Classic soul swap, but a musical

The kitchen is open plan with only a small platform, and it's obvious that it hasn't been used for a long time.

Ai Aragaki pulled out a suitcase from under the bed, which contained all his clothes.

"I'm going to take a shower and work, you can use the things in the house as you like."

"Oh." Xiangzi had been feeling uncomfortable for a long time. She had been wearing the same skirt for two days without changing it. In fact, she wanted to take a hot shower and change her clothes, but it was a boy's room after all, and she couldn't just borrow his bathroom.

It would be nice to have a place for her, otherwise she could only sit in the park and feel the cold spring breeze.

The sound of flowing water was so obvious that Xiangzi's attention was drawn to it and he thought of what happened in the morning.

All these things had already made her breathless, and that kind of thing only flashed through her mind for a moment before being suppressed again.

After taking a hot bath in the bathroom, Aragaki Ai felt barely alive.

Xiangzi...is stronger than he thought.

After wiping the water droplets from her hair with a towel, Aragaki Ai changed into a clean T-shirt and trousers, left the bathroom, and looked at the girl sitting on the chair.

"My work should be finished this afternoon. I'll be back around four o'clock. We can call each other then."

"Okay." Xiangzi stood up and saw him off.

"You can use whatever you want in the room." Aragaki Ai gave instructions and left.

Watching the door gradually close, the girl began to think about her future. She turned on her cell phone and finally decided to call her father.

"..."

The phone rang for a long time, and before I was about to hang up, the other party finally answered.

"Dad?"

"Ah? It's Xiangzi. Do you have any money left? I want to make some more money and treat them to a meal."

"......"

Xiangzi frowned slightly and shook his head gently, "There's no more. Didn't I give it all to you yesterday?"

If she hadn't given all the money she saved to her father, she wouldn't be sitting in the park with only a few thousand yen left.

Her father's voice was still ringing in her ears, making her frown even tighter.

"Do you have any friends I can lend you money from? I have a very important party tonight. Could you please borrow some money from Tsukinomori's friends? 200,000 yen would be enough."

"........"

"Snapped."

After the call ended, Xiangzi stared at the phone screen for a long time in a daze. When he looked up again, his eyes were like a drowning person grasping at the last straw.

After leaving the rental house, Ai Aragaki took the tram to her part-time job and changed into a T-shirt from a convenience store.

After greeting the store manager, I started working.

Fortunately, the first peak has passed, and he can still slack off occasionally and open the game system.

He will be able to meet Xiao Mu Tou tonight, so the agreement is fulfilled. He can start a new match and get the reward for the last task.

Want to get started?

He still hesitated for a moment. Today's working hours were still long, so there was no need to be too anxious.

Suddenly, he listened to the music in the store and felt that it sounded familiar. It seemed to be the Dream of Love that Mu played last night.

At the same time, at Tsukinomori Girls' Academy.

Anyone could see that the puppet girl was in a good mood, so since morning, people kept greeting her and saying that yesterday's performance was wonderful.

Normally, she was slow to reply, and today she was worried about something, so she was even slower. But no one was in a hurry, and everyone wanted to say a few more words to her.

As class was about to start, everyone seemed to disperse without any prior agreement and stopped disturbing her.

Of course Mu was in a good mood.

I received a call from Ai and we agreed to meet in the evening. Since Ai said Saki was fine, then she must be fine.

It wasn't until lunch break that Su Shi came up to him.

The two of them went to the pavilion to eat together. Halfway through the meal, she asked Mu directly.

"Saki, you didn't come to school today. I heard you took a sick leave. Does Mu know what's going on?"

Volume 1: Chapter 66: Working

Facing Su Shi's question, Mu recalled the phone call with Ai last night, and he really guessed it right.

No matter what you said last night, just keep quiet.

Looking at the silent little Mutou, the flaxen-haired girl narrowed her eyes, trying to find out the reason.

In the previous conversation, she could clearly feel that Mu was in a good mood, but after mentioning this matter, her mood became depressed.

But the other party didn't say anything, so she had to continue the topic naturally and gave a forced smile.

"By the way, I also watched Mu's performance last night. It was a really great piano performance, especially the second piece, 'Dream of Love.' Mu is really able to play such an emotionally rich piece."

"Ah."

Seeing that Mu couldn't dig out anything, Su Shi had no choice but to finish lunch with her and then part ways.

After returning to the classroom, little Mutou was alone again, but many people around her were looking at her. Because of yesterday's performance, Mu's popularity had indeed increased. At least in the Moon Forest, she was vaguely recognized by everyone and was welcomed by most people.

Mu, on the other hand, was thinking that after playing the piano today, he would be able to see love.

The corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Considering yesterday's performance, the students around exchanged glances, but in the end no one had the heart to break this sweet atmosphere.

At the same time, in the convenience store where Ai Aragaki works, another person changed shifts. It was replaced by the JK who was one year older than him. He slacked off as soon as he arrived, and played Mu's playing yesterday on his mobile phone.

Naturally, his attention was drawn to him. He glanced at Mu in his sight. The background music was still the song Dream of Love, but the video content was a mix of various angles.

"I say, you don't really like Ruoye Mu, do you?" JK paused the video. "Haven't you seen this show? It's super popular lately. I saw several videos with tens of thousands of likes on TikTok. I wish I could have that many likes too."

