I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Haruno's love for Yukino is undoubtedly twisted, yet profound; perhaps "heavy" would be a more apt word to describe it.

"So, Kiyori would rather watch Yukino keep running away like this?" Haruno crossed her arms and looked at Kiyori with a cold expression. "Or does Kiyori want to indulge Yukino in this escape?"

This wasn't the first time Kiyoyori had seen Haruno with this expression; rather, it was the most authentic Haruno he had ever seen.

"I……"

"Yukino's personality won't do any good for Kiyori, will it?" Haruno seemed to have grasped Kiyori's weakness. "No matter what Kiyori plans to do after this, Yukino will only keep running away. Someone who only leaves difficult things to others and enjoys the fruits of their labor will definitely be hard to get along with, right?"

"Do you really have to do it this way?!"

Kiyoshi clenched his fists. "If it's you, aren't there thousands of other ways to choose from?!"

"Is Xiaoqing feeling sorry for Yukino?"

"Are you still worried about me?"

Kiyoshi was speechless, choked by the words.

"There's no time left..."

Kiyoyori vaguely seemed to hear Haruno say those words, but she didn't seem to hear them clearly or understand them.

The two girls walked past Kiyoyori and Haruno without saying a word and left the cafe. Haruno didn't wait any longer and went straight in, leaving Kiyoyori still outside the door.

coward.

Kiyoyori seemed to hear Haruno mocking him like that.

"I hear you say that we're here to discuss the election."

As Kiyoyori approached, he heard Yukinoshita's usual cold voice.

"Elections, do you mean student council matters?"

Hikigaya seemed to understand Hayama's intention at that moment.

"Um," Yuihama quickly interjected, seeing the atmosphere among them starting to cool down, "actually, we found Hayato-kun and asked him if he could participate in the election, which is why we're here today..."

Choosing Hayama as the election candidate was indeed a perfect solution, but—

"I just want to do something within my power."

The implication is that she does not intend to run for student council president.

At that moment, Haruno set off, and Kiyori subconsciously followed in her footsteps, walking up to everyone amidst Yukino's surprised expression.

He stood silently beside Yang Nai.

"Oh, I see."

Haruno deliberately moved closer to Yukinoshita, her gaze completely ignoring Yuihama beside her, or even Hikigaya and Hayama.

"elder sister……?"

The moment Haruno appeared, Yukinoshita understood, but she didn't understand why Tachibana Kiyori would appear beside her older sister.

"So it wasn't Yukino who wanted to be the student council president? I thought you definitely would."

Yukinoshita's pupils narrowed slightly as she turned her face away in evasion, no longer looking at Hinano.

"Your way of pushing things onto others is exactly like your mother's."

Everyone was silent at that moment, except for Yang Nai's voice.

Kiyotomi clenched her hands, which were hidden in her pockets, and continued to stand aside dutifully playing her role, but at this moment it felt as if a hand was frantically squeezing her heart.

Even if that was just her imagination, Kiyoyori seemed to be able to sense Yukinoshita's dissatisfaction with her presence at this moment.

“However, perhaps you think there’s nothing wrong with that,” Yang Nai continued, not stopping because of the suffocating atmosphere, “After all, you don’t have to do anything, someone will always do it for you.”

"Isn't that so?"

It is self-evident who Yang is referring to in his words.

Qinglai almost pinched his palms until they bled.

Negative emotions came crashing down like a tidal wave.

P.S.: I think avoidance is a viable method. Yukino and Kiyori both avoided things to varying degrees, but they will eventually have to face them. Sigh, I'm sending this to myself who wants to be lazy. Sorry for posting late.

Chapter 11, Section 349: A Meeting Just One Step Away

Kiyoshita practically fled the place, and the cold look in Yukinoshita's eyes as she left sent chills down her spine. By the time she came to her senses, she was already far away from the department store.

Kiyoyori found a place to sit down and sighed deeply. She never expected that today's meeting would end like this. She knew that Yukinoshita was a person who would not admit defeat. After being provoked by Haruno today, Kiyoyori could even foresee the Service Club disbanding and Yukinoshita joining the student council as president.

Is this the result that Haruno wanted?

That's too late.

What does that mean?

