Faced with Chihaya Aine's soft question, Toyokawa Yuu hesitated slightly, but ultimately chose not to shake her head.

He didn't want to deceive Chihaya Aine; he had also chosen to remain vague when faced with a similar question at that coffee shop before.

After all, there were some things he genuinely didn't know how to explain to others in just a few words, and he didn't want others to know the details.

Compared to questions that she would never answer directly, Toyokawa Yuu was actually more concerned about Chihaya Aine, who had come close to her.

More accurately, it was Chihaya Aine's fingers.

Just now, when she took the tray from the waiter who looked somewhat familiar to her, she could clearly see that Chihaya Aine had two band-aids on her right hand.

Judging from her coming to the LiveHouse early in the morning, this girl is quite diligent in practicing guitar.

"More importantly, what happened to your hand?"

"Everyone gets like this after practicing guitar for a long time... You're still worried about that? Think about how to finish your breakfast first. Or are you planning to make Xiao Mu eat two breakfasts as well? She doesn't seem to have that much of an appetite, and besides..."

Chihaya Aine paused, and a hint of worry began to appear in her gaze as she looked at Toyokawa Yuu.

"Besides, you can't keep skipping breakfast, it's bad for your health... Sit in a little more."

Chihaya Aine gently nudged Toyokawa Yuu's shoulder, gesturing for her to sit at the other end of the bench.

Seeing Chihaya Aine's seemingly sudden inspiration, Toyokawa Yuu felt a little confused, but still obediently moved her body to make room for the pink sun next to her.

Chihaya Aine sat down in the spot where Toyokawa Yuu had been sitting. First, she brought the tray of ice water to him, then she presented him with a plate of pastries.

The metal cutlery reflected a slightly dazzling gleam in the sunlight streaming into the room from outside the window. Yuu Toyokawa watched as Aine Chihaya, her fingers wrapped in bandages, carefully cut the whole pastry into small pieces, like a pair of butterflies shimmering with powdery scales in the sunlight, so bright it was almost blinding.

The metal melts into the cream, easily ruining the pastry's carefully designed appearance, turning it into irregularly shaped but roughly the same size pieces.

Undoubtedly, turning the pastries into this way would ruin their original texture, but this was the only method Chihaya Aine could think of at the moment.

After cutting the last piece, the pink-haired girl handed the fork in her left hand to Yuu Toyokawa, then used the knife in her right hand to randomly pick up a piece of pastry that had been cut into pieces and carefully put it into her mouth.

They were so cautious, as if they were afraid of being cut by the not-so-sharp blade of the knife.

While chewing on the pastries whose texture had been somewhat ruined by her own actions, Chihaya Aine pushed her plate towards Toyokawa Yuu and gestured with her chin.

Even though the two haven't spoken a word since Chihaya Aine asked her to move to another spot, Toyokawa Yuu still understands what the pink-haired girl means.

I've tried it for you, go ahead and eat it.

Looking at the plate of pastries in front of her, which had been cut into pieces by Chihaya Aine's obviously subpar knife skills, Toyokawa Yuu paused for a moment, then slowly used her fork, which was already covered in cream, to pick up a piece of pastry and put it in her mouth.

Because of Chihaya Aine's previous actions, a lot of cream was stuck to the plate and looked unsightly. Some of it was even spread on the cut surfaces of other pieces, and the texture and taste were also a bit strange.

However, when the sweetness of the cream and the softness of the flour reached her tongue, Toyokawa Yuu did not experience the panic and nausea she had felt when Wakaba Mutsumi fed her soda crackers.

The knife skills are terrible, it tastes awful...

With this thought in mind, Toyokawa Yuu put the pieces of food from her plate into her mouth one by one, her movements appearing quite fast.

Seeing that Toyokawa Yuu didn't resist and didn't seem to be struggling when swallowing her food, Chihaya Aine's expression relaxed a little, but she also felt a bit helpless.

I can't keep helping him like this forever; I also have to go to school.

"Aine, are you and Yuu very close?"

