I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

"What's wrong, Xiaoxue?"

Looking into Yuihama's innocent eyes, Yukinoshita felt a pang of guilt. "It's getting late, Yuihama-san, you should go home soon."

"Huh?" Yui glanced at her phone. For a student, it was indeed well past the time she should be going home. "Hmm... Is Yuki alright by herself?"

"No problem, it's much better than yesterday."

Moreover, she wasn't alone.

Considering that Kiyori was still outside in the cold wind, Yukinoshita didn't know why he was waiting outside, but she subconsciously didn't tell Yuihama about it.

Since she's waiting for Yuihama to leave, let's get rid of her first.

Yukinoshita didn't want to see the sick Kiyoyori tomorrow.

“Okay,” Yuihama stood up and picked up her backpack. “I really hope that Yuki can rely on me. Even though I am like this, I still hope to help Yuki.”

"Yuigahama-san..."

“But this time I won’t offer to help Yuki on my own initiative,” Yuihama said solemnly. “However, it’s different if Yuki comes to me!”

Yukino turned her head away. "Please give me some time. Although I can't do it right now, thank you. I... will try my best."

"Yes!" Yui nodded with a smile. "I will always wait for Yuki!"

After seeing Yui off, Yukinoshita immediately took out her phone and called that idiot who was still downstairs, not knowing when she would arrive or why she couldn't find a warm place to wait.

"Tachibana-san."

Although her voice was as cold as the wind, Kiyoyori felt warmth in it.

The fact that the other party would call at this time means that Yui has already left, and it is very likely that Yukinoshita herself sent Yui away.

"Yukinoshita-senpai."

“I thought Tachibana wouldn’t do something so self-destructive,” Yukinoshita’s concern was always a little strange. “To stand outside in the cold wind for an hour wearing only a shirt and a jacket, did Tachibana not feel satisfied with her experience of being sick last night?”

Speechless after being mocked, Kiyoyori could only manage a wry smile. "I suppose it depends on the person you're with?"

Actually, she never expected that she would do such a thing.

"So, did you call me specifically to make fun of me?"

Knowing full well why the other party was calling, Kiyoyori deliberately made Yukinoshita reveal it.

Just then, Kiyoyori saw Yuihama leaving through the gate. He hid himself in the shade of a tree and quietly watched her departing figure.

A sigh came from the other end of the phone. "Please come up, Tachibana-san. Please don't add unnecessary guilt to my life."

The call was abruptly ended. Staring at the darkened phone screen, Qinglai saw the corners of her lips subtly curving upwards under the light.

This time, without needing to consider others' feelings, Qinglai went straight to the touchscreen display, entered the password with practiced ease, and then used the access card to enter the apartment building.

I stepped lightly into the elevator, leaned against the handrail, and silently waited for it to arrive at the designated floor.

As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, the door to Yukinoshita's house was opened.

He emerged from under the snow, half of his body visible, and looked at Kiyoyori, who was rubbing his hands to warm them, before letting out a sigh.

"Please come in."

After Kiyoshiro changed her shoes, Yukinoshita brought a cup of hot black tea to the entrance.

The mug I used was the Mr. Pan mug with the Qinglai name label on it.

Warmth flowed continuously from my fingertips into my heart.

"So, what were you waiting outside for so long for? Don't you need to go home?"

Yukinoshita's tone was unusually irritable, as if she was angry at Kiyori's behavior.

"No one's home today," Kiyori continued, having received a reproachful look from Yukinoshita. "I also gave the dango to Asuka."

Yukino's gaze softened instantly.

So, the dumpling is the most important thing after all...?

Kiyoshi took a sip of hot tea, using the mug to hide his upturned lips, but the hot tea burned the tip of his tongue.

"Well……"

Are you a child?

Covering her mouth, Kiyoyori lowered her head to prevent Yukinoshita from seeing her outburst, and continued vaguely, "Waiting outside is to give Senpai and Yuihama-senpai some space, and besides, I promised her I would come to help you."

Yukino frowned but remained silent.

“You still want to work, right? Since you didn’t expect us to come, you’ve actually fallen behind,” Kiyotaka placed his mug on the coffee table. “If I come along, we should be able to catch up on the progress we made in the past hour or so, right?”

"This shouldn't really be considered help,"

"Is this... compensation?"

P.S.: Your loving mom is here to give you all some sweet treats again, but this time it's not just a little bit! By the way, I got news from the doctor that the surgery time needs to be slightly adjusted, which means that the day I stop updating is a little further away. Are you all happy?

Chapter 24, Section 246: Morning Porridge

The two of them each occupied one side of the coffee table, concentrating intently on their work.

