After Xiangzi died, I inherited her harem.

Page 127

Rather, he was quite surprised to be evaluated by Yao Lena in this way.

It wasn't the phrase "a man who's starting to become interesting," but rather the counting that this girl, who looks like a Persian cat, just did.

This cat can sometimes see things that people can't, something that Toyokawa Yuu knows.

If Ruoye Mu or Metis were to appear before her, she would likely see the existence of another personality, and perhaps even be able to detect the new personality that rarely appears.

So, what did she see in herself?

How many times have I died?

But that doesn't add up. He has experienced four deaths so far, but according to Lena's count just now, it only reached three.

Yuu Toyokawa gently pushed the cake in front of her towards Kaoru Nai, her smile warm.

"However, children's innocent and spiritual nature is a precious treasure that is hard to come by, so it's best not to destroy it unless absolutely necessary."

With her eyes slightly narrowed, Toyokawa Yuu concealed the unusual look in her pupils, making her appear like a gentle and kind old man.

"Rakuna...right, why do you find me interesting? I thought I was a boring guy, since I was either sleepy or arguing with Shoko the two times we met."

Yuu Toyokawa was genuinely curious about what the girl in front of her, who looked somewhat like a Persian cat, had seen.

However, some secrets are not meant to be revealed in public, and the relationship between Lena and herself was not close enough for them to talk about them privately.

In the end, the two had only met twice, and today was even their first conversation.

Therefore, indirect approaches have become one of the few methods that Toyokawa Yuu can use nowadays.

"...I'm going to play the guitar now."

The Persian cat-like girl did not give a direct answer to Toyokawa Yuu's question.

Her beautiful heterochromatic eyes blinked, shifting between Toyokawa Shoko and Toyokawa Yuu, before she finally jumped off her seat and dashed back to the corner where she kept her old guitar.

Before long, a series of sounds that would amaze even connoisseurs flowed from the strings.

Looking at the absorbed expression on Yoro's face, it was clear that she didn't want anyone to disturb her playing for the time being.

"It seems I'm not very popular with children."

Ignored by the stray cats of MyGO!!!!!, Toyokawa Yuu shrugged and made a self-deprecating joke to ease the slight awkwardness in the room.

"After all, that's just Lena's personality. Cats are always free and unrestrained."

Seeing Kaname, who had already started playing the guitar again, Chihaya Aine couldn't help but smile at her youngest bandmate.

It seems she has completely forgotten the unpleasantness caused by Shiina Tatsuki and Nagasaki Sose's absence... Matcha parfait really works on this stray cat.

However, Chihaya Aine didn't just focus on Yoru Nami's feelings; she also considered Toyokawa Yuu's.

Regardless, it's always uncomfortable to have your points ignored.

“Youyu, you have to eat properly too. I bought this for you. I didn’t allow you to use it to feed Lena.”

With a deliberately stern face, Chihaya Aine reached out her hand toward the cake that Toyokawa Yuu had just pushed in front of Kaname, but another hand moved even faster than hers.

Toyokawa Shoko grabbed the edge of the plate first and dragged the plate of pastries back to Toyokawa Yuu.

Her amber eyes were fixed on her fiancé's eyes, and even without her saying it directly, Toyokawa Yuu understood what she wanted to express.

It's simply to prevent him from continuing to make excuses not to eat.

“Yuyu, this is a token of Aine’s affection. It’s not very polite to just hand it over to someone else.”

After saying that, the blue-haired girl picked up the cutlery in front of her, cut a piece of cake from Toyokawa Yuu's plate, and put it in her mouth.

Before Yuu Toyokawa could react to Shoko Toyokawa's actions, Chihaya Aine's gray gaze held a strange expression.

Well, Xiangzi is learning pretty fast, isn't he? Their relationship is definitely getting better, and that's all thanks to me.

Although she remained outwardly calm, Chihaya Aine was already practically smug with pride, hands on her hips.

In a sense, he single-handedly prevented Ave Mujica from falling apart.

Chihaya Aine couldn't even imagine how much face she would have if she could talk about this on an online forum.

However, it was just a thought. Although she was a little vain, she wouldn't do such a thing just for her own desires.

"Xiangzi is right. This is my heartfelt gift. You have to eat it all, not a single bit."

Chihaya Aine sat back down in her seat, a smile playing on her lips.

She had called them out because she was worried about whether Toyokawa Shoko could successfully get closer to Toyokawa Yuu. Now that she saw that the relationship between the two was indeed developing in a better direction, she naturally felt much more at ease.

