I endured the humiliation and humiliation while being besieged by the ghost story elder sister.

"By the way, I didn't see you dressed like this yesterday, Fanxia-nee... I thought you'd become a little bolder going out, but it seems you're still the same~"

Looking at Honoka, who still showed no intention of taking off her mask and sunglasses, Nozomi couldn't help but complain.

"After all, I've been staying at home the whole time, mostly just talking to my editor and Mio. I just can't bring myself to talk to strangers all of a sudden!"

She responded to Xiling in a rather irritable tone, indicating that she wasn't good at getting along with others.

Even back then, when Xi Ling moved into her apartment, it was only after a month that she dared to take the initiative to talk to him.

If you had to pick the person who got to know her the fastest and was able to talk to her easily, it would probably be Arisa, the one she fought with back then.

Thinking about this, she was also a little puzzled. Why did her social anxiety seem to have no effect on Arisa?

The two chatted in the coffee shop for a while, and then the waitress brought the breakfast that Nozomi and Honoka had ordered to the table.

"Please enjoy your meal."

The waitress, who was placing the food on the table, said this.

however.

Just as they were leisurely eating breakfast and planning to go to the supermarket to buy groceries later, several figures happened to pass by the sidewalk next to the window.

Upon seeing Ximiao's striking light blonde hair, the girls all stopped in their tracks, trying to make sure they hadn't mistaken her for someone else.

"Hey Chi Gua, isn't that Xi Ling from your class?"

"It is indeed him, but the person sitting opposite him is..."

Looking at Fanxia, ​​who had taken off her sunglasses and mask to eat and placed them aside, she suddenly felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had seen her somewhere before.

"Isn't that the person who sat with Nozomi and Chiyana at the sports meet? Probably Nozomi's family member~"

One of the girls with a good memory directly revealed Fanxia's identity. The others, who had initially thought it was Hiyo who had cheated on Arisa, looked inexplicably disappointed after hearing that there was no juicy gossip to share.

Similarly, when Nozomi spotted several girls standing by the window looking at her, and realized that some of them were her classmates, she smiled, waved, and greeted them.

Hearing the noise from Xi Ling sitting opposite her, Fan Xia curiously followed his gaze and saw several girls standing by the window, looking her and Xi Ling up and down rather rudely.

"Mio, who are they?"

“They were classmates from school. I happened to see them and said hello.”

Seemingly unaware that Honoka's expression was a little off, Nozomi said nonchalantly.

"That's it..."

Seeing that those people seemed to be coming into the coffee shop to exchange a few pleasantries with Ximiao, she glanced again at the half-eaten breakfast in front of her.

Fanxia was already torn between wearing her sunglasses and mask or not.

However, before she could make a decision, the girls outside the window waved to Himo, presumably saying goodbye, which made Fanxia breathe a sigh of relief.

Just when she thought things would end there.

Little did she know that her social anxiety reaction had been seen by Nozomi across from her.

"No way, Honoka-nee~ It's just a greeting through the glass, and you're this scared? Looks like you need some training, Honoka-nee's shyness..."

"Eh?"

When Nozomi suddenly brought this up, Honoka, who had picked up her knife and fork to continue eating her breakfast, was momentarily stunned.

Before she could protest, Ximiao reached out and took the sunglasses that she had placed aside, then put them on her own head.

Then he said with a smile.

"Let's try it out first~ As for the mask, let's leave it for Fanxia-nee in case you get stressed. When we go to the supermarket later, try looking at other people without sunglasses and see what it feels like."

"Mio... I don't think this will work... This problem of mine isn't so easy to cure."

You should know that she was previously forced to undergo some kind of social anxiety treatment by her best friend.

The result was that, apart from making her even more afraid to speak in front of strangers, it had no effect and ended in failure. However, she also got several sets of high-end skincare products from her best friend for free as an apology gift.

Despite Honoka's repeated attempts to persuade Nozomi that it was useless, Nozomi seemed determined and refused to return the sunglasses.

Left with no other choice, she had to agree to let Xi Ling try them on at the supermarket later, and if they didn't work, she would return them to her.

a long time.

After paying the bill at the coffee shop, Nozomi grabbed her folding stroller and led Honoka towards the supermarket.

She wore sunglasses on her cute face, which made her look cool and added a touch of playfulness.

He could clearly sense that Sister Fanxia was rarely nervous now, and her palms were even sweating slightly.

But what puzzled him was that, even though they were walking outdoors, he noticed that Fanxia's hands were getting cooler and cooler, and felt very comfortable to hold.

