After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Page 132

As dawn broke, Yuu Toyokawa, lying on her makeshift bed, gradually opened her eyes.

The sun had not yet fully risen, and the light of dawn was filtered through the curtains, making the room still somewhat dim.

Slowly sitting up from under the covers, Toyokawa Yuu took out her phone from beside her pillow and unlocked the screen.

Looking at the long list of new numbers added to his phone's memo app, the boy's brow furrowed with worry.

These numbers were one of the results of his discussion with Toyokawa Kiyoko last night.

In the evening breeze under the streetlights, the middle-aged man told Toyokawa Yuu a lot of things he wanted to know, some of which even he had to marvel at.

Besides these, there are only these numbers.

These are connections that do not belong to "Toyokawa" but are linked together by "Seigo".

These days, Toyokawa Kiyoshi, who has regained his spirits, is not only diligently looking for a job, but also reorganizing his network of connections, which he had largely lost after being expelled from the Toyokawa family and subsequently neglected for a year.

These numbers belong to people he has verified and who are currently considered trustworthy, spanning many industries.

As for how Yuu Toyokawa uses these numbers, and what she can offer to persuade the people who can be contacted by these numbers, Kiyoko Toyokawa doesn't seem to care.

It was only at this point that Yuu Toyokawa gradually realized that what his future father-in-law could do was not just to blaze a trail.

But how do we use these things next?

With these things, Toyokawa Yuu was no longer just able to act as a bully by borrowing power.

Even the best machine needs fuel to start.

Currently, apart from Ave Mujica, Toyokawa Yuu seems to have nothing else that she can use.

Slightly raising her gaze, Toyokawa Yuu's eyes fell on Wakaba Mutsu, who was still asleep on the bed, clutching a toy doll. The furrows between her brows, caused by the saying "even a skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice," gradually softened.

Ave Mujica is still in a semi-paralyzed state...

"Youyu..."

The soft call brought Yuu Toyokawa back to her senses, which had been wandering off.

In the dim light that barely managed to squeeze through the curtains, Toyokawa Yuu saw that Wakaba Mutsumi's clear golden eyes had opened, as if she had been awakened by her silent gaze just now.

Holding the plush toy, Ruoye Mu sat up from the bed and looked at the boy lying on the floor, seemingly deep in thought, his eyes quiet and still.

Neither of them disturbed the tranquility of the early morning, simply letting time slip by, the light filtering through the curtains growing brighter and brighter.

【Wow——】

Getting up and walking to the window, Toyokawa Yuu drew back the curtains, and the unobstructed sunlight instantly filled the entire room, the sudden brightness making one want to squint.

"Are you awake yet...? Let me prepare breakfast."

Climbing off the bed, which was far less comfortable than his own home but had unexpectedly provided him with a pleasant sleep, Wakaba Mutsu stood beside Toyokawa Yuu and together they glanced out the window at the street where a considerable number of people had already appeared.

Unconsciously, a slight change was revealed in his golden eyes.

She hadn't left the house for several days. Ever since Metis and Toyokawa Yuu spent their last day of freedom playing, her world had been reduced to this small room that initially resembled an urn.

The streets visible from the window are as unattainable as the moon seen from the bottom of a well.

Lowering her eyes to conceal the slight unease in them, Ruo Yemu turned and walked to the mini-fridge in the corner of the room. She took out a pre-made breakfast from the small space, prepared it briefly on the coffee table, and then heated it in the microwave.

What do you want to eat for lunch today?

Yuu Toyokawa did not refuse Wakaba Mutsu's offer to prepare breakfast for two.

After drawing back the curtains, she left the bedside, tidying up the makeshift bed she had just been lying on, while asking Ruoye Mutsu what kind of food she would like for lunch.

When she saw that Toyokawa Yuu didn't say he had other plans as usual, and seemed to really intend to treat her to breakfast together, Wakaba Mutsu, who was standing by the microwave, slowed her breathing for a moment, and her golden eyes showed a hint of surprise.

Originally, she didn't really have any hope that Toyokawa Yuu would stay for breakfast.

With a slight upturn in her calm tone, Ruoye Mu turned to look at Toyokawa Yuu, who had quickly folded the bedding and rolled up the mattress and stuffed it into the closet. Her golden eyes reflected the boy's back.

"It's up to Youyu to decide."

“That won’t do. You need to have your own opinions. I don’t have the energy to make decisions for you in everything.”

By stuffing the bedding back into the top of the wardrobe, we managed to free up some space in the already small room.

