I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

She wrote quickly and neatly. As the pencil moved across the paper, a familiar face gradually emerged. It was Yukinoshita from Kiyotaka's memory, resting her chin on her hand as she read a book. She wore frameless glasses, which added a touch of refined and reserved elegance to her appearance.

There are many sketches like these: Soubu High School from his memory, the open-air corridor under the setting sun, a dejected girl he met on a rainy day, and a portrait with an indistinct face. More often, there are sketches of Yukino Yukinoshita from different angles and with different expressions. Kiyoyori posted these sketches on the walls of his room, reminding himself every day that these were real events, not just his fantasies.

It is not an unimportant memory that can be easily forgotten.

Yes, since that day, Kiyoyori has found that some of her memories have become blurred, most of them being memories about body swapping. So she started drawing everything she remembered on paper in an attempt to strengthen her memories.

However, the effect was minimal.

She forgets something almost every day. Now, she can hardly remember the name of the other person's school. Reviewing her records with Yukinoshita has become her daily task. But today, she discovered that the records that were originally conversations have all turned into her own questions and answers. Yukinoshita's handwriting has all disappeared, and even the words about Yukinoshita mentioned in Kiyoshiro's own writing have vanished completely.

Now, only Yukinoshita's face remains in my memory.

Kiyotomi was afraid to sleep, afraid that if she woke up, even her last trace of memory would be taken away. She frantically drew portraits of the person under the snow and silently recited their name in her heart.

Senpai, Yukinoshita Senpai, Yukinoshita Yukino, Yukino...

Snow……

Qinglai's pen suddenly stopped. She frowned, looking at the single character "snow" she had written, and at the portraits of unfamiliar girls hanging on the table and walls.

who……?

Chapter 47 My First Meeting with Her

"Mom, I want to go to Chiba."

At the dinner table the next day, Qinglai made an almost unreasonable request.

Yuanzi looked puzzled and put down her chopsticks. "When?"

"tomorrow."

Seemingly unconcerned about his explosive statement, Kiyora calmly picked up a hamburger patty and put it in his mouth.

Yuanzi frowned immediately, and was about to speak when she was stopped by Carol, who had been silent.

What are you going to Chiba for?

Qinglai put down his chopsticks and said, "Find someone."

She looked at Carol with a determined gaze. She was serious, and Carol could read that message in Kiyoshi's eyes.

Kiyoyori had dark circles under her eyes, clearly indicating she hadn't slept well the night before. In fact, she hadn't been sleeping well lately. Carol had noticed all the changes in her daughter. She initially thought it was because she wasn't satisfied with the results of the Kyoto Prefecture Tournament, but later discovered that since returning from Kyoto, Kiyoyori had been drawing someone—a girl who looked to be the same age as her. Carol even suspected that her daughter had fallen for the girl, but whenever Kiyoyori mentioned this person, her mood would become unusually low.

I'm afraid what she meant by "finding someone" is actually looking for that girl.

"Go ahead, do you need me to buy you a ticket?"

Carol pondered for a moment, then quickly agreed to Kiyoshi's request, or rather, gave him a notification.

"Darling?" Touko looked at Carol with a puzzled expression, but after years of being with her lover, she knew that this time Carol's decision was not to be changed by anyone.

"I've already booked my Shinkansen ticket, and I'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

When are you coming back?

"I'm not sure, maybe within three days."

“Be careful,” Carol nodded and continued eating her dinner. “Remember to send a message when you get there. If you need accommodation, find it yourself or contact your uncle.”

"Ok."

Qinglai glanced apologetically at his mother and left the table first.

"Karl, are we just going to let Kiyoyori go to Chiba like this? What about the school? We have classes tomorrow."

“The little one knows what she's doing. If we don't help her resolve this issue, she won't have a good time in the future. I'll take care of the school.”

Yes, Carroll is a diplomat after all; helping his daughter get a leave of absence from school is a piece of cake for him.

………………………………………………………………………….

I'm going out.

As dawn broke, Qinglai, carrying his backpack, bid farewell to the empty living room, as always.

Besides her necessities, her backpack contained only her own sketches. Apart from these sketches, she had almost completely lost her memory of that experience. If it weren't for that almost obsessive thought, she would even wonder if she was crazy to abandon her practice and schoolwork to go to Chiba alone to find someone whose name she didn't even know.

Kiyoyori sat on the high-speed Shinkansen, looking at the scenery outside the window. Just like these scenes that suddenly entered her field of vision and then immediately receded and disappeared, that person suddenly broke into her life and also disappeared in an instant.

She gripped the sketchbook tightly, her feelings a mix of emotions.

If Kiyoyori finds her, what should he say to her?

"Hey……"

As early as when her memory began to fade, Kiyoyori had been thinking about going to Chiba to find out the truth. She marked several highly suspicious higher education institutions on the map of Chiba Prefecture, and after asking Eriri about the names of schools in Chiba Prefecture with high deviation scores, she planned this operation.

It was clearly premeditated, but as she drifted further and further away from Yuu and drew closer to Chiba, Kiyoyori realized her impulse and that unfamiliar feeling, similar to "feeling apprehensive about returning home."

