I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

“Yes, the new book is already in preparation. Whether it's the subsequent writing work or the holding of offline meet-and-greets, Tokyo is much more convenient,” Kasumigaoka listed the reasons in an organized manner, and Kiyorai chimed in, “And also…”

With the abrupt pause, Kiyoyori's heart was also in his throat.

“My parents also hope that I can stay in Tokyo, so that I can be closer to them.”

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

"Indeed, it's much more convenient to meet in Tokyo than in Kansai."

Although Kiyoyori only said one sentence following the other person's topic, he seemed to realize something after he finished speaking, and regretfully pressed his hand to his forehead.

The atmosphere became a little awkward for a moment.

After a long silence, a soft laugh from Kasumigaoka broke the stillness. "So, Shimizu-kun agreed to go out with us this weekend?"

The words of acceptance welled up in Kiyoyori's mouth, but at that moment she thought of Haruno's invitation. Based on her previous conversation with Haruno and Kiyoyori's understanding of her, Haruno must have something in mind to ask her to go out.

The only person who could get Haruno to personally take action was Yukino Yukinoshita.

Does Kiyora want Yukino to become the student council president?

This question had been weighing on Qinglai's mind, making her anxious and uneasy.

The long silence allowed Kasumigaoka to guess Kiyori's answer. "Shimizu-kun? Is something inconvenient on the weekend?"

Torn between concern for Haruno's words and actions and guilt towards Kasumigaoka and the others, Kiyoyori stammered, "I'm sorry, Utaha-senpai, I—"

"It's alright. It was a last-minute decision on our end. If Shimizu-kun had other plans, it's just bad luck." Kasumigaoka's thoughtfulness and gentleness only increased Kiyori's sense of apology.

"If I may ask," Kasumigaoka paused, "was Shimizu-kun's weekend plans related to his bad mood earlier?"

Kiyoyori was speechless again, and Kasumigaoka quickly added, "It's okay if it's inconvenient to say, I'm just a little worried about Shimizu-kun."

Kasumigaoka's masterful control of distance made Kiyoyori instinctively want to confide in her.

Just then, the bell rang suddenly, and Kiyora realized that the other students who had been lingering in the classroom had all left.

The next class is home economics.

"I'm sorry, have I taken up too much of Shimizu-kun's time?"

Through the phone call, Kasumigaoka clearly heard Kiyoyori's voice.

"It's alright. I'll talk to you about this later if I have the chance."

Kiyoshi hurriedly entered the classroom, but accidentally bumped into someone who was about to leave.

"Well--!"

Hearing the noise, Kasumigaoka anxiously called out on the other end of the phone, "Shimizu-kun? What happened?"

"It's alright, sorry, Shiyu-senpai, I have something to attend to, so I'll have to hang up now."

"okay."

After confirming Kasumigaoka's answer, Kiyoyori hung up the phone, frowned slightly, and reached out his hand to the girl who had fallen to the ground.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention just now. Are you alright?"

"Ouch, that hurts!"

The girl looked at Qinglai with teary eyes, a hint of cunning in them. She pouted slightly, looking pitiful.

It is a single-colored feather.

Realizing this, Kiyoshi instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but a soft little hand was placed in his palm. Ichiro's five fingers gently rested on the base of Kiyoshi's palm, and her eyes seemed to urge Kiyoshi to quickly pull her up from the ground.

Suppressing his hand from making an impolite gesture, Kiyoyori offered an apologetic smile and then helped the other person up from the ground.

Kiyoshi quickly released Isshiki's hand, and Kiyoshi instinctively wanted to rub his palm against Isshiki's, but out of politeness, his hands, which were hanging at his sides, only moved slightly.

Kiyoyori returned to his desk, picked up what he needed, and was about to leave the classroom when he saw Isshiki waiting for someone at the door.

There were only the two of them in the classroom, and it was obvious who the other was waiting for.

Kiyoshi had a momentary urge to leave through the back door of the classroom, but in the end, he walked steadily to Isshiki's side.

"Isshiki-kun, you'll be late if you don't go to the home economics class soon."

Isshiki replied with a smile, "Isn't Tachibana the same way?"

Qinglai quickened his pace without saying a word.

"By the way, can I call Tachibana-san Kiyorai?"

Isshiki caught up with Kiyori, seemingly unconcerned about Kiyori's indifferent attitude.

Kiyoyori's actions of readily closing the distance between them made him reflexively want to run away.

She hates it.

"Hey, is it okay?"

As Isshiki drew ever closer, Kiyoyori involuntarily frowned. The irresistible, pitiful expression on Isshiki's face immediately made Kiyoyori realize one thing:

Iroha Isshiki has the ability to make most boys unable to refuse her requests, but at the same time, she also has the ability to make many girls hate her.

