I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Unsurprisingly, the phone call ended on bad terms.

Kiyoshi also noticed Mizore's strange behavior recently.

Mizore was as taciturn as usual, but it was as if they had returned to the time when they first met. Unless it was a necessary conversation, Mizore would never take the initiative to talk to Kiyoshi. She also started to space out more and more often, sometimes so much so that Kiyoshi would call her several times and she would still be lost in thought. This made Kiyoshi start to wonder if she was disliked by her, but Mizore's behavior did not tell him otherwise.

Aside from the time they would spend playing music together, Mizore became like Kiyori's little shadow, following him wherever he went, being more clingy than ever before, which Kiyori, who usually kept his distance from others, found somewhat unbearable.

Even Yoshikawa couldn't help but tease Mizore about whether she had "fallen out of love," to which Kiyoyori could only give an awkward smile.

……………………………………………………………

"that……"

Kiyoshi was truly tormented by this bizarre behavior of "I'm clinging to you, but I don't want to talk to you." She now felt that Mizore wasn't a sweet, clingy little thing, but rather a terrifying ghost.

"Senior Mizore, has something happened?"

On the established "reed production day," Kiyoyori took advantage of a break between the two of them to ask the question that had been tormenting her for almost a week.

Ying paused in her movements, then silently shook her head.

But the momentary silence on her face confirmed Kiyoyori's suspicion that she was lying.

Although she wasn't interested in Mizore-senpai's private affairs, this particular matter was clearly related to her, so Kiyoyori decided to take the initiative to resolve the issue, otherwise she would be the one to suffer later.

After much deliberation, Kiyotaka still focused his suspicions on matters related to Kasaki Nozomi. After all, the only person who could make someone as indifferent as Mizore change was Kasaki Nozomi, whom he held dear.

"Is it related to Kasaki-senpai?"

Could it be that they know something about the commission?

Kiyoshi cautiously guessed.

Mentioning this name, Ying couldn't calm down. Her hand trembled, and the tip of the knife she was using to sharpen the reed pierced her slender fingers. The sharp blade cut a small gash in her delicate skin, and bright red blood gushed from the cut, quickly staining the almost transparent reed.

Sakura, however, seemed oblivious to the pain, remaining in a stiff posture.

"Senior Mizore?"

Kiyoshi, who had been closely monitoring the patient's reaction, immediately put down what he was holding and jumped up from his seat. He quickly pulled out a few tissues from his bag and pressed them against the wound, then moved the dangerous knife far away from the dazed Mizore.

The blood stained the white tissue, spreading further into the white.

Qinglai frowned, a wave of guilt washing over him.

Perhaps she shouldn't have asked so bluntly, but at least she was certain that it was indeed related to Kasaki-senpai.

"I'm so sorry..."

The cut wasn't deep, so it shouldn't leave a scar.

Mizore's body trembled, and then a slight tremor passed from her fingertips to Kiyoyori's hand.

"Senior Mizore...?"

"Kiyoshi, what are you apologizing for...?"

Miyo lowered her head, preventing Kiyoshi from seeing her expression. Her bangs covered her eyes, and she bit her lower lip tightly with her pearly teeth.

"Huh?"

Not immediately understanding what the other person meant, Kiyoyori, unusually flustered, stammered, "Senior Mizore injured her hand because of me just now..."

"no……"

While maintaining the pressure to stop the bleeding, Kiyoyori wanted to pull away and leave.

It wasn't a serious wound; the edges were neat, and the tissue was stained red, but the wound stopped bleeding.

Kiyoyori was about to pull her hand back when Mizore grabbed it with her other hand. Her long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles gripped Kiyoyori's wrist. Despite looking like a weak woman who couldn't even kill a chicken, she was surprisingly strong at this moment.

Qinglai tried to pull his wrist away, but was met with an even tighter restraint.

She didn't understand what "霙" meant.

"Senior Mizore, what's wrong?"

Ying shook her head vigorously, but refused to let go.

The distance was too close, and Kiyora felt uncomfortable and wanted to pull her hand away, but then she heard the other person's hoarse voice, tinged with tears:

"Is Kiyoyori leaving too?"

Kiyoshi's movements suddenly stopped, because she saw a sorrow that seemed to be bleeding in those scarlet eyes.

P.S.: Cults are risky, please invest in them in moderation (laughs).

Chapter 56 Don't Leave Me (Section 221)

Having released his strength, Kiyotaka didn't try to pull his hand back, but simply remained in the same position. "I just wanted to get a band-aid, I wasn't going to leave."