Since Chihaya Aine had already said so, Toyokawa Yuu naturally wouldn't refuse.

Picking up the utensils in front of me, I slowly devoured the pastries, just like when I had breakfast at [RING] last time.

The only difference was that this time, Chihaya Aine didn't cut it for him; instead, Toyokawa Shoko tasted it for him first.

The scene fell silent for a moment, with only Yoro's playing echoing in everyone's ears.

Toyokawa Shoko, who finished her cake on her plate first, was the first to put down her cutlery.

Because all the food for lunch today was used to feed Toyokawa Yuu, Toyokawa Shoko's appetite was actually a little better than that of her fiancé.

After finishing her meal, Toyokawa Shoko didn't make a sound to disrupt the rare atmosphere. She narrowed her eyes slightly and began to listen to Kaname's performance.

As time went on, Kaname's singing became more and more fluent, and Toyokawa Shoko's amber eyes couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise.

It wasn't until the music ended and Yuu Toyokawa, who had finished her food, put down her utensils that Shoko Toyokawa couldn't help but applaud.

"What a wonderful performance."

With amber eyes, Toyokawa Shoko looked at Kaname, who was happily strumming the strings in her little corner of the wall, and couldn't help but admire her.

She had heard the girl play before.

She had already experienced it once before, at the MyGO!!!!! concert where they suddenly played "Kasuga Kage" and made her run away from [RING] at all costs.

However, my mindset at the time was far from good, and I didn't notice many details.

Only after listening to Kaname Rakuna's performance thoroughly did Toyokawa Shoko, who is extremely sensitive to music, realize that this band, MyGO!!!!!, which is similar to a student club like the former CRYCHIC, actually harbors so many hidden talents.

"With Lena's level of skill, even if she plans to enter the professional band circle, there shouldn't be much resistance... no, it should be said that it will be a piece of cake."

"What, you've taken a liking to his talent?"

Upon hearing Toyokawa Shoko's remark, Toyokawa Yuu glanced at his fiancée beside him with a hint of surprise.

He was well aware of Toyokawa Shoko's obsession with musicality, and that they had even argued about it before.

Therefore, Yuu Toyokawa understood that his fiancée was probably just marveling at Rakuna's talent.

But now, if Mutsuya can't participate in Ave Mujica's activities, and coincidentally finds a genius guitarist whose skill level even Toyokawa Shoko admires.

Even if Toyokawa Shoko didn't have such thoughts, Toyokawa Yuu couldn't help but start to have some ideas herself.

If... he meant if, if it takes longer than he imagined for Ruoye Mu to return, but Ave Mujica can't really go without performing live for a long time, could they find someone to fill in for him?

But this idea is just something he's thinking about right now, since Ave Mujica is not a simple commercial band; the complexity of the relationships between its members is far greater than elsewhere.

Putting aside whether Yoru Nai, who seems to dislike him, would agree, even if he really did find someone to replace him, he would have to consider Wakaba Mutsumi's feelings, even if he didn't consider Toyokawa Shoko's thoughts.

Ultimately, it turned into a joke, perhaps with a hint of meaning.

"Of course not, I'm just a little surprised by her skill level."

"Wow, is Lena really that amazing?"

Even Chihaya Aine was surprised that her companion was being praised so highly by Toyokawa Shoko.

She felt that Shoko Toyokawa, as the leader of a currently popular up-and-coming professional band, should have enough authority to speak on this matter.

Since even Toyokawa Shoko said so, it seems that Rakuna's level is indeed somewhat beyond her imagination.

However, Chihaya Aine quickly accepted this, and it was certainly a happy thing that her partner's skill level was recognized by professional band members.

"But that's only natural. Back then, Rana glanced at the sheet music that Riki played on the drums and was able to immediately deduce the guitar sheet music and play it on the spot. I put in a lot of effort to keep up with Rana's rhythm during my previous live performances."

At this point, Chihaya Aine's expression became somewhat embarrassed, and she subconsciously rubbed her fingertips, which were covered in bandages from practicing guitar extra hard lately.

"It seems I still have a lot of work to do to catch up with Lena's level..."

"Please don't underestimate yourself, Aiyin. I've heard your performance too, and I can say with certainty that your talent is equally impressive."

Seeing that Chihaya Aine's expression seemed somewhat gloomy, Toyokawa Shoko immediately offered words of comfort.

It wasn't exactly a consolation; that's what she genuinely thought.

In terms of musicality, Toyokawa Shoko considers herself to have a good eye for talent.

Amoris, the drummer in Ave Mujica whose personality is debatable but whose skill level is absolutely sufficient, was discovered by her from among beauty bloggers.

