I, who tortured the readers, was knocked to the ground by them!

Hasegawa Shion sat in front of the computer with her knees drawn up, the drawing board displaying promotional sketches for Hotarubi no Mori e (Forest of Fireflies' Light).

She held the phone to her ear with one hand, nervously rubbing her hair with the other, her brows furrowed.

The toes resting on the chair were nervously rubbing together.

"Wakaba, she knows."

Actually, after that day, she regretted her "revenge" on Sato Wakaba.

Ultimately, Ruoye and she were still good friends.

She was my first friend in Tokyo, or rather, my first true friend in my life.
Sakurai Itsuki said, "Isn't this just a matter of time? You don't really think you can keep this from her, do you?"

Hasegawa Shion pursed her lips: "I know, we... shouldn't be like this."

Sakurai Itsuki shifted the blame: "We... I was morally blackmailed and coerced by you."

This time, Shion Hasegawa didn't argue with Itsuki Sakurai, but simply asked, "What did Wakaba say?"

Sakurai Itsuki paused for a moment and then said, "It's nothing, just a little awkward, I didn't say anything."

After Sato Wakaba said, "You really are fair,"

Sakurai Itsuki quickly retorted, "It's just an elective class. I'm going there to do serious business. Whether you go or not, I'll listen attentively, it's the same."

Sato Wakaba silently finished her meal in the face of Sakurai Itsuki's explanation, then took out a voucher from Sakurai Itsuki's wallet and went out to buy a cake.

After that, Sato Wakaba never mentioned the matter again, as if she had never heard of it at all.

Hearing Sakurai Itsuki's words, Hasegawa Shion slowly breathed a sigh of relief: "I see."

Sakurai Itsuki said helplessly, "You made this request yourself, so why are you sighing and complaining? At least you should be happy, this is to comfort you."

"I didn't think that much about it at the time."

Hasegawa Shion made the request on a whim, and Sakurai Itsuki actually agreed.

That day, she was undoubtedly overjoyed.

But as night fell, I gradually became troubled again.

And this distress has persisted to this day.

"You're as troublesome as ever. Don't think too much about it. Ruoye won't blame you."

Sakurai Itsuki said reassuringly that he thought it was making a mountain out of a molehill.

It's just taking a class together, nothing more.

"but."

Hasegawa Shion was still somewhat bothered by it.

Sakurai Itsuki said, "Don't worry, not everyone is like you who cries at the drop of a hat."

Hearing this, Hasegawa Shion puffed out her cheeks, somewhat dissatisfied: "I don't cry all the time, do I?"

Sakurai Itsuki said sarcastically, "If you think you didn't, that's fine. I know you didn't cry the night I returned to Tokyo."

"Oh, right. Actually, that day..."

After hesitating for a long time, Shion Hase finally decided to tell him the truth.

“Yuki Mizuno also cried, and she was the one who cried first that day.”

Sakurai Itsuki was somewhat surprised to hear this: "You mean she did it too, or even did it first, so you're not a crybaby?"

"That's not what I meant. You're annoying, I'm going to draw now. I'm hanging up."

After hearing those words, Sakurai Itsuki heard the dial tone indicating the call had been disconnected.

Sakurai Itsuki lowered the phone from his ear, paused slightly, dialed a number, and then raised the phone back up.
Soon, that familiar voice came from the other end.

"Hey~ It's been so long since you called me on your own initiative. Do you miss me?"

Sakurai Itsuki asked, "Ah, yes, are you a little busy?"

Yuki Mizuno leaned against the wall and chuckled, "Hearing you say that makes me want to rush to you right now, but... ah, why am I recording a song today of all days! You really have no sense of timing!"

Sakurai Itsuki quickly said, "Ah, sorry, I disturbed your work."

Yuki Mizuno: "It's okay. I was just resting and adjusting when I received your call. It's like I'm recharging! Nothing inspires me more than your voice."

Oh, by the way, how many points would you give this speech here?

Sakurai Itsuki listened to the voice that seemed somewhat tired, yet feigned a lighthearted and cheerful tone, and said, "Full marks."

Yuki Mizuno said, "Eh~ So it's this kind of thing that itachi falls for? That's surprising. Should I get a notebook and start taking notes?"

Sakurai Itsuki asked, "Are you hiding something from me?"

Yuki Mizuno asked in surprise, "Eh? Why do you say that?"

"Intuition. Okay, Shion Hasegawa said you cried on the day you returned to Tokyo, right on the street around the corner."

Sakurai Itsuki didn't beat around the bush and asked the question directly.

Yuki Mizuno already knew about his trip with Wakaba Sato, so there was no need for her to cry in front of others over something like this.

Yuki Mizuno said, "Ah! I see. She cried much harder than I did."

Sakurai Itsuki said, "According to her, she didn't cry much. Her eyes were so swollen because she only shed a few tears from staying up late drawing and reading comics."

Yuki Mizuno asked, "Do you believe it?"

Sakurai Itsuki said, "Nobody would believe that."