Although he didn't know what Mizore was thinking, Kiyoyori chose to appease her first.

Perhaps it was Kiyoshi's sincere gaze that made Mizore lower her guard. She slowly withdrew her hand, as if she had just realized her overreaction, and hugged her bent knees.

"Sorry……"

A faint sound came from ahead.

"Please give me your hand, Mizore-senpai." Kiyori's voice was steady and deep, possessing a strange magic.

After silently finishing cleaning her wounds, Mizore resumed her previous defensive posture.

Heavy breathing filled the small space. Unlike Mizore, whose mind was blank, Kiyoyori was quickly thinking of countermeasures and the reasons for the other party's strange behavior.

This time, he wasn't just reacting to Kasaki-senpai, but also to her, which means...

Kiyoshi suddenly widened her eyes and covered her lips with her hand. Before she could even organize her thoughts and ask a question, she heard Mizuki's muffled voice.

“I saw Kiyoshi and Nozomi…” She kept her face buried in her knees, showing no intention of looking at Kiyoshi directly. “Five days ago.”

As expected...

Qinglai pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers, his brows furrowed in annoyance.

I originally wanted Mizore-senpai to avoid Kasaki-senpai to prevent him from being provoked, but I didn't expect it to backfire.

"That is--"

"What is the relationship between Kiyori and Nozomi...?"

Mizore's voice grew fainter and fainter until Kiyotsuya almost couldn't hear it.

"relation?"

What's going on? This strange sense of déjà vu?

“But—” Kiyoshi suddenly paused, unsure whether to tell the other person the truth.

"only?"

She raised her head, her watery eyes looking at Qinglai with a pitiful expression.

Oops……

Kiyoshi sighed silently in his heart.

"Why do I always get involved in these kinds of troublesome things...?"

She realized that Senior Mizore was probably jealous.

There's clearly no place for her among them, okay?

Looking at Mizore with a mix of amusement and exasperation, Kiyoyori thought for a moment and decided to tell her everything, "My relationship with Kasaki-senpai is simply that of a client and a client."

“A commission…” Mizore’s thoughts turned surprisingly quickly, “The Service Department?”

"Yes."

"why?"

“Because Kasaki-senpai wanted to return, I think Mizore-senpai must know something about that,” Kiyoyori said as he saw Mizore nod. “She wanted Asuka’s approval, but Asuka didn’t want her to return, so Kasaki-senpai went to the Service Club.”

"Asuka-senpai?"

“We originally thought that Asuka rejected Kasaki-senpai because of what happened in the brass band last year, but actually, the reason is simpler—” Kiyoyori suddenly stopped speaking as if he had thought of something, then smiled with relief, “That guy always does things in a roundabout way.”

"Chiang Lai?"

"It's nothing, it's all a misunderstanding. If Mizore-senpai can reconcile with Kasaki-senpai, she can come back," Kiyoyori said, handing his phone to Mizore. "Mizore-senpai also hopes Kasaki-senpai can come back, right? Kasaki-senpai has been waiting for your answer, and Mizore-senpai cares about her a lot, doesn't she?"

"But I—am not qualified—"

Like holding a hot potato, Mizore wanted to throw away her phone, but was unable to move because Kiyoshi's hands were holding hers.

"I have no other relationship with Kasaki-senpai. Mizore-senpai, you're jealous of me because I got too close to Kasaki-senpai that day, aren't you? You're clearly bothered by it—"

"No!" Mizore interrupted Kiyori loudly. Kiyori had never heard her speak so loudly before. "I'm not, I'm not jealous of Kiyori..."

She spoke with great difficulty, burying her face in her knees once more, but her blushing ears betrayed her.

"I don't know, I'm jealous of whom..."

"what……!"

Kiyoshi realized what was happening and let go of Mizore's hand, awkwardly rubbing it against his school uniform.

"I'm not..." Mizore wanted to explain, but didn't know how to say it, "My feelings for Kiyora aren't that kind of—"

"oh oh……"

A bucket of cold water was poured over my head, and I felt a little disappointed for some reason.

"Kiyoshi is a very good person."

I was inexplicably given the "friend zone" card.

"Thank you."

Before even three seconds of excitement had passed, Kiyoyori's mood was as calm as a still lake.

“Kiyoshi only gets close to things he’s interested in, and the same goes for people,” Mizore said, looking timidly at the person in front of her. “So, if he loses interest, he won’t care anymore.”