Cities are all pretty much the same, with roads full of cars and streets full of people. Apart from the fact that the people here speak standard Mandarin, it seems no different from Uji. Kiyoyori was originally from Kanto and had lived in Chiba for a period of time.

But that person is here.

That person...

She couldn't even remember her own name.

……………………………………………………………

Which school is this?

Kiyotomi searched from morning till afternoon, and even had a quick lunch of a sandwich. She was so tired that she was seeing stars, and her legs were sore and swollen, as if she had been fighting alongside her two mothers in Ginza all afternoon.

Even something as sturdy as Qinglai is nearing its limit.

She found a shady spot to sit down, fanning herself with the drawing paper in her hand without any regard for appearances, and looked up at the school with the sign "Private Toyonosaki Academy" not far away.

This was the last school she circled, and it was also the school Eriri attended. Although she didn't have much hope, Eriri wasn't the school's socialite, but given that person's fame, she shouldn't be unaware of it.

It was almost time for school to end, and Qinglai successfully entered the school, picked up a sketchbook, and began to sketch the buildings and scenery of the school.

An open-air corridor between the two teaching buildings, and a garden beneath the corridor...

Kiyoshi looked up and saw a scene very similar to his own sketch.

Could it be?!

Kiyoshi took off running into the teaching building. At that moment, the bell rang, and students walked out of the classrooms and headed to their respective clubs. Kiyoshi ran against the flow of people.

Excuse me, may I pass?

Qinglai had no energy to look at other people's reactions, and even somewhat rudely pushed the crowd aside with his hands.

"Hmm?" A long-haired girl with black hair, holding a paperback notebook, turned her head in response. "Who is she...?"

The higher you go, the more the scene before you overlaps with the blurry image in your mind: the washbasin directly opposite the stairwell, and the passageway next to it leading to another teaching building.

Kiyoshi dragged her aching legs and suddenly pulled open the iron door of the corridor. The glaring sunlight made her lower her head, and Kiyoshi couldn't help but shield her eyes with her hand. She walked to the middle of the corridor, and all sorts of sounds came to her ears from all directions. Looking down from here, she could see the garden and students saying goodbye to each other with their schoolbags on their backs.

"It's here..."

Kiyoshi was so happy that she could even shed tears. Her legs, which had been busy all day, suddenly went weak. She let herself sit on the ground with her back against the wall. Kiyoshi looked up slightly and seemed to be able to see the girl whose face she couldn't see standing opposite her, her hair flying in the wind.

Now that the school has been chosen, all we need to do is ask one of the students.

"Splash."

It was the sound of a sliding door being opened.

Kiyoshi immediately stood up, patted the dust off his clothes, and saw a girl with long black hair leaning against the door not far away. Her face was hidden in the shadows and could not be seen clearly.

Kiyoshi's heart suddenly began to race.

Is it her?

She tentatively took a step closer to him.

His heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest, and Qinglai's breathing became rapid, his eyes becoming eager.

But the other party's cool yet joyful tone was like a bucket of cold water, extinguishing Kiyoyori's expectations.

"Shimizu-kun?"

Chapter 48 Your Name

"Shimizu-kun?"

The girl standing by the sliding door emerged from the shadows, her long legs encased in black stockings, instantly capturing Kiyotsugu's attention. She also had waist-length black hair, but it wasn't the face Kiyotsugu longed for.

Moreover, there is only one person who would call her that.

"Teacher Xia Shizi..."

Although it was very rude, Kiyotaka could not deny that she felt endless disappointment at that moment, like a surging tide trying to engulf her.

“Your expression,” Kasumigaoka said slowly as she approached until Kiyori could clearly see her face, “you seem to be thinking about something very rude.”

Kiyoshi forced an awkward smile. "Does the teacher know that there is a girl in your school's first grade who has long black hair, is dignified, doesn't smile, but is very sharp-tongued? She consistently ranks at the top of the grade, and her name contains the character 'snow'?"

Although he knew it was rude and might offend the other person, Kiyoyori blurted out everything he knew about that person.

"So, Shimizu-kun came looking for someone?" Kasumigaoka's legs were shaking rapidly, her indoor shoes making a dull thud on the floor. She smiled and said, "If Shimizu-kun hadn't emphasized the two elements of 'first year' and 'having the character 'snow' in your name,' I would have thought you were talking about me."

Kasumigaoka was very angry. Although she wasn't narcissistic enough to think that Shimizu-kun had come all the way from Uji to Chiba just to see her, the genuine frustration and disappointment he showed when he discovered her identity made Kasumigaoka very dissatisfied.

Kiyotaro gave an awkward laugh, then relentlessly pressed on, "So that means there's actually no such person in this school?"

"As far as I know, there isn't one!"

Strange, there's no wind at all, so why is the teacher's hair all flying around?

Kiyoshi swallowed nervously, then gave a wry smile.

Although I had prepared myself mentally, the indescribable sense of loss was like suddenly finding a beloved toy I had been looking for for a long time, only to discover that it was broken when I picked it up.

Kiyoshi gazed at the distant scenery, then sighed with a wry smile.

Perhaps this is the punishment for forgetting you...

Looking at Kiyoyori's drooping shoulders, Kasumigaoka's usual sharp tongue suddenly stopped spewing venom.

"Is Shimizu-kun here to see someone?"