Leaning against the wall, Yuki Mizuno looked up at the ceiling and burst into laughter: "Hahaha, that guy is so incredibly cute!"

"She clearly hates me so much, yet she still tells you to wait for me to come find her. She's so adorably stupid! I really want to hug her and kiss her next time."

Yuki Mizuno sighed.

The two of them could easily guess what the guy was thinking.

Although Shion Hase cried terribly that day, she was still thinking about Yuki Mizuno, who had just been crying.

She cared about Yuki Mizuno and wanted to comfort her, but nominally she also "disliked" Yuki Mizuno.

She couldn't bring herself to care about her love rival, so she could only tell Sakurai Itsuki, hoping that he would take a look at Mizuno Yuki.

They are clearly harming themselves.

Sakurai Itsuki said, "But when she sees you, she'll definitely put on an expression that says she doesn't want to be around you. That's just how clumsy she is."

Shion Hasegawa is not good at socializing and often makes people feel indifferent when she interacts with others.

But once you get to know her, you'll find that she's kinder and more innocent than anyone else.

It's foolish to be upset for days because you betrayed a love rival, or to help another love rival out of concern.

It seems that only she could have done such a thing.

Yuki Mizuno nodded: "Yeah, that's why she's interesting. You should tease her less for a while."

"Alright, stop interrupting. What's wrong with you lately?"

When Sakurai Itsuki heard Hase Shion mention this, he realized that Hase Shion had acted a little strange during their last private meeting.

Afterwards, he drank alone at home until he was drunk.

Although Ms. Asami sent herself a beautiful picture of herself sleeping, telling herself that she was fine.

"Well, how should I put it, it's just that a lot of things piled up at once. I'm busy to death every day, dealing with all the annoying things in the entertainment industry, and some disgusting paparazzi."

I've tried so hard, to the point of almost dying, yet so many people online are still saying bad things about me.

Sometimes it's just that things accumulate, and then my mood gets a little bad.

Yuki Mizuno complained to Itsuki Sakurai for a while, and then added some more.

"Oh, right, the fact that I couldn't have you in my life also played a part."

"I'm sorry," Sakurai Itsuki apologized.

"Ah, don't apologize. I was just kidding. I've liked you for ten years, this little bit won't make a difference. I said it on purpose to tease you, so I won't give this a score. I don't like making the man I like apologize to me."

Yuki Mizuno quickly said.

Sakurai Itsuki said, "If anything happens, you have to tell me. After all, we're childhood friends."

"Okay, okay, I'm happy enough that you called me! Oh, the supervisor is urging me! I'm all recharged, it's time to get to work! That's all for now, I'll see you tomorrow."

Then came Mizuno Yuki's revitalized voice. Sakurai Itsuki knew she didn't want to share her troubles with him, so he didn't press her further: "Do your best."

"Ah."

Yuki Mizuno hung up the phone, let out a long sigh, and turned to look at the long corridor.

There was no supervision or urging, and not even a recording studio.

After all, where would a hospital get a recording studio?
Yuki Mizuno looked down at the phone number saved as "Dear," and murmured softly, "Please don't pity me."

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

"Hey, hey. Class is about to start."

Hasegawa Shion gently shook Sakurai Itsuki's arm.

Sakurai Itsuki was fast asleep, slumped over the table.

Sakurai Itsuki, who had stayed up all night again, couldn't keep going during the first class.

During breaks between classes, he would immediately bury his head and fall asleep.

"Honestly, it's still the same even after going to college."

Hasegawa Shion looked at the guy sleeping next to her, who looked just like he did in high school, and muttered in dissatisfaction.

He used to sleep next to her for a whole day, and back then, Shion Hatsune never cared about him.

But things are different now; this elective course is only offered twice a week.

She can only have one class with him twice a week now, and who knows what will happen next semester!
This was something she obtained by deceiving Ruoye and going against her conscience.

As a result, he would doze off in class and then bury his head in sleep after class.
What did I even gain from this?! I might as well have brought Wakaba along!
After thinking for a moment, Hase Shion leaned close to Sakurai Itsuki's ear and whispered, "If you don't get up, I'll step on your toes."

As she spoke, she gently moved her foot under the desk and placed it on Sakurai Itsuki's foot, using this as a threat.

Noticing the commotion, Sakurai Itsuki looked up and met Hase Shion's gaze: "Sis, it's break time. Isn't it normal to sleep? Why are you bothering me? I've never seen you do this when I slept in class before."

Hasegawa Shion remained expressionless, then stomped down.

"Okay, I got it. Let's skip the next class then."

Sakurai Itsuki gasped, but he immediately understood what Hase Shion meant.

She's like that cat that wants to play with you, so it's always scratching you while you're sleeping.

All I wanted was to spend more time talking to her and keeping her company during the time we were alone together.

So Sakurai Itsuki suggested skipping class.

Since you want me to accompany you, why don't you just skip class and go out and have some fun?

Hasegawa Shion has become a rebellious child who has run away from home.

But deep down, he's still a good student who follows the rules; he's never skipped a class in his life.

