I am only one world away from Yukinoshita.

Page 57

"Has Yukinoshita-senpai ever tasted the curry made by Medieval-senpai?"

"Has Kaori ever made curry for Yukinoshita?"

A sudden storm broke out at the dinner table.

"Well, there was one time last year when it rained heavily..." Nakajiko was still a little embarrassed when she talked about it. "That day I just forgot to bring my keys, and my parents were away on a business trip..."

A blush rose to her cheeks, and she glanced at Asuka with a fleeting look.

"Then Yukinoshita happened to find him and took him home..."

She deliberately used a lighthearted tone to cover up what really happened that day, but it wasn't a lie, since she was only telling part of the truth about that day.

Yukinoshita understood and agreed, "We can't just watch our senior spend the night alone in the wind and rain."

"Huh? Why doesn't Kaori come and seek refuge with me?"

Asuka keenly sensed something. Seeing Kiyori's inquisitive and puzzled gaze, she immediately stood on the same side as Nakazeko and Yukinoshita.

“My house and Asuka’s house are in completely opposite directions, and Yukino’s house is very close to mine,” Nakazeko said, pushing away the spoiled Asuka. “Eat your food properly, the juniors are watching!”

Attracted by the interesting interaction between the two, Kiyoshi immediately put aside his earlier doubts and sense of unease.

Asuka glanced subtly at Yukinoshita, who was quietly eating, before looking away with a bored expression.

It seems a little different from the person in my memory, but I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong.

Having decided what she wanted, Asuka stopped paying attention to Yukinoshita.

Asuka and Nakazeko forcefully took over the final cleaning work. Yuihama felt bad and wanted to go into the kitchen to help, but Yukinoshita dragged her into study mode because she was late and had fallen behind. Ignoring Yuihama's wailing, Yukinoshita used forceful methods to trap Yuihama in math problems.

"Yuihama-kun, if you don't study properly, you're very likely to fail next week's quiz."

"Well, Yukinoshita-san, there's no need to rush. Asuka and I bought dessert for everyone," Nakazeko said, draining the water from the plates. "It's a limited edition from a very famous cake shop nearby. After all that mental work, you need to replenish your sugar levels."

Agreed!

Yuihama raised her hand.

Yukinoshita helplessly rubbed her forehead with her hand.

……………………………………………………………

The afternoon study session proceeded smoothly. Yuihama, who was being coached by the top student from the second and third years of Soubu High School, was like a wound-up robot. Whether it was because she was surrounded by top students and couldn't breathe, or because of the inspiring atmosphere of their studies, Yuihama was completely absorbed in her studies.

What broke this atmosphere was a LINE message that Kiyoyori received.

Did Aki-kun come to see you?

This is a message from Kasumigaoka.

The Aki-kun that Shiwa-senpai mentioned must be the Aki Tomoya she knows, right? What does he want from her? Speaking of which, does Shiwa-senpai know Tomoya-senpai too?

"No, did he want to see me about something?"

Although he knew Kasumigaoka wouldn't give him an answer, Kiyoyori still asked.

How would I know why Aki-kun contacted you? He had previously approached me about making a game, so I assumed he would contact you as well.

Games? If Kiyoshi remembers correctly, Aki's favorite game should be GALGAMNE, which is exactly the type of game Kiyoshi dislikes the most.

"Is he hoping that Shiyu-senpai can write a script for him?"

"Knowledgeable to the smallest detail".

The message from the other end also conveyed a sense of helplessness.

"But I declined, after all, I still have light novel work to do."

"However, it seems he also contacted Sawamura. I think Shimizu-kun should keep an eye on him. Sawamura is the type who loses all principles when she meets this kind of man. She seems very easy to fall for."

Although Eriri does have inappropriate feelings for Aki, she probably won't agree to it so easily, right?

Kiyoshi opened Eriri's chat interface with a puzzled look. Before she could figure out how to ask, the doorbell rang again.

"Huh? Who's still around at a time like this?"

"Could it be?!" Asuka's eyes lit up. "Is she the girl in the photos Aunt Touko took before? Kiyorae's girlfriend candidate!"

"No!" Kiyora slammed his pen on the table, angrily retorting, "Don't talk nonsense! Besides, she's not a girlfriend at all! Not even a backup!"

Kiyoyori glanced quickly at Yukinoshita, whose expression remained unchanged. Yukinoshita was still diligently tutoring Yuihama, seemingly completely unaware of what was happening here.

I don't know why, but I suddenly feel empty inside.

"I'll go open the door." Kiyoyori deliberately ignored Asuka's teasing gaze and shuffled towards the entrance in his slippers.

Upon opening the door, Kiyoyori saw a figure that was both completely unexpected and perfectly logical, considering the text message from Kasumigaoka.

"Tomoya-senpai? What brings you here?"

Reiji's relationship with Aki has always been lukewarm; they occasionally keep in touch, but their conversations are mostly about Eriri.

“Kiyoshi!” Aki grasped Kiyoshi’s wrists with both hands, his eyes behind his glasses shining with sincerity.