However, that familiar feeling made it hard for Kiyoyori not to think of Haruno.

Kiyoshiro also began to understand why Isshiki was being targeted by others.

"Please go ahead."

"Kiyori can also call me Ayaka!"

"I understand, Isshiki-kun."

"Eh~ How indifferent~"

Isshiki stared blankly at Kiyora's indifferent expression for a moment, then gave a wicked smile.

"Was the person who just called Kiyoyori Kasumigaoka Utaha-senpai from the school next door?"

Kiyoyori frowned slightly, glancing casually at Isshiki walking beside him. "Is there a problem?"

"Ah, no, no," Isshiki waved his hand with a smile, "I just think Kiyoyori knows a lot of amazing seniors! I'm so envious!"

Kiyotomi paused, "What does Isshiki-kun want to say?"

“I saw Kiyoyori getting very close to some of the seniors from Class 2-F before.”

Isshiki's smile was innocent, but Kiyora felt as if he saw a pair of devil horns on her head and a heart-shaped tail swaying behind her.

"It seems so, Hikigaya-senpai?" Isshiki observed Kiyori's expression but couldn't read any emotional fluctuations from the other's poker-card-like expression. "Is Kiyori dating Hikigaya-senpai?"

Kiyoshi, who had expected the other party to say something, suddenly found himself speechless.

"No."

"That's true~ Kiyoyori doesn't seem like the type to like that gloomy senior at all!"

Seeing the bright smiles on everyone's faces, Kiyoshi frowned, as if he had sensed something.

"Could it be that Isshiki-san has a crush on Hachiman-senpai?"

"How could that be? My ultimate bias is Hayama-senpai!"

The home economics classroom was right in front of them, but the two stopped one after the other.

"By the way, Tachibana-san, are you interested in becoming the student council president?"

"We're going to be late, Isshiki-kun."

The school bell rang.

P.S.: I got home from my night shift today, and there's been construction going on upstairs all day, right up until almost dinnertime. And it's right above my room! I'm so... miserable.

Chapter 07, Section 345: On the Self-Cultivation of Actors

Because the two were almost late, the home economics teacher put Kiyoyori and Isshiki in the same group, along with two other boys.

Today's topic is takoyaki.

The two boys clearly had little experience in cooking, and they always relied on the girls in their group for home economics classes. It seemed that this wasn't the first time Isshiki had partnered with them, and she started chatting with them as soon as they were free to work.

"Whoa, why is Soubu High School still having this...?"

"A guy who can cook gets a huge plus in a girl's eyes!"

"That's true—but I'm just not interested..."

"Yayu-chan, please! Help me out again!"

They seemed to know each other quite well. Kiyoyori crossed his arms and waited quietly for Isshiki and the other two group members to negotiate.

"Eh~" Isshiki looked a little troubled, his gaze involuntarily drifting to Kiyori, who was silent and had a sullen face. "I'm fine with it, but I still need to ask Kiyori's opinion, since I can't make this decision by myself."

The two boys looked at Qinglai and immediately fell silent.

Although Kiyoyori usually appears very gentle in class, she actually keeps her distance from everyone except Reina. It's not that she's difficult to get along with, but rather that she always exudes an aura that makes her hard to approach.

She is good-looking, academically excellent, and gentle in nature.

It gives people a feeling of unreality.

In the hearts of most of the boys in Class J of the first year, Tachibana Kiyoyori and Kousaka Reina were unattainable beauties who could only be admired from afar.

The year is almost over, and their conversations with Qinglai, apart from the occasional discussion about studies or class affairs, have not involved much else.

Kiyoshi gently lifted his eyelids, as if he had been standing to the side with his eyes closed, resting. "Have you discussed it? Shall we begin?"

Despite the tone being one of negotiation, very tactful and without a trace of force, the two boys abandoned the playful smiles they had when interacting with Isshiki, their backs stiffening as if they had been caught doing something wrong by Hiratsuka Shizuka.

"It's like this," seeing the two boys hesitate to speak, Isshiki approached Kiyoyori, "they don't know how to cook, so they wanted to ask us for help. Oh, right! How about—"

“Grouping is for teamwork,” Kiyora interrupted Isshiki, giving the two boys behind him a gentle smile. “Isn’t complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses the key to teamwork?”

Perhaps because Kiyoshi's smile was so rare, the two boys became a little embarrassed.

“Yeah, I think teamwork is great too,” Isshiki chimed in. “I’ll leave the cooking to Kiyora and me, and you guys can take care of cleaning the ingredients, okay?”

The two boys exchanged a glance. "No problem! We'll go get the ingredients!"