I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

This reminded Kiyoyori of the concise and powerful encouragement Asuka gave him when he went on stage at the Kanto Tournament. It was the first time Kiyoyori had heard Asuka say those words so clearly.

Now that we've come this far, there's no turning back. All we can do is forge ahead, win the gold medal, and advance to the national competition!

But Asuka had never expressed such a strong desire to compete before.

She seemed to understand Asuka's thoughts less and less.

"Okay, let's travel all over the country together."

I must stand on that stage with Asuka.

...............................................................

The morning practice session went from being empty except for the members of the wind band to being filled with the students' chatter before it ended.

With a little time to spare before the morning class meeting, Kiyorai and Reina walked to the classroom together.

Kiyoshi, noticing that Reina was staring at him with a rather strange look, nervously pinched his earlobe with his fingers. "What's wrong?"

Reina continued to stare at Kiyoyori without saying a word.

Could it be that Yukinoshita-senpai gave herself away last night?

Kiyoshi unconsciously swallowed, then calmly looked away.

Just as Reina was about to speak, their interaction was interrupted by an unexpected person.

"Tachibana-san."

Chasing after him was Ogasawara, who was supposed to be heading to the school building for third-year students.

"Ogasawara-senpai".

Kiyoyori breathed a sigh of relief when Reina's words were interrupted, but the arrival of Ogasawara made her heart tighten.

The other party is probably here to ask about that matter.

"Is Ogasawara-senpai looking for me?"

When the other party brought up that matter yesterday, Kiyoyori had already anticipated it. As Asuka's friend, Ogasawara couldn't remain silent after learning about it, and the best person to ask was Kiyoyori, Asuka's childhood friend.

Since we can't avoid it, let's finish this quickly.

“There are indeed some things I want to ask Tachibana-san,” Ogasawara said, her fingers interlaced and hanging down in front of her. She squeezed her fingers so hard that her nail beds turned white. “Kousaka-san, excuse me, could I borrow Tachibana-san for a moment?”

Reina blinked. "Please."

It was as if they were lending out something unimportant.

“Tachibana-san.” Ogasawara Asakiyo nodded, indicating that he wanted to speak privately.

Kiyoshi gestured an invitation and left the corridor first, heading towards a place where few people usually passed by.

"I think Tachibana-san knows what I'm going to ask, right?"

This is the back side of the teaching building, surrounded by tranquility. The hustle and bustle inside the building seems to be a completely different world from this one.

"I think I know."

Even though this was a blind spot for the cameras, and even though almost no students would pass by here, Kiyoyori and Ogasawara instinctively refused to bring it up directly.

“Then I’ll get straight to the point,” Ogasawara took a deep breath, her clenched hands seemingly encouraging herself, “Tachibana-san was already aware of this situation, right? So when did this start…?”

Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and her eyes revealed unconcealed heartache and pain.

Kiyoshi pursed her lips. "I don't know."

"Tachibana-san, are you still going to keep hiding things now? If you didn't know, how could you have—!"

Kiyoyori had no idea that the gentle Ogasawara-senpai could speak in such a tone. Was it because he was worried about Asuka?

My heart felt warm, yet I couldn't stop the bittersweet feeling.

“What I mean is,” Kiyori’s voice was a little hoarse as she looked at Ogasawara, her lips trembling slightly, “this situation has been happening from time to time ever since Asuka and I met.”

All the strength in his body seemed to be drained in an instant. Ogasawara covered his mouth with both hands and slid down the wall helplessly.

"How could this be..."

"Asuka..."

A suffocating silence slowly spread, and Kiyoshi felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe.

"Since Tachibana-san already knew about this, why didn't she...?"

Prevent.

But what power did Kiyoyori have to stop it? She was just a child back then.

Ogasawara knew he was putting the other person in a difficult position.

"I'm so sorry..."

Ogasawara shook his head. "I'm the one who should apologize. I'm the one who made things difficult for Tachibana-san."

