Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

"Would you like some fruit, senior?" Yuzhen returned with the box of fruit, removing the plastic wrap. "There seem to be apples and oranges inside. Is this a pear? They're all cut into pieces and mixed together, so I can hardly recognize them."

"I want to eat."

Hearing her answer, Yuzhen placed the fruit plate on the bedside table and then helped her sit up. He propped up Xingge's pillow and then let her rest against it.

Yuzhen picked up a piece of fruit with a toothpick, intending to feed it to her.

"I can do it myself."

Xingge is still putting on a brave face.

"Forget it, I'll do it. I hope you can rely on me a little more, senior." Yuma realized that there might be some ambiguity after saying this, so she quickly added an explanation: "What I mean is, senior, you're already feeling so bad, so don't force yourself."

Xingge had no choice but to accept it. She pulled down her mask, opened her mouth, and bit off a piece of apple from the toothpick that Youzhen had offered her.

"It doesn't taste like much." She chewed a few times, swallowed the apple, and said, "It's not good."

Yuzhen ate a piece himself and found it quite sweet. Then he thought about it carefully and realized that Xingge must have been overheated, which was why he couldn't taste it.

Although she couldn't taste the fruit, Xingge still ate quite a lot of it.

"I'm thirsty, I need to drink water."

"Isn't eating all this fruit enough?"

She didn't stand on ceremony with Yuuma, but Yuuma was quite happy to see her like that. Come to think of it, he felt that Xingge was quite cute when she was sick, and her voice sounded like a little girl being affectionate.

He brought over the two bottles of Pocari Sweat, opened one, and handed it to Xingge. It's an electrolyte drink; Xingge had sweated a lot, and drinking some would help replenish his electrolytes.

She drank half the bottle in one go, then handed the drink to Yuzhen, put down her pillow, and obediently lay down to sleep.

Yuzhen screwed the cap back on the beverage bottle and placed it on the bedside table. Then she tidied up the tissues and other trash on the floor of the room, put them in a plastic bag, and planned to throw them away when she left.

He should probably head back now. He'd only come to see her, and Yuzhen didn't plan to stay any longer and disturb Hoshiga's rest. Before leaving, Yuzhen glanced back and noticed a pair of pink bunny ears peeking out from under the blanket. She really hadn't given them to Hongxia.

He opened the door to leave the room, and then he saw Mrs. Ijichi standing outside the door, holding a bag of medicine and smiling at him.

"Auntie, when did you get back?" Youzhen was startled by her sudden appearance, but then he thought that he hadn't done anything wrong, so there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Hmm, let me think... it's probably when I think, 'I hope you can rely on me a little more, senior.'"

"Um...that's not what I meant."

"I know, Yuuma, didn't you explain it yourself?" She looked at Yuuma's evasive eyes. "Have you forgotten?"

"How could that be? I just..."

"Just what?"

Yuzhen didn't speak. He thought of Xingge's vulnerable state just now. So she had moments like this too. Damn it, he wished he could be by her side during times like this.

Mrs. Ijichi remained silent, waiting for him quietly.

"But...but...I think I've fallen for you, senior."

Yuu didn't know why she could say such a thing, especially in front of the mother of the person she liked. It was really stupid of her.

"You just said it outright? You're quite bold." Mrs. Ijichi still had that same smile.

"sorry!"

"Why are you apologizing to me?" She looked at Yuzhen in front of her. "It's your own business who you like, Yuzhen. It's the same if you like Xingge. But you need to win her heart yourself. As long as Xingge agrees, I certainly won't make things difficult for you. After all, Yuzhen is a good girl."

"Ah... okay."

Yuuma couldn't remember how he left the Ijichi family's house; he was strolling through the streets of Shimokitazawa.

It wasn't too late yet, not even 5 p.m. More than an hour had passed from when he arrived at Ijichi's house to when he left, but it felt like only a few minutes had passed, as if the events at Ijichi's house had just happened a second ago.

"It turns out that being with someone you like really does make time fly by."

……

Two days after Yuuma went to visit him in the hospital, he walked into the school gate and happened to see Ijichi Hoshika in front of him.

"Good morning, Ijichi-senpai. Is your cold getting better?"

Yuma caught up with her and greeted her.

"It's all right now, but I didn't ask you to visit me, did I? What are you doing here at my house without permission?"

Ijichi Hoshika blushed and turned her head away. Although she was still wearing a mask, she didn't want Kenzaki Yuuma to see her, especially since he had seen her looking so embarrassed when he visited her in the hospital that day. This might be a dark history for her for the rest of her life.

"What's the big deal? I'm just visiting a sick classmate. Why are you so upset?"

Yuma knew perfectly well why she said that. But it seemed different from what was portrayed in anime and dramas. Shouldn't people who are visited in the hospital usually remember nothing? Hoshika should treat what happened that day as a dream, right?

"Fool!"

"Huh? Why are you scolding me? I went to visit you out of kindness. Explain yourself."

"We're going to be late for class, let's go!"

"Senior, you actually care about something like this?"

Yuma started running after Hoshika.

"Wait, are you sure it's okay to run so fast after you've just recovered from your illness?"

"Enough with the nonsense!"

……

After school in the afternoon, Hoshika returned to the Light Music Club. Although she was still wearing a mask, she still insisted on playing the guitar for a while before Yuuma took the guitar away and told her to go rest.

