Aunt Xiangzi, how did you manage to live?

"I... I did say that, that's right..."

"I don't want my relationship with Xiao to be destroyed."

Mu's expression remained calm, and his eyes were as peaceful as if he were simply stating a perfectly normal daily matter.

"He loves me, and I love him. If anyone else tries to interfere, I will destroy them."

"Isn't this decision a bit too arbitrary?!"

Of course, this only elicited a furious response from Metis.

"Why? That's what Metis said."

"That's exactly what I said—wait, don't try to shift the blame onto me! This is Seven-Form love, Xiao Mu!"

"Since only lovers can become the most important people, then that position is mine."

Mu ignored the bewildered Metis. She spoke slowly, but each word was like a nail, inch by inch, driving into the air of the consciousness space.

"No, not anyone else. Xiao won't give up this position to anyone else either."

After saying this, Ruo Yemu stopped looking out the bedroom window in the consciousness space, since the scene there was only a void of chaos.

She walked slowly to the door, as if she had made up her mind.

"Wait, Xiao Mu—Xiao Mu, where are you going?"

Metis overtook her in a panic, stretching out his arms to shield Mu, trying his best to hide the unspeakable panic between the lines.

This is bad. Judging from this, Mu's next move will definitely be...

“Where to go… of course, to prevent the situation that Metis described from happening.”

Mu's answer remained calm, but that was enough to make Metis inwardly cry out in alarm.

"Could it be that, Xiao Mu y/* ue-已九溜柳斯六漆⒏二�罢, you want to…?"

"Ah."

Mu nodded, his expression remaining calm.

"Thank you for your help during this time, Metis. But it's time to give my body back to me."

How could it have turned out like this?!

Metis was so angry she wanted to bang her head on the ground. She had thought her explanation would at least get Mu to forgive her for what she had done, but why did things turn out this way?

“You’re right. I have to take action to prevent others from getting there first.”

Metis finally realized that he had always regarded Mu as the mild-mannered and unambitious "central personality"—forgot that there was actually something very terrible about her.

That is, Mu thought she had no possessiveness, but in reality, she had an overwhelming possessiveness towards that boy.

The next second, a flash of light appeared in the consciousness space—Metis instantly understood what had happened.

Mu regained control of her body.

　"Wait, wait, Mutsu!"

"Thank you for reminding me, Metis. I'd better handle the rest myself."

Metis lunged forward to try to stop her, but Ke Mu merely glanced back at her gently; that moment of calm was like an unshakeable wall.

"Neither Chu Hua nor Su Shi is acceptable."

The next instant, her figure disappeared into the space of consciousness as if swallowed by light.

"Xiao Mu! Wait—Waaah!"

Metis, who tried to run forward to stop Mu, missed his target and collapsed to the ground in a rather disheveled state.

Oops.

This is really bad.

Metis didn't even care how painful the abrasions on her knees were. What made her feel more threatened than the minor friction she suffered in the consciousness space was Mu's next move.

"How...how did I become like this..."

She initially only wanted to justify her despicable act of instigating the conflict between Su Shi and Chu Hua, but she never expected that this would become the fuse that made Mu Yiran determined to take the lead in the fight.

This is just great.

"Mu...you're not going to stop letting me go out from now on...!"

Like a helpless child abandoned at home by his parents, Metis slumped to the floor, staring at the bedroom door.

Xiao Mu had completely sealed the area, and no matter how hard she tried to struggle, she couldn't get out.

— Meanwhile, in the outside world.

The body that Metis was controlling suddenly shuddered, the green-haired girl's eyelashes trembled slightly, and the light in her eyes gradually flowed with a peaceful emotion.

The real Mutsumi Wakaba has returned.

"........."

She silently surveyed the mess her home had made, a mess of things because of some naughty child. She didn't shake her head in exasperation, nor did she act like a devoted, hardworking mother like Su Shi, nagging but actually cleaning up Metis's mess.

Mu silently walked to the shop window, rummaged through her drawers and changed into her favorite long dress, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Seemingly finally satisfied that her reflection in the mirror only reflected her own essence, the girl walked away from the full-length mirror and picked up her phone from the table.

She carefully browsed through the messages that Metis had sent to everyone through his social media accounts during this period, as well as the text messages that others had sent to her during her period of silence.

Among them were Metis's childlike, innocent pouting and threats when texting Xiao and Su Shi, as well as messages that Metis accidentally overlooked—or rather, deliberately ignored.

That was a concern from Toyokawa Shoko that she had never responded to.

He hadn't received a reply from Mu for half a day. Xiangzi must have come to see him these past few days... But why hadn't Metis told him the truth?

Mu felt a surge of confusion and doubt about Metis, but she didn't immediately return to her consciousness space to find him and ask what was going on.

"...I'm sorry, Xiang."

It would be very simple to explain the whole story in detail at this moment, but Mu doesn't intend to do so for the time being.

She simply closed her phone quietly and put it back in its place, without replying to Xiangzi's series of messages that seemed to express his concern.

It's simply because she has now found something more important to do.

—And on the other side.

"I, decades in the future, coexist with Xiaojun, who was about ten years ago...?"

