Let's do it again, Yukino.

Kawasaki Saki vaguely remembered that boy. She recalled that during the opening ceremony in their first year of high school, he had caused quite a stir with his arrogant behavior, leading to the ceremony ending prematurely. As time went by, his bad reputation spread throughout Soubu High School.

Haruhi Kasugai, a high-ranking delinquent in the General Staff.

Kawasaki, who was lying face down on the platform, secretly peeked out a corner of his face and quickly glanced at the scene below again. Then he turned back to his face. The whole process of peeping was done in one smooth and efficient motion.

Phew... Yes, she was sure she wasn't mistaken; that boy was Haruhi from the next class.

but…………

"Xiaoxue...can I touch the black stockings on your thigh, just for a little while?"

The high-ranking delinquent from the main force was currently enjoying a leisurely time after lunch with the girl he was holding in his arms, his eyes half-closed.

However, in Kawasaki Saki's memory, he should have been a fierce-looking boy with a muscular face, shouting and bullying others.

At this moment, he used that rather magnetic and husky voice to make no attempt to hide his doting affection for the girl in front of him.

"Sure...but do you have the money?"

The girl in Chunri Qing's arms did not resist at all, but simply said something lightly.

"I have no money. I just handed over all the money in my savings account, which only had tens of thousands of yuan left. I don't have a single penny left."

"If you don't have the money, then just watch..."

As for the girl who also felt familiar to her and was earnestly delivering a couple's monologue...

Um... I must be hallucinating, yes, it must be a hallucination.

Kawasaki calmed himself down, looked at the ladder next to him, and after thinking for a long time, quietly shrank into the corner, muttering something to himself.

"If the other students knew that Yukino Yukinoshita, the unattainable beauty of Soubu High School, was dating the most delinquent of Soubu High School, they would be very surprised."

How could two people who are completely opposite in personality and everything else end up together?

Women are born gossipy; no matter how eccentric a girl's personality is, she still has a gossipy streak.

Moreover, in Kawasaki's eyes, their daily interactions didn't seem like those of a high school couple who had just started dating.

The summer breeze blew through the girl's slightly blue-tinged black hair, and unlike the other girls who wore white shirts with ribbons tied around their necks, a glimpse of her rather fair skin was revealed at the chest.

Under the scorching sun,

Saki Kawasaki on the rooftop dared not move at all.

……

call,

And until it was almost time for class to start.

Saki Kawasaki remained pressed tightly against the ground.

Upon hearing the click of the rooftop door closing, the girl's tense body relaxed slightly.

At this moment, the innocent-looking girl's long hair inadvertently fell to the ground, and her small nose was covered with fine beads of sweat from nervousness. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was slightly rapid.

Stretching his stiff body, Kawasaki touched a beauty mark under his eye and let out a long sigh.

"From now on, try not to come to this rooftop..."

Holding onto the ladder beside her, she smoothly jumped down from it.

Pushing open the rooftop door, Kawasaki Saki glanced back at the spot. By this time, she had regained her composure and was no longer blushing from shame or nervousness. Her initial interest had vanished, leaving only a sense of boredom.

"However... Yukinoshita-san, and that Kasuga-san... But none of this concerns me, so why should I presume to meddle?"

On the rooftop, in the shadows of a corner, Haruhi and Koyuki, who should have been back in the classroom, inexplicably appeared from that corner.

Haruhi shrugged as she watched the blue-haired girl walk out the door.

"From the very beginning, I've had this feeling of being spied on, which makes me very uncomfortable. I didn't expect that there really were uninvited guests. Isn't that Kawasaki, who had feelings for Hachiman in high school? Plus Hiratsuka-sensei, Ayaka, Yui, and that Isshiki-kun from before. Why do I keep running into girls who have feelings for Hachiman lately?"

"..."

Snowfall's once fair cheeks now felt slightly warm, and her breathing became a little unnatural. She reached out and touched Haruhi's arm, and her previously unfocused gaze became somewhat serious.

"Spring day, I have something to tell you."

This unexpected incident confirmed some things for Yukinoshita once again.