As soon as the two of them entered the supermarket, the cool air conditioning made the tense Fanxia subconsciously breathe a sigh of relief, giving her the illusion of returning home.

Because she wasn't wearing sunglasses to escape reality, she could clearly see the faint, almost imperceptible gazes of strangers looking in her direction.

Even if they were actually looking at Nozomi next to her, it would give Honoka the wrong feeling, making her very uncomfortable.

When he noticed that Fanxia was holding his hand tighter and tighter, as if she was enduring something, Ximiao began to consider whether to give the sunglasses back to her and let Fanxia off this time.

Just as the two of them reached the fresh fruits and vegetables sale area…

Xi Miao was somewhat surprised to see that outstanding, tall figure, and the girl next to the girl, dressed in a maid outfit.

"Hey... Honoka-nee, I'm sure I didn't see wrong, right?" Nozomi became a little insecure and couldn't help but ask Honoka-nee for help.

"...No, this is really too much of a coincidence!"

Fanxia, ​​who also saw that familiar figure, was filled with emotion, and the tension in her heart instantly dissipated.

Her attention immediately focused on Arisa, who was accompanying Berlos to buy groceries not far away.

Seemingly unaware of the two of them, in front of the shelf that specializes in canned goods, Boros's heterochromatic vertical pupils were fixed on the two different brands of tuna cans he was holding.

They compared the two, noting what differences they had besides price.

"Hey, Berlusconi, you eat canned tuna every day, won't your cholesterol levels go too high? Can't you change things up and eat more vegetables?"

Seeing the cat maid so seriously choosing canned food, Arisa couldn't help but ask.

She was starting to regret it, because she had nothing to do today and was in a good mood, so she agreed to let Perlos accompany her to buy groceries.

Arisa originally thought that since she was already out, she might as well take Pelos to the apartment where Nozomi and Honoka lived for a while.

That's why the two of them ended up in the supermarket near the apartment, and coincidentally ran into Himo and Mio.

Upon hearing her master's impatient voice, Beros wasn't in a hurry. She knew that Arisa just wanted to go play with Hio as soon as possible.

Seeing that her little maid was still moving so slowly, Arisa, who was behind her, subconsciously turned her head and looked at the fruit and vegetable special sale area not far away.

Then, she saw Himiko and Honoka standing there, stunned and staring at her.

A look of surprise immediately appeared in her beautiful wine-red eyes. Without hesitation, she abandoned Berlos, leaving her to continue agonizing over the canned goods, and went forward to greet them.

"Hey~ Mio, and Honoka too, what a coincidence!"

Before Xi Ling could respond, Fan Xia, who was standing next to her, gave her a disgruntled look and couldn't help but speculate.

"You weren't following us, were you?"

"Huh? How could that be! I just wanted to go to your apartment later, so I asked Pegasus to come to the supermarket here to buy groceries and see if there were any differences between this supermarket and the one in Shinjuku."

Upon hearing Honoka's skepticism, Arisa quickly explained that her encounter at the supermarket was purely coincidental.

However, what surprised Nozomi the most was not the chance encounter with Arisa.

The moment Fanxia, ​​who had been very nervous, saw Arisa, her expression softened, and she relaxed considerably.

He quickly recovered from the joy of seeing the positive results of Fanxia's adaptive training and turned to look at Arisa in front of him.

"Arisa, you mean, we're going to hang out at our apartment later?"

"is it not OK?"

"Of course not, it just feels a bit sudden."

The group chatted for a bit longer, and after putting the ingredients they needed into their shopping baskets and paying, each of them had a large plastic bag in their hands.

Seeing that Ximiao was pulling a folding cart full of ingredients, Bailuo, who was walking behind, couldn't help but feel envious. He wanted a cart like that too.

but……

She glanced silently at Arisa, who was chatting happily, wondering if her mistress would agree to her request...

First of all, it will be available at midnight tonight!

And continuing—thank you to the anonymous friend for contributing the launch message to Rabbit-san~

Hehe~ You can skip this step.

By the way, I'll read all your complaints and comments, and I'll reply to them too~ Don't worry about me ignoring you.

The above is Rabbit's true sentiment regarding the product launch.

………………

Long live the eight-petaled lotus!

I spent two months writing two stories.

From the initial failure of my first book to the initial popularity of my second book, and then to the subsequent confusion, I only now understand one thing.

"Most of the time, what you desperately pursue will bring more disappointment."

Should I not write novels?

Can I really succeed?

Is it really true that there's no place for me in this industry (just kidding)?

(╯‵ ′)╯︵┻━┻

But then a friend said to me, "Why are you so hung up on what you don't have yet? Look back at what's always been firmly behind you, everything you've always had."