Judging from the level Chihaya Aine displayed at the time and the time she spent learning guitar, with her talent, she would definitely make rapid progress as long as she put her heart into it.

"I thought Xiangzi would say 'but,' but anyway, Xiangzi's praise makes me very happy."

With her hands supporting her face on the table, Chihaya Aine, praised by the professional, didn't think as much as Toyokawa Yuu did; in fact, she was already grinning and feeling quite smug.

"I didn't expect Xiangzi to recognize my skill level so much. I always said I was a genius. Riki didn't think much of it at the time. She just wait and see, it won't be long before I become as good as Xiaomu... By the way, didn't Xiaomu come with you guys?"

Halfway through her blissful reverie, Chihaya Aine suddenly remembered that in a message she had sent to Toyokawa Yuu, she seemed to have mentioned that she hoped to meet Wakaba Mutsu if possible.

I had only recently become friends with her, so there was no reason for me to invite Yuu Toyokawa out without bringing her along.

Unfortunately, I forgot to ask Xiao Mu for her contact information last time.

"Mu her..."

“Xiao Mu has an arts class today, which is a private tutor hired by her mother, Ms. Sen Mina. You know her family situation. In addition to regular school, she has other courses to attend, and sometimes she even misses her school classes.”

Before Toyokawa Shoko could explain, Toyokawa Yuu had already answered first.

Seeing Chihaya Aine's somewhat amazed "I see" expression, he gently poked Toyokawa Shoko's lower back under the table.

Just like how she had treated him, he gestured for her to follow his line of reasoning.

"...That's right. Ms. Minami is very concerned about Mutsu's future development, but she doesn't want Mutsu to become estranged from her classmates because of her family's financial situation. So every time she asks for leave for this kind of thing, she uses some strange reasons."

Hinted at by Toyokawa Yuu, Toyokawa Shoko fell silent for a moment before coming up with a reason that wasn't exactly a lie.

She was telling the truth, but that wasn't the real answer to the problem at hand.

"So that's how it is. It's really not easy being a celebrity family... What a pity. I was planning to ask Xiao Mu to go out with me this weekend, and maybe I could even ask her for some guitar lessons."

With that, Chihaya Aine sighed.

She wasn't just casually mentioning that she wanted to ask Wakaba Mutsu for advice on how to quickly improve her guitar skills.

Wanting to wow her bandmates at MyGO!!!!!'s next live performance, she has been practicing hard lately, and has also consulted with another guitarist in the band.

Unfortunately, Lena's skills are somewhat reliant on natural talent.

When asked how to play the guitar well, she was even more confused than Chihaya herself.

[Just play the guitar...]

Recalling the confused and bewildered expression on Kaoru's face at that time, Chihaya Aine felt a wave of exhaustion.

"It might be difficult to arrange for Mumu to meet up on the weekend. Her classes have been quite demanding lately, and Ms. Minami is keeping a close eye on her..."

Seeing the obvious disappointment and regret on Chihaya Aine's face, Toyokawa Shoko's amber eyes darted around as she tried to find an explanation and alternative solution in her mind.

"If you want to practice guitar, I can try asking around... Dolores from our band, or Sumimi's..."

However, before Toyokawa Shoko could finish speaking, Toyokawa Yuu hurriedly interrupted her.

“It’s okay. If Aine really wants to spend the weekend with Mutsu, I can talk to Ms. Minami. My relationship with her is pretty... familiar.”

After careful consideration, Toyokawa Yuu finally chose to use "familiar" to describe her relationship with Mori Minami.

“Perfect timing. Xiao Mu has been receiving a lot of extracurricular tutoring lately, so it’s good to bring her out to relax.”

The situation with Sumimi is visibly complicated right now, while the situation with Mori Minami, who is now clearly part of the team, is much simpler and easier to understand.

Rather than risk accidentally dragging Chihaya Aine into some unpredictable vortex, Toyokawa Yuu would rather face Mori Minami.

However, Yuu Toyokawa, who didn't want to disappoint Chihaya Aine, seemed to have forgotten that in addition to the options of "taking Wakaba Mutsu out" and "bringing Dolores," he actually had another option called "rejecting Chihaya Aine."

"Really? Yuu really is omnipotent."

Unaware of the complicated reasons behind it, Chihaya Aine smiled broadly, all traces of disappointment and regret vanishing from her face.

The naive girl never even suspected that her friend might be deceiving her to avoid disappointing her.

"Of course it's true. Just wait for my good news this weekend."