Mygo, are you all yanderes?

"No."

"Really can not?"

"Really can not."

"Pity."

"..."

"Wait a moment."

Kusano Akira suddenly pulled Toyokawa Shoko aside and hid her.

"Kusano-kun, you!"

A familiar yet unfamiliar warmth spread from her hand to her entire body. Toyokawa Shoko panicked and quickly pulled her hand away, her breathing quickening slightly due to the sudden intimate contact.

"Shh..."

Kusano Akira held up a finger to his lips to signal the other person to be quiet. At the same time, he leaned down slightly, using Toyokawa Shoko's body as cover, and pointed to the spot where they had just walked.

"Hmm? That's..."

Toyokawa Shoko looked back and saw two familiar figures walk past where they had just been, seemingly unaware of the two of them hiding to the side.

"Just don't make a sound..."

Kusano Akira spoke softly, his hands clasped together, his tone full of pleading.

"..."

"Ah, okay."

With a helpless sigh, Toyokawa Shoko agreed to Kusano Akira's request.

Speaking of which, something similar seems to have happened before. I suddenly noticed that Takashi Matsukata and Chihaya Aine were walking towards me, so we hid in a corner of the school to prevent them from finding us... I really miss those days.

Even their postures were exactly the same. It was Kusano Akira who tried to use her body to block him back then—but he failed. Chihaya Aine saw him at a glance.

Volume 1: Chapter 94 (2k)

There's no doubt they'll be caught red-handed.

Without even thinking about it, their location was just a little bit next to the path that Chihaya Aine and Takamatsu Akari would definitely take. They could see them with just a slight turn of their necks. Even disregarding the location factor, given the size difference between her and Kusano Akira, unless those two were blind, there was absolutely no way they could go unnoticed.

Shoko Toyokawa thought so, and Akira Kusano's thoughts were almost identical.

He also believed that what he was doing was tantamount to burying his head in the sand, completely deceiving himself, but he couldn't think of any other way to avoid being discovered.

Leaving in the opposite direction? Impossible. When I was talking to Toyokawa Shoko, I was only focused on her. By the time I noticed the other two, it was too late. It's just that one of them was often lost in thought, and the other happened to be looking at someone next to him, so they didn't notice him.

The possibility of him actually pretending to walk away as if nothing had happened has been completely eliminated.

Chihaya Aine didn't care; the other party would definitely understand why he was talking to Toyokawa Shoko. But Takamatsu Akari couldn't.

The reason remains the same as before: Takamatsu Akari will definitely be extremely jealous.

Therefore, he could only pin his hopes on the fact that the two of them wouldn't find out.

"So, my taste isn't that bad, is it? But Xiaoming always makes that face you only see in comedy sketches, it's so infuriating!"

Chihaya Aine chattered on and on to Takamatsu Akari, who was completely ignoring her, and even clenched her fists with emotion at certain points.

"And what do you mean I still have hope of growing? Seriously, a girl's beauty lies in her youth and personality, not those two lumps of fat that increase air resistance. It's too superficial to only care about that kind of thing!"

"But since he has realized his mistake, I have no choice but to forgive him. I will definitely make sure that his distorted values ​​are corrected in the future... Dengdeng, are you listening?"

As she was talking, she suddenly noticed that the girl who had been quiet beside her had stopped. So she stopped as well and saw that the other girl was staring intently at a certain spot next to her, so she looked over there as well.

"What's there... ah."

At the edge of her line of sight were the person she had just been mentioning and a young lady she wasn't very familiar with; the two of them were making a rather comical pose.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hi~"

Their eyes met, and Kusano Akira calmly straightened up, greeting the two of them as if nothing had happened.

Search for "What a coincidence".

"What's so special about it? We just separated not long ago, and this is the only way down from the rooftop, isn't it?"

"Ming, you're with Xiangzi...? Is this what you're supposed to be busy with...?"

When Takamatsu Akari saw Toyokawa Shoko's sharp gaze, she took two steps back timidly.

"Yes, I need to talk to Toyokawa about something."

Since it has already been discovered, there is no point in hiding it anymore. Kusano Akira openly acknowledged Takamatsu Akira's statement.

"That……"

"It seems like what we do together has nothing to do with you, Takamatsu-kun."

Shoko Toyokawa forcefully interrupted their conversation. Facing the timid Takamatsu Akari, she seemed completely indifferent to their past relationship as bandmates and spoke ruthlessly.

6 “Ugh…!”

Hurt by the cold address of "Takamatsu-kun," Takamatsu Akari's hard-won courage vanished once again, and she buried her beautiful face in her chest.

"Huh? How can you be like this? Dengdeng was..."

When Qi saw that her friend had been verbally attacked, Chihaya Aine frowned, straightened her chest, and stepped forward. But before she could finish speaking, she saw Toyokawa Shoko calmly look at her face, wink meaningfully, and gently point her finger in the direction of Kusano Akira.

Of course, none of this was noticed by Takamatsu Akari, who was shrouded in despair.

Seeing that Kusano's smile was clearly forced, Chihaya Aine immediately understood Toyokawa Shoko's intention. She pretended to be even angrier, took Takamatsu Akari's hand, and led her away from there.

"Really, Dengdeng, let's go!"

"Eh?"

Takamatsu Akari didn't want to leave, but seeing how angry Chihaya Aine was, she couldn't use her usual superhuman strength and could only be passively pulled away.

"Let's keep going."

Seeing the two leave again, Toyokawa Shoko breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to Kusano Akira and said.

"……Um."

Although Toyokawa Shoko's performance wasn't very impressive, Takamatsu Akira seemed to have completely believed it. Kusano Akira looked in the direction they left, somewhat worried.

