I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Kiyoshi clenched his fist and pressed his left hand down on his right to avoid accidentally making any suggestive gestures in public.

"As for classics," she pretended to listen attentively to Kasumigaoka's "tutoring," but her eyes kept unconsciously glancing at the other person's mouth, "Les Misérables?"

"Hmm... a Les Misérables performance at the cultural festival?"

Faced with Kasumigaoka's question, Kiyoyori smiled awkwardly. In fact, she hadn't thought about it carefully; she had just blurted out the name that first came to mind.

"Actually, compared to adapting or copying existing masterpieces, there is a method that is more convenient than creating original works, yet still retains a sense of mystery."

The dab of cream moved with the movement of Kasumigaoka's red lips. Kiyoyori awkwardly looked away, picked up his teacup and took a sip to cover up his actions, but in doing so, he missed the fleeting moment of triumph that Kasumigaoka had shown.

"Then I would appreciate your guidance, Senior Shiyu."

Kiyoshi cleared his throat, trying to focus solely on Kasumigaoka's pomegranate-colored eyes.

"Myths can also be called legends."

"Myths and legends, these ambiguous stories passed down orally, have given creators a lot of creative space. Even now, many games or anime works have borrowed from or used these legends as a blueprint to create new stories. To give a simple example, based on the Japanese Hyakki Yagyō (Night Parade of One Hundred Demons), many works related to yokai can be created, from the type of exorcising demons to the type of love between humans and yokai, all kinds of stories."

"Does Shimizu-kun have any favorite myths or legends?"

Kiyoshi, however, failed to provide a timely response.

"Shimizu-kun?" A mischievous glint appeared in Kasumigaoka's eyes. "Where are you looking~?"

"what--"

Kiyoshi awkwardly looked away, then touched the corner of his lips with his finger. "Utaha-senpai, there's some cream on this."

"so?"

"so--"

Qinglai awkwardly interlaced his fingers.

"Hey, Shimizu-kun, can you wipe it off for me?"

"Huh?!"

"Then I'll leave it to you, Shimizu-kun?"

Perhaps bewitched by the yokai, Kiyoyori unconsciously reached out his hand towards Asakagaoka's face.

……

"Are they on a date again? Kiyoyori and Ms. Kasumi have such a good relationship!"

P.S.: I'm so tired today... Why is tomorrow still only Wednesday?

Chapter 06, Section 228: What is your favorite myth?

Why is this guy here...?

Kiyoshi looked at Haruno sitting right next to him and awkwardly moved his chair to the side, while Haruno, with an unchanged smile, followed Kiyoshi's lead.

Sitting opposite, Kasumigaoka's face was also as dark as a storm cloud.

Since they were in a quiet coffee shop, it wasn't appropriate to speak loudly or chase Haruno away in front of everyone. So Kiyoyori and Kasumigaoka could only maintain their barely perceptible polite smiles.

Yang Nai, however, seemed quite at ease, ordering himself a coffee as well, showing no signs of leaving immediately.

It's more like the two of them have become dependent on her.

Unlike the low-pressure atmosphere that enveloped Kiyoyori and Kasumigaoka, it was sunny and clear where Haruno was. She even picked up a blank sheet of paper placed in the middle of the round table with great interest.

"Does Xiao Qinglai want some scripts for plays at the cultural festival?"

Seeing Yang Nai's smiling face, Kiyoyori couldn't smile at all.

Why does this woman know everything? Is she a god?!

As if hearing Kiyoyori's inner monologue, Haruno mercifully explained, "The manuscript paper has the Soubu High School emblem on it, and—"

"Kiyori specifically asked Ms. Kasumi out, so she probably wouldn't ask me anything about my studies, right?" Haruno drew circles on the manuscript paper with her index finger, her usual deep smile making it impossible to tell what she was thinking. "Speaking of recent activities at Soubu High School, there's only the Cultural Festival. I'm a Soubu High School graduate, and I've even been the executive committee chief, so it's only natural that I know about these things."

Executive Committee member Zhang?

Something seemed to flash through Kiyoyori's mind.

"Why can't I ask Shiwa-senpai about her studies?"

Perhaps it was the desire to oppose Haruno that was at play; even though he knew that Haruno's reasoning was correct, Kiyoyori was still unwilling to admit it easily.

But unexpectedly.

Yang Nai immediately looked troubled. "Kiyoya, is it really okay for me to say something like this?"

This suggestive statement, coupled with the other party's deliberately feigned embarrassment, almost made me fall for the wrong idea if I were either Qing Lai or the person involved.

However, Kasumigaoka, sitting opposite her, clearly used her black hole-like imagination to conjure up a multitude of stories that did not exist in reality at that moment.