Ogasawara's thoughtfulness deepened Kiyoyori's guilt. "Please, Ogasawara-senpai, don't show that you know about this. Asuka, she..."

"I won't."

Ogasawara stood up, sniffed, and there were still traces of tears in her eyes.

"I will not ask Tachibana about this again, nor will I tell Kaori."

"If possible,"

"I want to hear Asuka tell us herself."

P.S.: I wanted to spend money to get A Fu's skin, but the game keeps crashing. Is this preventing me from spending money?

Chapter 20, Section 242: She had made up her mind.

After parting ways with Ogasawara, Kiyoyori returned to the classroom. The class meeting was about to begin when she received an unexpected text message on her phone.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you last night, thank you."

The brief sentences were typical of that person, but they didn't mention her current physical condition, clearly not wanting to worry others.

"How is your health, senior?"

With his hands under the table, Kiyoyori first glanced at Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was speaking eloquently about the cultural festival on the podium, and only after confirming that she wasn't looking at him did he turn his gaze to his phone screen.

A vibration was felt at the touch of my fingertip, and the other party's reply came quickly.

"Since Tachibana asked that question, should I ask her in return, 'How are you feeling?'"

They still have the energy to bicker, which seems to be better than last night.

Qinglai pouted, "Your technique for changing the subject is terrible, senior."

The response this time was not very timely.

"Thanks to you, I feel much better than last night."

Qinglai was taken aback when he saw the reply.

Thanks to me?

Isn't it because Yang Nai is taking care of her?

If Kiyoshi remembers correctly, she was wearing Sobu High School uniform when she fainted, but when she woke up she had been changed into pajamas and felt very refreshed, without any sticky feeling from sweat.

Could it be that guy—?

That was a matter between the Yukinoshita sisters, and Kiyori didn't want to get involved, so he didn't mention Haruno's matter.

"Is the senior resting at home now?"

Obviously, Yukino Yukinoshita wouldn't secretly play on her phone under the table during class meetings, nor would she be caught by a sharp-eyed teacher like Kiyoshiro.

"Tachibana, come out with me for a moment!"

Uh……

He shoved his phone deep into the drawer, but Qinglai didn't see the last message.

Kiyoyori remained silent as he followed Hiratsuka Shizuka to the teachers' office, waiting for her to speak.

She sat down in her seat, instinctively reaching into her pocket for cigarettes, but in the end just let out a heavy sigh.

Qinglai's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Full of anticipation that he was about to be lectured, Kiyoyori was prepared to admit his mistake.

“Tachibana,” Hiratsuka Shizuka tapped the cigarette filter on her desk, “Yukinoshita is sick and is staying home to rest today.”

It was an unexpected topic, and Kiyoshi blinked in confusion.

"After all, she is the main force of this cultural festival. Without her, the committee's work will fall behind a lot."

Just when Kiyoyori thought Hiratsuka Shizuka would ask her to help out on the committee, she heard the other person say, "So today I'll be supervising the work of others on the committee, so you can go and visit her in place of the teacher."

"Huh?"

"As a teacher, I cannot easily reveal a student's address, but since it's Tachibana, you should know very well where Yukinoshita lives, right?"

Hiratsuka Shizuka knew that Kiyori would go to Yukinoshita's apartment for tutoring on weekends.

Kiyoshi, who had originally intended to visit the sick, did not refuse any further and readily agreed, saying, "I understand."

"Okay, then that's settled."

Hiratsuka Shizuka waved her hand, telling Kiyori to hurry back and prepare for class. "Oh, by the way, regarding the Service Club, please have Tachibana inform the other two. I'm sure they're also concerned about Yukinoshita."

Without giving Kiyori a chance to refuse, Hiratsuka Shizuka turned her head away, leaving Kiyori with only her back view.

Kiyoshi opened LINE. Her chat with Yuihama hadn't gone back a long time. Since yesterday, Yuihama hadn't contacted her again. Kiyoshi hesitated for a moment, then left the chat after hovering her fingers over the virtual keyboard.

Let's talk about it face to face.

That's what she decided.

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