"Don't worry, the light isn't that fragile."

This is a lie. Takamatsu Akari is far from being as strong as she will be in the future. Toyokawa Shoko is well aware that her words will hurt Takamatsu Akari.

If a normal person heard this, they might be sad, but it would never reach the level of 'harm'. Gao Songdeng is different from normal people. She is delicate, sensitive, timid and cowardly. Even an attack of this level is enough to break down the barriers in her heart.

This was also the effect she wanted to achieve—that Gao Songdeng must not be associated with her.

"...I'm sorry, Toyokawa-kun, I might not be able to stay with you."

Kusano Akira decided to follow the two who left, even though he was doing something like 'escaping from Takamatsu Akari' that would definitely hurt her, but he couldn't bear to see Takamatsu Akari really sad.

So even though following him might risk further strengthening the other person's positive feelings towards him, he still planned to go and comfort them.

"No."

Toyokawa Shoko grabbed Kusano Akira's hand.

She wouldn't stand idly by and watch the other person do something that would push her into the fire. In her eyes, Kusano Akira's actions were no different from a moth drawn to a flame, a complete path to death.

"If Su Shi finds me, your band will undoubtedly fall apart—that seems to hurt Akari even more. Kusano-kun, you need to think carefully: do you choose to stay with me for a while, or do you stubbornly waste this opportunity and cause an even worse outcome?"

"...Toyokawa-kun, I'm asking you this really seriously, what is your purpose in doing this?"

"Why do you keep trying to distance me from them?"

“If you hate me, I can understand everything — but since you don’t hate me at all, I can’t make sense of your logic.”

Kusano Akira pushed Toyokawa Shoko's hand away.

"I was very serious about my answer to you last night. I said they would hurt you, that's all."

Volume 1: Chapter 95 (2k)

"Toyokawa-kun, your answer is completely unconvincing to me—what do you mean they would hurt me? They don't seem like they would hurt me at all!"

Kusano Akira still didn't believe Toyokawa Shoko.

"Well... let me give you an example."

Seeing that Kusano Akira seemed determined to get an answer, Toyokawa Shoko sighed.

It's understandable that the other party doesn't trust her, since things are different now than in the past. She didn't know Kusano Akira back in middle school, so the other party doesn't trust her as much as before.

Since that's the case, she'll just reveal a little information. She doesn't expect him to believe it, but at least she'll leave a seed of doubt in his mind.

"Mu, you've known her for a while now, haven't you?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Isn't she adorable? And has such a great presence, right? She looks so delicate and fragile, making you want to protect her at first glance. She's as exquisite as a doll."

"That's right."

"What if I said that she's different from what she looks like, and that she's someone who might do something extreme at any time?"

"How could that be? Although we haven't known each other for long, she's definitely not the kind of person you're describing."

"Although it's not obvious on the surface, Mutsu is actually a person who has suffered from mental illness for a long time."

"Huh? Mental illness?"

Yes, mental illness.

Toyokawa Shoko nodded and continued speaking.

"Mu's brain automatically generates countless different personalities, each with its own characteristics and abilities."

"The Mu we often see is the persona she most often uses when facing the public, and it's also the only persona she has that can play the guitar."

"This is a problem she's had since childhood; you could say she's almost a born mental patient."

"No, no, no, what are you saying, Toyokawa-kun?"

Kusano Akira thought Toyokawa Shoko was just brushing him off again, so he quickly waved his hand and said with a smile.

"Even if you don't want to tell me the truth, at least come up with a better reason, right? Multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia are just too far-fetched."

Even if he was just going to be perfunctory, he should at least be serious. He had known Ruoye Mu for a while now, and the other person was very mentally stable. His personality only changed when he bullied him; the rest of the time he was like a piece of cotton.

She doesn't fit the description of "multiple personalities" that Toyokawa Shoko mentioned at all. If there really is such a nonsensical setting, then why has he never seen the other personalities?

"It is indeed hard to believe. I reacted the same way when I first found out, but that's the truth—though I doubt you'd believe it either."

"We might as well not waste any more time. There's not much time left for lunch break, and Chihaya is there to comfort Akari, so you don't need to worry too much—unless you have feelings for Akari and are planning to take advantage of her?"

Shoko Toyokawa casually took Akira Kusano's hand and led him downstairs.

Hmm, holding hands is definitely not a problem; I can still resist it.

As she hypnotized herself in this way, a blush crept onto her face, but because of the angle, Kusano Akira didn't see it.

"I'm more like the one who'll be taken advantage of... Wait, don't pull me! I can walk by myself, I can't keep up...!"

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

"Does this look familiar to you?"

Toyokawa Shoko looked at the piano in front of her with nostalgia. Although she would secretly come here alone every day, seeing this thing that held so many memories after regaining her memory still made her feel melancholy.

She gently pressed her fingers, which had become well-defined from years of practice, onto the piano keys. With a slight increase in pressure, crisp and melodious notes burst forth from the instrument, lingering in the ears of the two of them.

After knocking, she shook her head, clearing her mind of complicated thoughts, and looked up at Kusano Akira with expectant eyes.

After her previous attempt to sow discord between Wakaba Mutsumi and Kusano Akira failed, she realized that her previous ideas seemed too simplistic. She had simply used a middleman! Words could not persuade the stubborn person in front of her, and the attempt to sow discord lost its original effect after the fact that everyone would definitely come back was confirmed.

But this also opened up a new avenue for her.

Since everyone will come back sooner or later, she doesn't believe that "everyone" doesn't include Kusano Akira.