When Wakaba Mutsuko tried to pass the decision to her, Toyokawa Yuu didn't make the decision for her as she had done before.

Although Toyokawa Sadaharu's targeting has resulted in the band not getting many gigs lately, which has indeed reduced his workload within the band, it doesn't mean that Toyokawa Yuu can be idle.

How to get Minami Mori to agree so that she won't interfere when she takes Mutsu Wakaba out on the weekend remains a troubling problem.

Moreover, it wasn't good for Ave Mujica to be constantly manipulated by others because of sponsorship issues. With the numbers that Toyokawa Kiyoko gave him, Toyokawa Yuu also planned to take advantage of this time to try and find some ways for the band to be self-reliant.

It's not that Toyokawa Yuu is so arrogant as to think she can completely get rid of the Toyokawa family's influence in one fell swoop; that's simply unrealistic.

Without sufficient financial sponsorship, Ave Mujica's current network and resources would not be enough to easily stand on such a large stage and gain so much attention.

But at the very least, Ave Mujica cannot continue to be in this predicament where they can be manipulated at will and are helpless.

Firstly, in order to maintain the buzz, they plan to release some behind-the-scenes footage or short promotional videos later.

"Xiao Mu, I told you last night to have Xiangzi prepare some scripts for hype videos. Have you and Hailing arranged the venue yet?"

"......not yet."

When Yuu Toyokawa suddenly brought the topic back to work, Mutsuka Wakaba, who had just put on her oven mitts and was taking the heated breakfast out of the microwave, frowned and shook her head.

"Last night, Hailing called several filming locations using the office contact list, but they all said they were fully booked for the time being... Don't worry, we haven't finished looking through that contact list yet, we'll definitely find it."

The golden-eyed girl's expression dimmed. Last night marked her first day of working remotely, but it didn't seem to be a pleasant one.

"Since no one was willing to cooperate last night, it means that there's a high probability that they won't cooperate for a while... It's okay, I'll handle this. If all else fails, I can get some filming equipment myself. It's not like I can't make do in the office; it might even be more suitable... Let's have breakfast first."

Noticing that Wakaba Mutsumi's face had become somewhat gloomy, as if she was worried about being blamed, Toyokawa Yuu offered a few words of comfort and took on the task herself.

While this result is frustrating, it was not entirely unexpected, and there is no need to blame anyone for it.

The office address book was clearly a network of contacts prepared by Toyokawa Sadaharu for Toyokawa Shoko, but in the current situation, one cannot expect a single phone call to make that address book continue to function.

Instead of stubbornly persisting in this area, we should try a different approach.

She nodded silently, but the girl's mood didn't seem to improve much from Toyokawa Yuu's words of comfort.

After placing two pre-heated breakfasts on the table, Ruoye Mutsu took off her heat-resistant gloves and sat side by side with Toyokawa Yuu on the only sofa in the room.

Breaking open the disposable chopsticks that came with the meal, Ruoye Mutsu reached into Toyokawa Yuu's lunchbox and put some of the food into her own lunchbox. Then she put a larger portion of her own lunchbox into Toyokawa Yuu's lunchbox.

"Xiao Mu, you..."

Seeing Wakaba Mutsu's sudden action, Toyokawa Yuu's expression froze.

He never expected that the usually quiet and well-behaved girl would do such a thing.

"Xiang told me that. She said that as long as you do that, you will be willing to eat."

As she put the food she had taken from Toyokawa Yuu's lunchbox into her mouth, Wakaba Mutsu looked exceptionally innocent under the boy's somewhat surprised gaze.

[Youyu has anorexia; you need to eat some first before he'll feel comfortable eating...]

This is the information that Wakaba Mutsu obtained from Toyokawa Shoko on his phone last night before Toyokawa Yuu returned.

On this point, Wakaba Mutsu had no doubt.

She thought back carefully, and it was the same situation whether it was when Toyokawa Shoko came yesterday or when she ran into Chihaya Aine in [RING].

and......

Seeing Yuuna Toyokawa reluctantly tolerate his behavior and then start eating breakfast seriously, Mutsuka Wakaba's expression, which had become somewhat gloomy due to work, brightened up a little again.

"Why do such unnecessary things..."

Yuu Toyokawa complained, but it was unclear whether she was referring to Mutsuka Wakaba or Shoko Toyokawa.

"Speaking of which, have you decided what to have for lunch yet?"

Bringing up the previous topic again, Wakaba Mutsumi, who was carefully chewing the food that belonged to Toyokawa Yuu, paused.

She got distracted while talking about work and forgot to think about this issue.