A crisp stomping sound came from under the table, and it seemed to be getting faster.

But it's clearly impossible to stop Yang now.

"Sigh, even though I'm that child's older sister, I can't take care of every aspect of her life."

Who are you kidding?! I think you've planted a listening device on Yukinoshita-senpai!

Kiyoshi suddenly felt an urge to throw coffee at that fake-smiling face.

“It’s her business who she spends the weekend with,” Haruno paused deliberately, glancing subtly at Kasumigaoka, whose face was so dark it could drip water. “But thankfully, that person is Kiyori!”

Kiyoshi suddenly felt a gaze from the opposite side, sharp as a dagger, so hot it almost burned a hole through her.

Seeing that Haruno seemed genuinely relieved, Kiyoyori forced a smile, but didn't dare turn to look at Kasumigaoka.

“However, Kiyora used to go to Yukino’s apartment every weekend. I heard from Yukino that you went there for tutoring,” Haruno said with a dangerous smile, making Kiyora’s heart skip a beat. “Is it really just tutoring?” Haruno leaned close to Kiyora’s ear. “Kiyora wouldn’t take this opportunity to do anything bad to Yukino, would he?”

Although it was all Haruno's opinion, Kiyoyori couldn't help but fill in the blanks in his mind.

if--

No if.

If she wasn't consumed by the hurricane-like rage of Kasumigaoka, she would surely have been frozen by the Siberian chill of the snow-covered landscape.

So why am I always the one who suffers?

Kiyoshi leaned back, trying to get as far away from Yono as possible.

"Well, I doubt even Kiyora would have the guts!"

The cold warning in his eyes was self-evident.

There is nothing between me and Yukinoshita-senpai.

Kiyoshi pushed Haruno aside irritably and used his foot to hook the stool and move it to the side.

This time, Yang didn't follow.

"Hmm, that's a real shame."

Kiyoshi glanced at Haruno, who was leisurely sipping her coffee, and she really couldn't figure out what the other was thinking.

"How long do you plan to sit here, Miss Yukinoshita?"

Kasumigaoka, who had been silent until now, took the initiative to speak.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Kasumi, for interrupting your date with Kiyotaka. I wonder if I could sit here until I meet my friend?"

The order to leave was quite clear, but Haruno obviously had no intention of leaving first. Since the other party was, for the time being, an acquaintance of Kiyoyori, Kasumigaoka glanced at Kiyoyori, who did not object, and could only nod.

Despite their reluctance, Kasumigaoka and Kiyoyori had no choice but to wait with difficulty for the arrival of the "friend they had promised to meet," whose very existence was uncertain.

Fortunately, Yang Nai did not make things difficult for her further.

"What kind of script does Xiao Qinglai want to write?"

Although he was reluctant to talk to her, Kiyoyori had no choice but to go along with her topic and answer, "I haven't thought about it yet," in order to prevent Haruno from saying something outrageous again.

"Shimizu-kun, you can consider my suggestion."

"Does it refer to your favorite legends or myths?"

“Yes,” Kasumigaoka refilled his coffee, adding a small spoonful of sugar, “Does Shimizu-kun not have any favorite myths?”

"Favorite myths..." Kiyotaka rested his chin on his hand, tapping the table lightly with his index finger. "The tragic epics of resistance against destruction in Norse mythology are quite interesting, and the karmic cycles in Indian mythology also have a unique charm..."

“I’m more interested in Celtic mythology,” Yang Nai suddenly said, “especially the legend of King Arthur.”

I didn't ask you...

Kasumigaoka, however, seemed quite interested in the question, "Why?"

“The chosen king was destined to lead Britain to destruction, and the Holy Grail quest was launched to resist this fate,” Yang Nai’s smile carried a complex bitterness, “but he still failed.”

Are you really interested in failure?

Kiyoshi didn't want to miss any opportunity to mock the other party.

"Failure is the mother of success, even if it is the failure of those who came before me. But I will succeed."

"Galahad voluntarily gave up the Holy Grail because he found something more important than the Holy Grail, didn't he? I call that a success."

Yang Nai smiled disapprovingly, "Gods, perhaps, can be even more wicked at times."

“My friend has arrived,” Haruno said, standing up before Kiyoyori could object. “By the way, I heard that Yukino has joined the executive committee and accepted a request from the current committee member, Zhang. Isn’t Kiyoyori going to help?”

Is it necessary?

"Heh, you seem to care a lot, Kiyori."

P.S.: Maybe it's because I've played too much FGO, but I prefer Galahad from the Moon, so I used this setting. However, it has nothing to do with the Moon.

I finally got the Water Cat Sword today! With the 2x drop rate, I've only gotten one Water Cat Sword so far, probably only me...

Chapter 07, Section 229: The Perceived Intentions