"Please join my game development club!"

I need you!

"Without you, this club could not have been established!"

P.S.: The storylines involving passersby are not the focus. No matter how things develop, they won't appear too often. The characters who will appear more frequently are the upperclassman and Eriri.

Today I revisited Harry Potter. I've had this idea for a while now, because the most memorable characters in HP are mostly male, like Dumbledore, Snape, and Harry. Leaving aside Harry's generation, there don't seem to be any particularly striking female characters from the previous generation. Even Lily only appears in other people's memories, and her most memorable line is just "You have your mother's eyes." So, I had the idea to create a female character who is neither entirely good nor entirely evil—an atypical pure-blood noblewoman, born in the darkest of times, dying on the eve of dawn, living her life through desire, love, and responsibility—a reserved, obsessive, and eccentric character. I don't know if such a character would be popular. This idea was only written up before being shelved. Recently, I've had the idea to pick it up again, but I'm too busy; I really can't handle writing two books at once. Maybe one day I'll serialize it irregularly on Lofter. Do you like HP? I was crazy about this series when I was a kid; I even wore out the book covers.

Chapter 24, Section 81: My project cannot possibly fail so easily!

A few days ago

Aki Tomoya, a second-year student at Toyonosaki Academy, had a dreamlike encounter with his heroine on Detective Hill just the weekend before last.

He was about to leave the slope when he suddenly turned around for some reason, and what he saw was a beautiful girl's white beret being blown away by the wind. Cherry blossoms fell on the girl's head, and the girl's slightly outstretched hand seemed to tightly grasp Aki's heartstrings.

Although the beret was caught by a passerby and returned to the girl, Aki quickly imagined the scene of the male and female protagonists meeting by chance in the spring when cherry blossoms were in full bloom.

Of course, it would be even better if he were the one who found the hat.

So he decided that he would find that girl and make her the heroine of the game he was going to make!

Driven by passion and unrealistic aspirations, he wrote down his game design.

"Um, what do you think of this proposal, Shiyu-senpai? This is my first time writing something like this, and I have an even more audacious request," Aki said nervously, clenching his hands. He was a little overwhelmed by Eriri's rejection earlier and couldn't handle a second rejection, but he knew how sharp-tongued this senior was. "If Kasumi-sensei could participate in the scriptwriting, then—!"

"His-"

"Wow! My masterpiece!"

An Yi cupped her face in her hands, watching her hours of hard work crumble into pieces once again.

"I'm sorry, Aki-kun, I refuse."

Despite the "offering" offered by Aki, Kasumigaoka still refused the junior who had once helped him a great deal, returning the torn-up proposal to him.

"I can't offer advice on something that has no value for evaluation; as a proposal, it's undoubtedly a zero."

Anki clutched his chest, feeling like he was about to cough up blood.

But Kasumigaoka didn't stop there. "It seems to be just piecing together familiar parts, and you can easily see the original source in every part of the story."

At this moment, Aki is like a salted fish that has been exposed to the sun and is about to dehydrate and die.

“What’s worse is that the quality is so low that it can’t even be called a degraded replica,” Kasumigaoka said, crossing his left leg over his right. “The more I look at it, the more I sigh.”

"Also, I'm very busy right now and don't have time to play the creative games you've just decided to create," Kasumigaoka picked up her paperback and left the bench on the rooftop. "Although I'm very grateful to you for helping me promote 'Love Metronome' back then, and I'm also very grateful for your support, but—"

"but……?"

"I'm not that grateful to you yet."

As the saying goes, anything before a "but" is not the point, and it's certainly true...

"I...I didn't just do it on a whim!" Aki's rare display of assertiveness caused Kasumigaoka to pause in his tracks. "I've always wanted to do this, and I want to get closer to the creators I've always admired!"

"Didn't my seniors tell me that I might have the talent to become a creator?!"

Kasumigaoka sighed. She felt a little guilty towards the boy in front of her. She had mistaken him for someone else due to some accident, and the boy had indeed helped her.

"Aki-kun, you must have invited Sawamura-kun, right?"

"Eh? Eriri? I did invite her," Aki's previously enthusiastic tone turned dejected, "but I'm not sure if she'll attend..."

“If it’s a proposal like that, she definitely won’t participate,” Kasumigaoka said. Although she and Eriri didn’t get along, as a creator, she could understand her. “How about this, Aki-kun, I’ll give you a glimmer of hope.”

"Wh...what?!" An Yi's eyes lit up.

"Eri Kashiwagi, if we can work together, I might as well take some time to spend with you."

Aki clenched her fist. "I will definitely convince Eriri!"

"There's one more person."

Kasumigaoka revealed a triumphant smile, which sent a chill down Aki's spine.

"Tachibana Kiyori."

"If you can convince her to join your club, I'll be willing to join."

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

现在

"That's exactly it!" Aki's eyes filled with tears. "So please, you have to help me! Kiyorai!"

Ah... I'm in big trouble...

And there's more...