Yukinoshita initially thought that Kiyoyori, who had no experience with committee work, would be unfamiliar with the task, and that was indeed the case at first. Kiyoyori would frequently ask her how to handle certain documents and issues, but she did not expect that just one hour later, Kiyoyori's speed in handling documents would almost catch up with hers.

Noticing Kiyori pressing his nose with his finger as he stared at the computer screen for a long time, Yukinoshita paused slightly in her hand movements.

"Tachibana-san, why don't you take a short rest?"

"It's okay, I'm just not used to it yet."

Because he has been busy with brass band practice lately, Kiyoyori hasn't used the computer for more than an hour at a time in a long time, although this used to be common, especially when helping Eriri finish her manuscript.

There's a limit to how much you can push yourself.

Kiyoshi was speechless for a moment, and he stopped typing.

"Is this senior waiting for me to criticize him?"

Yukinoshita then realized that it seemed particularly unconvincing for her to say those words.

She sighed. "I'll go get you some eye drops."

Yukinoshita shuffled into her room in her slippers, and soon came out with a small bottle. "This is what I usually use."

The small black bottle showed obvious signs of use and had no brand label, but its semi-transparent frosted texture made Qinglai instantly fall in love with its feel.

"Thank you."

Kiyoshiro doesn't use eye drops often, but she wouldn't refuse Yukinoshita's kindness at this moment.

only……

"Waaah—"

After just finishing the first eye drop, Qinglai covered her eye with her hand in pain, her usually delicate face now showing a conflicted expression of unspeakable suffering.

Yukinoshita, who had just sat down opposite Kiyoyori, immediately became flustered and asked, "W-what's wrong?"

A very strange sensation was stimulating my eyes; it wasn't pain, but rather—

It felt like someone had suddenly gulped down a mouthful of mint-flavored soda; the sourness shot straight to the top of his head. Tears uncontrollably streamed from the corners of his eyes. Qinglai couldn't even manage a simple action like opening his eyes. It was as if a gust of strong wind would violently blow past the slightest touch of air to his eyeballs, which were moistened with eye drops.

Spicy, so spicy!!

Kiyoshi suppressed the urge to scream, covered her right eye tightly with her hand, and moved her body so that she was not facing Yukinoshita directly.

Yukinoshita hurriedly stood up, wanting to check on Kiyori's condition.

"Senior, please don't come any closer," Kiyora said after a while, finally getting used to it. "I'm just a little uncomfortable..."

She probably didn't bring it out just to see me make a fool of myself...

Kiyoshi managed to open his eyes a crack, but all he could see was a blur of tears.

Yukinoshita then remembered that she had encountered the same predicament the first time she used it, but she found it very comfortable after getting used to it.

"Sorry……"

"It's nothing..." Kiyoshi wiped away his tears with his sleeve, and only after his vision became clearer did he turn around.

Yukinoshita immediately noticed Kiyori's bright red right eye, as if it had been coated with a layer of crimson eyeshadow, giving it a slightly bewitching look, if only the other person's expression wasn't one of utter misery, like someone who had been unexpectedly fed wasabi.

"Did you know I was a little sleepy, senpai?" Kiyori couldn't help but tease, looking at Yukinoshita's slightly guilty expression. "I'm feeling very refreshed now."

"Sorry……"

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

The two worked for nearly two more hours, and before they knew it, Qinglai had fallen asleep on the table.

As Yukinoshita finished her work, she suddenly saw Kiyotaka burying her head in her arms and breathing steadily. She reached out to wake her, but couldn't bear to disturb her sleep, so she tiptoed over to tidy up the documents and took out a blanket to cover Kiyotaka.

The once messy desk was tidied up, leaving only a fluffy head and a body covered by Mr. Pan's blanket, its movements rhythmically rising and falling.

Yukinoshita stood silently in the living room, watching the sleeping girl, feeling a little guilty.

It was already very late when Yukinoshita suddenly remembered that Kiyori had only made dinner for two people before leaving, and since she had been waiting outside the apartment, she probably hadn't eaten properly either.

what……

Heading to the kitchen, Yukinoshita tried to make as little noise as possible while preparing a midnight snack.

She never eats late-night snacks, and she rarely eats snacks outside of regular meals. The potato chips that Yuihama took out earlier were Kiyora's stock that she had left here when she was in tutoring.

However, considering how hard that person worked...

She turned on the stove and glanced back at Kiyoshiro, who was sleeping in an awkward position. She wasn't worried about whether Kiyoshiro would be woken up, but rather whether he would feel unwell after waking up.

Yukinoshita's movements suddenly stopped.

Why……

Why would someone care about her so much?

Yes……