A detached voice broke the unspoken silence at the dining table. Wakaba Mutsu narrowed her golden eyes slightly as she looked at Chihaya Aine, who had already pushed Toyokawa Yuu to the other side and was now sitting opposite her.

Although she had been quietly eating her breakfast without making a sound, Ruoye Mu had been watching the silent yet tacit interaction between the two of them.

Whether it was Chihaya Aine whispering to Toyokawa Yuu earlier, or her taking Yuu's place and messing up the breakfast that was meant for him, she had been watching silently the whole time.

They neither asked a question nor tried to stop it.

If Ye Mu could see that Toyokawa Yuu wasn't angry at Chihaya Aine's behavior, it was as if she was indulging Toyokawa Shoko's willful demands and her whimsical behavior.

No, calling it indulgence doesn't seem quite right.

Tolerating this behavior is based on patience, but she didn't sense any reluctance or need for patience from Toyokawa Yuu; on the contrary, she seemed to welcome her doing so.

Therefore, after Chihaya Aine finished what she was doing, Wakaba Mutsu finally couldn't help but ask a question.

"Hey... Xiao Mu knows my name, I'm so happy."

The fact that the guitarist of her favorite band knew her name surprised and delighted the trend-conscious girl.

"Youyu just mentioned it when she greeted me."

Despite Chihaya Aine's enthusiasm, Wakaba Mutsu's expression remained largely unchanged.

She didn't notice the slight coldness on Ruoye Mu's face, after all, her relationship with Toyokawa Yuu seemed to be like this before she arrived.

But there was something else that Chihaya Aine was even more curious about.

"Xiao Mu looks even cuter from this distance than on stage! Can I ask you for your autograph?"

Chihaya Aine still vividly remembers Wakaba Mutsumi's performance on stage at that concert that ignited public opinion.

Although her condition at the time worried her teammates, Chihaya Aine had to admit that Mortis was the focus of the entire concert.

For Chihaya Aine, who craves attention and is somewhat vain, this was the role model she had always wanted to be.

In particular, Mortis's position in Ave Mujica, playing the same rhythm guitar as me... that's exactly what I want to be like.

Chatting with Wakaba Mutsu, Chihaya Aine even felt as if her fantasy had come true.

Strangely, even though Toyokawa Yuu sitting next to her was Ave Mujica's manager, she didn't seem to have any similar thoughts... probably because they were too familiar with each other.

"Okay... but you haven't answered me yet."

When Chihaya Aine asked for an autograph, Wakaba Mutsu did not refuse.

She doesn't like being in the spotlight, but she doesn't mind these private interactions.

More than this trivial request, she cared about the relationship between Chihaya Aine and Toyokawa Yuu.

"My relationship with Youyu? We're friends, of course."

While taking out paper and pen from her bag and handing them to Wakaba Mutsu, Chihaya Aine answered the golden-eyed girl's question without hesitation.

"A friend...?"

As Mutsumi Wakaba was signing the letters "Mortis" on a piece of white paper, his pen paused, and the letters he wrote became slightly distorted.

Golden gaze shifted slightly, and Ruoye Mu secretly turned her gaze to Toyokawa Yuu beside her, her eyes dimming as she looked at the cream stains on the other's fork.

She remembered that Toyokawa Yuu had told Metis last night that she and Metis were also friends.

But this morning, when she fed him a soda cracker, Toyokawa Yuu threw the cracker directly into the trash can.

A complex emotion suddenly rose in her heart. Ruo Ye Mu couldn't quite explain the feeling; she just felt inexplicably unhappy.

For the first time, a girl who had almost never had any desires for the outside world felt a sense of competition.

"I am also... Yuu's friend."

Lowering her head slightly, Ruoye Mu murmured these words, but her gaze was not on Chihaya Aine.

A slightly heavy heart made the girl's gaze somewhat unfocused, and even the plate in front of her became a little blurry.

But soon, the fair hand that had been in sight caught Ruoye Mu's attention, bringing her gaze back to focus after she had been lost in thought.

Looking up, Wakaba Mutsu saw Chihaya Aine's bright, sunny gaze.

"Since we are all Youyu's friends, can Xiaomu and I also become friends?"