Substitute Toyokawa Shoko, you can become stronger by breathing

She knew how perceptive Kujo Renji was. If she got angry now, it would only make him more proud, and he might even use it to tease her - just like he did when he exposed her "jealousy" before.

She didn't want to give him this opportunity.

So she forced herself to suppress her anger, adjusted her tone in her consciousness, and pretended to be indifferent.

"Haha, Renji!"

Kujo Renji leaned back on the sofa, his fingertips tapping lightly on the edge of the remote control.

The light and shadow from the TV screen danced on his face, reflecting the smile that flashed across his amber eyes.

Of course he heard Toyokawa Shoko's deliberately suppressed "Haha, Rensi", and the sourness in her tone could not be hidden.

"how?"

He deliberately dragged out the ending tone, his voice was low and lazy, like he was teasing a kitten with its fur standing on end.

"What is Miss Xiangzi angry about again?"

"Who's angry?"

Toyokawa Shoko's rebuttal came quickly and urgently, as if her tail was stepped on, but her tone was calm and nonchalant.

"I just think you're being really... generous to Mu. Giving her your full name the first time you speak to her? Tsk, that's rare."

Jiujo Liansi raised his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

He could feel the subtle restlessness in his consciousness, swaying back and forth but refusing to stop.

"Rare?"

He repeated it slowly, as if savoring the word.

"I thought you'd praise me for being honest. After all, it took you four months to get used to the word 'Kujou'."

"I'm used to it, thank you!"

Toyokawa Shoko immediately retorted, her voice rising for a moment

"I just didn't expect you to open up to Mu so quickly. Renji, Renji—that sounds so kind. I'm so moved I almost want to applaud."

"Then play the drums."

Jiujo Liansi chuckled and tapped the armrest of the sofa with his fingers, as if beating a non-existent drum.

"But I have to warn you, I can't hear you clapping. And just so you know, puffing your cheeks while holding your breath doesn't count."

"you--!"

As expected, Toyokawa Shoko was struck, and an invisible wave of emotion was stirred up in her consciousness.

"Don't be so conceited! I'm not puffing up my cheeks!"

There was a hint of embarrassment in her voice, but she was trying hard not to show her timidity.

Kujo Renji deliberately let the silence extend for a few seconds before speaking slowly:

"Then tell me, what should I call you? Isn't 'Miss Xiangzi' too distant? How about I call you something more intimate?"

"I don't care." She chuckled.

"I don't care if you're still so angry."

"I told you I'm not angry, are you Erdolong?"

Miss Toyokawa became anxious again, but soon realized that her current performance was completely unconvincing.

"Forget it," she snorted. "I'll get pissed off sooner or later if I keep arguing with you. As long as you're happy, Mr. Lian Si."

She emphasized the last word particularly strongly, as if she was fighting back.

Jiujo Renji snorted lightly, with a triumphant smile:

"Don't worry, I'm very happy. Especially when you called me 'Mr. Renji'—it was more pleasant than I thought."

Toyokawa Shoko sneered, "You're the one who insisted on revealing your real name in front of Mu!"

She paused and muttered softly, "I don't know what there is to show off..."

"Showing off?" Kujo Renji caught her words and said with a smile, "I thought you thought I wasn't being honest with you enough."

Toyokawa Shoko lowered her voice, trying to remain calm. "It's obvious that you're discriminating against me. Just make your own choice. Don't make excuses."

"Treat them differently?"

Jiujo Liansi chuckled. Ruoye Mu had already gone to the kitchen to pour water, so he couldn't see the expression on his face.

"I remember someone once said 'do the right thing'. Isn't telling Wakaba Mutsuhiro his real name the right thing to do?"

Toyokawa Shoko was choked by his counter-attack. She paced back and forth in her consciousness.

"Then why didn't you tell me your real name?" she finally couldn't help but ask.

Kujo Renji placed the remote control on the coffee table.

"Back then, you wished I would disappear immediately. You didn't even know if I was a human or a ghost. If I told you my real name, wouldn't you want to kill me?"

This sentence surprisingly did not contain any sarcasm, but instead carried a rare calmness.

Toyokawa Shoko was speechless for a moment, realizing that what he said was indeed reasonable. She had been wary of this "intruder" at the time and was indeed reluctant to establish any unnecessary connections.

"...I won't kill you," she finally muttered. "At most I'll just scold you."

Kujo Renji smiled, a relaxed, almost transparent smile.

"Then it seems I made a wise choice."