"Ah... I wish I could go out and have fun with Shiyu-senpai and the others..."

Kiyoshi murmured softly, yet he knew that his own thoughts were no different from Yukinoshita's.

They're all just running away.

I really want to hide.

I can't help but sigh at my own inadequacy once again.

"Where to hide?"

"Wow--!"

The sudden conversation almost made Kiyotaka, who was completely relaxed, jump up from the bench. It wasn't until she grabbed the back of the chair that Kiyotaka could see who was talking to her.

"Shi... Shi Yu-senpai?!"

The close proximity of Kasumigaoka's face made Kiyoyori tense up, feeling a bit awkward. Perhaps because he was completely unprepared, Kiyoyori stammered as he spoke, lacking his usual composure. "Utaha-senpai, how, how did you get here?"

"What? How did you get here?"

Kasumigaoka bent down, and the wide-open neckline allowed Kiyoyori to see the scenery inside at a glance. She looked away shyly, trying to focus her gaze on the tree next to her, but she was still attracted by the light fragrance of Kasumigaoka's skin cream.

Kasumigaoka was dressed casually today, unlike her usual elaborate outfits. She was wearing only a simple shirt and jeans, with her hair casually tied in a single ponytail, yet she was still captivating.

"Didn't Shiha-senpai go to the hot springs with Eriri and the others?"

“Ah,” Kasumigaoka tilted his head, “something came up at the last minute, so I couldn’t attend.”

Something temporary?

Kiyoyori looked at the other person suspiciously, but Kasumigaoka still had a natural expression that said, "That's exactly what I said," so Kiyoyori had no choice but to suppress his original guess.

Rather, she probably didn't want the guess to be true.

"What is this about Senior Shiyu...?"

Kiyoyori noticed the white plastic bag in the other person's hand as he watched Kasumigaoka sit down next to him so naturally.

"Yes, I've come to buy some things." Shi Yu generously showed the contents of the plastic bag, which were mostly fast food products.

"Could this be Shiyu-senpai's lunch?"

Is there a problem?

Kasumigaoka blinked, giving her an innocent look.

"Do not……"

“My parents aren’t home, and I don’t know how to cook, so this is the simplest food I can make,” Kasumigaoka said, putting the plastic bag aside and smoothly closing the distance between herself and Kiyori. “Anyway, as long as this kind of food can fill my stomach, isn’t that enough?”

"If you eat it occasionally..."

"What, Shimizu-kun, are you perhaps concerned about me?"

"If I said yes..."

"Then Shimizu-kun, cook for me!"

"Please learn how to cook yourself!"

"I can pay you."

"That's not the issue at all!"

"You're finally showing some spirits," Kasumigaoka said lazily, leaning back in her chair and ceasing her teasing of Kiyori. "I just saw Shimizu-kun walking over looking so dejected. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he'd been dumped by his lover."

Kiyoshi: "...What kind of metaphor is this?"

Kasumigaoka narrowed his eyes sharply and quickly leaned over Kiyori, pressing down on him. "I was just saying it casually, Shimizu-kun, it's not like you really...?"

"No no no!"

Qinglai subconsciously waved his hand in denial.

"That's wonderful!" Kasumigaoka pulled away again, and Kiyoyori finally felt his breathing become easier. "If I really broke up with my lover, I'd probably be clapping and cheering right now. That would be so inappropriate, wouldn't it, Kiyoyori-kun?"

Horrible, horrible, horrible!

Kiyoshi could only laugh awkwardly, "Please stop joking, Shiwa-senpai."

Noticing Kiyori's mood had darkened again, Kasumigaoka pondered for a moment, "Shimizu-kun, do you mean you had something to do today? Is it over?"

“Ah, um,” Kiyoyori paused for a moment, “it’s over.”

It may be coming to a complete end soon.

Seeing Kiyori's bitter smile, Kasumigaoka sensed something.

"What are your plans for the next day and a half, Shimizu-kun?"

"Huh? At the moment, no, I don't think so."

"Then there's no problem."

What's okay?

Before Kiyoyori could react, Kasumigaoka took out his phone, dialed a number with practiced ease, and gave a few instructions to the person on the other end in a commanding tone.