"Speaking of which, it's been a lot of colds lately due to the changing seasons."

Seeing Hoshika's state, Tokita-senpai was moved and started a new topic.

"My sister also caught a cold, and I've been taking care of her for the past two days."

Senior Umino followed him.

'She's clearly an only child.' Tokita-senpai and Omori-senpai glanced at Umino-senpai, who was still reinforcing her own persona, and silently complained to themselves.

"So everyone should take care during this time, catching a cold is really unpleasant." Xingge recalled the few days she had been lying at home. Although not having to come to school made her feel good, the constant weakness and fatigue were really unbearable. "Wear more layers during this time, don't catch a cold."

“We two are fine,” Tokita-senpai said, patting Omori-senpai on the shoulder. “Our strong bodies won’t betray us. But Umino and Kenzaki should be careful lately.”

“I’m also very strong, just not as burly as you two,” Kenzaki Yuuma retorted, looking unconvinced.

Yuzhen wasn't lying; he did work out regularly. Although he didn't have huge muscles, he was always very healthy.

"So I don't catch colds easily... Achoo!"

He had barely finished speaking when his nose started to itch, so he quickly covered his mouth and nose and then sneezed.

Xingge took out a tissue from her pocket and handed it to him so he could wipe his face.

"You really caught it, didn't you?" Senior Tokita looked at him seriously. "I drink cold medicine as soon as I feel a slight sore throat to prevent it. You have to take care of your health at all times!"

“Exactly! If you feel even a little unwell, you should get ready!” Senior Omori looked at Yuuma seriously.

“You two are good enough. I just had a slightly itchy nose and happened to sneeze.” Yuzhen looked at them helplessly. “I’m very strong and healthy.”

"That's right, I just sneezed. That's so healthy."

"Indeed, only a very healthy body can produce such a loud sneeze."

"That's enough for you two."

Chapter 29 Love Letter

Yuma did catch a cold, but it was just a cold, and she was fine after a few days.

"Haha! My cold is completely gone!" Yuzhen walked into the club room early this morning. "It's all thanks to my strong physique from years of training. Who looked down on me before?"

"Hey, hey, hey, what is this guy saying?" Senior Tokita looked at the arrogant Kenzaki Yuuma with an indifferent expression.

"Where do you get the confidence to show off in front of two people who have no cold at all?" Senior Omori looked at Yuuma with a calm expression.

Their tone was calm, but the smugness that emanated from their composure deeply stung Yuzuru.

"I still lost."

Yuma sat in her seat with a frustrated expression.

"So, what exactly are you three competing in?" Hoshika, who followed Yuuma in, felt helpless towards the three boys in the club. She felt that after spending a lot of time with the two seniors, Yuuma seemed to be leaning towards them.

'I seem to remember Kenzaki as an honest and simple person at first.' Hoshika looked at Kenzaki Yuuma now and silently compared him to the Kenzaki Yuuma she had just met.

"By the way, where did Umino-senpai go? I didn't see her." Xingge only realized that she hadn't seen Umino-senpai this morning after putting down her bag.

Senior Umino always had the key to the activity room. She would arrive a little early in the morning to open the door and then read in the activity room for a while. But today, when the door was open, she wasn't there.

"It's almost finals, and she hasn't been coming to any events lately. She said she needs to catch up on her studies. Otherwise, she might fail her exams." Senior Tokita answered Hoshika's question and even took the key out of his pocket to show everyone. "I'll have the key with me for a while."

"Isn't Umino-senpai's academic performance a bit poor?"

Umino-senpai is usually very reliable, except for a few oddities, such as her sexual orientation. Yuuma always thought she had good grades, after all, she usually showed strong literary skills, so he never expected her to be tormented by final exams.

"Umino's grades are below average. She's very good at humanities, but terrible at science. That's why she studied so hard before the exam," Senior Tokita recalled of previous exams. "She always barely passed."

So it turns out he had a serious imbalance in his academic performance. No wonder, no wonder.

……

After chatting for a while, everyone went back to their classrooms. Yuzhen's class had Chinese language class for the first period. The teacher was very strict, and Yuzhen and Xingge didn't want to be late for this class.

After returning to the classroom, the two sat down in their seats.

There was still some time before class started. Yuzhen took out his Chinese textbook from his bag and placed it on the table. Then he tried to put the bag into the desk drawer, but he noticed something inside. He felt a slight resistance when he put the bag in.

Yuuma reached inside and pulled out a pink envelope, still faintly scented with perfume. The envelope was indeed addressed to him. He looked it over, but there seemed to be nothing unusual about it.

"What is that?"

Xingge saw him take an envelope out of the desk drawer and look at it over and over, which made her a little curious.

"Do you want to see it?" Yuma handed her the envelope. "This isn't a love letter, is it?"

Xingge took the envelope. She smelled a faint, soft perfume scent, not at all overpowering. She examined it closely, then glanced at Kenzaki Yuuma beside her, and tossed the envelope back onto his desk: "It's probably a love letter. What are you planning to do with this?"

"I don't know, this is the first time I've ever received a love letter. Come to think of it, could this be a prank?" he said as he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter with writing on it.

The paper was folded in half before being placed in the envelope; you had to unfold it to see the words. Interestingly, the paper was pink, with cute animal figures in the corner. Was this kind of paper used to emphasize that the sender was a girl? Yuzhen felt it was a bit deliberate. Could this be some kind of prank by another boy?