Therefore, she somewhat disagreed with Sakurai Itsuki's opinion, even though she actually wanted to go out with him alone.

"But isn't that professor someone you know?"

Sakurai Itsuki said, "I can skip it because we're acquaintances. Besides, I don't really learn anything from this elective course; I'm just here to keep you company."

That professor was a senior figure in the industry. We had met each other at the beginning of the semester, at the behest of the editor-in-chief of Shueisha.

The course he taught was "Film Storyboard Design." When it comes to storyboard design, Sakurai Itsuki was already at an industry-leading level, so there was practically nothing for him to learn.

"Yes, but I want to learn."

"If there's anything you don't know how to do, I'll teach you, okay?"

Although that senior colleague was a well-known figure in the industry, his classes were ridiculously boring.

If they went any further up, Sakurai Itsuki really couldn't hold on any longer.

"Oh, I see. But I'm the class monitor for this elective course."

Hasegawa Shion was still somewhat hesitant.

Skipping class is definitely not good, but if we round it up, isn't it basically like he's inviting me on a date?

Moreover, the things he taught me felt so new and exciting.

It would be such a shame not to go.
Sakurai Itsuki then asked, "Speaking of which, why did you become the class representative? Is this the kind of behavior that Hase Shion should have?"

"What? It's not working? When it comes to academic performance, no one in the entire school can beat me!"

Of course, Hasegawa Shion didn't want to say that she became class representative because it was rare for her to be in the same class as you in university, so she wanted to make a good impression on you.

"This isn't about grades. You're not good at dealing with strangers, are you? Don't come crying to me when you're class monitor and get bullied again."

Sakurai Itsuki, who had attended university, knew very well that being the class monitor in this kind of class was not a good job at all.

Chun Chun is a scapegoat who gets bullied all the time.

"No way! You think so badly of me!" Hasegawa Shion retorted angrily, her brows furrowed.

Why can't you see the changes and progress I've made?
I'm no longer the little girl who was bad at expressing herself and socializing, and who always messed things up, when we first met!

I get along very well with everyone now!

As the two were talking, someone suddenly approached them.

"Class monitor, class monitor, have you joined the course group?"

A strange man appeared in front of the two of them.

"What's this?" Sakurai Itsuki asked, sizing up the guy in front of him who wore glasses and looked like a typical nerdy guy.

“This is Toru Murashita, he’s in the same major as me. How come you don’t even recognize your classmate?”

Hasegawa Shion said smugly to Sakurai Itsuki.

Sakurai Itsuki, who was already very good at reading her expressions, immediately understood what she meant.

She was saying: "See? I can now communicate well with my classmates. I'm a very competent class monitor!"

On the contrary, you can't even remember your classmates' names, yet you have the nerve to say I'll mess things up.

When Murashita Toru heard Hasegawa Shion happily announce Sakurai Itsuki's name, he was overjoyed.

I thought Hase Shion was unapproachable, but she introduced herself to others so happily.
Doesn't this mean that he, this toad, actually has a slight chance?
"If the class monitor hasn't formed a group yet, would you like to join our group?"
It's the assignment that requires drawing storyboards. Last time, the professor said that outstanding students could be recommended to participate in a competition.

If you're lucky, you might catch the eye of an industry expert and then be commercialized!
We all know you're a fantastic artist! To be honest, our group is full of talented people, we just need someone as good as you.

Murashita Toru immediately stated his purpose.

Hasegawa Shion then turned to Sakurai Itsuki and asked, "Do you want to participate?"

Before Sakurai Itsuki could answer, Murashita Toru spoke first: "Our group is only one spot short. We've already said, we only want top-notch players."

Murashita Toru glanced at Sakurai Itsuki, looking at the brand-new textbooks on his desk with disdain.

Everyone in the class knows Sakurai Itsuki.

The reason is that he is indeed very handsome, the kind of handsome that cannot be ignored in a class.

But later we found out that he didn't hand in his homework, he slept in class, and he hardly communicated with other students.

He looked every bit the poor student.

Aside from his high school classmate, Hase, it seems that no one wants to associate with him.

Speaking of which, Hase is such a nice person. She's kind, good-looking, and has a great temperament. She's practically perfect.

Oh right, when I first arrived, I think I saw Hase arguing with her about something.

It must have been Hanase who advised her to study hard, and ended up making her angry.

That bastard! But this is also a good opportunity for him to show off!

Sakurai Itsuki shrugged and turned to Hase Shion, saying, "Oh, he doesn't want to accept me. By the way, are you skipping class or not?"

Upon hearing Murashita Toru's words, Hasegawa Shion's face immediately darkened.

Murashita Toru, seeing this, assumed the problem lay with Sakurai Itsuki.

So he immediately joined Hase Shion in condemning Sakurai Itsuki: "What are you saying? Do you think Hase-san is a waster like you? I really don't know what you're doing here. You're wasting your own time, and you're trying to hold others back too."

Before he could finish speaking, a book hit Murashita Toru directly.

It was the kind and gentle Hase Shion who took action. (End of Chapter)