He paused and suddenly changed the subject

"What do you think about the Osaka tour?"

Shoko Toyokawa was stunned for a moment, and the other party successfully changed the subject.

"Osaka?" She thought for a moment and then said, "Osaka, I don't have any special thoughts except for the last stop of the tour."

As if she realized something, she asked

"Do you have any special memories of Osaka?"

Kujo Renji shook the ice in the glass thoughtfully, making a crisp sound.

"I've been there a few times and know some people."

He paused.

"The night view there is great, especially the view towards Osaka Castle from the Umeda Sky Garden."

"Sounds familiar to you," she said softly. "I've only been there twice, both times with my father."

"I can take you somewhere..." Kujo Renji said, "if you want to see a different Osaka."

Shoko Toyokawa opened her eyes wide in her consciousness.

The phrase almost sounded like... an invitation?

He suddenly spoke again:

"What do you think, Xiaoxiang?"

——Xiangzi.

Not "Miss Toyokawa", not "Miss Xiangzi".

Simple, direct, yet surprisingly intimate.

Shoko Toyokawa's consciousness suddenly froze, as if the pause button was pressed.

Did he just call her...?

She suddenly realized that this was probably the first time Kujo Renji called her that.

There is no honorific, no sense of distance, just a natural way of addressing friends.

She should have protested, should have said, "Who gave you permission to call me that?" But strangely, she found that she didn't reject this way of addressing herself. On the contrary, she felt a subtle sense of... satisfaction?

"It's up to you."

She snorted slightly.

——Tsundere Xiaoxiang.

Kujo Renji sneered in his heart, and his attention shifted away from Toyokawa Shoko and turned towards Wakaba Mutsu.

The girl's slender figure was wrapped in the quilt, with only a few light green hair tips showing, swaying slightly under the soft light of the bedside lamp.

The room was so quiet that only the low hum of the air conditioner and her even breathing could be heard.

He lowered his head and spread out the cushions on the sofa, his fingertips running across the rough fabric, his movements skillful yet somewhat careless.

"We can be together."

Ruoye Mu's voice suddenly sounded, but his tone was so calm that it was hard to tell the depth of his voice.

Kujo Renji's hand paused, and his amber eyes narrowed slightly.

Of course he knew what she meant - it was literally "sleeping together".

He glanced at her and saw that she was lying on her side with half of her face buried in the pillow, her golden eyes hidden in the shadows, as if testing him, or as if she had already anticipated his answer.

"Need not."

He replied briefly, his tone flat but unquestionable, and then continued to adjust the blanket on the sofa.

Ruoye Mu stared at his back silently, neither asking for the reason nor showing disappointment.

She just tapped her index finger lightly on the quilt, as if counting some invisible beat.

“The sofa is uncomfortable.”

After a few seconds, she spoke again, her voice still soft, but with a rare stubbornness.

Kujo Renji stopped what he was doing and turned to face her.

"The bed is small."

he replied.

Ruoye Mu blinked, his expression still as calm as water.

She reached over, grabbed another pillow, and gently placed it on the other side of the bed, her movements precise and economical, without any unnecessary pauses.

"I won't move."

She said, as if promising herself to stay quietly on her assigned side.

Kujo Renji still maintained his original idea.

"No."

Ruoye Mu looked in the direction he pointed, and a hint of understanding flashed in his golden eyes.

She nodded slightly, but did not take the extra pillow away. Instead, she continued to stare at him quietly, as if waiting for him to change his mind.

There was a subtle tension in the air.

Kujo Renji walked to the bathroom and turned on the faucet to wash his hands. The cold water flowed over his fingertips, bringing a moment of clarity.

When he returned to the living room, Ruoye Mu had already closed his eyes and was breathing evenly, as if he had fallen asleep.

However, the extra pillow was still lying on the other side of the bed, its white pillowcase standing out in the darkness like a silent invitation.

Ruoye Mu turned over, and his slender arms stretched out from the quilt and fell on the empty pillow.

The girl's eyes were still closed, but her deliberately even breathing rhythm revealed that she was still awake.

"Go to sleep."

Kujo Renji said unhappily.

Ruoye Mu's fingers paused on the pillow, then slowly retracted them into the quilt.

She turned sideways, her back facing him, the ends of her hair gently brushing against the pillow.

He raised his hand and turned off the bedside lamp, and the room immediately fell into deeper darkness.

Moonlight filtered in through the window, casting mottled shadows on the floor.

He heard Ruoye Mu move in the darkness.