However, Youyu said that this time I should make my own decision, as he doesn't have the energy to worry about everything for me.

If I throw the problem at him again, Yuu will get angry.

But at times like this, the more you try to think, the more your mind goes blank, and you can't even think of any suitable home-cooked dishes.

Pan-fried dumplings, salmon sushi, tamagoyaki...

Metis's voice echoed in his mind, rattling off a list of dishes like an order machine, relieving Ruoye Mutsu's urgent need.

Considering Toyokawa Yuu's current financial situation, Ruo Ye Mu did not, like Metis, list out the entire long list of dishes, but only picked a few.

"Is that all? I'll remember it."

While chewing her food, Toyokawa Yuu nodded and did not object to the menu that Wakaba Mutsu presented.

Just as he said, the choice this time rests with Wakaba Mutsu.

"So, what are you planning to do today, Yuyu? There's not much work to worry about in the office lately, right?"

Watching Toyokawa Yuu quickly finish her breakfast beside her, Wakaba Mutsumi's golden eyes held a hint of anticipation.

Due to being targeted, there has actually been less work going on inside Ave Mujica recently.

When Ave Mujica was formed, the management company gave Shoko Toyokawa a lot of autonomy because of her identity. So much so that before the start of "Music Space" with Sumimi, the whole band was temporarily in a state of having no work.

If that's the case, then Yuyu can... rest at home a little longer in the morning.

"I will try to contact some other filming locations to see if we can reach an agreement... Although in the worst case, these things can be filmed directly in the office, at this critical juncture, it is better to make it as professional as possible."

Yuu Toyokawa's casual tone, as if she were asking "What should we eat for lunch?", silently shattered the small hope that Mutsuka Wakaba had.

The golden-eyed girl opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.

It was precisely because of their own and Hailin's inability to do anything that Toyokawa Yuu had to take on these tasks that should have been assigned to them.

In this situation, how could she possibly ask for anything more?

“If everything goes well, I plan to schedule the group appearance video shoot for the weekend. Xiao Mu, you can come with us in the morning, and then we’ll go to the cabin to find Ai Yin.”

Shall we go together then?

Upon hearing Toyokawa Yuu's arrangement, Wakaba Mutsu was stunned.

Seeing Wakaba Mutsu's puzzled look, Toyokawa Yuu slowly explained.

"These past few days, Xiao Mu hasn't had a chance to play the guitar, and if she really has the opportunity, she should meet up with the band members. Staying here all the time without going out will make her rusty. Besides, everyone is appearing in videos, but we can't see you, which inevitably leads to some rumors."

She gave reasons from both public and private perspectives, leaving the already taciturn Wakaba Mutsu speechless. Moreover, she had always been obedient to Toyokawa Yuu's arrangements.

She nodded slightly, letting out a soft murmur of agreement, which was considered as her consent to Toyokawa Yuu's arrangement.

But... Yuyu just said that she should be more assertive.

Turning her head to look at the empty lunchbox in front of Toyokawa Yuu, she then looked at her own food, which was still half full.

Following the clamor of a certain voice in her heart, Ruoye Mu turned the chopsticks in her hand over, used the tip to cut off the part she had eaten, and put it into her mouth.

"...I can't finish it."

Pushing the lunchbox, which had only a couple of bites left, in front of Toyokawa Yuu, Wakaba Mutsu lowered her head, not daring to look into the boy's eyes.

"Tell me before you start next time."

Yuu Toyokawa picked up the lunchbox that Mutsuka Wakaba pushed towards her, and didn't show much resistance. She just gave a light but not harsh reminder.

The portion of a pre-made breakfast was indeed a bit small for him, as he hadn't been eating properly for the past few days.

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

Breakfast didn't take long. As usual, Yuu Toyokawa put on her suit and quietly closed the door.

With the soft click of the door bolt closing, the boy's figure completely disappeared from Wakaba Mutsu's sight.

But only after she could no longer hear footsteps outside the door did the golden-eyed girl take out her phone.

Ruo Yemu clicked on one of the contacts with the name "Xiang" and sent a message.

Mu: [Youyu ate a good breakfast today.]

Remembering what Toyokawa Yuu had said before, Wakaba Mutsu pondered for a moment, then sent another text message.

Mu: [Youyu said that the group video shoot will be held on the weekend, and he will be responsible for contacting the shooting location on the morning he goes out with Aiyin.]

Although this matter is not yet completely resolved, and there are still at least two difficulties that have not been overcome, Ye Mu never doubts Toyokawa Yuu's abilities.