"I've seen it. Is there anything wrong with me liking Wakaba Mu?" Aragaki Ai retracted her gaze, not caring at all.

"I understand, I understand. It's that kind of idol-like liking, right?" She waved her hand. "People like that are too far away from us. She's really a big shot."

"Oh." Aragaki Ai stood very straight and said nothing. The other party felt bored and stopped talking.

Just then, the store manager came out of his office with a troubled expression on his face.

"Xia Yuan, can you please help me? The people on the night shift are busy and can't come. Can you do me a favor and come back to cover for me in the evening?"

Just as he was about to refuse, he saw the store manager opposite cough lightly and signal him with his eyes.

We have a secret deal.

Don’t you want to either?

Aragaki Ai sighed, "I understand. Leave it to me. What time do you need me to come? I'm free after six at the earliest."

"No need to come so early, just come at 8 o'clock, please." The manager smiled.

The manager almost caught him slacking off, so JK put away his phone and prepared to work hard.

It just so happened that he also needed money, and Xinyuan Ai wanted to start a new match and work while idle.

This is the problem. The reason why new matches have not been opened yet is because there is an opportunity to specify a matching partner in the mall.

This is most likely the last resort when Miao Meng cannot be contacted.

It’s better to wait for a while and see if there is any other way to trick her into mujica.

In the animation, Xiangzi was able to trick her in with nothing. Now Aragaki Ai has a real Mu in her hands, and a Mu who is even more popular than in the animation.

If you don’t believe it, Miao Meng will not be fooled!

In the end, he did not choose to enter the game and rematch, but waited to see Mu.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, work finally ended.

It’s been a while since I last worked on my own, and it’s really hard to get used to working for such a long time.

Ai Aragaki took the tram back to her rental house, wondering how Xiangzi was doing now.

The sound of the key opening the door was particularly clear. In a room less than 20 square meters, they could easily see each other.

The girl stood up instantly, turned around, and looked at the boy outside the door. She seemed to feel relieved in an instant.

"...Welcome back."

"I'm back?" Aragaki Ai never said this normally, but she said it. If she didn't say it herself, she would seem very embarrassed.

He took off his shoes and put the bag aside. "Have you eaten?"

Xiangzi really wanted to say that he had eaten it, but his stomach betrayed him.

Aragaki Ai chuckled, took out a discounted lunch box from the bag and handed it to Xiaoxiang.

"Do you want me to heat it up for you? I brought it from the convenience store, so it might be cold."

"It's still warm." She took it. "I'll give you whatever you want."

"With the discount and the internal employee price, you can just give me five million."

Ai Aragaki's tone became frivolous. He sat on the bed and gave the only chair to her.

“…” Xiangzi was silent for a moment, took his lunch box, sat at the desk, and nodded vigorously.

"Five million? I'll give it to you."

"we have a deal."

Ai Aragaki took out her cell phone and looked at the time. It was already past three forty.

"Once you're done eating, we'll go find Mu. Is that okay?"

"no problem."

Xiangzi ate the cheap lunch box without showing any discomfort. Even though she hadn't eaten for the whole day, she still had an elegant posture and looked like a young lady.

The two had eaten together many times, but always using Mu's body.

She ate the entire lunch box, leaving nothing behind. Aragaki Ai handed her a box of milk, and she didn't refuse. The cold liquid flowed into her throat, relieving the feeling just now.

"Let's go."

"Yeah." Aragaki Ai left with her and took the tram. Instead of going to Yuze Cafe, they chose an ordinary, unremarkable cafe that would be forgotten at a glance as the meeting place.

The two of them chose a table near the window, which was visible from outside. They sat down opposite each other and ordered another drink. Xiangzi said he would not order anything.

Time passed by little by little. Looking at the watch, it was already five o'clock. Mu might come at any time.

The air seemed to freeze and time seemed to stretch out. The music playing in the cafe was the same "Dream of Love" that Mu played yesterday. It seemed that Mu was indeed famous.

He stood up and said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Yeah." Xiangzi nodded, with an imperceptible light flashing in his eyes, which was filled with a slightly sad emotion.

The boy unconsciously clenched his fingers into fists at this moment, not noticing her abnormality at all, and strode towards the bathroom.

It has come to this.

He was actually nervous, after all...

Standing in front of the mirror, Aragaki Ai looked at another self. Sweat quietly seeped out from her forehead and slowly slid down her cheeks, leaving a slightly cool trail. After washing her hands with clean water, she splashed a little water on her face to wash away the sweat on her face.

When he left the bathroom, there was a young girl standing where he had been sitting. She was someone he was so familiar with that he couldn't be more familiar with her.

The girl has long light green hair, wears the Tsuki no Mori school uniform and knee-length white stockings. She looks like a doll, and the sunlight gives her a light golden edge, like an illusion.

Ai Aragaki held her breath, slowed down her pace as much as possible, and moved towards the girl.

Behind her, he held out his hand.

I poked her cheek with my index finger. It was soft and elastic, and her skin was as delicate as I remembered.

The girl felt her heart beating non-stop, but her body stiffened uncontrollably, as if just the movement of turning back had drained all her strength.