Chu Hua and Su Shi were still standing on the street, looking at each other in bewilderment, or rather, it was only Su Shi who was venting her confusion.

"No, there must be some mistake somewhere..."

“I have a lot of faith in my intuition, Su Shi. However, I can understand your doubts since we can’t find any concrete evidence right now.”

Chu Hua's eyes darted around, and she cleverly came up with a solution to this problem.

"Hmm—if we just ask Xiaojun directly, wouldn't all of this be easily solved?"

Mitsuka's intuition was also guiding her in a direction that seemed unbelievable.

Whether this is the right direction or not, they will soon find out.

Chapter 81 The Most Harmonious Trio

Achoo! Achoo!

Kazama sneezed, looked up at the air conditioning temperature in the practice room, and attributed his sudden sneezing to the air conditioning being too strong.

"Ha... Is it because the room is too cold, or is someone talking about me?"

He rubbed his nose and reached for the air conditioner remote on the table.

"Maybe it's both. Kazama-kun, your nasal mucosa is just as weak as the person talking about you right now."

Hachiman Kairin delivered this sufficiently lame joke without batting an eye, adjusting the bass straps with her head down, and occasionally glancing up at Riki sitting in front of the drum set as she finished speaking.

"What... what does this have to do with me?"

The long-haired girl with black hair, having put down her drumsticks, was practically confessing, but even so, she still gritted her teeth and tried to "clear her name."

"I... I just practice here every day, and today I happened to see you two catching up, so I joined in. Is that strange? Or is it that you two have a special, intimate relationship that doesn't allow outsiders to interfere?"

Before Hai Ling could say anything, a single basic attack made Li Xi unleash his ultimate skill without even stopping.

"I didn't say it was you. Speaking of which, didn't I vaguely smell a hint of jealousy in that last sentence? Kazama-kun, do you have any clue?"

"Hmm—there really isn't any."

Hai Ling teased him, and Kazama smiled, giving Li Xi, who was at a loss but still pretending to be calm, a way out. They had already developed a relatively complete process for persecuting Li Xi.

"Of course, if Lixi really cares about me that much, I'll still be very happy, okay?"

Although Kazama would still smile and hit straight shots at Riki.

"Ha—stop flattering yourself. Did I just... did I mention even a single character of your name, Kazama?"

Unfortunately, Li Xi would only appear furious and talk about other things at times like this, then, after hissing like a cat, he would bury his head, pick up his drumsticks, and pretend to be very busy.

Well, after all, being stubborn but soft-hearted is one of Lixi's endearing qualities, isn't it? She has no choice but to try it.

Hai Ling snorted softly, and seeing Li Xi's insincere expression, she seemed to feel much better.

"Okay, okay, you didn't mention anyone's name. Of course, you just want to rehearse with us—you're definitely not upset about us forming a new band together, right?"

"Hmm... Hmph, that's right, that's it."

Actually, Ms. Hachiman Kairin, you really dote on Riki, and you even gave her a new way out.

It seems that these two aunts were like-minded friends during their student days—this story, which was later unilaterally confirmed by Aunt Hailing and told to Xiaoting, is not entirely unfounded.

"To be honest, I never expected that you would be one of the new teammates that Kazama found."

Li Xi glanced at the composed Hai Ling. Anyone else might have found her words intriguing and provocative.

"What's wrong? Who are you jealous of?"

Only Hailing would calmly and directly retort to Lixi.

"Eat—who would be jealous of the two of you! I was just worried that you two wouldn't get along, so I reluctantly came to see how well you were cooperating! You're being quite presumptuous!!"

Of course, she only wanted to see Li Xi's arrogant and stammering demeanor, which was both hypocritical and taunting.

Kazama covered his mouth with his hand, trying his best to hide his chuckles, and remained silent as he watched the two bickering.

Ah, it's so nice to have Aunt Hailing around. Even without saying a word, I can enjoy Aunt Lixi's adorable, automatically broken-down, tsundere demeanor.

"Kazama, why are you just watching?"

It wasn't until Hailing cast her gaze in his direction that it became clear this auntie wasn't going to let him stay out of it.

"Oh, I just think you two have such a great relationship..."

"Who said we have a good relationship?"

Li Xi, of course, was determined to clear his name and prove his innocence.

"Really? Kazama-kun, are you jealous? Who are you jealous of?"

Hailin was clearly more on the same wavelength as Kazama; she not only caught on to his joke but also gave him a call-back.

The atmosphere of their conversation, while not exactly intimate, was certainly relaxed and natural. It was as if no one else in the world mattered; the three of them could naturally form a band.

Or perhaps only Li Xi holds this unrealistic idea.

After all, she knew that in the process ahead, she was the only one who was uninvolved—Kazama and Kairin were going to be her companions in forming a new band.

Okay, she does care a little.

"I said... Kazama, are you really going to form a band with Hatsuka and Shoko?"

After all, if he forms a new band and has new partners like Hai Ling... wouldn't he no longer see himself as a trustworthy companion?

Hidden beneath Shiina Tatsuki's seemingly nonchalant question was actually her incredibly clumsy attempt to conceal her unease.

Kazama blinked, naturally seeing through Riki's little scheme.

"We'll be forming a new band. But what Lixi and I said before still stands for life, okay?"