I, Aki Tomoya, will not be a simp.

While rote memorization is indeed necessary in humanities subjects, there are other aspects that require attention.

Yoshihiko Kamigo, who thought he had worked hard enough, found his shortcomings once again.

"If only I could write about the hottest topics in the world of anime and manga during the exam..."

Yoshihiko Uego sighed, but he didn't have that kind of courage.

Chapter 112 Houye Festival (4/4)

The graduation ceremony for Toyonosaki Academy was scheduled for December 22nd.

The graduation ceremony is on the 22nd, and the winter vacation officially begins on the 23rd. The schedule of Toyonosaki Private School is only two or three days different from other private high schools.

However, before the graduation ceremony, Toyonosaki Academy had another matter to attend to—

School Festival!

On Wednesday, Aki Tomoya stayed behind because of the school festival.

During the day, it's open day, and I'm busy with class matters.

And at night, which is commonly known as the night after the school festival, he couldn't just leave alone.

"Evening Festival".

Looking at the bonfire on the school playground, where men and women were dancing, Aki Tomoya sat on the edge of the playground, showing no interest in joining in.

The graduation ceremony is the day after tomorrow, and after the winter break, this year will be completely over.

They will enter the third grade next April, and then take the entrance exam a year later.

"I wonder where Yoshihiko has gone off to. So I can feel lonely after all..."

In the campfire, bright flames boiled, and sparks floated above the flames like fireflies.

At the end of the school year, Aki Tomoya sat alone in the distance, watching the campfire.

Kato Megumi is with her few friends in class, Uego Yoshihiko has been taken away to do hard labor, and of the three who are preparing for the exam, only Aki Tomoya seems to be doing nothing and staying here alone.

Just as he was wondering when the evening festival would end, a girl walked up, encouraged by others.

"An Yi, aren't you coming along?"

The girl was someone I didn't recognize; I couldn't even remember her name. She was probably from another class.

Aki Tomoya looked at the other person with a puzzled expression, then shook his head and replied, "Waiting for a friend."

Sitting here alone, Aki Tomoya could only hope that Uego Yoshihiko, who had been dragged away to do hard labor, would come back soon, or that the after-night festival would end quickly so he could start cleaning up.

The girl who approached her seemed a little embarrassed, but after being encouraged by her friend, she nervously asked, "If you don't mind, would you like to come along?"

At this moment, Aki Tomoya's expression showed some surprise.

Did he become popular without realizing it?

Did they invite him to dance after the evening festival?

Aki Tomoya looked at the other person in surprise, and then replied tactfully, "Thank you for inviting me, but I'm a little unavailable right now."

He rejected her just like that, and Aki Tomo couldn't bear to look at her expression.

The girl's body stiffened, and then she mumbled something incoherently, forcing a smile on her face.

Faced with Aki Tomoya's lack of romantic understanding, some of the disheartened girls returned to the embrace of their female friends.

Aki Tomoya felt somewhat guilty about this, but he knew that agreeing would only cause trouble and could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings.

Thinking that staying here might be getting in the way, Aki Tomoya stood up and silently left the playground.

Walking into the quiet courtyard, Aki Tomoya found a spot where he could see the firelight and sat down, enjoying a moment of peace.

"That's impressive, Tomoya."

A familiar voice suddenly came from behind me.

Without turning around to confirm, Aki Tomo recognized the owner of the voice.

"Eriri? Don't you need to spend time with your friends?"

Aki Tomoya hadn't seen Eriri much for a while, but through people around him, he knew what Eriri had been busy with lately.

Eriri walked over to meet Aki Tomoya's gaze, and then casually replied, "No need, I haven't really spoken to them much these past few months anyway."

"It seems you've been very busy these past few months."

At this moment, Aki Tomo couldn't help but recall what Hashima Iori had said when they met again a few days ago, as well as some of Uego Yoshihiko's little complaints when he was studying with Kato Megumi and the others.

Aki Tomo didn't know exactly how busy Eriri was, but even without following her closely, he had heard from others that Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha were currently doing very well.

The combined effect of the two swords seems quite good.

"Congratulations."

Thinking of this, Aki Tomoya casually offered his congratulations.

Eriri, hearing the congratulations, asked with some surprise, "Did you watch it?"

This question made Aki Tomoya a little embarrassed. He shook his head helplessly: "Sorry, I only heard it from Iori."

As for reading, Aki Tomoya doesn't read light novels anymore; he simply doesn't have the time.

If it weren't for the after-festival, he would be studying and doing practice questions at Aomine Academy right now, instead of waiting for the after-festival to end at school.

"...That's right, you'll be taking mock exams next year when you're in third grade."

Eriri's eyes flashed with a hint of regret, but she wasn't surprised.

Aki Tomoya has long since retired from being an otaku. He's about to enter his third year of high school and will be preparing for entrance exams. It would be strange if he had time to pay attention to that kind of thing.

He probably doesn't even know the name of the work.

"A girl invited you out just now, why didn't you accept?"

Eriri tried to change the subject, asking in a joking tone.

Just now on the playground, several girls went up to invite Aki Tomoya to join them for the evening dance, but Aki Tomoya turned them all down.

Eriri saw everything about the girl who was devastated.

"Aren't you just asking a question you already know the answer to? Besides, I don't even know that girl's name or which class she's in. I'm the one who's really confused."

After finishing speaking, Aki Tomoya sighed.

The invitation came suddenly, which was surprising, but he couldn't possibly accept it just because of that.

Besides, he sensed the feelings from a complete stranger, but it was really troubling.

"Isn't it too extravagant to have a casual romance at the end of third grade?"

Aki Tomoya said helplessly.

The next second he looked at Eriri, as if he had thought of something and said, "Speaking of which, I thought you were always with that senior, but you actually had time to come see me."

"It's just the after-night festival, what's so busy about it? Besides, isn't it pitiful that you're all alone!"

Eriri explained with her arms crossed, and from her words, it seemed as if she had come to take care of Aki Tomoya's feelings.

Hearing this, Aki Tomoya chuckled and said, "Well, thank you so much."

"So perfunctory."

"Is it perfunctory?"

"That's incredibly perfunctory!"

The two chatted idly in the courtyard, and before they knew it, the evening festival was almost over.

After noticing that the flames were gradually weakening, Aki Tomoya stood up and said, "I'm leaving now. Our class and another class will be responsible for cleaning up."

After saying goodbye to Eriri, Aki Tomoya returned to the playground, reunited with his classmates, and began preparing to pack up.

Eriri, who remained in the courtyard, looked quite relaxed.

"Kasumigaoka, have you decided whether or not you want to meet with Akane Kousaka?"

Chapter 113 It's White Album Season Again (Bonus Chapter 2)

Eriri and Kasumigaoka Utaha ran into Hashima Iori that day, and a few days later they went to settle scores with Machida Sonoko.

Kasumigaoka Utaha felt it was necessary to suspect that Machida Sonoko had unknowingly sold her out.

This made her very unhappy. Even though Machida Sonoko was a good editor and a good backer at Shinazugawa Shoten, some things really made her so angry that she couldn't speak.

The two recently received Akane Kousaka's first formal invitation, but they are still considering whether to go.

Akane Kousaka's club is well-known in the industry.

However, compared to her offer, when Kasumigaoka Utaha was still working harmoniously with Eriri, this one really didn't seem very tempting.

"I don't know, whatever."

Kasumigaoka Utaha replied indifferently.

After leaving those words, Kasumigaoka Utaha walked towards the playground.