"what happened?"

"Let's not come to the rooftop anymore in the future."

Xiaoxue finally spoke softly.

Although they didn't do anything too extreme until the very end, she still felt incredibly ashamed.

"I'll listen to you."

"Luckily it was only Kawasaki this time. If it were someone else next time, then I'm afraid..."

Xiaoxue's eyes were filled with worry.

What are you worried about?

"I'm not worried about myself, but I'm thinking about you, you idiot. If other people find out about this, with your carefree and reckless personality, who knows what kind of extreme things you might do in a moment of impulse."

Unlike back then, when they were about to graduate from high school and even able to live completely independently, they now had absolutely no right to be enemies with Yukinoshita's mother, or even her older sister, the all-around beauty Yukinoshita Haruno. Yukinoshita didn't know how to face her.

She raised her eyes,

She recalled the phone call she had received not long ago.

Looking at the boy in front of her, she suppressed her worry, bit her lip lightly, and her eyes became clear and bright.

"Spring, wait for me a little longer, give me a little more time, and I will prove to you that during this time, you are not the only one working hard."

"Alright, stop making it sound so serious. It's like I'm trying to seduce a married woman. I'll grant your request and won't come to the rooftop for a while."

"Even the school's sports storage area is no longer allowed..."

Xiaoxue added another sentence.

"...Okay, okay, okay, I'll agree to everything."

"I don't know why, but I always have this feeling that I'm having an affair with a married woman."

Haruhi scratched his head, looked at Yukinoshita who was unusually serious about making a promise to him, and finally nodded without hesitation.

"Okay, I'll go back to the classroom now."

In the end, Xiaoxue left the rooftop before spring arrived.

And watching Xiaoxue's departing figure,

Standing alone on the rooftop, Chunri couldn't help but suppress her playful expression.

He looked up at the bright, blazing sun in the sky.

"Yukinoshita family, Yukinoshita family, ah..."

He suddenly muttered a couple of words with a somewhat gloomy expression.

The sound was exceptionally ethereal.

Chapter Fifty-Six: None of My Business

At 10 p.m.,

At the entrance of the Fengliu Nunnery

After a busy night, it was time for Chunri to get off work.

As always, I said goodbye to Manager Xin, who was keeping accounts at the front desk.

"Brother Chunri, you've worked really hard today. You should go home and rest early."

"I'll be going now. Please continue to guide me tomorrow as well."

Leaving Fengliu Nunnery, facing the summer breeze, Chunri rode her bicycle towards her original apartment.

As for why

Xiaoxue, after I finish working at Fengliu Nunnery today, I'll probably go straight home. Don't wait for me for dinner; I won't be coming to your place tonight.

What happened?

It's just a personal matter, nothing serious.

……

Pushing the bicycle into the garage, Chunri walked up the rickety stairs to her old, simple apartment.

He had just opened the apartment door with his key, and before he could even get halfway inside, he was met with a strong, almost unpleasant smell of alcohol. Haruhi frowned involuntarily, but he wasn't surprised. He simply took three deep breaths as usual, and then opened the door that had been closed.

Although it was late at night, the cold air outside the room continued to blow away the stench of alcohol that permeated the room.

Springtime slowly changed her shoes outside the entryway.

The living room was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

"We've been waiting for you all day, you're finally back."

And in this dimly lit room, from the cold floor came the sound of some kind of female creature waking up.

Chunri ignored the lazy sound and went straight to the light switch in the living room.

"Don't turn on the light, we just went to sleep."

"Who cares about you?"

If I hadn't remembered that this woman had told me not long ago that she was coming to my apartment today, I wouldn't have so abruptly declined Xiaoxue's dinner invitation.

Ignoring the woman's plea, the dimly lit living room suddenly lit up with a crisp flick of a switch.

Under the bright incandescent light,

On the living room floor lay a woman who looked completely drunk. The small apartment, which had been cleaned up by Chunri not long ago, was now a mess again in an instant.

In spring, I poured myself a cup of rye tea from the refrigerator, a tea that I had no idea how long it had been sitting there.

When did you return to Chiba?